let me ask a question to senator conrad. as i understand itting -- it, your amendment calls for $800 million of mandatory spending to go to the energy title, to fund your amendment. now, we've got, gee, i don't know, what was it? about $2 billion differential from the $23 billion and cbo scored us at about $25 billion. are you now taking that money and paying for 100% of your amendment or still taking part of your money out of the upland cotton program? >> let me turn to the chairwoman, because there may be a way around this, but i think we have to hear from her. >> yes, thank you. we have, in fact, been conferring since we have received the final score on the bill this morning. we do have the ability and i haven't had a chance to talk with senator conrad about this. we do have the ability to accept your second degree to strike his provision as a pay-for, and to use savings, other places in the bill, to be able to do it. so if you would like to offer that, we will accept it, unless there's any objection from the committee. >

inmate conrad.a level five on a suicide watch. >> salazar stated that if he was put back in his cell, that he would hurt himself or hang himself. >> i go through all this just to see your family. >> since we met conrad, he has threatened staff twice, and now with only eight weeks until his potential parole date, he has threatened to take his own life, forcing staff to move him into a medical observation cell. >> tell me this, did you threaten to commit suicide? >> it's the only way you can come over here. >> why? >> because i can't see my family. you know? they [ bleep ] out the paperwork. they'll tell you they didn't, but they gave me the run around, and now they got to pay overtimers and bring people out to go through all this [ bleep ] just because they couldn't just let me see my family. >> conrad, you're getting out in two months. >> that's what they say, but they'll do everything in their power to keep me here. so [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. they can [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. you know? so everything i c

amendment or the chambliss-conrad second degree amendment to the conrad amendment? >> answer that carefully. >> i'd be happy to defer to my friend, who's going to be -- voting on his last farm bill. >> if there's no objection, we will accept the second degree amendment of senator chambliss and senator roberts. >> i would like to make the observation, i think this is an outstanding example of bipartisan cooperation, and i really want to thank the senator from north dakota. usually he gives me the third degree. >> i thank the senator. >> could we -- we would be willing to take a voice vote on the amendment? >> i just -- senator, i just wanted to, again, as state that has a very big biofuel market i want to make everyone realize, as we go forward, biofuels get attacked. 10% over fuel supply. that's why this is incredibly important to move forward to the next generation of biroe fuels and i thank senator conrad and am proud about to co-sponsor of the amendment. >> pleased we've been able to get to this point and thank senator conrad and all the co-sponsors of this amend

senator conrad. >> well, thank the chairman -- chairwoman very much. thank you for your extraordinary effort on this bill. you have been fully ep gauged, fully committed, and very effective. and all of us owe you a debt of gratitude. i don't think i've ever seen anybody dig in as completely as you did at a very difficult time with the special committee looming, you seized the reins of responsibility, and all of us are in your debt. i also want to thank your ranking member, senator roberts, who, surprise to me, has actually done some pretty good work on this as well. okay. it really has been good work. and i enjoyed his sense of humor as i hope he enjoys mine. look, this bill is a win for taxpayers clearly. this is a win for reformers. this is a win for farm and ranch families all across the country. this is a win for the economy of america. so this is important business. farm policy has many critics. and one of the things that's amazed me in my 26 years is how often ill informed some of the critics are. we hear all the time that a farm bill benefits ju

so senator roberts and senator conrad? >> well, let me just say that i really like going back to the simplicity of using the five-year olympic average price for both the individual and the county level. i am very encouraged. i think that this amendment will allow payment rates from both the individual and the county coverage, i do also appreciate the chance to work with you, senator baucus, and conrad, and senator hoven as well who played a very important role. ike and joel and tara have been nominated for bronze stars. the purple heart. >> that's right. >> and i thank think jonathan and jill, silver stars. i guess that's just the minority, i don't know. what the senator inkaindicate t montana. these people have been going days, weeks in a row with very little sleep and with many changes we've made, because members make changes, and many times they are necessary, and sometimes they are not. but they stayed with it, and they have worked overtime to a degree that has been amazing. i don't think many members really understand

i think that that chairman conrad understands that. i think that's the reason he fundamentally broke ranks and tried to move forward with a budget today because he felt the budget committee, if it fails for three consecutive years or two years now without even a markup in the committee it would raise questions about the entire viability of the budget committee. i think that's important. >> thanks. >> thank you. >> republicans on the senate budget committee objecting to how chairman conrad is dealing with the budget plan who says he is not planning votes on amendments or final passage of the plan. we spoke with a reporter for more details. >> joining us is erik wasson. what caused him to change his plan? >> well, he had sought to get the consensus of all his democratic members on the partisan plan but was unable to do so and then decided to put forth the bowles-simpson person that he is going with. there is not going to be any votes on the plan that it's just beepg presented for discussion and there could be votes after the election. >>

