gaylord came over to ben, he was looking at ben's shoulder. he placed his hand upon the blessed spot and looked into ben's eyes. god has sent you, he said. god has sent you to us to tell our story. now, if for those of you who are doubters, who are thomass in the crowd, i have a picture here -- [laughter] i have a picture here. if you buy the book, you'll see the dove perched on the back of ben's back and backpack. and so it was real, and it was made even more poignant to me because after i saw that picture of ben from then on insisted that i call him st. benny. [laughter] so st. benny is before us, has his own aura. [laughter] we'd like to open it up for any questions that we might have. kabul, ask, obvious -- afghanistan, obvious, you know, if you watch the news, you read the papers is very much in our lives right now and very important to us and for a multitude of reasons, and we all have opinions about them. the the story even though we're entering its ninth anniversary is as poignant today as it was then. and, unfortunately, i wish it was

ben bernanke. let me supercede and give everyone a chance to be heard on this and some i know, will want more time than others to talk about this and i appreciate that. in a way that accommodates our members in these matters. obviously to vote out we need a quorum present and majority have to vote in the affirmative. can't have a majority by approximatey so i would like to get to the nam nations but get people a full opportunity to discuss the nomination in full. what i'll try and do is put a five minute time limit but not sustain anyone to exactly that. i know some have more time than others to be heard on the matter and we come to a point where i'll lose a quorum or senate will come back and then i'll stay around however long people would like after we have a vote to listen to why people voted for or against the nominee. i'll not do that now but at some point today i have to move this nomination and i want to not have a jam through on this thing without people having to be heard having a chance t

ben, did you serve? ben, did you serve? >> i was in the navy and expelled -- you asked me that already. i was in the naval rotc and was kicked out for having asthma. but i did volunteer. they kicked me out. so there you are. >> okay. >> i was in it for a couple months marching around and learning -- i never was able to serve. >> larry: jesse was a s.e.a.l. >> jesse is a brave guy. >> you know what's going to be interesting, tomorrow night the president is going to give a speech and in which he's going to try and square the circle. he's going to give general mcchrystal more or less what he wanted in terms of troops. and he's going to try to give everybody else who is opposed to this escalation a lot of words. but that's not going to work. because the public is losing confidence in this attempt to try and be all things to our people. >> larry: sorry, folks, we're out of time. i'm really sorry. thank you all very much.

bravo. >> larry: ben, what do you think? >> he made terrible mistakes letting the monetary crisis get out of the way in the first place. way, way, way too much easy money going to people making mortgage loans. way too little regulation of wall street. wall street was walking away with billions in their pockets and leaves us with trillions in liabilities. but once he helped to create the problem, he did help create the solution, which was to flood the economy with money. you can call it counterfeit money if you want, representative, but it is money. it is under the law money. and he did save the economy but he had a huge part in harming it. but for me, the man of the year is the american fighting man, woman, fighting in iraq and afghanistan. maybe they should be there. maybe they're not. but they are the real stars in this world. >> larry: we'll come back. palin and schwarzenegger are going at it. we will be back in 60 seconds. >> larry: let's take a call on this. billerica, georgia, hello. are you there? are you there, bille

ben?> well, i think i was quite puzzled when he was awarded the nobel peace prize, but it was not clear what he had done, especially in first nine days of office to deserve it. but i think moving troops to afghanistan is the best pro peace gesture so far. if the al qaeda and the taliban took over pakistan and used it as a launching pad for new attacks on the rest of the civilized world including the united states, i think it would be a very, very dangerous anti-peace thing to do. i think trying to bring some kind of stability to afghanistan and not letting it by a haven for terrorists is a very pro-peace act. and i think this is bm become's finest hour. >> larry: what's your read? you never know what ben is going to say. tanya? >> here is one thing we know the president did do. we changed american foreign policy from sot of being this cowboys and indians video game to show instead being focused on real diplomacy and building alliances and moving forward to america's long term strategic int

don't tell the right wingers like ben stein.te what happened. >> i don't consider -- ben stein, you never know where he is going. >> before stephanie was born, i wrote the speech that sent the first health care legislation up for mr. nixon in 1973. >> larry: nixon proposed a lot of liberal things. >> and our idea was a simple one. it's a rage in the country as healthy as this that poor people can't get health insurance. >> larry: why did that fail? >> nixon got overwhelmed -- >> larry: did they fight snit. >> keep the government's big feet out of it and give the people money to by an insurance policy. >> is it pregenting anything from happening? >> i don't know. i think it's that it's that it's very, very complicated and we're making it more complicated instead of less. i usa like to think, is there a way to solve the problems with more freedom. and the fact that we we got is not works does not mean that is the only way out. i may agree with stephanie on that. >> larry: let's turn to the former governor of alaska. sarah palin co

