mccain: thank you. mr. president, i rise in behalf of the amendment which, according to the congressional budget office, this amendment would provide an estimated $100 billion or more in consumer savings over ten years.

mccain does propose savings." et cetera, and i did, and i did propose savings, and we can make savings, and nowhere, nowhere in my wildest imagination did i ever believe we were going to cut benefits in order to create a $2.5 trillion new entitlement program when the system is already going -- going broke. a senator: reserving the right to object. mr. mccain: i will have those put in the record. if the senator from massachusetts wants to distort my record, that's fine, but it gets a little -- the presiding officer: any objection into inserting the documents into the record? mr. mccain: as ronald reagan once said, facts are stubborn things. i yield. mr. kerry: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: i'm not going to object to putting something important in, but i'd like my colleague to stay for a moment because this is very important. madam president? the presiding officer: the majority time has expired. the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i yield to senator thune. mr. ke

mccain: pardon me? mr. mccain: i believe the senator from te tennessee has te floor. mr. baucus: yes, he does. mr. mccain: then obviously i was addressing the person who has the floor, which i'm sure the senator from montana should understand by now. mr. alexander: well, i would say to the senator from arizona that he is exactly right. or another way to describe it, the senator from kansas said it was like writing a big check on an overdrawn bank account to buy a big, new car. i mean, that -- maybe another way, if i could respond to the senator from arizona -- and i would ask consent that the republican senators and our time be allowed to engage in a colloquy. mr. baucus: might i ask the senator another question? with respect to the question from senator the senator from a- mr. alexander: i would like to respooned to the senator from arizona. i hope the parliamentarian is keeping track. i'm enjoying the questions. a great compliment has been paid to the senator from arizona. it is rare that a mere united states senator can have something he said begin to break through the

mccain: yes, a proud cosponsor. mr. durbin: would the senator from arizona consider offering whatever is different in 3200 as a separate amendment to the dorgan amendment? mr. mccain: i guess what i -- i'm not sure if i understand my friend, but i'm just offering the amendment as a side-by-side in order to improve -- in my view, improve the dorgan amendment, but again in all candor not to undermine it but to make it better. mr. durbin: mr. president, i have an obligation to -- not only to my leader but also to senator lautenberg who is being dealt out of the picture here with this unanimous consent request, and he has been offering an amendment which is well known and has been offered previously by senator cochran of mississippi, republican, and at this point senator lautenberg is offering it. i -- i think at this point i'm constrained to object based on this new mccain amendment, and i will discuss it with the senate leadership as to whether or not there is a way we can find a path through this. this is the third day w

mccain: and isn't -- mr. gregg: how can anybody argue against what the senator from idaho said, which is that this translates into real reductions in medicare spending? mr. mccain: isn't the vitally important point here in this discussion is this massive money that's taken out of medicare is not being used to save medicare? it is creating a huge, new entitlement program. so here we are with medicare going broke in seven years. we're taking money out of it in order to create new program. that's -- that's what the crime is being committed here. mr. gregg: the senator is absolutely right. the new program by the way will not be solved either. so we're compounding the insolvency of the future that we're passing on to our children. mr. hatch: we're taking a-billion out of a program that's going to be insolved before -- mr. gregg: $3 trillion -- mr. hatch: before the end of this program. and we're giving to another program that's already insolvent. mr. gregg: taxpayer be insolvent. mr. hatch: it is almost insane wha

mccain mccain: you know, ove weekend, people watch football games, i obviously was pleased to see myalma mater prevail over those great cadets of west point. and we have a tendency to divert our attention, even seeing the redskins for a change even winning a football game. but, you know, what we talked about late last week is vitally important. the center for medicare and medicaid had some devastating comments to make. this is the -- the organization that is tasked to provide us with the best estimates of the consequences of legislation. specifically, medicare and medicaid. and -- and they said, the c.m.s., as i will call them now on, this bill will increase health expenditures by an estimated total of $234 billion. c.m.s., "we estimate that total national health expenditures under this bill would increase by an estimated total of $234 billion during calendar years 2010-2019." it goes on and on and talks about the devastating effects of this legislation. whether the public option is in or out, whether we expand medicare or not. and, i mean, it's remarkable information that's in this