. >> senator conrad? >> this woman is very patient, yeah. >> you have said that this would bring you -- would bring the congress closer to some sort of idea of how to replace the sequester which is one of the purposes of this. how does marking up an overarching budget plan help in that sort of effort, particularly given the deadline to replace that sequester? >> well, part of this plan is to replace the sequester with these other savings, so, again, i can't emphasize strongly enough, and i know this is sort of geeky stuff, but the hard reality is that the amount of time it takes to put together these plans is really daunting. ask any member of the group of six. ask anybody that served on the fiscal commission. this takes weeks and weeks and months and months of effort, and so that's why i think it's important that we begin. again, we have the spending limitations in place for this year and next, so the typical timetable for budget is just not very relevant. what we don't have is that long-term plan, and t

senator conrad, that issue is going to have to be addressed.uspect you would like to address it now. >> you know, again i was part of bowl-simpson and group of 6. we had serious reforms to health care. >> was it a document to produce in the senate encompass then? >> part of it. what is needed is a bipartisan agreement. >> we need a bipartisan agreement to get it passed through both houses. you don't finish it is possible? >> i don't know if it is possible before the election. bowl's simpson only got 37 votes. if we are faced with all tax cuts expire sequester, then that would be the time that people. >> senator, -- it is in the waning hours of the career x. lame duck session and ride out in a blaze of glory. >> nothing would please me more than to be a part of the solution. i devoted 26 years tompt and i believe deeply in the need to get fiscal house in order. i spent five years in the bipartisan efforts and i believe we could be close. >> last word. >> republicans are willing to work with senator conrad. but we need presidential leadership and

i concur with your comments, senator roberts and senator conrad. in a sense, this is second in line. the energy, the energy dollars. we were told by staff that with no absolute specificity, there was about $1 billion as of last night scored extra above the $23 billion. the first 800 roughly goes to energy title. that's fine. i'm not disputing that. this would go after that. if there's $120 million, if there's $20 million left, whatever, we would go after that and then do this. >> senator conrad? >> one other point that i think we all have to remind ourselves of is this. with respect to rural development mandatory money, our appropriators often take that money and chimp it. changes in mandatory programs. and so we provide money that we never get. so i do think we want to keep that in mind what our friends in the appropriations do, especially in rural development funding. not that there's anything wrong with what you appropriators do. not that there's anything wrong with that. >> senator conrad -- or senator cochran, if you'd like. >> i'm not sure if

ken conrad will be here. with us, reversal on the budget vote and partisan gridlock, the culture of washington he plans to leave behind. >>> plus, a battleground map shake up. why florida and ohio might not be the be all, end all swing states this time around. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. he's in town tonight. the alabama crimson tide coming to the white house. they won't have the trophy with them since it's been shattered. maybe their dreams will get shattered next year. you are watching the daily rundown on msnbc. ahhh, now that's a clean mouth. i just wish it wouldn't fade away so fast. let me show you something. [ dr. rahmany ] as soon as you leave here... plaque quickly starts to grow back. but now there's a way to keep the clean longer. introducing new crest pro-health clinical rinse. it's a clinical breakthrough that actually keeps your teeth 91% clean of plaque at 2 months after a dental visit. plus, it gives you these key benefits. new crest pro-health clinical rinse. so now when

conrad, for calling a markup of the budget for fiscal year 2013. setting a budget for the country is one of the most basic responsibilities and fundamental functions of congress. the budget act requires congress to adopt a budget by april 15th. it's a requirement that this senate majority has ignored time and again. in fact, the senate hasn't adopt add budget since april 29, 2009. nearly three years have passed since the senate last adopted a budget. during that time, more than $4 trillion have been added to the nation's debt. we're in the midst of the fourth consecutive year of spending more than -- $1 trillion more than we take in. during this time, the senate democratic majority has failed to propose a budget blueprint that would lay out their priorities for deficit reduction, economic growth, or a path to balance. they've said proposing a budget is, quote/unquote, foolish. it's no wonder our nation is driving towards a fiscal cliff of deficits and debt. there's no one in the democrat leadership willing to take a hold of the wheel. while i'm gla

