thank you, senator johanns. it is an honor to be here and also with the good senator from tennessee, lamar alexander, great to be here with you, as well as senator ar risch from idaho. it is wonderful to draw on our common experience. i also have to mention that the presiding officer in the senate today, senator shaheen, is a former governor as well, and so we have that common shared experience, actually here on both sides of the aisle. and it is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you and talk about this matter that is so very important, particularly as we face the need to do something on the debt ceiling. this issue of dealing with a balanced budget is of paramount importance for our entire country, and your lead-in is exactly right. we served together as governors. as a matter of fact, the truth is i would call you because you were elected governor before i was for advice and ask you about some of the things that you were working on in nebraska and our states share many things in common. one you mentioned

johannes mehserle shot him in the back and grant was not armed they hope the public will be satisfied with all the parallel investigations going on the san francisco police department and bart police department and now starting today, we have a two separate bodies, civilian review board and police auditor. it's going to take time to get to answers and conclusions but bart officials wanted the public to know they are working on it. >> pg&e is taking new legal maneuvers to avoid paying victims of last september's deadly pipeline explosion. they have filed court documents and requesting a jury trial filed hundred lawsuits filed by victims. they say the pipeline blast was caused by third parties and outside contractors. they hint that pg&e plans to partially put the blame on the residents. pg&e says it's all a standard part of legal process. >>> bay area school kids held a bake sale to help keep the search going for the northern fishermen lost in the gulf of mexico. these are six of the missing, the daughter of won one of them is a teacher in livermore. nick smith is there live. >> good m

but this time around, bart says a lot changed since the former officer johannes mehserle shot and killed oscar grant. >> if we don't know the answer, or can't release the answer, we'll tell why we're not releasing information. >> the guy is armed with a knife and using a bottle as a weapon. one of our officers is injured. and our officers used force they felt was necessary in defense of their lives. >> bart is not releasing identity of the two officers who were on the platform and involved but one interesting note, they did volunteer they're race. they're white and asian. the victim was a white man this, investigation is still ongoing. and san francisco police and a bart auditor are looking into what happened here. >> thank you. in richmond, police are investigating four separate hootings within three hours that left three people dead and three others injured. the first shooting happened around 8:30 afternoon -- last night. one man shot near ohio avenue and south 39th street, expected to be okay. two hours later, a man in his 20s found dead on the sidewalk along west ruby avenue. another

johannes mehserle shot him in the back and grant was not armed they hope the public will be satisfied with all the parallel investigations going on the san francisco police department and bart police department and now starting today, we have a two separate bodies, civilian review board and police auditor. it's going to take time to get to answers and conclusions but bart officials wanted the public to know they are working on it. >> pg&e is taking new legal maneuvers to avoid paying victims of last september's deadly pipeline explosion. they have filed court documents and requesting a jury trial filed hundred lawsuits filed by victims. they say the pipeline blast was caused by third parties and outside contractors. they hint that pg&e plans to partially put the blame on the residents. pg&e says it's all a standard part of legal process. >>> bay area school kids held a bake sale to help keep the search going for the northern fishermen lost in the gulf of mexico. these are six of the missing, the daughter of won one of them is a teacher in livermore. nick smith is there live. >> good m

bart police came after the 2009 shooting death of unarmed passenger oscar grant by former officer johannes mehserle. both the 11 member civilian panel and police auditor will get to work today. they face a big first tas income probing the shooting death of charles hill on july 3. police say hill approached with a knife. they're going to get trial by fire. the world wants to see are they going to be in lock wupt police? and maybe everything is the way it should be. questions have come up. >> pro testers called for the disbanding of the police department during a demonstration that forced the closure of the civic center station last night. >> and tonight's the night some east bay students could learn whether cutting class will cost them hard cash. the kompbs yord city council meets to start talking about a curfew coming with big fines for students and parents. >> truancy sweeps netted00 students. students skipping class caused home and car break ins and students not in class costs stool skool districts a lot of money in state aid. now, one of the places where truant students hang out is toto