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my colleagues and i be allowed -- the senator from tennessee, mr. alexander, and the senator from oklahoma, mr. coburn, and senator enzi, and senator crapo, unanimous consent that we engage in a colloquy. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the minority has three minutes and 42 seconds and then on top of that at -- at 2:00, the senator from arizona controls 17 1/2 minutes. mr. mccain: thank you. i'll just let those minutes run together if there's no objection. mr. mccain: mr. president -- the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mccain: i want to begin our conversation with a brief comment about the american association of retired persons known as the aarp, who has now come out against this amendment incredibly. and it's a fascinating history of that liberal democratic group because in 1993 they stated when we had some savings in medicare we had -- we had some savings in medicare in 1993, th

mccain: dr. barrasso, have you treated people under medicare advantage? mr. barrasso: i have. the people of wyoming know there's an advantage to being in this program. that's why they sign up. that's why citizens all around the country have signed up for medicare advantage because they realize there's value in prevention. and there's value in coordinated cavecare. there is value in having eye care, dental care, hearing care. there is -- there are advantages to want to stay healthy, to keep down the cost of their care. mr. mccain: even though it may cost more, the fact that you have a weller and fitter group of senior citizens, you in the long run reduce health care costs because they take advantage of the kind of care that over time would keep them from going into the hospital earlier or having to see a doctor more often. mr. barrasso: that's one of the reasons that medicare advantage was brought forth.

>> you're going to have a legal team on your campaign probably on the mccain campaign, we mccain campaign we had six lawyers worked for us full time. arnold schwarzenegger campaign we had only lawyers on retainer. i don't know what they made to be honest with you. we had two lawyers on retainer with us. most of those legal teams that will go out and do it as your observers on election day will do it as volunteers. it is going to cost money to house them. i think, trying to, should be able to remember i think we had like $750,000 budgeted for like the last wee three weeks of the campaign for arnold schwarzenegger. that was like to house people. people rental cars and flights to go out and be that band of people but they actually worked for free. you want to figure out how many lawyers you need and what it will cost to house them and transport them and that kind of stuff. they won't do it, they want us pay their own freight but they will do it as volunteer. yeah? >> you deal with sent tee ballots rather than, vote by mail ballots. in new jersey, for example, they went to vote by mail where

john mccain -- this is from an article in the wawrnlings john mccain would pay for his health care plan with major reductions for medicare and medicaid, a top a.d.a. said in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion. now, after i said that on the floor, the senator from north carolina, senator burr, stood up and said, have you seen factcheck.org? and i said, i haven't read the specific article, but we didn't see that corrected in the course of the campaign. but now i've seen the article. i wanted to know what the senator from north carolina was referring to so i went and got factcheck.org. and factcheck.org went through the obama campaign ads and their ads and factchecked what was being said. and the bottom line is the mccain advisors, a fellow named holtz-eakin, and in a conference call with reporters after the ad was released what he said was, no service is being reduced. every beneficiary will in the future receive exactly the benefits that they have been promised from the beginning. well, that's the same thing as we're having. no benefit is bein

john mccain is right on that. however, ill tell you that it's business as usual which is the point that john mcskein trying to make. things haven't changed much. >> let me bring you back in here as well. pharma, various organizations simply were not on board. what i'm hearing, senator john mccain and dana right now, there was a lot of quid pro quo is that fair? >> absolutely. what we're seeing is the fury that exists on the republican side, about the way that this whole thing has been undertaken. dana has a good point there were republicans at the table like olympia snow. they did breakdown but there is a sense, more broadly, and you will all the way through with tax reform, in '96, what we saw then was buy bart san ship, people were brought to the table and there were votes from both side. we had super majority that passed things. and in instead of having the partisan divide, we had legislation that went through with the sense and the country representing the will of the entire country. and they run straight genk

mccain: pardon me? mr. mccain: i believe the senator from te tennessee has te floor. mr. baucus: yes, he does. mr. mccain: then obviously i was addressing the person who has the floor, which i'm sure the senator from montana should understand by now. mr. alexander: well, i would say to the senator from arizona that he is exactly right. or another way to describe it, the senator from kansas said it was like writing a big check on an overdrawn bank account to buy a big, new car. i mean, that -- maybe another way, if i could respond to the senator from arizona -- and i would ask consent that the republican senators and our time be allowed to engage in a colloquy. mr. baucus: might i ask the senator another question? with respect to the question from senator the senator from a- mr. alexander: i would like to respooned to the senator from arizona. i hope the parliamentarian is keeping track. i'm enjoying the questions. a great compliment has been paid to the senator from arizona. it is rare that a mere united states senator can have something he said begin to break through the

and the mccain amendment guarantees that it wouldn't. the mccain amendment would send this bill back to the finance committee with instructions to remove the language that cuts medicare. the mccain amendment also says that any funds generated from rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse would be used to strengthen medicare, not to create an entirely new program. a votes in favor of the mccain amendment is a vote to protect medicare. let me say that again, mr. president. a vote in favor of the mccain amendment is a vote to protect medicare. a vote against the mccain amendment is a vote to raise this final program in order to create another one for an entirely new group of americans. soy vote against the mccain amendment is a vote to take money out of medicare to create a program for an entirely different set of americans. a vote against the mccain amendment is a vote against our seniors. and it is a vote against real health care reform. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> time remains. >> 13.5 minutes. >> let me yield myself five minutes if

