here is max baucus in the center. it turns out that max baucus occupying that center and max baucus being an incredibly lucrative person to have previously worked for have a little bit of a connection because with max baucus in the center you don't know which way he is going to go and that means max baucus might be persuadable on any number of pet projects that clients of these lobbyists want to persuade him on. here are the items that bear noting. the items baucus was persuadable on. cowriting the bush tax cuts and unfunded medicare prescription drug plan, protected big pharma profits, a 2009 bill that would have prevented foreclosures, extending the gang of six health care negotiations which helped opponents gather momentum not to mention his opposition to the public option and more recently according to "new york times" the fiscal cliff decisions like tax deferments that happened to benefit staffers in the billions of dollars. i like some of max baucus's defend earns they will say to liberal critics like me we don'

baucus is a political animal. he is always raising money.it was a surprise, i don't think it's a total surprise that max wouldn't say enough is enough. let's call it quits and give people time to run for my seat if they so choose. >> michael: if that wasn't a total surprise, in light of this is is it a surprise the way he voted on the gun bill. >> well, i'm not surprised at all. any democrat in montana is not going to be voting for gun control. john tester did vote for one little piece of that gun control bill on the background checks, but that's it. gun control bill is something that democrats in montana will runaway from if they can. that's just the way it is. >> michael: mike that was the thrust of it. tester did vote for it, and that was a big part of what the bill was. and then baucus knowing that he wasn't going to run for re-election it doesn't matter how he votes in montana. if he voted for background checks, it seems in light of the fact that tester did it would have made it easier for baucus, no? >> you're assuming that baucus alre

what happens without a max baucus? >> and this -- we've had a lot of senate retirements in recent years and say i'm going to use my time left to do one thing. i'm very skeptical that they're able to get it done. most recently of someone like kent conrad who retired in the laugh cycle and the budget chairman -- in t lt le and the budget chairman and said we'll get a fiscal deal and we know how that worked out. the idea that chairman as lame ducks have a better chance of moving sweeping legislation as they wave goodbye to their colleagues and walk out the door is going to be a very tall task. >> and voting against the background checks, didn't that wear out his welcome with a lot of democrats? >> and baucus has always been -- he's always infuriated liberal democrats. the health care bill is a great example. because liberals that wanted universal health care, he was -- made sure -- and didn't have the votes to do it. so when he announced his retirement a pretty loud cheer that came from the progressive side of the democra

barack obama was to have max baucus be the lead guy on his health care. the one reason why this is so theyed up is because created this monster in the u.s. senate. max baucus could not control the process. >> the country will miss him on tax reform, which it has not had in a quarter-century and in which he was extremely intent on trying to get. it recapitulation of what happened in 1986 between tip o'neill and ronald reagan, where you reduce rates. that helped to lead to a quarter century of economic prosperity. >> he still has time. >> he has spoken about the thing that he wants to accomplish and to leave the legacy, but the problem is, obama is not interested. if he is not, it is not going to happen. >> montana, the governor who just left office, enormously popular, he will have better than even chance to keep that seat for democrats. >> you get the last word. thanks. see you next week. >> this week on "moyers & company" -- >> secrecy is the linchpin of abuse of government power. one of the only avenues we have left for learning what people in power do

max baucus was at the heart of that.ld say just very quickly, andrea, five of the six democratic committee chairman in the senate are retiring. if that doesn't tell you something about the nature of the senate changing, that it's not a place they want to be, five of the six committee chairman and that's something that these people wait lifetimes for, they are all retiring in 2014. five of the six up in 2014. remarkable. >> and quick word on brian schweitzer. is it likely that he could be recruited to run? hes is very popular. >> he is someone who has made a lot of comments about how he doesn't want to ever be in washington. remember two things, one he's not doing anything right now. he's the former governor and two, he ran for the senate almost won. he ran for the senate in 2000. i always say, past runs are indicators of future interest. he's run once before for the senate. i think he probably runs again. he's clearly democrat's best candidate. >> okay, thank you and we'll be right back. he said they were acting out a de

