let's bring in john mccormick. john, you heard my take on it.t doesn't always run as quickly as it would like to. so the white house doing this, is it crafting another layer of bureaucracy just to deal with technology? >> that may be the case, you know, they had three years and hundreds of millions to build a website. and it may have been a complicated website. but even by government standards that should have been enough time and money to actually get something functioning. the government has been able to build other websites for social security. the medicare prescription drug program, they have had some glitches. but nothing like the catastrophic failure we've seen with healthcare.gov. it remains to be seen, whether one agency overseeing all the projects will help to streamline or make it more difficult. but the obama administration is definitely looking for problems, to cast blame and this is what they're bringing up so far. >> you brought this up, the casting blame. i would ask why would you handle it this way because you could just deal wit

the "washington post's" karen tumelty, "the weekly standard's" john mccormick and louise storey., good to have you all with us tonight. tom, let me start with you. what is this plan? >> well, it's a serious plan introduced by senator tom coburn along with senator richard burr and senator hatch of utah, and it would basically provide a very serious way to provide coverage. it would save $1.5 trillion over ten years, compared to obamacare. it would cut premiums by anywhere from 2% to 11% compared to obamacare, and it would also cover people with pre-existing conditions but in a very different way. it would say that you can be covered and we won't raise your premiums at all, so long as you maintain continuous coverage. obamacare works by encouraging people to buy coverage with the individual mandate, a fine if you don't purchase it. so, those are some of the highlights. >> you know, this comes at a time when, obviously, the president has been, you know, offering up, look, if you've got some ideas, let's get together and talk about them, and it's becoming more and more clear that ame

what does our panel think of that byron york, "fortune magazine" senior editor nina easton and john mccormick. first to you, what do you think about that. >> i don't know how relevant. but it's not the first time the administration has tried to tie obama care to the legacy of martin luther king. remember in august the autoth anniversary of the march on washington. president obama said that he believed king would approve of obamacare and fully support it so, obviously the administration is doing everything it can right now to try to convince people to sign up so, i would suspect on any particular occasion take that advantage to say by the way sign up for obamacare. >> they see this as a grand social cause at the level of what martin luther king would have been leading the kind of charge he would have been leading and as you say, byron, they have tried to link obamacare with martin luther king saying he would have supported here is the interesting thing, what the social social cause we link him with. the civil rights act of 1964. that was passed with dramatic bipartisan support. in fact, in the

joining us, political director rick klein and washington examiner and john mccormick. hello to awful you. rick, first to you. is this a presidential power grab or business as usual? >> i have a pen and a phone too. i wonder if his will be more effective. he wouldn't be doing this if he thought he could get it out the front door. if he thought there was a way to work with congress and he tried that multiple times. he has been us frustrated as long as republicans have controlled the house. he is testing the limits of presidential powers throughout this. i think part of the promise to use the phone was to try to rally public opinion to his side. we have seen him try this before, and it has been startlingly ineffective in anything other than getting him re-elected. he has not got his army out there. that's a big test over the next year. can he get this done? does he get out there for the mid-terms? does he pressure members of congress the way they haven't felt it before? >> what is interesting, and i will just throw this out there, here he is making the run around congress

"the washington examiner" susan and "weekly standard" john mccormick. hello to all of you.you. is this a presidential power grab or is this business as usual. >> i have a pen and a phone too. i wonder if his will be a little bit more effective. he wouldn't be doing this if he thought he could get it under the front door at this point. if he thought that there was a way to work with congress. he has tried that multiple times. clearly he has been frustrated as long as republicans have controlled the house. this is an end around. is he using the limits, testing the limits of presidential powers throughout this. and i think going beyond that, too. because i think part of that promise to use the phone was to try to rally public opinion to his side. we have seen him try this before. and it has been startlingly ineffective in everything other than getting him elected once and reelected. he has not gotten his army out there. that will be a big text over the next year. can he get it done. does he get it out there by the mid terms appeared get them out there to try to pressure member

john mccormick from "the weekly standard," ed o'keefe from the "washington post." thank you both. >> great to be with you. jenna: breaking news out of the sports world. yankees slugger alex rodriguez taking the battle over his suspension to federal court this after a ruling over the weekend that the highest paid player in major league baseball will be out for the entire 2014 season as punishment for his alleged drug use. rick leventhal is live with more. rick, big interview last night on "60 minutes." they talked about the man, they talked to the man billed as heart of the scandal. what did we learn that we hadn't learn before. >> reporter: anthony bosch who ran the miami clinic who allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to alex rodriguez and more than dozen other players he defended himself but had a lot to say about a-rod himself. 13 players accepted the suspension after the scandal broke. a-rod appealed and found up finishing the on the field. bosch, mlb's principle witness says a-rod was very aggressive and motivated to cheat hoping to become the sole m

i saw pope john xxiii, one of the highlights of my life. >> mccormick, unchanged. >> mccormick is a spiceny and every time people really sell it, then you start think, well, wait a second, what else do i buy? and mccormick is also the maker of the private label. i like mccormick on definitive weakness. i caught the ceo last year at the super bowl, one year later said, listen, you ought to come out and had one of the quarters and sure enough the stock is up 10% since then. he's a raven fan because he's from baltimore. i don't think he'll be up here in new york but i hope to see him if he is. >> with all that the opening bell just about four minutes away. "squawk on the street" will be right back. don't wait for presidents' day to save on a new mattress. sleep train's presidents' day sale is on now. save up to $500 on beautyrest and posturepedic. get a sealy queen set for just $399. even get 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. plus, free delivery, set-up, and removal of your old set. keep more presidents in your wallet. sleep train's presidents' day sale is on now. superior ser