decker, in light of existing experience, even after katrina, we passed the post-katrina act and even after the post-katrina act, the federal bureaucrat was on display every time we had a hearing. no matter what the mandate, that gives us -- makes us tremble a little bit, to say who's going to call the shots. for example, did you speak about waiver? did you say after waiver? you know, we sometimes give the president authority to do things, and then report to congress. it is you -- no, i'm sorry, dr. moss. who cites a perfect example, incident of national significance, that somehow they had to wait for dhs. what the dhs have to do with the? nobody at dhs had any extra and. only fema did. but it's generally understood that yes, this incident of national significance had to be -- you've got to do that first. whereas before, ms. bullock, fema use all its expertise, said to the president, this is xcom and he he was out like lightning. this didn't -- we got rid of this incident of national significance. we still do not have confidence that we will see the kind of instant action, if a catast

was one time and it is not in place today -- katrina and rita.f thousands are displaced, we have to start over again and get an active congress that gives people confidence there is a backup plan in the event their school is destroyed. i only raise this to say what we have done a lot of talk and we have had actions, there are so many other steps that need to be taken. one more question to gao -- goa. recently released another report on disaster case management program. case management are meant to help clients get job training, relief supplies, access to critical services. particularly after a disaster case managers can be extremely helpful to try to make sense of things, trying to identify the programs that are still operating and out there and making them real for clients. what in your study could you share with us about the need for case managers? did we have enough on the ground? how did the case management were generally? i think you testified on this. can you elaborate? >> overall, because of the chart you showed with the multiplicity of fu

katrina only a third in that ranking. the point is also, notice how hurricane andrew got much more expensive if it had hit today. most estimates, the reinsurance organization estimated that it would have been twice as costly had hit just 10 years later in 2002 rather than in 1982. the general issue is really one of social factor. we come back to thank if we actually want to help future victims of katrina and and and all the others, are the best things we can do to cut carbon emissions? let's take a look. if we look at the models, will happen in the mid- century, we know if we just assume that nothing changed in the social side of issues, that we only see an increase in climate change as we're likely to see, and therefore an increase in violence of hurricanes, we're going to see an increase in the damage comes from climate change. the first part you see over there, it's going to increase damages by about 10%. by mid century. on the other hand if we didn't have any climate change, and we have social change, that is more and

we're committed to anything that would prevent the chaos of katrina.pitals have strengthened their infrastructure and plan of shelter in place with a notable exception of especially for adequate -- fragile patients such as ill newborns. women's hospital's performance after katrina and the hurricanes cents a health threat because it demonstrates the expert organization with at the palace it -- capacity is critical for the bird is the management of certain populations of fragile patients. the expert hospital is the coordinated care and has the capacity for care of operation smart move is an initiative to ensure that the destructive self -- the gulf coast have a safe place. a remarkable opportunity exists to further implement these concepts as we build a place in hospitals. search ability was included in the original design but was removed during the -- due to the high interest rates in the medicaid cuts to hospitals. building stand by search capacity is an affordable for us and those hospitals, even though the hospitals in louisiana, and us three times i

not long after that, there was hurricane katrina. we all know the pit falls of what happens in that crisis. but to give you a sense of the response, $85 billion were spent in hurricane relief for katrina within the first three months. in the entire time from pakistan it was about $6 billion from the entire global community. went into foreign aid. doctor was a board member. he said would you go? i said yes. i asked ben and mike, and they said yes. off we decided to go. right before we were leaveing, a cartoonist decided to publish a cartoon. we all know what happened. well, it prohibited us into doing into islamabad at that time. we rebooked our trip and went. we worked with relief international for a couple of weeks. we went all over cashmere. our job was to document, and it's characterized in the book was to document the work that relief international was doing. but also to show the extent of the devastation and the homelessness, and the challenges people are facing. the work that i was doing was some of the same kind of work. they

what about hurricane katrina? what about tarp? ready to send troops into kuwait and it is eaten up pretty damn quickly. >> bill is raising a really important point which is the incredible abuse of the emergency provision and obama and bush are tied at this point having pushed through about $880 billion worth of emergency supplementals. bush, i mean, think of how different the concept of -- to me an emergency is something you can't expect and therefore can't budget for inçó advance, like a forest fire or like a hurricane katrina. the entire seven wars and going is being paid for as an emergency solution. and there are ways to deal with that that we could talk about and -- >> let me ask larry and frances a question keying off something bill said earlier. you suggest or pointed out in the 1990's it was a crisis of crisis of government that enabled you to reach some kind of an agreement. do you think that it's going to take a crisis, an economic crisis, a dollar crisis, something like that in order to overcome the very significant pol

