my dad is on medicare. we're going to protect medicare. republican and democrat, we're going to do that. but as the gentleman pointed out, it goes broke in the year 2017 and we certainly don't need to be taking from medicare to pay for a new entitlement. medicaid, as has been pointed out, many doctors will not take medicaid payments any more because it's broke and it doesn't reimburse at -- at a market rate. and so we see in my home state of mississippi, 60% of the doctors will not take medicaid, and yet there's some people in this building, there's some people in this country within the sound of my voice who believe that somehow a huge $2.5 trillion takeover of one-sixth of our economy can work and will not be like the census, like freddie and fannie, like the post office and the highway trust fund and will not be broke. it is -- it comes down to a difference in philosophy. but certainly we ought to all agree that savings that we find in medicare ought to be used to shore up medicare and make sure it's there for -- for people like my and

medicare advantage provides the only choice in the medicare program. allowing an option for seniors who want additional benefits are a better option. medicare advantage is working for nearly 11 million seniors to give them a choice about their health care and better benefits. as i mentioned, 330,000 beneficiaries in my state of arizona are on medicare advantage, and they would see benefit reductions or their plan disappear. 89% of seniors need and have some form of supplemental coverage on top of medicare to provide protection against out-of-pocket costs or additional benefits. many low-income americans and minorities rely on medicare advantage as their supplemental coverage. some have claimed that cutting the -- quote -- "extra payments to medicare advantage plans reduces insurance company profits. under federal law, that's simply not the case. the fact is, 75% of those extra payments go directly to extra benefits for seniors under current law. the other 25% goes back to the federal government. unfortunately, those extra benefits will be taken from se

in medicare. and yet, the money that's being cut from medicare isn't being used to save medicare. it's to start a whole new program that's going to cause americans who have insurance to pay more. it's going to cause people that don't have any insurance to make it harder to get, or if they go to an emergency room, have to pay more, that bill is going to be higher. all because of what i believe is an irresponsible piece of legislation that is going to be a huge weight on our american economy at a time when you have 10.2% unemployment. but i see the senator from nevada has -- he has a similar copy of the bills next to him and he may want to chime in on what he is seeing in his home state and what he is hearing from people who live in nevada and the small businesses as well as the hospitals and providers. mr. ensign: if the senator would yield? we -- these pieces of legislation that we have before us, we put them on our desks to show the american people exactly what we're dealing with. we have only ju

will go on medicare? >> it is millions of people with a cost to the state and you will nazi it in this bill because there will make the states pay over $20 billion because it is a matching program. they get off the books of washington embedded is still the taxpayers of the state and that will drive up the cost for individuals as well. >> because we're in a practice of medicine and other gases and better from wyoming i have heard members as high as 15 million new people on medicaid plus we have a new public options so there will be more people on another government plan. as far as cost shifting those of us who have private insurance and the tents what will happen to their cost of insurance when more people are on government plans? 15 million more who are going to go onto the medicaid rolls because there is a -- medicaid roles because there is a difference between the senate bill and the house bill as to how many more folks they move onto the medicaid roles. but either way, you're talking tens and tens of b

and slashing medicare -- slashing medicare for seniors, in missouri, already medicare only pays 8 0% of the costs. -- 80% of the costs. more and more doctors and hospitals have to limit the number of medicare patients they can accept. if we continue and if they push through this medicare cut, then fewer and fewer medicare patients are going to be able to get health care. madam president, i hope my colleagues will listen to what the american people are telling us and vote against the bill. that's certainly the message i'm getting from missouri. and i yield the floor. mr. sessions: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i thank senator bond -- i think senator bond has certainly delineated some of the fiscal impossibilities in this bill, as has our former budget chairman and now ranking member of the budget committee, judd gregg, has delineated. he's studied this very, very hard. the information he provided to this congress and to the american people is accurate. i've tried to think what i should say about this bill this morning and be realistic

medicare pays $1,700 in rentals. not only is that coming out of the trust fund, but because beneficiaries are paying a copiague, that means they're paying for two hundred dollars that he does not need to. we need to be much more responsive. there are bills right now that would allow the medicare program to stop pena as quickly as it does in fraud hot spots. under the law, medicare has to pay a claim within 30 days. they have billions of claims coming through every year. less than 3% are reviewed before payment. we need to change the system to a prevent and detect. host: tweet here. is there anything in the house health care legislation proposal that addresses the issue of fraud? guest: there are a number of provisions in both bills that would help. they would tighten up on eligibility, make it easier to close out scams quickly, suspend payments when we believe there is evidence of fraud. at the bottom of every one of those medicare bills that they get is a number that they can call if they think there's a problem wit