train platform on new year's day 2009 when oscar grant was shot and killed by bart police officer johannes mehserle. his family and friends gathered tonight at the gas station where he was found to say goodbye. >> we love him and what happened to him should not have happened. but i can finally say he is at rest now. he a at rest and he will be buried right next to oscar. he has a plot right next to oscar his very best friend. >> police still don't know the mow of it but don't think the shooting was random. caldwell had a $5 million civil rights suit pending against bart claiming he was mistreated by another bart officer during the new year's day altercation. >>> a 12-year-old in san jose is in the hospital with life threatening injuries after being hit by an suv while riding his bike on the 1300 block of chipmunks avenue. police interviewed the 32 -- of hicks avenue. police have not been able to determine the cause of the collision. one cyclist who lives nearby says cars often drive too fast near that street. >> people just slow down. people should start getting ticketed. everybody slow do

he was with oscar grant on new year's day when granted was shot by police officer johannes mehserle. >>> a young man from richmond will fly back to bay area after surviving a grizzly bear mauling. he survived bite wounds to his feet and hands. he was taking a month long survival course for inner city youth. they taught wilderness skills before letting them fend for themselves in the final week. >> how could they train them only a while and let them go where bears are. they should have had a guide. >>> mr. tin spent eight hours helping the teens before help arrived. >> congressional leaders are struggling to reach a compromise debt limit. john boehner will meet with fellow republicans to discuss their clash over spending the government's borrowing authority. lilian kim has more. >>> markets in asia are showing no major swings, despite washington's inability to reach a deal on the nation's debt ceiling. >> frankly i think people still believe that the u.s. will come to some sort of agreement so people are not panicking yet. >> they hope to reach a deal by 1:00 p.m. but that came and we

officer johannes mehserle shot his unarmed best friend oscar grant in the back. caldwell later sued b.a.r.t. b.a.r.t. the attorney that represented oscar grant's family is traveling in berlin. i talked to him by phone. >> losing oscar was bad enough. this certainly is adding insult to injury. suffered so much. now that suffering will be exacerbated by the loss of john too. >> reporter: the lawyer tells me he is unaware of any activity caldwell may have been involved in. police aren't elaborating what happened last night. he leaves behind two children. it is not clear whether that lawsuit can continue against b.a.r.t.on their baffle. >> joe vazquez in hayward. thank you. >>> a three alarm fire this morning at a private school in oakland. the school is on webster street in the downtown area. when firefighters arrived they found the building filled with smoke. they had trouble finding the source of the fire so additional units were called from two other fire stations. firefighters finally managed to figure out where that fire started. >> sounds like it was sort of a

friend of oscar grant, who was on the platform the night grant was killed by bart police officer johannes mehserle. john, what are you finding out? >> candles appeared here earlier today. in about an hour, there will be a gathering of some family and friends to pay their respects to the young man. caldwell was shot to death as he was sitting in his cadillac yesterday around 5:30 in the afternoon. police say somebody walked up, opened fire and ran away. authorities do not have a motive, but they say this was not a random attack. caldwell was 25 years old, lived in fremont, the best friend of oscar grant. in fact, caldwell was on the bart platform in ruled on that fateful new year's morning in 2009 when oscar grant was killed by mehserle. now those who knew caldwell are showing up to pay their respects where this young man was killed. >> i don't know. it's shocking. just i don't know. i don't know what to say, because heht had -- it happenen broad daylight, which is crazy, too. i don't know. it's just dumb, i think it is. >> johntue caldwell was the father of two sons, also the grandfather