plus, baucus, chairman baucus and chairman camp in the house who runs the ways and means committee, we meet regularly to see what we can do on tax reform. it's going to be a very difficult thing. it's been 27 years since we did anything on tax reform. >> but the thing is, look, i know you're sincere. you and i have talked about this long time. i believe max baucus is sincere. >> he is. >> and dave camp is a hard-working guy, god bless him. but the president will have at least $800 billion tax increase in the budget. he's going to put out tomorrow. and democrats -- leading democrats in the senate are totally opposed to dropping tax rates. they want higher tax revenues, they want, you know, 28% limitations on deductions. they're not for this. that's why i'm so skeptical it gets done this year, sir. >> well, you never know. i have to say that when jim baker and the former majority leader of the house, when they appeared before a committee on, who is a democrat and leading democrat, when they appeared before a committee, they basically said that you should not try and tie deficit reduction

i think max baucus had a tough moment.e primary, you have a whole different set of issues. >> coming up, david rode is out with his new book, "beyond war." he joins us straight ahead. >> that guy's great and that's the type of show we have. we raise the bar. try to raise the level of discussion we're very proud of. >> but first, this. >> your news leader in high definition. >> [ bleep ]. >> good evening -- >> north dakota's a.j. clement joins us on to to explain what it's like to [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> what the [ bleep ]. >> but first, here's bill karins with the [ bleep ] forecast. bill? >> come on, you know. let's have a little class on the show, a.j. you did it right. can you help me with the norfolk forecast, by the way. >> cold and snow on the ground. >> let's get to where the weather is today. good news for the east coast and also, by the way in the northern plains, i have some good news. here's what we're looking at. winter's firm grip over the middle of the country. it's been an april of unbelievable snow and cold

calling it quits senator max baucus reportedly not running for reelection next year. is this fallout from his no vote on background checks? should prosecutors seek the death penalty against the boston bombing suspect? find me on facebook. g day, and i have a massive heart attack right in my driveway. the doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when the spx crossed above its 50-day moving average, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i saw the trend. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it looked really strong. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i jumped right on it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 since i've switched to charles schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 ...i've been finding opportunities like this tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a lot more easily. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like today, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was using their streetsmart edge trading platform tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i saw a double bottom form. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i called one of their tradi

in other words, goodbye, max baucus. david selota was more direct. good riddance, max baucus. whatever you thought of him as a senator, there is a bigger question here, which is why are they all quitting? after the last election, the democratic leadership in the senate said their top goal was to keep these senators from retiring. jay rockefeller, tim johnson, frank lautenberg and tim hark in. their top goal was that none of those five guys would retire. all of those five guys are retiring, and now max baucus. 25 have quit just since '09. we're still doing the numbers in our own research, but as far as we can tell so far, this appears to be the fastest pace of u.s. senators quitting that job in modern american history. why is the u.s. senate suddenly such an awful place to work? why are they all quitting? we have been trying for months now to book any of the senators who have decided to quit from either side of the aisle. i have even offered, which i never do, i have even offered that we would only talk about the senate as a place to work. we don't even need to talk policy. but

senator baucus didn't wake up this morning and suddenly decide he wasn't running.not the way senators make the decision not to run, and that is not the way max baucus makes decisions. he is a careful, calculating and very, very slow decider. so when he cast that cowardly vote last week, he knew he wasn't running for reelection. and in the process, he betrayed the junior senator from montana, john tester, a democrat who cast the politically brave vote for a montana senator and voted yes. what john tester needed that day was political cover from max baucus, a little help. john tester needed to be able to say, when he went back to montana, hey, max voted for it, too. now, when senator tester goes back to montana, he's going to be challenged with, hey, baucus voted against it, why didn't you? the junior senator from arizona got exactly the kind of political cover that john tester would have appreciated from max baucus. the senior senator from arizona, john mccain, voted for expanding background checks. but that wasn't enough to pump up jeff flake's courage to do the ri

firms that employ lobbyists the ones or for the former chair of the senate finance committee, max baucus. said: there is a lot to be there about how lobbying is regulated and who registers and