mccain: i talk a lot about c-span. a great admirer of c-span and how the president when he was running also talked about c-span. and he said c-span would be in the running. it was quoted right now a group of senators is meeting behind closed doors to try to hash out a compromise on the public option. reporters waiting for the meeting to break were shunted around the corner make it go harder for the press to catch senators as they leave. c-span, this is not. the beat goes on. could i just remind my colleagues of the amendment that we are discussing here is drafted to prevent drastic medicare advantage cuts from impacting all seniors under medicare advantage. i want -- this amendment says simply let's give seniors who are members of medicare, who enrolled in medicare advantage the same deal that senator nelson was able to get for the state of florida. at least most of the seniors who enrolled in the medicare advantage srapl. there are 1 -- medicare advantage program. this amendment would allow all 11 million to have the

i support senator mccain's amendment. throughout the health care debate, we've heard the president debate not to -- quote -- "mess" -- unquote -- with medicare. that's not the case with the bill before the senate, h.r. 3590, the patients' protection and affordability care act. an interesting naivment the reid bill cuts medicare by $465 billion to fund a new government program. unfortunately, our seniors and the disabled are the ones who suffer the consequence as a result of these d deductions. med compare is very important to the 43 -- med compare is very important to the 43 million seniors covered by the program. i fought to protect and preserve medicare for both beneficiaries and providers. medicare is already in trouble today. the program faces tremendous challenges in the very near future. the medicare trust fund will be insolvent by 2017 and the program has more than $337 trillion -- almost $38 trillion in unfunded liabilities. so we're going to take $500 billion more out of medicare? it doesn't make sense. every sen

the mccain motion be on a 60-vote threshold. if the motion achieves that threshold, that it be agreed to and laid on the table. if it does not achieve that threshold, that it be withdrawn and no amendment in the motion, and i move to table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i move to table the nelson amendment and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the question is on the motion to table. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 54, the nays are 45rbg the motion to table has been agreed to. under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the motion to commit offered by the senator from arizona, mr. mccain. could we have order in the senate, please. without objection. the presiding officer: the senator from mo

mccain: of policy of health care reform. and this bill -- this legislation and this cause of the senator from montana has been turned back several times. mr. baucus: reclaiming my right to the floor. mr. mccain: i'm responding. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i'm reclaiming the floor because he doesn't want to deal in good faith with this issue. the second point -- second poi point. it is disrespectful, it is unseemly for senators in this body to invoke the names of ted kennedy and jack kennedy in opposition to this bill. it is disrespectful and unseemly and i, frankly, am very much surprised that senators would go to that level and try and invoke the names of ted kennedy and jack kennedy in -- in opposition to this legislation. talk about profiles in courage. i hear senators on the other side say where is the courage of one senator to stand up and vote against health care reform. that's what i keep hearing on that side, where's the courage, where's the courage of one senator on the democratic si

mccain: mr.president, we are here obviously, as we are on a daily basis, to discuss the issue of health care reform. but we are in a rather unusual situation this morning because we don't know what w we're discussing or debating. we find ourselves in an interesting situation, after almost a year of consideration of health care reform, with a measure that has been at least some -- a couple of the outlines of it, weigh know, but frankly we have had no details, except that medicare is going to be extended to -- eligibility for medicare is going to be extended to age 55. i just would quote -- there was a meeting yesterday amongst the senate democrats. "many senate deems emrchled from the meeting sayings -- quote -- "they had learned little from the public option agreement -- senator mary lamp drew called the agreement a very good idea. senator blanche lincoln said more information is needed and senator ben nelson aid, i just want to know what the costs are." well, know do the rest of us. so dot rest

the mccain amendment would allow us to vote for seniors. that's what the mccain amendment is about. it way how the senate to say, we're -- it would allow the senate to say, we're not going to finance a new government program on the backs of seniors. we're not going to use medicare as a piggy bank to fund a new government program. it would allow us to vote with the american people. most importantly, mr. president, it would allow us to start over and get this right. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 3590, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 175, h.r. 3590, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to modify the first-time home buyers credit in the case of members of the armed forces and certain other federal employees, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 11:30 will be for debate only with the republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the majority controlling the n