bart platform on that fateful new year's morning back in 2009 when grant was killed by bart officer johannesmehserle. they're showing up where this young man was killed. >> i don't know, it's shocking. just i don't know. i don't know what to say, because he had -- it happened in broad daylight, which is crazy, too. i don't know. it's just dumb, i think it is. >> johntue caldwell was the father of two sons, also the grandfather of grant's 7-year-old daughter. caldwell had a $5 million civil rights suit against bart, claiming he was mistreated by another officer on that new year's morning. a short time ago we spoke to the attorney for bart who said that caldwell's death effectively ends his lawsuit against bart, and it's unclear whether any surviving relatives might be able to revive that lawsuit. police say there's no motive or suspects in the case. there was a surveillance camera inside the store, but apparently not one outside to capture what happened in the parking lot. live in hayward, john alston, abc7 news. >> thank you for that, john. in san jose, a 12-year-old is in the hospital with

moments later officer johannes mehserle shot his unarmed best friend oscar grant in the back. caldwell later sued b.a.r.t. for $5 million after he said he was "emotionally and mentally injured from witnessing the death of his friend he has been close to since school age." caldwell had a significant criminal history. the attorney that represents oscar grant's family is traveling in berlin. i talked to him by phone. >> the loss of oscar is bad enough. but this certainly adds insult to injury with this tragedy. john suffered so much and now that suffering will be exacerbated by the loss. >> reporter: calwell leaves behind two children and many family members, some of whom we just spoke to, right now their biggest concern, juliette is who did this and why. by the way they say he will be buried next to his best friend oscar grant. >> joe vazquez in hayward. joe, thank you. >>> one person is in the hospital after an officer-involved shooting in san francisco. it happened at 3rd and oakdale about 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. police shot one person. doctors have not released that person'

force -- in place during that shooting was different than what was in place when former bart officer johannes mehserle shot oscar grant. >> the positions and requirements of officers, supervisors involved in a deadly force situation are crystal clear now. there is not any gray area because these policies and procedures have been reviewed and you dated and rewritten within the last 18 months. >> reporter: now, the coroner has not yet identified the body. no more information about the body is being released. san francisco police department leading the investigation in this case alongside bart police and also with the district attorney. one additional thing that hartwig said today is that there hasn't been any cell phone videos or other forms of identification from that night turned in. they are interviewing witnesses but encourage anyone who was at civic center bart station that night to come forward to the san francisco police department. back to you. >> kristy, what i understand is that the officer did have a taser but chose not to use it. any indication on why he made that choice? >> reporte

characters, for example african american characters, i'm also caution -- i had written another play called johann that was about an african american gi and a japanese wife that got married in post war japan. i wrote that play 20 years ago. i wouldn't do it for about 8 years or so because i just didn't feel comfortable about being a japanese american writing an african american character. you have to think about, too, this whole idea of political correctness has both an up side and a very bad down side. one of those is people tend to be very cautious and not want to try things like that. i eventually through my relationship with danny glover pulled it out of my drawers -- out of the drawer, desk drawer, and read it and danny was instrumental in saying, let's do this. let's just do this. but, again, it was me working with some african american actors and i actually had it vetted by august wilson, read it and checked it out for me and there's another fellow who wrote soldier's story, charles fuller, took a look at it for me. i wanted to make sure my bases were covered. but this new play, what i did

you see this is what's very interesting and south african coming from johannes food if you show that cover to people in south africa they didn't even notice the headline because that's not our politics they saw i share and the controversy came from very many different places and therefore everyone responded in very different ways depending on the politics depending on the country they came from depending on a whole lot of different variables so it didn't affect me a net way in and in actual fact it was a catalyst and that it spread through the blogosphere world it was on t.v. it was everywhere and actually it was furthering and speaking about violence against women and more and more people were seeing it before we start of the story and the pictures of a couple of more words about the competition first of all what was your favorite picture among others among your competitors can you name something else. i quite like the. one photograph i think it's in bangladesh of at loch circus so a photograph from the cinema it's a father and he son walking through the water and i like that but i