and we go all the way up to katrina's investigation of what happened after.t we found this how important congressional investigations are, and the power of congress to investigate as been crucial at various times in our history. also, we see in recent times as congress has not used this power very effectively. all of its investigations and hearings are window dressing. they seem to be more politically motivated and not really a thorough investigation. >> right now, the democrats controlled congress. they have control white house, they investigated it in power? or does it take a different political scenario? >> the trouble in modern times is it the president is of a different party, congress is more likely to investigate. that is hard to say as a generality. we have different individual investigations. during this year, there were very few investigations, even though congress and the presidency were in the same hands. >> but starting 2006, there were a lot more investigations after the democrats took control. >> but none of them have really gone very far. i do

. >> katrina generation is a bunch of kids that are dealing with a lot. not having a house is a lot to deal with. >> well, i've seen violence. >> they're dealing with their parents not being in their life. >> selling drugs. >> in new orleans right now, it is a lot easier to get a gun than an instrument. five, six, seven, eight. the vision i had would actually teach them discipline, unity. >> sir tabb is a good role model to follow after. >> you all did that good. that sound good. i stepped in and started this program because i honestly didn't think that nobody knew what the kids needed. >> ah! >> you almost got it. i felt i was the best man for the job, because i'm a big old kid. >> a lot of people don't have money to put their child in a program like this. and for it to be free is a good thing. ♪ >> a lot of people say that new orleans don't have any hope. i had all this in my head just to help kids. you have some kind of hope. you could do this. you know? and i could help you do this. to me, this program is hope. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome

iraq, katrina, the brutal economic meltdown, where once again facing questions about our government's ability to execute. the men on the street believes that we have a crisis. people are mad. they are angry angry. they're angry at wall street, but also at our government. those who run our government programs also believe that we have a crisis. 60 percent of their senior executives said that government today is less capable of executing than it was 30 years ago. most people will then ask who's to blame for this state of affairs? the answer, of course, depends on whose side you're on. george w. bush, barack obama, newt gingrich, nancy pelosi, the republicans, the democrats, if the free contractors, the unions, michael more, rush limbaugh -- who's to blame? it is a natural question asked. but is it to the right question? all you need to do is visit a local bookstore and go into the current events section which is filled with them. -- filled with villains. i wanted us to appear on the cover of our book in short black many dresses. but my brother dave talk this out of it. there's always th

this is a clean-up problem with katrina times 1 million. what to redo next? to we blowup karachi? and a third the to preclude all of this would as a declaratory policy that goes with it. what do we say as a country of this sort of thing happens. what do we do? will be threatened to blow up back at if that radicals blow up new york? we're back where we started. john kennedy forecast nuclear weapons states but there is only nine of them today. man doesn't have backed off and half a dozen are thinking about it. it can be done but we better think through the downside if we fail. that is the assignment for thoughtful people. there's a great bunch of people that need to think through what will we do if a terrorist device goes off in the western world crises of the challenges because the challenges for the 21st century are very different from the 20th. thank you very much. thank you for having me here. [applause] >> thank you for joining us here. i enjoyed reading your book and i want to cruise to hong about nuclear terrorism in the 21st century but also how to manage nuclear proliferati

on behalf of a net, katrina, and the lantos foundation, i will now share this award citation.ights prize to the 14th dalai lama, the religious leader of the tibetan people. with courage, compassion, and humility, he is given voice to the aspirations of all humanity for a life of dignity, justice, and respect. as the unflinching advocate of nonviolent reconciliation, he has advanced the cause of human rights in every corner of the globe. his holiness, the dalai lama, is one of the most highly honored peacemakers of our time and a unique moral voice for our day. the lantos foundation. [applause] [applause] >> who want to speak tibetan. [speaking tibetan] honorable speaker, senator mccain, chairman, and mrs. lantos, and also katrina, family members of a very dear friend of mine, the late congressman tom lantos. distinguished guests, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to receive this inaugural prize of lantos human-rights award. and for me to receive the award is a truly great privilege, especially in that the award is named after an individual whom i admire deeply into made

