senator coburn, tell me where i'm wrong.a couple working days that will happen between now and the end of the year and the recession goes into place, tax hikes go into place and the recession goes into place. >> i don't agree, larry. there's probably about 20 days of work that we will address those issues. especially the morning of december. the reason nothing's happening now is there's no leadership for anything to happen. one. the career politicians in washington don't want anything to happen until they see the outcome of the election because it will either enhance their positions or weaken their positions, so they don't want to make commitments now. >> i want to ask you, senator coburn. you say there will be 20 days in december, i say maybe there will be 20 days in december. i will concede your point. here's what i don't get. why not do some more work right now. why not do the people's fiscal business right now? take another week or two off. the country is burning up at the failure to get this done. it's stopping business

tom coburn. [applause] >> well, good morning.you know, the ripon society and oklahoma, we call it the ripon society. it's great to be with you. i think i've had this pleasure before. i want to spend some time, had a discussion with dan cohen at my table about the fiscal cliff, and hope somebody will ask questions about that as we get into it. but i wanted to remind you what admiral mike mullen said about six months before he left us chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. he said the greatest threat to our country is no outside force. it's not china. it's not russia. it is our debt. and at face value that doesn't seem like much, but to think, here is the leader of the strongest military force the world has ever known telling america that the number one threat to its existence is its debt. that is profound for a military leader to say that. the president didn't say that. the head of the joint chiefs of staff said that. which to me makes it all the more powerful coming from the source of our defense posture. history has shown time a

coburn: if i could finish? we're going to say that the financial condition of the country doesn't matter. we're going to say that it doesn't matter if the $1 billion we're spending a year are already on veterans job training programs. it doesn't matter. we're going to say here's a year's program of jobs for 20,000 veterans and it's going to trump everything else. you know, you wouldn't have any objection from this senator if you actually really paid for this, one; if you didn't violate paygo, and you really did it in a way that oversighted the president's job training programs that we had, and you really did it the way that matches the integrity and honor of our veterans. we didn't do that. now, we played games. we played games with the budget rules. we played games with paygo. we didn't do any oversight. we didn't even have a hearing. there was no hearing on this bill. you took senator burr's suggestions which were commonsense, and applied it broadly across the government. but we didn't match the honor and int

(laughter) leading the charge against america's fighting men, oklahoma senator tom coburn who opposes on grounds of fiscal responsibility. >> if, in fact, we're going to start addressing the bigger economic problems of this country, you got to quit playing felonious accounting with what you are doing, which is exactly what that bill did. it's exactly the same kind of, pardon my word, crap that congress has done for years. >> jon: that's right. this bill is felonious crap! (laughter) by the way, also the name of my jazz fusion band back in high school. i was... the senator... yeah. here is the sad part. that picture was taken last year. the senator and some of his colleagues felt that the proposed methods of paying for this bill imposing penalties on medicare providers who have been delinquent on taxes was a less than solid fiscal foundation. just out of curiosity, i'm just spit balling here, how did we pay for the actual wars that made these individuals veterans who now need jobs? >> engaging in accounting gimmicks over the years leaving big ticket items like war spending out of offic

senator coburn says a full report coming out soon entitled, "the department of everything," will show how $85 billion defense dollars could be saved painlessly over 10 years, $25 billion of it he said would come if the pentagon could only audit itself which it hasn't been able to do yet in the 22 years the law has required it. later, the wounded warrior who is on the rebound at the u.s. open. the dispute that's delaying new york's 9/11 museum. is and a college dropout creating jobs in maine's lobster industry. those stories when the cbs evening news continues. and, then, had the bluetooth and the navigation that diana really wanted. [ diana ] and it was a sport edition, so it felt really grounded to the ground. [ man ] grounded to the ground? yes, yes! grounded to the ground. [ male announcer ] see their story and more at the camry effect. camry. from toyota. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. constipated? yeah. m

for more on the expectations gain i'm joined by brent brent coburn. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> eliot: the expectation game, could we agree for the moment they are both really smart guys and we're hopefully going to have a good debate about substance. >> that's our hope. the debates a great opportunity for the american people tune in and the candidates tell their stories. that's what we plan to do. we hope the romney campaign comes prepared to do the same thing. beside his technical -- technical skills as a debater, we hope he finally comes to the table with some details. >> eliot: i think the american public and my perspective in all of this is no mystery, i share that there has been no specificity, the week there was supposed to be specificity it was swept away with the 47% comments. what would you ask him? >> how are you going to pay for these $5 trillion in tax cuts which are weighted mostly toward the richest people in the country. we just want an honest answer on -- as president clinton said in charlotte, the arithmetic be