tomorrow. >>> on the senate floor this morning republican senators mike johanns, lamar alexander, jim risch and john hoeven discuss their support for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. the former state governors pointed to similar measures in their states and how they handle the state debt issues. this is nearly 40 minutes. like >> to speak to an issue that i believe has all the potential ie the world to define the futurefe i this great country. and it's an issue that all of us who are participating in this colloquy are very familiar with, and that is balanced budget. all of us are former governors of the states where we come from. state, now, in t my state, the state oq nebraska, our nebraska a constitution requires a balanced budget, not unusual. i believe 49 out of 50 states have this requirement in their o constitution. it's a way we do business at tht veate level.howe in addition to that provision, however, our state constitution also says the total amount of money o that the state of nebraa can borrow is $100,000, $100,000. mean? to what does that mean? budge we mu

johanns: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: mr. president, i stand here today as a cosponsor of the cut, cap, and balance legislation and as a supporter of that legislation. here's the insanity that has gripped not only this body, but all of washington. we are literally in a year where we will have the third year in a row of deficit over $1 trillion. in fact, current projections are that this annual deficit will set a record, a very dubious record, i might add, of $1.6 trillion-plus we were promised three years ago that if this enormous, gargantuan effort to force more spending into the economy with the stimulus plan were passed, that $1 trillion effort, it would put this country on a path to recovery. and it has done nothing except raise our debt and pass the problem on to our children and grandchildren. so after weeks and months of work, on an idea to rein in the spending and to come to grips with where we are at in the country, we are literally at a point where within minutes we will vote on a motion to table that effort, and we

after johannes mehserle shot and killed oscar grant in 2009 bart instituted new training procedures. each officer must undergo 40 hours of training each year, more than the state requires. training includes use of guns, tasers, and conflict resolution. >> transitioning between different levels of force, a baton to pepper spray, from a taser to your hand gun to your taser, those are the issues -- scenarios that have been presented to the officers. >> reporter: last night's shooting in san francisco is being investigated, the police chief says it appeased the victim posed a deadly threat to officers. >> somebody armed with a knife, deadly force is definitely in the realm of options. >> reporter: since the oscar grant shooting they hired a new police chief and bart established a citizen review board to monitor police practices and policies. >> training is a big one. we train all our officers in that method. >> reporter: bart says it's assisting san francisco police and will be analyzing what happened as part of an internal investigation. reporting live, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. >>

formed in response to the 2009 oscar grant shooting but then officer johannes mehserle.he group is -- there are a lot of differences between two cases two. officers in this shooting, one was white, one asian. the victim was white that. is just one of the many differences between the two high-profile cases. live in san francisco, abc 7 news. >> thank you. and a suspected art thief did not enter a plea making a court appearance today, prosecutors believe the 31-year-old mark lugo smashed the drawing. police arrested lugo after let geting a lead from a cabby and seeing him in this video. >> there is nobody dead or assaulted this, is not the crime of the sentry. i would say given the recent, i expect the sketch is worth more to the wine stein gallery this week than it was last week. >> the gallery efts mates it's worth $250,000. lugo remains in custody in the san francisco county jail being held on $5 million bail and will return to court friday. >> president obama says there will be a compromise plan to deal with the national deficit by august 2. negotiators are stuck, now.

he was with grant when he was shot by johannes mehserle.y says he will be buried next to grant. >> four middle school boys are charged with sexually assaulting two girls during a field trip. the attacks apparently took place after the boys broke away from the school group during a field trip in march. a fifth boy also faces charges but he will be looked at separately. >> a young man will fly back to richmond after surviving a grizzly bear mauling. victor martin escaped the mauling with bite wounds. he used his skills to help other teens that were in critical condition. instructors spent the first three weeks teaching wilderness schools before letting them fentd for themselves sefs. >> how could they train them three weeks and let them go out where the bears are. they should have had a guide that know something about this. >> martin spent eight hours caring for the two mauled teens until help arrived. >> this morning, fire officials in the east bay are looking for the cause of the second big vegetation fire in a week. this fire was reported

