you have max baucus and john grassley and john kerry. the philosophical balance is are there. they have had a lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee in 2007, we were derrek -- we were having hearings then in a run of of what should be tax reform. broadbased, fundamental tax reform takes at least three years to lay the groundwork, have the hearing, the site where you can lose the loopholes. -- close the loopholes. if they would look at this across the board and try to make a more fair tax code and take away some of the incentives, but then tried to lower the rates with individuals and corporate tax rate, i think it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan, chairman of the budget committee, remember as jack kemp is to say, never say the word

. >> reporter: democratic senator max baucus of montana. >> we have a duty, i think, to think even bigger. aim higher. ensuring our country is on sound fiscal footing for the long term. >> reporter: how much bigger? alan simpson and erskine bowles, who chaired the commission that president obama created to figure out how to cut the deficit are among a growing chorus of voices on both sides pushing for $4 trillion in savings. >> that's the minimum amount of deficit reduction we need in order to stabilize the debt and put it on a downward path. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner agreed with bowles today saying bipartisan support would grow with a larger plan where everyone shares the pain. >> i spent months working with the president trying to do the big deal and i always believed it would be easier to get the votes if, in fact, we got a big deal. >> reporter: douglas elmendorf the director of the nonpartisan congressional budget office warned that budget cuts should be spread out over time to protect the fragile economy. >> the combination of policies that would be most effective acco

. >> my understand is that max baucus is on the hunt. probably to the extent that you're talking about is unlikely, at least this year but have i a feeling we're going continue on this theme with ron. if you can touch on how state and local governments are involved and also the private sector since this is something that is a topic of great interest. >> ok. thank you. i'm the staff to the metropolitan planning organization. our board is made up of state and local officials. state department of transportation, metro. there is where they get together. and we're looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance and new capacity for the entire metropolitan area. what i want to focus on a little bit is what is the federal role here as opposed to all of the other players, state, local and private. when we look at our total budget and expenditures, the federal government pays about 20% of the total of our transportation system. the rest is state and local transit fares and about 7% or 8% is now private tolls and development fees. so the

. >> my understanding is that max baucus is on the hunt for offsets in the senate. the extent you are talking about is probably unlikely, at least this year, but we shall see. if you want to talk about -- if you could touch on how state and local governments are involved and also the private sector, at this is a topic of great interest. >> i am on the staff of the metropolitan planning organization in the washington region. it is made up of state and local officials. this is where they get together, and we are looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance for the entire metropolitan area. what is the federal role here as opposed to all of the other players, state, local, and private? when we look at our total budget expenditures, the total government pays about 20%. the rest state and local transit players and about 7% or 8% is private tolls and developer fees. there is a blend of funding sources and the federal government is only 20%. what is the government's particular role? what we need to focus on in the next six months or a year, i think we have the

you have experienced hand in the senate finance committee with max baucus and orrin hatch and john kerry. you have philosophical balances and the lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee we were having hearings than and a run up of what should be tax reform. tax reform. broadbased fundamental tax reform takes three years. have a hearing and ask questions and close the loopholes that if they get so charged and look across the board and make a fair tax code and take away the incentives and breaks for different groups and individuals but lower the rates for individuals and corporate tax rate it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan who is chairman of the budget committee in the house, your old hero jack kennedy used to say never say the word cuts or balanced budgets without saying growth. what is it your going to do to have responsible budget? do in a way in terms of tax code and where you spend or don't spend in a way that will provide growth in the economy and we lost that second word. i would be for the broadbased fundam

senator max baucus chairs the senate finance committee was the biggest recipient of money. senator john kerry was second. how does that shaved their discussion? guest: i have been a doing this for 30 years. i work for a senator who got a lot of money from the energy industry. he did this because when he was elected, he was a very pro- domestic energy. to draw a "they got this money, therefore they got this way" is a little bit backwards. they drop support or oppose, they wanted to get reelected. it does happen a lot the money makes a difference. if elected default people on the super committee, almost none of them are in it delectable trouble. they come from save districts or states. you cannot make a good case that they are being bought and sold will be influence beyond their natural inclinations. host: our guest is with the bipartisan policy center and nici.with p to managiete domionc caller: thank you for taking my call. i like to make a comment on exactly what i think is going on and what i see is going on. on that super committee, the gentleman from south carolina, cli

member of the simpson-bowles commission put forward on the committee were jeff hentai lane and max baucus were people on the committee welcomed to make a deal. rob portman, republican of ohio. john kerry. but when he saw the people being appointed, the fact that mitch mcconnell appointed pat to me, and from someone like tom coburn, an impeccable conservative who worked both on the gang of six, that sent a bad sign. so i think you always want to hope for the worse, you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. the reality of congress decided to kick the can to the super committee. president obama and john boehner have encouraged them to rate sites from the 1.5 to something more ambitious, to open the door to tax reform. on one level it pathetic to delegate to super community, but that is part of the reality. there is common ground to be built on. that's the point of the jobs plan with the bipartisan legislation. but it takes political courage to reach across the aisle and this preclinical environment. that's the responsibility of the super committee. also john boehner and preside

