i crossed out al franken and put in another name and you put al franken back. that's true.at's a true story. i crossed it out. i said put in a legitimate name but they put franken back. in. >> like it too much. >> bill: like anything would ever be named after that guy. question number three, ymca in new york city's west village is replaces santa claus at holiday luncheon because they want to bring in a character that will appeal to a broader number of kids. what character have they replaced santa with? >> happy birthday! hey, i said my first words. but no men can't talk. >> bill: that was mayor bloomberg playing frosty there. not too many people know that you got that right. doocy, you weren't even close. frosty has replaced santa. >> outrageous. >> bill: new ad campaign featuring singing food is causing a controversy because some people say the commercial is racist. what kind of food is being accused of racism? >> bill: cards up please. roll the tape. ♪ >> hold on a minute. >> bill: that's quite enough of that. the racist cupcakes. >> clearly. >> bill: both got that wrong,

this is a release from minnesota senator al franken. al franken. you know, the liberal talker from air america. hell, they even got him hoodwinked. he says this "a lot of people are unhappy that the president punted on first down. and i'm one of them. extending the bush tax breaks for the super wealthy will explode our deficit over the next two years without doing anything to help our economy. it's bad policy." but he's going to vote for it. the liberal talker from air america is even caving in. i mean, what is it about washington? this is about conviction. if it's about the treasury, and if it's about the future generations, you know what? i don't want to hear any democrats in the next two years go out there on the campaign trail and say, we're really worried about the grandkids. now, i know the president desperately wants to help the unemployed during this holiday season, but this compromise, it's not worth it. if mitt romney can beat president obama with this tax cut issue, it will fundamentally change unemployment benefits for years to come. wh

where rush limbaugh and move on agree with each other and on the other side, newt gingrich and al franken agree. this makes no sense. >> behind the 20 yard lines, people are not going to go with an establishment deal. you're not an insurgent. by its nature, it's a compromise. a person on either end isn't going to like an end of the road compromise. >> newt gingrich and al franken. how did this happen? >> the great iron ay is going t be, according to conservatives, they think support among house republicans is eroding by the minute. the sands are shifting as we speak here, ironically and richard e lead eluded to this, if anybody's going to save this, it's the democrats in the house. in the end, it's probably going to be the democrats who are going to save it from a tax from republicans in t house. >> here, the house republicans. i'm going to list them for you and the reasons. darrell issa says it's an incomplete effort. jeff flake says he doesn't like extending unemployment benefits without paying for them. jeffrey chavis says the bill is loaded up the spending. john campbell says he'll vo

. >> they went to bethlehem and found joseph, mary and jesus, brought gold, franken frankincen and myrrh gifts brought by the prophe, hundreds of years earlier. but while they worshipped jesus, herod planned tokill him. >> nowadays, we would consider herod the great suffered from pair noi ya >> wise men fueled his parano. they were in herod's palace looking for the one born king of the jews, herod saw their visit as a threat. >> he is a concrt with no actual jewish blo who is always fearful. doesn't trust anyone. loved his fe so much he killed her. loved her to death, i say. >> herod orders a massacre in bethlehem. every male under the age of 2 killed an event prophesied by jeremiah more than 600 years before it happened. joseph and mary fled to egypt. journey predict by the prophet sea and fulfilled in the gospel of matthew. >> hosea 11:1, isaiah was a child i loved him, my son. some say it was misqted. non sense. his audience would know the whole verse, when israel was a child, i loved hi just as it happened to israel, so it happened to the messiah. you have this pattern over and over

a person on either end isn't going to like an end of the road compromise. >> newt gingrich and al franken. how did this happen? >> the great irony is going to be, according to the conservatives i've talked to today, they think support for this among house republicans is eroding by the moment. craig shirley said the sands are shifting as we speak here. ironically, richard alluded to this, if anybody's going to save this, it's going to be the democrats in the house. we've gone from a situation where we were focusing on the liberal democrats in the democratic party trying to undercut this deal to the fact that in the end it's probably going to be the democrats who are going to save it from a tax from the republicans in the house. >> we'll know that by the end of the week. here are the house republicans as you mentioned. i'm going to list themes who are against the tax -- and the reasons. darrell issa, of course, from california is head of the reform committee. he says it's an incomplete effort. arizona's jeff flake, a fiscal conservative says he doesn't like extending unemployment benefits w