fema has now obligated $44 billion in response to hurricane katrina, read up in wilma since 2005 however accorbig@@@@@ @ would like to know why not. >> fair enough. >> in august of this year the department issued new policies governing searches of travelers, electronic devices such as laptops are ipod's at the border. i am deeply disappointed with the policy the department adopted come in particular the refusal to adopt any sort of standard for searching u.s. citizens of the border and madam secretary in addition to the inconvenience picasa the international business travelers these policies also do nothing to as a wage racial profiling when it index. >> border searches. this is unacceptable and that is why i am planning to reintroduce the travelers privacy protection act in the coming months. i've been told the department was the least attempting to increase oversight in transparency related to these searches but given the vastly different standards laid out for cd p it is unclear whether even that goal has been accomplished so the two policies when read in tandem seem to create a serie

. >> and just with the experience of katrina, you know, history should have said that we should have never let that happen again. but it happened. okay, a flood happened. that we can stop, but everything else that went on was just an abomination. and that should never, ever happened. but it did. so i think we are given chances to discuss this, but unfortunately, i think that we often multiple people from talking about the nitty-gritty. not everything is going to be free and frolic. i mean, you're going to have to talk to your children. you're going to have to talk to your friends. you're going to have to really talk about things. and if they're uncomfortable, let them take a breather and come back. but i don't think we should caudal in the longer. we don't have time. why do we have to wait? you know, obama, why do we have to keep -- he shouldn't have been the first black president. this is crazy. you know, we shouldn't have to wait. >> one thing in reading this book though, you can get very, very angry and say that some of the things that happened and still happen now. there's a sect

it will have to represent katrina, afghanistan, very difficult to write about.lot of current things. the idea is to get to the 10th book. i start before 1600. people coming over the bering strait. we're not sure, 30,000 years ago, maybe. >> and how did you do your research? >> today, i used the internet a lot. but kids always asked -- i am a big time reader. in virginia beach, where i lived when i was writing, i would always have 15 books. i buy books, i underline. but i got my idea for each one. when you are writing for kids, people want to help you. >> you have a 10-volume set right now. how many were written before publishing? >> 9.5. the publishing of u.s. history, or any history, is a huge scandal in this country, because big money-making affairs happen for three publishers. when i got started, there were none brought up. there are three publishers who split billions between that must approve school books are not about educating kids. they are in business. they are about making money. these are school textbooks, k- 12. mifflin, pearson, and mcgraw- hill. if

there have been some special steps in the case of katrina.with respect to katrina and while it did not come up. we think that the committee leadership in new orleans and the gulf coast is very assertive in pushing forward in pushing the census to take additional steps. the commitments there, we will hold our fees to the fire and make sure that those commitments are honored. >> one of the things that were unified in that meeting was the necessity to invoke and commit additional resources to this effort. all of the things that we are all talking about, all of the things that we are concerned about has to do with resources. if you have the political will, put up the money. we have many many illustrations. this is in particular if you are dealing with things like katrina, things like this happening to african americans. barbara lee, the oversight chairman of the census are committed to finding additional resources and to mean thacommung that. the understand the issue. -- they understand the issue. >> historically, the black community has had a di

think of a health care system with the responsiveness of hurricane katrina or think of the efficiency of the internal revenue service offer customer service at the department of motor vehicles. that doesn't sound like a recipe for real health reform to me. the office of personnel management has also taken considerable criticism for its handling of retiree benefits. the agency's own 2008 financial report stated -- and i quote -- "the office of personnel management had increased difficulty keeping up with retirement claims and had to decrease -- had a decrease in the number of customers satisfied with their own servi services." that's coming directly from the agency saying how it's coming up short performing to the needs of the american people and particularly government employees before we're talking about adding a new government health insurance program to the responsibilities of o.p.m. now, "the hill" newspaper wrote this last week -- and i quote -- "watchdogs maintain the program is riddled with inefficiencies that ultimately cost both the agency and the federal government money." s

speaker, we have not had another katrina. mr. speaker, we have not had the things which have been natural disasters which were dealt with by republicans in the majority. this is pure and simple, spending that has taken place, that has been raised 85% in the last two years. to say that someone has laid that at a doorstep and to have raised the deficit spending from $161 billion in 2007 to $1,400,000,000,000 in 2009 and blame that on anyone else other than the people who voted for it, which is the democrat majority. would be a misnomer. that is mismanagement. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from fullerton, california, the gentleman, congressman royce. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to the rule and to this legislation. because for the first time in history washington will be at the center of our financial system. this is not the way our founders intended this system to work. it didn'

