senator bingaman joins us tonight from capitol hill. senator, nice to have you on the program, sir. >> nice to be with you, tavis. tavis: how realistic is that that we might start voting on that this week? gh i think we're going to start voting on amendments tomorrow. on tuesday we will be trying to complete all of the proposed amendments somewhere this week and finally report a bill by the ends of the week. i think that's senator baucus' hope. >> last i read, there are about 564 of these amendments. how do you weed through all of that and get to a vote by the end of the week? that's like five days from now. >> well, it obviously is going to take a lot of difficult work. i hope that many of those amendments will be acceptable to the chairman, and i hope others may -- the people proposing the others may decide to back away from those. there are clearly some issues that we're going to have to have debate and votes on, and that's as it should be. >> tavis: you mentioned max baucus a moment ago, the chairman here. if you were talking to con

to release a proposal and tried to mark something up in october. >> back to health care, senator bingaman. illegal immigrants, you have a border state, large immigrant population. how does the senate deal with illegal immigrants with health care legislation? >> frankly, we have about 4% of our population in new mexico that are determined or estimated to be undocumented right now. they do not have access to health care except to the extent that they show up in emergency situations and ask for health care. that would continue to be the case. they would not have access to health care, and to the extent that we set up the state exchanges that the president is talking about and all of us have talked about, and provide some type of tax benefit to people so that they can purchase health care through those exchanges, those tax benefits would not be available to undocumented immigrants. i think it is as clear as you can make it in the legislation, as far as i'm concerned. it is both and help committee legislation and in the legislation that we are likely to report in lease finance committee. >> se

ann bingaman had the wife of senator jeff bingaman of new mexico. what role does she play? >> guest: ann bingaman was the head of the antitrust investigation throughout most of these events. he was the person who supervised the antitrust division starting in washington and going down to the chicago field office and ultimately she is also the person-- there are quite a number of power plays to go on in this book. one of them is, there is a dispute between the local u.s. attorney in springfiehd and the antitrust division about when to do the rates, how to move forward and how to handle this, and so there are negotiations with the springfield u.s. attorney walking away from the allocations, and this sets off a firestorm in the antitrust division. this is the biggest case they have ever had a now they turn it over to springfld? there is ultimately a conference call with quite a number of people on it, where the springfield u.s. attorney remis ann bingaman, w who agreed and bgaman comes back with a series of statements that melted phoneall over the country about i am the assis

six which had a lot to do with negotiating what came out of the finance committee, senator jeff bingaman, democrat from new mexico. >> this takes you from about 83% of our population having insurance coverage to something close to 95% of our population having insurance coverage. and that has enormous benefits, not just for those individuals but also it helps to take the pressure off of the premiums that people are paying today because the premiums that people are paying today that have insurance reflects the cost of providing health care to folks that don't have insurance. >> rose: then to two terrific directors who happen to be women they are jane comp i don't know who has a new interesting film called "bright star" about a love affair with john keats. >> halfway through biography of keats, i came across this love story. i didn't know about it and i was just completely overwhelmed by it. and keats died and they had to be separated i just... something about the purity and the tenderness of it and... just got through to me. and i didn't at the time think i knew of a way of making it into

this is a point that senator bingaman made earlier. secondly, just to quote the president of the mayo clinic, he said we think everybody should have insurance. when people start talking about the public plan, it was not quite -- clear what kind of public play we're talking about, and if a public plan looks like medicare, i think the country would go broke almost overnight, because medicare is already proposed to go broke between 2015 and 2017, so, mr. chairman, medicare is unsustainable under its present course, and these experts agree that a government- run option would likewise be unsustainable. i thought i heard the argument secondly that physicians actually support a public plan. in the event that there is any question about that, i would know that the american medical association does not. there was a piece earlier in "the new york times," and i would just quote here. the american medical association is letting congress know we will oppose creation of a government sponsored insurance plan. they specifically point out one of the re

