lott question mark -- mr. lott?o comment on the second one first, every place in the world that has banned guns, we see an increase in murder rates. it is not just washington, d.c., and chicago, which a lot of americans aren't familiar with, whether it is -- are familiar with, but whether it is britain see whoca, you have to obeys the laws, and when you disarm them relative to easier.s, you make it on the issue of open and concealed carry, here is the deal. i think there is generally much larger benefits from having concealed carry because a criminal does not know until they attack someone if the person will be able to defend themselves. gun people who do not own a benefit because it creates a in the mind of a criminal. somebody that wears an open carry gun, they might personally benefit, but if we had that provision, the criminal would know somebody else -- here is one way to think about it. would you put a sign in front of your home that says your home is a gun-free zone? presumably, nobody would do that because y

lott question mark -- mr. lott? guest: just to comment on the second one first, every place in the world that has banned guns, we see an increase in murder rates. it is not just washington, d.c., and chicago, which a lot of americans aren't familiar with, whether it is -- are familiar with, but whether it is britain or jamaica, you have to see who obeys the laws, and when you disarm them relative to criminals, you make it easier. on the issue of open and concealed carry, here is the deal. i think there is generally much larger benefits from having concealed carry because a criminal does not know until they attack someone if the person will be able to defend themselves. even people who do not own a gun benefit because it creates a in the mind of a criminal. somebody that wears an open carry gun, they might personally benefit, but if we had that provision, the criminal would know somebody else -- here is one way to think about it. would you put a sign in front of your home that says your home is a gun-free zone? presu

there's a two year cooling off period before you could become a lobbyist out of the senate senator lott resigned from the senate one month before the end of the session so he didn't have to wait two years he only had to wait one year and then he had a party with john breaux invited all kinds of people to celebrate when the one year was over and now the breaux a lot of lobbying firm is very successful they have lots of energy clients lots of oil and violence little plants gas clients and them a lot of power. to see. your of the oil industry which is enormously powerful which provides huge amounts of money in campaign contributions but it's a very very short law if you present all year if washington d.c. and they've got a number of people on their leash. with only five hundred thirty congress members the ratio of lobbyists to congress in d.c. is almost one hundred to one there's probably one hundred thousand people in the lobbying business in washington d.c. so it's big business after the federal government blobby it is the next biggest business the washington d.c. . lobbyists function as

and from trent lott i could not believe it. >> host: abcaeight. fine a point. go ahead. i need your final point. >> that you very much. >> appreciate the call. ed murphy's office sent out that tweet. he will be sworn in tomorrow morning as vice president joe biden, that will be the very first or business. well happen to:00 eastern time. live coverage on c-span2. next is san joining us from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. independent line. good evening. >> caller: thank you. i every with the last caller's comments. to the comment i wanted to make was i find it interesting that the state represented it by the senators who are doing this filibuster stuff at the same states that filibuster the human rights legislation for black people. and there was no ridge about that at all. but what is interesting now is that the same states represented by the senators to block human-rights for black people in the 50's and 60's in the '40's by the same people who are blocking appointments for the first black president of the estates, and i don't think that is a coincidence. that's my comment. t

cooling off period before you could become a lobbyist out of the senate senator lott resigned from the senate one month before the end of the session so he didn't have to wait two years he only had to wait one year and then he had a party with john breaux invited all kinds of people to celebrate when the one year was over and now the. a lobbying firm is very successful they have lots of energy clients lots of oil and violence little plants gas clients and them a lot of power. to see. your of the oil industry which is enormously powerful which provides huge amounts of money in campaign contributions of those very very short law if you present oh dear it washington d.c. and they've got a number of people on their leash. with only five hundred thirty congress members the ratio of lobbyists to congress in d.c. is almost one hundred to one there's probably one hundred thousand people in the lobbying business in washington d.c. so it's big business after the federal government lobbying is the next biggest business the washington d.c. . lobbyists function is the razor to guard dogs from big i

so apparently incest okay. >> stephanie: yeah, and let me say even lott's wife is a pillar of salt, bob ahhhhh. >> stephanie: merny in michigan, you are -- when hot brie comes? here do not put her in a filner head lock -- >> now you are giving me ideas. >> caller: hey, you guys. good morning. >> stephanie: good morning. >> caller: i just wanted to comment, i am so tired and sorry, jan, but this is going more towards the southerners, people like ted cruz making comments when they come from states that take one and a half to two times the amount of money from the federal government, that states like michigan, including detroit pay at least one and a half times more than we get back, you know, i don't think they have any room to make any comments about that. and as far as boehner being worried about the xlpipeline, that's because he had investment money tied up in it, and he can't wait for all of the bucks to start rolling in. >> stephanie: yeah, exactly. i hi ted cruz needs to go back to judging someone's bouillabaisse. all right. hot brie joins us next on the "stephanie miller show." ♪ [