mccain: it seems to me. the senator from tennessee. mr.corker: the senator from arizona, i have been watching this, was in my office, and i'm having a hard -- mr. mccain: it is a fun, isn't it? mr. corker: it is a lot of fun. in fact, i would not want to be any other place than on the floor today talking about the most important piece of legislation we probably will deal with in our tenure here. and i -- mr. mccain: it is a principle that a fight not enjoin sad fight not enjoyed? mr. corker: i don't think i've ever seen us as happy as i have today in a fight against something that is devastating. senator, i don't understand what it is that would cause my friends on the left, on the other side of the aisle, to throw seniors under the bus and whether -- there's no doubt there ought to be some chings in medicare to -- some changes in medicare to make it more solvent. and all of us with a nts to ensure that seniors down the road have the ability to benefit from medicare. i think all of us have said from day one we want to join with senator gre

mccain: mr. president, very quickly, i just want to remind my colleagues that the aarp continues to be referred to as endorsing this legislation and endorsing it and supporting and opposing amendments that would have done things that they in the past have supported, so i would just urge my colleagues to look at this woaft -- one of my favorite sources of information, opinion, "the washington post," but not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been aarp's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that would come its way from many other reforms. so we have been looking into that. and guess what? the aarp endorsement of more than $400 billion in medicare savings, endorsement. according to its own financial statements from 2008 aarp generated 38% of its its $1.1 billion in revenue or more than had 14 million in -- more than $414 million in royalty fees. they also obviously will -- if we take away medicare advantage, then medigap sales will have to go up because tha

mccain: i'm not sure. so, madam president, recently there's an article i in the "noh county times" from san diego in the region, dated saturday, december 5, 2009. i would say to the senator from california, in sponsor to question, this is a very important issue, as the senator from california just pointed o out, and i have a lot to say on it. and i have waited my turn to speak and in keeping with the procedures that are in keeping with the agreement between the two leaders, i don't expect to be too much longer but i do not expect to curtail my remarks on this very important issue at 5:20 p.m. in the afternoon. so here's a -- here's an article from the "north county times" from san diego and the region, december 5, 2009. region: state ends subsidy for mammograms to low-income women under 50." i repeat -- "state ends subsidy for mammograms to low-income women under 50." and it goes on to say, "the eligibility age for state subsidized breast cancer screening has been raised from 40 to 50 by the california hea

mccain: mr. president, i regret that the senator from illinois did not observe the courtesies of the senate, particularly when a person's name is mentioned as he continued to mention my name throughout and totally falsifying my position both in the presidential campaign and the position that we have on this side and this amendment. i've always extended the courtesy to the senator from illinois, and i deeply regret that even this comity of the senate is no longer observed. so, i say to the senator from illinois, i regret that you would not respond to a question that i had posed and that you had said "i will respond in a minute." again, even that comity is not observed here. mr. durbin: if the senator would yield for a second? mr. mccain: i will go ahead -- mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a second? mr. mccain: the senator did not provide me the courtesy of allowing me to respond to a question. now you want me to respond to a question from you? i will display more courtesy than you displayed

mccain: one would think so. could i -- could i go to the -- there's two doctors in the united states senate. there's two -- there's lots of lawyers. there's two doctors. both of them have had hands-on experience. i don't know if dr. barrasso has seen this morning's "new york times". my other favorite source of news, information, and opinion. on the front page this morning, "home care patients worry over possible cuts." the purpose, i understand, of health care refor [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] >> the story in the paper is very similar to many of the patients i've taken care of and the families in wyoming who depend on this. there is a picture of her meeting with her nurse. she greets the nurse who has come to check her medication that she takes. and she says that those visits that been highly effective in keeping her out of the hospital. i mean, that's the whole idea -- keep them out of the hospital so they can lower the cos

mccain: mr.resident? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona -- mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that morning business be closed. i want to make sure that senator mccain has his time. mr. mccain: i'd ask for an additional 10 minutes of morning business so that i could maybe engage in a colloquy with my favorite combatant here that -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: maybe talk a little bit about his remarks. and i have to say that i appreciate the eloquence and the passion that the senator from illinois has brought to this debate. and he makes some very convincing points. and one of the major points -- and i'd be glad to listen to the senator. i think it's fair for us to respond to each other's comments very quickly. the senator from illinois said that we have been engaged in the negotiations and inputs have been made in the formulation of this bill. now, i have to tell the senator from illinois, i've been engaged in many bipartisan compromises, whether it be issue