he was with oscar grant at fruitvale bart station when grant was shot and killed by johannes mehserlee will be buried next to grant. >>> a young man from richmond will fly back to the bay area this evening after surviving a grizzly bear mauling. 18-year-old victor martin escaped with bite wounds to his feet and ankles. he helped two other teens that remain in critical condition. the group had been taking part in a survival course. instructor spent the first three weeks for wilderness techniques. >> how could they only train them for three weeks and let them go out without a guide. >> martin spent eight hours caring for the two mauled teens until help arrived. >> congressional republicans are talking about their clash with president obama over the extending of the u.s. debt ceiling. the government could default on the debt for the first time ever if a deal is not reached by august 2nd. they want to see the debt limit increased by next year. gop only wants to extend the debt ceiling for a short period. >> they have to go through this exercise all over again. >> i know the president is w

he was on the train in 2009 when oscar grant was shot and killed by bart police officer johannes mehserle. they gathered last night at gas station where he was found to say goodbye. >> we love him. what happened to him should not have happened, but i can finally say he is at rest now. he is at rest and he will be buried right next to oscar. he has a plot right next to oscar. very best friend. >> police still don't know the motive, but don't think the shooting was random. causewell had a $5 million civil suit pending against bart claiming he was mistreated during the new year's day alter kiag is. >> a 12-year-old remains in the hospital this morning after he was hit by an suv while riding his bike. doctors now say he is expected to survive his injuries. the incident happened yesterday in the 1500 block of hicks avenue. they interviewed the 32-year-old driver of the suv at the scene. they do not suspect alcohol or drugs were involved, but they still haven't determined the cause of the collision. one cyclist who lives nearby that cars often drive too fast down street. >> people started getti

johanns: i want to complement the senator frocomplm nebraska.we are seven days away from literally a crisis in our country. we are down to a point where it's getting even difficult to try to figure out what the time lines naturally built into the process, how you get from here to there in seven days. and yet that's what faces us. last night, like many americans, i watched and listened to the president and listened to speaker boehner. i must admit when it comes to the comments made by the president, i don't understand where he is coming from. he talks about higher taxes and more revenue when the reality is that at this late date, he is the only one talking about that. now, i have been one of those people that has said for a long time, we absolutely need to engage in a process of reforming our tax code. it's too complicated. it's almost an antigrowth piece of work. i'm anxious to work with my colleagues, but with seven days left to try to suggest that there will be a massive amount of new taxes just doesn't make any sense. that's not in the reid p

know, supporters of the organization, i want to put out there that i'm not the leader, kobe james johannut the overall feedback is positive, 80% being positive and 20% negative. >> i'm sure you have heard the uncle tom name and all that. >> absolutely. >> and that's probably being kind. >> it's kind of all the same when you're getting insulted. i only put one insult in the bag. it's all the same to me. it really gets, i mean, when knowing our people or my people, or african-americans in general, who know what it's like to be singled out and persecuted for 400 years or how ever many years it is, we know how detrimental it is, and knowing this is going to a different subset, you would think that we would get the idea how nonprogressive this can be and how aggressive this can be. >> i just want to finish up with marcus here, you know people are going to say, hey, listen, there are because of the history of this country, there are minorities, especiallily african-americans who need a break more than white guys, why aren't you helping them? >> actually there are plenty of scholarships for afr

officer johannes beas mehserle. he said he meant to shoot grant with his taser, not his handgun. this is what b.a.r.t. had to say to us this morning. in response to the planned protests, i'm quoting, while this news outlet must think it's acceptable to promote unsafe and illegal behavior -- we find it reprehensible this outlet would ask us to participate in any story that could encourage illegal behavior and risk safety and security of b.a.r.t. passenger, employees and other guests. this is for your information, there is a chance that this planned protest could affect your commute this evening between 4:30 and 7:00 if you travel through the civic center b.a.r.t. station. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> good for people to know to be prepared. thank you very much. it is 6:06 now. san francisco police officers have agreed to a contract with the city that will prevent layoffs and save money. police officers will immediately get a 3% pay increase with another small increase next april. officers will also pay an extra 3% into their pensions. firefighters in the city are expected to

