max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and just persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what blog was thrown in the way. chris dodd who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing the good thing and reaching for the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representati

images underscore the points made by leaders reid and max baucus and dr. wilson. i suspected you can only have one organization and the group of people that important to the bill, but choice to make is the one you're hearing today. but it's important to have other organizations be supportive. there's nothing more fundamental when you get right down to it than the relationship between a patient and their doctor. not that the most fundamental level whether or not you have access to that doctor or the resources to be able to accommodate the doctor for his or her services. and so all the organizations and individual groups that supported this bill, i rate this one of the most important because it speaks to the relationship of patients and doctors. their number of of provisions in the spell some of them articulated already by leaders reid and max baucus. one that tom harkin and i worked on by senator kennedy cared deeply about was making it possible for young men and women who have desired to become physicians in our country to be a lot to do so by reducing the tremend

max baucus never gave up.started out early and persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what lock was broken away. christopher dodd kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing a good thing and return to the highest about use of of this country. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we will go home and hear our constituents or elegances bel pre i don't believe that. i believe that the negativity that leader mitch mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked. now, when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america, good for the american people, and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. [no audio] >> after the senate passed the health care bill, the president spoke briefly with reporters at the white house. >> members of the senate voted to pass a health care bill that was revolutionary purposes a c

those senators have spoken most often, senator max baucus, senator john mccain, dick durbin, and lamarxander and finally tom coburn. senators who have spoken along this on this -- senator max baucus has logged eight hours and 20 minutes. senator charles grassley has logged seven hours, 52 minutes. senator dick durbin, 7 hours 53 minutes. host: linda in bethesda, maryland, you are opposed to the senate health care bill, why? caller: good morning. i apologize for my laryngitis. i feel that this bill will eventually kill of innovation in medical research in the united states once we go down this slippery slope. the government will pay for more and more. we already know that nih grants are down. doctors and people considering going to health care, the bright ones will not go in because all the market incentives will be gone very medical schools are very expensive and i see this as a slippery slope into a government run health care eventually because that is what legislation does once you get it done. host: what kind of health care do you have? caller: have healthcare with an employer. i am

but i'll say i can speak for our side of the aisle, snars max baucus came -- senator max baucus came to me more than a year ago and sat down in my office to talk about health care reform. he was preparing for this battle as chairman of the senate finance committee and knew he would play a central role gathering the opinions of members of his committee and members of the senate. efforts were underway with senator kennedy from his remote location in massachusetts recuperating from surgery and from cancer therapy, trying to keep his committee on track toward health care reform. he turned over that mantle to senator christopher dodd of connecticut, who did an admirable job with the senate health, education, and labor committee. they prepared and had hearings. they entertained hundreds of amendments, and, in fact, i believe there were over 160 amendments that were considered by the republicans and many of them were adopted in the "help" committee. senator coburn of oklahoma filed 212 amendments during the "help" committee markup. he offered 38 amendments to the bill. 19 of his amendments

chairman max baucus pushed unfinished work to the senate floor where mr. reid is pressing to pass a bill in a race against rising unpopularity and president obama's falling approval ratings. mr. reid made this case with his usual intellectual nuance this week -- quote -- "instead of joining us on the right side of history, all republicans can come up with is 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' if you think you've heard these excuses before, you're right. when the country recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough. equating opposition to medicare cuts, he related that to women's suffrage, social security and medicare. he would have done better if he listened to mrs. snowe's comments about durable social reform needing to be bipartisan, because while social security passed when the democrats controlled both congress and the white house, she pointed out that 64% of the senate republicans and 79% of the house g.o.p. supported it. civil rights passed with 82%

max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and just persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what blog was thrown in the way. chris dodd who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing the good thing and reaching for the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representati