mccain: i thank the governor of tennessee. i recognize that you understand this better than anyone having been a governor and realizing the challenges that the governors face. governor swartz anything thatter ianything-- schwarzenegger -- democrats blues grow deeper in new poll and then support for health care overhaul weigh in. some remarkable information concerning the mood and views of the american people following on a "washington post"-abc news poll out yesterday that 51% of americans say they oppose the proposed changes to the system. 44% approve. thanks to the efforts of so many people, including our leadership, we have turned american public opinion because we've been informing them of the consequences of passage of this legislation. let me just quote from "the wall street journal," article. according to -- more american now believe it is better to keep the current health care system than to pass president obama's plan according to a new "wall street journal"-nbc news poll. the findings mark a shift from the fall when

controlled between senators baucus and mccain or their designees. at 2:45 there will be two votes. all four votes today will be subject to a 60-vote threshold for adoption. mr. mcconnell: would my friend yield before making opening remarks? i was wondering since it is thursday, my colleagues plan to be here saturday and sunday but would phraoeubg to know whether there will be an opportunity to go to church sunday morning? mr. reid: i think we would come in somewhere around noon on sunday. i indicate to my friend that it appears that we have the -- the next opportunity for amendment will be when we complete this. it's my understanding that senator ben nelson is ready, has an amendment. i think we've given it to your staff. this may be one where it's

amendments both offered, mikulski, murkowski and mccain and bennet, so i would object because i believe we have the basis for a fair agreement at this point. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there okay to the original request? mr. vitter: mr. president, reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. visitor: again, -- mr. vitter: again, i'm very disappointed to hear that. senator murkowski has incorporated similar language. i was hoping we could come together 100-0 to actually pass this onto the bill whichever alternative tomorrow is voted up and maybe they both will be, but which ever is voted up or which ever is voted down, i think it's very important to come together and state that we don't want these new task force recommendations to have any force and effect, so let me propose a third and final alternative unanimous consent request that at any point after

mccain: of policy of health care reform. and this bill -- this legislation and this cause of the senator from montana has been turned back several times. mr. baucus: reclaiming my right to the floor. mr. mccain: i'm responding. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i'm reclaiming the floor because he doesn't want to deal in good faith with this issue. the second point -- second poi point. it is disrespectful, it is unseemly for senators in this body to invoke the names of ted kennedy and jack kennedy in opposition to this bill. it is disrespectful and unseemly and i, frankly, am very much surprised that senators would go to that level and try and invoke the names of ted kennedy and jack kennedy in -- in opposition to this legislation. talk about profiles in courage. i hear senators on the other side say where is the courage of one senator to stand up and vote against health care reform. that's what i keep hearing on that side, where's the courage, where's the courage of one senator on the democratic si

>> you're going to have a legal team on your campaign probably on the mccain campaign, we mccain campaigne had six lawyers worked for us full time. arnold schwarzenegger campaign we had only lawyers on retainer. i don't know what they made to be honest with you. we had two lawyers on retainer with us. most of those legal teams that will go out and do it as your observers on election day will do it as volunteers. it is going to cost money to house them. i think, trying to, should be able to remember i think we had like $750,000 budgeted for like the last wee three weeks of the campaign for arnold schwarzenegger. that was like to house people. people rental cars and flights to go out and be that band of people but they actually worked for free. you want to figure out how many lawyers you need and what it will cost to house them and transport them and that kind of stuff. they won't do it, they want us pay their own freight but they will do it as volunteer. yeah? >> you deal with sent tee ballots rather than, vote by mail ballots. in new jersey, for example, they went to vote by mail where an

mccain: i thank the governor of tennessee. i recognize that you understand this better than anyone having been a governor and realizing the challenges that the governors face. governor swartz anything thatter ianything-- schwarzenegger -- democrats blues grow deeper in new poll and then support for health care overhaul weigh in. some remarkable information concerning the mood and views of the american people following on a "washington post"-abc news poll out yesterday that 51% of americans say they oppose the proposed changes to the system. 44% approve. thanks to the efforts of so many people, including our leadership, we have turned american public opinion because we've been informing them of the consequences of passage of this legislation. let me just quote from "the wall street journal," article. according to -- more american now believe it is better to keep the current health care system than to pass president obama's plan according to a new "wall street journal"-nbc news poll. the findings mark a shift from the fall when

john mccain, senator john mccain, a cosponsor of our amendment. senator grassley, senator stabenow. madam president, let me ask consent for five additional minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dorgan: this is broadly bipartisan, and it's one of the few bipartisan amendments -- and my expectation is that we will have a vote on the crapo amendment. he offered his last evening, and i offered mine last evening, and my expectation is that we'll have a vote on the crapo amendment and then have a vote on this amendment and move on. i would hope that we'll have the votes on this because it is the only thing in any health care proposal in the house or the senate that starts to put the brakes on the escalating prices of prescription drugs. it is the only thing. without this, we will pass health care reform if, in fact, it passes, and if someone says to you what have you done to try to put the brakes on the fact that prescription drugs are increasing at 9% and 10%, what have you done about that? and the answer is going to be well, we didn't do anything about that, just couldn

