i would be interested to hear, you know, if, in fact, you're going to to get senator enzi, if you will get senator grassley offering any support, but let's just imagine, just say that baucus takes this to his commit committee and is able to get it out of the committee without the support of the rockefellers of the world, and then we have a bill and are able to see the outlines of what obama and the democrats are going to stand for. i think this is the point where you are going to see intense power play negotiations and bargaining take place. bret: you may have pushback calling rock feller a moderate democrat. charles. >> baucus is a man that people have been seeking for a few thousand years. this is a honest bill. the reason that the program has been in trouble at the begin since obama had said expanded coverage and cut in costs. everyone understands that is a fantasy so he amended expand coverage but keep costs neutral. you can't do that. baw baucus has tried to do it. he has two choices -- huge amounts of taxes on huge subsidies on people who have to buy insurance now, which would ma

senator in see is over there -- enzi is over there. as one of my favorite people. i sometimes talk about the 80/20 role. it's why you and senator kennedy were so recess or -- some successful. we don't agree -- we decided to focus on the 80% that we agree on. we need to do that here. he was on the floor talking about his core of values. and i listen to him talk about them, and i said those are my core values. figure out the right thing to do, don't do the easy thing are the expedient thing but the right thing. and that is what we're trying to do. treated people the way that we want to be treated. the companies and taxpayers that are paying for it, put ourselves in their shoes as we debate this legislation. if it is not better, make it better. that applies the legislation and our health care delivery system. we can make it better. and just do not give up. one lady said to me, you're going to the markup in the finance committee? i said, yes, ma'am. i wanted to know that i am praying for you, she said. i said, well, that is great. i appreciate that. we all appreciate t

this amendment is a good amendment to follow up on the one that senator enzi just proposed. i understand the point that was raised by the senator that you have an objection to reducing medicaid at a time when there may be difficulties in this is. i will talk about a minute the discussion we does have about the different numbers we have on it. i do not think we can ignore the fact that there will be some burden placed on the state by this legislation at a time when they cannot face it. any unfunded expansions would be particularly troubling given the state faced a budget shortfalls of over $200 billion over the next three years. this gap persists after the increase and medicaid. what my amendment does is simply provides that we will not pose an unfunded mandate on the state. i recognize that the mark has increased the federal share significantly and the chairman has argued that the gap is very small. the cbo has an indication that and maybe different. i personally agree with senator and. it is a little bit difficult to accept that the -- since the number was not acceptable, w

enzi said.s it realistic to think the removal of the public option could would have gotten republicans onboard? >> there were options that could have been taken to get republicans onboard. more tort reform, allowing people to buy health care across state lines. there were many things that could have been done to the legislation to get republican support. the problem is the legislation is essentially obama care like which counts on tax increases and more government spending to bring health care to people which it still wouldn't cover everybody. >> we are hearing this is the beginning and a work in progress. do you believe beyond senator olympia snowe we will see any republican support of this bill? >> well, if the president and the congress start looking at things that aren't tax increases and aren't the government and the irs coming in to take over more of health care. the irs is going to tell you whether you have a health care plan that is acceptable or not? americans don't want an irs bureaucr

that's senator mike enzi. erstwhile health care reform negotiator who turns out to be a deather. meanwhile "the washington post" ezra klein unearthed a fund raising letter sent out by senator chuck grassley of iowa. he is the top republican on the health care in the senate and with senator enzi was supposedly working on a bipartisan bill with democrats. there you have it. the political blessing of obviousness. two of the republicans who had been gifted, this inexplicable role in shaping policy because they're the most reasonable guys the democrats could find to negotiate with? two of those people are spreading the kill old people conspiracy theory and they are raising money on their prospects for defeating obama care. the white house now apparently gets it. thanks to the gift of obviousness. we all understand that this is not going to be a bipartisan thing. the real question, really important question moving forward is what can democrats really get done on this age-old american political problem if they've got zero republican votes? joining us now is a man that caucuses with the

