the most memorable moment was an exchange between al franken and tom minnery of focus on the family. mr. minnery, on page eight of your written testimony you write "children living in their own married, adoptive, with their own married, biological or adoptive mothers and fathers were generally healthier and happier, had better access to health care, less likely to suffer mild or severe emotional problems, did better in school, were protected from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and almost never lived in poverty." you cite a -- a department of health and human services study that i have right here from december 2010 to support this conclusion. i checked the study out, and i would like to enter into the record if i may. it actually doesn't say what you said it says. it says that nuclear families, not opposite-sex married families, are associated with those positive outcomes. isn't it true, mr. minnery, that a married same-sex couple that has had or adopted kids would fall under the definition of a nuclear family in the study that you cite? >> i would think that the study when it

franken? >> well you can call me bob if you want, al?all right, bob. >> the argument that rick makes would be probably more potent if it were not for the fact that all of the wealth is held by a very small segment of our society. very small segment. and all kinds of studies show that rather than using it to create jobs they are hording it and building up their treasuries while at the same time, unemployment sits at 14 million in the united states. the truth is, is that probably there should be a tax increase on wealth to more evenly distribute income that is needed now. >> look at the loop holes. i talked earlier with the congress plan and showed house -- congressman wing ston, i showed how there is one man making millions on a loophole by paying a state tax on hedge fund income. what are we talking about here? people are getting away with billions of income which payes a state tax which gets a way out of paying their fair share of taxes and hatcher is telling the poor 20 do more. you can't be serious, rick. >> bob is right with income i

al franken fears nobody. [laughter] he's going to be here later, and he's going to wrap things up for us. senator franken grew up in st. louis park, minnesota, was a comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. i wish he'd let it rip when tee comes here and do a routine about the shenanigans he's sense since being in washington. he probably won't do that, but anyway, senator franken will be with us, so we're looking forward to that. let's gets busy. we'll do some work here. since we're talking about the real world, bob, why don't i just start with you. exactly how long have you been looking for a job this last time, and give us a sense of what that's been like. >> i've been unemployed since may of 2010. my background is primarily in sales, and i think that's where my skill sets bets, so i -- best, so i try to find a job since that time. when you apply for a job that will pay you a living wedge, which i'm not asking for anything exorbitant by any means, there's 60-70 applicants for every job, and it's diff

senator al franken grew up in st.is park, minn., and spent 37 years as a comedy writer, author, and radio talk-show host. i wish he was elected reps and will retain about the shenanigans' he has seen since he, -- since he came to washington. let's get busy. we will do some work here. since we are talking about the real world, bob, why don't i start with you? exactly how long have you been looking for a job this last time, and give a sense of what that has been like? >> i have been unemployed since may of 2010. my background is primarily in sales, and i think that is where my skills said is best, so i have tried to find a job in sales since that time. as you are all aware, i'm sure, when you apply for a job that will pay you a living wage, and i am not asking for anything o 70bitant, there are 60 tw applicants for each job, and it is difficult because there might be people that are better qualified, or have college degrees or beyond. you do the best you can to make a good impression and answer the questions properly, p

. >> and next al franken in defense of the marriage act and leaves the gallery in stitches. us. my cream is what makes stouffer's fettuccini alfredo so delicious. i think you'll find it's the vegetables. deliciously rich. flavorful! [ female announcer ] together at last. introducing new stouffer's farmers' harvest with sides of lightly sauteed farm-picked vegetables. find more ways to get to the table at letsfixdinner.com. i go to e-trade and tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] >>> the topic of same-sex marriage has never gotten quite so much attention considering that lawmakers in washington for the first-time ever are considering legislation that would repeal the federal defense of marriage act. that is right. what supporters are calling the respect for marriage act would repeal the defense of marriage act which defines marriage as being solely between one man and one woman. now, this new legislation scored a huge endorsement this week, support fr

senator franken grew up in st. louis park, minnesota, and spent 37 years as a come -- comedy writer. i wish he'd let it rip here and do a routine about the shenanigans he's seen since coming to washington. he probably won't do that, but he'll be with us, and we're be looking forward to that. let's get busy and do some work here. since we're talking about the real world, bob, why don't i just start with you. exactly how long have you been looking for a job this last time, and give us a sense of what that's been like. >> i've been unemployed since may of 2010. my background is primarily in sales, and i think that's where my skill set's best, so i tried to find a job in sales since that time, and as you're all aware, i'm sure you know when you apply for a job that will pay you a living wage, which i'm not asking for anything exorbitant by any means, there's 60-70 applicants. it's tough to rise to a top of the pile like that when there's other people who may be better qualified, have college degrees or beyond, so you d