george bush said brown was doing a good job when people were drowning in katrina. we don't reduce people to a sound bite and their worst political moment. the system itself is broken. it's dysfunctional. you can't isolate that with napolitano. >> that is why we came out with the director of intelligence to coordinate all of this. and that's his responsibility. >> i'm going to have to have a quick show of hands from all of you. who believes that anyone on the top levels gets fired over this or is this just a big bureaucratic mess? anybody getting fired? >> i think -- >> nobody. >> some lower level person will be fired but the bureaucracy will still be just as incompetent and will run more of your lives every day. >> i hope it changes. >> they should staff these departments with what if not bureaucrats? political appointees? it is an odd statement. >> lively, energetic people who are motivated. >> i'm sure people would be heartened to hear you don't think they're lively or care about the security of the country. >> i don't care if they're heartened or not. they're cl

hurricane katrina contamated and shut down the municipal water system lg after the orm had passed. but places like haiti, ntaminated water brings typhd and even death. but as temratures rise and imate zones shift, wont some ples benefit as others suffer? sure, says jonathan patz-- t former sovt union will have a longer growing sean, but he says lers will outnumber wiers. >> a mority of agricultural areas will suffe and the verse effects will outweigh the benefial effects. >> suare in developing nations, the increasin temperatures could affecthe ability to beconomically productive. ashe world's poorest people try to work themsees out of poverty, the clites they live in are making it harder toork rd. dr. tord kjellstrom studs the effects of climate on work. and as the only way to protect your body from oveeat and heatstroke, which may ev kill you, is to tually slow down work. it means you are ls efficient the work you do. and you t less income. if you are an agricultural rker who is cutting sugar ca in nicaragua, r instance, you will produce less gar per day ift's very hot and you ge

so some steps have been taken, some commitments that have been made with respect to katrina. didn't come up on the agenda specifically in this meeting, that does not mean it's on our overall agenda. as a black leadership forum, as civil rights leaders in this country, it is very important and the opportunities for a significant undercount are there, but we think that the communityxdó'c$]Ñleadershipç has been very assertive and very aggressive in pushing forward and pushing census to take additional steps. and the commitment is there. we're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure those steps, in fact, those commitments are honored. >> let me say something on that issue. one of the things that was completely -- we were all unified about in that meeting was the necessity to devote and commit additional resources to this effort. all of the things that we are all talking about, all of the things that we are concerned about has to do with resources. if you have the political will, put up the money. and we have many, many illustrations, i have mentioned one of them in t

the way we are treating this right now reminds me a little bit of the weathermen with hurricane katrina, give you the report while the hurricane has subsided, it is over now and everything can go back to normal and i am hearing from the economists that this recession is over. they have officially declared it is over. the real unemployment rate is 17%. that is across the entire country. the official statistics, these are official statistics from the department of labor if you can't people that are out of work and stop looking for a job, no longer drawing unemployment compensation. andel those folks with the $80,000 a year jabr now working part time with. and so if you look at it the minute it is much higher than that, frighteningly higher. is frighteningly high. we have to get people back to work. how do we do that? big business today is not hiring. i don't know one c.e.o in the country that i have talked to in the last two months, three months they make rehires and that is about all when people leave. they are not hiring. we need to get small businesses going again and we need to get ne

he comes back quite upset, because even before katrina, -- he said the basement has flooded a few times and your mother threw out those papers. i was actually secretly relieved because i didn't know what i would do if i had a paper in my handthat would derail the candidacy of bill clinton. my wife and i went years later to see dr. pelchinsky in retirement, and he pulls out a scrapbook, and there's the paper. does anybody know who betsy wright was and she was in control of damage control. and there's a telegram that said -- that he got from her saying do not release paper. letter to follow. and i told him he should send the paper, which he did to the clinton library, because i believe those who are historians should at least have the right to that paper, even if journalists it was probably good idea not to. i eventually made me way back to new orleans, and the one thing that was going to take me away from the writing life, or the so-called writing life as my daughter put it, was when i got a call from a person in the british embassy -- the american embassy in london, gotten to know a lot