harry reid and jeff bingaman are so modest. bill, 2 million acres of new wilderness, at this instant a national conservation system, on and on and on, but to read the bill. and it was jeff laying the groundwork in the senate over couple of years, working very closely with harry reid, and that is the kind of thing that i think democrats are going to produce for the west. and we all know, we heard earlier today about how we're going to be about the clean energy future and a -- and focus on jobs. we have a wonderful opportunity here, because we have an abundance of these renewable resources. seller, wind, biomass, and our forests, geothermal, we have the ability and out here in the west to supply the energy for the entire rest of the country. and we're going to do that, and that is a part of our future. but why is it important to do it? just one will store that has captured me, talking to scientist about the west. if we continue business as usual, carbon dioxide emissions, we're going have twice as high a temperature in the west t

gang of six which had a lot to do with negotiating wt came out of the finan committee, senator jeff bingaman, democrat from new mexico. >> thistakes you from about 8 of our population having insurance coverage to sometng close 95% of our population havingnsurance covage. and that has enorms benefits, t just for those individuals butlso it hel take the pressure off of the premiums that people are paying tod becae the premiums that people are payin today that have surance reflects t cost of priding health care to folks thaton't have insance. >> rose: then to twoerrific directors who happeto be women they are jane comp i n't know who has aew interesting film called "bright star" abo a lo affair with jn keats >> halfway through biography of keats, i came across this love story. i didn't know about it and was just completely orwhelmed by it and keats died and ty had to be separate i just... something about the purity and the tenderness of it and... just got througto me. and i didn't at t time ink i knew of a way of makin it into a film. but had such an impact, it stayed with and i kept returning

. >> senator jeff bingaman, member of the gang of six. thank you. and we'll be right back with our reporters. we are back with michael coleman of the albuquerque journal and jeff young of the hill newspaper. michael when we were talking with senator bingaman, you mentioned that you had been attending town hall meetings in new mexico. what was the senator's reception? >> it was really a mixed reception. senator bingaman doesn't generally do town halls and i think he was pressured to do them. he said he wasn't going to do them. then people clamrd. passions were running pretty high. new mexico is a swing state. we're pretty closely divided. you've got a lot of people upset about things he was doing and then you've got a lot more liberal people who were happy about the reform. when he came out in august and said he was maybe ready to abandon the public option, the liberals nearly hit the roof. >> did you learn anything from the senator and their deliberations today? >> i think the most interesting thing from the way he talked about what the issues are,

i like to recognize senator bingaman. i don't think anyone has spent more time than this senator. is not only a senior member of this committee but also help committee, spending all of those weeks and hours working on amendments offered in committee. and on top of that, he is one of the group of six, so-called, and spent hours and hours -- i think we had 63 meetings that i am not mistaken. senator, thank you for all of your intelligence work in getting down to the details. the pragmatic way to do what is right here. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. your the one that ought to be getting the accolades today, and you are to a substantial extent. the phrase i've heard more and more members repeater here is extraordinary effort. and i endorse that. i think you have made an extraordinary effort to get us to this point and i very much appreciated. all are very long time, senator enzi and roberts and hatch and i all served on two committees, this committee and help committee. i think we went on for how many weeks over there, but it was quiet a while. years, senator -- the senator say

what harry reid and jeff bingaman, they are so modest.on the one thing that you should really know that we did on conservation. in this new administration, at the very beginning, call the public lands bill, 2 million acres of new wilderness, addition to wildlife and scenic rivers, additions to the national conservation system, on and on, a terrific bill. and just laid the groundwork on the senate over couple of years. perry worked very closely with him. and that is the kind of thing -- harry reid worked with him closely and that is the kind of things that democrats are going to produce for the west. and we all know, we heard earlier today about how we're going to be about a clean energy future and focus on jobs. we have a wonderful opportunity here, because we have an abundance of these renewable resources. seller, wind, biomass, geothermal -- solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, we can supply the energy for the entire rest of the country and we are going to do that. and that is a part of our future. but why is it important to do it? just on

then news makers with new mexico senator jeff bingaman, after that president obama's healthcare address. >> this morning, we'll talk with "new york times" white house correspondent peter baker. in an hour, yuval levin talks about the publication of a new quarterly. in a couple of hours,