sessions: isn'it true that trent lott, the republican majority leader, sought cloture to give berzond paez an up-or-down vote and those those of us who opposed berzon and paez, like i think the senator from kentucky did, we voted for cloture to give them an up-odown vote, and then voted against them when they came up for the up-and-down vote. mr. mcconnell: the senator from alabama is entirely correct. that's the way i voted. i think it's the way he voted. that's the way the senate ought to operate. that's a good model for how we ought to behave tomorrow. we'll have a cloture vote on justice priscilla owen. if the senate wants to operate the way it used to, we'll invoke cloture on justice owen and give her the up-or-down vote which she richly deserves. mr. prident, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. nawr thank you, mr. president. mr. lautenberg: the argument, the debate bounces back and forth, and we hear the complaints about the change in the system, one that's been in existence for some 200 years. it was formally adopted

sets on center court while third seed maria sharapova was outplayed by puccini's qualified michelle lott should agree to falling three times before slipping to a six three six four defeat and an earlier four also lead to second seeded tory azhar and his withdrawal one of seven that day the most injury hit second round in the competitions history including men's succeed jo wilfried tsonga and unfortunately for him would also conflict darcy. football now a spot that moscow lost their pre-season open one nil it's home to ukraine johnston and i care a fixture that was once a highlight of the old soviet league and could be again those which had some poor feet explains. the russian premier league season finished just over a month ago but a club zerilli back in training with a new campaign set to get underway on july fourteenth a number of players like spartak striker euro mob city on have hardly had a break as they played for their countries of the start of june yet the armenian accepts is just part of being a professional. yeah you know but that's our job you know that's what we play. we play

>> there is a lot of data out there to be col> there is a lott theee to be collected about our activitiesstyles and interest. things that we do. the real conversation needs to be about this, not figuring out how we buy our way out of anonymity. >> may be an imperfect world that would be the way. but here's the problem. i don't think the people out there respect that. the middle eastern people, i don't think they respect us enough to have that sort of discussion that christian is talking about. >> i totally agree with you. to be clear, the vote in the house today was targeting the nsa snooping program. the one getting bigger and bigger and bigger. >> i will be really cynical here. because i think it's really cute of the house things that a vote or even an actual legislation that was passed would stop this kind of snooping on american citizens. it is not going to stop. i also think that, you know, the american people, what you're talking about, cybercompanies cashing in on the fact that the government is spying on us and we are open to hacking. i also think that it is to the people figure t

. >> we also like to spend a lott of money when we go shopping, w know a lot about the ee retailers, the brick and mortar stores, they are physically spying for the mostre part on us while they're in the store.ore. >> right, they use your wi-fi signal from your cell phone and also applications, and video vie cameras that are just so specific, and so state of the art these days that they can c track how long you spend in certain departments, and which directs you're going to move when you enter a store. thing likes that, they track your habits and shoppingd behavior. that is certainly surveillance you may not like it, but it could work in your favor, if a store sends you 20% couponon because you spent 15 minutest 15 trying to shoes, if you get that coupon, maybe you will make that purchase in their store. or >> it explains why i get the handbag deals that come near, how do they know i was looking for a new handbag. now i get it. >> you will find one in a store, but if you look at what i buy online, they're constantly sending me stuff that i couldcod use. >> we are the marketer's dream

cooling off period before you could become a lobbyist out of the senate senator lott resigned from the senate one month before the end of the session so he didn't have to wait two years he only had to wait one year and then he had a party with john breaux invited all kinds of people to celebrate when the one year was over and now the breaux a lot of lobbying firm is very successful they have lots of energy clients lots of oil buyouts little plants gas clients and them a lot of power. to. your of the oil industry which is enormously powerful which provides huge amounts of money in campaign contributions but this is a very very short law if you present here if washington d.c. and they've got a number of people on their leash.