will enzi and grassley, two republicans, hinting all month long they might not be able to sign on ton't get other republicans on board, will they remain in these talks of this meeting today? there's every chance we'll know today whether enzi and grassley are still in the gang of six or if the gang of six really is going to become a gang of four, which in this case is a gang of one, about olympia snowe. two, is this development on the trigger, david, the fact is, it is clear house progressive, liberals, that side of the caucus has gotten the message, hey, if you're going to get, you know, if you want any form of the public option you better support the trigger. if you don't, you could end up with a co-op and have no chance at a public option. >> nbc chief white house correspondent chuck todd. great reporting as always. thanks for helping us on this intriguing afternoon. >> reporter: absolutely. >>> the bigger picture. former president bill clinton telling democrats not to worry about grief from republicans in this health care debate. clinton's efforts to revamp health care failed in t

clearly after the month of august grassley and enzi are no on this front, no to this blueprint. but they were sitting out there potentially waiting. i think how he managed the politics of this has made his less relevant to this process. he is still relevant because he is an important committee chair. but he is now not the guy playing point. the president of the united states is playing point. he's drafting, frankly, the legislation with what he says tonight. >> all right. chuck todd, it's not without notice at the briefings yesterday robert gibbs said he read those talking points from k street. the lobbyists had it first. you called him out on that as well. the white house is not pleased with how max baucus has handled it, at least so far. >>> joining us now live from the capitol hill, republican senator kay bailey hutchison from texas who's, of course, also a candidate for governorover texas. thanks for joining us. will there be any bipartisan component? we've seen what mr. mcconnell had to say. what we saw today, mr. hatch saying to the president, let's scale this back, agree

>> you have thank has been proven, chuck grassley, mike enzi, olympia snowe part of the gang of six, orrin hatch, bob bennett from utah, republicans that talked a lot about health reform, they want to be in the mix but they have a feeling that things like the public option things like the employer mandate, nonnegotiable, they want to see some more compromise, more flexibility, they are hoping that the speech tonight, president obama set that tone he can start to bring in some republicans who want to vote for some health care reform. >> let me go through the main points that orrin hatch had for president obama. he said that republicans and democrats can find common ground on these things, reform the health insurance market for every american family, make health care affordable for all americans. i mean, come on, yeah, lofty goals, how do you get to that? there is a lot of agreement when you look into the bill, contessa, ways that they are making sure that people with pre-existing conditions will get coverage, if you get sick, you don't lose your coverage. when obama and the republican

. >> we worked with olympia snowe, chuck grassley, mike enzi. we hope they will continue to work through this process. some people don't want to come together and solve this problem. others in that committee we think do and we think they are serious about health care reform. >> so as we move forward, david, we see the clock about 4 hours 57 minutes from the president's speech. many people are really wondering where this bipartisan support. you have some members of that gang of six who have said that they wouldn't vote for it, even if there was an agreement, grassley specifically. you wonder how does the white house move forward when you clearly have people part of the bipartisan talks saying they wouldn't vote for it anyway? >> so tamron. we know the president will try to influence people tonight. despite mike enzi and chuck grassley pouring cold water on the democratic plans, be the white house is still out there saying, look, we are welcoming bipartisan support, we continue to talk with them and also the interviewer about to do with senator ol

the senate finance committee, max baucus, and mike enzi, grassley, those guys are saying they want toet something to him before tomorrow's speech. i don't think that's going to change the dynamics. what he has got to get back to is the fact that there's a huge percentage of americans who want healthcare reform, and that people, generally, think that president obama is trustworthy, but he hasn't laid out what he believes in. tomorrow we should expect something bold. bret: juan mentions the gang of six, the negotiators, democrats and republicans in the senate finance committee and there you see them there. charles, max baucus, the chairman, has come out what he calls a new plan, a new proposal to get bipartisan cooperation. it is pretty complex. >> it is astonishingly complex. it is also very intrusive in just about every area of existing medicine. he has a lot of arbitrary provisions. ly give you a couple of examples. there is one provision that the 2010 scheduled reduction in reimbursement for doctors under medicare is no longer at 21% reduction. it is a 0.5% increase, out of nowhere.