but for max baucus, we would not be here.months of the time spent with that committee when we did not have 60 votes, efforts were being made to attain that, as so i have said before but i say again, the leadoff for this whole venture has been max. chairman baucus. he hit the leadoff sometime he could hit from the left or right. had he speed. he had power. and that's chris dodd. a great -- if you look at some of the great players that batted third, who are some of those players? how about lou gehrig? lou gehrig was a setup man for babe ruth. the reason they had lou gehrig there is that they knew that they had to pitch to him because if you got past him you have babe ruth. that's what managers look for. and so for me, for once in my life, i'm batting cleanup. because when i played baseball i couldn't bat cleanup. but by the time it got to me, through baucus, dodd, and harkin it was pretty easy. so i appreciate the nice words everyone said to me. by the time this thing got to me, most of the hard work had been done. every one of

the chairman of the finance committee max baucus. but mark is joining us from philadelphia on the democrats win. good morning. caller: how were you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i think it is working. it is not pretty obviously. there are certain things i am not happy about. being a liberal democrat here in philly, a blue city and state. i would like to have seen a public option. unfortunately that has been negated. i'm a retired federal employees and now they want to in effect model of the employee health benefits. the only problem is what i see, on my plan, a lot of that elderly federal employees and up in blue cross, the one planned, therefore the premiums are rising steeply and i thought the whole purpose of the whole exercise was to control health care premiums. i don't see how you can control premiums without a public option. host: some of the comments from the editorial appeared "orange county register." technically the senate could be in session as late as tomorrow evening, christmas eve, a vote that could happen 7:00. we,

max. chairman baucus. [applause] and the personal that bats second is someone if you look at some of the great players that have batted second, joe morgan. he hit, he was leadoff sometimes, mainly he hit second. he was a switch hitter, he could hit from the left or the right, he had speed, he had power. and that's chris dodd, a great -- [laughter] now, if you look at some of the great players that have batted third, who are some of those players? how about lou gehrig? lou gehrig was a set-up man for babe ruth. the reason they had lou gehrig there is that they knew that they had to pitch to him, because if you got past him, you had babe ruth. and that's what managers look for. and so for me for once in my life, i'm batting cleanup. because when i played baseball, i couldn't bat cleanup. [laughter] but by the time it got to me through baucus, dodd and harkin, it was pretty easy. so i appreciate the nice words everyone has said to me, but by the time that this thing got to me, most of the hard work had been d

there was a max baucus alternative, a sort of sense of the senate that does not really affect things either way. i think what we are looking for for harry reid is can he get to the endgame, begin the closure process by the end of the week. it will take the democrats about six days or so from the beginning of cloture to the final formal vote on the bill and if they want to get out of here by wednesday, december 23, the cloture process needs to begin on friday. it is still a little unclear but that is what it looks like. >> a twitter message. who is actually an independent. sandwich, mass., independent caller. caller: one thing everybody needs to know and i don't hear talk about, real clear politics, health care, average of six major polls, four, 39.7%, against, 54.2%. that rally yesterday was for real. people don't like this. that is just an average. the cnn opinion research poll, 61% against, 36% for. you can put all of your seminar callers on c-span calling and saying they support this, they don't reflect the american people. that is all i have to say. host: "the washington post" he

to max baucus who bent over backwards and not only went the extra mile but the extra hundred miles toinvolve the minority. to my great friend, chris dodd, who did a masterful job of leading our committee and getting the bill through and doing a masterful job. kriz and max and i are all classmates together. we were all sworn and the same day. -- as one in on the same day. -- sworn in on the same day. this is a starter home. it has a great foundation. we are expanding health-care coverage to 31 million americans. it has a protective rules -- were roof. this is not the end of health care reform, this is the beginning of health care reform. i am just proud to join my fellow senators and doing whatever i can to make sure we get over the goal in the next few days and have the president signed into law as soon as possible after the first of the year -- president sign it into law as soon as possible after the first of the year. >> [inaudible] >> i work with -- i worked with every democratic senator and many republican senators to come up with the merged bill and the amendment to that bill. ne