senate, and that's why we're pleased this week to have a member of the gang of six, senator jeff bingamans our guest on "newsmakers." here to question him, jeff young, and michael coleman. senator, i understand that you have just left a meeting of the gang of six. could you give us an update on the progress gregs of your talks? >> there's not a lot of news to report. i do think senator baucus has continued to solicit input from us as to whealed include in his proposal or his mark that he has indicated he will release next week. he has also said that the week after next, i believe on monday of the following week, we will go ahead and mark up legislation in the finance committee, which i believe will at least start with the package of proposals that we've been talking about. and of course everyone will have a chance to propose amendments and additions, and i'm sure there will be a lot of that >> are you you the point yet where you agree with the basic structure for health care legislation? >> well, the basic structure that the president outlined the other night where we tried to expand cove

to hear senator bingaman articulate his view on why that is important but why it is not the be all and end all in the same way that the president did in his speech the other night, and to hear senator reid on thursday -- and you mentioned this -- talking about how the cooperatives could do the same thing of the public option could do, giving an alternative for private health insurance. the president mentioned that in his speech as well. and that -- the public option has taken a long journey with democrats. there are many in the house that feel very strongly that it has to be in the bill. senator bingaman is, i think, one of a small number of democratic leaders in congress who had been open in saying i support this, but i am not willing to hold up the entire process for it. and i think that we heard him say that again today. dolorous the house committees have already passed legislation. p ehlp committee has passed. preston and obama has spoken -- help committee has passed. president obama has passed. >> there has been so much pressure and spotlight on the finance committee is that they

it is on behalf of myself and senator bingaman. we do not have a cbo score yet. we wanted to speak about it for a brief moment. we will move this amendment as the go forward in the process. what it does is make american citizens living importer rico, gong, samoa, eligible to purchase health insurance in the exchange and receive federal subsidies by the residents of the 50 states. i was dismayed to find that the mark to not allow these u.s. citizens who happen not to live in one of the 50 states access to the reforms that are such as signet again part of the bill. there are 4.4 million residents outside of u.s. territories. they are american citizens. porter ricans have been part of this nation for 1100 years. it as these residents to also benefit from the consumer protections established by this bill. they would be said to the same mandate as everyone else. -- subject to the same mandates as everyone else. we want all americans to have equal access to quality and affordable health care. everyone recognizes the contributions the territories may to our country. pue

kent conrad and bingaman who is going to determine what happens with the rest of the senate democrats. 560 amendments pending. they haven't even begun the actual legislative writing yet. 560 changes that they plan. democrats met this afternoon and agreed that the baucus plan from last week will be changed by tomorrow morning when they get started. trace: karl, is there really no support among republicans? we hear a lot about olympia snow. yes, the senator from maine. she is the only republican that democrats have really set their sights on for a possible pickup. yet, she has said she can't support the bill as it is. she needs additional analysis, particularly from the nonpartisan congressional budget office. they said that the bill would cost $856 billion and that it would not increase the deficit. they haven't been any more specific than that it's only a partial analysis. george voinovich of ohio is another potential democrat in the full senate who might -- republican who might be for. this the truth is without a cbo analysis. without a real report on exactly what the price tag would

what about senator bingaman? why won't they be there? >> reporter: that's a good question.g about another democrat. >> yeah. >> reporter: the two other democrats you just mentioned, of course, for our viewers, who are the two other democrats who have been in the room with senator baucus. he put out a statement also saying that he doesn't think this goes entirely all the way. he had offered some counterproposals and he has some issues with this, including the cost as well. and he says he's not entirely satisfied. and he also plans to offer some amendments -- >> boy. >> reporter: -- in the committee. so, look, senator baucus knows this is not perfect. as suzanne had reported earlier at the white house they believe, and certainly among democratic leaders here, they believe this probably has one of the best chances of passing, and it's not necessarily because it would be bipartisan. >> right, right. >> reporter: many people, most people here think, we're talking about democratic leaders, that at best they're probably going to get one, maybe two, republicans at the end of the da