even franken had a good time in. the cellar or should watch. he. meant to pick out. the winter canals one of the most poetic on his own st petersburg it was described to alexander pushkin's famous queen of spades as a popular meeting place as the area is especially lovely when seen from the pool so when you sell in a boating costume look on the beach but the frames to want to come out magnificent like something as movie sets. moving to a next location and out of sight seeing standing on your feet can take its full. breach her temperature spot and put complexes in russia. opens in two thousand and eight it brings a new concept in five star hotels to the very center of st petersburg just a few steps from the river palace square and the hermitage popular with locals and visitors this is a she one therapy it's it's best whether you're here to help or simply to relax the pool with its various hydrotherapy jets is simply to find. the center also close a number of. turkish finnish combine dry steam away. there's even a single room to shock the senses. it's a maritime color

[booing] ask al franken? i thought so. this is a tough time to be a liberal.ummer of recovery. today, unemployment stands at 9.1%. that is the message we want to make sure everyone -- every american knows. their policies, their regulations, their big spending, their taxation, their health care, is taking us further away from recovery. so happy first-year anniversary. i want to wrap up with this. the two questions i get on the road the most are, "are we making a difference with all of our grassroots activities?" no. 2, "are we winning?" i want to answer the first question by asking you for a moment to go back to january 2009. think about where we stood as a movement in january 2009. the president was enjoying one of the best political honeymoons in modern american history. then, senate leader harry reid had 60 votes in the senate on the democrat side. and truth be known about half a dozen squishy republicans. then-speaker at nancy pelosi, and isn't it nice to say then- speaker nancy pelosi? i thought so. she had a 50 plus seat majority in the house. they pronou

franken: thank you, madam president. i rise today to discuss the urgent need to raise the debt limit. i'd like to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues of our obligation to represent our constituents' best interests and those of our great nation, for at this late hour with the deadline for an agreement fast approaching, the consequences of inaction are clear. they have been made clear by economists, they have been made clear by credit rating agencies, they have been made clear by the federal reserve and by our treasury secretary, and they have been made clear by respected leaders on each side of the aisle. and soon if we do not act, they will be made clear by the market itself. i keep hearing from some members talk about the august 2 deadline as if it's no big deal. they say they have their own theories about when the real deadline is. that just leaves me dumfounded. i for one am going to take the treasury secretary and virtually every economist at their word. we need a solution before august august 2 or we risk

i call this franken-corn. i try to capture the true inspiration behind benjamin franklin's great achievement. benji loved the ladies. who could blame them? women are meek. that was my feminist moment in the show. email your bid to red eye. eight money goes to taps, a nonprofit that provides grief counseling to families of fallen soldiers. go to taps.org to learn more. it is not about charity. it's about me, because i care. i don't care, i like to pretends i care because it gets me the checks. we will close out with the postgame wrapup with andy levy. nationde insurance. what's up ? what's vanishing deducti all about ? guys, it's demonstration time. let's blow carl's mind. okay, let's say i'm your insurance deductible. every year you don't have an accident, $100 vanishes. the next year, another $100. where am i going, carl ? thnext year... th was weird. but awesome ! ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> i will be become on the royal rile. we have charles payne and comedian dan soderand kayleigh mcen any. time to g

the united states, the criminal law committee of the judicial conference, senators leahy, durbin, franken, ken, congressman bobby scott, many members of the congressional black caucus, the american bar association, families against mandatory minimums, and many, many other advocacy groups. for over 15 years, the commission has advocated that congress should reduce the crack penalties. a broad bipartisan coalition in congress read by senator dick durbin of illinois and senator jeff sessions of alabama work to pass a new law in the senate and representatives scott and conyers it took the lead to get the new law passed under suspension of the rules in the house. of course, not all prisoners will be entitled to this reduction. why? first, prisoners whose initial sentencing was below the equivalent of the new guideline range will not be entitled to any further reduction unless they get substantial assistance. the commission estimates that over 750 prisoners already received reductions below the proposed new guideline range. second, career offenders, people who already have a very serious crimin

