lamar alexander has come against it. he is putting the republcian party in a bad place. the party did not do well with electorate in 2012. they sent a bad signal to hispanics yesterday on immigration. if they oppose it, they will sending bad signal to a lot of women, a lot of single women who have kids. the oscar nods are out. "selma" was snubbed. many thought it would do better than a paltry two nominations. i can't tell you whether the snub was just or unjust. the biggest outrage of this year's nominations was the absence of "life itself," the great documentary about roger ebert. it did not get a nomination for best documentary. it's an incredible movie. not just about the movies themselves, but about this extraordinary writer. this snub is really surprising. it's a great movie. it is a snub to the memory of roger ebert. mark, what's your view? >> the injustice of jake gyllenhaal not getting a nod for best actor for nightcrawler. incredible performance. the guy is a great actor, but this is a great performance. you look at the people who got nominated, they are all fin

of this next generation of united states senators and great mentors we have in the caucus like lamar alexanderpe there's more of a chance for us to work together. i'm down here. i'm not committed for life. i'm willing to supplement ego to try to find that common ground. look, there are things that are going to divide us. if we spend time, all we could have done is debate keystone pipeline, issues of abortion. we could have gone and he would not compromise and i would not compromise. my experience with governor christie, i have disagreements with him. we were joking before christmas about the day i came to talk to him about a big economic package for newark. it happened to be the day that new jersey's legislature approved marriage equality, an issue i'm passionate about. i wouldn't conduct a marriage like that. i'm not going to until everybody can get married. i knew the governor was going to veto it. people put microphones in front of me. they wanted to know if i gave it to the governor. i didn't say anything because i'm not going to change his mind. i'm going to spend every minute to the jobs

lamar alexander, the top republican on education in the senate and bob corker this reflects the administration's look for ways to raise long-term living standards of the middle class that have been stagnant for so long and a lot of people think that making sure that quality community college is available to train people and get them matched up to the jobs that they are evolving technology based economy needs, is a key to the future. whether or not this passes congress or not, the fact that the president is elevating the priority to it many states including tennessee with a republican governor already are doing is a sign of where policy in the country is headed. it's going to be tough though to get a new spending entitlement program through the u. congress. john thanks. appreciate it. >> you bet. >> john harwood in washington. >>> still ahead as we continue bargain hunting for blue chips. our market monitor tonight found some and he said they're ready to bou >>> california is aiming for the record books with the biggest state budget proposal on record. on the heels of two years of budget surpluse

. >> senator lamar alexander, thank you very much. >> thank you. . . >> my colleagues thank you for being here this afternoon. senator baker. we come this evening in this stately and formal old senate chamber, our convocation has the light spirit of a family reunion. it's a thrill to me to see the way our colleagues react to senator baker on both sides of the aisle. and even some that could not be here tonight made a special point of coming by to speak to senator baker. tonight we welcome a second in the series of leaders lecture series. we are hoping this will be something we can continue throughout this year with senator byrd being our invited speaker in september and in to next year. uh i this this is a part of our family and i'm delighted the american public is the joining us this evening through public television. they'll hear this outstanding gentleman who will give us a great deal of the wisdom and much wit. i hope they sense the enormous affection of our speaker tonight that's almost palpable in this room. i wish they could see the display of photographs in the corridor outside of

. >> senator lamar alexander thank you very much. [applause] [indistinct conversations] >> thank you for being here this afternoon. though we come together this evening in this stately and formal senate chamber our convocation has a light spirit of a family reunion. it is a thrill to me to see the way our colleagues react to baker on both sides of the house and even some who could not be here tonight made a special point of coming by to speak to senator baker . tonight we welcome the second in a series of leaders, lecture series. we're hoping this will be something we will continue throughout this year. byrd being are invited speaker in september. i'm delighted the american public is joining us this evening through television. they will hear this outstanding gentleman, who will give us a great deal of his usual wisdom and much wit. i hope they also sense the enormous affection for our speaker tonight that is almost palpable in this room. i wish they could see the display of photographs in the corridor outside this chamber for our spe