with that, i will turn it over to you senator bingaman. >> thanks. it is great to be here with this distinguished panel. talking about the new energy economy obviously brings to mind that to a significant extent in the west, particularly in mexico, we have in the last 50 years been concern with the energy coming. i will go into that with more precision. we focus on energy for job creation. we have always depended on it and will in the future. the nature of the energy we're talking about is changing as we speak, but there are also significant things with federal policy trying to drive this transition. drive it from high carbon production too low carbon production, and clearly that benefits us in the west. in my home state of new mexico, the permian basin, the san juan this and provided tremendous amounts of oil and gas of the last half century. there's no question it continues to do. it is a major part of our economy today. we also have coal production in the state. we did have substantial amounts of uranium production at one point. while these forms,

>> i can tell you max baucus as well as the others conrad and senator bingaman have been working withtraordinary courage and leadership. she told her the bottom line. they are working with her. no commitments have been made, understand. at the end of the day we think there will be more than one republican senator joining us. we certainly hope so. this should be a bipartisan effort. we have given republicans every effort to help us craft this bill. we want to get it done on a bipartisan basis. >> senator, with all the focus on republican opposition to the public option and other elements it has masked how difficult your job as whip is in getting over 50 democrats to vote for any version of this thing t. truth of is you have democrats in your caucus not ready to go to the public option and not ready to go to the employer mandate and some of these new taxation elements invented by the ways and means committee and the finance committee. when the focus becomes how is dick durbin doing on whipping up a majority of democratic votes what are you going to have to have to show us? >> well, list

later, senator bingaman talks about health care legislation. >> on monday, a discussion on the role ofite house czars in the obama administration. then a discussion on the associated press'five-week series. also, a look at the response one year later to the collapse of lehman brothers with the chairman of the commodities futures trading commission. later, a discussion on who runs gov.com . . >> [bell tolls] [horn salute] [horn salute] >> following the moment of silence the president traveled to the pentagon to joined defense secretary robert gates for a ceremony marking the anniversary. also participating, admiral michael mullen. this is 20 minutes. >> please direct your attention to the pentagon memorial flagpole in honor of patriot day and in remembrance of those 184 lives lost at the pentagon. the national anthem. ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, admiral michael mullen. >> mr. president, madam first lady, secretary gates, distinguished visitors, good morning and welcome. i offer a special welcome to the loved ones of those who died or were injured in the attack on the pentagon september

jeff bingaman will be our guest at 6:00 p.m. as well as 10:00 a.m. >> i do think it is important that we go ahead and expand coverage to some, most of those folks who are uninsured now in order to reduce the cost- shifting. people who have insurance now pay over $1,000 per year on the average family policy to cover costs incurred by those without. >> through a public option kna? >> not necessarily, although i voted for a public option. the way it is contemplated is that you would expand coverage and implementing these reforms. one additional way to try to bring competition to the market is to provide a public option. that would be another seller of health insurance that would be set up as a non-profit. it would be good, encourage competition, and help keep down the growth of premiums in the future. host: senator jeff bingaman is our guest on "newsmakers" in about two and a half hours. peter baker is joining us, a contributor to "the new york times" weekend review. you said a couple weeks ago that in this summer of discontent for

, which is whe i sit-- first met him when senator bingaman was making his first race f the congress and iot to know steve down to the years when he was on capitol hill. he for seven years was executive director of the japan america society for seven california, also co-unded, also co-founded the japan picy institute. so, johnson and let's get to it. mr. secretary, let me just are with you. what does this mean, why did it happen and what does it mean for u.s.-japanese relations? >> first of all it is terrific to be here, thank you bought into my colleagues on the podium here into csis and john hamre in particular. these are wderful forums and we are really grateful for the opportunity to explore something as significant as this historic japanese election. it is important just basically to take a few minutes to appriate something that the united states and japan share, which is this tremeous commitment to democracy so what we have seen is an enormously importanelection that took place peaceably, in which there a neweneration of leaders have come to pgwer in japan, so at a very basicevel w