. >> olympia snowe, mike enzi and charles grassley spent months helping shape the draft but they say it needs more work and falls short as is. >> to say this is a bipartisan bill would be dishonest. >> liberals refused to commit because they want a government insurance option and believe under the baucus option, insurance premiums will remain too expensive. >> we need to make it fairer to working people, so that working folks don't get dragged into this at a level where they just don't have the incomes to support it. >> i have taken the bill and looked at what it means on a monthly basis to an average family, and the numbers aren't good enough. >> nancy pelosi pronounced the baucus plan and co-ops dead in the house. >> i fully support a public option. a public option will be in the bill before it is recommended. >> when asked about the violent tone of the national debate, the san francisco liberal choked up and compared healthcare reform opposition to anti-gay protests and violence that gripped her city, including the murder of two democratic politicians 30 years ago. >> i have conce

. >> i have a question for senator enzi and what income of the population are you talking about? >> we are talking about the zero to hundred thousand population. the others have a choice for the >> how would they get private coverage? >> beheading it was with the subsidy. -- by having a choice with the subsidy. >> i think this is a very important discussion fo. have been quiet here for the last 24 hours, but working hard on something that i think is very important. it is interesting that the other side has offer so many amendments to cut the subsidy and do various things for the lower income population with the reductions. you are serious about that, i think it is very good news for america. this is about driving down the cost of healthcare. many arab-americans as may be to subsidize insurance, how are you going to drive death -- many americans are asking about how to subsidize insurance and hire good to drive down the debt. i truly believe that you can provide coverage for the same population that you are in providing the tax incentives for for 25% less. and did giving subsidies

all the trash talking from grassley and enzi all in the name of let's get along bipartisanship. what do we have to show for it? nothing. not as of now we don't. so just keep in mind, as i've said all along, this is now a watered down bill stripped of a public option and who told us that? a whistle blower from the insurance industry calling it a gift to the insurance industry. here's max baucus today with his announcement. >> we debated this thing, met over 100 hours. i forget what the total is. there are no real policy deal breakers. it's more -- getting more comfortable with what all this is and i think that's what this comes down to is helping, working with it, making this -- helping centers in the country, the public be more comfortable with what all this is. no republican has offered his or her support at this moment, but i think by the time we get to file passage in this committee you'll find republican support. >> the gop doesn't think you're a happening dude, max, at all. baucus keeps saying the american people need to get comfortable with reform. what people is he talkin

now we're talking about republican senators charles grassley, olympia snowe and mike enzi.sources close to enzi and grassley and in fact of the case of senator snowe, the senator herself told us today that they simply still have concerns that have not yet been addressed, concerns, for example, like a prohibition on taxpayer funding for abortion or illegal immigration and specifically in the case of senator snowe making sure that there is affordability for this health coverage that the law would now require. now i want to emphasize, and this is important, that these gop senators are not saying that they are walking away. they are insisting that they will continue to talk, will continue to negotiate, and when these votes start next week in the senate finance committee they will offer amendments to try to address their concern, but the bottom line is senate finance chairman max baucus will go forward tomorrow and will inveil his health care proposal and for now he's going to be doing that without the three republicans who have been spending hundreds of hours negotiating with h

mike nezi joins us bjmikeçç e- mike enzi joins us, and he is a memberç nv the gang of 6, and u are up? bet the president of talked about last night? do yguç believe this really ms nothing added to the deficit -- that the president talked about last night? >> the bill that i amç really familiavç with is another bill that we already passed, and that one does not have the pay-fors in it. ççi am having some difficultyh it, mostly because they are not all in. i am also the one -- we are puttingç in a lot ofç hidden s in there, and and we are facing taxes in later, which hides some of it -- and we are facing taxef the taxes, and we are talking about placing some taxes on the company's related to the price- relatedç insurance thatç theyl -- on the companies related, and it will be passed through. if they do not pass the taxes greta: you said you have some difficulty, or, you were very polite. there was a term. i mean, whadçç is your level of certainty that the bill that is going to come up from your democratic colleagues in the senate is going to be deficit neutral? çis it,ç i

i don't see anything new in here different enough for senator grassley or enzi to say, aha, that is a big concession. i'm going to grab that one. i can support this whole goldberg contraption. i don't see anything new here. >> that is exactly the problem, maria. you have a proposal that is supposed to be a compromise by moderate democrats and republicans. the republicans are part of a gang of six won't support it anyway. what is the point of the compromise? what is the point of bipartisanship on this? 77% of americans support a public option. the president campaigned on this issue and the american people voted for him, 70 million knowing he would support that. let's do what democracy calls for. let's have a public option. this is what the public voted for. >> this is considered a last-ditch effort by the dems to secure the republicans' votes. how critical is this speech tomorrow night, keith? >> i think it is very important. it is his last effort to sell this to the public. i think he has to be clear and concise in explaining it to the public. he has to use simple language and persona