massive effect on medicare.ow, the senator from wyoming mentioned there are a few gimmicks here on top of just that huge gimmick, this massive bait and switch, that this is a a $800 billion bill when in fact it's a $2.5 trillion bill. there are a lot of other games in here that deal with budgeting. i found one of the more entertaining ones: the fact that they take credit in this bill for creating a new program called the class act. a massive, massive new program, long-term care program. they take credit in this bill as that being a budget surplus item. how do they figure that out? well, because on a long-term care program, basically people in their 20's, 30's, 40's, even into their 50's, they pay into it. they are like -- it's like buying insurance under this plan. and so that money comes into the federal treasury. what they don't account for is when those folks go into their long-term care facility and the money goes out. the money goes out at an incredibly fast rate, and the program balloons radically in its c

under medicare. medicare was an equalizer. it worked. that is consistent with how people on medicare field. studies have found 60% of those on medicare rented a nine or ten on a scale of positive values, nine or ten, 90 or 100% said yes we like medicare. in contrast to only 40% of those on private insurance ranked it positively in that way hand multiple surveys back this up. 68% feel their interests comes first when it comes to health care under medicare. only 48% of those on private insurance feel that way. staring us right in the face, 40 years of the successful health care program one that has made the united states one of the best in the world that treating cancer, one of the few areas we do better than most of the world. we talk about how bad we do in the world, but-- why? because those people are treated by a single-payer system, medicare. it works. so rather than taking up people like, what has been shown to be effective what is uniquely american, what is the low bureacracy of three to 4% comp

in medicare. and yet, the money that's being cut from medicare isn't being used to save medicare. it's to start a whole new program that's going to cause americans who have insurance to pay more. it's going to cause people that don't have any insurance to make it harder to get, or if they go to an emergency room, have to pay more, that bill is going to be higher. all because of what i believe is an irresponsible piece of legislation that is going to be a huge weight on our american economy at a time when you have 10.2% unemployment. but i see the senator from nevada has -- he has a similar copy of the bills next to him and he may want to chime in on what he is seeing in his home state and what he is hearing from people who live in nevada and the small businesses as well as the hospitals and providers. mr. ensign: if the senator would yield? we -- these pieces of legislation that we have before us, we put them on our desks to show the american people exactly what we're dealing with. we have only ju

medicare cuts? we're already having a problem with medicare solvency. it's going to go broke and we're going to take $464 billion from medicare. and then we're going to form sperm commission and -- a special commission and this commission will be able to tell us on an annual basis where we can make cuts in medicare so that it doesn't go broke. but let's see, there's a deal with the hospitals that they're not going to be touched and there's a deal with the doctors that they're not going to be touched and, in fact, they're just going to be increased and there's a deal with pharma where they're not going to be touched. who does that leave? that means cutting benefits for seniors. they and home health care and nursing homes are the only places that you can cut it if you let those other people off the hook, and that's what the bill does. so when it comes to long-term care provisions in the bill that the budget committee chairman conrad has referred to as a ponzi scheme, you have to be a little bit worried. if washington accounting had to come under the same

i will give one example from medicare. the numbers in the papers about amount of medicare spending in a year -- that does not follow the rules of payment for medicatere. when they do the audit, they find a block of money that does not follow the rules. maybe that is abuse. but an amount of misguided payments are misguided because the paperwork was not filled out right, a social security number was not filled out correctly by the patient, or some other mistake was made, but if that mistake had been corrected, the payment would have been appropriate. it is a violation of the rules in some sense, but it is not what most people would think of as true abuse or waste, and certainly is not fraud. when we look, for example, a proposals to ferret out fraud in medicare, the amount of money at stake, according to most estimates, is much smaller than the number people hear about in terms of the payments that don't follow the rules. you look at the best guess people have about how much fraud for is -- fraud there is. with the tools tha

medicare cuts? we're already having a problem with medicare solvency. it's going to go broke and we're going to take $464 billion from medicare. and then we're going to form sperm commission and -- a special commission and this commission will be able to tell us on an annual basis where we can make cuts in medicare so that it doesn't go broke. but let's see, there's a deal with the hospitals that they're not going to be touched and there's a deal with the doctors that they're not going to be touched and, in fact, they're just going to be increased and there's a deal with pharma where they're not going to be touched. who does that leave? that means cutting benefits for seniors. they and home health care and nursing homes are the only places that you can cut it if you let those other people off the hook, and that's what the bill does. so when it comes to long-term care provisions in the bill that the budget committee chairman conrad has referred to as a ponzi scheme, you have to be a little bit worried. if washington accounting had to come under the same