montana voters don't want cuts in social security. 75% of minnesota voter, they don't want senators al franken to sell them out on social security. and in ohio, is that kind of a big state when it comes to 2012? okay, let's forget the election. 80% want social security off the chopping block. not just this year, every year. social security has been around since august of 1935. and it should not be modified. we shouldn't go through any modifications whatsoever or changes at all in august of 2011. social security is the most effective government program in our nation's history. prior to social security, over 75% of the nation's senior citizens, they lived in poverty. today the poverty rate for elderly americans has dropped to 10%. and today, over 9 million disabled americans and their families rely on social security benefits to make ends meet. along with 6.5 million widowed families. about 50 million americans rely on social security benefits. that's a hell of a number. every democrat in the congress and every democrat in this country has an obligation to go to the firewall for these people. ev

you will remember coleman/franken and we did have a government shutdown in 2005 as well. this is a state trying to figure out how to make it work. >> woodruff: well, we will keep watching and i know you will. rachel stassen-berger in m.p. with the starr tribune and susan urahn here in washington with the pew center on the states. thank you. >> ifill: now, an exhaustive new report reveals nearly two hundred educators cheated to boost student test scores in atlanta-- a problem that has surfaced in school districts across the country. the georgia investigation, commissioned by governor nathan deal, found results were altered on state curriculum tests by district administrators, principals and teachers, for as long as a decade. educators literally erased and corrected students' mistakes to make sure schools met state- imposed testing standards. and it found evidence of cheating in 44 of the 56 schools examined for the 2009 school year. the "atlanta journal constitution" has been digging into the inconsistencies for more than two years. reporter heather vogell joins me now. we

franken. mrs. gillibrand. >> no. >> mr. graham. >> all right. so what they're doing is a roll call vote on this harry reid proposal to move forward. they need 60 votes in order to break a filibuster. they're not going to get the 60 votes, we're told so, the debate will continue. but they want to keep this harry reid legislation as a framework throughout there in order to -- if, in fact, there's a bigger agreement between the white house, the republicans and the democrats in the house and the senate, they will at least have this electricityive framework to move the process forward and the clock is clearly ticking before this deadline on tuesday. joe johns i think is up on capitol hill. is he standing by live right now? let's bring in joe johns. joe, walk us through this little theet they're's under way right now. i say theater respectfully. it's very significant because they will need a legislative framework to get whatever ultimate deal they negotiate through the senate then the house. >> absolutely, wolf. and the bottom line here is the reid pr

franken: thank you, mr. president. this weekend driving around the twin cities, i was listening to public radio. the host of the program introduced a republican member of the house budget committee. the member, who i will not name to spare him or her a great deal of embarrassment, was asked about the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling. the member assured the host and listeners that failing to raise the debt ceiling would not create a default for a number of reasons. among them was that, according to this member, that we can pay out all the social security checks to seniors because -- and i quote -- "the money is in the trust fund." well, of course, there are $2.6 trillion of assets in the trust fund but the social security trust fund is composed entirely of treasury notes. allow me to quote from the congressional research service. quote -- "by law, social security revenues credited to the trust fund are invested in nonmarketable u.s. government obligations. these obligations are physical paper documents issue

franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i received this e-mail from a man in bloomington. he writes, "i am a small business man in the middle of a fund-raising effort. the concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angle investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. this has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to a new -- two new high-quality jobs in minnesota. i support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as ha

franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i received this e-mail from a man in bloomington. he writes, "i am a small business man in the middle of a fund-raising effort. the concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angle investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. this has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to a new -- two new high-quality jobs in minnesota. i support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as ha

that's particularly prescient, it seems where senator al franken had that hearing on geolocation, talkedolks from apple and google specifically about the way their smartphones and twices track the user's motions. where should washington come in on all this? on one hand there seems to be a knowledge deficit as the report itself points out, and on the other hand there seems to be this call to action on capitol hill. so what's your perspective? >> guest: that knowledge deficit that you talk about, tony, is very interesting, and i think that might continue for the better part of a generation, for the better part of about 20 years because the digital natives, we have to wait until they become the educators in the class room. digital immigrants are there now, and that's why it's so difficult for teachers and parents and adults to get their arms around some of these issues. so in terms of what congress can do, there's a number of things. particularly you mentioned this research. so commissioning research, commissioning studies, helping to fund these activities so that we really get a clear pict

franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i received this e-mail from a man in bloomington. he writes, "i am a small business man in the middle of a fund-raising effort. the concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angle investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. this has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to a new -- two new high-quality jobs in minnesota. i support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as ha