for this speech, speeches by ies of former speeches in the senate hat senate majority leader trent lott recognized. my phone rang in the historical and it was mike mansfield. the guy responsible for the creation of the historical 1970s. in the he said, i've been asked to give a speech for this series. should i talk about? i knew about the 1963 speech on he nature of leadership never gave. he stuck it in the record. i said, senator, give that, bit. it a little he said, well, maybe i'll do that. he did. it was the first in a series of leadership, but all on the senate website. and it was a blockbuster. magnificent. >> we hear a lot today about how his is the meanest time in the history of the senate and the house of representatives. what'so read back to you in this book. it's not something that you put in. it's got a footnote. may be merrill petersen. jackson.d >> i looked into that. powerful statement. hatred, realized the one example, of john quincy and daniel webster. adams called daniel webster the heart.h the rotten it was daniel webster who adam's onen quincy's major aspiration, to

speech, part of a series of speeches by former leaders of the senate that senate majority leader trent lott organized, mike phone and it was mike mansfield. he said, i've been asked to give a speech for this series. what should i talk about. well, i knew about the famous 1963 speech on the nature of leadership that he never gave. he did stick it in the record at the time. i said senator why don't you give that and shape it a little bit. he did. it was the first in a series of speeches on leadership. they're all on the senate website. it was a blockbuster. >> we hear a lot today about how this is the meanest time in history in the united states senate and house of representatives. i will read back to you what's in this book. it's not something that you put in, it's got a footnote. clay hated jackson and calhoun, betton hated calhoun, calhoun hated clay and jackson and john quincy adams hated webster. jackson hated calhoun and clay. it allowed them to converse with one another at all. >> i looked into that. that was a very powerful statement. i didn't realize the hatred one example of john qu

that sheriff leon lott of south carolina quoting matthew 5: 9 in a prius release, a belt-fed rotatingun capable of firing .50 caliber rounds of ammunition." there are police departments across country in really small localities that have massive firepower. where's the money come from? >> well, there are several different sources. for about 25 years now, the pentagon has been giving surplus equipment over to these police departments across the country, millions of pieces of equipment have been transferred this way. we're talking tanks, helicopters, armored personnel carriers. my favorite, bayonets for some reason, police departments seem to love the bayonets. you have that and the federal anti-drug grants, the grants . if your s.w.a.t. team arrests a suspected murderer, there's no money attached to that. >> so you're creating an incentive system to do these raids because the raids create the possibility of acquiring the money to buy the equipment? >> your s.w.a.t. team can become a revenue enhancer rather than an expensive toy on the side. since september 11th, we have dhs writing gran

cooling off period before you could become a lobbyist out of the senate senator lott resigned from the senate one month before the end of the session so he didn't have to wait two years he only had to wait one year and then he had a party with john breaux invited all kinds of people to celebrate when the one year was over and now the breaux a lot of lobbying firm is very successful they have lots of energy clients lots of oil and violence little plants gas clients and them a lot of power. to see. your of the oil industry which is enormously powerful which provides huge amounts of money in campaign contributions that was a very very short law if you present all year if washington d.c. and they've got a number of people on their leash. with only five hundred thirty eight congress members the ratio of lobbyists to congress in d.c. is almost one hundred to one there's probably one hundred thousand people in the lobbying business in washington d.c. so it's a big business after the federal government blobby is the next biggest business the washington d.c. . lobbyists function as the razor to

((atsswhether it's aa streammng ideo seerice, lott of usinesses use free trial offers to try to hook you on their braad - and get your caa be a convenieet way to see businesses make it tough to &pcancel your subscription. the these tips to hhlp you avoid payyng more than ou bargained for:-researchhthe company online - chhckkout customerr conditions - if yyu can't ind pho's behind the offer- is the ppp-up froo a ifferent commany? -watth ouu for pre-checkeddboxess- the pefault might have you paying uu even after youu trial expires. -mark youu calendar &precommends findingginforraato bout canceling future nforraato one final tipp- watch your credit and debbt ard statements. theyyrr the best way to make uue you're not bbing charged without knowing it. for onsumer atth, i'm &pshelby lin. move ovvr ud masks....therees a new trend in kii care. pare.up nexx... how much woomn pre paying for ássail go to get one. you're watching 3 3 p maa smart map maryland has had 4 heat are worried that numberrwill po up thiss eek. hoopitals arr reporting an incrrase innpaatents &psufferinn from heat related