more than 100,000 vermonters have medicare insurance. the arguments that were made against creating medicare may sound familiar. opponents of medicare when it first came up tried to demonize the plan. they claimed it would never work. how could government run a program like this? and they ignored those older americans living in poverty. but eventually members from both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats, worked together. they passed a bill that's one of the most successful and popular programs in america today. vermont's entire congressional delegation, which it has always been at that time, was republican, they supported passage of that landmark legislation. but today we have a health system of contradictions. federal investments in research and private investments in development have produced modern medical marvels and the equipment, the training, the technique and drugs that are available to many americans. yet, in the prices we pay, in the lack of access to basic medical care, in the loopholes, in the red tape that plague

medicare pays $1,700 in rentals.ot only is that coming out of the trust fund, but because beneficiaries are paying a copiague, that means they're paying for two hundred dollars that he does not need to. we need to be much more responsive. there are bills right now that would allow the medicare program to stop pena as quickly as it does in fraud hot spots. under the law, medicare has to pay a claim within 30 days. they have billions of claims coming through every year. less than 3% are reviewed before payment. we need to change the system to a prevent and detect. host: tweet here. is there anything in the house health care legislation proposal that addresses the issue of fraud? guest: there are a number of provisions in both bills that would help. they would tighten up on eligibility, make it easier to close out scams quickly, suspend payments when we believe there is evidence of fraud. at the bottom of every one of those medicare bills that they get is a number that they can call if they think there's a problem with

medicare which are remand for years and worked for for 30 years -- it does not run the medicare program blue cross plans run it. medicare hands of the checkbook to blue cross the right their checks from the treasury. those plans have no money and risk. the government "negotiates" prices which is to say it fixes prices. every doctor gets paid the same for an office visit. in my opinion that creates horrible incentives for volumes. if every provider gets paid the same, that is terrible. medicare part d decide not to put the money of the treasury at risk. . . guest: by any standard, this came in roughly a third less than expected. it is exactly contrary to what you said, that it would be a very expensive program. it is tough and confusing and some people obviously are not happy with it, but it has come in way under budget, and it is a model that i hope democrats and republicans look at for making it health care system tightly regulated, more competitively, and not fixing prices -- and not having the government fixed prices. my agency was $800 billion a year and we spent half of the other h

let's move to the independent medicare advisory group. that's the second wall inbetween our seniors here and our frowning doctor. the oh balm many-reid bill establishes -- the obama-reid bill established a new advisory board, an unelected body of 15 experts, who will decide medicare payment policy behind closed doors with minimal congressional input. something that's happening all too often around here. and although the bill says that this anonymous board shall not include any recommendation to ration health care, what else would you call denying coverage for medicare patients based on cost? and that's what this board will do: deny a payment for knee replacements or heart surgery or breakthrough drugs, all to achieve an arbitrary government spending target. i don't know what you call that but i call that rationing, mr. president. also notice that this board will necessarily ration access to health care based on age and disability. its payments policies will only affect the elderly and disabled who receive medicare. what will be a patient'

but if we're going to find savings and medicare, we should spend it on medicare.t: please relate this current bill to ten care. it happened after i was governor. hooray, tennessee is going to cover twice as many children for the same amount of money. i remember thinking, i bet that doesn't happen. our democratic governor has done a good job of bringing it under control. but it was a promise to cover more people. for the same amount of money without reducing the costs. and it literally nearly brumented our state. -- bankrupted our state. we should start with step by step efforts the reduce costs. that's what we've offered. if people are waiting if senator mcconnell, the republican leader, to roll in a wheelbarrow with the 2,000-page republican comprehensive bill, they'll never see it. we believe in going step by step. host: let me ask you about an issue you were involved with. as the governor, you helped lead the effort to bring saturn to spring hill, tennessee. saturn is now shutting down. what impact will that have on your state and your thoughts? guest: well, it

all of these groups that help your under medicare. medicare was an equalizer. it worked. studies have found 60% of those on medicare rank at a 9 or 810 on the scale a positive value. -- nine or eigha 10 on a scale positive value. what will serve as back this up. 68% of people on medicare feel that their interest comes first three only 48% of those on private insurance feel that way. so staring us right in the face, 40 years of a successful health-care program, one that has made the united states won at the best in the world at treating cancer. we talk about how bad we're doing when we break a 37. one thing we do well as cancer. why? because they are primarily treated by the single payer system, medicare. it works. rather than seeking -- taking what people like, what has been effective and uniquely american, with the bureaucracy of 4% on like the insurance industry, they ignore the obvious solution -- medicare for all. improve it, expanded, cover everybody. that is the solution. one other point, and in this is a broader point on the economy. a study came out of rutgers ear