you saw people voting largely on partisan terms and folks like max baucus who turned his back on hisarty. >> so max baucus, what people love about house of cards, our staff is obsessed, by the way, is the minute granulation of the mechanics of power and the calculations. max baucus is making a calculation, he's up for re-election, he's in a red state. >> sure that goes in to play. but you had a lot of -- you also had mccain, collins and toomey. and we're listening to the american public. nine out of ten people want this to happen. so they voted against -- >> you sound so idealistic now but you have written such a cynical piece of work. the point is, and from -- i've seen this in your work both in the ieds of march. it is not the way that democracy actually works on capitol hill is not some sort of simple cause and effect mechanism between the will of the people, and the things legislators do. >> absolutely not. our show takes a dark look at politics. we are showing an extreme view of how politics can work at its best and worst. underwood is not bound by ideology. in a way he's able t

. >>> senator max baucus, the latest member to say he is not running for election.with nbc senior political editor mark murray. first, a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. charlie rangel of new york is suing house speaker john boehner and six other lawmaker to have his 2012 censure on ethics charges overturned. he argues that members of the house ethics committee withheld evidence that could have cleared his name before the entire house voted to censure him. it covered a wide range of activities including failing to pay taxes on rental income for 17 years. >>> anthony weiner back on twitter. he was caught sending a young woman accepting suggestive pictures on twitter. he is now considering, reportedly considering running in the race for mayor in new york city. those are things we thought you should know. when our little girl was born, we got a subaru. it's where she said her first word. (little girl) no! saw her first day of school. (little girl) bye bye! made a best friend forever. the back seat of my subaru is where she grew up. w

max baucus. will he be a no, will he be a yes?he surprised us a bit by voting yes to begin the debate. that's a very different calculus than voting on the measure itself. heidi heitkamp is from north dakota, similar circumstances there. and when you've got mary landrieu, louisiana, her fellow representative of louisiana, david vitter, a republican, so sometimes it's what happens with how voters in a state will judge the two senators who represent them. when they're both from the same party, it can be easier if they cover each other. if they are of different parties in landrieu is in that case, it makes a stark difference for voters. and senators don't go up against each other. but they often will use votes when they face their next opponent of their colleague to be a way to explain how they voted.ç that's a common practice here. so a key one to watch under that is if john tester is a yes, what will max baucus do? will he break with his fellow montanans? >> political cover, thanks for taking the time. >> you bet. in the streets of

max baucus is just making a calculation he's up for re-election, he's in a red state. >> sure.es into play. you had a lot of -- you also had mccai mccain and toomey listening to the american public. 9 out of 10 people want this to happen. >> you sound so idealistic now. you've written such a cynical piece of work. the point is -- i've seen this in your work and the point is the way democracy actually works on capitol hill is not some sort of simple cause and effect mechanism between the will of the people and the things legislators do. >> certainly not. our show takes a dark look at politics, showing an extreme view how politics can work at its best and worst. >> vince underwood is not bound by ideologically and able to achieve progress because of that. >> what's interesting to me when i moved to washington and started covering capitol hill how surprising to me how common it was. i expected everyone to be true believers. most people were operators. >> ideologically can be quicksand. the republican party is going through re-branding because an ideologically that worked for two p

max baucus during a hearing with the health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius, baucus,chitects of the obamacare law on the senate side said that everything he has seen right now leads the law being a train wreck. businesses don't know how to act. small businesses certainly don't know what to do. he is asking for more information and more data. all he is getting in his word are concepts. now you have to face the voters with that behind you and figure out whether or not people will back you for re-election. here is what happened on april 17th. here is the exchange. >> i just see a huge train wreck many coming down. you and i discussed this many times and i don't see any result yet. what can you do to help all these people around the country are going what in the world do i do and what do i know what to do? bill: now we know what he is going to do. he will retire and won't seek office. martha: as you say, he was one of the architects of this bill. obviously, you know, had high hopes for it. thought that it was going to solve some of the problems. what he is saying is the a

baucus has been in the senate since 1978. voted i believe it was for the assault weapons ban in 1994. he faced the voters in 1996 and there was an ad that the montana shooting sports association ran when he was running for reelection in '96 that said all in favor of gun control raise your right hand. it was drawing of adolf hitler saluting and ban baucus, not guns. he nearly lost his seat. the closest reelection that he's had. i look at that and say that's the classic exam a am when we say something that's popular at an ab tract policy level and gets filtered through the system, that's a perfect illustration of the max baucus voting got trickled down to that. he nearly lost his seat. >> but he did win. and john tester did the right thing. again, he has more time. max baucus -- >> there are democrats who are making noise about not just stopping the flow of money to these democrats but challenging them in primaries next year. going into arkansas and al alaska and challenging begich, if you want revenge, i understand. but if a n