when trent lott was the republican leader, there were two individuals that had a very would trustingelationship. the relationships between majority leaders and minority leader since then have not worked out very well. it is a reflection of the larger tensions and polarization of our politics. host: republicans then were able to unseat about daschle -- bob daschle. guest: we saw a very long change. bill frist q succeeded trent lott actually went into south dakota to campaign against his counterpart. now you have mcconnell furious because he believes that he reread is interfering with his election. rune is a super pac being by people who used to work for reaid in kentucky. host: republicans add large numbers of amendments to bill as another or my filibuster. james, you are up next, massachusetts, republican. wasn't i wanted to ask it the unions have put pressure on the president to elected these three people to the labor board? guest: there's no no question the unions have a very real the nationalng labor relations board that is functioning. one of the nominees was a chief counsel for

obama said trent lott could have been -- trayvon could have been him 35 years ago. he could have suffered the same fate, too. people perjured themselves by saying the telephone call that ended with the shot was george zimmerman. we all know it was trayvon martin. george zimmerman was deciding whether to shoot or not to shoot. we all know that he shot. also, the case was lost and jury selection. no blacks, no chance. guest: there were blacks, but it just did not work out. i want to go back to something eric holder said, the attorney general. i love the fact that he said he counsels his son. as a father, he knows more about the world. it only makes the argument for the importance of having a father in the household. george zimmerman's case was not about stand your ground. but the attorney general was pandering because he realizes he cannot bring a hate crime case because the bar is so high. that is what gave the president leeway to talk about this case and put it in the proper context. the department of justice is not going any further. the jury made its decision and

by adjourned. >> on the next "washington journal," we will sit down with john -- jon lowy and john lott. then a reporter from bloomberg news will talk about the sec costs ongoing court case against the goldman sachs trader and his role in the 2008 financial meltdown. then the senior correspondent beast, thek-daily challenge is samantha power bases if confirmed by the senate. your calls and tweets on "washington journal" beginning live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. decided that he was a delicious subject for a biography when it dawned on me that he had been not only at abraham lincoln's bedside immediately after his assassination, but also at the bedside of william mckinley in 1901. i thought, who could this fellow be? when i opened the archives, i realized what a rich subject it was. life really has two bookends at either end of his biographical shelf. end, hisincoln on one personal secretary, lived in the white house with lincoln for five years. so much about what we know comes from his imminent contact with them. at the other end of his life, hayes served not only under mckinley, b

a lott more winners right now. h. plus, their live webinars.entary to improve my strategy. and my local scottrade office guides my learning every step of the way. because they know i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade... ranked "highest in customer loyalty for brokerage and investment companies." >> i'm cheryl casone with your fox business brief. the sequestration is now hurting the unemployed. the national employment law project found that the program which provides benefits to the long-term unemployed will be cut by $2.4 billion. average unemployed worker receiving weekly benefit of it $89 will see it -- $289 will see it cut 15%. >>> eli lilly says frank lick lighter will return as chairman and ceo. he has been out on medical leave since may. he has been cleared by his physician to work full time. he says i return to lilly with renewed energy and enthusiasm, end quote. >>> new york city will have to play for bloomberg terminals, what mike bloomberg left office, since he took office back in 2

but sheriff leon lott knew they couldn't close the case without thoroughly checking out brett's storyly on him to explain to us what happened. so we were listening to everything that he was saying. and then we'd go back and check it. >> investigators went over brett's account starting with the moment bryan entered the house. before long, something unusual came to their attention. brett told police he was sitting on the downstairs toilet when he heard the shots ring out. but one of the female crime scene investigators noted this, the toilet seat was up. >> our lieutenant is a female and she made mention of that, that particularly bothered her. >> of course, it takes a woman to notice that. >> right. >> as they pored over crime scene photos another small but important detail jumped out, bryan's gym bag with ammunition and an empty magazine clip visible. >> those items were found on top of the clothing and other items in the bag. >> unusual because of what they noticed on the home security video that captured bryan arriving at the house. >> if you looked at the video, the way bryan nonch

that is one of the reasons there have been a lott of these delays.u add another layer of complexity on to that and you have potentially millions of people applying for subsidies they don't get, particularly in light of the situation with the irs. because if the irs that is supposed to regulate this. i can imagine the is making phone calls and in a sense auditing for you potentially, prove to me you deserve this. it is like an is audit because the irs audit because and they're doing it they don't want to add to a lot of negativity. jenna: 2014 is an election year as well. >> yeah. that is the bottom line. jenna: is that part of it? >> of course that is part of it. if there's a law that should be delayed people like, no politician is going to delay that law. i don't care if you send a whole building you know water and have it disintegrate, if people like it they're not delaying it before an election. that is the whole reason the administration feels a lost pressure to get this right. why they would rather delay before an election and end up with a lot