wilson. -- you have seen them articulated by leader reid and max baucus and dr. wilson. was to make it possible for young men and women who desire to become physicians in our country be able to do so by reducing the costs. the scholarships, grants, loans in this bill make it possible for us to increase the work force. some estimates are the some 16,000 primary care physicians will be needed with the expanded numbers of people who have been health care. the ability of young men and women who have the strong ambition to be a health-care provider needs to be more accessible and less costly. one of the major provisions coming out of the health committee was designed to do just that. on behalf of my comment -- colleagues on the health committee, particularly senator carcanet -- senator harkin and senator bingaman, this is a very important moment. we're grateful for your support of this effort. it will make a huge difference in our country. >> dr. wilson, thank you very much for being here and for your great endorsement of this bill. some of you may know i was enabled the a av

let me underscore the point made by senator breed and max baucus and dr.ll support a suspect that if you could only have one organization or group people to support this bill, the choice we would probably make is the one you are hearing today. while it is important to have other organizations be supported, there is up more fundamental than the relationship between a patient and their doctor. that is at the most fundamental level. whether or not you have access to that doctor and the resources to compensate that dr. for their services. all the organizations and individual groups that have supported this bill, i read this one as the most important because it speaks to that relationship between patients and doctors. there are a number of provisions in this bill. some have been articulated. one provision that senator tom harkin and i've worked on and that senator kennedy cared deeply about was making it possible for young men and women who desire to become a physician be able to do so by reducing the term as costs. the scholarships, the grants, the loans in th

harry reid and max baucus. chris dodd and tom harkin all taking part alive car -- 1:15 p.m.n c-span. a discussion now on the obama administration's economic policy and health care from today's "washington journal." " continues. host: joining us from new york, steve forbes, the author of "how capitalism will save us" -- former ceo. you indicate in your introduction that he began writing the book in 2007 before the economic collapse. what prompted you to write a book on capitalism at that time? guest: well, there's a lot of misunderstanding about what true free markets are. how they work and what rules are needed. in that sense even though most have a favorable view, it is like the proverbial fish not knowing that it is swimming in water. we have the system but people really do not understand how works. i thought the book with a question and answer format would be useful. then the disaster came along in the along2007, so we have to focus it on the fact that the whole idea of free markets and capitalism has taken a real hit. -- the whole disaster came along in 2007. the major e

. >>> also senator max baucus, powerful chairman of the finance committee under fire tonight for recommendingirlfriend for a prominent political post. maybe unseemly, but is it unethical? we'll have politics on that, those stories, and more. tonight on "360." >> larry: edda mellas and curt knox are joining us from italy. among his clients, nicole brown simpson and the parents of natalee holloway. mark geragos, what's your read on this? >> i think amanda's parents have got a real beef here. i think every parent's worst nightmare to send your child overseas and have them get ensnared in something like this. and by all accounts the evidence was anything but overwhelming and certainly not convincing. this -- i don't know who said it whether it was them or one of the other relatives. somebody had a great statement that i heard which was they weren't trying amanda, they were trying some fictional character. and it sure sounds like that's exactly what happened. >> larry: edda, is that what you feel? >> oh, absolutely. it's amazing. everything that was said in court about amanda, we're all looking at

i would remind my friend, max baucus called a pre-emptive strike on wednesday with a group of democraticlobbyists warning them to advise their clients not to attend a meeting for senate republicans set for thursday. russell sullivan, baucus chief of staff, met with a block of 20 members of staff including several baucus aides who have made a nice transition, and they said you have to let your clients know if they have someone there, it will be viewed as a democratic act said a democratic lobbyist who attended the meeting. going will say i'm interesting in working with republicans to stop health care reform, the lobbyist added. and phrma, the new york sometimes, again, my favorite, we need tauzin -- tauzin, the $5 million per year representative of phrma -- if you -- who is ever going to get into a deal with the white house again if they don't keep their word? they are just going to duke it out instead. they cut a deal. so that's, again, an answer to the senator from montana. that's probably how he got the letter, the same way tauzin wrote his letter. minority leader. senator, do you have