and they played that out in negotiations with grassley and enzi during the negotiations with conrad and bingham and snow. delay is what kills health care reform. it plays into the hands of the drug industry and the insurance industry. they keep this going long enough, they think they can defeat it. we don't run rough shod over them, we get this bill to the floor sometime in october. >> we learned yesterday with studies that came out indicating that in your state of ohio, health care premiums have risen seven times faster than median wages and i don't see anything in the senate finance committee bill that addresses that, do you. >> there are a few things, i like the health bill. there are four bills that have already passed out of committee, education, labor, ways and means and energy and commerce and the house, the health committee in the senate, our legislation. each of those bills is good, each of them has a strong public option. if i think about republican delays, all i can think about as i go from lima to akron to warren to day on the to chillicothe is that 390 ohioans every day los

mike nezi joins us bjmikeçç e- mike enzi joins us, and he is a memberç nv the gang of 6, and u are up? bet the president of talked about last night? do yguç believe this really ms nothing added to the deficit -- that the president talked about last night? >> the bill that i amç really familiavç with is another bill that we already passed, and that one does not have the pay-fors in it. ççi am having some difficultyh it, mostly because they are not all in. i am also the one -- we are puttingç in a lot ofç hidden s in there, and and we are facing taxes in later, which hides some of it -- and we are facing taxef the taxes, and we are talking about placing some taxes on the company's related to the price- relatedç insurance thatç theyl -- on the companies related, and it will be passed through. if they do not pass the taxes greta: you said you have some difficulty, or, you were very polite. there was a term. i mean, whadçç is your level of certainty that the bill that is going to come up from your democratic colleagues in the senate is going to be deficit neutral? çis it,ç i

, that the republicans, especially wo republicans you see on the screen, charles grassley and mike enzi don't think they're going to sign on to a bipartisan plan. that's why baucus said he's giving them until 10:00 tomorrow to decide whether they can go forward with the deal by tomorrow afternoon. listen to what he said. >> a lot of this comes down to political issues. i'm hopeful when the president gives his statement tomorrow night, that's going to help move all forward. the rubber is starting to meet the road here. >> lou, this is the 18-page proposal of what senator baucus send around to five other senators. he did it over the holiday weekend. that's what they were discussing today. i can go over some sof the highlights many of these senators see as points of compromise. first and foremost, the public option is not in this. instead, there are nonprofit, so-called cooperatives that would take place. no employer mandate. except there is a penalty for companies that have 50 or more employees if they don't give their employees coverage. there is a mandate for individuals. all individual

the republicans, olympia snowe of maine and charles grassley of iowa and mike enzi of wyoming.rking on reaching a deal. >>> we are covering all angles of this story. our reporters on capitol hill and the white house are tracking the impact of the baucus plan. plus, we'll be checking with our josh levs, who is going through the proposal right now. and you will hear from professor kenneth thorpe, chairman of the department of health policy and management at emory university, as well as eamon javers, financial correspondent at politico.com. a lot going on here. >>> more positive economic news to share with you. the core of the consumer price index rose 1.4% in the past 12 months, raising little concern over inflation. and factory output rose for the second straight month, posting a 0.8% gain. auto production led the way, due mainly to the government's cash for clunkers program. >>> the murder of yale graduate student annie le, police are investigating a university employee who worked in the laboratory where le's body was found. raymond clark was released from police custody early

senator enzi submitted proposals. in fact, they all did. all the other five did give me some ideas.g through those right now. we're going to meet this afternoon, our group of six, to go over those changes that they've all proposed to us. to the degree in which they work. sorry? >> you've been working for so many months on a bipartisan basis, are you disappointed to say you are coming out that you are moving forward with or without republican consent? >> no, no. i'm not disappointed at all. why? because i know all negotiations you almost have to wait until the last instant before things tend to break. we've all invested so much time and effort in this. i know that several of my republican colleagues very much want to be part of this. they want to be. and they know, and i know, there's still time. there's still time between now and when we vote on the final bill that's marked up, you know, in a couple of weeks. so, no. it's -- there are a lot of sayings, different languages, different ways of saying it, the last inchness is darkest, whatnot, darkest before the dawn, you know? i do exp