johanns: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: mr. president, i stand here today as a cosponsor of the cut, cap, and balance legislation and as a supporter of that legislation. here's the insanity that has gripped not only this body, but all of washington. we are literally in a year where we will have the third year in a row of deficit over $1 trillion. in fact, current projections are that this annual deficit will set a record, a very dubious record, i might add, of $1.6 trillion-plus we were promised three years ago that if this enormous, gargantuan effort to force more spending into the economy with the stimulus plan were passed, that $1 trillion effort, it would put this country on a path to recovery. and it has done nothing except raise our debt and pass the problem on to our children and grandchildren. so after weeks and months of work, on an idea to rein in the spending and to come to grips with where we are at in the country, we are literally at a point where within minutes we will vote on a motion to table that effort, and we

johanns: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: mr. president, i stand here today as a cosponsor of the cut, cap, and balance legislation and as a supporter of that legislation. here's the insanity that has gripped not only this body, but all of washington. we are literally in a year where we will have the third year in a row of deficit over $1 trillion. in fact, current projections are that this annual deficit will set a record, a very dubious record, i might add, of $1.6 trillion-plus we were promised three years ago that if this enormous, gargantuan effort to force more spending into the economy with the stimulus plan were passed, that $1 trillion effort, it would put this country on a path to recovery. and it has done nothing except raise our debt and pass the problem on to our children and grandchildren. so after weeks and months of work, on an idea to rein in the spending and to come to grips with where we are at in the country, we are literally at a point where within minutes we will vote on a motion to table that effort, and we

the photo taken by johannes mark. >> the tip of the wing just sheared right off.ection, or like the tail fin, came off of the other plane. >> reporter: the tail of the raleigh-bound plane was badly crushed. could you feel the jolt? >> oh, yeah, yeah. woke you up. >> how would you describe it? >> it woke me up, that's right. it wasn't that strong but it was very odd. some people thought we ran off the runway. >> reporter: still, on both planes, nobody seemed to panic. >> then i saw the flight attendants pick up the phone, talk, and say something about "we lost the wing." look out the window and actually, yeah, there's the wing tip. >> could have happened when we were in the air, just as we were taking off, you know. i was thinking it could have been a lot worse than it was. so we were just grateful no one was hurt. >> reporter: we have learned that at least one person didid complain of neck pains. that man was taken to mass general hospital as a precaution. delta rebooked many of the passengers last night. the rest will be leaving as early as possible today. as one

we've spoken with caldwell's mother in june in los angeles, while she was takenning the johannes mehserle case. she told ktvu the young people on the platform that night center had a tough time processing all the they've been through. >> we love our son. we love our kids. we love our nephews. we love them! and no one knows what they're going through. no one is helping them. no one seems like they care about the boys. they just seem like they all care about this cop. >> investigators are looking for anyone with investigation about yesterday's shooting to come forward. christian kasdin, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> oakland police are following several leads in connection with the killing of a young woman whose body was set on friar. yesterday the woman was identified as 21-year-old monica rodas, the mother of a three-year-old son. on thursday morning police say her body was dumped in a rockridge neighborhood and set on fire. we spoke with her family who says she left home on wednesday night with a friend and now they say they're struggling to understand why this happened. >> monica was always h

johanns: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: mr. president, i stand here today as a cosponsor of the cut, cap, and balance legislation and as a supporter of that legislation. here's the insanity that has gripped not only this body, but all of washington. we are literally in a year where we will have the third year in a row of deficit over $1 trillion. in fact, current projections are that this annual deficit will set a record, a very dubious record, i might add, of $1.6 trillion-plus we were promised three years ago that if this enormous, gargantuan effort to force more spending into the economy with the stimulus plan were passed, that $1 trillion effort, it would put this country on a path to recovery. and it has done nothing except raise our debt and pass the problem on to our children and grandchildren. so after weeks and months of work, on an idea to rein in the spending and to come to grips with where we are at in the country, we are literally at a point where within minutes we will vote on a motion to table that effort, and we

