happy new year. >> this is senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky. the new year always brings with a renewed hope and a spirit of optimism. qualities that have exemplified our nation and its people from the very start. one moment that stands out took place on this very day in 1777 along the new jersey- pennsylvania border. the continental army, under the direction of george washington, had just finished a daring but successful surprise attack on the british at trenton. in retaliation, the british launched an attack of its on on the, no army. instead of retreating, washington ordered his troops to stay and fight. it was a daring move. when the soldiers in the contra army saw the size and strength of the enemy, many of them were filled with dread. as one historian put it, even in that awful moment, these men had a sense of their own strength, a confidence in what an upper, and a feeling that province was with them that night. -- confidence in one another. against impossible odds, they broke the enemy column, forcing the british to retreat. at a moment

and citizens united president david bossie sport with reporters. >> i represented mitch mcconnell in the case and was one of the lawyers who argued it in the supreme court. this is an extraordinarily triumphant day. the court has ruled that corporations, unions, and all the rest of us may participate freely and openly and spend money on the electoral and political matters. this decision is a long time coming, and as the opinion of justice kennedy makes clear, it involves the reversal of two prior opinions, one involving senator mcconnell, one two years before. the core of it all is that the right to participate in, participate about and be heard about matters political, social, and the like is one which the public at large has an interest in. there is a listener, a viewer, a reader in trust and political views, orientation and a light -- the like which the first amendment protects, and a pledge to corporations as well as individuals. as justice kennedy pointed out in his statement in court today and his opinion points out, this is a significant protection for media corporations as we

them to strike al qaeda terrorists. >>> in his party's weekly address, senate minority leader mitch mcconnellelivered an upbeat outlook for the new year. mcconnell says that despite last year's serious challenges, he has no doubt the american people will see better days. >> two long and difficult wars, a prolonged recession, double-digital unemployment, these are difficult days for our nation. and in this new year, we're grateful for the courageous men and women of our own day who keep a lonely watch to defend the cause of liberty. we're also painfully aware of how many americans were out of work this christmas. but these challenges don't define us as a people. what's always defined america is its ability to overcome even the most daunting difficulties. >>> how do i get involved -- >> the best -- >>> on this first weekend of 2010, we're asking you to weigh in. now, if you could suggest a new year's resolution for the u.s. government, what would it be? well, brad has this to say. >>> what do you think? what should the u.s. government resolve to do in 2010? >>> police in denmark say a man with

. >> warner: senate minority leader mitch mcconnell was on the floor earlier declaring he was ready to work with the president. >> we know increased american energy without a new national energy tax will grow good jobs. we know that increasing markets for our farmers, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers overseas through trade agreements will grow good jobs. we can get these done and i hope the president will join us in calling on the majority to bring these issues to the floor here in the senate. >> reporter: and democrats promised to roll out a new jobs agenda within the week. >> the three top issues on our agenda this year are jobs, jobs, and jobs. neither party can afford to overlook this issue or it will be seen as obstructing on it. if either party does, it will be at their own political peril. >> warner: but on the house side, minority leader john boehner says mr. obama's calls for bipartisanship and his criticism of republican opposition rang hollow. >> there was nothing last night in the president's speech to indicate that there was any willingness to sit down and work together. >

happy new year. >> this is senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky. in 1777, along the new jersey- pennsylvania border, a new continental army had finished a daring and successful surprise attack on the british at trenton. in retaliation, the british wants to attack of its own on the continental army. instead of retreating, washington ordered his troops to stay and fight. it was a daring move. when the soldiers on the continental army saw the size and strength of the army against it, many were filled with dread. even in that awful moment, these men had a sense of their own strength, of confidence in one another, and a feeling that province was with them that night. against impossible odds, these ragtag patriots broke the enemy column, forcing the british to retreat. at a moment of victory, the entire continental line is said to have triumphantly chatted as one. the second battle of trenton was a great victory for washington strips and it was a great moral victory for a young nation that had become exhausted and discouraged by war. two hundred 33 years