i think that is exactly katrina.where better illustrated than what we're seeing with the healthcare debate. the senate is apparently preparing to pass what is undoubtedly the biggest expansion of federal power. certainly in modern history. this will have an incredible impact on daily lives of all americans. Ñithey will not begin tax. -- not be good and tax. -- not be good impacts. at a certain point, for sure she will be vented and printed in about one year at the polls. i think we will see a big change in congress. host: we were talking about the deficit and the overall debt abridging $12 to win. it approaches nearly $2 trillion this week. guest: received the worst of both worlds when the white house and the speaker and majority leader harry reid are leaving the party on the hill and in the white house in a direction that keeps splitting the difference with republicans. republicans will never be satisfied anyway. these are right wing forces opposing the new deal since it began a. there is a pattern here whether in a

he comes back quite upset because even before katrina we used to flood all the time and he said the basement has flooded a few times and it sort of destroyed those things and your mother flew out all those papers. i was secretly relieved because i didn't know what i would do if i do paper in my hand that would do real the candidacy of bill clinton. kathy, my wife and i., wait years later to see dr. kochanski and retirement and he pulls out a scrapbook. there's the paper. does anybody know who betsey wright was? she was in charge of damage control. and then the telegram that he got for betsey wright saying do not release paper, letter to follow. i told him he should send the paper, which he did to the clinton library because i believe those of us who are historians should at least have the right to that paper, even if the journalist doesn't have it time thought it was a good idea not to. i eventually made my way back to new orleans and the one thing that was going to take me away from being the writing life of the so-called writing life was my daughter put it was when i got a call from gore o

it will be held in february so we have chapters on katrina, afghanistan very difficult to write about now. all kind of corinthians. the ideas get more complex as you get to the tenth book. >> host: you start at 1600 copay >> guest: i start before 1600, the people coming over the bering strait. we're not sure, 30,000 years ago may be. >> host: how do you cover that? how do you do your research? >> guest: today i use the internet a lot but books. kids always ask me where you learn all of this? books, kids. i am a big time reader. in virginia beach where i lived when i was writing magic and take 15 books out from the library, i always had books and i would out line with history books line went to a lot of used bookstores. for history you can do that. for science you really can't. but yeah, i got my ideas from books and then with each book i had been read by an expert in the field. so, just to make sure that i was up to date. i had some -- some wonderful historians. one year writing for kids the best people want to help you so the top people in the field have to read my manuscript. >> hos

to meet the temporary housing needs of families displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricane katrina, this kind of housing is becoming more and more critical to the lives of many americans. it is crucial that this housing be safe and secure over the long term because, as we have seen in the aftermath of hurricane katrina, the federal government can be lax in funding and finding permanent housing solutions for families temporarily living in these housing units. the house already passed this legislation during the 110th congress, and i hope the senate joins us in sending a bill to the president for his signature. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. wittman: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 320, c.j.'s ho

the economic downturn complicated gulf coast recovery and jeopardized the effectiveness of katrina and rita aid. residents need more time to fully utilize existing disaster assistance programs before they expire. congress should extend the go-zone low-income housing tax credit for an additional year. at risk, currently at risk are nearly 70 affordable rental housing projects encompassing over 6,000 units along the gulf coast. these projects take time and this important extension will give investors and developers the confidence to move forward on these very important projects. congress should also make disaster related low-income housing tax credits eligible for the new exchange grant program. this will provide immediate relief to disaster impacted states as the market for housing tax credits rebounds. the bill also cuts short tax incentives for businesses to invest in the hardest hit areas along the gulf coast who the special depreciation rules that promote economic development. my amendment would extend the go-zone 50% first-year donne bohnous depreciation to 2010, bringing new capit

on behalf of a net, katrina, and the lantos foundation, i will now share this award citation.undation for human rights and justice hereby award this inaugural lantos human rights prize to the 14th dalai lama, the religious leader of the tibetan people. with courage, compassion, and humility, he is given voice to the aspirations of all humanity for a life of dignity, justice, and respect. as the unflinching advocate of nonviolent reconciliation, he has advanced the cause of human rights in every corner of the globe. his holiness, the dalai lama, is one of the most highly honored peacemakers of our time and a unique moral voice for our day. the lantos foundation. [applause] [applause] >> who want to speak tibetan. [speaking tibetan] honorable speaker, senator mccain, chairman, and mrs. lantos, and also katrina, family members of a very dear friend of mine, the late congressman tom lantos. distinguished guests, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to receive this inaugural prize of lantos human-rights award. and for me to receive the award is a truly great privilege, especiall