max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and persisted and persisted in persisted. no matter what was thrown in the way. and chris dodd, who kept the flame of ted kennedy in his spirit of doing the right thing and doing a good thing and reaching to the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home and your our constituents rail against this bill. i do not believe that. i believe the negativity that leader mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked. now, when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more popular, because it is good for america, could for the people, and a true -- good for the people, and a true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> thank you, everybody. >> after is the senate passed its health care bill, the president spoke briefly with reporters at the white house. >> hello, guys. good morning, everybody. in a historic vote that took place this morning, members of the senate joined their co

trying to get the votes from max baucus, what did you originally believed about the health care system? >> i think, not that much. the data that i have the we have looked at on health care on very specific parts of the problem they are not quite right. what it one economist was say based on the data that health care is a market where there is a huge disconnect between the people who are paying and the choices made. when i go to the store and i want to buy it oranges are apples, they cost me $0.50 on the margin. if i want to buy a car, i pay for it. if we want to rationalize the health care system, the stronger we can make the connection between what people buy and what they pay will be the answer. and a #2 it competes with the insurance component of health care. if you pay on the margin you don't have insurance. i am not saying you should let the economist run the world but it will be one where they had insurance but more or less people paid on the margin and the least popular set up you can have it we would have more rational items. >> host: one storey read and write about -- right ab

the chairman of the finance committee max baucus.k is joining us from philadelphia on the democrats win. good morning. caller: how were you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i think it is working. it is not pretty obviously. it is not pretty obviously. there are things i am not happy about. being a liberal democrat here in philly, a blue city and state. i would like to have seen a public option. unfortunately that has been negated. i'm a retired federal employees and now they want to in effect model of the employee health benefits. the only problem is what i see, on my plan, a lot of that elderly federal employees and up in blue cross, the one planned, therefore the premiums are rising steeply and i thought the whole purpose of the whole exercise was to control health care premiums. i don't see how you can control premiums without a public option. host: some of the comments from the editorial appeared "orange county register." technically the senate could be in session as late as tomorrow evening, christmas eve, a vote that could happe

you want to find out,or exple, if a lobbyist for a large health-ce firm has gone in and spokeno max baucus or joe lieberman this senatorr that congssman, you're not going to be able to find that out because it's not federal required forhe client of the lobbyist to disclose that. >> ifill: do that lack of trsparency automatically suggest malfeasance any bad action? >> not at all. we wouldn't suggesanything ofhe sort. but wh lack of transparency does is gets people less inrmation to draw nclusions from. unrtunately, we can't see exactly what the interacons have been in the entire tee as far as we're ncerned if there's a ck of transparency orot as much transparency as is possie when these very important public pcesses are taking pla and public decisions are being made, th the puic has less information to go on. >> ifill: there's nothing illegal about anytng that we're seng that you've been able to chronicle? >> it's not an abraham off situation. and congress to its credit i 2007 tighted its rules to make sure there was more transpency and in a lot of people'spinion did a great job making sure

i admit, my friend, the senator from montana, max baucus, worked hard to try and get a -- a bipartisan bill, but in the end, he only had three republicans in the gang of six and they left him. and all of a sudden he fieppedz his bill -- finds his bill being put between the house bill and the "help" committee bill. behind closed doors with very few people involved, all democrats, from the white house and probably two or three or four or five from the senate, but no more than that. and that's what we have -- that's what we've had up till now is that -- this huge, 2,074-page bill. that will eat us alive as a country. mr. president, throughout this debate, i've heard a lot of rhetoric from the other side of the aisle about how republicans are opposed to this $2.5 trillion tax-and-spend bill because, as the democrats incorrectly suggest, we want the status quo. oh, give me a break. we all know this is completely false. we on this side of the aisle have asked the democrats over and over again to step back and wright a new bill with us, but they are so consumed with their arrogance of power t