let me use one example from medicare. there are numbers about the amount of medicare spending in one year. it does not follow the rules for payment in medicare part c when they do what it, they find some block of money that does not follow the rule. maybe that is abuse. i don't know. when one looks more closely at that, a significant amount of misguided payments are misguided because the paperwork was not filled out write like a social security number was not filled out correctly for the patient or some other mistake was made but if that mistake had been corrected, the payment would still have been appropriate. it is a violation of the program's rules but it is not what most people would probably think of as a true abuse or waste. it certainly is not fraud. i'm not a lawyer but fraud has a particular legal definition. when we look at proposals to ferret out fraud in medicare, the amount of money at stake, according to most estimates, is much smaller than the number that people hear about in terms of these payments that do

that protects medicare beneficiaries for seniors and extends solvency of the medicare program.bility and affordability of health insurance for employees and owners of small business and the self-employed through access to health insurance exchanges and tax credits. that it enhance choice and competition of health insurance plans for small businesses and individuals without the inclusion of a government-run public option. and, madam president, that it build our nation's health care work force and ensure continued access to quality health care providers, especially in rural america. today i know that i will ultimately be held accountable by my constituents in arkansas for my votes -- all of my votes -- on health care. not the national republican senatorial committee, not by other groups from outside my state that continue to engage in the conversation that they have begun. i know that my decision to support the upcoming cloture vote on the motion to proceed is not my last nor only chance to have an impact on health care reform. in conclusion, madam president, i am optimistic and

medicare pays $1,700 in rentals.not only is that coming out of the trust fund, but because beneficiaries are paying a copiague, that means they're paying for two hundred dollars that he does not need to. we need to be much more responsive. there are bills right now that would allow the medicare program to stop pena as quickly as it does in fraud hot spots. under the law, medicare has to pay a claim within 30 days. they have billions of claims coming through every year. less than 3% are reviewed before payment. we need to change the system to a prevent and detect. host: tweet here. is there anything in the house health care legislation proposal that addresses the issue of fraud? guest: there are a number of provisions in both bills that would help. they would tighten up on eligibility, make it easier to close out scams quickly, suspend payments when we believe there is evidence of fraud. at the bottom of every one of those medicare bills that they get is a number that they can call if they think there's a problem with

in medicare today, a system that is supposed to be voluntary right now, if you do not sign up for medicareic they take away your social security. is that freedom? if you do not sign up for medicare and you go to a doctor, and he treats you and receives payment, that doctor is liable for government imposed sanctions that can be very punitive. and that doctors said piatt will give up and accept those sanctions -- and if the doctor says he will get up and except those sanctions, it will shut down the hospital. what has that to do of liberty? [unintelligible] medicare is a program i would have no part of. >> do you agree with yourself? >> absolutely. [laughter] will you listen to me? that is c-span right there. you just admitted he did not wonder gramm ought to have id. >> i want my grandmother to be free to choose. i do not want to be compelled or lose my retirement. medicare can be a great benefit to people who are free to choose to enroll. people also should be free to not enroll. >> let me ask one more question. these people deserve straight answers. aren't you tired of politicians by givi

under medicare. medicare was an equalizer. it worked. that is consistent with how people on medicare field. studies have found 60% of those on medicare rented a nine or ten on a scale of positive values, nine or ten, 90 or 100% said yes we like medicare. in contrast to only 40% of those on private insurance ranked it positively in that way hand multiple surveys back this up. 68% feel their interests comes first when it comes to health care under medicare. only 48% of those on private insurance feel that way. staring us right in the face, 40 years of the successful health care program one that has made the united states one of the best in the world that treating cancer, one of the few areas we do better than most of the world. we talk about how bad we do in the world, but-- why? because those people are treated by a single-payer system, medicare. it works. so rather than taking up people like, what has been shown to be effective what is uniquely american, what is the low bureacracy of three to 4% comp

to protect medicare and keep drug costs down.nd to ensure that no one is denied coverage due to age or health. because at aarp, we believe your health is worth fighting for. ♪ jim: just a reminder that "60 minutes" will be seen in its entirity following the game expect on the west coast where it will be on at its regularly scheduled time. that is jones, twisting for almost 10. phil: well, at 31-14, you still play with caution if you are the new york jets. of course you want to win the game but there is no use putting your quarterback in position to make another mistake. jim: this is for four more. phil: you talk about the jets, they came into the game. i know brian shodenheimer and rex ryan was hope to get sanchez off to a good start. it did not work that way but he rallied jim: swings it over to richardson. they wanted to get him off to a good start. he talked about being in command. he had that early pick. this one here by bodden that was run back for the touchdown. bodden would get him two more times. there is jones. phil: you

our plan saves lives, money and saves medicare. they will see the republican alternative, which i am sorry to say is nonexistent, so it keeps our broken system just the way it is. it lets it get even worse. we are really happy with this bill. we welcome a debate on this bill to build upon it. we look forward to bringing quality health care to the american people that they have deserved since the first days of harry truman. it is a long time since 1945 when he wrote that letter to us, but it is a time that must begin and it has begun now we will mmove forward on this. senator dodd? >> again, my congratulations to leader read for keeping us together over these past many months and to max baucus who has done a great job on the finance committee. as i mentioned earlier, ted kennedy made this because of his life and last year -- >> we just spoke to ms. kennedy and she was in tears. >> tonight, as americans, we will watch this boat as many did -- this vote, as many did. we have a lot of work in front of us. i want a debate that is long o