while al franken is announcing that he's going to vote for it. so is there -- what is your next move? your organization has run television ads in states indicating that president obama has broken his promise on this. what is the next move for you? >> yeah. our success, the success of millions of progressives and former obama supporters will not be judged in the vote tally. it will be judged by whether this is a learning moment, a learning moment for democrats and a learning moment for republicans. what's the learning that democrats need to have? they need to have a learning that says when you go into negotiation, you don't go into it putting all your cards on the table. you don't say if the republicans are willing to take a hostage and hurt a hostage, we will cave. you don't go into it saying we'll be bound by an artificial deadline or we must work together with republicans. you go into it saying if the republicans are on the wrong side of the public in this issue, there will be political pain back home. for republicans, they need to learn that t

defense analysts are concerned about the development because the so-called franken bombers could be potentiallyndetectable. >>> the fight over gay rights has moved into a california courtroom where a federal appeals court is hearing arguments from both sides on whether the state's ban on same-sex marriage violence the u.s.' constitution. analysts say the three-judge panel appears to be seeking a way to restore same-sex marriages in the state while avoiding a ruling that would send the case to the u.s. supreme court. >>> and if you've got $6 million to $8 million lying around, you may be able to buy what's considered to be the world's most expensive books. now up for auction in london, "birds of america" is printed in what's called double elephant size so that all birds could be portrayed life size. >> and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines in msnbc.com. a new english report suggests long-term daily aspirin use may moderately and modestly lower the risk of dying from certain cancers. experts warn, however, due to side effects, more study is needed before recommending he

figure out that these guys all need to be fired tried burke thank god the way out there out there all franken care is what it does why do you. think you could you catch that so do one more for the new year what do you weigh. what are you doing there holding a gun to your head in the u.s. and britain and a western europe and understand they're playing with your bud why did you wake up and do what you're supposed to do what you were elected to day oh well max one final little headline on that this pulling the bad news out of the hat this one was pulled out during the quiet period when all brits were away for holidays now that they really needed to know this but u.k. recovery weaker than thought official data shows the u.k. see conway over the first nine months of two thousand and ten was not as strong as first thought the office for national statistics has revealed yeah vince cable can't dance either all right stacy our thanks so much for being on the kaiser report thank you max when i come back i'll be talking with ellen brown and her ideas about reforming the banking system for real don't go

i think when you see like a person like al franken, pretty, a liberal. sanders, but he's a liberal. when you see him vote for it and he essentially echoes the president, i don't love these policies, but i don't want tacks to go up and middle class minnesota families. you seem to get a sense of the log is starting to roll downhill on these tax cuts. i think you saw chris van hol n hollen, we may change something here or there, but this is going through. they want to get to the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. some of these other things. "the washington post" abc poll, 69% of people like this. >> devastating. >> politicians don't go against things that 70% of people favor. >> it told me that there's not a big difference in republicans and democrats. both around 68%. you can't beat that. we have to go now, but thanks for that. >>> stay with us. when we return, a federal judge in virginia rules the key provision in the obama health care bill is unconstitutional. republicans are loving it. he's going to run for try to make a comeback on this baby, but it's still not ov

al franken said the hardest vote as a member of congress. was this a hard vote? was it an easy vote? >> it was a hard vote. any time you have a choice between competing principles, which isn't all that often, actually, it makes it very tough. i mean i absolutely in principle opposed both the estate tax limits that were in this bill and the extension of tax cuts to the wealthy. but on the other hand, making sure that right before the holidays we weren't yanking unemployment benefits from 7 million americans, that we were going to make sure -- and that we had an opportunity, chris, to extend the earned income tax credit, the child care tax credit, the employment opportunity tax credit which gives education tax credits students who want to go to college. any time you have an opportunity to extend those and get twice as much in this bill for americans in need and give more americans an opportunity than we're trading off in tax cuts for the health wealthy, then to me that was a deal that i thought was worth casting my vote for. >> you mentioned the unemployed. i think

franken: i thank the chairman for the clarification. mr. president, i rise today to discuss missile defense and the new start treaty. missile is one of the persistent areas of concern of the treaty raised by some of my colleagues. however, the reasonable questions that have been raised on the subject can be answered in a very straightforward manner. the treatment of missile defense in the treaty is no cause to oppose it. quite the opposite, it should garner support for the treaty. most of those who have raised concern understand that long-standing russian anxiety about our missile defense is misplaced. the purpose of our missile defense is not to undermine russia's deterrent. it is to protect us from attack from the likes of iran or north korea. in fact, the senator who raised the objection about it coming up now after their requests for delay pointed out as if i didn't understand that, for some reason. this is long-standing u.s. policy and law across administrations, and congresses controlled by both parties, going back to at least the adm