lamar alexander will take over the chair of the health committee and he has made no secret he wants theealth care law upon president obama will certainly veto any attempt to repeal the law. >> certainly it is not going to get repealed. republicans will want to have that vote and keep their commitments. they did promise they would try to repeal it. then they will go after, like i said, bite sized. they will probably change the definition of the work week from 40 hours to 30 hours. they will try to go after the individual mandate. that is worth watching. the employer mandate. the medical device tax is likely to get signed by the president. >> andy orrin hatch is said to become the chair of the finance committee. can he put together enough support for an overall of the nation's tax code? we know that senator hatch has been willing to reach across, as he did with the late massachusetts senator ted kennedy, to get things done. >> right, and the ranking democrat on that committee has a history of bipartisan deals as well. i think there is a difference -- republicans and republicans -- democra

there isn't anybody who has a broader background in american politics and lamar alexander.olitely to the things we had to say, and then he said picking out one item he said we exception of this item we could change everything you're asking for and accomplish everything you want this afternoon. if we had a different majority leader. well, we now have a different majority leader. and as i was writing in this morning and got out the newspaper, there's there was a store on the front page of the "washington post" about mitch mcconnell's goal for the next two years as new majority leader. did any of you see it? i recommend you read it. summarized in one sentence. mitch mcconnell says he wants the republicans to not be scary between now and 2016. he wants to set the table for the republican nominee in 2016 by demonstrating that the republicans are capable of governing. and he uses the phrase, we don't want to be scary. well, what's he talking about? he's talking about the tea party. in 2010, which was the way the election of the people saying we don't like what's going on in washi

[indiscernible conversations] >> senator lamar alexander thank you for being with us on american history tv. we are sitting in howard baker's old office. he was your political mentor. >> he was. >> can you tell us about this relationship? >> i volunteered for his campaign in 1966 and to my surprise, he won. i came here with him and i was his only legislative assistant. >> how long did you work for him? >> i worked for him than a

and lamar alexander, who is a student of american politics and longabo time participant, he was in theite house, that's where i first met him when i was in the nixon administration, he was governor of tennessee he's been a university president, he's a cabinet officer and now a senator, there isn't anybody that has a broader background in american politics than lamar alexander, he listened politely to the thins we had to say and then he said picking out one item, he said with the exception of this item, we could change everything you're asking for and accomplish everything you want this afternoon if we had a different majority leader. well, we now have a different majority leader. and as i was riding in this morning and got out the newspaper, there was a story on the front page of the washington post about mitch mcconnell's goal for the next two years as the new majority leader. any of you see it? i recommend you read it. summarized in one sentence, he said mitch mcconnell says he wants the republicans to not be scary between now and 2016. he wants to set the table for the republican no

you'll see lamar alexander leave that and in attacking and trying to pace what they'll call omnibus measureser the board right away from day one, but again, our message has to be commit justice whether you have a union or not, and how do we carry that message across the country to millions of american workers. larry cohen, annette tedeo, thank you very much. >>> the right wing may get another player on the field in the run for president. mike huckabee steps out hits tv and radio gigs. stay with us. with the incredible fuel efficiency of 38 miles-per-gallon highway you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima. now, get great offers on the 38 mpg highway nissan altima. nissan innovation that excites. nexium, the purple pill, is available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection. so no matter where you go, or who you're with. nothing is holding you back. this is nexium level protection™. the #1 prescribed acid-blocking brand, available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection. nexium level protection™. major: ok fitness class! here's

senator and former education secretary lamar alexander who was in attendance at the president's eventstates should follow their own path, not a federal one. with republicans now firmly in control in the congress, the president's proposal may be a hard sell. two views now about this proposal and what it could mean for access and affordability. josh wyner is the executive director of the college excellence program at the aspen institute. andrew kelly is director of the center on higher education reform at a.e.i., the american enterprise institute. >> josh when you hear about the idea of free community college for all how happy are you about this? >> well, i think the president's proposal recognizes that we have to do something bold about higher education in our country. the fx is fact of the matter is that we're projected in the next decade to needen a workforce that 60% of our workforce need a college degree and only 40% has them. we have a gap between rich and poor that's growing in our country. we have lots of americans, low income americans african american folks in the country who