senator conrad that issue has to be addressed. i suspect you would like in some way to address it now? >> you know, again, i was part of bowles simpson. i was part of the group of six in both those venues we had serious reforms to healthcare. for example -- >> with the document you hoped to produce in the senate -- would the document you hope to produce in the senate encompass that? >> part of it. again, what is needed is a bipartisan agreement. >> you have to have a bipartisan agreement to get it through both houses, right? >> exactly. that is my point. >> you don't know if it is possible. >> i don't know if it is possible before the election. bowles simpson in the house only got 38 votes. both sides are unwilling to come together before election but after the election when faced with all of the tax cuts expiring and faced with a sequester that will be the time -- >> and just think of that, senator. >> when people have open minds. >> the waning hours of your career in the senate anyway. a lame duck session. you get this done and

at all. >> senator conrad you are preparing, now to try to bring a budget to the floor.s very clear the budget control act does provide the spending limits, this year, but i want to make the point i hear over and over there has been no budget for throw years, the fact is, there is. and the fact is, what we don't have, is a longer term plan. what we need, i believe; at least a 10-year plan and that is why i am going to mack -- markup the first week we are back in session and work on a long-term plan that gets deficit and debt under control and has a way of bringing us together. because if we don't get together, we cannot accomplish anything. >> is there assurance if you produce the document from your committee your majority leader will bring it to the floor? >>guest: that is a matter of timing. senator harry reid made the judgment that there is little chance we will get two sides together before the election. >> two sides. house and senate? >> republicans and democrats. >> it is not a matter timing but a matter of will. there are no machines. the president has put forward

judge conrad was another failed nomination of the fourth circuit. nominated on may 8, 2008, he had support from his home state senators, one republican, one democrat. judge conrad had previously been supported by the full senate when he was confirmed to be a united states district judge, western be district virginia by unanimous consent, bipartisan vote, 89-0. despite his extensive qualifications, judge glen conrad waited 240 days for a hearing that never came. his nomination was returned to the white house january 2, 2009. what was the reaction to this democratic obstruction to president bush's fourth circuit nominees? a december 2007 "washington post" editorial lamented the dire straits of the fourth circuit writing, quote, "the senate should act in good faith to fill vacancies, not as a favorite favor to the president but out of respect to the residents, businesses, defendants, and victims of crime in the region of the fourth circuit covering. two nominees, mr. conrad, and steven a. matthew, should receive confirmation hearings as soon as possibl

the politics here. >> senator conrad is leaving. he won't be here after the election.lame duck congress. she not holding a mark up. his markup is when you mark up and change legislation and then you vote on it and bring it to the floor. he is not going to hold a vote. this is actually a hearing of a well-known document, the simpson-bowles, deficit reduction plan that everyone in washington is now very acquainted with. he got a lukewarm reception from the leadership. this is not possible to see a senate vote. senate majority leader harry reid is not allowing the kind of votes that would open up the vulnerable members to political commercials. and this is how he chooses to run the senate. there will be no budget. >> this is complete and utter con. senator conrad by all accounts is a serious guy. this is a very unserious thing he is doing. what he is doing have s having a show trial to shift debate. the debate right now, i think the republicans successfully argued on one hand you have paul ryan, arhats republicans in the republican party, more broadly, embraced paul hine

his inspiration growing up was his neighbor, paul conrad, a great political cartoonist for "the l.a. times." he was kind of an angry guy, but matt is not. >> talking about pulitzer prize winners, there is one right here, charles krauthammer -- >> and you. >> herblock. >> best job in the business. see you next week.

out there but a very important senator conrad says he will rest introduce some symbols tomorrow. if it came to a vote, would you vote for it. >> yes, i would. it is not going to come to a vote. it is not going to come to a vote in he can. it is nothing but a stunt to take away the criticism of not having a real discussion about our budget in the senate, and so kit conrad is an honest guy and what he would really like to do and carey reed won't allow him is put a budget on the floo are and vote it. harry will not do that, violating the u.s. law, the budget act. he has to do it but he refuses to do it so it is a stunt and all it is is a political stunt to make sure we lessen some of the charge against not having a budget in 1,1 hyund00 days. >> i guess i will take the glass half full and say i will vote for go is that deals with a crisis and simpson bohls does. mitt romney claims there is a left wing conspiracy to reelect president obama and herman cain releases a serious video. an amish version of the show jersey shore. wait a minute. wait a minute. oxymoron alert? we'll be back.