democratic vote it got in the senate tonight including leading senate liberals like barbara boxer, al franken, as well as most republicans getting behind the same vote? >> i think what happened in the united states senate was a recognition of the position we're in. the republicans in the united states senate would not move on milling income tax freezes or on unemployment insurance or some other aspect of this bell unless taxes were cut or maintained for the wealthiest in america. as a result they were recognizing reality not necessarily the policies they thought would be productive to grow the economy, but they took those which would with those they thought wouldn't. i don't know that i was -- i was surprised, i think, at the number of votes but was not priced that it passed handily. >> nothing surpriseing to me. i said a week ago i thought it would move through this way. i've been listening carefully to the objections you've been dealing with in your caucus. what i'm not hearing, are members of your caucus saying that i will vote against any bill that contains an extension of the top tax bra

al franken had this sort of very kind of frank and heartfelt post on the "huffington post" today whichhis is the hardest vote i had to take. he voted for the tax -- he said it was right on the line of what i would go for and basically i went for it, but i'm not happy about it. i think you're going to see a lot of that. the question is, how do they channel that? one, there's movement in the house to attach two more things to the compromise. one is if unemployment is going to be extended and tax cuts are going it be extended they should be extemded for the same amount of time. unemployment is getting 13 months in the bill and tax cuts two years. why is that the case? why can that not be the case they get extended for the same amount of time, fair is fair, particularly since it's going to be republican congress in 13 months and they're going to hold the unemployment checks hostage again and we're going to have another capitulation? the other thing that some have been talking about although i don't know what's going to happen is getting a debt ceiling raise put into the package as well so,

i think -- when you see a person like al franken who is pretty you know, a liberal, he may not be berniehe's definitely a liberal in general opolicy. when you see him vote for it, and in his statement he essentially echoes the president, which is i don't love fthese policies, i don't love extending the bush era tax cuts but i don't want taxes to go up on middle class minnesota families. you seem to get a sense of the log is starting to roll downhill on these tax cuts. look, i think that you saw chris van hollen kind of the lead budget voice for house democrat over the weekend, essentially concede, oh we may change something here or there, but this is going through, chris. look, they want to get to the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. they want to get to some these other things. and frankly, let me just point out and make a plug for our own poll "the washington post"/abc poll 69% like this tax cut compromise. >> overwhelming poll, devastating. >> chris, people don't go against things, politicians don't go against things that 70% people. >> "washington post" was dead right on it. this looks like a g

. >> al franken, barbara boxer voted for this in the senate. as liberal as they come in our party. i'll vote for them in the house. i'm part of the liberal left in the house. there will be members who disagree in and on legitimate points they may disagree. anytime that a deal is struck, some people are not going to like it. there will be enough votes to pass, this will pass out of house. will send it to the president for his signature and we'll get a few more things done. i think that the senate's going to pass don't ask, don't tell. we'll get the appropriations bill done. and then these republicans who want to celebrate christmas, i guess, will get a chance to, like most americans, they have to work up until christmas, some have to work on christmas day. but we'll get the work done. >> well, some people are lucky to be working. let's take a look at his tax. the polling data. i know that mr. capuano is not a politician so let's take a look at the poll dat. you and me, mr. fattah we'll look at these numbers. that's in our poll. and the latest quinnipiac poll has 69%. 69% say to go w

franken: mr. president, i rise today to talk about the growing threat of it corporate control on the flow of information in this country. right now, today, we've been debating incredibly important issues and i don't mean to detract from any of them. we need to be doing anything we can to protect our national security and reduce the threat from nuclear weapons. while we debate these issues in front of the public, behind the scenes away from public scrutiny, the federal communications commission is about to decide two distinct but very closely related issues that have the potential to change dramatically the way we get our entertainment, the way we communicate with one another, and, most importantly, the way we use the internet. the first matter before the f.c.c. is the proposed merger of comcast and nbc universal. there is no question in my mind that regardless of what you hear from industry, this merger will be bad for consumers and on many levels sms it will allow comcast to exploit nbc universal

the clerk: senator franken to in turley, isn't what happened before he was a federal judge relevant if he subsequently lied about it? mr. turley: senator franken, what i would say is that we've agreed if those lies occurred during a confirmation hearing, if it was an act of perjury, then certainly you would have a potential impeachable offense. i think that the lying is -- that the line being drawn here is i think this may be the thrust of your question is that if it is pre-federal conduct, the answer is no. that is -- this body has stated in cases like archbald that it will not consider pre-federal conduct for a very good reason, the constitution guarantees life tenure for good behavior in office. that's how the framers defined it. if you allow for the house to go back in this case three decades -- three decades and say look at all these things you did before you became a judge, we're going to have a doover. we think that now you should be removed because of those things. not because of what you did as a federal judge. and i think there is a distinction. i'm willing -- i believe that