that's why when senator johanns and i, a republican here, circulated a letter to the fleas had thosethree -- letter to the president that had those three elements in it, 32 democrats and 32 republicans signed the letter agreeing that all of these elements -- the president of the senate signed the letter -- agreeing that all of these elements were going to be part of a final product here. so what i wanted to do this afternn was simply implore all of us to do our jobs, to get this behind us, to begin the building of america again in the 2 1st century, to make sure that we are not the first generation of americans to leave less opportunity, not more, to our kids and our grandkids. there's a lot more agreement behind closed doors in this place than there is out on the floor, and wa we need to bring e of that agreement out here. because if we fail to reach some conclusion before this debt limit vote and we unintentionally or intentionally end up in a place where we've turned our back on the debts that we owe, we're not going to be able to solve this problem. the choices are going to make

for the record for you all to answer is the question that i know i face, senator tester and senator johannsith rural veterans, veterans that have been extremely difficult time accessing health care. more more veterans are choosing to live in rural communities. in my state, 80% cannot be access by road, so it's very difficult for them to access the health care they need. or physical or mental resources they need. i think i'd be interested in your comments if you have them, but she put on the record again or i will submit as i am for the record a written question about how to we figure out the access points to ensure that the quality care, no matter where you live is a veteran, doesn't matter if it's a small village in alaska or a large urban city, how we make sure we get the health care they need, they are owed in a timely basis. so i'd be anxious for your comments. i know it is a question that we're talking about, the alaska herald is working to create a access areas that are impossible for veterans to get the service they need. i'd be interested in your comments then again, madam chair, th

if there is anyone here -- we've already got senators johanns and begich. they're on as cosponsors and we have several others as cospomples i would say any staff -- i know no members are listening -- but any staff who happens to be listening right now, if your member wants to at least be sensitive to the needs of general aviation, this may be his only chance this year. and i suggest that those individuals who really care about the problems i just outlined, that they become cosponsors of this legislation before i introduce it tomorrow afternoon. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator kentucky. mr. paul: i ask unanimous consent to speak for ten minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. paul: madam president, i as well as many americans are concerned for the future of our country. i'm cornered that we may not be able to continue to pay our bills. i'm concerned that one day in the year future we could look like greece. i don't want to see america ri - rioting in the str

johanns: we would never have done that. had i walked into the unicameral for my state of the state address and done things like are being proposed here today, i literally would have been run out. i mean the state senators would have looked at the governor and said we need a new governor. and i think they would have joined in a very bipartisan response to that kind of approach. you know, you're absolutely right. i looked through the proposal here, and i have to say in all due respect to the majority leader, this isn't going to get the support that i think he hopes for. it isn't going to happen. it's going to be voted down. it will not go to the finish line, because you just can't support it. this idea that somehow we're going to get a savings because we're not going to be funding the surge levels in afghanistan. no one was going to do that. the president wasn't asking for it. that money was never requested. to grab that out, as somebody pointed out, and i wish i could remember who, in a column today, they said that is like t

it was in i think spar of getting to a solution that likt that my colleague from nebraska, mike johanns, a republican and i wrote a letter to the president, 64 members of the senate evenly divided between both parties signed on to an approach that called for entitlement reform, called for tax reform, called for discretionary spending cuts. the math compels this answer. the economy needs this certainty. colorado and the country want this result. it should achieve the $4.5 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years and should have a 3-1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases. that's what the bowles-simpson commission recommended. but our political system seems intent on thwarting an approach supported by senators in both parties, and both parties seem willing to submit to that flawed spls perverse incentives and while i am dwins convinced that many in this body and in the house would actually like to make this deal, these interests distort the conversation into a partisan war and rip it apart from the inside. on one side some advocate for no changes to the medicare program. on the