republican senator lamar alexander went on the record. senator nice to see you, sir. >> nice to see you. >> greta: mr. geithner says it would be irresponsible for congress to adjourn this year without extending bush era tax cuts for the middle class. >> i think he's right but incomplete. it would be irresponsible for us to adjourn this year without extending the current tax rates for anybody. because it makes no sense to raise taxes on anybody in the middle of a recession. we've got two, three weeks in which to do that. the president's former budget adviser suggested that. republicans are for that, so let's do it. >> greta: i take it you have never stood in the way of the issue come together floor? >> i don't think i have. i think what we want to do in the procedures we have is to say the issue that we want to come to the floor is, let's keep tax rates at the same levels for everybody. we'll use whatever took place we have -- whatever tools we have. >> greta: what is stopping from it coming to the floor? >> only one person can set agenda

it wasn't just lamar alexander, it was mitch mcconnell and john kyle and jim demint and tom price andchael steele just to name a few. they said the gm bailout would not work and it worked. gm's first day on the stock market was today. it was the biggest ipo in american history. they made more money in its ç initial stock offering than any company ever. it was bigger than google's first day or ebay's. gm raised more than $20 billion. also in the past week, the car that more than anything gm is staking its future on, the chevy volt, won motor trends car of the year. this is not a we feel sorry for you, way to make an effort, most improved kind of award. this is motor trends car of the year. this is like best car, period. the point is it's a very good time for general motors. gm, because of the government bailout, did not go out of business. a brand-new study found the bailout saved 1.4 million jobs. with the new financial headlight of the company, gm is on track to have its first profitable year since 2004 and to pay the government back the bailout money. it is a success. it's one thin

tonight senator lamar alexander.orum, lou dobbs my old colleague from cnn is going to drop in. the debt commission, we have to the co-chairman of the debt commission they are going to be here. there's a war going on in mexico and jennifer griffin is covering it, it is horrible. we've been reporting about it nightly. jennifer is there tonight. >> sean: we'll be watching in 18 short minutes. our great, great american panel, straight ahead. [ male announcer ] opportunity is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ f just my signature? that's right, right now you can take home a volkswagen for just your signature, like the cc or the tiguan. huh. yeah, plus every vw includes scheduled carefree maintenance. really? that's great. there you go. that guy's pretty good too. yeah, he's ok. [ male announcer ] it's ama

so when you all as conservative ak v activists, were they talking about mitch mcconnell and lamar alexander et cetera fighting on this earmark issue? is that the heart of the problem? >> well, the establishment in general, you know, it can mean a lot of different things depending on what you're talking to to. i have my own definition of it. earmarks is in some ways an establishment versus a grass roots issue. i don't know if i would call it a split between the tea party and the republican party. you're seeing a split between the entire rest of the party. the tens of millions of americans who sif with this. >> josh, were you discouraged to see rand paul's comments saiing, yeah, sure, earmarks edition. >> what's the quote? i'm never disappointed when a politician does something like that because they're politicians. they will do the right thing only in as much as we the people pay attention to them. if we're applying pressure, all can do is do our best. were they disappointed? not really. he's going to fit into the senate if this is the course he chooses. i think he'll be on the right side. >

lamar alexander, to his full credit, says he has 12 republican votes in the senate.and that we should just sort of back off now, wait and go into the lame duck session. so i'm hoping there will be again that moment of sanity where we can at least get the american teeth act reauthorized. then the question goes to are you going to get funding? you know, i think it's very important for the country for many reasons, we can talk about but i think we should talk about reducing the deficit, and you start talking about doubling the national science foundation, sort, it's going to be difficult to do. so i'm hoping that we could do that. but more likely i think if we can just keep up with inflation, i'm afraid that's going to be about the best we can do. >> the only thing i would add to that is i think with the best things to come out of the congress was our portion of america competes which chairman gordon wrote. if we're going to really turn the country around on energy and on an economic basis, sort of geewhiz quantum leap kind of development that comes out of our be and th

lamar alexander the number 3 republican senator said he would put a picture of nancy pelosi in the cloakm as a reminder don't overreach. the public doesn't raely trust us yet there's some desire to actually strike some deal s with the president but then once they get here, they're sort of a polarizing dynamic that takes over and makes that tough. >> lehrer: let's talk about the tea party specifically for a moment. and of course rand paul won kentucky against jack conway. paul did not back off of any of his... well, maybe around the edges a little bit. basically he didn't back off. he didn't back off the basic tea party message at all. he won by a sizable margin. >> he did. >> lehrer: we don't know the exact numbers yet. >> 55-45. something like that. i mean it was an impressive victory. he was the issue. there's no question about it. >> lehrer: which is what the democrats wanted. >> that's what the democrats hoped was to make him the issue. it's a republican state. make no mistake about it. barack obama got 41% of the vote in kentucky. he really got thumped in 2008. lost the state by 300