. >> john: max baucus is leaving the senate. this means that for the first time in years, there's a slight chance that his senate seat could finally go to a democrat. now that the boston bombing suspect has been caught, republican lawmakers have declared it safe to hate muslims again. the sequester has kicked in and flights are being delayed and what's really awful is this is making some lawmakers late for congressional sessions who voted to cutting more government programs. today is the birthday of william shakespeare, michael moore and lee majors, the $6 million man although due to sequester cuts, he's now the $3.5 million man. shakespeare said, lord what tools these mortals be. eliot spitzer is here. i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." >> john: good evening, i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." less than a week after the manchin toomey gun control bill was defeated in the senate, one of the democrats who helped shoot is down is stepping down. democratic strategist say max baucus who chairs the powerful finance commit

six-term montana democrat max baucus retiring at the end of his term. baucus is 71.e was among the handful of democrats who just voted against those expanded background checks for gun purchases. he runs the finance committee, had a huge influence on taxation, health care reform. this makes now six incumbent democratic senators not running for re-election. tonight at the white house, the president will host the women of the u.s. senate. all 20 female members of the senate have been invited to a private dinner. by political party the breakdown is 16 democrats, 4 republicans, and it's the latest in the president's dinner campaign with various lawmakers in d.c. >>> we have an update tonight on the midwest flooding that's been hammering several states during the past week. the illinois river among the hardest hit right now expected to crest overnight tonight. it's already left parts of peoria completely cut off from the rest of the city. the army corps is keeping a close eye on the main levee there which, as of tonight, is holding up well. >>> still ahead for us on a tues

for instance, the senator from montana is a max baucus, the finance chairman committee supposed to being care of tax reform and the biggest issue on the trouble and poor max baucus is saying, don't push this gun control debate at me. >> stuart: where does the president stand? does he win or lose out of the gun control, i'm going to call it a mess. >> he believes he can win and tag the republicans as the opponents of gun control and then he's going to try to convince the country to push them out of office in 2014. that's the theory. >> stuart: last word, kim, dots the president win or lose on the gun control issue. >> this is the problem that he wanted the headlines to be republicans are the problem and in fact, it's his own party that's standing in the way. >> stuart: all right. when we come back, a visit to cuba by superstar couple beyonce and jay-z sparks outrage. well, other american celebrities have done it so what's the big deal? ommy's hee [ male announcer ] with everything. but instead she gives him capri sun super-v. with one combined serving of fruits and vegetables. capri su

the nra and the crazy support of max baucus. not going to say it's crazy to support max baucus because they got what they wanted but they're so supportive with money you understand why the senators vote in that way. you have to change the structure of the filibuster. noah is right with four democratic senators they only would have gotten to 59 but they shouldn't have to get past 59. they shouldn't have to get past 50 on this. that's why the rules have to change. >> cenk: i want to leave here with one amazing fact. do you know because of the filibuster and the small states with two senators and the large states also only having two senators. they only need--the senators representing less than 12% of the population in this country to block any bill. 12% of the population can block any legislation the way the senate is structured now. that's crazy. there is something fundamentally wrong with that. we're going to take a break and come back and talk about immigration. and what is wrong with that. marco rubio looked like he was on a r