so is a war, ben. so is a war that's draining our economy. >> i know. >> isn't that a little worse than increasing -- >> governor, we're in the war and we're in the recession. why make the recession worse? >> and who took us to war? the chicken hawks. the guys who -- >> that doesn't matter. >> yes, it matters to me. >> it doesn't matter at this point, governor. it doesn't matter at this point. why would you want to push us deeper into the recession? let's say it was a bad idea to go into the wars. maybe it was. where why would you punish the ordinary americans? >> when it comes to health care, we are all very concerned about not having a health care bill that is not going to be deficit neutral. why don't we have the same concerns about escalating in afghanistan? that's really the question. if we want health care deficit neutral, why isn't the war deficit neutral as well? >> larry: i got to get a break, guys. we'll pick up. let me get a break and we'll pick up with this very boring interlu interlude, do

he is really a big disappointment. >> larry: ben what is your read? >> the last time i looked he represents the state of connecticut, a state with heavy insurance companies. hi wants to please them. and buy-ins suffering and medicare could be very, very expensive to a government and people that are already broke on government overspending. he represents the state where the insurance companies are. >> larry: but the people are very liberal. >> the people are very liberal but have lots and lot of money and they are with the insurance companies. >> larry: get's get to business. banny frank what do you think of the federal reserve chairman being named man of the year. they said he led an etch fort to save the world's economy match what do you think? >> i don't subscribe to the concept of the man of a woman of the year. and reporters say, what is the one thick you are doing? and i always have more than one thing. and i do believe he is a major force. hi started with the bush administration. he was a high ranking george bush appointee. he's the one that ini

ben stywall will come out. elhanan bone in for stywall with the two personal fouls. 1:30 to go here in the first half. smith. strong move to the bucket. he has been the offense for nc state tonight. >> mike g.: what happened there is bone got way out of position defensively that time and allowed smith to have an easy layup. >> mike h.: el hann bone inside with his first field goal. >> mike g.: kyle randall doing a nice job for the defense. getting an easy layup for the big guy. >> mike h.: tracy smith has scored nc state's first six points. under a minute to go in the first half. here is smith on the block. >> mike g.: think mike dement mike did he ment could live with nc state not making the basket. threes on the perimeter. >> mike h.: nc state now just 3 for 9 from behind the arc. smith yet to hit a three-point in the first half. >> mike g.: that's just not now they're built. much more of an attacking kind of an old school team. >> mike h.: gonzalez for three. splash. javier gonzalez, 36% from behind the arc.

. >> they are the quintessential baseball family, the molinas, ben gypping, jose and yadar, a rare feat three brothers playing ints. the backbone is gone. ben molina santana passed away at at the age of 58. >> it is like somebody take your heart and threw it in the trash. >> his passing was stunning between games of a youth

suffered a six-game losing streak in ben howland's first time when he went 10-19. let's go to michael eaves. >> michael: ben howland saying his team needs to do better with the turnovers. only eight official in the first half but what ben howland was talking about were all the quick shots that were basically turn yoefrmts marcus johnson talking about it early, some of the shots by drag jim and turns into a runout for mississippi state and he said beyond that the most important thing we need in the second half is need a better effort. they are simply pushing us around. we're too good of a team to be pushed around like we have been in the first half and like you were saying they don't seem to have the effort like they did a couple nights ago against kansas jarvis. >> steve: and against kansas, they took 61 shots in that game and 14 were bad shots. roll. that's a good shot. >> marcus: nice job. nelson finding the cutter, but the effort, the energy on defense that michael eaves talked about and dragovic and sop of the ill-advised long jumpers, taking the long jumpers a

>> let's deal with ben bernanke first. we have senator bonding, senator demint. >> bunning's a hold, demint's a hold. >> you think that mr. bernanke will be approved tomorrow at the committee level? >> i do not know. we will find out soon enough. >> can you walk us through procedurally what has to be done to put a hold on bernanke on the floor? >> we have to sit down with the leadership and work out process. at the end of the day, on sunday, not yet clear when, there will be a long debate on this issue. they will need 60 votes to prevail. other questions on bernanke and then we can go to health care. >> i am wondering whether you had the opportunity to raise this directly but president obama and what response you had. >> i had been raising a lot of concerns with president obama. this is not one. but i can tell you that as many of you know, a number of months ago, six are seven of us from the senate, byron dorgan, jim webb, and some others, went to the white house, and what we said reflects the feelings of many people in ou