shame on us and we have another katrina and we have it sheriff department's not talking to firefighters, we have firefighters not talking to the national guard and. so i appreciate this focus and we all understand the importance of having an inventory. but if we can get the d -- d block right in a timely manner who are we kidding ourselves? so i would hope mr. chairman and the full committee chairman that we would really work on the parameters to push for a per. proper auction in which we get all the benefits and bring in additional revenue by develop the revenue stream which will allow us to provide grants and money to our first line responders to get to this one important aspect of our homeland security issues and debates in line and i yield the balance of my time. >> thank you mr. shimkus. the chairman emeritus of the liturgy and commerce committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. dingell is recognized for five is. >> thank you mr. chairman. and thank you for attending today's hearing on h.r. 3125. three of spectrum inventory act. in h.r. 3019, the special relocation improvement act

like a forest fire, like a katrina.ell, the entire seven years' war and going is being paid for as an emergency exclusion. and so there are ways to deal with that that we could talk about, you know, what i think. >> let me ask larry and frances on something bill you said earlier. you suggested -- you pointed out that in the 1990s it was a crisis, a crisis of government. that enabled you to reach some kind of an agreement. do you think that it's going to take a crisis, an economic crisis, a dollar crisis, something like that, in order to overcome the very significant political obstacles that we've been talking about for the last hour? larry? >> absolutely. >> you do. >> i just don't think we could use procedures and process to deal with the problem. i think the way to deal with the problem is to deal with the problem. >> and how about getting people of good will together and say, can't we all agree he? >> they are called representatives for a reason. there has to be a lot of momentum out there in the electorate where the

federal air marshals came to new orleans, louisiana, during hurricane katrina. federal air marshals have been called upon in time of disaster and answered the call. i think it's important to note as we stand on the floor of the house to present this legislation to enhance their training that we appreciate their service. we thank them for the sacrifice of their families as they travel internationally on behalf of the american people. with that, i i would ask my colleagues to support this very important bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. all time is expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3963. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the aaffirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i ask that the house suspend the rules and pass house resol

specific stories, like 9/11, like the 2008 election, iraq, afghanistan, hurricane katrina, or more thematically and she did hit on some of the more important themes of american politics, such as the return of the imperial presidency. the return of a very assertive -- power accruing executive, which we saw in the bush years. guest: i wanted to make a comment about one thing she said -- bush not been the brightest light bulb in the house. he graduated four years from yale. jenny fluncked out. i think some of this name calling is not accurate. host: oregon. on our line for independents. caller: i think one of the defining event of the decade would be the shaping and evolution of the entertainment industry all the way from the popular rise of the mp3 players, how you can have this digital music collection, the continued evolution of the online content, being able to stream high- definition content. they are adjusting the advertising schemes for that. the overall success ability and the evolution of access to the entertainment these days is pretty amazing. in 2000, you could download music from naps

currently director of the hurricane relief project which was launched in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. she does plenty of extra duties on issues broadly of mortgage foreclosures and making homes affordable mitigation programs. throughout most of debbie's career, she has worked for local, community-based organizations to increase access to high-quality, low-cost financial-services and to eliminate discriminatory practices. she had a long tenure at the center for community change, a great ally and friend of ours, where i first began working with her. she has a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the university of north carolina, chapel hill. at the end of the table is the executive director of the hope now alliance which is a group of servicers, lenders, counselors that was formed at the very beginning of this crisis. it is an emergency response organization. from january 2009 to september 9th have helped millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure with modifications to the government and programs initiated with their assistance before the treasury department announced the

specific stories, like 9/11, like the 2008 election, iraq, afghanistan, hurricane katrina, or more thematically and she did hit on some of the more important themes of american politics, such as the return of the imperial presidency. the return of a very assertive -- power accruing executive, which we saw in the bush years. guest: i wanted to make a comment about one thing she said -- bush not been the brightest light bulb in the house. he graduated four years from yale. jenny fluncked out. i think some of this name calling is not accurate. host: oregon. on our line for independents. caller: i think one of the defining event of the decade would be the shaping and evolution of the entertainment industry all the way from the popular rise of the mp3 players, how you can have this digital music collection, the continued evolution of the online content, being able to stream high- definition content. they are adjusting the advertising schemes for that. the overall success ability and the evolution of access to the entertainment these days is pretty amazing. in 2000, you could download music from naps