. >> and she thinks the mccain campaign failed voters by not exploiting the birther conspiracy theory. >>> the health care debate in the senate continues but ben nelson keeps his anti-abortion. and the republican stunt opposing an amendment to force all congress members to enroll in a public option backfires in their face. three democrats sign on to co-sign on the amendment including sherrod brown of ohio. >>> rush limbaugh goes where no one would debating on a ridiculous couch. >> if you don't have money you're going to live in a bungalow somewhere. that's -- >> we're talking about health care p. >> what's the difference? >>> the president talking job creation today in pennsylvania demonstrating the beauty of town halls without screened questions. >> i was wondering if maybe you checked out some of the statistics about legalizing prostitution, gambling, drugs and nonviolent crime in order to stimulate some of the economy. >>> and a bad week for tiger woods gets worse. new reports of hush money paid to his nightclub paramour and harry scheer on the privacy tradeoff that tiger woods ca

with that, let me turn to senator mccain. >> i want to thank senator mcconnell and our leadership and all of our republican members who have spoken out so strongly and so steadfastly and with such solidarity. let me just mention how far we've come here. look how far we've come from october a year ago. october 9th, 2008, when the president of the united states said on the issue of health reform i will have republicans and democrats sit down together with c-span cameras in the room so the american people will know who is on the side of the pharmaceutical companies and who is on the side of the american people. so where have we ended up? in a bizarre situation, where even the number two senior democrat, senator durbin in a colloquy with me says he doesn't know what is in the bill either. remember the commitment that legislation would be on line for 72 hours before we would take up the legislation? what ever happened to that? you talk about change coming to talk about change, it is interchange you can believe in. it's change that is astonishing. we all know promises are made in political

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that -- the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: the senator from utah, the senator from kentucky, the senator from new hampshire, the senator from georgia, the senator from florida, and the senator from idaho -- wyoming be included -- they all run together out there -- be included in the colloquy if that -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, very quickly, i just want to remind my colleagues that the aarp continues to be referred to as endorsing this legislation and endorsing it and supporting and opposing amendments that would have done things that they in the past have supported, so i would just urge my colleagues to look at this woaft -- one of my favorite sources of information, opinion, "the washington post," but not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been aarp's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that would come its way from many other reforms. so

they involve the mccain-feingold campaign finance act in 1990 to. in 2003, the supreme court upheld mccain-feingold in a 117 page opinion that read to me as if it were a case talking about regulating utilities and was dealing with a rate setting case. you never find free speech interrupting the analysis although the dissenters did. rothwell, in 2007 and again, they had a different mccain-feingold case. it involved in non-profit group, wisconsin right to life and their run afoul of mccain-feingold but with an ad on television telling wisconsinites to call your senators and tell them not to vote for-- not to vote to filibuster republican judicial nominees, and this was ruled by the federal election commission to be the electioneering speech because it came within 60 days of an election. that was a typo in act. congress really wanted to prohibit speaking about an election 60 years before the election. [laughter] but it accidently came out 60 days. and the supreme court in a 5-4 decision by chief justice roberts held that the law couldn't be applied to

so they are left with what senator mccain has just described. the only way they can get 60 is with all this deal making. had they chosen to go down the middle, a lot of the special interests would have been disarmed by a truly bipartisan bill. we could have done something we have been recommending from the very beginning, go step by step and fix the problems and deal with costs. all that has been lost in this desire to restructure, through this 2007 and four page bill, one sixth of our economy. thanks, everyone. -- through this 2074 page bill. >> shortly after ms. mcconnell and john mccain spoke, senate democratic leader harry reid came to the microphone to give his version of where things stand with health care bill. he spoke for about 10 minutes. >> we just completed a caucus. as you all know, the president was with us. obama has been a senator, and he understands the process we are going through now. in short, he pledged to work with us in any meaningful way he can. upon introducing him, i told him how much i appreciated the work of his staff