cnn will hostx mitch mcconnell and robert gibbs.portant, but the timing is not good. to put together a health care proposal that can get through the congress. i personally would have said let's work exclusively on restarting the economic work engine again and put people back to work. i am sure that the president would say that he is working on that too. but i would have said that first. but the president won the election, and his position, you can't fix that without fixing the health care. and we found a variety of menu health care changes. >> you can see the entire interview on "newsmakers" on c-span. "washington journal" continues. host: our guest rolf mowatt larssen is c.i.a. agent. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you. host: you have a piece on al-qaeda weapons of mass destruction and you spoke that bin laden wanted to get arsenals for his weapons. guest: the three messages i am trying to convey about al-qaeda's nuclear interests, is first they mounted an intense effort. it spanned over a decade in that terrorist attemp

mitch mcconnell saying he understands why show thors might be weary of the political infighting in the nation's capital, but says disagreements are indispensable to a healthy democracy. while the u.s. faces major challenges here, the minority leader predicts better days ahead. >> two long and difficult wars, a prolonged recession, double-digit unemployment, difficult days for our nation. in this new year, we are grateful for the courageous men and women of our own day who keep a lonely watch to defend the cause of liberty. we are also painfully aware of how many americans were out of work this christmas, but these challenges don't define us as a people. what's always defined americas its ability to overcome even the most daunting difficulties. >> president barack obama is pledging to hold accountable everyone involved in that botched terror plot back on christmas day. cnn senior white house correspondent ed henry has been traveling with the president in honolulu, looking like a beautiful day. big day for the president coming out officially on record saying, yes, we are linking this thw

later in the morning, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, along with other gop leaders, talk toportersdk÷ at afghanistan, u.s. foreign policy, and the 2010 agenda for the u.s. senate. that is why the 10:00 eastern. members of the u.s. house of representatives return to capitol hill today. coming up this hour, two reporters return as for the update. after that, former republican national

if that had been mitch mcconnell saying that about an african-american candidate for president of the united states, trust me, this chairman and the dnc would be screaming for his head very much as they were with trent lott. >> jeff johnson, trent lott comparisons all over the place. are they fair? you heard tara give one a minute ago. >> let's be clear. i think this is where we start trying to make race a partisan issue, and i think we need to be able to assess each statement within the context that it is. i listen to the rnc chairman, and i think what's interesting is i would question if any republican -- i'm not a democrat here. but i question if any republican who made a racist remark has the legislative record in working with african-americans and for african-americans that harry reid has. while i don't condone the comments, i think they're inappropriate and should have been held accountable. as somebody that worked with the naacp i know that harry reid has worked to fight for issues that affect african-americans and not one or two but a plethora of issues. >> so have a lot of re

mitch mcconnell the leader in the senate, somebody who i respect he's been able to do a great job at standing tall and fighting some of the worse things from the democratic side of the aisle and put forward a series of plans from stimulus bill to health care plan in the house john boehner has kept his team together working hard in a common cause. and you have to look at someone like sara palin galvanized our party she continues to do that i expect people across the party. get great what is going on in your home state? you have an aggressive senate race for senator kennedy's seat january 19th, is the voting day. tough race for both of them? >> i think this is surprising a lot of people. most people expected that a democrat would just roll into ted kennedy's seat has ted kennedy has year after year. massachusetts is not as monolithic a liberal state as people think. they voted for reagan twice, elected a republican governor 16 straight years. right now there's a lot of anger among independents in particular about the obama health care plan. what are seeing is people are flocking to sco