let me underscore the points made by leader reid and max baucus and dr. wilson. i suspect if you could only have one organization of a group of people to support this bill, the choice we would probably make is the one you're hearing today. while it's important that other organizations be supportive, there's nothing more fundamental when you get right down to this than the relationship between a patient and their doctor. that is it the most fundamental level whether or not you have access to that doctor, whether you have the resources to be put to compensate that doctor for his or her services. and so, of all of the organizations and individuals and groups that have supported this bill, i read this one as most important because it speaks to that relationships to the eckert relationship between doctors and patients. you heard some articulation already by leader reid and max baucus and dr. wilson. one provision senator tom harkin and i worked on senator kennedy cared deeply about was making it possible for young men and women who would desire to become physicians in

max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and persisted and persisted in persisted.was thrown in the way. and chris dodd, who kept the flame of ted kennedy in his spirit of doing the right thing and doing a good thing and reaching to the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home and your our constituents rail against this bill. i do not believe that. i believe the negativity that leader mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked. now, when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more popular, because it is goodokçó for americqcould for çv:thew3 people, and a true -,d symbol ofç what we can do if we l pull together. çq>> thank you, everybody. w3çñrxdqç 7roxdç >> after is the senate passed its health care bill, the president spoke briefly with reporters at the white house. >> hello, guys. good morning, everybody. in a historic vote that took place this morning, members of the senate joined their colleagues in the

you have to try and get it through condors, get the vote of max baucus and would've. what did your dad doing about how we should fix the health care system? >> i will start. i think not that much. i think the data that i have, that we have looked at on health care, are on very specific parts of the palm and i don't think

max baucus star early and he just persisted and persisted, no matter what blog was thrown away. and chris dodd, who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and a good thing and reaching into a of -- and reaching to keep the highest by use of this country alive. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we will go home and here our constituents rail against this bill. i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that leader mcconnell and others that have continually displayed on the floor has peaked and now the people have actually learned -- will actually burn was in the bill and all the good that is going to be done, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america, good for the american people, and a true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> senate democratic leaders after the vote this morning, 60-39, the legislation passes the senate. that was at about 7:30 a.m. eastern or so. meanwhile, preside

max baucus star early and he just persisted and persisted, no matter what blog was thrown away. and chris dodd, who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and a good thing and reaching into a of -- and reaching to keep the highest by use of this country alive. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we will go home and here our constituents rail against this bill. i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that leader mcconnell and others that have continually displayed on the floor has peaked and now the people have actually learned -- will actually burn was in the bill and all the good that is going to be done, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america, good for the american people, and a true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> senate democratic leaders after the vote this morning, 60-39, the legislation passes the senate. that was at about 7:30 a.m. eastern or so. meanwhile, preside

imagine you didn't have to try to get the votes, max baucus and everything else. what did your data lead you to believe about how we should fix the health care system? >> guest: well i think -- i think all that much. i think that the data that i have that we've looked at on health care are on very specific parts of the problem, and i don't think they are quite right to inform a debate. i will tell you what economists would say not based on data but the eerie, is that health care is a market where there is a huge disconnect between the people who are paying and the choices that are made. so when i go to the store and i want to buy oranges or apples, you know, the cost me 50 cents on the march and i decide how many to buy. if i want to buy a car, yp4 it. i think that ultimately if we want to rationalize the health care system, the stronger that we can make the connection between what people are buying and what they are paying for it is going to be the answer. that is number one, not politically very viable. number two, what it

in montana, the home -- the home state of senator max baucus. some of the examples take hunter of "the wall street journal" points to. guest: it is true that some points are tailored for individual senators. some democrats will say that is part of the process, and that these things are coming to light before the vote, so there could be -- i think we're seeing it already, there could be political fallout already, potentially, so the public could decide whether these things are appropriated or not in the next election. host: ken joins us from cincinnati on the republican line. you are on with kate hunter. caller: thank you, mary christmas to all. they are going to get what they really want. they're thinking they are going to get free health care. they keep saying it will be affordable health care, but i have not heard nancy pelosi or anyone define what is affordable. what is affordable to someone who just got a pink slip and is losing their job? i know there will be subsidies, but if you are fighting to put food on your table, pay your rent or mor