believed that if small business looks that says -- and i'm not quoting, not a tea party person, but lamar alexander. very moderate republican who said that right before the election he was with the chain restaurant owners, which is one of the biggest small-business groups in the country. and they claimed to him that the health care bill was going to put a burden of $40,000 per employee on them in administrative taxes, mandates, all of that requirement and that encouraged them to have employees. so republicans really believe that repealing or substantially amending health care is a major item on their agenda. now, this has the makings of total breakdown of the government. i mean, i can well see that the republicans in the house, particularly, are going to pass bills, one after the other after the other to one, repeal into and have it the implementation of the health care bill. either way, there is a 22 page document that was issued today by eric cantor, which you can download, which talks about the steps that the house republican envisioned putting into effect. now, one of the items is that to bar t

a quick premise is that lamar alexander -- asked the academies to do a report. they came back and said we are going in the wrong direction. we need to invest in r and d as well as in education and human capital, which boils down to more education as well as increasing our investment in the national science foundation. the america compete act passed by 397 votes in the house. if we could -- if he could do that again, i would nominate him for special envoy to the middle east. something we all agreed upon, we brought back up this year. i had thirtysomething hearings on it. it came out of our committee on a bipartisan basis. we get to the house floor, and amazingly it got caught up. lamar alexander, to his full credit, said he had 12 republican votes in the senate and that we should just back off and wait to go into the lame- duck session. i hope it will be that moment of sanity where we can at least get the american -- america competes backed reauthorize. in the question goes to funding. is very important for the country, but when you start talking about reducing t

conference chairman, lamar alexander. the one major change is that chuck schumer, who has been at the leadership table in a variety of ways for the last several years, he is being given a greater portfolio, a little bit more of an ability to set strategy. he is acknowledged as one of the democrats better strategists and tacticians both on the campaign level and on the floor. so, i think they are looking at giving him an opportunity to combine some of those skills. but essentially the same folks on both sides. host: what is the significance of thing staying so much the same? guest: i think there is stability for the caucuses. they certainly know what to expect from leadership. the senate is a very stable and stodgy body. some ways a comforting thing for senators. most don't want to be in the leadership. a lot of work for little reward. you get a little bit more money, but it's not the best job of the world. typically majority leaders of late have had tough reelection races. in part, there is some significant -- republicans

they believe small business looks at this -- and i am now quoting lamar alexander a very moderate republican who said that he was with the chain restaurant owners predicted they claimed to him -- owners. they claimed to him that the health care bill is going to put a burden of $40,000 per employee on administrative taxes, mandates, all of that. that encouraged them to have less employees. thatblicans believe fade substantially amending health care is a major item on their agenda. this has the makings of a total breakdown of the government. i can well see that the republicans in the house of going to pass bills one after the other after the other to repeal and inhibits the implementation of the health care bill. there is a 22 page document that was issued today by erick kanter that talks about the steps that the house republicans envisioned putting into of fact. one of the items in fact is to bar the irs from the funds that it takes to implement the health care bill. this is not only a savings but it is a way of throttling the implementation of this. if they do not appropriate the money, this

lamar alexander of tennessee is offering a resolution tomorrow in the senate meeting, and as official policy, republicans would not pay for any unfunded mandates. there is a long way to go before we can see it in practice but it is an issue that republicans are bringing up. host: dairy in michigan. you are on the air. caller: i have a question on social security. i understand something like $800,000 a year and above you do not need to pay social security taxes, is that correct? host: i think we lost him. sioux city, iowa. caller: i am a little bit perturbed that congress gets a raise. big businesses get a raise. why are you declining our social security increases when we have paid into it for so many years? host: it sounds like this could be a big issue for seniors who came out to vote for a republican. if republicans vote no on this, it could come back to haunt them. guest: it is a real concern. the callers are definitely showing that. i do not know that democrats have the will right now to push something like that, but it could create a real backlash among low-income elderly, back t

they believe that small business looked at this, and i am now quoting not a tea party person but lamar alexander, a very moderate republican, who said that right before the election he was with the chain restaurant owners, which is one of the biggest small-business groups in the country. and they claimed to him that the health care bill was going to put the burden of $40,000 per employee on them in administrative taxes, mandates. and that encouraged them to have less employees. the republicans really believe that repealing or substantially amending health care is a major item on their agenda. now this has the makings of a total breakdown of the government. i can well see that the republicans in the house particularly are going to pass bills one after the other after the other to repeal and to inhibit the implementation of the health-care bill. for example -- by the way, there is a 22 page document that was issued today by eric kantor, which you can download, which talks about the steps that the house republicans in vision -- envision putting into effect. one of the items in that is to from their

lamar alexander, one of our senators, and he has really helped me out. unfortunately at the age of 40 i became disabled, and he really responded to me almost daily on a personal basis. host: you had success when you contact your senator? caller: -- guest: roger brings up a really valuable point. there are two types of people who interact with members of congress -- people with an opinion and people with an interest. if a woman gets up at a town hall meeting and says we have to get out of afghanistan, the member files in one part of the brain, but the woman says we need to get out of afghanistan because my son is stationed there, it has a completely different impact. they have a moral and ethical irresponsibility that they did not if it was just somebody offering an opinion. roger had an interest. he had skin in the game. members of congress are very responsive. most people don't know that more than half of the staff in the personal offices for members of congress are really constituent- driven and are doing nothing but a constituent work. casework, where