when trent lott was the majority leader, a republican, he did it ten times in five years.george mitchell, a democrat majority leader, did it three times in six years, and majority leader robert c. byrd, who was an institution to himself here in the senate, he did it three times in two years. and finally, senator bob dole of kansas, the majority leader, a republican, did it seven times in three and a half years. so my point is, not to bore people with statistics, but just to point out that the senate has changed dramatically under the tenure of the current majority leader in a way that members of the senate are blocked from offering amendments to legislation in the interests of their constituents. as majority leader, senator reid has denied those rights to the minority and the rights of the people we represent. when he refuses to let us offer amendments and debate those amendments, he refuse toss let us have a real debate, and he is effectively gagging millions of our constituents. one more time, i'd like to remind senator reid what he promised six years ago. he said -- "as

we talked to senator lott earlier, he expected the closed-door session would run at least two hours, approaching that mark. it is happening behind closed doors which is why our cameras are not inside the old senate chamber. again, the issue is changing the rules of the filibuster, the so-called nuclear option, and much of this came to a head last thursday. let's take you back to the floor of the senate and the exchange between the democratic leader, the majority leader, harry reid of nevada, and the republican leader, the minority leader, mitch mcconnell of kentucky. >> madam president -- >> republican leader. >> madam president, i have a consent that i think would set up these votes in a much more expeditious way than the way the majority leader is proceeding. but first met me just say these are dark days in the history of the senate. i hate that we have come to this point. we have witnessed the majority leader break his word to the united states senate, and now our request for a joint meeting of all the senators has been sent for monday night, a time when attendance around here is

whether it was trent lott's to strom thurmond back in 2002. >> i want to say this about my state.an for president, we voted for him. we're proud of him. and for the rest of the country to follow our lead we wouldn't have all these problems over all these years, either. >> even rand paul's own comments in 2010 about the public accommodation clause of the 1964 civil rights act. >> would you have voted for the civil rights act of 1964? >> i like the civil rights act in the sense that it ended discrimination in all public domains and i'm all in favor of that. but, you had to ask me. but i don't like the idea of telling private business owners. i think it's a bad business decision to exclude anybody from your restaurant, but at the same time, i do believe in private ownership. >> look, this is not a way of saying that everyone in the republican party is a racist or all southern republicans are nursiing grudges. there have been republicans who have grappled head on with their party's post civil rights act tr strategy. far too many republicans who haven't. rand paul said he's not one of

interesting if i had, excuse me, i haven't asked them yet, but i think george mitchell, democrat, trent lott, republican, i think that would be a great opportunity for our caucus to talk about how they view the senate. so we're going to have more joint caucuses, we're going to try to, i repeat, try to talk to each other than past each other. >> senator, can you talk about -- senator, on the floor you talked about senator mccain breaking his rule and in the process -- [inaudible] could this have been done without him? [inaudible] >> maybe. [laughter] john john mccain and i have worked together for a long time. i've worked with him 31 years. and we've had some pretty difficult times together. but in the 31 years we've worked together, there is no one i have ever worked with that is more a man of his word or person of his word than john mccain. so maybe we could have gotten it done without him. i've answered the question. >> [inaudible] >> uh-huh. >> you confident you'll get up or down votes on the three nominees for the d.c. circuit court? >> we'll take those one at a time. we're talking about

person finder so people could find out where their loved ones were after the crisis because there was a lott of chaos -- a lot of chaos then. i think there's a lot of issues, there's a bad actor in play, and they need to understand what's the motivations and how they are engaging in this event and how do we make sure we be very careful how we respond. >> today there exists a system for ngos, folks on response to use voice. it's called the wireless priority service. that's over a decade old, and it doesn't have any allocations for day. to change that to allow folk to use data would reduce the congestion on networks and allow people to be more effective in communicating. furthermore, the first net initiative looking long-term is something that i think can really help. it's a nationwide 500-megahertz worth of spectrum allocation for specific data transmission during emergency response. my understanding right now is that's only allocated for official government agencies. if there could be small portions of that system, of that first net system that could be allocated for individuals at fema or r

a obama said trent lott could have been -- trayvon could have been him 35 years ago. could have suffered the same fate, too. people perjured themselves by saying the telephone call that ended with the shot was george zimmerman. we all know it was trayvon martin. george zimmerman was deciding whether to shoot or not to shoot. we all know that he shot. case was lost and jury selection. no blacks, no chance. there were blacks, but it just did not work out. i want to go back to something eric holder said, the attorney general. i love the fact that he said he counsels his son. as a father, he knows more about the world. it only makes the argument for the importance of having a father in the household. george zimmerman's case was not about stand your ground. but the attorney general was pandering because he realizes he caseot bring a hate crime because the bar is so high. that is what gave the president leeway to talk about this case and put it in the proper context. the department of justice is not going any further. the jury made its decision and we should move on. the he