said, and i was there when all those people got upset and disrupted during, and max baucus apologizede should have had a hearing on this and talk about it at." these are things that are not likely to happen and they tend to focus on the things that are more likely to happen. >> for 200 years, we have styled ourself the world's greatest deliberative body. it requires discussion of issues and to take it today, which gathered to -- discussion of issues and to pay. today, we gather to discuss whether the nation will finally guarantee its people the right to live free from a list and death, which can be provided with a decent health care for all but in the coming weeks, we will put people, not insurance companies, in charge of their lives. host: from twitter -- guest: no. not really. first of all, there is no filibuster in the house. çthe conference is basically a committee. in the end, if they do go to a formal conference, there will be a conference report. you need a certain number of signatures on that report to get it out of conference. you can block a bill from coming out of committe

max baucus who persisted and persisted, no matter what was thrown in the way, and chris dodd, who kept the spirit of kennedy in reaching for the highest values. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home and hear our constituents complain about this bill. i do not believe that. i believe the negativity that leader mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the bill months -- on the floor as pete. as people would give the bill, it will become more popular because it is good for america, good for the american people, and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> [inaudible] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> good morning, everybody. in a historic moment that took place this morning, members of the senate to join their colleagues in the house to pass the landmark health insurance reform. legislation brings us to the end of the nearly century-long struggle to reform america pause health care system. ever since teddy roosevelt first call for r

jim mussina who worked with max baucus for years and has been the deputy chief of staff at the white house and done a tremendous job. phil shilera and sean moch worked to defend the administration, done a tremendous job. and dana singheiser as well for her work. we'll make these lists available for the record, madam president. but i wanted to thank these individuals again for their fine, fine work. madam president, i want to speak, if i can today about, not as my capacity as a senior member of the health, education, labor, and pensions, nor in my capacity as one of the coauthors of the underlying legislation, but rather in my capacity, as i said at the outset of these remarks, as a senator representing 3.5 million residents of the state of connecticut. the neighboring state, my good friend and colleague, the presiding officer represents new hampshire in new england. if you travel my state, madam president, you will meet some of the world's most talented and dedicated health care professionals, tour some of the nation's finest hospitals where patients get world-class treatment. but yo

later today, senate majority leader harry reid and fellow democrats max baucus, chris dodd and tom harkinak with reporters. we'll have that live for you at 1:15 eastern on our companion network c-span. earlier today, we learned more about work in the senate from a reporter covering the action. >> david drucker joining us from roll call. what does this mean in the healthcare healthcare debate. >> the big task was last night's vote because this morning because it was the first in a series of votes as a part of the endgame towards final passage of the healthcare bill. last night all 60 democrats voted with the majority to end debate on a particular amendment to the herk reform bill. and we're here now -- they've done that and i think that signals that this thing will pass the senate and head to a conference committee with the house. and even though the majority leader had secured the support of his members in advance, you know, there's always a little trepidation before you get to the vote. and you could tell once the vote occurred and it was successful for the democrats, that the leadership

our chairman of the committee, max baucus, is a wonderful man. and he's trying to do the best he can under the circumstances, and i applaud him for it. senator stabenow from michigan, she and i have not seen eye to eye on a lot of things but we always enjoy being around each other. this is a great place, there's no question about it. we have great people here, but that doesn't make us any less happy about what we consider to be an awful bill. but right now, today, let me just talk about one specific thing. today the senior senator from illinois came to the floor and spoke about my efforts to reduce the costs associated with -- with medical liability problems, medical malpractice liability. i don't think his statements should go unanswered here. not only were a number of his statements simply incorrect as a factual matter -- or as factual matters, but some of them even bothered on offensive. now, i'm not offended. i can live with it. i can take criticism. but some of them were really i think a little bit over the top. first of all, he referred to