earlier -- i would like to clarify one of my exchange with senator bingaman earlier.asked about an innocentive payment in my amendment and argued that the amendment would affect his state's or a non-plinet state's medicade funding. i want to make clear that my language does not speak to an incentive payment. the enforcement mechanism is simple. it makes federal late that state receiving medicade fund shall enact such a cap. if a state receiving funds should refuse to enact a cap, the cap would be ep acted by the federal government of there are 1 million. this would not in any circumstance result in a medicade cut or an innocentive payment to the states. as i say, if the state declined to act, the cap would be imposed by congress. i would just incorporate by reference the senator's comments about how this committee in the past -- there is well-established precedent under democrats and republicans to use medicade as a jurisdictional hook to act in this area. >> thank you, senator. this is a worthy discussion, medical malpractice. i think i probably speak for many member

i think senator bingaman may want to speak to this. >> ok, we are not going to return until about 7:00. so we will reconvene at 7:00. >> thank you. i appreciated. -- appreciate it. my intention is to have this debate on the floor of the senate. >> ok. >> that is an oblique way of saying yes. ok. we will recess until 7:00. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> members of the finance committee taking a break. when asked about the committee's schedule over the next several days, senator baucus said the committee would continue to work late into the evening tonight and into tomorrow and assess where they are, but the committee is expected back for more debate and amendments at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. we will have more live coverage when they return here on c-span. earlier today, the committee rejected an amendment that would require drug manufacturers to give rebates for of medications used for low- income seniors under medicare part b. here is that. >> this is an amendment that would produce over $106 million in

bingaman: let me make what short statement myself about my friend and colleague, ted kennedy. i came to the senate in january of 1983, and my first real opportunity to work with ted came in t armed services committee at the beginning of that service. although he had already bn in the senate for 20 years, he had chosen that year to go on to the armed services committee, and since we were both going on that -- that year in 1983, we were consider the two freshmen committee members. ted and i were able to work together on the armed services committee for many years. he has been described as a visionary leader, a great orator, the keeper of the faith for the liberal wing of the democratidemocratic party and ao those descriptions are, of course, true. but the ted kennedy that i came to know and that i had the great opportunity to work with, i knew as a passionate, committed advoca, and as the workhorse of the senate. frankly, ted kennedy set a very high standard for himself in the effort that he made on each and every issue that came up for debate. he set a high standard for the hom

. >> reporter: forget about republicans, even democrat jeff bingaman, who spent months negotiating with max baucus, isn't ready to support his health care proposal. >> i have favored having a public option available and voted for one in the health and education help committee bill. so i hope we can do that. >> reporter: in fact, outside a closed meeting of the senate finance committee, almost all the democratic senators we talked to said they wanted to change what their democratic chairman max baucus calls a consensus plan. one huge issue -- >> affordability. >> affordability. >> affordability for middle class families. >> reporter: concern that americans would not get enough financial help buying the health insurance they would be required to have. >> this has to work for families. and i understand all of the trade-offs. but the trade-off can't be that a middle class family can't afford the insurance in this bill. >> reporter: are you prepared to vote against this? >> yes, i can't support a plan that doesn't have the affordability of health care and doesn't have the affordability for m

, which is where i sit-- first met him when senator bingaman was making his first race for the congress and i got to know steve down to the years when he was on capitol hill. he for seven years was executive director of the japan america society for seven california, also co-founded, also co-founded the japan policy institute. so, johnson and let's get to it. mr. secretary, let me just are with you. what does this mean, why did it happen and what does it mean for u.s.-japanese relations? >> first of all it is terrific to be here, thank you bought into my colleagues on the podium here into csis and john hamre in particular. these are wonderful forums and we are really grateful for the opportunity to explore something as significant as this historic japanese election. it is important just basically to take a few minutes to appreciate something that the united states and japan share, which is this tremendous commitment to democracy so what we have seen is an enormously important election that took place peaceably, in which there a new generation of leaders have come to power in japan, so a

