so when it comes to long-term care provisions in the bill that the budget committee chairman conrad has referred to as a ponzi scheme, you have to be a little bit worried. if washington accounting had to come under the same laws as private business, the administration and congress would be in jail. to attempt to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility, the majority leader has jammed 10 pounds of entitlement spending into a five-pound sack. and, again, "entitlement" means that the payments automatically go on forever, with no further review or constraint. that's not the fiscal responsibility, and the american people are not buying it. they know, evidently better than we do, what we're talking about. a large majority of americans believe their prescription drug costs will go up under this bill and that the cost of their premiums will go up, and they're right. what the c.b.o. score doesn't provide us with and can't provide us with is the cost of this bill to each and every one of us. but we know that that cost will be great. now, the c.b.o. evaluation says that -- that it's going to be p

so when it comes to long-term care provisions in the bill that the budget committee chairman conrad has referred to as a ponzi scheme, you have to be a little bit worried. if washington accounting had to come under the same laws as private business, the administration and congress would be in jail. to attempt to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility, the majority leader has jammed 10 pounds of entitlement spending into a five-pound sack. and, again, "entitlement" means that the payments automatically go on forever, with no further review or constraint. that's not the fiscal responsibility, and the american people are not buying it. they know, evidently better than we do, what we're talking about. a large majority of americans believe their prescription drug costs will go up under this bill and that the cost of their premiums will go up, and they're right. what the c.b.o. score doesn't provide us with and can't provide us with is the cost of this bill to each and every one of us. but we know that that cost will be great. now, the c.b.o. evaluation says that -- that it's going to be p

has been nominated to be the deputy undersecretary of the treasury. i know you have family members here as well. we would be pleased to have them introduced. >> thank you, chairman conrad. i am delighted to recognize my family members who could be with us today. my wife came to this country from bolivia as a young student and has raised a family with me and pursued a successful career as a translator and editor. by two daughters, carmen, who is a senior at harvard university. and they are both studying economics. i would also like to thank my brother edward from new york for bringing his family to be with us. he works in the movie business in york city -- movie business in new york city. my sister is a health-care worker in new york city, and my two nieces are in high school. >> welcome to the committee. it is wonderful for you to be here to support your family members. why don't you proceed with your statements? >> thank you distinguished members of this committee for the opportunity to appear before you as nominee to the assistant secretary for international finance. i would like to thank staff for meeting with me last week to discuss some major issues facing america

the senate -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. conrad: i would ask for 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. conrad: the senate democratic plan extends medicare solvency by four years, the house republican plan has no extension of medicare solvency. finally, the senate democratic plan reduces the deficit according to the c.b.o. b by $130 billion. twice as much as the republican plan from the house. i thank the chair. i thank my colleagues. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican deputy leader. mr. kyl: thank you. mr. president, we're going to focus for the next hour on perhaps one of the most pernicious aspects of leader reid's bill. the fact that it cuts medicare by almost $500 -- half of a trillion dollars, almos almost $500 billion in medicare cuts. there are a lot of seniors in my state of arizona. and in the states represented by my other republican colleagues here. and those seniors are scared of these cuts. it's not because of anything the republicans have said to try to scare them. they

in a new interview, janet holds doctor conrad murray responsible for killing her brother, saying, quote, he was the one administering. end quote. doctor murray has admitted giving michael the powerful anesthesia propofol, and is still under investigation for manslaughter. so far, no charges are filed. but janet believes he should not be allowed to continue practicing medicine. michael's juyounger as i saytor goes into a lot of detail saying the entire family was in state of disbelief. bein of course, the world was in a state of disbelief. she says there is isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't think about michael. today's top of the block. >>> explosive clues in the mysterious disappearance of virginia tech student morgan harrington. morgan vanished during a metallica concert. now a new lead. police say she was spotted hitchhiking, that's right, thumbing a ride, the night she went missing. cops are asking anyone who saw a vehicle stopped on a nearby road, please call police immediately. they're also looking for anyone who may have let her use their cell phone that night. witnesses saw morgan on this bridge, you're going to see in a second, t

has been nominated to be the deputy undersecretary . mr. collins, i know you have family members here as well, and we will be pleased to have them introduced to the committee. >> thank you, chairman conrad. >> please stand. >> i am delighted to recognize my family members. i am glad they could be here with us today. my wife miriam, who came to this country from bolivia as a young student, has raised a family with me and has also pursued a successful career as a translator and editor. my two daughters, carmen, who a senior at harvard, and my younger daughter, isabelle, who is a sophomore in pennsylvania. for some reason they are both studying economics. i would like to welcome and thank my brother, edward, from new york, for bringing his family to be with us here today . he works in the movie business in new york city. my sister in law, merrill, who you may not be able to see, she is a health care worker in new york city, and my two nieces, hannah and emily, who are in high school in new york. >> great. welcome to the committee. it is wonderful for you to be here to support your family member. why don't you pro with your statement, mr. collins? >> thank you, chairman conrad and ranking m

conrad takes home $7,000. 512 people competed. really, is there any strategy to that? okay. it took a while but look at this little guy. he finally has a name. yun zi was born at the san diego zoo three months ago but in keeping with chinese tradition was not named for 100 days. the zoo asked for the public's health. yun zi means son of cloud in chinese. oh, beautiful, wouldn't you like to cuddle up with him. too cute. >>> a watchdog group wants to you watch out for the toys on the list of ten worst toys. safety problem, choking hazard. a dark night and a wolverine action figure are on the list. wally foam rocket launcher. the nonprofit group w.a.t.c.h., world against toys causing harm has been making this list since 1973. >>> the famous christmas tree at new york's rockefeller center is going green. the environmentally friendly star was unveiled yesterday. the massive swarovsky star is 720 l.e.d. lightbulbs. the power used is a single 100 watt lightbulb. it took nine craftsmen three months to assemble the star. >>> the south african runner who was a focus of a gender dispute will keep her gold medal. she can keep her prize money as

dear senator conrad, i'm 51-years-old, have never given much thought to writing a senator until now. three days ago we received some of the worst news a person can get. my husband has been diagnosed with bladder cancer. he does not have health insurance. we are self-employed. our income is low but we do owned some property which makes us ineligible for most assistance programs. a few years ago we both dropped out or blue cross blue shield coverage because the premiums were too high. i reapplied and got my insurance back but my husband was denied due to his weight. he quit smoking four years ago and put on weight gradually since then. we are stunned by the diagnosis and are terrified the the uncertainties of his prognosis. we already $02,000 just for the emergency room costs and he has surgery scheduled for said kimber 22nd with at least an overnight stay in the hospital. the medical bills will be astronomical. if the cancer is not localized he will be referred to oncology and will begin for chemotherapy radiation treatments and possibly even more surgery. we will have to sell almost everything we owned to pay the bills. please, sir, consider our story when thinking