you're critical of the senator. >> well, senator baucus is the one who is largely responsible for theordable care agent right now. i mean, we're months from implementation. it really is a 0 # -- 2014-15 program, and the outrageousness of senator baucus sitting in fro of the former governor saying, hey, i just noticed the affordable care agent is a train wreck is deeply disturbing. this is a gentleman who twisted arms, hand r handed money to certain senators for things in the states so the affordable care act would have enough votes, and for him to suddenly realize if he was just dropped in from another planet that the affordable care agent is a train wreck is just a little too much to take. >> representative, republican, kansas, appreciate you being with us today, sir, and responding quickly to mr. reid's statement. appreciate it, sir. thank you. >> thank you. >> you're not going to believe this. ha-ha, a harvard academic says fracking is good for the environment. yeah, from harvard. he'll make his case next. thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us

senator max baucus gave a little more contrite. an one word response against the gun bill, montana. he does have a point. how many guns there are per each state. in the home state of montana with 120 gun businesses for every 100,000 people. next the senator who voted against it with 104 per 100,000. and right behind him heidi hide camp and mark pryor. the senator from louisiana voted for it. and she's up for re-election. there are heroes on the right republicans senator susan collins mark kirk, putt toomey and john mccain all voted for it. afterwards mccain showed no sympathy for his colleagues who had been cowed by the nr. >> i can't blame any interest group for votes. people who are responsible. drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great lea

baucus has never been popular in washington. at best, democrats treated him with respect because they feared him and his power in the finance committee, but the guy was disciplined, raised a will the of money and in an odd way, parts of the democratic party are somehow ecstatic today that he's retiring. democrats right now appear more prepared to land a good candidate in former governor brian schweitzer than republicans do, although that is still far from settled. republicans have the same problem today they had yesterday before baucus announced. they don't have a top tier candidate and the bench is fairly thin for republicans in montana. the only big name they think they have a better shot at is the form rer governor, mark rosco. but it's been a while since he ran a race there. meanwhile in iowa, where senator tom harken is retiring, republicans are now having to dip into the second and maybe third tier of candidacies. can't think juggernaut just yet, but republicans are treating him like one. yesterday, the best hope of nation

and you can imagine the frustration of senator baucus and others. baucus, one of the architects, one of the sponsors of the affordable care act. he helped craft it. when he speaks, instead of hearing nonsense rebuttal from, it was that, a rebuttal and a little pat on the knee for him, saying, it will all be good, it was entire letter the wrong tone, the wrong response that the person who is in charge of this thing needs to be adopting. particularly with the guy who is one of the stalwarts, who took the lead and really took a lot of bruises and cuts for the president. lori: you know with this, with the health care legislation, more urrently with the gun vote yesterday. >> right. lori: immigration, we have all of these hot-button issues going through washington right now and to baucuses point, it is all sort of theory and concept. who was in charge of taking the action and putting in there? >> our colleague, chris stirewalt, digital politicsed tore, he made a terrific.today. this president is off to a clumsy and failure-ridden beginning to his second

why not go after max baucus who's not running gun? why would you go after -- >> everyone knows that vote helped max baucus. >> you know the politics of this. heidi heidkamp is taking a lot of heat. you're virginal politically. just get in office. democrat winning in a red state. don't make your first big vote against what seems to be the local attitude. i can understand -- >> i understand. i think, you know, politicians act like politicians. then we're shocked about that. they're politicians. they want to win -- >> they're also supposed to represent their states. >> they are supposed to represent their states. as you can see from that kentucky poll on background checks, there's a -- you know, there's just abject fear of the nra. so people have to begin to feel -- >> for heidi heidkamp it's going to be awfully hard to beat her. she's with the nra. >> you think it was a smart vote. >> very smart vote. >> on immigration, this is tricky for all kinds of reasons. this ad by americans for conservative direction. it's not what it sounds like

baucus made the announcements this morning. now the democrats will have an uphill battle certainly to keep the red state seat. baucus is the eighth senator and sixth democrat to call it quits this cycle. following iowa's tom harkin, tim johnson of south dakota, jay rockefeller of west virginia. michigan's carl levin. new jersey's frank lautenberg. saxby chambliss of georgia. mike johanns of nebraska. they're all quitting. we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "hardball." mark sanford's political comeback trail may be coming to an end. with a special election for the first congressional district two weeks away now a new poll shows sanford trailing his opponent democrat elizabeth busch by nine. 50% for cobert busch 41% for sanford after national republicans announced they would no longer fund his campaign because he violated his divorce agreement entering his ex-wife's home without her permission. sanford took an unusual approach pleading with voters in his full page ad in a charleston newspaper. he writes it's been a rough we

