oco, overseas contingency operations savings or something like medicare -- for something like medicare doc fix? >> is a corporate to look at savings that are real. -- it is appropriate to look at savings that are real. if you look to that, at the spending in the defense accounts and overseas, the reality is that per contingencies moneys -- the contingencies moneys are being used to fund what i would consider ongoing, non-ward defense on jennings -- non-war defense functions. the reality is that those funds are real in the sense are being used today to fund non-war operations. and you would like to pull them back - >> you would like to pull them back in? >> the defense department should live within their budget. those funds are multiyear slush funds. if you do not kill those back, the reality is that those are available for expenditure -- scale those back, the reality is that those are available for expenditure. it can lead to real deficit reduction. this is going to be part of the conversation. >> we have time for a couple more questions. >> i want a fast forward. december 31, 2012, two th

reform unemployment insurance program and two-year extension of the medicare doc fix.includes forcing administration to allow the keystone xl pipeline project to be built. a move designed to win over the reluctant republicans. >> i had one or two of the colleagues saying i was on the bubble. but if this is in there, we need this. i'll vote for it. >> to pay for the overall package, nearly $80 billion would be saved by extending the salary freeze for the federal workers. changing the medical co-pay structure for civilian federal retirees and holding speck tar moction and other reform. the top house democrat blasted inclusion of the pipeline in the bill. >> a poison pill design to sink the payroll tax cut. the president said he will veto the bill. he will veto the bill. >> only the president didn't say "veto." >> any effort to tie keystone to payroll tax cut i will reject. >> the leading senate republican says mr. obama could lose more than he gai gained. >> he would be responsibl respof he vetoed the legislation. i predict he will sign it. we will get some jobs out of t

. >> the two-month extension of the holiday and unemployment benefits and medicare doc fixes. and pays for to fannie mae and freddie mac will raise 36 billion and net positive over two months. >> we have been to the brink before where we had a deadline loom two months is not long. what happens in february? >> i talked to two key senators who say they will be home for christmas for a month of that. and they will come back in for the presidential primaries and a senior senate democrat on the upcoming fight. >> when we come in to fight this battle in the month of february, the president will have his state of the union message. don't forget that and i believe that we will be in the driver seat and looking at the economy. and the republicans want the economy to tank or keep going up. >> you mention the threat of a government shut down. senate voted scen-32 to pass a one trillion government funding bill. make. thank you very much and a busy saturday ipdeed. here is the items in the spending bill. 5.8 billion and almost 40 billion for homeland security programs. that is it a five pe

medicare doc fix so doctors don't see a 28% cut in how much medicare pace them.n capitol hill -- they're going to get coupled together in some sort of package, painstaking negotiations going on between boehner, reid, president obama, 11th hour. >> luke one of the ideas you just mentioned one of the ways of paying for this is to freeze federal employees. does that include my former colleagues on capitol hill? >> it does. >> does that mean that speaker boehner's going to freeze his staff until 2015? if duck durbin had done that to me i'd be i'm out. >> maybe luke can speak to this. >> $174,000 is the salary. in the current structure they would actually freeze the salaries of members of congress as well. it would look terrible if you said look i'm going to freeze joe smith federal worker and then we're going to continue to keep our salaries and could grow over the years. >> certainly, luke, a situation that continues to develop. thank you for your latest dispatch information and sage views as always. the occupy movement is seeking to liberate the foreclosure crisis

what happens with the medicare doc-fix? guest: you go to this each time. ou have the republican proposal that will not make it to the senate. they say, this is the life we want to do a doc-fix for. generally it is two years. then there are negotiations between senate and house on how long they will do that and how long -- host: who might come to the floor if our viewers are watching this debate today? guest: this concerns every member of congress. this is not any one issue that affects every district. in general, there is no one medicare offender. every member of congress has to be a defender of medicare. host: sarah kliff, thank you for your time. coming up tomorrow, our spot on magazines series continues. we're talking with a columnist for the american