senatore senatore enzi, senator grassley. do they really make bipartisan legislation, those three?the way the senate operates, they feel they do, but i feel the thing to watch is what is happening with the american people. the poll you showed earlier, 60% of the american people think this health care is on the wrong track. if senator baucus brings a bill forward, most american people are going to say, he's bringing something out, but it's the wrong thing on the wrong track and it's not done in a bipartisan manner. >> congressman pallone, what is the right manner. the president has been out for six weeks pushing his so-called health care plan. the numbers are worsens for him, almost week to week. this is a congress hat is dominated by democrats, led by democrats in a democratic white house. what is going on here? >> the problem is misconceptions. you still have people who think it's euthanasia, the public option is going to be mandated. there's choice and competition. the whole purpose of this legislation is to provide more choice and competition and make health insurance more affor

. >> reporter: on the other se a republican the "gang of 6" ke enzi of wyoming said he objects to theew pgrams and spendi. >> the proposal reased today still ends too much, and it does too little to cut alth care costs r those with health insurance. at a time when ur nation faces an estimad $9 trillion deficit in the coming decade, we shou tart assistance to those in the greatest need whout creating unstainable new titlement programs. >>reporter: baucus envisioned ying for the n programs with a half-trillion dolrs in cuts to existingovernment health plans, and 50 billion in new taxes and fees. but sena republican leader, mitch mcconnell, denouncedll of the democratic-led eorts as unaffoable government trusions. >> people wantore choice and competition in the heth care market they can pick a plan that would work for their faly not one dictad by politicians washington. >> reporter: at thwhite house, spokman robert gibbs called the baucus bill an "iortant building bck". the fullenate finance cmittee plans to meet tuesday to begin its conseration of the baus plan. >> ifill: you can listen

it is clear from senator grassley and enzi that is what they are going to do.ere is why i think we ent up with a public option in the bill. this is why i'm not chnervous - >> he does not look nervous. >> you can contradict me. you know how this city works. you cut out the republicans except maybe susan collins and olympia snowe. who is going to write the bill? the vast majority 2 to 1 in the senate and 3 to 1 in the democratic house caucus. who do you -- what do you think is going to be in that bill? since the republicans have essentially taken themselves out of the game. >> i think you can do it. >> we are going to have a health care bill. >> let me get to the immediate response tonight. there is going to be a congressman no one heard of, a republican congressman who happens to be a cardiologist. he seems like he was the one who lost the bet and can follow obama on this. what are they going to do in the next 48 hours of their communications strategy? sarah palin has an op-ed piece today. are they going to roll out before the weekend? >> i think the communicati

mike enzi saying it does too little to cut costs with those with health insurance. democrats on the committee not liking it much more than that including the lack of the public option. >> there's got to be some discipline that other insurance companies. that make them take seriously, not just competing with each other, but competing with somebody because they're non-profit and don't have a marble headquarters and don't have to report to wall street and don't have to please their shareholders because they don't have any. that they can offer premiums of lower prices. will that mean they put private insurance industry out of business? of course it doesn't. >> the bill pleasing no one but the insurance companies. they rallied today on wall street after baucus revealed his bill. health net up 3%, united health 2.7%, well point 1.7%, aetna, 1.6%. baucus himself not aware of the provisions in his own bill. >> americans to date simply cannot afford quality health insurance. that's why it's time to act. and that's why this is our moment in history. this is our chance to refo

senators grassley and enzi may have ended up playing a smart republican game by dragging this thing outummer. the net effect of that has been to weaken the position of the reformers, not strengthen it. >> e.j., great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. e.j. dionne of "washington post." >>> the republican ma smeen is unbelievable. when i showed you this yesterday, your response to this via e-mail was overwhelming. i got so many e-mails about it, we have to show it to you again. watch this gang of deep six, or senator chuck grassley blaming the president. here it is. >> i'll tell you, there are some things the president has said since then that i took very personally. he gave some speeches during august in which he was associating me with efforts to make this a political document and with efforts other people in the country will make to give extremes like on the end of life situation. >> the senator says the president's being dishonest? when he's calling chuck grassley out for death panel talk? >> we should not have a government program that determines you're going to pull the pl