think of a health care system with the responsiveness of hurricane katrina or think of the efficiencyrnal revenue service offer customer service at the department of motor vehicles. that doesn't sound like a recipe for real health reform to me. the office of personnel management has also taken considerable criticism for its handling of retiree benefits. the agency's own 2008 financial report stated -- and i quote -- "the office of personnel management had increased difficulty keeping up with retirement claims and had to decrease -- had a decrease in the number of customers satisfied with their own servi services." that's coming directly from the agency saying how it's coming up short performing to the needs of the american people and particularly government employees before we're talking about adding a new government health insurance program to the responsibilities of o.p.m. now, "the hill" newspaper wrote this last week -- and i quote -- "watchdogs maintain the program is riddled with inefficiencies that ultimately cost both the agency and the federal government money." so i think th

it's not uncommon for them to respond in other states, as well such as louisiana after hurricane katrina in addition to these domestic roles, the arkansas national guard's 39th infrant ree brigade combat team has twice been deployed to iraq and while this team has to date not served in afghanistan, there is a significant national guard presence in afghanistan. in fact, the 39th's been to iraq not once but twice. i think most of them have a pretty good idea of what may be in their future. i'm grateful for the service the men and women of the national guard provide our country. their continued deployment leaves the national guard fewer troops and equipment needed to respond to domestic issues. how many of the 30,000 additional troops do you envision coming from the national guard, and how soon will national guardsmen and guardswomen return after the planned drawdown begins in 2011. >> sir i'll have to take the number of the 30,000 and get back to you that look like national guards. the services will determine that. i would like to take a second, though, to talk about national guardsmen in

i think that is exactly katrina. illustrated than what we're seeing with the healthcare debate. the senate is apparently preparing to pass what is undoubtedly the biggest expansion of federal power. certainly in modern history. this will have an incredible impact on daily lives of all americans. Ñithey will not begin tax. -- not be good and tax. -- not be good impacts. at a certain point, for sure she will be vented and printed in about one year at the polls. i think we will see a big change in congress. host: we were talking about the deficit and the overall debt abridging $12 to win. it approaches nearly $2 trillion this week. guest: received the worst of both worlds when the white house and the speaker and majority leader harry reid are leaving the party on the hill and in the white house in a direction that keeps splitting the difference with republicans. republicans will never be satisfied anyway. these are right wing forces opposing the new deal since it began a. there is a pattern here whether in afghanistan,

everybody would have a different vision or maybe katrina. what's the image that's in your mind? >> ok. patricia? >> the only image i think the picture of him delivering a speech. he's really good at it. i think he's like an actor. i think he's really good at delivering a speech. >> i'm looking for that visual image where i can say, oh, yes, i see it. and i could flash it up on the screen. i could see from patricia, yeah, a speech. and i see him at a podium. do you have any sort of visual image where you say, that's what captures me? >> like i say, it's just the hope -- it's just when you look at him, he has a hope. he's bright-eyed. he's open to trying to make this thing happen. >> visual image? >> family man. picture of his wife and kids. >> yeah, i agree with that. but also i like the way he salutes when he gets off of his airplane. i think that's so -- >> anybody else agree? the way he salutes? >> ok. that's good. john? >> talking head. >> ok. >> on the night of the election, just the image of him and his wife and kids walking on to that stage, it was clear that he was going

if it had been the bush administration, some people would have a different vision, 9/11, or maybe katrina. what is the image that is in your mind? >> patricia. >> when i think of him and get a picture of him delivering a speech, because i think he is very good at it. he is very good at delivering a speech. >> he gives us hope for the country. >> i am really looking for that visual image, where i can say oh, yes, i see it, and i can flash it up on the screen. i can see from patricia and speech, and i see him at a podium or at a forum. do you have any sort of visual image? >> just a hope when you look at him, he is trying to make this thing happen. >> a family man, a picture of him with his wife and kids. >> i agree with that, but i like the way he salutes when he gets off the airplane. i think that is so great. >> anybody else agree, the raised salutes? that is good. >> on the night of the election, to see the image of him and his wife and children walking out on that stage, and it was clear that he was going to win. >> anything since he has become president? >> i would say probably at the

currently director of the hurricane relief project which was launched in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. she is plenty of extra duties on issues broadly on a mortgage foreclosures and making homes affordable mitigation programs. throughout most of her career, she has worked for local, community-based organizations to increase access to high-quality, low-cost financial-services and to eliminate discriminatory practices. she had a long tenure at the center -- at the center for community change, a great ally and friend of ours, where i first began working with her. she has a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the university of north carolina chapel hill. at the far end of the table is the executive director of the hope now alliance which is a nonprofit coalition group of servicers, investors, and other markets. they want to have a coherent response to the crisis developing. from january 2009 to september, of hope now have helped millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure with modifications to the government program and programs initiated with their assistance before the trea