rockefeller of west virginia said he could not vote for the baucus plan as it stands out in, senator jeff bingamanng of six says he wants a public option, but the sense, tony, and the reason that everyone is paying attention to senator baucus' plan because it is the only one that does not have a public option. >> that's right. >> reporter: that issue obviously still not resolved even though. >> our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar for us. thank you. >>> president obama trying to get young adults fired up about his health care plan. they would likely play a major role in funding the reform. senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, is with us now. good to see you, it's been a while. let's start with this. what's in this plan for young people? >> there are a couple of things in this plan for young people, and so we have brought someone we affectionately call sally, the student. do you remember her? >> absolutely, absolutely. >> that's right. we decided to bring her back. we thought what was the baucus bill mean, what is baucus going to do for sally? and sally is someone, by the way,

there is not a lot of compettigs which senator bingaman referred to is there. there's not much competition. and we all know the american way is to bring more competition. and my colleagues on the other side say, leave it up to the private insurance industry to bring competition. frankly, many of us tonight believe it will happen. the reason so many of our markets are concentrated -- are highly concentrated, not just insurance but many of the large fields have very few competitors because it's in the shareholders' interest in each company not to compete particularly on price. we find it in industry after industry after industry. and we can all argue about how strenuous our antitrust policies should be to create more competition in the private field. but the bottom line is we know now that we don't have it. and the trouble with health care is that without competition the prices keep going up. and that is not, my friend, orrin hatch mentioned medicare prices are going up. they are. so is private sector insurance, even at a greater rate. so the increase in price is

kent conrad and jeff bingaman, the two other democrats in the six are prepared to vote for it in its current form. they were not up there was senator baucus just a day saying to look at what we crafted. senator baucus is selling this on his own. there was not enough time. even senator conrad who said that deadlines can be counterproductive -- he probably would have liked more time. simply, the democratic leadership, many democrats who want to see reform passed this year, and the president basically said you are out of time and we need to move the process for. that is why chairman max baucus might be where he is at this point. host: it is 7:45 a.m. and i know that you need to get to capitol hill. we appreciate your being with us. guest: happy to do it, thank you. host: we will continue until the top of the hour to talk about senator max baucus' plan. i want to get another important story on the table here. it started to break as we were coming into work early this morning. "the wall street journal" is the only newspaper that has it. defense plans for poland and the czech republic are

>> i think senator bingaman raises an important point. essentially what you are worried about is if someone is on medicare, medicaid, schip, they might see a deterioration in the quality of the benefits they have. in this bill, we are specific. individuals who would otherwise have received healthcare through any waived program would be guaranteed benefits at least as generous as those offered under the federal program. you raise a legitimate concern that the bill addresses it. >> i think the concern would be that this would insert into our current system of healthcare delivery very substantial instability and ups -- and uncertainty. i am aware of that provision that you cited but i think there are people in my state, for example receiving their coverage through medicare who would not want to trust to the good offices of the secretary that all of this will be taken care of. they just assume keep the care you have through medicare and people on the federal employment health benefit program as well and various others. for those reasons, i co

even democrats like jeff bingaman. >> i hope we can do that. >> reporter: in fact, outside a closed meeting of the senate finance committee, almost all the democratic senators we talked to said they wanted to change what their democratic chairman, max baucus, calls a consensus plan. one huge issue? >> affordability. >> affordability. >> affordability for middle-class families. >> reporter: concern that americans would not get enough financial help buying the health insurance they would be required to have. >> this has to work for families. and i understand all of the trade-offs. but the trade off can't be that a middle-class family can't afford the insurance in this bill. >> reporter: are you prepared to vote against this? >> yes. i can't support a plan that doesn't have the affordability of health care and doesn't have the affordability for my constituents in it. >> reporter: many democrats don't like the way baucus is paying for his health care overhaul. taxing insurance companies for high-cost plans. it was john kerry's idea. >> yes, it was my idea originally. >> reporter: but even he no