and was senator johnny isakson and mike enzi. people liked ted drawn to his energy and his fundamental belief that america's best days were always ahead. love that attitude. you can always pick out -- did a division thing and much was asking about the person who spoke out last night, interrupted the president, said something rather unusual, and the president just went right on ahead, had bigger things to do. ted was that way. he had hard par of his personal life and his family life. he was the father of eles numbers of nieces and nephews and nothing ever stopped him. people wanted to work with him. he never, ever, talked about his own achievements, the incredible thing about him. as a result of the plane accident he broke his back in 12 places. that's a lot of places to break a back. he never spent another day the rest of his life, he once told me, fairly recently, without beg in pain, and you could see him walking across the floor of the senate, he was always bent and he walked quickly to sort of bconsciously to coverup the fact

i know the white house wants to dismiss particularly grassley and also enzi but mike ensi worked withebody who can worked with and obviously is not something who's signed on to health bill yet. >> all right, you two, i'll check in with you again. thank you very much, eleanor and jonathan. >> thousand. >>> an autopsy is planned today for a former adviser and top fund-raiser for disgraced illinois governor blagojevich. christopher kelly's death is being investigated as a suicide. he was supposed to start a prison sentence friday for tax fraud charges. he also pleaded guilty to taking part in a fraud against two airlines with hangares at o'hare and plotting with blagojevich to squeeze money from people and business seeking illinois state business. he pleaded not guilty. >>> a busy day for firefighters in san francisco. lightning strikes from a thunderstorm sparked a series of fires in the bay area. a transformer exploded after it was hit. two parked cars were engulfed in flames there. at least 20 fires from the more than 400 reported lightning strikes. more than 50,000 homes lost power d

how do you explain mark enzi, orrin hatch, eric cantor and joe pits? put an amendment out on the floor to get abortion out. why would you have an amendment to get something out if it isn't in there? by the way, they lost. >> is the president lying to the american people the other night? when he said there's not going to be money to fund abortions. that's what he says. >> if it's interpreted in hr 3200 there's no provision for abortion, he's wrong. if the one he puts his imprint on, i'll give him the benefit of the doubt. i put out a statement today, all right, let's keep an open mind about this. >> the amendment provides for abortion in case of rape insist of life for the mother. >> we're not talking about that. >> some federal money is already there. the president says there's not going to be new federal money going to it. >> he has to disagree with the people who vetoed the actual amendment by his party. i mean, he can't have it both ways. it's either in there or not. this man has a track record of being a very strong supporter of abortion through te

and gang of six, senator enzi barricading as much as ever at a rally in wyoming tuesday saying of the health care reform bill "i'm pretty sure it's going to fail." take that back in written statement but tim phillips the president of american for prosperity, a lobbyist funded astroturf group that organized that rally told greg sergeant of the plum line that the senator left him with little doubt he declared his blanket opposition to the six proposal. wants to talk about that with our own eugene robinson, pulitzer prize winning author and with the "washington post." >> good to be here. >> sacrificing 83 members of the house including the speaker to win the support of one main republican. i don't understand that math. can you explain it? >> no. i did pretty well in math in school. i don't get it either. it's like they give you two equations and you're supposed to solve bore phoning x and y. with these two, you can't get both x and y. they're not part of the same system. you've got to do one or the other, it seems to me, but i don't see how it makes sense if you can get a bill through th

we've seen enzi and grassley, they have no interest in bipartisanship. barack obama tonight can speak very clearly and rally his own party around the fact he has tried but bipartisanship with this party, the republican party -- >> and do you think

i -- really sincerely doubt that chuck grassley and senator enzy will go with them.people can get insurance across state lines, anywhere in the country, lowest possible prices they can, that's a good idea but that's an idea that republicans came up with long ago. that takes some conservative democrats came up with that as well. when he talked about medical liability reform, he is talking about, you know, small projects. we don't need small projects. we know what's wrong. we know that doctors overprescribe and they -- utilize -- overutilize medical devices and do a lot of things to keep that history that they write and to protect themselves so that they have done everything possible they can to rule out any and all things. and most of those are not -- not necessary. and consequently we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars extra just because doctors are so afraid of the medical liability. that does not even count how much it costs doctors inform pay for their medical liability polici policies. obstetricians alone, think about it. >> we are going have to leave i