. >> what did baucus say?he word train wreck? >> yes, i think he did. one of the administrators said what he's hoping for is the american people to avoid a quote third world experience. these are all from the bill's supporters. i mean, the critics can sit back and let the other side tear them apart. >> my friend igor, if the author calls it a train wreck, the others calling it a third world experience, you got a problem, buddy. >> i think the quote was if you don't defend the lines on the road to a train wreck, it's not a train wreck yet. it's a difference between attacking the provision, which baucus isn't dog an sitting back like a lot of democrats not defend the fact that millions have coverage and seniors have access to preventive care. there are stories that need to be told. as you move into 2014, you need to learn about heidi highcamp, the senator from north dakota, who explained the law to people and won because of it. >> jason, i asked you, by the way, did i get this wrong? i thought premiums were supp

and i think montana tans like governor schweitzer a whole lot more than they like max baucus.o the republicans, ironically, might have been better off with baucus on the ballot even though he's a dogged campaigner and a smart political operator. i think this is big news on capitol hill where max but a us is always at the center of the big legislative developments. he's working on a tax reform bill. not that i think it's going to come to fruition, but he has that kind of access and power. and so i think, you know, for republicans you in theory always like to have of an open seat because incumbents, in theory, are harder to beat. but i think once they're going to to be the underdog in this race. unless the president's poll numbers next year look something similar to 2010 where people had just really soured on his leadership. jon: max baucus was one of the five democrats that voted against the gun control legislation that recently did not make it out of the u.s. senate, much to the president's displeasure. david drucker from "roll call," thank you. >> thanks a lot. jenna: talking

i agree with senator baucus. businesses have no idea what to expect, and this health care law is a train wreck. so what does this mean in the real world? well, it's causing businesses to avoid hiring or to cut back hours. there are new headlines on this every day. here's what one said last week. nation's biggest movie theater chain cuts workweek blaming obamacare. regallon -- regal has movie theaters in 38 states. the company sent out a memo to its worker explaining why it had to cut the shifts. it said -- quote -- "to comply with the affordable care act, regal had to increase the health care budget. one manager said they had a wave of r.e.s. sig nations from -- resignations from managers. he said in the last couple of weeks managers have been quitting on a daily basis from various locations to try and find full-time work. went on to say that mandating businesses to offer health care under threat of debilitating fines doesn't fix a problem. it creates one. well, we already had 22 million people in this country wh

. >> ifill: then, a powerful democratmontana's max baucus, is the eighth senator to say he won't seek reelection next year. we look at why democrats are worried. >> woodruff: fred de sam lazaro reports on gender bias in india, where many parents still opt for baby boys over girls. >> the gap began to wideen in the '90s with new ultrasound machines that made it easy to learn a fetus's sex. this scans have led to the termination of millions of female pregnancies. >> ifill: and margaret warner talks with the author of a new book about shadow wfa waged bythe c.i.a. and speal forces. >> a week after 9/11 president bush gave the c.i.a. lethal authority to capture and kill al qaeda members so they become much more into the killing business and the military. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. >> and with the

baucus, tom harkin, tim johnson, j.ller, how concerned are democrats at this point about losing these seats and consequently control of the senate? >> well, i think it's too early to tell. it's a challenge. any time you have open seats, it stretches your resources. puts more pressure other than fund-raising. look at the last election, the republicans had a similar kind of hope where they thought they would be able to pick up simply because there were so many open seats. in fact it was a disaster for them. he lost seats. so i don't necessarily see the concern manifesting yet. other than one about, we've got to fund raze more. top-tier candidates. in states, we just have better candidates now. the candidates will end up running in some of the ones that just opened up will be very competitive. so montana might be a little more of a challenge. again, i'm not that concerned about it right now. >> what's-o happening here? in some cases it's age. some of these guys are stepping down. it's not money. they've raised a bucket loa