ben, you and i are blood brothers.et me just say that regarding napolitano i don't believe that she is qualified. the statements she has been making are not reassuring to the american people. she calls terrorist attacks man-made disaster. now, everybody in america knows we're in a war against terror except she's not commenting about it. when she talks about it, she says things like the system worked. she says things like this was a man-made disaster when it was a terrorist act. >> congressman, a lot of this trouble dates back to the bush administration doesn't it, as well? is it fair to go after her all the time? >> well, we're not in the bush administration. that was a long time ago. we are now in the obama administration and napolitano is in charge of the security of this country. homeland security. and if she can't do the job, and if she's making statements like she has been making not reassuring the american people and letting people on the watch list get on planes because they don't disseminate information that th

reeves nelson is a ben howland kind of player. we've seen it so far in this game. of his eight rebounds six have been offensive. being scrappy down low. battling cole aldrich, the morris twins. really being the defensive, pretty kind of player ben howland was when he was in high school and college. but on this play, coming up, being scrappy. being tough. he takes one to the eye. the ball goes in. they've been working on him in the time-out ever since. he does have a slight scratch just below his right eye but the real problem is and marques says this, his eye is really swelling up. they put some ice on it. trying to get the swelling to go down. the trainers were having him follow a finger to make sure he could see through that swelling. they're still not certain if he's going to be able to play. he wants to play. trying to talk them into it. but the trainers and doctors are being very careful that he doesn't go back out there in a condition where he can get hurt even worse. >> steve: that's ben lounhowlan style. we asked him yesterday what he wanted to see from ucl

ben molina santana passed away at at the age of 58. >> it is like somebody take your heart and threw it in the trash. >> his passing was stunning between games of a youth double-header. games played on the feel where he built them from scratch. >> he had high blood pressure and he wasn't taking his pills and he was going to the fields andmaing it. all of it got his blood pressure off and that's when he had the heart attack. >> the funeral within the community where he lived. >> it was a major thing seeing 3 or 4000 people in two or three days showing respect, the most respect that they have for my dad. you have to be there to know how the kids were crying. i'm talking about nine, ten years old. >> my dad was a great man. he tried to help the little kids and got a bunch of teams. >> he died doing what he loved. he built that field literally. to die there was a special moment for him. >> a special moment as a special place, the ball feel which is such a community landmark and it's street builds the architect's name, it was on that field that a father taught his three kids had to play t

ben stiwall can score off the basket. to pull off the 15 feet to score. >> greensboro has two key players out with the flu. we'll have more on th why is travel these days about what you give up and not what you get? like electricity for gadget power at your seat. room to stretch your legs, and your wingspan, food when you're hungry, and taking off your shoes, only if you feel like it. these aren't luxuries, they're basics. get them back on acela. oh! blue! i touched the ball before it went out, coach. come on, alex, the ref did not call that! it's the championship game! i touched, it's their ball. don't foul them when they inbound. team! alex! good call. folks, why won't we go to the doctor? my uncle calls, speech all slurred complaining his arm's numb. he called everyone. he even called my daughter teara-- 'cause, you know, she's got a "year" of nursing. everyone thinks he needs to go to the doctor--including me. so he said, "will you take me?" i'm like, "i'm on the road." he goes, "i'll wait." comedian: stroke's no joke

haven't gone zone yet as ben howland said they might.man defense looks like it's -- >> steve: jerime anderson, but nelson is battling to keep it. >> marques: that might be good. the way the rules are now he was starting his shooting motion. officials are conferring. i think just on that very thing. >> steve: he just flipped it up and it went in. the officials, outstanding officials. they say no basket. >> marques: it was close but now nelson is down. there's the contact right there occurring. because of the injury, that was way after the contact. good call by the officials. wow. >> steve: look at. he says i made that shot? are you kidding me? >> marques: and they took it away. >> steve: yeah. going to have a black eye. no reward. this kid has six offensive rebounds in today's ball game. >> marques: take another look at that. poke from morris. i thought they may count that because over the last couple of years pac-10 officials are a lot more lenient with those kinds of nba-like, continuation type plays. they tell me if you start with a sh

hold it, ben. hold it.ve got to get a break in. >> larry: ron paul, you want to respond first to the congresswoman and then ben. >> yes, i do. >> larry: go ahead. >> one thing that is missing here is never asking the question what is the motive? he said why he did it. he said it because we bombed yemen two weeks ago. that was his motive. osama bin laden said he has a plan for america. first he wants to bog us down in the middle east in a no-win war. he wants to bankrupt this country, demoralize us, as well as have us do things that motivate people to join his radical movement. it seems we've fallen into his trap. why is it off base? today when the gentleman indicated that he did it because of the bombing. you know what the administration said? they dismissed it. it can't possibly be so. if you dismiss motivations for why they hate us, we can never resolve this. floos hate on both sides. you have to ask why do they hate and they usually come up with a reason. and we're foolish not to take that into considera

