dick durbin, democrat of illinois. and republican member of the budget committee, lindsey graham of south carolina. then more on the budget battle and what it says about leadership in washington after the president unveils a budget that fails to address the largest drivers of the country's debt. >> why did you duck? why are you not taking this opportunity to lead? >> this is not a matter of you go first or i go first. >> our roundtable weighs in. former governor of michigan, democrat, jennifer granholm. former congressman from tennessee, democrat harold ford. republican strategist and former white house counselor to bush, ed gillispie and cnbc's rick santelli. the very latest on revolution sweeping the middle east. after egypt protest and violent crackdown have spread to the gulf states. how will the administration balance u.s. interest with interests in supporting democratic reforms? our guests, the president's ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. >>> good morning and we will begin with those anti-government

senator durbin i want to go there immediately. here's the president's budget for next year yet the fight hasn't even started over this because congress is still fighting about this year's money, funding the money for this year. here's a summary in the "the washington post". the house approves dramatic cuts in federal spending 235-1289. the senate is expected to take up its own measure of the spending measure before the first week of march, just before a march 4th dead lynn for when the current funding resolution expires. two sides begin grueling negotiation process more than $61 billion apart. senator durbin, are we heading towards some kind of government shutdown? >> certainly hope not and we've made it clear from the start that that is the worst outcome. if we end up shutting down the government and calling into question whether we're going to meet our obligations for social security checks and paying our troops, then that is an absolute utter failure. we can do better. i think we need to sit down in a positive, constructive way

durbin wowed the judges.lost his father to a drug overdose when he was nine. >> people say i get my musical talent from my dad. i'll never know. >> durbin was also diagnosed with tourette's syndrome and aspergers. he is being called a top contender. 0 contestant -- 40 contestants will once again face elimination. you can watch it here beginning at 8 p.m. you can get the latest idol news at ktvu.com. >> some really interesting stories. >>> an interesting medical story -- strokes. they're happening more and more. wait until you hear who doctors say are getting them more and more. >>> plus, the reason an 80-year-old jewel thief is finally slowing down. >>> an 80-year-old international jewel thief is headed back to prison. a judge sentenced doris pane five years for steeling a diamond ring from macies. she also stole from neiman marcus. show has admitted to stealing jewelry from around the world. >>> there's a new medical report that just came out this morning. strokes are happening more and more among the middle

i think senator durbin for holding this meeting. i thought this was an extremely important one and a very timely. i must say i have no doubt about the constitutional authority. professor barnett, the law school we attended. we should look at our oath of office. we do. i can remember vividly taking that oath. i repeated to myself all the time. i think most of us do. we had arguments on the constitutional issue. during the senate debate, i talked about those arguments. i responded to them. the senate voted on the constitutional issue. it formally rejected the constitutional point of order. it said the individual requirement was not constitutional. we voted on it. we voted the act was constitutional. two courts have ruled it is not. two have ruled it is. we all know ultimately it will go to the supreme court. professor fried -- we have all profited by the testimony saying that we're not going to question the policy, about the pot -- about the constitution. i appreciate that. it was not novel. it rested on a centuries work of building o

durbin: mr.ident? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum call being suspend the. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, three years ago today, a mentally disturbed gunman walked into the campus lecture hall at northern university in dekalb, shot 22 students, killing five of them. the president of northern illinois university, the students and faculty and employees pulled together after that tragedy, and i join them at an observance with then-senator and now-president obama, to acknowledge the grief that they all felt and we shared. i'm proud to report that the northern illinois university community is stronger and more resilient today than ever. in the aftermath of the shooting, we asked a lot of questions about what led to it. naturally, there were so many innocent victims. we asked what we could do to prevent it. three years

senator durbin and i care in the san law school. they said we should look at our oath of office and we do. i have been sworn into the senate seven times i can remember specifically each time taking the oath and i repeated to myself. i think most of us do. we had arguments on the constitutional issue. during the senate debate, i talked about those arguments and responded to them. the senate voted on the constitutional issue. they formally rejected a constitutional barrier. this is not as though it was not considered. we voted on it. we voted the act is constitutional two courts have ruled it is not an two courts have ruled it is. it will ultimately go to the supreme court to be decided3 . we have all profited by the testimony that says there are no questions about the policy or the constitutionality and i appreciate that. the act was not a novel or unprecedented. it was to build on our safety net in this country. the opponents want to continue their political battle by chairman sigoloff read -- by challenging whole lot minutes after