. >> that was the first group of senators, senators lamar alexander of tennessee, corey booker, bill cassidy of louisiana. he's going to be doing this throughout the next hour or so. groups of four senators being sworn into the 114th congress. we8 sta van, what do you think? you served in the obama administration. what's your expectation for cooperation or lack thereof over the next two years? >> first of all, i think that the republican party is now on trial for its ability to be a governing party. one of the things you saw, they said, look, we've got to be a good opposition party. we've got to show that obama is a horrible president. we've got to block him everywhere we can. and by doing so, we think we're going to be rewarded at the ballot box. that strategy paid off. they were able to run against obama and win. now is question is, is this party structurally capable of governing? are there so many extreme, wacky elements in this party that they can't even come together themselves to even put stuff on his desk that will force him to veto or not? the jury is still out. in some ways,

chairman lamar alexander outlines this legislative proposals for changing the law at the senate education committee hearing. [inaudible] >> i'm the chairman and patty reminded she's a teacher so we'll start on time. so welcome. the senate committee on health education, labor and pensions will please come to order. this morning we will have a hearing on fixing no child left behind testing and accountability. there's a lot of interest in this hearing. we've heard from people around the country ever since last week when we put a draft working paper up on the website. we have a lot of people in the hall. i would say to those in the hall who are not able to get in the room, we have an overflow room room 538, so you will be able to listen to all of the proceedings. so if someone would let those outside know that ben will have a chance to the witness testimony of the questions. we welcomed them and everyone who is here. ranking member murray and i will each have an opening statement and then we'll introduce our panel of witnesses, then we'll have a round of questions. we'll ask our witnesses to

we have a republican congressman congressman, lamar alexander angie of bob corker. they don't do anything to help by raising the minimum wage in our state. they don't care about us. all these people are making big money, living like kings and they don't live in our shoes and know how hard we work to try to make a living. groceries are going up. i'm so grateful gas has gone down. but groceries are so expensive now and they're getting higher. every time i go to the grocery store i go oh, my god $4.28 for a pound of butter but how are people supposed to live? >> host: bob cusack on potential number of the issues of wages and the minimum wage. >> guest: income inequalities you hear a lot from the left. something bernie sanders is also considering a run for president has called the issue of our lifetime. overall come it's going to be interesting to see if this white house continue to push for a minimum wage because now if republicans controlling both chambers, there's very little chance if not no chance for the minimum wage to go up come and listen as part of some type o

lamar alexander from the great state of tennessee is one of the key supporters of encouraging medical innovation. i'm so looking forward to working with him. [ applause ] give lamar applause. senator patty murray is preparing to work with him on the issue. she couldn't make it here today. on the house side we have congresswoman diana. [ applause ] last week in my state of the union address i focused on what we need to do to make sure middle class economics help more americans get ahead. we've got to help working families make ends meet. make them feel more secure in a constantly changing dynamic global economy. we have to offer more opportunities for people to upgrades their skills. we got to build the world's most competitive economies. that last part is what i want to focus on today. we've invieded some of america's brightest minds in medicine and technology and some of our strongest advocates for privacy and perhaps most importantly we provided patience most at stake in these efforts. we're here to harness what is most special about america. that is our spirit of innovation our abi

and your senior senator, lamar alexander, he was a former secretary of education himself so he knows a little bit about this. you got congressman john duncan. [applause] your mayor. matlin ribera. [applause] and we have got president anthony wise. hey -- and we have got all of you. [laughter] >> now, joe and jill touched on these, but let me amplify this a little bit. here in america we do not guarantee equal outcomes. some people have good luck and some people have bad luck. you know, things don't always work out where everything is perfectly equal. but we do expect that everyone gets an equal shot. we do expect everybody can go as far as their dreams and hard work will take them. we don't expect anyone to be bound by the circumstances of their birth. if they were, i would not be if here, and neither would joe. jill is so accomplished, that she would have succeeded no matter what, but we expect everyone to get a fair shot. in exchange, we expect that if you work hard, you can get ahead. it should not matter what your last name is, what you look like, what family we are born into, or