that's why i cannot believe only two months after katrina that we have a bill that would cut medicaid by $27 billion. and the list goes on and on. and now before us, we have cuts of $483 billion, including hospice, including other vital programs for our seniors. we're going to go ahead and talk about flip-flops, let's look at the rhetoric. that accompanied my colleagues on the other side. which by the way, it only saved $2 billion over five years. i would ask my friend from oklahoma, does he believe that it is possible to make these cuts, including from the medicare advantage program, and establish a medicare commission that would not over time cut benefits that exist today for medicare and medicaid patients? >> mr. president, i would answer my colleague by saying, this bill is a government-centered approach. not a patient-centered approach. this is the very reason that we're in the trouble that we're in today. it's that we've had the government making the decision rather than the patients and the physicians. and we will in fact lessen the care for seniors. i gave a speech earlier thi

fema has now obligated $44 billion in response to hurricane katrina, read up in wilma since 2005 howeveraccording to the excluded party list system database, fema has not suspended or debarred a single contract. does this mean your department maintains that no fema contractor has committed fraud during the reconstruction efforts or otherwise? >> senator, let me have the opportunity to take a look into that and give you a more thoughtful response later. >> do you have any initial sense? >> i have made no such conclusion but i don't know whether there are any actions underway and that is what i would like to check for you. >> i would very much appreciate that response and really would like to know if this database is being used properly. if in fact there have been fraud investigations, and if not, i would like to know why not. >> fair enough. >> in august of this year the department issued new policies governing searches of travelers, electronic devices such as laptops are ipod's at the border. i am deeply disappointed with the policy the department adopted come in particular the refusal t

energy into this issue, you know, the foreclosure crisis has basically been something of a 50 state katrinayou know, money out of the communities and leaving husks of neighborhoods in its way. >> ms. goodman? >> i want to second what julia gordon said. the conflict of interest between the borrower and the second lien holder is huge in terms of writing down rentable. and in order before you can have a successful principal reduction program, you have to explicitly address the second lien. and there's no other option other than extinguishment. you may want to pay the bank to distinguish the second lien. you may want to let them take a loss over a period of time, but that simply has to be done. another problem that is often come up in terms of installed reduction is the moral hazard or strategic default problem. how do you keep borrowers who otherwise could afford to pay their mortgage from strategically defaulting or trying to take advantage of the principal reduction plan? and there's no single option here, but we have to think outside the box as you mentioned. yet you think in terms of share

fauci pointed out earlier, the re-emergence of the avian flu, the katrina hurricane response actuallylead to a real need for national strategy for influenza announced in november of 2005. the implementation plan came out in 2006. the ability to have in our country at some point the capacity to produce a large number of vaccines for everyone and to have pandemic vaccines. we set up and approach in 2005, 2006 for pandemic influenza. for vaccines, three areas. stockpiling and acquisitions, i will concentrate quite a bit on the vaccines, moving forward with the technologies that are right for coming of age to be used in the coming years. with the stockpiling efforts, in an effort that we put quite a bit of emphasis on, how can we build manufacturing infrastructure probe -- egg based supply with retrofitting those facilities and the new still based manufacturing facilities as we go forward with recombinant based manufacturing facilities. the influence of vaccines provided more robust, scalable vaccine platform being less tolerable, as we saw this year, being able to grow very well. we awar

senator boxer in the same way compared it to katrina. senator kerry, "we're passing the costs on to our seniors." senator levin, "we're going to be hurt by this bill." irresponsible and cruel" said senator kohl. senator reid, senator hillary clinton -- that was to restrain the growth of medicare to spend it on the existing program. yet this proposal by the democrats would take $465 billion and spend it on a new program -- mr. mccain: and isn't it true, now that the senator from montana is on the floor, if he wants to enter in here, maybe he could respond to his comments 14 years ago, "we weren't trying to create a new entitlement program," which is the object of the senator's bill. we were just trying to enact some savings in the medicare system. so what does senator baucus say -- and above all we must not use medicare as a piggy bank. what are we using $483 billion in cuts in medicare for? then the senator from montana said, "that is disgraceful. perhaps some changes lie ahead. but if they do, they should be made sore the single purpose