also continues the medicare doc fix so they will not see a 28% decrease in their pay when they treat sicians and a centerpiece of his jobs plan, the payroll tax cut which gives 160 million americans $1,000 in their paychecks. and that beginning of it will at least turn out for the next two months but still a long fight ahead for the president and congress making that payroll tax cut permanent. how exactly to pay for it both parties are still very much apart. >>> can democrats turn their humbling of the house gop into a long-term win? not surprisingly steve israel, spearheading the democrats' effort to take back the house, calls the payroll tax cut fight a defining moment. >> there is a deep sense of buyers remorissetse setting in moderate voters that may have voted for a tea party candidate but they don't like the congressional extremism that they got and that, i think, very much puts the house in play. >> karen and msnbc political analyst and former xhun indications director and j.p. frar, strategist for new media strategies. thank you so much for joining me, both of you. >> thank yo

also doing the medicare doc fix that they have to do every year. including the keystone xl pipeline fully paid for, no new taxes. also a two month extension. earlier today we could tell they were getting close. here is senate majority leader harry reid. >> senator mcconnell and i have just finished a meeting. we are making really good progress on being able to handle handle the issues that everyone knows are outstanding. we are not there but we are very, very close. >> and we just heard from senator john mccain off camera a few minutes ago he said any time they get close to a holiday they get close to a deal. what we are hearing is they do believe they are going to hammer out a deal to make sure people's taxes don't go up january 1st. shep? >> shepard: what's the more likely scenario in the way of a deal, mike? >> what i have been told the more likely scenario is that two month extension. the problem with that is obviously this comes up again in the middle of the presidential primaries. if it was tough to do this year it will be harder to do during

and then they wanted seniors to pay more for their medicare. and the doc fix. they wanted drug testing. they wanted a ged test before you get unemployment. a lot of nonsense. but republicans in the past have always sex tax breaks pay for themselves because they stimulate the economy. to givewhen it's time the working poor, they are stepping on their message. -- republicans in the past have always said tax breaks pay for themselves. we would also lose a point of gdp. the tax breaks are not equal. these people getting the tax relief would yolose the money. we would lose 400,000 jobs without the tax breaks. these people will spend it on gas and food and things like that. the billionaires' are not spending that money. or doingsitting on ait business to build up their middle class. on twitter has this view -- president obama released a statement. this is part of what the accur -- what he said after the deal was reached. the president will be leaving for a holiday in hawaii. there is an on-camera statement press conference scheduled by senate majority leader harry re

also the doctor fix, the medicare doc fix, that is assuming it actually gets put into place. congress has not been acting on the doc fix. the gao, this was very controversial when they trying to come out with the numbers to release to the public, again, right before christmas, and basically if we don't stick to budgets, it's going to be more like $43 trillion. that is the top number. so it's more, megyn, again that depends on congress, it depends on the supreme court and the president. there are a lot of if's in this report and it's not a good if. megyn: let's hope they find some money in their christmas stocking that they didn't know existed, cheryl. thank you. speaking of tax-payer funded promises there is a story out of philadelphia getting a lot of attention today as a city councilwoman takes advantage of a legal loophole to hit taxpayers with a massive pension bill. mary ann tasco will be stepping down from her job tomorrow but only so she can collect her pension, over $478,000. her retirement then ends on monday and that's when she returns to start a new term and resume

in addition to the medicare doc fix, the legislation extends temporary medicare payment programs. four extended and we are making reforms to some of those programs and requiring additional studies of cms to get better data of how they're working. the programs are therapy cap exception process, qi, ambulance payment add-ones and adjustments for physician office visits sometimes called gpci. in the health care world the legislation also adopts a recommendation from president obama that reduces subsidies to high income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of the part d and b premiums. this reduces spending by $13 billion in the next decade. exchange subsidies. similar to previous good government changes enacted by overwhelm bipartisan majorities and signed in to law by the president. and repeals provisions in current law that hurt physician-owned hospitals. the legislation extends through september 30th, 2012, the temporary assistance for needy families which is set to expire on december 31st of this year. the extension is bipartisan, bicam ral reforms and close the curre