by law, medicare cannot reject any treatment based upon cost.0 for patients with advanced breast cancer to receive the chemotherapy drug avastin, even though it extends life only an average of a month and a half. it will pay $40,000 for a 93- year-old man with terminal cancer to get a surgically implanted defibrillator, if he happens to have heart problems, too. >> byock: i think you cannot make these decisions on a case- by-case basis. it would be much easier for us to say "we simply do not put defibrillators into people in this condition," meaning your age, your functional status, the... the ability to make full benefit of... of the defibrillator. now, that's... again, that's going to outrage a lot of people and it's... >> kroft: but you think that should happen? >> byock: i think, at some point, it has to happen. >> kroft: well, this is a version, then, of pulling grandma off the machine? >> byock: you know, i have to say, i... i think that's offensive. i... i mean, i just... i spend my life in service of affirming life. i really do. and to s

how come i cannot choose whether i want medicare or not, for example, the public option. >> in medicare, there is no choice. i am in a lawsuit right now, simply suing for the right to say no to medicare. i do not need it, i do not want it. i do want to be a ward of the state. i am a cranky old man. [laughter] i have to sue the government for the right to say no to medicare because i do not sign up for medicare, they take away my social security, make me pay back every dime i ever received, they punish any doctor who treats me by threatening his license for a least two years. they punish any hospital that would then be by shutting down the hospital. when patrick henry said "give me liberty or give me death" in the government gave the medicare. [laughter] what i am saying is if they can take medicare which was passed in 1965 and presented to america as a magnificent gesture where you are free to choose and then billy, cajole, fine, penalize, threaten everybody into it or not, if you are not, you have government-sanctioned the better punitive. if you are, you get to be a ward of the state.

under medicare. medicare was an equalizer. it worked. that is consistent with how people on medicare field. studies have found 60% of those on medicare rented a nine or ten on a scale of positive values, nine or ten, 90 or 100% said yes we like medicare. in contrast to only 40% of those on private insurance ranked it positively in that way hand multiple surveys back this up. 68% feel their interests comes first when it comes to health care under medicare. only 48% of those on private insurance feel that way. staring us right in the face, 40 years of the successful health care program one that has made the united states one of the best in the world that treating cancer, one of the few areas we do better than most of the world. we talk about how bad we do in the world, but-- why? because those people are treated by a single-payer system, medicare. it works. so rather than taking up people like, what has been shown to be effective what is uniquely american, what is the low bureacracy of three to 4% comp

and protects medicare, makes medicare stronger. >> senate democrats say their plan will cost about $850 billion often years and pay for it with fees on insurance, drug and medical companies along with higher taxes on the rich. there would be cuts to medicare and medicaid and other fees and taxes. this is estimated to cost about $350 billion less than the house version that passed two weeks ago. that one calls for medicare and medicaid cuts and new fees and taxes too. >>> how does this sound for a snack at the movies? three quarter pounders topped with 12 pats of butter? that's about what you are eating when you get a medium size popcorn and soda at the theater. a new study said popcorn at one theater was 1,200 calories. the reason for the high calorie couldn't theaters cooking with coconut oil. >>> you will fly away if you eat a bucket of those. >> you're telling me since my popcorn is floating in butter like ice cubes in my soda it's bad? >> no wonders i have a flat tire every time i finish a movie. >> you have been watching a couple of big stories for us. i know you're watching weathe

we have 3 million seniors on medicare. but what i have found here is that we do not get to be part of the process. we do not get to be part of the process that determines what is in this bill. tonight, we're going to vote on this piece of legislation that does not do good things for florida. it is going to cut half a trillion dollars from medicare, health care for seniors. it will take $120 billion out of medicare advantage. we have more than 900,000 florida seniors who enjoy a medicare advantage. i am getting phone calls and letters from my constituents who are saying, please don't cut this program. it is providing vital programs in my life. it is not only helping me with my hearing aids and other things like that, but things that are saving my life like diabetics supplies. this program takes $120 billion out of it. it does not make any sense that when we are trying to improve health care, we will take half a trillion dollars out of medicare. florida seniors do not want that. we are going to raise taxes. we are born to ra