. >> in the republican's weekly radio address, senator mitch mcconnell did not address the christmas day bombing plot but says the u.s. is facing "count "daunting difficulties in the new year." >> while it is true that many of us approach the issues differently at the beginning of a new year, it is important to remember that we are all united by our love of country and by a common faith that no challenge is too great for the american people to overcome. >> as for the investigation into the failed bombing, president obama says he expects final results from his advisors and recommendations as to what to do in the days to come. kimberly? >> joining me now to discuss president obama's affirmation of al-qaeda's connection to the christmas day attack is senior fellow and director of the terrorism project, walid farrah and mike baker also a host on fox news.com at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. thanks for being here, gentlemen. i'll begin with you, mike. what do you make of this? too little too late? why are we getting this information so late? >> it is odd. it seems to be behind the curve. we ha

response, mitch mcconnell did not mention the christmas day terror attempt but said with two ongoing wars and prolonged recession, these are "difficult days for our nationnation." >> these challenges don't define us as a people. what defined america has been even the most daunting dif can cullties. in the new year we can be filled with new hope and optimism that our greatest challenges will be met, better days are ahead and in the difficult times we will persevere as we always have. >> president obama says he expects a final report on the bombing investigation from his advisors in the coming days. julie? >> julie: molly henneberg in washington, thank you very much. as the u.s. renews the counterterrorism effort in yemen, the failed attack put a spotlight on umar farouk abdulmutallab's homeland of nigeria. it's a country not generally associated with extremism and even the suspect's own father reported his son's suspicious activity to the united states. so what led umar farouk abdulmutallab to radical islam? contact and reaction from nigeria coming uppen up on thex report." we're look

senator, mitch mcconnell says the new year brings renewed hope and optimism. with two on going wars, recession and unemployment 10%, obama says it's difficult days for our nation, but went on to say these challenges do not define us as a people and difficult times we'll quote persevere as we always have. as for the christmas day bomb plot investigation, president obama says the u.s. had been stepping up its cooperation with the country of yemen to go after terror groups there. today, yemeni officials said they had sent several hundred extra troops to two eastern provinces where al-qaeda is said to be strong. shannon. >> shannon: molly, thanks for keeping us updated. new information about the investigation into that attempted terrorist attack on flight 253. fox news confirmed that a second man on board was taken into custody, questioned and then released. federal officials have initially denied that a second passenger was put into handcuffs, but are now apologizing for not making that information available. this apology comes after a couple on the plane told se

. >> republican leader mitch mcconnell would not foretell his own vote but predicted bernanke will get his second term. >> he is going to have have bipartisan support in the senate and anticipate he would be confirmed. >> will you vote for him. >> will have bipartisan support. >> as bernanke worked to rally support today, several more senators moved in to his column. >> i'm going to support chairman bernanke's nomination. >> and white house spokesman robert gibb voiced optimism. >> this sends a signal to greater an overall stability to have his nomination proved without political damage. and that is what we expect will happen later this week. >> for now bernanke's improving prospects appeared to help calm wall street. the dow jones industrial average gained fearly 24 points to close near 10,000 one-- 10,197. it had fallen more than 400 points last week. the nasdaq rose five points today to close above 2210. >> for a >> woodruff: for a closer look at the president's moves and messages to both main street and wall street, we get the views of two economic thinkers. robert reich is profess

if that had been mitch mcconnell saying that about an african-american candidate for president of the united states, trust me, this chairman and the dnc would be screaming for his head very much as they were with trent lott. and the reality of it is racism, and racist conversations have no place today in america. this term, this you know, like he's going to pass, for example, for white america because he's you know, got this negro die alikt, that's language that harken back to the 1950s and 60s and confirms to me a mind-set out of step with where america is. but i can assure you if i had as national chairman said that well, it's all behind us and he's apologized let's move on, no one would be accepting that. there has to be a consequence here if the standard is the one that was set in 2002 with trent lott. >> is the consequence that senator reid should step down? >> i believe it is. whether he steps down today or i retire him in november either way he will not be the leader in 2011. >> governor kaine. >> well, first, the senator said i mean, chairman steel said earlier that the republ