where was ben bernanke when this was happening?> reporter: the nation's top banker has taken extraordinary actions-- using the fed's power in novel ways to pump trillions of dollars into the financial system. last year, amid debate over the wall street bailout, he answered critics who said the government should let the crisis take its course. >> why don't we allow free market system to correct itself? >> my response is that the pain would be very significant, it would be very difficult for main street, if this credit system broke down, it would be very costly to average people. here's a better solution. the better solution is to recognize that things went wrong, we've got a problem that we can solve if we address it with enough force. >> reporter: bernanke defended his use of that force again at his senate confirmation hearing two weeks ago. >> taken together, the federal reserve's actions have contributed substantially to the significant improvement in financial conditions and to what now appear to be the beginnings of a turnaroun

also joining us out of los angeles ben stein, economist. he served as a speechwriter for presidents nixon and ford and is a columnist for "fortune" magazine. from new york, mark hill, associate professor at columbia university and nationally syndicated columnist. finally, joining me here in d.c., peter beinart, senior political writer for the daily beast and professor for the city university of new york and author of "the good fight, why liberals and only liberals can win the war on terror and make america great again." we're out of time because you are all way too well credentialed. moving along you've written a book that sounds just right for this time. what do you make of what's happened today and the news that a report was at the cia about this suspect? >> well, clearly, this problem of sharing intelligence continues to be a major issue but i think the larger context here is that as we move further and further away from september 11, concerns about terrorism receded on both sides of the aisle. the balance between privacy and security ti

gives up the 12-foot range and hits the wide-open jump shot jarvis. >> steve: ben howland's teams are known for their defense. this year's team has suffered a little bit because of their inexperience and lack of depth and been working on that a lot this week and there's augustus to the hoop, count the basket and a chance for an old-fashioned three. jarvis gets one more. see what he has now, 435 blocks in his career, an s.e.c. here's number one today. his wingspan is 7 feet 8. he got up for that one. stretch. welcome home, man. jarvis. >> steve: here at honda center and the wooden classic. mississippi state leads by four. our subjects on the pyramid of success, skill and team spirit. >> marcus: yes, skill and team spirit. a couple of blocked shots on the wooden pyramid of success, knowledge and ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. coach wooden big on the fundamentals. consideration for others. a key aspect of team spirit and coach wooden fosters that as well as any coach in ncaa history and the, i mean, he didn't treat every player the same because he felt like the

where are we on ben bernanke and his reappointment? his term is up on january 2010, and my bet is that the president had to make a decision today he would reappointing them. changing drivers when the road is so bumpy and the road so kirby is risky. putting his own person into the fed would inevitably spark speculation and concern among our people who lend us money from the rest of the world, the people on whom we are now dependent, that obama was putting in his own person in order that easy money, more inflation, a weaker dollar. i don't think the president appointee would likely do that, but people would think that he was and that would cost them something. finally, what all these decisions are made, it's all compared to whom? i think the president probably concludes that despite some pretty attractive options on his own staff, larry summers, that for the sake of the economy and stability that bernanke to reappointment would probably be the safest course but if that's true why does he does come out and announce it tomorrow? i think th

i want to say this about ben nelson.t want to vote for them, and believed that reid swallowed it to have a chance to pass this. and the second point, i am a democrat, life long from illinois, and i will be contacting dick derby, it's time that the democrats reorganize çand have some part discipline. the chairmans are responsible for the parties and what they are bringing forward. and also if you are inna cause na -- caucus and i understand that position, but a member shouldn't in an isolated incident put themsz -- themselves in a position to stop what we are doing as a party. if you choose not to want that, don't block things for a vote. i will contact him, we have to exercise the discipline with these people. guest: well, your caller from chicago bring up an interesting point. there is a significant debate of how to deal with this situation when you have 60 people and one person can stop it. in addition to nelson, earlier in this process we saw senator lieberman, an independent of the democratic caucus, and he had issu

ben, hold it. we'll have ben and ron respond right after this. getting from stephens green in dublin... to the guinness storehouse should take... fifteen minutes... that's the way we do it: the viking plunder. ♪ i still have the mark... on the end of my nose. footprints from the fairies toes. i think they're speckled... but some say they're freckled. there was a fairy on my nose. but don't be surprised if you get side-tracked. >> larry: ron paul, you want to respond first to the congresswoman? >> yes, i do. one thing that is missing here is never asking the question what is the motive? abdulmutallab, he said why he did it. he said because we bombed yemen two weeks ago. osama bin laden says he has a plan for america. he wants to bog us down in the middle east in a no-win war and bankrupt the country and demoralize us. it seems like we have fallen sbau his trap. why is it off base? today when a gentleman indicated that he did it because of the bombing, you know what the administration said? they dismissed it. it can't possibly be so. if you dismiss