the lack of work that's getting done i want to play for you a quick part of the speech that senator coburn delivered this week about this very issue monday mornings when i get i get up about four thirty to catch a flight to come back up here. and i've noticed that i have an attitude problem i don't want to come anymore and the reason i don't want to come anymore is because we're not doing anything to address the real problems that are in front of our country work nor in the real problems so we can create political contrasts for an election all the while the country is sinking now congressman we also did manage to get a couple responses from other members to senator coburn's comments so i want to get a listen to them and then i'll get your opinion on both of them. well you joy of the job i haven't wanted to be representing the six to sort of pennsylvania and i get up every day and i enjoy the work that we do to help people in our district and have a chance to represent them here and vote on important issues so i look forward to it every day i can't speak for other members of congress but i

and that's the problem. >> senator coburn, harold ford.are you, man? >> i'm good, brother. i think you have been the most courageous voice in washington around lowering federal spending and getting some controls going forward. in terms of spending. what advice -- or i should say if president obama is re-elected, mitt romney is elected, can we have -- can the american people have some confidence that some spending controls will be put in place, be it simpson-bowles, the gang of six, be it a coburn plan, what can the american people look forward to in terms of getting a long-term budget deal? >> harold, i think we have to. i don't think we have an option to do otherwise. you know, if you look at our total debt to gdp -- and remember, our total get to gdp doesn't include state and city and municipal debt. if you compare us to those, we're way beyond some of the european countries that are in a problem. we have to send the signal that we're going to be growing up. there's a lot of things that have to change. one of the reasons you can't recrui

coburn: if i could finish? we're going to say that the financial condition of the country doesn't matter. we're going to say that it doesn't matter if the $1 billion we're spending a year are already on veterans job training programs. it doesn't matter. we're going to say here's a year's program of jobs for 20,000 veterans and it's going to trump everything else. you know, you wouldn't have any objection from this senator if you actually really paid for this, one; if you didn't violate paygo, and you really did it in a way that oversighted the president's job training programs that we had, and you really did it the way that matches the integrity and honor of our veterans. we didn't do that. now, we played games. we played games with the budget rules. we played games with paygo. we didn't do any oversight. we didn't even have a hearing. there was no hearing on this bill. you took senator burr's suggestions which were commonsense, and applied it broadly across the government. but we didn't match the honor and int

in fact, senator coburn is trick. he does this all the time. he is going back and trying to fine, where can we save money without spending more money, literally catching the pockets that come up. what he did not do is go too far. the judge who was the biggest culprit in terms of allowing for disability insurance or benefits was right there in his backyard, right there in oklahoma city, a judge there named o'brian who was responsible for about 90 percent of the cases they found in the report. my numbers may not be exactly right but he was named in this report. >>shepard: is it the suggestion here that this was done for some nefarious purpose or, again, government is not doing its job as it is supposed to do its job? >>guest: well, this is so much information coming at us each day i have a feel this is not partisan. i don't think there was anything that was done on purpose. i think everyone is so busy just trying to get through thing, why not throw another couple of billion dollars out there. we are already overspending $1.3 billion a year. that

coming up next, republican senator tom coburn on the federal budget.n the 9/11 me me memorial ceremony held in new york. university of virginia president talks about cheating in college classrooms. oklahoma republican senator tom coburn predicted today a downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. a former member of the simpson bowls commission. he's not worried about so the called fiscal cliff. the series of tax increases and budget cuts scheduled to take effect? january. he focused instead on the financial health of medicare saying the only way to save the program is to change it. he made the remarks are rip pen society. the birthplace of the republican party in wisconsin. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] good morning. thank you for coming out this morning. for those who i have not member i'm president of the great organization called the rip pen society. as you know, we are a public policy organization that was founded in 1962, by congress other than tom. we take our name from a town in wisconsin where the republican party was born over 1 her years ago

. >> let me play what senator tom coburn was on "morning joe." bill -- i'm quoting -- a gimmick. let me play it. >> fept to create another veterans program, we ought to do two or three things. one, we ought to know what's happening to the other jobs programs, all six of them. they're already is a preference for hiring veterans in this country. number three is if we're going to spend a billion dollars, we ought to cut another government program to do it. >> your response to that? >> senator coburn is walking the plank for his party. he didn't co-sponsor the bill. other republicans co-sponsored the bill and believed in the bill and voted against it, tamron. it's disgraceful and shameful. i hope america wakes up. we're talking about 47 days before the election. you should hold these people accountable for playing politics with our troops. as you know, every 80 minutes in america there's a veteran that commits suicide, every 80 minutes. to help some of them get jobs as cops and firefighters and these knuckleheads stand in the way? >> i got to talk to