. >> that is senator dick durbin. a judge said that the law is unconstitutional. 26 states including florida filed a lawsuit against it. which white are the supremes going to go on this one, nina? >> oh, i wouldn't begin to guess that, but it is unlikely that they would hurry it up. next year sometime, perhaps, we will get to the court. but this is a very complicated bill, and they will want the lower courts -- justice ginsburg said this on a thursday night at a forum in washington -- they will want to lower courts, the best minds in the country, to weigh in on this, and there will be different conclusions. >> the attorney-general of a virginia is trying to get to go directly -- >> he can ask. that does not mean he will get. >> it is a flawed bill. it as a fundamental flaw in it, which is that it doesn't deal with the underlying problems with the health-care system. congress docked on the big issue -- >> the question is, is it unconstitutional? demanding that people buy health insurance? >> i am not a lawyer and i wil

durbin: madam president, the president presented to congress a budget. it's the annual process or ritual where the president makes the first move presenting a budget and then congress responds. the house and the senate come up with a budget resolution within the confines of the president's spending and decide how to spend the money. we're now at that phase. but i want to say a word about what the president suggested and what we're hearing from across the rotunda from house republicans. the president understands that we have two challenges as a nation. the first is to create more jobs because we have too many people out of work. and secondly, we need to reduce our deficit. it seems that they're cross-purposes, but they don't have to be. the president is trying to chart a course that moves us forward in a responsible way, cutting spending where it will not hurt economic recovery and growth. investing with the federal funds we will spend in programs that count. he's talked about an agenda for more education, more innovation, more infrastructure and economic

durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, it is interesting as he we face one of the toughest economic recessions in modern history and a world in turmoil, as many countries are challenging their leadership and assessing their future, that the focal point of the republican legislative effort appears to be the repeal of health care reform. if you take a look at what the american people think about this, they don't agree. they think that if there are ways to improve the bill, we should do it. if there are changes we can make in this bill to make it more effective, we should. but the notion that we would repeal this law and walk away from the basic provisions in it, it's not accepted by the majority of the people. the house republicans, new to the majority this year, decided they needed to keep faith wi

i think senator durbin for holding this meeting. i thought this was an extremely important one and a very timely. i must say i have no doubt about the constitutional authority. professor barnett, the law school we attended. we should look at our oath of office. we do. i can remember vividly taking that oath. i repeated to myself all the time. i think most of us do. we had arguments on the constitutional issue. during the senate debate, i talked about those arguments. i responded to them. the senate voted on the constitutional issue. it formally rejected the constitutional point of order. it said the individual requirement was not constitutional. we voted on it. we voted the act was constitutional. two courts have ruled it is not. two have ruled it is. we all know ultimately it will go to the supreme court. professor fried -- we have all profited by the testimony saying that we're not going to question the policy, about the pot -- about the constitution. i appreciate that. it was not novel. it rested on a centuries work of building o

host: what you make of senator dick durbin's comments? guest: that is why we need a supreme court decision. there is a really important line decision.udson's he says, "in closing, i will simply conclude that my concern is based upon application of the commerce clause as it exists, pursuant to the supreme court's current interpretation and definition." only this record or a constitutional amendment can expand that. -- only the supreme court or constitutional amendment can expand that. he has concluded that the supreme court has never extended the constitution -- the commerce clause to say that someone must buy a private product, to regulate in activity -- inactivity. that is the crux of this and why an hink it is such n important constitutional issue. host: democratic caller, hi there. caller: to your guess i say, nonsense. not said anything useful or convincing -- you haven't said anything useful or convincing. we have a plan in massachusetts and it is working wonderfully. people are all on insurance, some people who let not seen the doct