ben nelson, blanch lincoln. are they okay now because of this, quote, deal? >> that's what we're all waiting to see. it is funny to sort of watch the spotlight move from one whoever the 60th vote is at that moment to the next. it was olympia snow. then it was ben nelson for a long time. blanch lincoln has been in that spotlight. she sort of takes herself out of it. she's not as high profile as some of the others. what we're looking for is blanch lincoln from arkansas, ben nelson from nebraska still two of the big names that everybody is waiting to see. the one who has popped up recently has been jim web from virginia simply because he's been vote ing with the republicans on a lot of these amendments. there's some concern that maybe he's not as strong as we thought he could be. he could be the 60th vote. >> lehrer: when the president said, as we had in a clip after the meeting with the democrats, he said there are still differences. what's he talking about? >> well, the biggest difference i think by far has to do with abortion language and how tough the restri

ben he decides to change things. he decides to abandon apartheid and nuclear weapons by the time he made this decision south africa had assembled six. but in 1989 the clerk began to unwind the whole process two years later would be for florida parliament and said here's what they cost here is how many people are involved and they call on the international atomic energy agency. they agreed and they were taken apart they recycle the energy and south africa ceased being a nuclear state.

. >> lehrer: then, a performance review for federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. economist james galbraith and former fed vice chair alice rivlin debate his record. >> brown: and the relevance in our time of john maynard keynes: "newshour" economics correspondent paul solman has a somewhat off-beat explanation. ♪ my general theory made quite an impression i transformed the econ profession, you know me, modesty say it loud and say it clear, we're all keynesians now. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour."

something that ben bernanke is going to be battling with for some time.hourly his actions, but his predecessors actions as well. something similar happened in japan when they had their lost decade. there was a breakdown on major economic policy. host: and the to the point about alan greenspan haunting the room? >> absolutely. his comments were as much if not more about greenspan than ben bernanke. one of the reasons ben bernanke is getting a second chance right now is because a lot of people feel that maybe many of the big mistakes being made before this crisis were made by ben bernanke's predecessor. interest rates were held low in the later stages of the greenspan era. more importantly, they took their eyes off ocpáhe regulatory ball. they were not aggressively regulating financial institutions. greenspan had a lazy fair -- was a fair -- lasse fair attitude about institutions looking after themselves. that it would be i am and institutes self-interest not to drive itself off of a bitch, but it did not work. -- off of aÑi ditch, çóbut it dd not work. cal

it's my understanding that senator ben nelson is ready, has an amendment. i think we've given it to your staff. this may be one where it's

in trying to work on some kind of a compromise that could pass muster and, yes, it is upsetting that ben nelson can get the deal he can get for the state of nebraska. but the problem is, when you don't have a single republican vote wants to step up to vote, and this will require 60 votes to pass, what you going to do? guest: here is " the new york

lehrer: senator ben nelson says he has newed reservations in that bill because othe abortion iss. he's one of the you're countingn. what do u think about that? >> loo there are many issues that have been rsed by him and many others. we'll work our way through tse issues. again, i'm condent we'll get this done in in a wathat will hold theoalition together. >> lehrer: what you make this rising oppotion among liberal decrats, particularly led by former democrathairman howard dn? >> look, i think that lot of people hava great deal of passion about the issu i have a great deal of psion about it mysf. i have someone in my familwith a chronic illns and i've had manyf the horrific experiences th insurance that other americans are have had and i feel strongly about this and so does the prident. so, you knowpeople are impaioned and there are some disagreements abt aspects of thislan. but there absolutely no doubt that the refms that we're working on will be infinely tter than the situation that we face today. people will be ae to get insurance th they can afford even if they don't g it thro

ben molina santana passed away at at the age of 58. >> it is like somebody take your heart and threw it in the trash. >> his passing was stunning between games of a youth double-header. games played on the feel where he built them from scratch. >> he had high blood pressure and he wasn't taking his pills and he was going to the fields andmaing it. all of it got his blood pressure off and that's when he had the heart attack. >> the funeral within the community where he lived. >> it was a major thing seeing 3 or 4000 people in two or three days showing respect, the most respect that they have for my dad. you have to be there to know how the kids were crying. i'm talking about nine, ten years old. >> my dad was a great man. he tried to help the little kids and got a bunch of teams. >> he died doing what he loved. he built that field literally. to die there was a special moment for him. >> a special moment as a special place, the ball feel which is such a community landmark and it's street builds the architect's name, it was on that field that a father taught his three kids had to play t