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senator from rhode island be recognized for ten minutes and followed by the senator from michigan, the distinguished chairman of the armed services committee, who will be speaking on the bill, and that i be recognized to follow them. mr. levin: i assume that that's for ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is that for ten minutes each? mr. mccain: i do, but i -- i just saw -- i have been around here 20-some years. the first time i have ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks, and i must say that i don't know what's happening here in this body, but i think it's wrong. and so i -- it's fine with me that it be ten minutes, but i'll tell you, i have never seen a member denied an extra minute or so, as the chair just did. mr. levin: if the senator would yield for that? i don't object to the unanimous consent request on that condition. i think that the same thing did occur earlier this afternoon for reasons which

fine gold -- mccain-feingold. it amended that as well as others related to pension. it is in the handout, you may not be able to read this on the screen. it required lawmakers to have job negotiations for post congressional employment. what is that about? remember, we had a chairman of the energy and commerce committee that is negotiating for a job with the pharmaceutical industry and he ended up with that job versus the movie industry. they have jurisdiction over the committee -- the committee had jurisdiction over the issues they were dealing with. they were dealing with the prescription drug bill under medicare. a huge conflict of interest. nobody knew about it, he was going to be paid $1.50 million. one of the reforms is that now you have to reveal it immediately to the ethics committee. it looks like people are abiding by that. both staff members, and members of the house and senate. it bans them from lobbying their colleagues for two years instead of one year. that was quite controversial with the senators a

mccain: mr.dent, i understand that there will be debate until 2:00 and then a vote on appropriations consolidated, consolidated appropriations conference report. what is consolidated appropriations conference report? it means that there are six bills, three which were never considered on the floor of the senate. that's what the senate means by consolidated, my friends. and so three of the bills were never -- we're never allowed to debate or amend or accept or reject. they are now spending spending $450 billion loaded up with 4,752 earmarks, totaling totaling $3.7 billion. 1,350 pages long. and of that, 409 pages are dedicated to listing congressional pork-barrel spending. i know that most americans are watching nfl football today, and they probably don't pay much attention to what we do on a sunday afternoon here on the floor of the senate, but if they knew, if they knew what we're about to pass, a bill that's increased spending by 14% over last year's level, with the exception, of course, with v

he and john mccain, john mccain can put those on the floor that make el cents. since john mccain used to be an independent who always brought people together. -- he put the bills are before that make no sense. senator lieberman has something within him, bitterness toward the president. host: about 15 more minutes of your call. here is something that says that senator lieberman tells harry reid to his face, all votes against the current health care bill. in a face-to-face meeting on sunday he said he would vote against the bill that includes a public option, or provisions that would extend medicare. he read the comments publicly known again on "face the nation." here is the headline on "the new york times." to portland, a republican caller. caller: it sounds to me like we're not very close to a bill in the senate on health care. i don't think the mainstream media has been telling people just how divided the democrats are on health care bill. that is what i heard from that interview yesterday. democrats are divided. host: are democrats are divided or are the so-ca

mccain: could i also ask my friend, has he seen this chart? this chart? this chart shows that the pharmaceutical companies in america have increased wholesale drug costs, which it doesn't reflect the retail drug cost, by some 8.7% increase just this year while the consumer price index, this little line here, inflation, has been minus 1.3%. now, how in the world do you justify doing that? then these are lists of the -- of the monthly -- of the increases over a year in costs of some of the most popular or much-needed prescription drugs. so why would pharmaceutical companies raise costs by some 9% unless they were anticipating some kind of deal that they went into. and i've -- i don't want to embarrass the senator from north dakota, but it isn't true when the president of the united states was a member of this body, he cosponsored this amendment? mr. dorgan: mr. president, that is the case, the president was a cosponsor of this legislation when he served here last year. i do want to say as well, when he talked about nexium, just as an example, the american c

i'm referring now to the mccain amendment. let me just explain a little bit about medicare advantage and how it works. essentially, the medicare advantage program is insurance companies. they are insurance companies that have their own officers, directors. they have their own marketing plans. they have their own administrative costs. they were concerned about the rate of return on investment, clearly, and their stockholders. these are plain and simple, garden variety, ordinary insurance companies, but in this case they are insurance companies that get revenue from payroll taxes and premiums, but they are basically insurance companies that get paid -- that give benefits to senior citizens. now, these insurance companies have been overpaid. there's not much disagreement that these insurance companies are overpaid. and how are they paid? how are these insurance companies paid? well, believe it or not, these insurance companies, medicare advantage plans, are paid according to amounts that congress sets in statute. that's what thei