it is led by the big 6 which are chambliss and warner and coburn and crapo and conrad and durbin. and i think goes from the right to the list and we have a chance to have this introduced in legislative language in the senate. in the house paul ryan is as smart and as quick and as facile with the numbers as anybody i have ever worked with in the public or private sector. he has told that we can expect to see 85% of the recommendations on the spending side that we've made end up in his budget. so i'm encouraged there. dave camp again another terrific guy. head of ways and means. really fell in love if you looked at our plan what we call the zero option which was again broadening the base of a tax code, you know, sim flying the code, eliminating this $1.1 trillion worth of tax expenditures, many of which you in this room like but by doing so, we took 92% of the proceeds down to reduce tax rates and we got to the tax rates down to 8% up to $70,000, 14% up to $210,000 and 22% -- 23% was the maximum tax rate anybody would pay and we got the corporate rate to 26%. and, you know, he reall

if dick durbin had come to make and not wanted to vote for it, harry reid has not been on obstruction. in the house, you have the three archconservative, wonderful young man, paul ryan, dave camp, and jeb hensarling. they did not vote for this package. we went to them an edge to if they were scared arab grover norquist. grover testified for us. he said his ear was ronald reagan i said so was mine. ronald reagan raised taxes 11 times in his head ministration he said i did not like that. i don't care if he liked it or not. why did he do that? he did it to make the country run. they said we are not frightened of grover. we fear that if you get rid of these tax expenditures, one of the big one is employer deduction of health-care premiums for employees. they fear that the employers will flee to obama care. that is a valid fear. we agreed. i said we have to sort that out. at least they are not cewed by the pressure of the groups. we have supporters out in the world. you have to have compromises but that does not mean you are a wimp. you can compromise an issue without compromising yourself

durbin: madam president, what is pending before the senate at this moment? the presiding officer: the amendment of the senator from kentucky. mr. durbin: it's my understanding, madam president, that this amendment by the senator from kentucky would establish a new authorization level for the federal aviation administration, which would revert to the level of 2008. i think it's worth noting that this may cut spending in some regards, but i don't believe it is a wise decision by the senate to move in that direction. our world has changed dramatically since 2008, and the world of aviation even more so. the aviation industry is not the same today by any means. we debated the f.a.a. bill here on the senate floor in 2008, and at that time oil was $120 a barrel and the airline industry was in the doldrums. eight airlines either completely ceased operations or filed for bankruptcy that year. that cost 11,000 airline-related jobs in america. airlines that weathered the financial storm lost millions of dollars because fuel costs were going through the roof. united air

senator durbin said frankly they own the place they owned it before the crisis and after the crisis. if you think about it, a long time ago the media was paying attention to the rules of the financial regulation bill. skate -- they need to define the rules to what actual practices are allowed because particularly in the financial business they can change the accounting practices. , but there are 1200 different rules. i am pulling them out of the air. [laughter] but there are 1200 different rules that have to be written on that basis and they are all written by the lobbyists today. the president moved on and the staff of the congressmen are overworked and looking forward to the next job with the people of them they are breaking the rules. although we saw of victory a lot of those are likely to be taken away in the fine print. finally, and that is has about important as the power of money is the transformation of our media. it is hard for me to boil it down to just talking points. but broadly speaking, we face two simultaneous crisis and one is the traditional media that was flawed con

durbin is there from the leadership to make sure that they know what's going on but i served with dick, and he went through that commission. he's frustrated, and i hate to say this, but it's possible that a major breakthrough may actually come from the senate. [ laughter ] and when i end on the note that our hope for a major change is placed in the united states senate, you know how desperate i am. [ laughter ] thanks a lot. >> okay, thank you very much, bill. we now, i know looking around the room we've got some very knowledgeable people here so i want to give you a chance to put your questions to the panel here, to anyone, and i'm looking at you, bill. okay. where is the microphone. yes, right here, it's in the front, please. and please identify yourself and make your question as short as possible. >> bruce smith, brookings. i just wonder if the colleagues would address the question of i think chairman thomas got at it a little bit, what can you do, short of legislation, can the medpac actually combine the part "a" and "b," are you going to be able to do some sorts of things by being

and let me also thank senators kirk, boxer, durbin, casey, menendez, and schumer for their leadership on this issue. let me thank our partners in the house for their work, and let me thank chairman rockefeller and ranking member hutchison for considering this amendment. i hope senators from both sides of the aisle will join me in voting for this amendment that will protect our public safety against this new hazard. i thank you and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. rockefeller: i ask unanimous consent that i be added as a cosponsor to this amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rockefeller: mr. president, i have some notes here but the distinguished senator from rhode island has exhausted my brilliant notes in his own speech. just let it be said that it is an extraordinarily dangerous situation. the whole concept of stronger lasers, more carefully targeted lasers from greater distances, being able to do it from behind trees and hidden places, blinding and probably temporarily at this point, but mayb