[applause] my friend, lamar alexander, who as the old saying goes, in my old neighborhood back --, he has forgotten more about education that most people. and bob corker is a great friend, we served together on the foreign relations committee. now he is the chairman of the powerful committee, and -- [applause] -- and pellissippi state community college president anthony wise. it is a delight. i imagine some of the students hymie and all students, out there in the audience, you have all you have all know the names of people that joe was talking about. the 19-year-old who although qualified, to go to a four-year college. the 35-year-old woman has the victim of abuse and her family has broken away and decided that she is moving forward, going to take care of her and her children, has the courage to go back. the man who has lost a job and has never really been to school, he musters up the courage to decide to go back to school. to go to community college, that guy who says ok, i'm going to try this. that's a hard thing. that is a very hard, hard thing to do. for people to do. but the stoc

test supporters said the testing will is an important way to track to the learning republican lamar alexanderhe state education committee and he said he open to listen and to all sides of the testing debate. >>mark: you to sit out to people waiting in line for the opportunity to give the president person is expected for some business to discuss unless my state of the union address allowed in idaho will be with the family who was then in prison for more than two years. >>darya: a friend one of the two hostages in speaking out now and where want to hear from them it would have to say after the break + not commit the time needed to back to agree for cheap will say was committed to colleges in the bay area out was offered as soon. olivia. super hungry? get my chipotle chicken club combo with fries and a drink. that's a ton of food for $4.99. let's do this. >>mark: that caused some flooding highway 1 and mill valley the king ties also causing flooding the high tide today is a 6.8 it was a 6.9 yesterday across to the gold in 1136, >> james: visibility back to normal today for a good bit of the bay

and my friend, lamar alexander who as the old saying goes, in my old neighborhood back tees, he has forgotten more about education than most people are. and bob corker is a great friend, we served together on the foreign relations committee. now he is the chairman of the powerful committee, and -- and pellissippi state community college president anthony wise. it's a delight --applause] >> i imagine some of the students behind me and all the purposes behind me, and those of you students out in the audience here, you have all, you all know know the names of people that jill was talking about. that 19 year old cave, although qualified dozen of the money to go to a four year college that knows that the cheapest way to get there is through transferring credits from a solid community college. the 35 year old woman has been a victim of abuse and her family has broken away and decided that she is moving forward, going to take care of she and her children, has the courage to go back. that 40 year old man who has lost his job and has never really was that good in school but musters up the courage to d

six different candidates john kasich lamar alexander, elizabeth bowldole, pat buchanan. dropped out without a single vote even being cast. it takes you to the end of the year and you can see where things ended up george w bush ended that year as the most overwhelming front-runner the republican party had seen for an open moderation. one of the people one of the people who got on board early with george w bush and helped him clear out and raise the big money, one of his big donors a bush pioneer, a new jersey politician named chris christie and now he stands potentially to be on the receiving end, maybe on the victim's end of one of those bush money pushes unless he's able to fight back against it. we'll talk to the country saes leading experts on the republican field about all of this whether the early push could freeze out other contenders and what it means straight ahead. curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction

two fine senators, bob corker, and your senior senator, lamar alexander who is former secretary of education. so, he knows a little bit about this. we have congressman john duncan [applause.] your mayor, madeline regerra. [applause.] and we've got anthony wise. and we've got all of you. now, joe touched on these themes. let me just amplify them a little bit. here in america, we don't guarantee equal outcomes. some folks work harder. some folks don't. some folks take advantage of opportunities. some folks don't. some people have good luck. some people have bad luck and, you know things do always work out where everything is perfectly equal. but we do expect that everybody gets an equal shot. we do expect everybody can go as far as their dreams and hard work will take them. we don't expect anybody to be bound by the circumstances of their birth. if they were, i wouldn't be here, and neither would joe. jill, she's so accomplished she would have succeeded no matter what. but we expect everybody to get a fair shot. and in exchange we do our fair share. >> that's the basic bargain at the heart of