in addition to the medicare doc fix, the legislation reforms and extends temporary medicare payment programs. since 2002, congress has blindly extended as many as a dozen of these programs. given that we're running $1 trillion deficit and borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar 1 we spend, the american taxpayer cannot afford of having congress skip out on proper oversight. that's why we're extending only four of those provisions and requiring additional studies from the centers of medicare and medicaid services and the government accountability office to get better data on how they're working. these programs are the therapy cap exceptions process, premium assistance for low-income seniors, ambulance payments add-ons and geographic payment for physician office visits, sometimes called gpci. in the health care field, the legislation also adopts a recommendation from president obama that reduces subsidies to high-income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of their part d and b premiums. this single change reduces spending by $31 billion in the next decade. saves $13.4 billion in was

bipartisan agreement to extend the current payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance benefits, and medicare doc fix payments for another 60 days while we continue to see common ground for a full 12-mont extension. let there be no mistake, the only way for the members of this body to prevent a tax increase on 160 million working americans is to pass the bipartisan agreement. . let me be kris cal clear. the only way of not can utting off unemployment insurance for 2.3 million americans who are currently unemployed and looking for work is to pass the bipartisan agreement. the only way to prevent funds to pay doctors who care for medicare patients is to pass the bipartisan agreement. now, when this thing happened last weekend the senate majority leader and senate minority leader demonstrated to the american people that democrats and republicans can work together. they hammered out a compromise on this important legislation. mr. speaker, i'm sure that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have heard their 20's ask as i've heard mine ask time and time again -- constituents ask and i have heard min

the tax extension also includes the so-called "doc fix" preventing medicare fee cuts to physicians. it also extends unemployment benefits, but reduces support from a maximum of 99 weeks to 59 weeks. the g.o.p. also added provisions the white house has threatened to veto, including a plan to speed up permitting for the keystone oil pipeline from canada. >> if this energy doesn't transit the united states and go to refineries here, it will go to china. >> reporter: the extension of unemployment insurance also comes with a tough new requirement. >> the idea that we should have drug testing-- and again, that's optional-- drug testing so that people receiving these benefits are not using these resources to buy drugs is not a poison pill. >> reporter: for their part, democrats are now holding up a funding bill to prevent a government shutdown until an agreement on the payroll tax cut is hammered out. >> this is not the time to be playing around with the fortunes of the american people. >> reporter: the payroll tax cut extension is expected to be signed into law, though the debate could we

and medicare docs will not see a dock in pay.ss the bill because, as you've mentioned, the 89-10 vote, it was a bipartisan vote. the caveat is this is only two months. these things need to be extended for aer y year. it's one that a lot of folks on capitol hill don't necessarily want to have but a lot of folks believe president obama likes because he's able to go around the country and talk about a middle-class vote tax cut. so business is done here on capitol hill. the house still has to pass it but for lack of better words, business is pretty much complete. signed, sealed, and delivered. and we move on to 2012 which i'm sure will be, shall we say, busy. >> to say the least. any way, senate is done, we have the house still a little bit this week. thank you so much, luke russert. >> take care, alex. be well. >> you, too. >>> mike is at the white house. >> it's saturday. let's talk about what luke was saying and how this can be a good thing in terms of the presidential campaign and -- rsh not everybody is going to be happy with th

in addition to the medicare doc fix, the legislation extends temporary medicare payment programs. four extended and we are making reforms to some of those programs and requiring additional studies of cms to get better data of how they're working. the programs are therapy cap exception process, qi, ambulance payment add-ones and adjustments for physician office visits sometimes called gpci. in the health care world the legislation also adopts a recommendation from president obama that reduces subsidies to high income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of the part d and b premiums. this reduces spending by $13 billion in the next decade. exchange subsidies. similar to previous good government changes enacted by overwhelm bipartisan majorities and signed in to law by the president. and repeals provisions in current law that hurt physician-owned hospitals. the legislation extends through september 30th, 2012, the temporary assistance for needy families which is set to expire on december 31st of this year. the extension is bipartisan, bicam ral reforms and close the curre

