dimond served on the board and i would ask the clerk to call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> the clerk will report. >> the lotus 16 in favor, seven opposed. as i know you have a caucus to go to so we will do this above differently. and i'm going to turn to my republican colleagues for questions you can get your questions in. >> we like u.s. chairman right now. we are going to miss you. [laughter] thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will go back to the subject matter now. on october 60 called for an investigation into the growing controversy surrounding the home foreclosures. at this point, they're appeared to be a number of issues senator dodd has raised a lot of them that need to be examined very thoroughly. first, we need to determine the extent of the problem. it appears thousands f so-called robosigners working for banks signed the foreclosure related documents, swearing that they had personal knowledge of the facts of each foreclosure case. it now appears that few if any of these people had such knowledge if this we to it. seco

dimond served on the board and i would ask the clerk to call the roll.roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> the clerk will report. >> the lotus 16 in favor, seven opposed. >> as i know you have a caucus to go to so we will do this above differently. and i'm going to turn to my republican colleagues for questions you can get your questions in. >> we like u.s. chairman right now. we are going to miss you. [laughter] thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will go back to the subject matter now. on october 60 called for an investigation into the growing controversy surrounding the home foreclosures. at this point, they're appeared to be a number of issues senator dodd has raised a lot of them that need to be examined very thoroughly. first, we need to determine the extent of the problem. it appears thousands of so-called robosigners working for banks signed the foreclosure related documents, swearing that they had personal knowledge of the facts of each foreclosure case. it now appears that few if any of these people had such knowledge if this were to it.

dimond served on the board and i would ask the clerk to call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> the clerk will report. >> the lotus 16 in favor, seven opposed. >> as i know you have a caucus to go to so we will do this above differently. and i'm going to turn to my republican colleagues for questions you can get your questions in. >> we like u.s. chairman right now. we are going to miss you. [laughter] thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will go back to the subject matter now. on october 60 called for an investigation into the growing controversy surrounding the home foreclosures. at this point, they're appeared to be a number of issues senator dodd has raised a lot of them that need to be examined very thoroughly. first, we need to determine the extent of the problem. it appears thousands of so-called robosigners working for banks signed the foreclosure related documents, swearing that they had personal knowledge of the facts of each foreclosure case. it now appears that few if any of these people had such knowledge if this were to it

my literary uses for in part the great science writers, people like richard dawkins, jerry dimond, people like that you've probably heard, but even more so it was the books that i really like to read which are detective novels. i read books by leonard who is one of the greatest writers in this language guys that know how to capture the human spirit in a sense. the reason i wanted to write this book is i wanted to deal with my own personal obsessions, and one of the best quotations that i heard about this was like a guy named steve solomon, a writer i am familiar with what i heard on the radio she asked why he wrote his book and he said the great books are written about the things the authors can't get out of their head. and that's completely resonated with me because the things i can't get out of my head and i still can't get out of my head is the relationships people have with other species. and it originally started -- and particularly interested in how everyday people work out real life moral dilemmas and i originally started this when we moved to barbers fill but a bunch of my neighbo

we are right now in the midst -- dimond -- i know there have been these calls to move this all up andrelease the report sooner than december the first. i would just remind you that the original plan here was for us to work towards december the first as the date by which the report would be due, and in the internal work would begin in terms of working with the service is, getting feedback from the service secretaries, from the service chiefs, having the jeeves meet among themselves on having the sick to reconsider their input and ultimately charting a course for word for the department. we have compress that time when such that we are now operating on parallel tracks. not only is the draft report still being finalized, but we are also giving the internal work that would have taken place after december 1st simultaneously so that we can on december 1st not just released the report, but the secretary can state where he wants to take us with regards to this measure. so that's what we are focused on right now frankly and there is a lot of work to do between now and then because we have comp

i go one could make the case lowering the dimond disabled dependent spouse benefit. another place beside the to benefits that they do increase which i again applaud them i think they make a lot of sense raising the benefits for an 85-year-old adding that in college benefits for disabled beneficiaries and for children of parents who have died. the survivor benefit. there is a jury little survivor protection if you take a male and female with identical earnings one of them vice first then the benefits of the family are cut in half. expenses for the family just because one person died are not cut in half and i think the survivor benefit particularly for a couple with identical earnings were nearly identical earnings could be improved. and i think there's also a case to be made to moving for more universal coverage. so those are my basic points if you remember nothing else of this comment that we have already had a 26% decline in benefits. we need to take into account the interaction between social security and medicare, and i think the politicians need to to the lesson

involved in this case is money that is generated by in position of the state's income tax, not by dimond in position of it. if there was no state income tax there would be no tax credit program. >> would you say the same thing about a tax deduction? >> what i say what about a tax deduction? >> that it's the government's money? >> no, i would not -- estimate because they are kind kind enough to give me a tax deduction -- because they are kind enough to give me the taxpayer a deduction for certain contributions? spin it because when a taxpayer makes a charitable deduction, the charitable deduction is made from the taxpayers' money. at that time the taxpayer makes the deduction the taxpayer can do anything he wants with that money. that's not true of this tax credit. the time the tax credit is taken, the taxpayer owes the government lets say $5,000 of state income taxes. you've got to pay that $5,000. you can't keep it. it's not your money. you can't keep it. it's not that all of your money is the government's money it's that this $5,000 you owe the government as income tax is the governmen