now we continue with discussion of ben bernanke.want more time than others to comment on this. obviously, to vote these nominations we need a quorum president, and the majority have to vote. we cannot vote by proxy for the nominee. i want to give a chance of a full opportunity to discuss the nomination in fall. what i am trying to do is put a five-minute time limit on it. i know people have more time than others to be heard. we come to a point where i am going to lose a quorum, then what i would do is set up a time whenever people would like to listen to the comments as to why they voted for or against the nominee. i am not going to do that now, but of some point today i have to move the nomination, and i do not want to spend all day on it, but i do not want to jam this through without people who want to be heard on the matter having a chance to do so. that is how i will proceed. i have very brief comments to make because during the ÑiÑiconfirmation hearing i exprs myself about the confirmation, but others have longer comments they

where was ben beanke when this was happening?> repter: the nation's top banker has takenxtraordinary actions-- usg the fed's power in novel ws to pump trillions of dollars into thfinancial system. last year,mid debate over the wall street bailout,e answered critics who said the gernment should let the csis take its urse. >> why don't we allofree market system to correct ielf? >> my respon is that the pain would be very signifant, it would be very difficult fomain street, if this credit syste broke down, it would be ry costly to average people. here's better solution. the tter solution is to recognize thathings went wrong, we've got a proem that we c solve if we address it with enough force. >>eporter: bernanke defended his use of tt force again at his sena confirmation hearing two weeks ago. >> ten together, the federal reserve's actions have contributed substantially the significt improvement in financial coitions and to what now apar to be the beginnings of aurnaround in both the u.s. and foign economies. >> rorter: even with t

the senate banking committee has endorsed the nomination of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke for a second term. the vote was 16 to 7. supporters said bernanke helped stave off financial ruin, while opponents argued he should have seen the crisis coming. >> had he and others not acted, some of whom sit on this committee at a time of critical importance to our country, we'd be looking at a very, very different, and far more dire situation in our nation than is otherwise the case. i believe ben bernanke deserves substantial credit as chairman of the federal reserve for helping us navigate those waters, certainly without not with perfection, but certainly i think stepping up at a critical time in our nation's history with some very wise leadership that benefited our nation. >> many have said that changing horses in middle of stream will introduce an unacceptable level of uncertainty into the markets. on the other hand, i would argue that it could be equally damaging to our economy and our form of government if we, the u.s. senate, fail to use our constitutional authority to disapprov

ben bernanke is up for reappointment. and, of course, the entire conversation was about the economy and what is the future of the economy? there were a number of people who had a conversation about the past. but i wanted to focus on the future. and i pointed this out to the chairman and asked for his comments with respect to future of our economy. most of my constituents don't understand what i'm about to say. frankly, most of the people in the press don't understand it and maybe some of you, even members of this body, don't even understand it. when we talk about the federal budget, two-thirds of the federal budget is beyond the control of this congress. two-thirds of the federal budget is on autopilot unless this congress changes entitlements. somebody says, well, what does this word entitlement mean? why do you talk about entitlement? entitlement means by law these individuals are entitled to this money whether we have it or not. the federal government has made a contract with them. all right, it's a social contract rat

host: caller touching on - ben ben bernanke. he be in washington today and we plan live coverage on c-span three. one of our companion networks at 12:45 eastern. he'll talk about some of the most frequently asked questions of the federal reserve. said chair. 12:45 and from georgia, steve, democrat, hi. there. caller: yes, i'm calling about the news about the tarp funds coming in. and there is nothing this president does that is a good thing for this country. i am so glad to hear the good news. this country wants them to fail. they do not care what good comes out of it. the only objective is that this country fails under this president. i'm so happy to see the news coming out of these studies that is actually good news. we would have been in the worst economic situation if this president has not taken the steps that he did. now they are saying that it is a hoax, which is not the case. this country was at the brink of economic ruin and this president has succeeded in pulling out of that. but these republicans have failed to realiz