senator lamar alexander, senate education committee chair of flames is a puzzle for fixing the law and says he's open to discussion whether the federal government should dictate standardized testing or leave it up to the states. senator alexander said he hopes to have a finished proposal on the floor by the end of next month. >> .. you will be able to listen to all of the proceedings. so if someone goes outside, they will have a chance to the witness testimony and the questions. we welcome them and we welcome everyone who is here. ranking member murray and i will each have an opening statement and then we'll introduce our panel of witnesses, then we will have a round of questions. will ask our witnesses to list come to summers their testimony, please in five minutes each because the senators will have lots of questions. i will call on the senators in order of seniority at the time the gavel went down and who were here, then after that it will go on order of first come, first serve. we will conclude the hearing at noon, or before if we get through earlier. and in my opening remarks will

in addition to the bill i just referenced, senator lamar alexander has the scholarship for kids act which should be debated. this bill which i co-sponsored in the house gives states the option of using 24 billion in federal education funds and turn that into scholarships that drebt directly follow the child. if this bill became law about 11 million students who are eligible for title i funds could receive an average of $2100 to use toward an education that best suits their needs. senator tim scott's choice act seeks to expand educational choices for children with disabilities, those from military families and kids from lower in connection with as well. but we need your help. washington, d.c. on january 28th during the national school choice week to celebrate the progress that's been made with the d.c. voucher and charter school programs and commit ourselves to a broader effort. i would encourage you all to attend and listen to the house and senate leaders and encourage us, too. let the democrats defend the old way. let them defend the in indispensable indispensable, the status quo. we can

there is not anyone with a broader background of american politics than lamar alexander. he listened politely to the things we had to say, and then he said, picking out one item, he said with the exception of one item, we could change everything you are asking for and accomplish everything you want this afternoon. if we had a different majority leader. now we have a different majority leader. as i was riding in this morning and got out the newspaper, there was a story on the front page of the washington post about mitch mcconnell's goal for the next two years. any of you see it? i recommend you read it. summarized in one sentence mitch mcconnell says he wants the republicans to not be scary between now and 2016. he wants to set the table for the republican nominee in 2016 by demonstrating that the republicans are capable of governing. he uses the phrase, we do not want to be scary. what is he talking about? he is talking about the tea party. in 2010, which was the wave election of the people saying, we do not like what is going on in washington with the democrats in compl

host: lamar alexander, who leads the panel -- "considering ending the testing mandate, prompting states and local districts to pile on more tests during the school year to measure if students are ready for the federally required exam at year's end. the national associate bash the national education association the american federation of teachers want to replace annual tests with age span testing. guest: we can argue about what the best way is. the bottom line for me, with the opportunity for our kids, we need good teachers, good principlesals. when i think back to my own education, what makes a difference is when you have a teacher that takes an interest in you and gives you some sense of the world that is out there if you engage your mind. my focus when it comes to education is almost always on how do we help teachers become successful echo how do we train and host: back to phone calls. still on the __ sstill on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i have seen you many times on television. i want to talk about the keystone debacle. i, like so many other individuals in america

[indiscernible conversations] >> senator lamar alexander thank you for being with us on american history tv. we are sitting in howard baker's old office. he was your political mentor. >> he was. >> can you tell us about this relationship? >> i volunteered for his campaign in 1966 and to my surprise, he won. i came here with him and i was his only legislative assistant. >> how long did you work for him? >> i worked for him than a couple of years. >> what did you learn from that experience? >> everything. when he made his first speech, he asked his father-in-law senator dirksen how did i do and the speech had been a little long. senator dirksen said, howard occasionally you should enjoy the luxury of an unexpressed thought. i learned in the senate, with 100 talkers, you don't have to talk all the time. >> senator lautenberg was -- senator lott referred to what he called the unique way that howard baker hallmarked the senate. what were the hallmarks of his leadership style? >> he was in eloquent listener. many senators are eloquent talkers. howard was too. he consulted, he understood that y