there's trim his brother conrad said for all of us. but there's only some of it that's the real meal. the rest of it is this not. [applause] >> i would like just to bring the discussion back to literature for a moment to answer the question about the evolution. it occurs to me that though i agree with what has been said already that another complication is not so much at the evolution as it is from the last couple of decades, a rise of more variety particularly with popular literature we didn't see all that much if it said before the 1980s in particular. so in one way we have a greater range of literature is common types of literature's to choose from. i was just teasing a little while ago with a friend of mine about the community around christian romances, which is a very -- i don't know if it's true of new york city, but it certainly is a very, very strong community in atlanta. and that is yet another kind of literature that we are seeing now produced by african-american people. so i don't particularly care for literature. that is th

i think senator conrad deserves credit for wanting to do this.hey believe this is a response ability in law and morality. the majority party should lay out its plan for the future. they explain it to the american people. if they're not willing to do this, they're not doing the things necessary to lead our country in the decades to come. that is where we are. i have a great deal of respect for senator conrad. he has been very open with me. i am convinced he intended fully to come forward and have a real mark up today. i know he is disappointed. i am deeply disappointed. >> this marks 1085 days without a budget. i agree with what he said. i think he wanted to do a budget. he feels conscientious about the responsibility he has. what is really unfortunate is that his leadership lower the boom. what this has become now really is a dog and pony show without the dog and pony. we're going to the other case a raid where we all have -- there is a charade where we all have this. the american people are going to go another year about putting a plan that desc

later budget with senator kent conrad.ill begin up a markup based on the simpson-bowles recommendation. "squawk box" will be coming right back. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. >>> warren buffett disclosing a cancer diagnosis. we'll talking to a torque with experience of this kind of cancer. >> inside earning central from tech names to big banks. major companies reporting this week. we'll look at reports from bank of america, stanley morgan and more. >> chris matthews will join us to talk politics, the economy and his new biography of john f. kennedy. the third hour of "squawk box" begins right now. >>> welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernen along with kick kick and andrew

conrad is an honest guy. what he would really like to do is to put a vote on the bore. he will not do that violating the budget act. he refuses to do it so it is a stunt. all it is a political stunt to make sure we less enthe charge. >> i guess i'll take the glass half full and i like hearing someone say i'm going to vote for something that deals with the crisis in the country. >>> outfront next mitt romney claims there is a left wing conspiracy to reelect president obama. and herman cain releases a serious vision. and an amish version of jersey >>> president obama today taking s is loaded with vitamin c. and now, b vitamins to boot. coffee doesn't have fiber. unless you want it to. splenda® essentials™ are the first and only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. mmm. same great taste with an added "way to go, me" feeling. splenda® essentials™. get more out of what you put in. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if

. >> thank you, senator conrad. >> just very briefly on this amendment, madam chairwoman. i've served on this committee for 26 years. i've got to say senator, you've touched a chord that is something i've experienced many times here. we pass legislation the regulations are written and they come back, it's almost unrecognizable from what we thought we were doing. and i actually thought at one time i had the bill drafted to require that once the regulations are written that the whole thing has to be resubmitted for another vote because, you know, i know there are a lot of well meaning people in the agencies, but there are people who have their own agenda. those agendas turn up all too often in the regulations and aren't what the agenda was by the members of this committee or the members on the floor. so i do think it's important that we raise this and that we sensitize the agencies they've got an obligation to capture what was intended here. they're not above congress in the agencies. so i'm glad you've raised the issue. >> thank you very much. i appreciate very much senator

conrad is an honest guy. what he would really like to do is to put a vote on the bore. he will not do that violating the budget act. he refuses to do it so it is a stunt. all it is a political stunt to make sure we less enthe charge. >> i guess i'll take the glass half full and i like hearing someone say i'm going to vote for something that deals with the crisis in the country. >>> outfront next mitt romney claims there is a left wing conspiracy to reelect president obama. and herman cain releases a serious vision. and an amish version of jersey shore. and hurtle us all into . which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? how did the nba become theunt hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're