lamar alexander, my colleague, wants to have more electric cars, but you've got to have the base loade dpot to make it easy. >> tom, final thoughts to you. >> we need all those things as the senator said. the problem with nuclear is it's too expensive. a new plant would take six to eight years to build. i'm for all of those things we need to have mix, but unless you put in place, you know, senator said we have to be worried about energy price are going to go up. you have no idea where the prices are going to go if we don't shift to a renewable economy. >> thank you. >> thank you, tom. >>> coming up, democratic congressman and former nfl quarterback heath shuler, who says he'll challenge nancy pelosi to be house minority leader if she doesn't drop her bid for the post. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ j. weissman ] it was 1975. my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains

they be that a small business looks at this -- and i'm now quoting, not a tea party person, but lamar alexander right? very moderate republican, who said that, right before the election he was with the chain restaurant owners, which is one of the biggest small business groups in the country. and they claimed to him that the health care bill was going to put a burden of $40,000 per employee on them in administrative taxes, mandates, all of that requirement. and that encouraged of them to have less employees. so the republicans really believe that repealing or substantially amending health care is a major item on their agenda. now, this has the makings of total breakdown of the government. i mean, i can well see that the republicans in the house, particularly, are going to pass bills one after the other after the other two, one, repeal, and two, and headed -- and inhibit the invitation of health care bill. by the way, there is a 22 page document that was issued today by eric cantor, which you all can download, which talks about the steps that the house republican envisions putting into effect. no

if you talk to republicans and democrats, i was amazed that in the same week, lamar alexander was saying we need 100 new nuclear power plants, and barbara boxer was saying my climate bill would deliver new power plants so i am ok with that. that did not make the news because there was a big health care debate, but barbara boxer saying i am ok with 100 nuclear power plants is a big deal. we need at 10-year opportunity to figure out if we cannot find a way to capture the carbon from coal. it is worth spending billions of dollars to do that, because if that works, it is great. we know we need that much time, so let's get on with it. it is not that expensive to figure out the coal prices. a lot of republicans want to do that. the problem we face is will we try to roll it up into one major, one-size-fits-all package. nuclear is a great example of that. it is remarkable, the level of support for return to nuclear power as one piece of the total puzzle. it is a zero emissions source and you do not have to invent a new technology. there are 400 of these things all around the world today. in the

lamar alexander, one of our senators, and he has really helped me out.isabled, and he really responded to me almost daily on a personal basis. host: you had success when you contact your senator? caller: -- guest: roger brings up a really valuable point. the are two types of people who interact with members of congress -- people with an opinion and people with an interest. if a woman gets up at a town hall meeting and says we have to get out of afghanistan, the member files in one part of the brain, but the woman says we need to get out of afghanistan because my son is stationed there, it has completely different impact. they have a moral and ethical irresponsibility that they did not if it was just somebody offering an opinion. roger had an interest. he had skin in the game. members of congress are very responsive. most people don't know that more than half of the staff in the personal offices for members of congress are really constituent- driven and are doing nothing but a constituent work. casework, where somebody has a problem with a federal agency

lamar alexander of tennessee is offering a resolution tomorrow in the senate meeting, and as official policy, republicans would not pay for any unfunded mandates. there is a long way to go before we can see it in practice but it is an issue that republicans are bringing up. host: dairy in michigan. you are on the air. caller: i have a question on social security. i understand something like 00,000 a year and abo you do not need to pay social security taxes, is that correct? host: i think we lost him. sioux city, iowa. caller: i am a little bit perturbed that congress gets a raise. big businesses get a raise. why are you declining our social security increases when we have paid io it for so many years? host: it sounds like this could be a big issue for seniors who came out to vote for a republican. if republicans vote no on this, it could come back to haunt them. guest: it is a real concern. the callers are definitel showing that. i do not know that democrats have the will right now to push something like that, but it could create a real backlash among low-income elderly, back to a dem

years later, is the subject of legislation i have on the floor of the senate along with senator lamar alexanderof tennessee and senator merkley of oregon, the electric automobile. it's the new, new thing. it is what we knew 100 years ago worked. i want to talk a little about these things and all the changes that we've seen and why this issue is critical and why i feel so disappointed if we don't in the final three weeks at least take a portion of that which we know needs to be done and do it, because there's bipartisan agreement on a couple of these issues. i mean, let me just mention them quickly. one, a renewable electricity standard so that we try to induce more renewable energy production in this country. that's bipartisan. we have cosponsors in the senate -- senator browrks a very strong supporter of that. a renewable electric standard. the electric vehicle deployment act, which i have described, senator alexander and others. and the natural gas provision that senator reid and senator menendez have sponsored. that's also bipartisan. those are things that we can do and should do at the end