moving down to anchorage and her doctor in fairbanks said don't do it.t a doctor to see your mother. this, folks, is a huge, huge problem for us when we talk about access the next slide on the back there discusses the issue as it relates to medicaid and medicaid costs. the projections that are derived from the national governor's association indicate in alaska, we spend about $1 billion on medicaid currently. under the senate proposal, if we pass that version, medicaid would be expanded. the cost to the state would be somewhere between $90 million every year and $130 million every year depending on how much the federal expansion would be. this would be a cost that is passed straight on to the state. and there have been discussions -- well on the federal end, we would -- the feds would pick it up for under the house bill two years under the senate bill, five years, but ultimately, it comes back to the state and it is a state expense. and it's something again, we need to keep in context. the last slide there is some thoughts about how i believe, we can adv

i did the same in fairbanks. we had about 600 people there.we're going to be in the peninsula next weekend. we're going to be in the valley on the following friday. we have to have a level of communication with their constituents. we failed to do that. we get disconnected. and we get pumped out. that is the way it works. you need to hold us accountable. i am not afraid of accountability. i am, i should not be in this job. let me stand before you and take the hard questions. i think we need to have this level of discussion and debate. i need to hear the ones that are angry and the ones that are just really sad andened. this helps me as i can best formulate on how i can best represent you in washington. you do not need to apologize for calling this out. have at it. >> ok, the lady in the front with the pink. [applause] >> thank you, senator. i am glad you're here and welcome home. i am a supporter of health insurance reform. and i seek your support in voting for the bill. if there is no bill, there is no reform. one of the things that i am conce

at the health care meeting we had an affair banks last week, i had a woman stand up and -- in fairbanks last week, a woman stood up and said her mother as a great doctor, but this woman is talking about moving down to anchorage, and her doctor in fairbanks said, don't do it. you will not be able to get doctor to see your mother. this is a huge, huge problem for us when we talk about access. the next light on the back there -- slide on the back there it talks about medicaid and medicaid costs. the projection from the government says that here in the state of alaska, we spend a billion dollars on the medicaid currently. under this proposal, if we pass that version, medicaid would be expanded. the cost to the state would be somewhere between $90 million every year and $130 million every year, depending on how much the federal expansion would be. this would be a cost that is passed straight onto the state. there have been discussions -- on the federal and, we would pick it up -- but ultimately it comes back to the state and is a state expense. it is something that we need to keep in context

when i went up to fairbanks --. [applause] i went up to fairbanks for the town hall meeting last week, and talked to a man whose family had six members of his family that live in canada, and he says, please, don't use this as a model. he said, let me tell you about my uncle who had an issue, i believe it was with his knee, an he said they mate him wait four years, a long time, and it obviously wasn't as pressing as this individual that you have addressed, but they made him wait for four years, and it wasn't because there weren't the doctors or the providers to care for him. he said they wanted him to wait until he hit 60, because they estimate that a knee is good about 20 years and they didn't want to do two knees. now, that's not the kind of healthcare i want. >> down in the front, the gentleman in the second row with the glasses. yes, sir. >> ok. first of all, something we can all agree on, mortality is 100%, so nobody gets out of life alive, but other than that, why don't we simply pay off the profit and bonus vu

i was convinced you were up in anchorage or fairbanks. we'll get to that another time. pat, with so many people saving money with this program, and so many dealers moving products, isn't this program one of the most successful stimulus measures? >> not only will agree with that, i was arguing back there months and months ago that this idea of basically a tax credit for folks who bought new american cars to save the car industry would be a terrific idea. and it would work. and it has, alex. and what makes it work is the people making the decisions here, they're not a big bureaucracy. it's a guy who says we got this old clunker here and maybe it's time to get a new car, and here's an opportunity. so he goes down to the show room. he picks out the car just like he does normally, private transaction, and it works. and what have you got in the end? i think something like 200,000, didn't you, car purchases in order to eat up that $1 billion. >> yeah. >> i would have gone with a $30 billion program. >> hmm. so peter, let's get to the program itself, which ate up its entire bud

this is in fairbanks, virginia. the president is expected to make remarks within minutes. nobody is on the podium just yet. nobody is expecting be the president to speak at any moment about the expanded gi bill. when the president steps up, we will go back to his remarks. so let's get a preview of what the president is going to be talking about. dan lothian, good morning to you. >> good morning. as you know, the gi bill, the original one was very important for these vets returning from serving their countries overseas. more than half of the 15 million vets from world war ii took part in some kind of education program. so this is the new bill post 9/11 bill, if you will. it was passed last year but the va has some 18 months to get the program going. so here is what the program will do. $78 billion program will give iraq and afghanistan veterans the same opportunity for world war ii veterans and give eligible vets a full ride in a public education system. it will also provide them the tools or rather the money to be able to afford the books and expenses and also cover housin

yes, we are counting assets that we have acquired from fairbanks on our balance sheet. and they are assets. we will receive a cash from those in the future. we will receive, we will collect on those assets in the future. they are not cash day the. >> but what you have in cash of $22 billion? >> and a look at the $22 billion as a static number all the time. all the time assessments come in, assets are liquidated. that cash number, we have other sourceto build that cash number as will. >> and we do breakut, sorry, i just wanto inject. we do breakout the factors, the change in the balancing table and your fun section. we show with the assessment revenues have been overtime, interest on our investment in securities and other, realized gains on sales of investment and other sources of income. >> when is the last time the fund balance was as low as 10-point for? i think it was early 1993. 1993. can you discuss this point, sort of whether we are near or at peak in terms of the liquid is related to commercial real estate? >> on the commercial real estate, one of the thingthat w

it's about 400 miles north of fairbanks. congressman young met lou in fort yofortyukon.n was this was when he was a tugboat captain carrying supplies up and down the river. and lou was a bookkeeper. don taught in the wintertime at the b.i.a. schools and, again, lou was the bookkeeper there in the village. they met, they married and 46 years of -- of really honest wedded bliss. and i have to tell you, mr. president, it's not often that you can look at a couple after 46 years of marriage and still see the love and the gleam and the warmth between two individuals one for another. every day you saw that. and if lou wasn't with don, don was talking about lou. he used to joke when he was -- when he was in his campaigns, he would say, you know, you get two for the price of one. and he wasn't kidding. don -- don was in his office every day but lou was also in the office every day over at the rayburn building, and she would greet alaskans as they would come in. she'd make sure they were comfortable for she thought they were taking too much of don's time, she would tell them that