. >> al franken. al franken. everybody laughs. sorry, i shouldn't make fun of incumbent senators. contrast, correction and credibility. your message has got to be believable. that goes back to when you do your box and the strengths and weaknesses, it has to be frufmente you can't lead by lying. say i just lost once, everybody lied about me. they lied about you because they didn't just want to beat you 35-85. you lost because you didn't have if resources to respond properly. you didn't have the credibility. you don't need all five but the more of them you have, the better. one is you need fire in the belly. you have got to want to do this. ok? because as walter said before, it is hard! it takes a lot of money. a lot of effort. time away from families. you got to admire anyone who runs for office. they got a screw loose but you got to admire them. sonny bono once said politics is show business for ugly people. you have to have a nire the belly. you have to want to do this. the second thing is a -- a winnable district. i don't care how much you want it, if you're running against char

franken: mr. president, i rise today to speak about my decision, after a lot of serious contemplation, to support the legislation before us. i believe that minnesotans deserve a better deal than this one. but, unfortunately, this is the one we have. for minnesota's middle class, there is a lot in this bill that will not only be helpful but is absolutely critical. it stops our taxes from going up on january 1, it provides a payroll tax holiday that gives families making $50,000 a year a $1,000 tax break. and for minnesotans who are truly suffering right now, men, women, and children on the edge of economic disaster, it reinstates emergency federal unemployment benefits that expired at the end of last mon month. not restoring these benefits would be devastating to minnesota families and to our economy, leading to a lot more pain for working families, a lot more homeless kids spending christmas in a shelter or a car. i came here to make people's lives better, and so i'm -- i must vote to pass this le

the clerk: senator franken to in turley, isn't what happened before he was a federal judge relevant if he subsequently lied about it? mr. turley: senator franken, what i would say is that we've agreed if those lies occurred during a confirmation hearing, if it was an act of perjury, then certainly you would have a potential impeachable offense. i think that the lying is -- that the line being drawn here is i think this may be the thrust of your question is that if it is pre-federal conduct, the answer is no. that is -- this body has stated in cases like archbald that it will not consider pre-federal conduct for a very good reason, the constitution guarantees life tenure for good behavior in office. that's how the framers defined it. if you allow for the house to go back in this case three decades -- three decades and say look at all these things you did before you became a judge, we're going to have a doover. we think that now you should be removed because of those things. not because of what you did as a federal judge. and i think there is a distinction. i'm willing -- i believe that

the clerk: senator franken to in turley, isn't what happened before he was a federal judge relevant if he subsequently lied about it? mr. turley: senator franken, what i would say is that we've agreed if those lies occurred during a confirmation hearing, if it was an act of perjury, then certainly you would have a potential impeachable offense. i think that the lying is -- that the line being drawn here is i think this may be the thrust of your question is that if it is pre-federal conduct, the answer is no. that is -- this body has stated in cases like archbald that it will not consider pre-federal conduct for a very good reason, the constitution guarantees life tenure for good behavior in office. that's how the framers defined it. if you allow for the house to go back in this case three decades -- three decades and say look at all these things you did before you became a judge, we're going to have a doover. we think that now you should be removed because of those things. not because of what you did as a federal judge. and i think there is a distinction. i'm willing -- i believe that

>> al franken the senator from arizona said the president punted on first down, which for football fans is kind of painful but i think accurate. you know, this is a big deal. i want to learn the chinese word for big. that's how big this is, because it's $858 billion. that's more than the t.a.r.p. bank bailout. that's more than the obama stimulus package. and the highest estimate i found on jobs is that it will create 2.2 million jobs. we need every one of them. that's $390,000 a job, though, glor gloria. >> should he have held out longer? >> of course. he had until december 31st at least. i have more faith in barack obama than barack obama does. if he went out and campaigned for his ideas and making those of us who are blessed pay a little more he could have won the fight. >> i'm not sure he should have held out longer. he might have started earlier on dealing with the tax issues before even the fall, maybe he should have started last spring or whatever. when you look at the additional things that the president got in this bill, when you talk about the earned investment tax credit, tuit