considering this week's hearing, where senator al franken had that hearing on geolocation talk to folksrom apple and google specifically about the way they're smart phones in their devices track the location of the users themselves from nearby cell towers. i guess my question to you is where should washington, and on all this? on one hand there seems to be a knowledge deficit as the report itself points out and on the other hand there seems to be this action on capitol hill so what is your perspective? where does congress go? >> guest: you talk about -- i think that might continue for the better part of a generation, for the better part of 20 years, because the digital natives, we have to wait until they become the teachers and educators in the classroom and then it is going to be a different story. but the digital immigrants are there now that is why it is so difficult for teachers and adults and parents to get their arms around some of these issues. so in terms of what congress can do, there is a number of things. particularly and you mentioned the research. commissioning research, co

as the presiding officer, senator franken knows, we are assigned weekly duties in terms of presiding, and i was -- i was supposed to preside last week, and three senators, senator durbin, senator merkley and my cousin mark udall stepped up to help me with presiding time. i had an amendment that was on the floor when we were dealing with the rules package, and senator harkin helped me with that proposal. so there was a real team effort within our democratic caucus to help me to be able to work on the wildfire issue out in new mexico and be able to stay there and have my capable staff and the other senators help out. and i just want to thank everybody for that team effort. now, the wildfires that are raging across new mexico are not only in new mexico. a number of states have been hit. texas, arizona, florida, and generally -- and my home state of new mexico. generally what we see in this country is the fire season starts at the southern part and moves up to the north as we go through the summer season, and in the southwest, we have had an extraordinary fire season. i was just briefed b

franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i received this e-mail from a man in bloomington. he writes, "i am a small business man in the middle of a fund-raising effort. the concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angle investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. this has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to a new -- two new high-quality jobs in minnesota. i support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as ha

they're the ones that heard all of the evidence, not the propaganda and the speculation, and the franken stein-like lynch mob that ensued in the last three years, but they heard the evidence, what our system is based on, and this is a tragedy, and nothing more. >> reporter: yesterday afternoon, the entire defense team and their friends and family all gathered here across the street from where we are for a private celebration party, but as the attorney for casey anthony conceded in his news conference yesterday, there's really still no justice in this case for anybody. casey anthony, who says she did not murder caylee, she's been locked up for nearly three years, probably has more time still to serve, and nobody it appears will ever pay for the murder and disposal of caylee's remains in that swampy wooded area down the street from the anthony home. >> jon: a lot of people shaking their heads at the jury verdict. it all seems to boil down to the two words: reasonable doubt. >> reporter: absolutely. jose baez hammered that during his closing argument that is just because casey anthony is cl

. >> snaurt al franken. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] >> and thank you everybody for coming. it's been great. really appreciate it. [applause] dd [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> today on c-span, a house hearing on the t.s.a. and arnte security. that's followed by "washington journal" wlive your phone calls and live coverage of the u.s. house as they gavel until for morning business. >> on today's washington journal, the president of americans for tax reform minor vill -- grover norquist. and representative raul grijal va. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> federal reserve fed chairman ben bernanke trourns capitol hill. you can watch live coverage beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span three and c-span.org. consumer financial protection bureau advisor elizabeth warren testified at an oversight hearing in may. she'll back on capitol hill thursday before an oversight committee. members will ask her about next week

senator franken is here and i yield to the good senator from minnesota. >> thank you, mr. chairman and i ran back to the voit and ran back as fast as i could. so excuse me. first of all, as far as mr. alt's testimony, let me just say na i've always been a big fan of sar chasm, i've used it a lot myself. >> and i appreciated your sar chasm in the past. >> but it does have its place. and i'm learning bit by bit exactly what that is as i go. so while i have some sympathy for you i think you have been wise to tamp it down since you've been -- and i don't mean this sarcassically. >> mr. pin cust, hour, in a recent let tore the "new york times" you dispargedsar castically the class action lawyers who represent consumers like the conceptions and i was really wondering why you did that given that the average salary for partners at mayor brown is over $1 million i don't think you're in the most credible position to make that kind of sar castic critique. professor hart, i have introduced the arbitration fairness act which would bar the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consume

from minnesota, senator franken. these are the people who said we will not allow the debate on the floor of the senate that might lead to a balanced budget amendment being passed, we're not going to allow that to come to the senate floor. let me go through the remainder of the senators. senator haggan from north carolina. senator harkin from the state of iowa. senator inway from hawaii. senator johnson from south dakota. senator klobucar from minnesota. senator landrieu from louisiana. senator lautenberg from new jersey. senator leahy from vermont. senator levin from michigan. senator lieberman from connecticut. senator manchin from west virginia. senator mccaskill from missouri. senator menendez from new jersey. senator merkley from oregon. senator mikulski from maryland. senator murray from washington. they had the courage to not have this debated on the senate floor. they had the courage to say, we are not going to allow debate. we're not going to allow the chance that you might get this bill passed that could sav