van hollen and i met adding max baucus and mr. china urn. having gone there all that, a dose of realism is required here. this is tedious time-consuming work. we have had a lot of hearings in both the house and senate. it is time i think for us to get down to the hard decisions that are required to go through those line by line items. as chairman murray point out time is short as well, which complicates our job. not only must we act by november 23rd, but we have to have anything we would make public 48 hours in advance. the c.b.o. most score everything and that could take weeks based on some of the things we have to do. the reality is we have to act by sometime -- by the end of october, realistically, which means we have about six weeks to construct our package. it is a long way of saying that we are only going to succeed if we can avoid partisanship and try to limit the demands on the committee as well as the staff so that we can collectively work to achieve this goal. the more demand made on this committee and its membership, the more chal

you have max baucus and john grassley and john kerry. the philosophical balance is are there. they have had a lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee in 2007, we were derrek -- we were having hearings then in a run of of what should be tax reform. broadbased, fundamental tax reform takes at least three years to lay the groundwork, have the hearing, the site where you can lose the loopholes. -- close the loopholes. if they would look at this across the board and try to make a more fair tax code and take away some of the incentives, but then tried to lower the rates with individuals and corporate tax rate, i think it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan, chairman of the budget committee, remember as jack kemp is to say, never say the word cuts are balanced budget without saying growth. what is if you are going to do to have responsible budgets, but do it in such a way in terms of tax code and where you spend or don't spend that will provide growth to the economy? i think we have lost that second word. i think

my colleague chris van hollen met in the biden talks, adding james clyburn and max baucus and a weaker 10 days of discussions at the white house, and having seen how the cult is to reach an agreement, i think a dose of realism is called for here. this is tedious, time-consuming work, and will require going through a lot of budget numbers line by line. we already had hearings in both house and senate. it is time i think for us to get down to the hard decisions that are required to go through this line by line items. as chairman murray put it out, the time is short, which complicates our job. not only must we act by november, but we have to have anything that we would make public 48 hours in advance. the cbo must score everything and that may take weeks, based upon some of the complicated things we must do. the reality is we have to act by sometime -- by the end of october, realistically. this means we have essentials six weeks to construct our package. it is a long way of saying we are only going to succeed if we can avoid partisanship, i would say, and try to limit the demands on the c

donations to campaign contributions -- for the super committee, max baucus was the biggest recipient of financial sector money, collecting $6.2 million. -- host: how does that shade their discussions? guest: i've seen a variety of ethics rules and regulations. i worked for a senator who got a lot of money from the energy industry. the reason he did was because when he was elected was very pro domestic energy. i think to draw a they got this money, therefore they have done it this way is a little bit backwards. what happens is, they have certain views in many cases and because those views draw the sympathy or support of groups, the groups want to get them reelected. i am not nighties. it does happen a lot of money makes a difference, but if you look at 12 people on the super committee, almost none of them are in electoral trouble. they come from safe districts or states or they are not coming back. you can't make to be a good case they're being bought and sold or beyond their natural philosophical inclinations. host: our guest is a from the bipartisan committee and was on the senate b

my colleague chris van hollen and i met then, and other talks with vice president biden and max baucus and 10 days of discussions of the white house. having gone through all of that and seeing how difficult it is to reach an agreement, i think a dose of realism is called for. this is tedious, time consuming work and will require going through a lot of budget numbers line by line. the we have already had a lot of hearings in both the house and senate. it is time for us to get down to the hard decisions that are required to go through those line by line items. and as chairman marie pointed out, the time is short as well, which complicates our job. not only must we act by november 23, but we have to have anything that would make public 48 hours in advance. the cbo must score everything and that can take weeks, based upon some of the complicated things that we must do. the reality is, we have to act by sometime -- by the end of october, realistically. which means we essentially have about six weeks to construct our package. this is a long way of saying that we are only going to succeed if

. >> my understanding is that max baucus is on the hunt for offsets in the senate.to the said you are talking about it is unlikely, at least this year. we will see. i feel we are going to continue on this thing with iran. and if you can touch about on how state and local governments are involved in the private sector since this is something that is a topic of great interest. >> i am the staff to the metropolitan planning organization, and our board is made of officials, state department of transportation, metro pictures we get together and we are looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance and new capacity for the entire metro area. i want to focus on what is the federal role here as opposed to all the other players, state, local, private. when we look at our total budget expenditures, the federal government is about 20% of the total. the rest is state and local, transit fairs, 7% or 8% is private full tolls or developer fees. there is a blend of funding sources, and the federal government is only 20%. why do we need the federal government? what is thi