." >>> coming up, the gang of six, republican senator mike enzi says he's pretty sure health reform isoing to fail. i want to know who he's speaking for. would that be all republicans? his colleague, john barrasso, goes head to head with me coming up in just a moment. >>> the net roots stood behind the president and got him into office. if he turns his back on a public option, they may turn his back on him. coming up on "the ed show" right here on msnbc. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. still haven't tried activia? listen to this story. my problem was occasional irregularity. my commercials didn't convince you? i am definitely a skeptic. actually, my mom convinced me. and i have activia every morning for breakfast

enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senatorrom wyoming is recognized. mr. enzi: mr.president, i appreciate having this opportunity to join in the celebration of the life of ted kennedy. his loss was deeply personal to all of us because he was strong and a vital presence, not only in t day-to-day rk of the senate but in our day-to-day lives as well. he was interested and concerned not only about his colleagues but about our staffs and all the with whom he worked on a long lis of issues that will continue to have an impact o our natn for many generations to come. that was just the kd of individual ted was, active and completely involved in all things that had to do th the work of the senate. for my part, i've lost a senate colleague who was willing to work with me and with senator on both sides of the aisle. he was my committee chairman d my good friend. for those aoss the country who mourn this passing, they have lost a trusted and treasured voice in the senate, a champion who fought for them for almost 50 years. the political land scaich our country has -- landscape

republicans-- not very many, you're talking about two or three at the mosts-- chuck grassley, mike enzi are never going to vote for this bill. but olympia snowe, as i said earlier, might. so if he changes perceptions out there-- and i don't know that he did, i suspect he did-- that's very important, charlie. that makes the inside game easier. and i would just go and jump in on this. i had just read about medicare. i wasn't around then, joe. but in reading about that medicare debate, which is fascinating, that wasn't as easy... lyndon was a a magician but wilbur mills went through all kinds of machinations. it took months and months and months of changes. that wasn't a simple, easy process. >> no, it wasn't. in fairness, remember johnson really played mills. but think about it. in 1964, in those days social security increases were not every year just... every two years just before they went home. johnson got the medicare bill attached to the social security increase that passed the senate, wilbur mills had the social security increase in the house. he wouldn't take it. johnson literally

care plan because they believe that two of the three republicans, senators charles grassley and mike enzi will never sign on to anything that is bipartisan, so what has happened over the holiday weekends, the chairman, max baucus put this out. an 18-page summary, a proposal. he put pen to paper. some of the things that they have agreed upon, and he is basically telling the senators in that room, democrats and republicans, either we come to an agreement really within the next 24 hours or i'm going to have to move on without you, and the reason is because of the president's speech tomorrow night. that is the unofficial deadline for this group of six bipartisan senators to have a meeting. >> dana, what are some of the ideas that are still out there? >> reporter: well, the ideas that are in this proposal, the most interesting ideas that are kind of a bipartisan nature, if you will, first of all, no public option. there is no public option in there. instead, as we have been talking about for some time, they are going towards the approach of non-profit cooperatives, rather. in addition, unlike

enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming is recognized. mr. enzi: mr. president, i appreciate having this opportunity to join in the celebration of the life of ted kennedy. his loss was deeply personal to all of us because he was strong and a vital presence, not only in the day-to-day work of the senate but in our day-to-day lives as well. he was interested and concerned not only about his cleagues but about our staffs and all those with whom he worked on a long list of issues that will continue to have an impact on our nation for many generations to come. that was just the kind of individual ted was, activend completely involved in all things that had to do with the work of the senate. for my par i've lost a senate colleague who was willing to work with me and with senator on both sides of the aisle. he was my committee chairman and my good friend. for those across the country who mourn this passing, they have lost a trusted and treasured voice in the senate, a champion who fought for them for almost 50 years. the political land scaich our country has

mic enzi of wyoming who is the most conservative of the three who the white house believes is least likelyupport something, and grassley who is a conservative but he's got this kind of maverick conservative side to him. he faced some angry town hall constituents who didn't trust, who didn't like the fact that he was working with democrats on this legislation. and he said things that were, to be blunt, all over the map. at one point, he seemed to be trashing obamacare as he called it, in a fundraising letter. then his spokeswoman would say, we're still in this, we want to finish this bill. that's probably the biggest player today. host: does that mean the white house will be looking? >> i think the whole senator snowe thing is fascinate, she's been at the white house several times for events not tied into health care, she was one of the key republican votes on the stimulus bill. there were three republicans in the senate who voted for that, one is now a democrat, you've got her and susan collins of maine. mike enzi, he's gotten heat from republicans back home say, why are you working so clo