even democrat jeff bingaman, who spent months negotiating with max baucus, isn't ready to support his health care proposal. >> i have favored having a public option available and voted for one in the health and education health committee bill, so i hope we can do that. >> reporter: in fact, outside a closed meeting of the senate finance committee, almost all the democratic senators we talked to said they wanted to change what their democratic chairman, max baucus, calls a consensus plan. one huge issue? >> affordability. >> affordability. >> affordability for middle class families. >> reporter: concern that americans would not get enough financial help buying the health insurance they would be required to have. >> this has to work for families, and i understand all of the trade-offs, but the trade-off can't be that a middle class family can't afford the insurance in this bill. >> reporter: are you prepared to vote against this? >> yes. i can't support a plan that doesn't have the affordability of health care and doesn't have the affordability for my constituents in it. >> reporter: an

>> i think senator bingaman raises an important point.essentially what you are worried about is if someone is on medicare, medicaid, schip, they might see a deterioration in the quality of the benefits they have. in this bill, we are specific. individuals who would otherwise have received healthcare through any waived program would be guaranteed benefits at least as generous as those offered under the federal program. you raise a legitimate concern that the bill addresses it. >> i think the concern would be that this would insert into our current system of healthcare delivery very substantial instability and ups -- and uncertainty. i am aware of that provision that you cited but i think there are people in my state, for example receiving their coverage through medicare who would not want to trust to the good offices of the secretary that all of this will be taken care of. they just assume keep the care you have through medicare and people on the federal employment health benefit program as well and various others. for those reasons, i cou

guest: i think senator bingaman is one of them.eople will be watching him, what does he have to say. is he indicating some sort of middle of the road democrat? a lot of allies will be on him. host: he was a member of the so- called gang of six. as he commented on the baucus legislation? guest: i have not seen any. guest: senator lincoln, she is someone pretty important. senator kerry has concerns about the health care tax. it will be interesting to see how he suggests that. senator kent conrad is a fiscal conservative. how hard-nose is he going to be on co-ops? can he explain co-ops in plain language to that his fellow senators can understand what is going on here? guest: next phone call, -- host: next phone call, walt. caller: my mom and dad came from old school. if you want something, you have to do it. throw your shoulders back and be responsible. eliminate insurance companies, if you do not have money to go to the doctor, you cannot go. if you are in a legal immigrant, you cannot go. if you want a doctor's help, you have to pay

>> i think senator bingaman raises an important point. essentially what you are worried about is if someone is on medicare, medicaid, schip, they might see a deterioration in the quality of the benefits they have. in this bill, we are specific. individuals who would otherwise have received healthcare through any waived program would be guaranteed benefits at least as generous as those offered under the federal program. you raise a legitimate concern that the bill addresses it. >> i think the concern would be that this would insert into our current system of healthcare delivery very substantial instability and ups -- and uncertainty. i am aware of that provision that you cited but i think there are people in my state, for example receiving their coverage through medicare who would not want to trust to the good offices of the secretary that all of this will be taken care of. they just assume keep the care you have through medicare and people on the federal employment health benefit program as well and various others. for those reasons, i co

bingaman >> aye. mr. lincoln. >> pass. >> ms. cantwell. >> aye. >> mr.menendez. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. grassley. >> past. >> mr. hatch. >> no. >> miss snowe. >> i am sorry. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. kyle. >> pass. >> mr. crespo. >> mr. corn anin. >> mr. chairman? >> aye. >> tally the vote. >> mr. chairman. >> i apologize, committee. i thought we were in the middle of the vote. the vote has not been called. who succeeds recognition? >> mr. chairman, remember, last night, in regard to amendment c9, i asked to put it off to see if we could work out something because it was creating a mixed emotion on both sides of the aisle. so i put it off with hopes that we could work out a compromise. we have not worked out a compromise. but i am going to offer a modification of c9. in other words, less money from people that to get more than 300% of poverty. there would be less resources to help in the case of pediatricians and the children's hospital, etc., under the program. so i will go through and explain. the original amendment provided additional $40 billion in pay