i think senator durbin for holding this meeting. i thought this was an extremely important one and a very timely. i must say i have no doubt about the constitutional authority. professor barnett, the law school we attended. we should look at our oath of office. do. i can remember vividly taking that oath. i repeated to myself all the time. i think most of us do. we had arguments on the constitutional issue. during the senate debate, i talked about those arguments. i responded to them. the senate voted on the constitutional issue. it formally rejected the constitutional point of order. it said the individual requirement was not constitutional. we voted on it. we voted the act was constitutional. two courts have ruled it is not. two have ruled it is. we all know ultimately it will go to the supreme court. professor fried -- we have all profited by the testimony saying that we're not going to question the policy, about the pot -- about the constitution. i appreciate that. it was not novel. it rested on a centuries work of building on o

also be joined by senators graham and durbin.s our political roundtable is coming up next on nbc bay area. >>> thanks so much for making us a part of your sunday morning. more local news tonight at 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 and of course we want to keep track of that forecast because we want to enjoy the break. >> today looks pretty nice. 50s. pretty spoiled two weeks ago in the 70s. but typical for this time of year to get 50s for highs. but also typical, though, some patchy ice after we've had a lot of rain and temperatures drop in the low 30s. between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, use caution. >> be careful. we will see you back here next weekend. you can always check nbcbayarea.com for the latest stories of the day and some fun stories, as well. have a great day. see you soon. >>> now is a great time to buy. prices are low, interest rates are low and now is the time to think about moving into that home you only thought was possible. imagine driving home after a busy day from work to beautifully manicured courtyards complete with m

middle east protest and the battle over the budget with assistant majority leader in the senate, dick durbinraham. >> that will do it for us on this sunday morning. jeff rossen, thank you so much. janice huff, thank you. it's the oscars next week. we'll have a preview. >>soon lg, everybody. thanks for watching.

dick durbin, democrat of illinois.lican member of the budget committee, lindsey graham of south carolina. then more on the budget battle and what it says about leadership in washington after the president unveils a budget that fails to address the largest drivers of the country's debt. >> why did you duck? why are you not taking this opportunity to lead? >> this is not a matter of you go first or i go first. >> our roundtable weighs in. former governor of michigan, democrat, jennifer granholm. former congressman from tennessee, democrat harold ford. republican strategist and former white house counselor to bush, ed gillispie and cnbc's rick santelli. the very latest on revolution sweeping the middle east. after egypt protest and violent crackdown have spread to the gulf states. how will the administration balance u.s. interest with interests in supporting democratic reforms? our guests, the president's ambassador to the united nations, susan rice.

so my question, i know senator durbin asked this of professor dellinger but maybe a few of the witnesses want to chime in and that's what is the practical immediate outcome of the decision in florida monday? and i understand some state attorneys generals are telling people they don't need to do the work to comply with the law since judge vincent does not stay his ruling pending the government's appeal. other states think it would be irresponsible not to continue making preparations for implementation of the act in case judge vincent's opinion is overruled at higher levels. i guess i'd start quickly with you, mr. kroger, just from a practical level, what are you telling your state what they should do in light of the florida ruling? >> senator, i hate to sound as a lawyer, as a practical matter. >> aren't you a lawyer? >> yes. if i was giving advice to state government it would be covered by attorney-client privilege and wouldn't be prepared to share it with you here. >> ok. >> i can say generally that i think it would be a huge mistake for a state to pretend that this is the final word. o

i think i quote senator durbin in this book saying, frankly, they own the place. and they owned it before the crisis. and they owned it after the crisis. and so -- and if you think about it, you remember it was a long time ago that the media were paying attention to the writing of the rules of the financial regulation bill. it was many, many months ago. but, in fact, those rules are very, very broadly written. and they need to be defined as to what actual practices are allowed and what practices aren't allowed because particularly in financial business, you can just do what you want by changing a few of the accounting practices and keep doing what you were doing. you can change the name of what you were doing so that -- or move one guy into a different division and the whole problem is taken care of. well, there's about, i think, 1200 different rules -- i'm pulling that number out of the air. the actual number is in the book. there's 1200 different rules that have to be written on the basis of that legislation and those rules are all being written by the lobbyists