but if we're going to find savings and medicare, we should spend it on medicare.lease relate this current bill to ten care. it happened after i was governor. hooray, tennessee is going to cover twice as many children for the same amount of money. i remember thinking, i bet that doesn't happen. our democratic governor has done a good job of bringing it under control. but it was a promise to cover more people. for the same amount of money without reducing the costs. and it literally nearly brumented our state. -- bankrupted our state. we should start with step by step efforts the reduce costs. that's what we've offered. if people are waiting if senator mcconnell, the republican leader, to roll in a wheelbarrow with the 2,000-page republican comprehensive bill, they'll never see it. we believe in going step by step. host: let me ask you about an issue you were involved with. as the governor, you helped lead the effort to bring saturn to spring hill, tennessee. saturn is now shutting down. what impact will that have on your state and your thoughts? guest: well, it wil

after that, lewis morris talks about fraud and waste in medicare and medicaid. later, ashley tallis of the carnegie endowment for international peace on the visit to the u.s. "washington journal" begins every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. later in the morning, president obama and prime minister singh will hold a joint news conference. live coverage of the news conference begins at 11:35 a.m. eastern. >> coming up, three specials on the three iconic homes of the american government. beginning thursday night at 8:00 eastern, the supreme court. then friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the white house. inside america's most famous home. beyond the velvet ropes, the public tour, our visit shows the

debate and how the bill would affect access to medical care, the public option, taxes, abortion, and medicare, why are companion network, c-span2, the only network that brings you the senate gavel-to-gavel. >> our discussion now on issues facing airline pilots, from

it also calls for medicare and medicaid cuts and new fees and taxes. lots of details. >>> a suicide bomber killed at least 17 people outside a courthouse. it happened this morning in northwestern pakistan. this attack wounded at least 45 people and this is the seventh deadly attack in and around the very same area in less than two weeks. taliban commanders have claimed responsibility for several of those attacks so far. >>> and then in about three hours nasa plans the first of three space walks at the international space station. astronauts will install a spare antenna and some new cables. it will be the first space walk for dr. robert satcher jr. who is also the first orthopedic surgeon in space. we'll have live coverage all this morning on "morning express" so stay with us. we'll take you straight to it. so why do people hate one another? a researcher at gonzaga university is leading an effort to start answering that question or try to. the ultimate goal is to create a new academic field of paint studies. the university even offered its first class o

we did not win any of the seats heating up republicans on the medicare part d. and you will not get anything like going after us. >> hawaii except the question. -- i except the question. if you are talking about going back to the health care system, they carry the framework for the 2010 election. this is not going to be the issue. if you lose a lot of seeds, this is because of the economy coming back. this will be the driver of this thing. general motors and chrysler are going out of business. we have unemployment coming down, with any confidence in the future. they will have to repeal this. >> they will not run on this in the primaries. . . whose voice has running out for the people of africa. a czech play write. i remembered it all the way here. because i only called him haval. i never called him by his first name but you know who i'm talking about. and his weapons were ink and a conviction to lead a revolution. ation couple of former presidents. george h.w. bush and -- william jefferson clinton. [applause] and what they did together, aside from freaking every

payments to doctors or medicare are not adjusted.ou can see that it is a matter of time under the extended baseline scenario the budget deficit or this case, the debt is roughly sideways for a number of years, the return to the fiscal scenario begins to move up almost immediately but in any event over the longer run, you can see the fiscal policy very clearly. let's delve a little deeper into that. let's talk about aging and health spending. this picture just shows the population of the country age 65 or older as a percentage of the population ages 20-64. this is essentially the ratio of people collecting social security, medicare and benefits to those who'll be paying the taxes to support those benefits and you can see that this line has been drifting up a little bit but over the coming two decades will move up very sharply. that is the retirement of the baby boomers. beyond the retirement, the line continues to drift up essentially due to longevity that we and others expect but there is a very sharp move up. and we are just about a

a staff of 1500. 80% of their work is dedicated to medicare and medicaid. riviera beach, fla., grace, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am a diabetic and i receive my diabetic supplies through the advertised company. one thing i do dnot understand -- when i get the copy of the bill, it always seems to have more test strips then i get. when i asked for batteries, i never get the right of countries. when i called back and i tell them that you sent the wrong batteries, they never send me any batteries. i'd tell them i need alcohol wipes. i may or may not get them, but the paperwork always goes into medicare that i received all this stuff. host: is that fraud? guest: i do not know. it sounds like the first thing you ought to do is contact the company, which you have been doing tree may be said to them a letter or in the mill -- maybe send them a letter or an e-mail. bring the medicare program into the discussion with the supplier. this may be a billiong error. that is the first thing to do, to try to pursue this with the com