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that a list of the physician organization that oppose -- organizations that oppose this act, over -- representing over 1/2 million physicians be in order. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i must say some of the debate on the other side of the aisle is a little surreal. they say they want to move ahead. and then they refuse to enter into any reasonable time agreement to consider necessary appropriations measure. i find it very impressive. i'm very impressed how the minority can maintain both if they want to move more quickly and not move at all. surreal. mr. president, i want to also explain, despite what the claims on the other vise, that we have tempted mightily together on the other side of the aisle to get health care reform passed. they claim it is one party rule, but nothing could be farther from the truth. let me explain wh

the first 17 1/2 minutes under the control of senator mccain or his designee. the next 17 minutes under the control of senator baucus or his designee. and the final 10 minutes, 5 minutes each to senator mccain and senator bennet from colorado. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: i thank the chair. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, i heard the distinguished minority leader earlier this morning in his comments say that one of the reasons they're kind of slowing this bill down and having all this debate is because it's been -- and i quote his words -- a strictly partisan venture thus far. well, i beg to differ with the minority leader. i see our distinguished ranking member of our "help" committee here on the floor. in the "help" committee -- in the "help" committee -- let me just again for the enlightment of senators -- we had 13 days of markup, 54 hours, 788 amendments were filed, 287 amendments were considered and debated and voted on or accepted, 161 republican amendments we

chairman, senator mccain, distinguished members thof committee, thank you for your time today.let me state right up front i support fully and without hesitation the president's decision. and i appreciate the opportunity to contribute to what i believe was a healthy and productive discussion. i've seen my share of internal debates about various national security issues, especially over the course of these last two years. and i can honestly say i do not remember an issue so thoroughly considered as this one. every military leader in the chain of command as well as those of the joint chiefs was given voice throughout this process and every one of us used it. we now have before us a strategy more appropriately matched to the situation on the ground in afghanistan and resources matched more appropriately to that strategy. particularly with regard to reversing the insurgency's momentum in 2010. and given the stakes in afghanistan for our own national security, as well as that of our partners around the world, i believe the time we took was well worth it. secretary clinton and gates -

mccain: mr. president, i am pleased to see my friends on the floor again today, very intelligent people like the senator from new hampshire and my friend, senator enzi, who is a expert on the issue, and the rest of us who just know that a fight that's not joined is a fight not enjoyed. so i look forward again to another spirited discussion with my colleagues. but maybe if i could just take up -- start with -- if i could just take up a point about the debate and discussion we had yesterday on the floor. would the senator from montana, the chairman of the committee -- with the senator from montana, it is chairman of the committee, where he asked me why did i think that certain groups supported the -- this legislation that's pending before the senate. and i said i didn't know what kind of deals had been cut. and i referred to the deal that was made with pharma and others. and so i didn't know exactly why because i'm not taken into the discussions and negotiations off the floor in the office wa -- in

senator mccain? >> thank you. i want to thank general mcchrystal and ambassador i can vary for joining us today. i want to thank you both for your distinguished service to our country. i want to express my deep gratitude to the americans you lead as well as their families who are serving and sacrificing at this moment. i want to reiterate that i support the president's policy for afghanistan. i think he made the right decision, a brave decision against the objections of many in his own party. to reject half measures on the counterinsurgency strategy into resources properly. i think the policy can succeed. i think it deserves robust public support both from the public and democrats alike. my main concern is the decision to begin with drawing our forces in 2011 regardless of conditions on the ground. we discuss this issue a lot last week. i appreciate the efforts. they are trying to clarify the meaning of this decision. i understand that this marks the beginning of a process. the pace of our drawdown will be conditi

mccain: could i -- the answer is obviously that i don't know. and i'd like to say to the senator from tennessee -- and dr. barrasso is here as well. i'm not sure how -- a lot of americans have heard of the congressional budget office. i'm not sure many have heard of the centers for medicare and medicaid services which is part of the department of health and human services. aren't they the people whose entire focus is not on the entire budget, as c.b.o. is, but just on medicare and medicaid so that they can make determinations as to the future and impact the various pieces of legislation on the specifically medicare and medicaid? is that a correct assessment? mr. alexander: the senator from arizona is exactly right. if i -- i believe i have my figures right. i believe mr. samuelson said in his column the other day that in 1980, the federal government was spending 10% of all our dollars on health care. today it's 25%. and this is the agency that's in charge of that massive federal expenditure every year. mr. mccain: i thank my friend, because the

host: senator john mccain from yesterday.e senate will reconvene at noon eastern for continued debate. follow it on c-span2,ñr Ñiñrand- span radio. even call it also on your iphone with the news ap app. caller: good morning. Ñimy question was whether senatr byrd was there to vote? host: he was. it is written about in the washington post this morning by david milbank. -- dana milbank. at 2:00 on sunday afternoon -- at 4:00 p.m. sunday afternoon, nine hours before the vote would effectively clinched the legislation's passage, senator coburn went to the senate floor to propose a prayer. next up is arlington, new jersey, on the independent line. caller: 01 to make a few comments on tom harkin's remarks -- i want to make a few commons. the statement that republicans are in disarray is the biggest joke. they have stood firm in opposition of this massive entitlement. the democrats of the ones who could not get their act together until they bribed landrieu and now nelson. with respect to senator mccain's statement, it is obvious that