the franken amendment reinforces significant credit rating by requiring the government to establish a system for the sec to choose a rating agency to evaluate issue were structural financial products. regulations adopted by the sec under dodd-frank appear to also contradict the goals of an earlier credit rating agency reform law authored by our colleague from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick. that was a credit rating agency reform act. which sought to reduce the barriers to entry for credit rating agency seeking a nationally recognized statistical rating organization designation. however, the 700 -- 517 pages of rules adopted by the sec in may to implement sections of dodd-frank erect new barriers to entry for perspective and rs are owes the sec commissioner kathleen casey stated that these rule may be life-threatening to smaller credit rating agencies. finally, dodd-frank removes the expert liability exemption under the securities act for credit rating agencies. in addition to causing a dislocation in the asset-backed security markets, a new liability standard for the discourages new en

franken: great. thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to pay tribute to former minnesota twins pitcher burt bleilevin who this week received his sport's highest honor when he was inducted into the major league baseball hall of fame. to burt, i offer hearty and well-deserved congratulations. to the rest of the baseball world, i ask the question what took so long? in the 14 years since he first became eligible for the hall of fame, we in minnesota all assumed that with his rare talent and hall of fame numbers, burt was a shoo-in and for many of those 14 years, he was considered the best player never to have been inducted. i'm meap to say as a minnesotan and a lifelong twins' fan that this year burt was officially voted into the hall of fame. people in minnesota all know that burt belongs in the distinguished list of minnesota twins already in the hall of fame, harry men he brew, rod carew and cushy puckett, as well as two other baseball greats who grew up in minnesota and later played for the twins and were inducted

sanders senator sherrod brown, you are servings the presiding officer, senator merkley, and senator franken for their support in cosponsoring this resolution, and i hope that my colleagues will join us in protecting the promise we have made to our nation's seniors through social security and medicare. in closing mr. president the challenge before us is a formidable one but i truly believe we can reach an agreement on the deficit and debt ceiling without compromising the security and well-being of our seniors. i thank the chair, and i yield the floor. mr. president, on the pending mexico, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this motion, we have 69 yeas, 27 nays. the motion to proceed is passed. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could we've order in the senate, please. the presiding officer: order in the senate. please. mr. majo

franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i received this e-mail from a man in bloomington. he writes, "i am a small business man in the middle of a fund-raising effort. the concern over the debt ceiling has caused all the angle investors to put off any discussion of investment until they know what is going to happen. this has stopped my ability to raise funds which will lead to a new -- two new high-quality jobs in minnesota. i support a simple bill that increases the debt limit to get us through the 2012 elections as ha

host: franken on line for independents.ler: had we cut our military spending after the cold war, we still would of been spending seven times more than the rest of the industrialized world. we probably would not be in this situation. the tax cuts that we have had over the past 30 years have not lead to any type of productive results. it just seems that you are fighting over things and you do not want to do anything that may raise revenue. after world war ii, we had a situation where we were charging 90% in taxes on the ridge trying to make up for the problems that we have. now we have super problems and you do not want to raise taxes at all. guest: frank, thanks for your questions. is the case that i'm opposed to raising taxes. i do not believe that we have a problem with the amount of revenue we are collecting. we're just saying yes to too many things. i do want to talk about the cold war. i was in the army from 1986- 1991. i was serving in east germany patrolling the border when the berlin wall came down. i know exactly wh

franken: thank you, madam president. president. >> madam president, i rise todae to discuss the urgent need to raise the debt limit. i would like to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues of our purgation to represent our constituents best interest and those of our great nation for at this late h houre with the deadline for an agreement fast approaching the consequences of inaction are mad clear. by they have been made clear by economists and they have been made clear by credit rating agencies and they have been made clear by the federal reserve and buyer treasury secretary andeenm they have been made clear bye a respected leaders on each side of the aisle. soon, if we do not act, they b will be made clear by the marke. itself.he i keep hearing some members talk about the august 2 deadline as is if it is no big deal. they say they have their owneal theories about when the real deadline is. that just leaves me dumbfounded. i for one i'm going to take the treasury secretary and virtually every economist at their wor