. >> ifill: tom coburn of oklahoma. >> yes. tom coburn, that's right. he brought up this issue that, well, i don't want to just put another bill for congress to pay. the money... where is that money going to come from? it's an unpaid bill. essentially. >> ifill: so many... so it's been stalled. ifill: now that this construction gets underway, maybe in time for next year's anniversary, what would this museum be? 75% of it is already complete. some people have seen some of it. what would be the down those seven flights? >> well, number one. you're going to see that there will be the remains of a lot of the people who were sort of blown up in the terrorist attack. there be a lot of artifacts, pieces of the world trade center that were left over including an iron beam that formed sort of a cross where mass was held during the clean-up. there will be audio-visual displays and lots of photographs including a lot of material concerning the victims, the people that died in the terrorist attack as well as the 19 hijackers who basically rammed the planes into the

senator tom coburn of oklahoma said there was several job training programs under way. rand paul wanted to cut off egypt and pakistan. we'll talk to them on "morning joe." >>> the teacher's strike in chicago is over now. the city is facing a deeper crisis in the form of pension funds. "the new york times" explains how the chicago school district drained its reserves setting up a struggle to pay the teachers. it pays out $1 billion a year outpacing the cash it brings in. it could mean deep cuts to other services. rahm emanuel called for raising the retirement age. there was a rare moment of unity at the nation's capital to honor a woman fighting for human rights and democracy in her home country myanmar. aung san suu kyi arrived in washington to get the gold medal she was awarded in 2008 but was unable to claim while under house arrest. kelly mcdonal has the story. >> reporter: one extraordinary woman from a land 8,000 miles from washington. >> this is one of the most moving days of my life. >> reporter: she's made this improbable journey, a visit to the ovl office, a ce

we have to look at the spending side and the revenue side and and you senator coburn are at odds over this. >> correct because he misunderstand what is the problem is. >> rose: he misunderstands the problem? the man who served in the senate and was on the simpson-bowles commission and has been a proponent of debt reduction? >> he thinks the problem is the deficit. the problem is total spending so he thinks raising taxes helps solve the problem. he didn't pay attention in '82... >> rose: he thinks compromise is part of solving the problem. he thinks doing something is... >> rose: >> i'm willing to cut taxes more slowly. i'm willing to sput spending more slowly. i'm willing to compromise in the direction of liberty. >> rose: are you aware that seems unreasonable? you're saying "i'm willing to do the things i want to do slower and that's how i want to compromise. i do not what to compromise in terms of what you believe is your own analysis of the party." peteror sdag talking about you says "if you take everything out ryan is assuming and look at his corporate proposals, concrete proposal

tom coburn. [applause] >> good morning. in oklahoma, we call it the "rip on" society. i think i have had this pleasure before. i want to spend some time -- i had a discussion at my table is about the fiscal cliff. i hope somebody will ask some questions about that as we get into it. i wanted to remind you what mike mullen said about six months before he left as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. he said the greatest threat to our country is no outside force. it is not china. it is not russia. it is our debt. at face value, that does not seem like much. here is the leader of the strongest military force the world has ever known telling america that the number one threat to its existence is its debt. that is profound for a military leader to say that. the president did not say that. the head of the joint chiefs of staff said that. to me that makes it all the more powerful coming from the source of our defense posture. history has shown time and again that that can bring down republics. as a matter of fact, all republics b

, even tom coburn said something like who are these 14% of the people who trust us? [laughter] i don't know who they are. i'm told, i'm not sure if this is true, i'm told lindsey graham will occasionally not admit he's a congressman if people don't recognize him at first, which is kind of hilarious. we know we don't approve of them, and we also know we sometimes can't name our congressmen, so i make the solution -- it is warm in here, isn't it? you're right. if we know that, if we know that we want to approve our congressmen, one solution is we all become congressmen at birth. we're all a special interest, and that is be a solution. interestingly enough even though i came up with that rather absurd solution, and i explain why there are virtues to it, again, within the research here and independence hall i learned that george washington himself spoke only a few times during the constitutional convention. one of the times he spoke was right near the end, and it was the only time he really weighed in on the matter of policy, and he said i think we should change the numb