they are responsible for medicare. that passing any health-care bill, however, just for political advantage is the right thing to do. i am not saying the caller said that, but a lot of people have made that leap. we have waited for 60 years. let's do this right. passing a bill that will be dysfunctional, that only transfers trillions on to the balance sheets of the companies will not do the country or either party any favors. let's take the time to do this right. host: did morning, phyllis. -- good morning, phyllis. caller: good morning, across. the lady who called about hillary clinton -- hillary clinton deserved what she got. her husband could have vetoed nafta. what is causing the problems is this being exported. at the war with bush who was a terrible precedent. and to the man who is in office now, mr. obama, i have in my hand a photograph of president obama at the age of nine years old with his adopted family. he received a fulbright awards, went to the occidental college -- everything paid by the fulbright and th

there would be cuts to medicare and medicaid and other fees as well as taxes. it's estimated the cost about $350 billion less, though, than the house version. that one also calls for medicare and medicaid cuts as well as new fees and taxes. >>> the fbi's checking into whether two chicago men may have played a role in terror attacks in india. the agency says one of the men was in contact with the pakistani group that india blames for last year's attacks in mumbai. police arrested the men last month. they're accused of plotting to kill a danish newspaper editor for publishing cartoons depicting the prophet muhammad. >>> president obama is on his way back to washington after an eight-day tour in asia. before taking off from south korea, mr. obama visited u.s. troops stationed at the air base in south korea. and he thanked them for their service. >> we honor you for your sacrifices. and just as you've fulfilled your responsibilities to your nation, your nation will fulfill its responsibilities to you. so as commander in chief, here's the commitment i make. we'll ma

by changing her medicare prescription plan. all we had to do was go to cvs.com and use the free savings calculator. we learned that changing your medicare part d plan could save an average of $612. woman: we just entered my prescriptions, and it compared plans for us. it was easy to find the right plan for the prescriptions i need. your cvs pharmacist can help, too. come in today, or go to cvs.com before december 31st to find the best plan for you -- at cvs/pharmacy. ♪ >> larry: the book is a major best-seller. "the time of my life." the author, the late -- hard to say that, the late patrick swayze and his wife lisa niemi. your regret you were going to tell us about, you didn't tell him you loved him enough. >> that's what it felt like. in the almost last two years he was fighting this, i said it, probably, i lost count how many times i said it. >> larry: did you say you should have said it more? >> you know what, especially after losing him, you know, i regretted every bump we ever had in our relationship. i regretted every ti

i have humana and it is far superior to medicare. i do not even deal with medicare. you should also announce that "politico" is a left-leaning group. it is not fair for you to put them out there as unbiased. host: what do you want to see happen this week with the health care debate? guest: essentially there is a push by democrats to allow, in their rhetoric, american citizens to keep the coverage that they have if they want. this has been a talking point of democrats, reassuring people that if they like the coverage they have now they would not have to give it up. host: taking a look at the other things going on this week, questions about what will happen with afghanistan, the president is making a big speech tomorrow night at afghanistan -- west point. there is a story from "the wall street journal" about the decisions on the back of the president. "rohm emmanuel added the iranian nuclear program to this week's agenda. in an interview he contended that on each front they were on better positions than when they began. moving towards imposing sanctions, moving forward

biggest expansion against health care coverage since medicare was created 40 years ago. house speaker nancy pelosi says it's a huge win for democrats. >> well, the democrats voted for the bill and a republican voted for a bill. that equals bipartisan. we're very proud to take responsibility and credit for this great victory, because it was obviously largely with democratic votes. >> so, what's in the health care bill that the house passed? perhaps the most controversial part of the bill is that it does contain the so-called public option. the government would sell insurance to those who can't find it elsewhere. but the congressional budget office predicts those premiums would be more expensive than insurance from private companies. other provisions of the bill would ban insurers from denying coverage to people because of pre-existing conditions. it also contains strict bans on using federal money to pay for abortions. democrats project the bill will extend health care coverage to 96% of americans. >>> the vote was a defeat for house republicans, who stood almost complete

does everybody really wants medicare? i don't think they do. i think there needs to be more time taken on this. guest: in the senate finance committee, this bill would apply to every american. every american would have access to the health care that congress has. that did not make it into the final bill. there are at least 20 members of congress that would vote for that. that might be an amendment that is added to this bill but i don't that it will make it all the way through. the republicans have been able to get off scot-free in this debate. they don't have to have a real serious alternative. this is true for democrats, as well. many republicans are from very conservative district. when they get home, they get congratulated. the house put forward a bill that said you could buy insurance across state lines for it if republicans had to deal with the health insurance lobby and the lobby believed they could win them over, it is difficult to get this done. it is not up to the republicans to come up with this. this is what obama ran on and the demo