when they walk away after months of max baucus meeting with several of their members and the leadership came down very hard on several of them and said we don't want a bill. bottom-line is of course when you are left to do all of the 60 votes, when you have a filibuster process which they have led which requires 60 votes and all 60 votes are likely to come from democrats, of course the debate is going to be how do you make the best bill within a certain universe. they have taken themselves out of it. that is a point that is important to make. the second part is in the medicare provision if it is sustained, that has been something the democrats for a long time have been advocating. being able to buy into medicare is something many democrats along a wide spectrum have been an advocate for. i don't look at that as something that is that really better or are you just using that to get votes? that has had a lot of support for a long time. >> coming from rhode island where we have a very big senior population and we are not like florida or arizona senior destination states, these are people w

the 25 years i've been here and working here has ever reached out as much as i watched chairman max baucus reach out in an effort to try to get a bipartisan effort. how many senators from the other side came to the table? for the entire summer, three months were taken up with the so-called gang of six, six senators -- three republicans and three democrats. unfortunately, several of the republicans had already walked away because they didn't like something that 60 members of the senate might want to do. so they walked away. the senator from utah is one. he was part of those early negotiations, then he said "i'm not going to do this." in the end the senator from colorado and the senator from iowa, senator grassley, walked away. senator snowe, to her credit, stayed at the table, worked hard with people, continues to try to have a dialogue about what it may need or not need. somehow they come here with the notion that they have a right to dictate what's in the bill that 60 senators might think otherwise about. and because they just can't get their way on the big picture, they're even willing t

to max baucus who bent over backwards and not only went the extra mile but the extra hundred miles tothe bill through and doing a masterful job. kriz and max and i are all classmates together. we were all sworn and the same day. -- as one in on the same day. -- sworn in on the same day. this is a starter home. it has a great foundation. we are expanding health-care coverage to 31 million americans. it has a protective rules -- were roof. this is not the end of health care reform, this is the beginning of health care reform. i am just proud to join my fellow senators and doing whatever i can to make sure we get over the goal in the next few days and have the president signed into law as soon as possible after the first of the year -- president sign it into law as soon as possible after the first of the year. >> [inaudible] >> i work with -- i worked with every democratic senator and many republican senators to come up with the merged bill and the amendment to that bill. negotiations took place with the people up here at the podium and sometimes individually and he was just like the res

this is what max baucus at. i was there when all the single-payer people got up and disrupted the senate hearings and were thrown out. max baucus apologized and said we really should have, you, at least at a hearing on this and talked about it. but again, it's the idea, these are not the things that are most likely to happen. i think they can focus on the things that are most likely to happen. . . years, we have styled ourself the world's greatest deliberative body. it requires discussion of issues and to take it today, which gathered to -- discussion of issues and to pay. today, we gather to discuss >> guest: no. there, not really. first of all there is no filibuster in the house but, a conference is basically a committee. so they can, if you, you can, there, in the end there will be, if they do go to formal conference, there will be a conference report, you need a certain number of signatures on the conference report to get it out of conference but, so you can block a bill from coming out of committee but not

max baucus called a last-minute pre-emptive strike with a group of democratic lobbyists warning them not to attend a meeting with republicans set for thursday. baucus' chief of staff met with lobbyists, including several former baucus aides, who have made a nice transition. they said republicans are having this meeting and you need to let all your clients know if they have someone there, that will be viewed as a hostile act. this would say i am interested in working with republicans. then again, "the new york times" -- again, my favorite -- again, taws-in -- tauzin's $5 million representative, he said if you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal. the former republican from louisiana said "who is ever going to get in a deal with the white house again?" they cut a deal. that's, again, in answer to the senator from montana, that's probably how he got the letter, the same way tauzin got his letter. go ahead. >> we know there is a disconnect between the inside-the-beltway lobbyist and the american people who are speaking loudly to all of us in all the surveys saying, please stop