moreover, attaching the medicare doc fix to the same divisive policy, they have endangered seniors' access to doctors. we should support the payroll tax holiday. we should not do that at the expense of public health. if we fail to pass a clean extension of the payroll tax cut holiday, our economy will lose $30 billion, the unemployed will lose much-needed assistance. now is not the time to pay a game. we must continue assisting the unemployed. i yield back . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. gingrey: as my colleague from west georgia, congressman graves, just said, i stand before you now to employ senate democrats and president obama follow suit and support the keystone pipeline project. the pipeline, which has been delayed for more than three years by this administration, would be a critical step towards energy independence and job

we put in the medicare so-called doc fix, and we put in the keystone pipeline, and so one of the epa rules on boiler regulation that we thought was onerous, we had it removed. now, we are willing to compromise on those things. but we felt like the line in the sand was a one-year fix. and you know, i guess there has been an evolution in terms of where we are and where the democrats are, and it might seem like we've reversed positions. i know a lot of the house democrats last week who voted against the one-year bill were saying that they felt it would be better than a two-month solution, but now they're going to have to vote for the two-month solution if they feel like that's the president and their party's position. but, you know, this isn't a huge deal, michael. i mean, this is -- i've been in congress for 19 years. we go to conference committees routinely. we've done that for over 200 years. when the senate and the house disagree, we've got 11 days. i've seen bigger issues resolved in a lot shorter periods of time. and all we're saying is, you know what, we don't like what you did o

in addition to the medicare doc fix, the legislation reforms and extends temporary medicare payment programs. since 2002, congress has blindly extended as many as a dozen of these programs. given that we're running $1 trillion deficit and borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar 1 we spend, the american taxpayer cannot afford of having congress skip out on proper oversight. that's why we're extending only four of those provisions and requiring additional studies from the centers of medicare and medicaid services and the government accountability office to get better data on how they're working. these programs are the therapy cap exceptions process, premium assistance for low-income seniors, ambulance payments add-ons and geographic payment for physician office visits, sometimes called gpci. in the health care field, the legislation also adopts a recommendation from president obama that reduces subsidies to high-income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of their part d and b premiums. this single change reduces spending by $31 billion in the next decade. saves $13.4 billion in was

regular rate of 6.2%; emergency unemployment benefits will expire; and the so-called "doc fix" will lapse, causing medicareto slash payments to doctors by 27%. all that could add up to sizeable economic punch. >> if everybody thinks it will be settled soon, then the impact will be much, much smaller. where we get into trouble is if it looks like maybe that gridlock is never going to be sorted out, maybe these things are going to disappear permanently. then, the impact is really going to build. >> reporter: there is a slight chance the house or senate could blink, rushing a fix through in the few days left before the end of the year. but the most likely outcome now seems to be that a solution will not be found until late january. and many democrats seemed happy today to keep fighting a battle that pits republicans in the house against many republicans in the senate. >> what we are witnessing today is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. >> reporter: congress now seems virtually certain to end the year the way it began it-- lurching from one increasingly short-term fix or tempory

regular rate of 6.2%; emergency unemployment benefits will expire; and the so-called "doc fix" will lapse, causing medicareto slash payments to doctors by 27%. all that could add up to sizeable economic punch. >> if everybody thinks it will be settled soon, then the impact will be much, much smaller. where we get into trouble is if it looks like maybe that gridlock is never going to be sorted out, maybe these things are going to disappear permanently. then, the impact is really going to build. >> reporter: there is a slight chance the house or senate could blink, rushing a fix through in the few days left before the end of the year. but the most likely outcome now seems to be that a solution will not be found until late january. and many democrats seemed happy today to keep fighting a battle that pits republicans in the house against many republicans in the senate. >> what we are witnessing today is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. >> reporter: congress now seems virtually certain to end the year the way it began it-- lurching from one increasingly short-term fix or temporar

regular rate of 6.2%; emergency unemployment benefits will expire; and the so-called "doc fix" will lapse, causing medicareto slash payments to doctors by 27%. all that could add up to sizeable economic punch. >> if everybody thinks it will be settled soon, then the impact will be much, much smaller. where we get into trouble is if it looks like maybe that gridlock is never going to be sorted out, maybe these things are going to disappear permanently. then, the impact is really going to build. >> reporter: there is a slight chance the house or senate could blink, rushing a fix through in the few days left before the end of the year. but the most likely outcome now seems to be that a solution will not be found until late january. and many democrats seemed happy today to keep fighting a battle that pits republicans in the house against many republicans in the senate. >> what we are witnessing today is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. >> reporter: congress now seems virtually certain to end the year the way it began it-- lurching from one increasingly short-term fix or temporar