max baucus does not believe in background checks for everybody.downside of the 50 state strategy. >> that's the issue. you that get these guys and they have this idea that somehow because they're in a red state or in a red area, they have to behave like a red in that regard. they do not. especially in the case of background checks and especially in the case of single payer. they could have supported this. but they -- get a lot of their money from the insurance companies so they ran blocker on behalf. and so, again that noodle back idea that somehow they were weak on this or that they caved that's not what happened. >> stephanie: you refer to kathy -- >> i say to the republican leadership, take off your lace panties, stop being noodlebacks. >> how did she know about my lace panties? >> i'm not gay. my wife hasn't heard about this. >> stephanie: john in cleveland. welcome. >> caller: good morning. >> stephanie: hello. >> caller: you know what? i think we're missing the messaging on this whole gun deal. and i think it is time for us to stop sitting b

a new piece look at how with max baucus retiring another obama frenemy is biting the dust. i want to bring in our panel. gang, it is great to have you all here today. hogan, i want to start with you. we said frenemies. others can look at it as a bromance. some say several major areas of overlap have emerged. they say there isn't a bromance but there's a functional relationship that gets both men closer to their policy goals. come on. a bromance could come out of that. they see a way to move forward through each other's politics that could cement their legacy, don't you agree? >> they could. this is the kind of time where i'm excited. i'm glad they are trying to come together to get something accomplished. where has this been? the president came into office. mccain was there for a long time. this is typical of politicians looking back in way twilight of their career. i know it was a chilly election and they didn't have the best relationship coming out of that but still this is what we elect them to do. we elect them to come to the table with ideas that may be different and m

baucus made the announcements this morning.ats will have an uphill battle certainly to keep the red state seat. baucus is the eighth senator and sixth democrat to call it quits this cycle. following iowa's tom harkin, tim johnson of south dakota, jay rockefeller of west virginia. michigan's carl levin. new jersey's frank lautenberg. saxby chambliss of georgia. mike johans of any nebraska. they're all quitting. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. yes, you could. but i wondered what a customer thought? describe the first time you met. you brought the flex in... as soon as i met fiona and i was describing the problem we were having with our rear brakes, she immediate

chairman but i want to thank chairman baucus for convening this hearing to consider the nomination of marilyn tavenner to serve as administrator for the centers for medicare and medicaid services, cms. this is a critical agency for a number of reasons has been without a confirmed administrator since the fall of 2006. cms is the world's largest health insurer. and has a budget of nearly $1 trillion processes over 1.2 billion claims a year or services provided to some of our nation's most vulnerable citizens receiving medicare and medicaid. if confirmed, ms. tavenner, you'll have a daunting challenge ahead of you. while i believe you have the qualifications to do the job, there is still much that you will need to do in order to assure members of this committee that cms is heading in the right direction and that your leadership will help steer the agency through the very turbulent times that lie ahead. one of the greatest challenges facing cms in the near future is implementation of the federal and state-based health insurance exchanges. in a speech last june, you said that the health ca

baucus made the announcements this morning.ll have an uphill battle certainly to keep the red state seat. baucus is the eighth senator and sixth democrat to call it quits this cycle. following iowa's tom harkin, tim johnson of south dakota, jay rockefeller of west virginia. michigan's carl levin. new jersey's frank lautenberg. saxby chambliss of georgia. mike johanns of nebraska. they're all quitting. we'll be right back. she's always been able to brighten your day. it's just her way. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe dr

>> i'm not going to argue with you or max baucus. call to figure out what's going on. it's a top democrat considered one of the architects of it, but the implementation of it is the thing. he's worried -- we promised exchanges. these exchanges are not going to be ready. a few that are are not going to have choices. it will be an unmitigated disaster who pays the brunt of this are individuals and small businesses. he knows this. >> the white house says the republican governors oppose the exchanges, and that's unfair, but the republicans say, hey, wait a second, our state taxpayer foot the bill for the costly exchanges. we have a history of failure in the past. >> even the states that want exchanges, will not be ready on the time line they said. they won't have the choices that were promised. the implementation of this has been a disaster and writing is on the wall. >> if you don't get the consumers in the state health exchanges, stuart, they will fail. >> okay. guns, a subject we've covered to a limited degree on this program, but, ye