i was there when the single payer people caught up and max baucus actually apologized.that they should have at least had a hearing. the idea that these are not the things most likely to happen and the media is likely to focus on what is likely to happen. caller: -- host: here is senator reid. >> deliberation and issues necessarily acquire predict necessarily require debate. we did not even discuss one of the greatest issues of our generation and indeed one of the greatest issues this body has ever faced. whether this nation will finally guaranteed the people the right to live free from the fear of illness and death which can be prevented by a decent health care for all. in the coming weeks, we will finally put people, not insurance companies, in charge of their lives. host: a question was asked if a senator can filibuster a bill in congress? >> there is no filibuster in the house. a conference is basically a committee. in the end, if they go to a formal conference, there is a conference report and you need a certain number of signatures on the report to get it out of co

that according to senate finance committee chairman max baucus of montana. the house formally reconvenes january 12, the senate on january 20 is. >> order, order. gid morning, and we'll come. this is an historic occasion. it is one that i hope you will enjoy and all of us will treasure. on the 13th of march this year, parliament decided that this great event should take place. in the whole history of the house of commons, you are the first body of people, other than members of parliament themselves, to be allowed to use this chamber. i, however, and not entirely new to the youth parliament. i have the great privilege of visiting canterbury on the 27th of july this year just after the house went into recess, to speak to the annual conference of your parliament. and i am conscious of the strength of the parliament, of the skills that it embodies, and of the future opportunities that it will create. and i want to say at the outset by way of tribute to you as members of the youth parliament, that my colleagues and i, the leader of the house of commons, and the l

max baucus of montana said he expects talks on a compromise to the house and senate versions to becombeginby phone. leadership hopes to have many of the major points of disagreement worked out, according to the chairman. the house returns january 12 and the senate will be back on january 20. >>n tonight, expanding broadband to rural and under certain areas of the country. an update from bleier lovaine -- blair levin. >> president obama made it remarks on the attempted bombing of a northwest airlines flight on christmas day. he spoke from a way where he and his family are spending 10 days on a christmas vacation. his remarks are under 10 minutes. >> good morning, everybody. i want to take a few minutes to update the american people on the attempted terrorist attack that occurred christmas day and the steps we're taking to ensure the safety and security of the country. the investigation is ongoing and i spoke again this morning with attorney general eric holder and janet napolitano and my advisor john brennan. i asked them to keep and continue monitoring the situation and to keep the america

in terms even of the drafting of that bill, the late senator kennedy and max baucus met for a long time to try to craft their product. who was in the room for the manager's amendment, i don't know. i was not there. but you can be sure all the key senators, they have their network of alleys outside. many former staff people, many former members who are lobbyists, and maybe some of them had an opportunity to make suggestions about the manager's amendment. that certainly wouldn't surprise or shock me. in this kind of situation, the leader invites in whom he or she wants as the case might be. so that was that stage. he merged the product. so that became a substitute amendment. then after he got the reaction of that. he had the manager's amendment. everybody with me? so you had the manager's amendment and the substitute and the base bill. that is why you need the three closure votes. sometimes you are on the floor, and you find out i've got problems right here. i am not sure where my support is. so you can come up with your own manager's amendment, negotiating privately with different lawmak

will reform mitch mcconnell banking chairman chris dodd finance chairman max baucus and republican unendurable marlet xander. cmac with every passing day, mr. president the american people become more and more perplexed about the democratic land for health care and they like it lots of mice. it meant lowering cost. this bill actually raises cost. americans thought reform meant helping the economy. this bill actually made it worse. americans thought reform meant strengthening medicare. this bill raised it to create a new government program that will have the same problems that medicare does. americans wanted reform. what they're getting is the opposite. more spending, more debt, more burdens, more families and businesses already struggling just to get by. one of the biggest sources of money to pay for this experiment is medicare. this bill cuts medicare advantage by $120 billion. it cuts hospitals by $135 billion. it cuts home health care by $42 billion. it cuts nursing homes by $15 billion because hospice by $8 billion. reform shouldn't come at the expense of seniors. and the mccain amendment