but i think george mitchell, democrat, and trent lott, republican -- i think that be a great opportunity for our caucus to talk about how they deal. we will have more joint caucuses. we will have a repeat of trying to talk to each other instead of past each other. >> you talked about senator mccain, and his role in the process. >> john mccain and i have worked together for a long time. i have worked with him for 31 years. and we have had some pretty difficult times together. in the 31 years we have worked together, there is no one i have ever worked with that is more a man of his word or a person of his word then john mccain. maybe we could have gotten it done without him. i have answered the question. >> are you confident you will get an up or down vote on the three nominees for the d c circuit for? >> we will take those one at a time. we are talking about executive nominees. those are going through the process. we will see. >> homeland security? >> i could give you a few others. we are going to take these one at a time. we feel comfortable where we are. i think there is a way of moving

re-election, but over the year that followed, he impressed a lot of folks, and it wasn't long before senator lott picked up the phone and asked him if he would join him in the leader's office. rohit accepted, then spent pretty much of his entire time there figuring out how to get the department of homeland security up and running in such a way that it wouldn't be hamstrung by union rules. then over a holiday weekend in late 2002, he got a taste of things to come. president bush wanted d.h.s. approved and rohit and other key staffers had a holiday weekend to do it. they started writing the bill on a thursday night and wrapped it up by tuesday morning. rohit stuck around during the frist years, gaining even more experience and impressing even more people, including me. and when leader frist left at the end of 2006, i brought him onto my leadership team, and it's been one of the best hiring decisions i have ever made. as i said, he has been an extraordinary help to me and just a great guy to have around. he's not only whip smart, he has got a fantastic sense of humor and a work ethic like i've never

again, at that meeting where i was joined by captain carl lotte, the commander of the sub base, he talked about the fact among those employees are crane operators, those who install torpedoes, supplies to make sure our attack sub fleet is ready to go at any given time. again, losing them one day a week, again, pushes back the readiness of the sub marine complete. i talked to the head of the metal trades council, represents the maintenance crews on the base, again make sure that the tip of the spear of america's navy is ready to go. again, losing those folks one day a week is going to slow down and retard the ability of that fleet to be ready. rob, who is the head of the a.g. force talked about the staff that provides critical services whether it's health care, fire fire services, clerical work to make sure that sub base is ready to accomplish its mission. in every case they all confirmed the fact that not only is this going to cause personal hardship, but it's also going to harm the military capability of that base. i received a number of emails from folks who are there that day or whose

assistant to the senate republican leader from 1996 to 2003, with trent lott. term limited. he became chairman of the senate budget committee in 2003-2005. when you took over the senate budget committee in 2003, the federal deficit in the previous year stood at $160 billion. when you left, it exceeded $400 billion, three point .4% gdp in both cases. it is unfair to you to look only at those years, but congress did pass the medicare modernization act, part d, prescription drug. and you were instrumental in the 2003ge of president bush's tax reform that reduced capital gains and corporate dividends to 15%. thenues as a share of economy increased until the next chairman came along in 2007. i know you were and remain a strong advocate that reduced tax rates result in increased economic growth, and i do not entirely disagree. but i guess the question is the reverse of the proverbial starve the beast approach to force spending constraint. grow -- if the deficit as a share of the economy comes down, as it is now. congress toe exists on th constrain public budgets and eliminate wast

interesting if i had, excuse me, i haven't asked them yet, but i think george mitchell, democrat, trent lott, republican, i think that would be a great opportunity for our caucus to talk about how they view the senate. so we're going to have more joint caucuses. we're going to try to talk to each other rather than past each other. >> senator mccain worked on this, could this have been done without him? >> maybe. john mccain and i have worked ogether for a long time. i've worked with him for 31 years and we've had some pretty difficult times together. but in the 31 years we have worked together, there is no one i have ever worked with that is more a man of his word or person of his word than john mccain. so maybe we could have gotten it done without him -- i've answered the question. >> are you confident we'll get an up or town vote on the three nominees for the d.c. circuit court? >> they'll take those one at a time. we're talking about executive nominees, we -- those are going through the process and we'll see. >> [inaudible] >> i could give you a few others. but we're going to take these o