>> i saw senator tom coburn say this.e politicians only make hard choices that above pain when the pain of not making a choice is worse. >> that's so true. there's some level of agreement. the middle class will have to have the taxes raised in order to maintain the level of spending that they want or have to give up the spending in order to maintain the tax rates they suggest they want. then -- then the politicians will make that choice at the last possible minute. >> the other thing that's going to happen is that after november 6th when president obama is re-elected, and that will happen, i'm predicting it here, can you check me later, when that happens the republicans who have spent the last four years trying to unseat him will realize he's now in for four years and hasn't benefited them to be the resisters, and i think will you see after his re-election, i think you will see some fairly serious compromising. i think you'll see the center of the republican party take the party back from the far right and at that point w

. >> coburn. >> senator coburn. i'm not out to change washington. i'm glad that there are a lot of people in town who want to change it. i think the role of journalists, as i said at the beginning, is to try and put a few facts on the conversation so that when we make changes, we make them on some evidence. and that's all i'm trying to do. so two more, and then we have to stop because it's 8:00. >> will i liked your observation concerning why everybody is buying our bonds with the biggest midget. pretty big midget too. >> right. >> i'm suggesting, i wonder what you think of this, that maybe there's also another reason that we have a implicit bargain with the rest of those 17 countries you mentioned to spend less on defense that in exchange for us picking up the defense burden, being the policemen of the world, spending 6% of gdp on security -- >> right. >> in return for that, surplus countries will keep buying our bonds. i ask the question, suppose we were to cut defense to something like 3% of gdp, require the other 17 to contribute more and have a

we had andy stern who did not vote for the final package, but certainly he and tom coburn put together a lot of our recommendations with regard to what to do with the defense budget. there are so many things that are just goofy. we thought the easiest thing to do would be to fix up social security, not to balance the budget on the backs of poor old seniors or, you know, throw old ladies off of bridgings in their wheel -- bridges in their wheelchairs and all that jazz. we did that for it own sake. and what is going to happen to it if you do nothing? which, apparently, is the recommendation of the aarp and other senior groups, don't touch social security. well, so we won't, and in 21 years from now, 2033, you're going to waddle up to the window and get a check for 25% less. and you may not like that, and you say, wait a minute, i've got this little thing in the mail that says i get scheduled benefits, and i want those. well, the law, ladies and gentlemen, says you will not get scheduled benefits, you'll get payable benefits. and this baby is running short every month, every year, right n

republicans on a range of it illogical prowess from dick durbin yes democrat progressive and tom coburn america there you go play around with it kick it around make fun of it denigrate it but let me take a gang the markets will call the shots and when they do those politicians who hid under the rug out of cowardice from grover norquist or the a.f.p. will be the ones who pay a dear price sales thrown out on their can while we hope that politicians will pay for their actions really quickly before we go to something a little topical at your friend risk and balls i think reading reports that have names getting thrown around for treasury secretary possibly if obama is reelected as that is obvious if you want. i would tell you that my personal thought about this dear friend ariston bowles whose friendship i cherish and i love working with him he's the last guy the balance the budget in the know in the united states under bill clinton and to do that he had to work with newt gingrich and dick armey as he always says you only one out let me tell you. this baby. is out there and your question spe

. >> senator tom coburn is correcting u.s.it rate -- credit rating will be down rated in washington. he's not worried about tax increases and budget cuts scheduled to take effect in january. speaking to recent event in wisconsin, the oklahoma republican is focused on medicare. >> thank you so much for coming out this morning. for those of you that i have not met, i'm jim and i'm president of this great organization. we are a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 by congressman's own tom peetried. we're created on the values of abraham lincoln and teddy roosevelt, society with the first major republican organization to support the civil rights act of the 1960s. while in the early 1970s -- today one of main goals of our organization is to promote the ideas and principles that we believe that made our party and3 nation great. these ideas, are keeping america secure, taxes low and having a federal government that's not only smaller but smarter and more accountable to its people. we do this in a number of ways and thi

and tom coburn of oklahoma. mayor, here's a guy that's able to go before the national audience, sort of debuting himself, and presents himself as someone who isn't at all responsible for the failure of simpson-bowles as a compromise, blasting the president, ignoring the fact that he voted against it. >> first and foremost, he's speaking only to his devoted collection of people who cast votes and ballots on behalf of what he believes. he's not speaking to the total american people. that's why he thinks he can get away with all of the misrepresentations. in addition thereto it's not unusual for the public to forgive those of us who are in politics and we lie. let's just hope the public can see through everything mr. ryan said. it is clear, he is not going to tell the truth in this campaign because if he tells the truth in this campaign, it will be inconsistent with the best interests of the people in this country, and he will be rejected. he's running to try to fool them. and he's going to say whatever it takes to