to protect medicare and keep drug costs down.hat no one is denied coverage due to age or health. because at aarp, we believe your health is worth fighting for. ♪ i hired him to speak. a lot of fortune 500 companies use him. but-i'm your only employee. we're going to start using fedex to ship globally- that means billions of potential customers. we're gonna be huge. good morning! you know business is a lot like football. i just don't understand... i'm sorry dick butkus (announcer) we understand. your business could use a pep talk. visit fedex.com/peptalk by changing her medicare prescription plan. all we had to do was go to cvs.com and use the free savings calculator. we learned that changing your medicare part d plan could save an average of $612. woman: we just entered my prescriptions, and it compared plans for us. it was easy to find the right plan for the prescriptions i need. your cvs pharmacist can help, too. come in today, or go to cvs.com before december 31st to find the best plan for you -- at cvs/pharmacy. i just want f

if we don't do anything about it in 10 years we will not have medicare, probably sooner. host: west palm beach, fla. caller: thank you. i have a solution to the deficit. as we are one nation a matter what party you are in, i think we need a two-year moratorium on tax-free foundations and entities such as tax-free foundations. if these multi-billion dollar industries would pay a flat rate of taxes for two years, we would solve summit problems that this country has. that is my suggestion. host: by target these organizations specifically? guest: most of our monies have gone to the income of the kennedy foundation, the gates foundation -- because they are tax free, it is hidden money. you put $40,000 in a kio and you hide your income tax free. it is nice in good times, but we're very, very far from good times. if we want to unite this country again, there is nothing more united than the fact that no one wants to pay taxes. well, let's do a two-year moratorium on these foundations, and all the rest of the 503's and 502's. some of the charges even have hedged funds. either that

to protect medicare and keep drug costs down.ensure that no one is denied coverage due to age or health. because at aarp, we believe your health is worth fighting for. ♪ >> larry: we're in the rain forest with jack hanna on "larry king live." and a hungry ocelot. >> larry, you may have heard about the ocelot. >> larry: it smells a little weird. >> it's a urine smell that they have to mark their territory. the ocelots were sold in the '60s as a lot of pets. they're endangered now where it was in the '60s and '70ss where it wasn't in the '80s. larry, look at that coat. absolutely gorgeous. now, obviously, coats, they can now make the fake furs which is much, much better on everybody. ocelots, larry, you smell that odor. the ocelot is nocturnal, and notorious for finding birds. i've only seen them twice maybe in all of my years in central and south america because they're difficult to find right now. they're a solitary cat. they're not a social cart like a lynne, they're a solitary cat. it represents, like the jaguar for example in

follow the debate and how it will affect access to health care, the public option, abortion, and medicare. live on c-span t -- c-span-2. >> this is "america and the courts." next, a panel of supreme court scholars talk about recent changes to the high court, including the retirement of justice souter and the addition of justice sotomayor. the institute of associates program hosted this discussion earlier this month in washington d.c. this is an hour portion of the event. >> i had a discussion with justice o'connor, went on and on about how he was universally loved by all of them. he was a great storyteller, with a great set of tales about life in new hampshire. too many out there, you think of him as a recluse. he had a reputation, he did not socialize much in washington. he would eat by himself, his apple and yogurt. but he had a good relationship with colleagues and was quite active on the bench, quite forceful. he was not at all is quiet, shy retiree as you might think of him socially. the colleagues i talked to recently were on the daily basis of his absence. >> to me, he asked incred

. >> 98% of the american people, those that have medicare will be included in that number, will have health insurance. we'll make sure that 30 million more americans who don't have health insurance today will soon have it. i want to repeat, we not only protect medicare, we're making it stronger. >> now, like the house bill, the senate bill also includes the public option and so far republicans have stood almost completely united against the bill. >>> the federal government could face billions of dollars in p lawsuits over hurricane katrina. this is after a judge ruled that negligence by the army corps of engineers led to the devastating flood in 2005. yesterday a federal judge said the court didn't properly maintain the shipping channel linking new orleans to the gulf of mexico. the people in new orleans recognized the importance of this ruling. >> it's a major, major win, a vindication for st. bernard parish and our residents. so many of the people who for the last 40 years have really fought to make this known, that the mrgo was continuing to be a threat and was going to eventually

after that, the health and human services department talks about medicare and medicaid and later,

perhaps in medicare, we will ask upper-income people to pay more of their premiums.line says white house ways a new panel for the deficit. a bipartisan commission is being considered as the administration hoped to show resolve on this issue. what should be discussed in this administration? who should be in the broom? guest: i think everything should be on the table. all interest should the debt represented in the room. i think some sort of commission is a good one provided it is serious. you don't want another study commission. we don't need that. we need a commission that will take action aborte. you need leadership from both parties and something the commission will produce recommendations. also, the american people need to be involved. we do a lot of work outside of washington. we are finishing a project now with graduate leaders in seven cities around the country. they will come to washington to make their report. they are like little mini- commissions. they have been studying the issue is part of the american people are very interested in this issue. they are wi