as a member of the fiscal commission he stepped up along with democrats durbin and conrad and said we have got to look at the entire budget not just 18% of the budget. we have got to look at the whole shabank and i hope that we do this in a comprehensive way and not just take a weed whacker to the domestic budget while letting the pentagon off free. >> chris: what you said is we probably will need an extension of the cr for a period of time before we work out o a deal. speaker bohhner said if there is an extension there has to be real cuts in it. >> i'm not going to move any short-term cr at current levels. when we say they are going to cut spending read my lips, we are going to cut spending. >> chris: senator coburn, will there have to be cuts in any extension of the cr and if not are we headed for a government shutdown? >> i don't think we are. i think nobody wants that to happen and i think everybody realizes that we have to make some significant cuts. you can't play the waitingy game saying we don't want to agree with this now, give us a month and we will figure it out next month,

and i applaud the work of coburn and durbin and chandler, mark warner and everyone else. they have not produced that document. >> republicans said this week, eric cantor said we will throw it in there and democratic staffers were gleeful because they think these guys have walked into our trap. but at least this leadership is taking a step in the direction of sobriety. and the president could have done that i think there are people in his administration wanted to do it, the fierce urgency of now turned into the fierce urgency of whenever. he just pushed it down the line. for those of us covering the white house and regaled with promises year after year that per we're about to get serious on the debt have at this moment another set of promises, well, maybe next year we'll get serious but not right now. it's just, it's just you get sick of it. >> lehrer: meanwhile before we go, wisconsin the issue being raised there which we reported on at the beginning of the program. how do you read that. >> i think in state after state for decade after decade, people, governors didn't wan

. >> 24-year-old james durbin of santa cruz made the cut.n to compete on tuesday to make it to the next round. >> when it comes to the women, you want to root for thea maggia. she's 16 years old and lives in mountain house just north of tracy. nesdne with the w girl. >>> we have a lot of news coming up in a minute. >> stay with us. >>> the rain has been falling all morning. could it soon be turning to snow? we'll have live team coverage of the storm. >>> and snow is expected in the santa cruz mountains. i'm going to tell you when. i'm marla tellez live along highway 17. i'm checking the roadways and will bring you the latest conditions coming up.

think senator durbin for holding thiseeting. i thought this was an extremely important one and a very timely. i must say i have no doubt about the constitutional authority. professor barnett, the law school we attended. we should look at our oath of office. we do. i can remember vividly taking that oath. i repeated to myself all the time. i think most of us do. we had arguments on the constitutional issue. during the senate debate, i talked about those arguments. i responded to them. the senate voted on the constitutional issue. it formally rejected the constitutional point of order. it said the individual requirement was not constitutional. we voted on it. we voted the act was constitutional. two courts he ruled it is not. two have ruled it is. we all know ultimately it will go to the supreme court. professor fried -- we have all profited by the testimony saying that we're not going to question the policy, about the pot -- about the constitution. i appreciate that. it was not novel. it rested on a centuries work of building on

harry reid, whatever he said, you know very well he would not have described to allow durbin to vote for this package as his assistant. if dole came to me and said al, that is a nice piece of bait. if you go for that it reflects on me. harry hasn't been instructionist to us in our personal dealings. over in the house you have the three arch conservatives, wonderful young men. >> absolutely. >> third in the power structure in republicans, davis, heads of ways and means and the other head of budget. they did not vote for this package. they would have given us the 14 of the 18. i said in ayodele cat way surely you are not scared of grover anymore. grover believes if you put a penny more of tax you should be strung up by your heels and flogged. i told that to grover. grover testified for us. he said my hero was ronald regan. i said so was mine. ronald regan raised taxes 11 times. he said no. i didn't like that. i said i don't care whether you liked it or not. he said i was disappointed. he did it to make the country run. they said we are not frightened of grover. we fear if you get rid o