. >>> the health care debate in the senate continues but ben nelson keeps his anti-abortion. and the republican stunt opposing an amendment to force all congress members to enroll in a public option backfires in their face. three democrats sign on to co-sign on the amendment including sherrod brown of ohio. >>> rush limbaugh goes where no one would debating on a ridiculous couch. >> if you don't have money you're going to live in a bungalow somewhere. that's -- >> we're talking about health care p. >> what's the difference? >>> the president talking job creation today in pennsylvania demonstrating the beauty of town halls without screened questions. >> i was wondering if maybe you checked out some of the statistics about legalizing prostitution, gambling, drugs and nonviolent crime in order to stimulate some of the economy. >>> and a bad week for tiger woods gets worse. new reports of hush money paid to his nightclub paramour and harry scheer on the privacy tradeoff that tiger woods can't seem to figure out. at least there's no new animation. >>> all the news and commentary n

bernanke was so the book lets you see what ben and his colleagues were thinking, would the minister, why they did what they did, the internal tension and uncertainty and how they were learning along the way. you are a very good translator federal speak by the way and i've been known to speak fed speed calvo i tried not to. [laughter] the last couple of years were a wild life at the fed and it's not necessarily over yet. i was watching closely during this period but i learned a lot from this book. there's other books about the crisis, quite a few of them. mostly the particular episodes like lehman brothers or bear stearns. but this one gave this a very close inside look at the actions of the federal reserve to of particular focus of been bernanke. now, you start this book with that climactic weekend in september of 2008 which is actually only a little bit more than a year ago. it's hard to realize that it was not long ago. the weekend when they let lehman brothers fail and then they bailed out aig. then you go to the run-up of the crisis and proceed more or less chronologically with t

this is ben. host: go ahead, ben. caller: like the last woman the republican party don't do nothing. when people talk about taking away rights, can you talk about the terry schiavo's case, didn't the wife that was brain damaged and the republican party is for rich and rich only and poor trash, they going to get y'all in the end. that's the only thing i got to say, sir. host: in the national section of "the new york times" this morning, this political memo by adam in a gurty. the health care debates -- it's not just that the left wing of the party thinks that its centrists hold too much sway and when faced with pressure from the right, it is also this white house stocked as it is with insiders, people whose view of politics is shaped by the compromises innarnte legislateing. it's made up largely of outsiders in the law making process who are asking why they should accept politics as usual. it goes on to say that as much as mr. obama presented himself as an outsider during the campaign, a lesson of this battle is that t

it looks like ben bernanke is likely to be extended into a second term. it will take 60 votes, but there is a solid middle of the senate who seem to respect the guy, that he has done the best that he could in a difficult situation. some of them think that he has helped us to avoid the abyss. judd gregg, the republican from new hampshire, is one of them. generally supportive. host: how did the bank of america plan set the stage in the hearing room? >> the truth is that banks have been repaying their money. one thing about bank of america is that day receive the more extraordinary assistance. what they found, apparently, is that having to control from a government that comes with that has made it harder to find a new ceo, so they cannot pay as much as they would ordinarily do. it makes people glad to not have that much more money invested in banks. host: how does the concern over the nation's unemployment rate affect the ben bernanke hearing? >> it hangs over everything. many questions will be asked about what mr. chairman is doing to help the job situation

ben nelson, anch lincoln. are they okay now becse of this, que, deal? >>hat's what we're all waiting to see. it is funny toort of watch the spotlight move froone whoever the 60th ve is at that moment to theext. it waslympia snow. then it wa ben nelsonor a long time. blanch linco has been in th spotlight. she sort of takes rself out of it. she's not as high prile as some of the others. what we're looking f is blan lincoln from arkansas, ben lson from nebraska still two of t big names that everybodis waiting to see. e one who has popped up cently has been jim web from virginia sply because he's been vote ing with the republicans on a lot of the amendments. there's some concernhat maybe he'sot as strong as we thought could be. he cou be the 60th vote. >> lrer: when the president said, as we hain a clip after e meeting with the democrats,e said there are still differences. what's he talking about? well, the biggest difference i thinky far has to do with abortion lauage and how tough threstrictions should bon abortion. senator benelson of nebraska who we've

ben bernanke's war on the great panic. it has a second subtitle as i read it. not every book has two subtitles. how the federal reserve became the fourth branch of government. it's a fascinating book i loved it and i think i should make that clear. at the outset, you take the reader step-by-step through the crisis of the last couple of years from the eyes of the chairman of the federal reserve, ben bernanke. so the book lets you see what dan and his colleagues were thinking, what they missed, why they did what they did, the internal intentions and uncertainties and how they were learning along the way. you are a very good translator of a fed speak by the way. i've been known to speak of fed speak though i always try not to air it but the last couple of years were a wild ride with the fed and it's not necessarily over yet. i was watching closely during this period, but i learned a lot in this book. there are other books about the crisis, quite a few of them mostly on particular episodes like lehman or bear stearns. but this one gives a very close inside look at

ben the irony is, if we can leave it goes back to state. i it would love to hear the logic of giving it to dod. what is also troubling is that we know right well -- we know right now we will have 140,000 if we can train them on time. we are transferring a contract over. we are at 94,000 and at the end of the year will be at 96,000. i would like to know more, like a request of 160,000 has been acted on. we are sending our troops in but we don't know if we will train more afghan police. all of this is troubling. when we were in afghanistan it was emphasized how corrupt every part of the system is. one part i think we would want to make sure is not correct was that the soldiers and police get paid. that impacts our contractors. we had an incredible conversation speaking to people who have been there five years and we are learning some of these people are not getting paid. i would like to think that we could have covered more territory with this panel. i think it would have been helpful to understand the protest process. are you willing to give

