the senate finance committee to vote on the bachus bill and then harry reed can merge it with the onehe health committee and mid month the full senate debate is expected to begin but will the contents of the bill satisfy progressive democrats who are pushing hard for a public option? i'm joined live from washington by bill press. good morning, bill. good to see you. >> alex, how are you doing? >> good, thank you for asking. is the bill that appears to be headed for confirmation better than no bill at all or do progressives want a do-over? >> progressives want a better bill. i think the question about whether it's better than nothing at all, alex, is still only determined seeing what harry reed does merging the two bills as you point out and what comes to the floor but i'll tell you. progressives are really united. look. you have to back up a little bit and say, this is a very exciting time because universal health care has been a progressive priority for years and years and years. right? now we have a president that campaigned on this. you have a bill that's passed three committees in

to get out of the finance commit thee this week and then goes to the majority leader's office, harry reed. he'll sit around the table. people from the health committee and the finance committee, got to put them into one bill, send it to the senate. still a debate. if it doesn't have a public option, will liberals vote for it? if it has the alternative, will republicans try to filibuster it? it's stale hurdle to get through the senate and then if it does, i think we all think it will get through the senate in some form, the big challenge is, after next week, getting the house and the senate bills together. they could take more than a month. >> let's talk about "the chicago tribune" reporting the president is working very hard behind the scenes to include a public option in the health reform bill. if the president feels this measure's so important, why not lobby for it in a more public way? >> you know, alex, that's a very interesting report because just a few days ago there were reports of he hadn't made a single call for the public option when it was being voted down in the senate finance

senate majority leader, harry reed says it was going to start mid-month. how long is the debate going to take and how heated do you think it's going to be. >> the movie "where the wild things are" is coming out and that's my preview. you're going to get as you saw in the finance committee, a lot of unrelated amendments slapped on the bill relates to a.c.o.r.n. funding and the so-called czars in the obama administration. you'll see a make or break moment on the public option. this was defeated in the senate finance committee. you are going to have a floor vote in the senate. you have some democratic senators saying they won't support a bill without the public option. others saying no, way, it's a deal breaking for us. you're going to have a lot of votes and a lot of time on the senate floor. you'll have the posters we love seeing from the senate floor as well. >> we're going to switch to the olympics. the president's trip to copenhagen didn't help the bid. what did it do to the president's image here at home? >> it's not great. him going and making this las

the administration focused on this job issue and yesterday house speaker nancy pelosi and senator harry reedand they're sifting ideas already. >> we have continued to have conversations with members about initiatives that work for them and their districts to create job, but we'll also be hearing from economists from trite left on the spectrum in the days ahead as to what really works the fast toast create jobs. >> we would hope that we could create jobs, but i'm not prepared to talk to you about a timeline. >> some in the administration have talked about a new jobs package for the state of union next year, but it might come earlier, especially, michelle, if unemployment tips over 10% sometimes this fall, increasing the pressure on democrats to do something about it. >> what do we know about the political affiliations of any of these arc tendees. do you think any will lobby for tax cuts for corporations or making the united states more competitive when it comes to the tax cuts? >> i'm sure there are. there's an ongoing review process, tax reform under way that paul volker is involved with tha

congress's top two democrats, nancy pelosi and harry reed, met with the president in the oval office yesterday, and they had a lot to talk about. one, the idea of a reward for u.s. companies that create jobs. so, say, like a $3,000 tax credit for every job. we'll see how it shakes out but just trying to give you a sense of what they mean. they also talk about that push for longer unemployment benefits. we've been keeping you up to date with everything on that, but it's tied up in the senate and tax breaks. back to you. >>> a seinfeld family reunion is happening, at least on the show "curb your enthusiasm." the show's star is one of the crea creators of "seinfeld." >> the commentators would come into the room and say, oh, larry is on. >> you never knew, really, what was going to happen. >> what would happen if you didn't get the first laugh, let's say? >> one time i went up on stage, and i looked at the audience and i went, i don't think so. >> just the way they looked. >> just the way they looked. and i left. >> hear all of joy's interview with larry david on the joe behar show tonig

. >> and harry reed is -- >> he's a wuss. >> and in the name of bipartisanship which is a farce.eed to pursue bipartisanship with a group of people that will have no interest in bipartisanship, so he should be criticized. >> i agree bipartisanship is really a silly kind of goal. but at the same time, i -- >> why do you think it's a silly goal? isn't that the ideal? >> these are incredibly important issues, people feel very passionate about them. trying to come to consensus is watering down these issues. and no one wins when you try to please everyone. people should stick to their guns. and frankly in nevada inform, i don't know if this poll is entirely accurate. and if nevada wants a public option, as much as i detest it, harry reid should vote for it. absolutely he should represent his constituents. >> sarah palin posted her resume on the social net working site linked in. why does she do this? she's looking for a job, right? >> i guess that makes sense, then. she's being industrious and posting her resume. >> she says she's governor. she's not governor anymore. >> well, she was

. >> and harry reed is -- >> he's a wuss. >> and in the name of bipartisanship which is a farce.eed to pursue bipartisanship with a group of people that will have no interest in bipartisanship, so he should be criticized. >> i agree bipartisanship is really a silly kind of goal. but at the same time, i -- >> why do you think it's a silly goal? isn't that the ideal? >> these are incredibly important issues, people feel very passionate about them. trying to come to consensus is watering down these issues. and no one wins when you try to please everyone. people should stick to their guns. and frankly in nevada inform, i don't know if this poll is entirely accurate. and if nevada wants a public option, as much as i detest it, harry reid should vote for it. absolutely he should represent his constituents. >> sarah palin posted her resume on the social net working site linked in. why does she do this? she's looking for a job, right? >> i guess that makes sense, then. she's being industrious and posting her rev nay. >> she says she's governor. she's not governor anymore. >> well, she wa

harry reid and max baucus are at odds. reed reid wants to go to the floor, baucus wants to wait for the cbo to score the senate finance committee bill to tell us how much this is going to cost. everybody is worried about the money. the money, the money, the money. i want to talk about the human cost off the top tonight. we went home this weekend in minnesota. there's a guy i've known there a while. dennis, good guy, had a construction company for some 30 years. small business owner. you know the story. pays his taxes, plays by the rules. smart guy.

reed's problems dealings. as far as i know, i don't know that the senate ethics committee or anybody is investigating that. there were questions raised about that land deal. and senate majority leader harryreid has talked about that. and again, i think that's another issue that has somewhat gone by the wayside as far as i know there are no investigations into that at this point. host: as far as folks who live in nevada, what's the impact? >> it's really interesting. senator ensign was such a popular politician in nevada. he was always polled as the most popular of nevada's elected officials. he was elected, reelected in 2006, just strong majority. and had really done well in nevada. since this has happened, i think there's been a lot of disappointment among nevada republicans who thought he would really rise to be a leader of nevada's political party there. and senator ensign had been in a leadership position here in washington this year and also during the last congressional cycle and was really moving up the ranks. he had had even been talked about as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate. so i think for the republican party back in nevada, there is a disappointment t