if you look at the people in the senate, people like dick durbin, mark warner, tom coburn, others, bipartisanup of senators. right now there are ten of them. they're getting serious and taking some political arrows right now because they're republicans willing to look at tax increases, there's some democrats willing to look at social security reform. an they're actually out there. you're beginning to see something really hopeful start there, but you've got to show the leaders in the house and in the white house a politically viable root and you need -- >> mayor reed, on the one hand you cut pensions in terms of when they vest but you're also lobbying for more money for the port of savannah. so how do you accomplish both? >> because i think that's consistent with investing for the future by deepening the port of savannah, georgia, we're going to create an economy and have the port ready for the panama canal ships that come in 2014. it's consistent with the president's message on infrastructure investment and job creation. >> how does it affect -- some of the cuts that will definitely come down

in the meantime more news from espn room. >> and the news stories being >> senator dick durbin.ublican senator lindsay gram and the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. hear a re-air of cyston only on pore and hillary clinton. today chris wallace hosts with republican governor scott walker. lieutenant governor and missouri democratic senator claire mccassical. then hear the state of the union re-air. donald rumsfeld talks about his new memoir then chuck schumer of new york and republican senator dick lugar of yanina wickmayer. then finally at 4:00 it's face kind of do too. >> and paul rine and the ranking deafment than to committee, the five-network the talk shows are brought to you by as a public service of company. those programs begin with nbc's feet in press and 1:00 abc's this week. 2:00's fox news sunday and at 4:00, face the nation from cbs. listen to them all on c-span radio. 91.1 f.m.. you can down led to station as an iphone ap or listen online at c-span radio.org. >> what we face today is that the american dream the under attack. but we are fighting back

. >> thank you, senator durbin and thanks to all the witnesses for being here. i feel like i'm back in law school. but we areciate the fact that each of you are giving us the benefit of your expertise and your opinions on a very important issue, no doubt. was attempted -- tempted to say, mr. chairman, i wish we had done this before the law was passed, which we did not, as opposed to now but professor barnett you make an important point that congress' duty with a law like this does not end when it passes a law, indeed if in fact we are -- the opinion it does exceed eitr the prudential or constitutional bounds of congressional power under the commercelause, we can repeal it. and i would just say to my friend, who's chairing the committee, senator durbin i know suggested earlier it's either this or nothing. i think they call that the fallacy of a false dichotomy. there's not just two choices. there's many other choices that are available to congress if this were to be repealed and replaced and i'm sure we'll talk about that a lot more. but let me just -- let me say

you had dick durbin, your good friend from illinois, democrat -- everything you just described in the answer to chip and the answer to ben just happened. why not grab it? >> the notion that it has been shelved i think is incorrect. it still provides a framework for a conversation. part of the challenge here is that this town -- let's face it, you guys are pretty impatient. if something doesn't happen today, then the assumption is it's just not going to happen. right? i've had this conversation for that last two years about every single issue that we worked on, whether it was health care or "don't ask, don't tell," on egypt, right? we've had this monumental change over the last three weeks -- well, why did it take three weeks? [laughter] so i think that there's a tendency for us to assume that if it didn't happen today it's not going to happen. well, the fiscal commission put out a framework. i agree with much of the framework. i disagree with some of the framework. it is true that it got 11 votes, and that was a positive sign. what's also true is, for example, is, is that the chairman

durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i can't say with any certainty anything about the critics of the government -- or the affordable health care plan except one thing, each of the critics on the republican side of the aisle of what they call government administered health care, government administered health insurance, every single senate republican critic is currently protecting his or her family with government administered health care. in other words, what's good enough for their family shouldn't be good enough for the rest of america. i think, as a show of good faith, that the republican senators should come to the floor today to say, not only are we going to vote for repeal of the health care reform, we're going to show our personal commitment of this by walking away from the federal health insurance program. i would admire them so much if their actions as senators reflected their speeches on the floor. but they don't. they are denying to the rest of america what every single member of cong