work act of 2011, which extends middle class tax relief, unemployment benefits, and the medicare reimbursement doc fix. i ask unanimous consent to insert in the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker: without objection. mr. hastings: at this time i'm pleased to yield to the distinguished gentlelady from california, ms. hahn, two minutes. the speaker: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. hahn: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague from florida for giving me this time. i want to encourage my friends and colleagues on both sides to defeat the previous question so we can work together to pass a clean extension of unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut. you know, yesterday, the house chaplain began the day with a reminer that the holidays are a time of -- reminder that the hol lays -- holidays are a time of hope. it is in that spirit of hope that congress should embrace and put aside the politics that have darkened recent discussions. last night my republican friends passed legisla

there is a discussion dealing with something in medicare called a doc fix. being proposed by democrats and republicans? guest: medicare is the federal program that pays for health care for those over 65 and the disabled. like almost every other government health care program, typically costs outstrips income. in 1997 in an effort to control costs, congress put into law something called the sustained growth rate. what this said was we are going to medicare will only spend a certain amount on health care services for the elderly every year. if i any one year the program spends more than we predict, next year the program will be cut by the same amount. the problem is if you pay physicians below their cost as being a medicare patient, they can no longer afford to see a medicare patient. every year when there was an overrun, there was a decrease, but congress always held the program steady. every year there's a decrease of, every year congress holds its steady. after 1997, we have a $20 billion deficits between where the serial cuts would a brought us and where co

. >> the doc fens sphix a medicare related issue. bottom line the shutdown would have devastated impact for those who work for the government and depend on government services it would have a major political impact as well, shep. >> feels like they have been playing us all like a fiddle. what about that voferl millionaire surtax, that's out, right? >> right. max baucus told our senior hill producer trish turner that that is done. he says that they will come up with quite likely another plan to fully pay for the payroll tax holiday but we do believe the payroll tax holiday will get hammered out bottom line, be paid for by taxing millionaires had almost zero republic support. shep. >> shepard: mike emanuel at the rotunda on capitol hill. thank you. mortgage rates again dropped to record lows this week. freddie mac reports the average fixed rate on a 30 year loan fell to 3.94%. that ties the record set earlier this fall. but apparently that's not enough to boost the housing market. the analysts say 2011 will most likely turn out to be t

insurance, it has the payroll tax cut extension, and what we call the doc fix, which deals with physician reimbursements under medicare. and then it also has the keystone pipeline language that was in the house, also in this particular senate bill. so i feel really good about where we are considering the fact that the senate democrats i don't think were comfortable with the pay-fors that were being proposed. and we would like to have gotten a full year like what was passed through the house of representatives. but this is where we are. we get a two-month extension of the three things i mentioned, plus we get the pipeline. >> okay. two months, though, is really not something that makes people feel very good. i mean, we're going to be having the same conversation in 60 days with another countdown? >> well, my guess is we probably will. we'll have to revisit this issue. like i said, that was not the the preferred alternative for many of us. we wanted to see the same thing that passed through the house of representatives pass in the senate, which was a one-year extension. but the democrats would not accept credible offset

unemployment insurance, the payroll tax cut extension, and what we call the doc fix, the deals with physician reimbursements under medicare and it also has the keystone pipeline language that was in the house also in this particular senate bill. so i feel really good about where we are considering the fact that the senate democrats i don't think were comfortable with the pay fors that were being proposed. and we would like to have gotten a full year like what was passed through the house of representatives. but this is where we are. we get a two-month extension of the three things i mentioned, plus we get the pipeline. >> okay. two months, though, is really not something that makes people feel very good. i mean, we're going to be having the same conversation in 60 days with another countdown? >> well, my guess is we probably will. we'll have to revisit this issue. that was not the preferred alternative for many of us. we wanted to see the same thing that passed through the house of representatives pass in the senate which was a one-year extension. the democrats would not accept credible offsets to pay for it in the senate