senator frank index -- franken? >> if we are not doing this by seniority. i have to go to something. nobody is saying that raising revenues from the wealthiest americans is going to solve the problem on its own. and not every american -- every millionaire looks like that, so do not be mistaken. only with the right balance of cuts, careful cuts and increased revenues, can we make real progress on our long term fiscal crisis, which is real. but the very wealthy have benefited disproportionately from the tax cuts, the bush tax cuts over the past decade. at the same time, their incomes have skyrocketed. the incomes of the top 1% now account for 24% of all income. that is income, not wealth. yet the median income in america has gone down over the past decade. this is for the first time since we have been keeping records on this. that has hurt the middle class. the middle class is the primary driver of our economy. but their buying power has weakened in many ways, not just because the median income has gone down, but because health- care costs have gone up, becau

senator franken, you are next. please go ahead, sir. >> i begrudgingly yield to senator durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to especially thank the witnesses who have shared their personal stories with us and what you are doing here is very important. not just for the millions of americans directly affected lies so-called defense of marriage act but for our entire nation. doma is an injustice and immoral and discriminatory laws. our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal. and all persons should receive equal treatment under the law. our society may be different than it was then, but these principles remain the same. that is why i am an original co-sponsor of the respect for marriage act and that is why i think the day we repealed doma be a great day in this nation akin to the ratification of of the 19th amendment and the passage of the civil rights act. i think congressman lewis' presents here spoke to that in a very powerful way. mr. chairman i would like to enter the rest of

i'm grateful that senators blumenthal sherrod brown franken, boxer and gillibrand have sponsored with me in joining on the resolution and i invite all my colleagues to do the same. mr. president, the conrad budget proves that we need not attack medicare and social security to deal with our deficit. his budget is living proof that there is reason to attack medicare and social security to get through our deficit situations. that attack on medicare and social security is a willful and unnecessary act by the republicans. well rhode islanders in increasing numbers have been writing to me urging me to continue fighting to preserve these retirement programs, to preserve this infrastructure of american freedom. time is running short and americans are counting on their elected representatives to do the right thing. well, it is time to do the right thing. let me close by reading a piece from an editorial in the "economist" magazine." the economist "magazine is a very conservative publication. and it is very much in the favor of free markets. i would say by and large it is a republican journal.

al franken has a real head to fry to get rid of mandatory arbitration altogether. not merely to allow class actions and congress will be probably be the final ash tore of whether we have -- arbitor of whether we have mandatory arbitration and what the scope of that is. maybe the most interesting case from my point of view. it involved the tort of nuisance. there eight attorney generals sued five power companies saying that they committed nuisance by emitting greenhouse gases and they should reduce them by 3% a year over the next 10 years. a court, not an agency, the court used the theory called displacement and questions i'll answer in question what that's all about. they said that e.p.a. had displaced the courts in making decisions of this kind. they said even if e.p.a. does not act on its responsibilities no tort suits will be allowed by general attorneys. there are lawyers, i have heard, who narrow this case. you know how lawyers are. to very tiny things. but the spirit of the case was said on page 14 where justice ginsburg really told the difference between wha

host: franken on line for independents. caller: had we cut our military spending after the cold war, we still would of been spending seven times more thanhe rest of the industrialized world. we probably would not be in this situation. the tax cuts that we have had over the past 30 years have not lead to any type of productive results. it just seems that you are fighting over things and you do not want to do anything that may raise revenue. after world war ii, we had a situation where we were charging 90% in taxes on the ridge trying to make up for the problems that we have. now we he super problems and you do not want to raise taxes at a. guest: frank, thanks for your questions. is the case that i'm opposed to raising taxes. i do not believe that we have a problem with the amount of revenue we are collecting. we're just saying yeso too many things. i do want to talk about the cold war. i was in the army from 1986- 1991. i was serving in east germany patrolling the border when the berlin wall came down. i know exactly what h

reid of nevada, durbin, schumer, lautenberg, franken, rockefeller, reed of rhode island, whitehouse, brown of ohio, sanders, kerry, merkley, stabenow, inouye, leahy and cardin. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i withdraw my motion to proceed to s. 123. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: i move to proceed to s.j. res. 20. the presiding officer: the motion is before the senate. mr. reid: i ask consent that the time until 5:00 p.m. be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, that any time spent in quorum call be equally divided, and there is already an order in effect that republicans will be limited to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president. rhett the -- the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. wyden: mr. president, international trade is one of the best ways to create go