. >> thank you, chairman conrad. thank you for your leadership of this commit and for putting this plan in front of us and for having this session today. i apologize for my late arrival. i was chairing a subcommittee hearing in the foreign relations committee. when i'm home in delaware, no matter where i go, people ask me about our deficits and debt. and it is something that matters deeply to the average american because they're used to in their families and their businesses having to balance their budgets. live within their means. they expect their government will do the same. i could give a long stem wipder of a speech recounting how we got here and who's responsible and assigning blame and essentially delivering a campaign speech. instead i'd rather focus if i can on what i think we all have in common today around this table. in my previous role as a county executive my job was in large part to find ways to balance a budget every year. to deal with record deficits. to rein in spending. make unpopular and difficult

it seems to me that -- senator conrad and senator portman will correct me if i'm wrong. the only times we've been in rough budget balance in the last 70 years has been when revenues and spending have been between 19% and 21%. somewhere in that range. doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you've got to cut spending and generate additional revenues. i hope as we go forward on this discussion the three things that i would hope that we would work on beyond kind of moving off this frame and updating it, one would be, and i would give enormous, enormous credit to senator crapo and senator coburn on this, is that if we were able to put together a long-term plan, you got to have a real enforcement mechanism. so if the economy recovers both on the spending side and on the revenue side, there's no way to, you know, wave those budget points of orders or slip in things late at night. and i would argue for -- or offer for the committee's consideration the very, very good work that with the assistance senator conrad put in on as tight of straight jacket as you can imagine on m

why does senator conrad think that's a budget? >> it doesn't priare on the --orittize funding?doesn't say here's how you fix the budget -- >> greta: so you think it's a lousy budget. >> it technically is not a budget. it doesn't prioritize spending. it says, if congress doesn't fix the problem, across-the-board cut happens. on 39% of budget, discretionary spending tsets those levels, but the rest of the government, running on auto pilot, driving the debt to a catastrophic level tdoesn't deal with that. >> greta: what worries me about that budget, the budget control act, is that all the cuts that go into effect, occur after the election, deliberately by -- by the republicans, democrats, anybody who voted for it so that we, the voters, don't take it out on them. >> not in the house. in our budget, we replace that by saying, here's specifically how we would solve this problem. that's what we passed,. >> greta: do you agree that the budget control act -- >> yes. but those cuts are not near the amount you need. so we are saying, here's how we replace them. we are going to vote on a

today, ken conrad saying a vote on the budget will probably not happen until after the election.ll a waste of time? brit hume joins us. is this a waste of time? exercise in futility? >> yes, in a word it is. it's not the worst thing that happened. they will bring the simpson-bowles committee recommendation to the committee. but the budget committee is not going to act on them. so it's, it doesn't mean much. certainly not a substitute for what the law requires, out theed now for the third year to bring detailed budget to the senate floor and try to pass a budget. for the coming year. >> if this is a an act of futility, instead of time doing that, they could look for the waste and the fraud and some of the agencies. that could be an idea. tomorrow's exercise is just as absurd. >> what is shocking, chairman of the budget committee, conrad, this is his swan song. his last year. he is retiring. he has been a budget hawk through the years. he would like to do something about the budget and have a legacy and said i was trying to do something about it before the debt crisis and he has be

. >>> on wednesday, the senate budget committee held a hearing to consider chairman kent conrad's 2013 budget resolution. the proposal is based on the bowles/simpson plan and includes $5.4 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years. during the hearing, the budget committee ranking member, jeff sessions, along with budget committee members continually voiced their disappointment for not being able to have a mark-up hearing and offer amendments. according to senator conrad, there is no date scheduled on which the mark-up votes would occur, and he doesn't expect an agreement before the november elections. this is just under three hours. >> the meeting will come to order. we want to welcome everyone to the senate budget committee today. the committee meets today to begin consideration of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2013. i will have a statement, then we'll recognize the ranking member for his statement, chen the chair will recognize other members of the committee in seniority order alternating between the sides to the extent members of different parties are av

i want to thank senator conrad and also senator baucus for their work on that option. i want to thank you, and ranking member roberts for your work on that option. and making sure that we have both a county-ledge option, election, that somebody were make, and a farm-level election that a producer can make, and that they're fair, and that they both work, because they both cover vital base, but that farm-level option has to be in there. you've been willing to work with us as has senator roberts. that's an absolute fundamental must in terms of providing the right kind of safety net coverage for our farmers and ranchers, and doing it in true lay cost effective way. i'll mention also the livestock indemnity program, no cost sugar program and you mentioned energy. remember it is about food, fuel and fiber. i'll end on that note. our farmers and ranchers are doing an amazing job for this country. producing jobs. producing a favorable balance in trade and once again providing the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. i look forward to working with everybody. i