@ej÷ c1 >> following the vote, democratic senator ben sanders spoke about the -- ben nelson spoke aboutabortion provision. >> mr. president, during the consideration of the health care bill, one of my primary concerns has been insuring that the long standing hyde amendment would be incorporated into the bill. i have strongly held views on this subject and i fought hard to prevent tax dollars from being used to subsidize abortions. i was pleased that the house included strong abortion provisions in its health care bill in the form of stpupec amendment. i wanted to prohibit federal funding of abortion. i was disappointed to see the amendment was tabled by a vote of 54-45. i knew then that the underlying bill did not adequately prohibit federal funding of abortion and consequently, i would not be able to support it. i began to look for other language to accomplish the goal that no public funds should cover abortions in the new health care bill. after long days up negotiations, i believe we came up with a true compromise that stays faithful to my principles. i want to be clear -- i stuck to

ben nelson's and then to do so last week failed. his was mirrored after the amendment put into the house built by part -- bart stupak, pro-life from michigan what they're doing is having to bob casey, who probably has the some credibility with the pro-choice liberals and the caucus because bob casey himself as a liberal, trying to put a compromise language that harry reid would wrap into the amendment at the very end that would make ben helson -- ben nelson happy, and make bob casey happy but still not anger the pro-choice democrats and calls any of them to drop off the bill. then nelson told me yesterday that at least harry reid believed there was progress made, according to a conversation those two had appeared bob casey told me there is still work to do but he seemed optimistic. if i'm sort of going to judge his mood. host: first call on health care as the president says they are on the presses -- cressidas. victor. caller: i want you to know i'm behind president obama 100 percent. i need health care myself. i have a regular elem

the next night, harry reid shook hands with ben nelson. that produced the abortion adjustment.got a congratulatory phone call from the president. host: as drew armstrong told us this morning, this is not the end. there will be signed of reconciliation to be determined with the house bill which includes a public option parade in a few minutes, the senate will gavel in ended about 50 minutes, the senate will vote on final passage of hr 3590, the health care bill, $780 billion. we will show you bits of the boat. back to your phone calls on health care reform. middletown, delaware, you oppose the bill? caller: yes, i do. i feel that if you're going to vote on health care issues, go to the heart of the matter. that is the extent -- spent expanding price of health care. it is way out of control in every state in this country. there is no reason for these high health care bills. the cost is more than anyone can absorb. the co-pays are off the wall. i know people who have copays of $50-$100. they need to look at best, not this foolishness they have been doing in washington. they don't

timothy geithner and ben bernanke has worked closely recently, but ben bernanke's relationship with congress is better than timothy geithner's. he reached out to the hill, had members over to his office, had breakfast and talk shop. he and a member of the senate famously talk about their love for the red sox. i think if he will be confirmed, no doubt about that, but there will be some grilling of him this week. host: bob cusack, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you, greta. host: next caller, good morning. caller: you are beautiful today. obama wants to change things? start teaching medicine in high school. host: we are listening, arnold. caller: we have a free education system, why not make medicine free and to make a nation of doctors and start healing the world? host: dean, republican line. caller: good morning, america. i do not want $500 billion taken away from the medical coverage of seniors. i do not want my tax dollars to pay for abortions. sunday c-span had a lady on from alternet, but i would call what altered minds -- call it aletered minds. if you listen to what

and july of 201the marines that wnt into hell does man pro vince will have ben there for three summers. we'll know whether this thing will be successful or not by that te. >> lehrer: it will be at definitive youhink, between 18 nths to 4 months. >> in july of 20 --. >> lehrer: youl know. >>e believe we'll know. e can't beperfectly predictive. everody wants to be. we can't be. but those of in the military believe we he to turn thisround in the 18 to 24 months andwe think we have the right strateg, the rit leadership andow the right force lels. >> lrer: and that's what promed this marine to say will 30,000roop does that -- 3000 mre troop does that, tt is what he wa responding to. >> understood, undstood. and we beeve in the military that absolutely will. and that's the mission that the president has gven us and general chrystal, gener petraeus, mysf and others believe that we can executehat and succeed >> lehr: you also mention several times, in both groups about pakistan. in fac, youncludeded pakistan in the overall mission. explain wha you mean. >> well, pakistan, when the preside roll