en and others have raised -- senator franken and others have raised questions.'m wondering if you can do one of two things are both. either give us a preview of where you think it is headed in terms of what determinations you will make as it relates to an investment policy. or, if not, can you give us a sense of how -- what are the considerations you are weighing and developing? what is the guidance you are using to develop that investment policy? because that rate of return and that return you will get is going to be very helpful in making the ultimate goal of getting workers some peace of mind. >> let me -- i am happy to answer questions for the record or with staff, etc., on benefit determinations. on investment policy, investment policy has been -- first of all, it is important note that investment policy is something which, although the director of the pbgc is always involved in making recommendations, is decided by the board of the pbgc. when i came on in july, the board said, ok, we have been thinking about this for a while. why don't you do your review a

signed by 17 senators as follows: reid of nevada, gillibrand, schumer, casey, murray, franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas p

franken: mr. president, i rise to speak about extending tax cuts to all americans on knack up to $250,000. mr. president, i was presiding this monday when one of my friends on the other side of the aisle was speaking on the floor, and he said with great conviction, and i quote -- "we need to do everything to see that the deficit does not increase." now less than a week later, he will vote to increase the deficit by $700 billion. that's an impressive reversal, don't you think? now, many of my colleagues on the other side ran for re-election this fall saying that the deficit is a cancer, that we owe it to our children and grandchildren to cut the deficit. well, to them i say congratulations because one of your first votes back, you're going to vote to put over $9,300 more debt on the head of every child in america. way to go. and what is that for? to give an average tax cut of $100,000 to americans making over $1 million a year. now, my friends on this subject have been saying to us haven't you lear

in addition, the president's compromise also ensures that the death tax will not spring back like franken stein and come to life at a sky-high rate of 55%. if the president's plan increases the state tax exemption to $3.5 million to $5 million and maintains the 2009 rate of 35%. it's a step in the right direction, and it will keep families with production family farms or small businesses from having to sell the farms or the small businesses to pay the estate tax. madam president, it is critical that we pass this compromise bill before we leave for the end of the session. this must be done, and it must be done next week apparently at the latest. but there's another area congress has direct control over, and that's spending. for the economy to recover and create jobs in the long term, congress simply must control spending. today our debt totals more than $13.8 trillion. the annual deficit which we are putting on our children and grandchildren's credit cards stands at roughly $1.3 trillion but could reach as high as $9 trillion if we stay on the spending path outlined. both entitlement and d

because arlen spector -- specter switched parties and the al franken vote, being put into the seat in minnesota, you are talking about hairs of difference. very small differences. this went through without a single republican supporting it. that is an extraordinary thank in american history. they wanted it, any got it. they own it. they should be identified with it. they have to live with it. host: john says obama didn't write it. it is not obama care. guest: but he sign it. host: we go todale in canton -- we go to dale in canton, illinois. caller: i have a solution to the immigration problem that with solve it and budget which is easy but it is common sense and that is why it won't be utilized. if the united states government would create an organization to start finding these corporations that hire illegal aliens and take the money to pay for the system of checking and balancing that would solve the immigration problem because people wouldn't come in if they knew they couldn't get a job because they would be fired because the companies would hire them. the second thing is with the b

al franken's story can be replicated in every city of this nation. people have worked their whole lives, reached middle-age, not only do they not have a job but they're coming to the terrible realization that they may never get back to where they were. that is not a financial blow, but it is a huge blow to a sense of self, a sense of family, a sense of what your family is about. here the republicans say not only will we not approve a middle-income tax cut unless you tax cuts for the very wealthy, but we will force you to pay for unemployment compensation benefits. we have never done that before under republican and ministrations, a democratic administrations. today the unemployment rate is close to 10%. how they want pay for it? again, this goes back to the hard choices we have to make. and obligated funds, is that the border fence between texas and mexico? is that the border patrol station? i'm sure they would be the first to say it is not that. we need to make difficult choices. the obvious tourist today was to extend benefits to the middle class a

senator al franken's story can be seen in every place in this country. people have come to be terrible realization that they may never get back to where they work. that is not just a financial blow. that is a blow to their sense of self and their sense of family and what this country is all about. republicans say not only are we not going to approve the middle income tax cuts unless you cut taxes for the wealthy, we are going to force you to pay for unemployment compensation benefits. we have never done that before. republican demonstrations -- republican administrations, democratic administrations, we have also passed -- we have always pass it when the unemployment rate is 7%. the and plummet rate is almost 10%. how are they going to do it? is it the border patrol stations? we have to make some difficult choices. the obvious choice is to exploit middle income americans, extend benefits to them, help them with some of the other provisions. that choice was rejected by the republicans. that is unfortunate. >> tuesday night at midnight, 85,000 ohio resident