having the press call chuck grassley or mike enzi a moderate republican, it's interesting. if you look at it, and this is why i think it's so challenging in the senate, you sort of figure out beyond the three republicans in the group of six who are at the table and maybe one or two others, there are just not the centrists out there. you look at folks in the republican party in the senate have been willing to cross the aisle and work on major reforms with democrats. you think about people like george voinovich. you think about senator grassley. you think about people like judd gregg or john mccain. a lot of those people also happen to be economic conservatives, budge hawks and others. i think the it's going to be very, very difficult to find more than one or two or three, perhaps, republicans in the senate willing to do this. it makes it politically necessary for it to be a democratic-only enterprise in a way i don't think was quite there at the start in '93 and '94. also, i think, frnkly increases the political opportunities and risks for the democratic party. another big c

the help committee, senator enzi is on that, came to a 3-1. we have a mandate that everybody is covered. on people that have to bite in in massachusetts, and we subsidize them. we have a subsidy to help them by hand. we have also provided a 2-1 restraint on what could be charged to the elderly, which is discrimination, folks. we allow them to church twice as much as you charge the in person, which is a reflection of rest. in our mark, mr. chairman, you have $20 billion -- $20 billion of reinsurance. we also have rest adjustment. that takes into account the very thing we are talking about, the differential between older people being -- some people been more prone to being sick, etc. to some degree it takes into account number people who engage in more adventuresome activities, shall we say, of sports, whatever that winds up in more catastrophic kinds of accidents. kite surfing, for instance. >> that was a low blow there. >> actually, it is not. my point, mr. chairman, if we were to work at -- i would take 3-1, and i will not ask for a vote on t

darzi, recently mike enzy was talked in a health care discussion and claims that the health care system rations its treatment, this is what he had to say. >> this would prevent the government from quality adjusted life year, called qual in the united kingdom. they are measurements to see if patients need treatment and this leads to the elderly and w disabled deny care. and this would deny care to elderly or disabled patients. and some of the uses it's been used for is repeatedly blocked breast cancer patients from receiving break-through drugs, and forced patients with multiple sclorrosis from getting the treatment they need and for patients with osteoporosis and denied patients with brain tumors. i don't want that to happen in the united states. host: dr. darzi, your comments. guest: to be honest, these are the comments i have heard from the senators and others that made me come to these programs. because these are the most ludicrous things i have heard. the concept of rationing. what is rationing. and would you describe 48 million people who have no access to health care as rationing

i have been talking to grassley and enzi and to snowe and murkowski just to say i'm not calling you tosay be for some specific part of the bill, i'm just calling you to say don't give up and hang in there and work with senator baucus and senator grassley. senator grassley would like to do something. he is the republican leader in the finance committee but hard to expect senator grassley to provide the leadership when he turns around, nobody's there. he's buy himself. and so he has been working hard and so have other republicans. i don't mean to denigrate the republicans who have taken a different position. some are principle opposition. they have the right to be in opposition. and they have the right to offer amendments and have a right to debate and right to vote. and i think once we get focused on this is what the president says he wants, now what do we do, where do we go from here? do we offer a substitute as the republican party? do we offer amendments? work together? the president has indicated he is going to spend a lot of time with leadership in both parties at the white house t

from the table and it's really going to be these three republicans, senator olympia snowe and senator enzi and senator draszly. grassley. this isn't going to enjoy, this plan here, even though it doesn't include the public option, different from all the other sponsored bills from capitol hill, it's not expected to enjoy huge republican support by any stretch of the imagination. this is about getting at least one republican, fredericka and i think the goals are pretty modest at this point. >> interesting. all right, brianna keilar, capitol hill, thanks so much. and of course if you want to read the baucus proposal for yourself, find a comfy chair and get your browser and send it to cnn.com. >>> and ahead in the newsroom, cnn's gerri willis looks at what health reform may mean for your family's finances. >>> the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, both known to any u.s. president. but for a while last hour president and mr. obama set aside politics to focus on sports, specifically u.s. olympians and paraolympians and chicago's bid to host the 2026 team summer games. maybe there was a