democrats frank lawsuiten burg and dick durbin are teaming up. >>> city officials in san francisco are saluting desmond right there. he's the linebacker for the green bay packers. yesterday, supervisors held a city hall ceremony honoring him for his accomplishments on and off the field. he's a graduate ofle a he holds an annual youth football camp as well as conducts other activities to help. >>> going bald at able 20 could be a red flag for prostate cancer later in life. french researchers found 20- year-old men who have gone bald are more likely to get the disease. >>> diet pepsi has a new look and they are choosing to show it off at this week's new york fashion week. the drink itself is not changing but the can is. pepsi says it's celebrating beautiful, confident women who drink diet pepsi in the new skinny diet pepsi can. it almost looks like those energy drinks we talked about yesterday. >> it does. >>> the father of the ma -- of the man known as the american taliban. >>> it's an ad for parents to keep an eye on their teenaged drivers. the moment you feel run down or achy nip flu-

harry reid, whatever he said, you know very well he would not have described to allow durbin to vote for this package as his assistant. if dole came to me and said al, that is a nice piece of bait. if you go for that it reflects on me. harry hasn't been instructionist to us in our personal dealings. over in the house you have the three arch conservatives, wonderful young men. >> absolutely. >> third in the power structure in republicans, davis, heads of ways and means and the other head of budget. they did not vote for this package. they would have given us the 14 of the 18. i said in ayodele cat way surely you are not scared of grover anymore. grover believes if you put a penny more of tax you should be strung up by your heels and flogged. i told that to grover. grover testified for us. he said my hero was ronald regan. i said so was mine. ronald regan raised taxes 11 times. he said no. i didn't like that. i said i don't care whether you liked it or not. he said i was disappointed. he did it to make the country run. they said we are not frightened of grover. we fear if you get rid o

you had dick durbin, your good friend from illinois. democrats.nswer to ben just happened. why not grab it? >> well, the notion that it's been shelved, i think, is incorrect. it still provides a framework for part of the challenge. you guys are pretty impatient in this town. if something doesn't happen today, then the assumption is it's just not going to happen. all right? i've had this conversation for the last two years about every single issue that we worked on. whether it was health care on or don't ask, don't tell, on egypt, right? we've had this monumental change over the last three weeks. well, why did it take three weeks? so i think that there is a tendency for us to assume that if it didn't happen today, it's not going to happen. well, the fiscal commission put out a framework. i agree with much of the framework. i disagree with some of the framework. it is true it got 11 votes and that was a positive sign. what is also true is, for example, is that the chairman of the house republican budgeteers didn't sign on. he's got a little bit of j

dick durbin, your good friend from illinois, democrats, everything you described in the answer to chipened? why not grab it? >> the notion it's been shelved is incorrect. it still provide ace framework for a conversation. part of the challenge here, this down -- let's facial it. you guys pretty impatient. if something doesn't happen today, the assumption is it's just not going to happen. right? i've had this conversation for the last two years about every single issue that we've worked on. whether was health care, or "don't ask, don't tell," on egypt? right? we've had this monumental change over the last three weeks? why did it take three weeks? so, i think that there's a tendency for us to assume that if it didn't happen today, it's not going to happen. well, the fiscal commission put out a framework, i agree with much of the framework, i disagree with some of the framework. it is true that it got 11 vote, and that was a positive sign. what's also true is, for example, that the chairman of the house republican budget eie are concerned. i'm going have to have a conversation with him, w

even if tom coburn and dick durbin and all these giles get together and say this is what we do, there's this house that has nancy pelosi led republicans and john boehner led republicans it would be like no thanks. we'll shred it. >> we're actually starting to h kumbaya. austin and i are going to be holding hands with our bosses as we walk down that beautiful path. i like to share your optimism. i tend to be an optimist. i've been staff director of the budget committee for 14 years and on capitol hill longer than that. i think the problem is this. i think the problem is many americans like the idea of cutting spending in general. the concept that government spends too much is something that i think many americans agree with. but when you get into the specifics. when you get into specific benefits then all of a sudden people go south on you. many people believe, for example, that all we would need to do is cut foreign aid and we could balance the budget. it turns out of a budget of $3.7 trillion, foreign aid is about $50 billion. it's very small. i shouldn't say 50 billion is small, but r

you have dick durbin, the majority whip in the senate, a democrat from illinois. in addition to him, the second ranking senate democrat, the group includes budget committee chairman kent conrad, and one of the senate's most conservative fiscal hawks, tom coburn, republican of oklahoma. that is "the wall street journal" this morning. front page of "the washington post" -- "on national debt, interest is the monster." that is a little bit from "the washington post" this morning. tennessee, jane on the line for republicans. what do you think? is the house on the right track on spending? caller: yes, and i think the 200,000 new government employees need to go. the 44 million people running around with these food stamp cards -- they cannot spend all the money. they just throw stuff in their basket without even looking. it is free to them. they do not care. these agricultural subsidies -- all that is driving up the cost of food. people out here cannot even live. host: jane, could i ask about defense? what about defense spending, which is the largest component of -- calle

and also, really, happy to have senator durbin, the assistant leader, who will be joining the committee. so we have five new members, and we look forward to getting together informally, as we did, beginning of last year, to have a chance just to get to know each other. this committee works best, as i think any committee does actually, but this committee certainly because of the issues that we deal with when they are nonpartisan and nonideological, and when we really take into account, the best interests of our country and work in a bipartisan way. and i congratulate the committee for its leaderships and efforts with regard to the s.t.a.r.t. agreement and what we did last year. now, before we get started this morning, i just want to say one thing about the events that are now taking place in the middle east. we are witnessing an historic moment in the middle east. and it is impossible to predict exactly what lies ahead. but clearly, whatever transpires, it is going to have a profound impact, huge influence, on the region and on american foreign policy in that region for years to come. th

if durbin can be in support of it, we can hopefully come together. but all the opposition would not have to take place if the president had failed to provide the leadership he had failed to have done. this bureau makes deliberate choices with nasa to strike an appropriate balance between achieving budget savings, procurement support for nasa, $16 billion in annual contract safety mission assurance prevents space flight accidents. to do this you would almost guarantee some of this could potentially happen. i.t. security to protect the chinese from having cyberattacks. we had hearing the other day that the chinese committed cyberattacks against nasa's computers. this amendment would say it's ok we can have the cyberattacks, we'll put it somewhere else. in addition, i see the gentlelady from houston is here. this would cause the civil servants and -- cost the contractors jobs. if president obama had done what he had done by appointing that commission he we wouldn't have cuts. willie sutton said, since we're talking about crime, willie sutton said he rob

bipartisan commission has reported and this was a star ranging as senator coburn on the right and center durbin on the left to their names behind. we also have the budget office saying the deficit since march last year are not permanent features of the finance. you have an increased substantive imperative to act and you have unusual circumstances that would allow for action. i don't think the president's budget presentation moved in the direction of action. basically the rhetoric is basically a series of thou shall not cut benefits for the most vulnerable or privatize, thou shall not cut for future generations. that puts them in the company of a free author and reform plan, but it doesn't really tell where we need to go. at some point you have to pick between saying this is what i won't allow to happen to explain why action is unacceptable and would present it on health care reform the last two years they were not specific in their budget but they had a place holder and they said these are the broad fiscal condors to achieve in health care reform and the company rhetoric this is why we want to

some, but had i been appointed to the commission, i would have voted with senator coburn and senator durbin for the report. if those senators from far opposite sides could come together for the good of the country, then where is the president? as important as it is to tighten the federal discretionary spending bill, we will only continue to tilt at windmills with a budget lenneller if we don't deal with entitlements, medicare, medicaid and social security. and i believe the opportunity to come together in a bipartisan way to put everything on the table to deal with it. also, we need a president to step up to the plate and to be an honest broker on this issue and to lead the nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for four minutes. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i rise in very strong opposition to this rule and to

the senate banking, but the durbin amendment posed challenges for small banks.'m wondering, do you believe that the fed should delay the role and study it more? >> i would not take a position on what congress should or shouldn't do. i think we need to acting through what the ramifications are of that amendment. we are particularly concerned. the amendment itself clearly mandates that community banks, bank with assets less than $10 billion the protected. weather the current -- i don't think the current proposal does that. chairman for 90. we are looking at whether the current authorities can, in fact, require the networks to do pricing. that would be a possible way to fix this. as authorities to that, community banking issue which i think is clearly consistent. i think there are broader issues about its impact, but, you know, congress has acted. so we will try to work with the fed on their intent. but protecting the banks. >> just one other question on the return on equity. given -- return on equity based on this chart is around 14%. given the changes, regulatory