republic leader mitch mcconnell iticized the idea as too all. >> freezg non-defense domestic discretionary spding would be a go idea. however,f you put into the baseli the stimulus, tp, and you account for inflation,t's not nearly as big a step as e american people are asng us to take. >>oodruff: the president is expected to dress the deficit, among otheeconomic issues, inuding unemployment, in his state of the union msage tomorrow night. in an interview with abc new diane sawyer, mr. obama acknowledged some choices he will make are not litically popular. >> the one thing i'm clear aut is that i'd raer be really good one-term present than a mediocre twoerm president. i willot slow down in terms of gog after the big problems that this untry faces. i am not backing o the need for us to ckle these big problems in a serious y. >> woodruff: but new nbers out today from the congrsional budg office confirmed the magnitude of the challen fang white house officials-- creating jobs while tting spending. the deficit for the ye is predicted to be $1.3trillion. senators graled with options to bring dow

mitch mcconnell. >> i want to especially thank president obama for being with us today.ike to thank speaker pelosi, leader john boehner, a leader reid, and the bicentennial commission for making this possible. i want to thank my good friend senator jim benning for his work on the commission did the people in my state are proud of the belt -- that that abraham lincoln was born three now -- miles south of kentucky. he was raised in a log cabin with a dirt floor, parents who did not even sign their own name. the life of the 15th president is the greatest proof we have that in america a person's dreams are limited only by his or her desire to achieve them. his greatness in a lie in the achievement of personal goals but in the greatness of his soul. many have blazed a trail of success but you have done more than this man to make it possible for so many others to do the same. choosing a single powerful quote from lincoln is hard to do. some regard his second inaugural as perhaps the greatest piece of political rhetoric in history. there are many other masterpieces. today ever

he met with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, massachusetts democrats john kerry and paul kirk, and republican senator john mccain. brown won in part on a promise to stop health care reform in its present form. he was asked today about working with democrats. >> am i open? i'm open to looking at every single bill on its merits and making a decision based on that and my first is going to look at is whether it's good for my state and then obviously if it's good for the country. >> reporter: but republican leaders-- invigorated by brown's election-- said democrats' health reform efforts are dead. house minority leader john boehner said congress should start over. >> listen, our goal is to stop this monstrosity. and we're working with our members so that we don't find ourselves in a position where they're able to pick off a few of our members and to get this bill passed. >> reporter: a white house spokesman said today president obama now agrees on the need to let the dust settle before trying to craft a health care bill that can pass, possibly with republican support. >> sreenivasan

republican leader mitch mcconnell criticized the idea as too small. >> freezing non-defense domestic discretionary spending would be a good idea. however, if you put into the baseline the stimulus, tarp, and you account for inflation, it's not nearly as big a step as the american people are asking us to take. >> woodruff: the president is expected to address the deficit, among other economic issues, including unemployment, in his state of the union message tomorrow night. in an interview with abc news' diane sawyer, mr. obama acknowledged some choices he will make are not politically popular. >> the one thing i'm clear about is that i'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president. i will not slow down in terms of going after the big problems that this country faces. i am not backing off the need for us to tackle these big problems in a serious way. >> woodruff: but new numbers out today from the congressional budget office confirmed the magnitude of the challenge facing white house officials-- creating jobs while cutting spending. the deficit for the

mitch mcconnell will be on fox news sunday. d.c.democratic delegate eleanor holmes norton and richard lugar. the sunday tv talk shows are meet the press, this week, fox news sunday. , face the nation and say that the union. you can listen to all five of these talk shows starting at noon eastern on cspan radio, 90.1 in washington, d.c., xm radio or you can follow on facebook and twitter. >> i describe myself after i left congress as a republic -- recovering congressmen. >> fred grandy was in congress for five terms. he was an actor and since 2003, he has been heard every morning on wmal talk radio in washington, d.c. and he is our guest tonight on "q&a." sunday, a tufts university professor on the 1965 voting rights act, the role it has played in black radical politics and help pave the way for future african american leadership. he will discuss his book. tuesday, your chance to talk to the authors of the best-selling "game change." this is on the 2008 presidential campaign and the impact policies. that is life tuesday morning, washi

. >> mitch mcconnell -- and was one of the lawyers who argued in the supreme court.his is an extremely triumphant day for the first amendment. they may spend money on electoral or political matters. this decision is a long time coming, and as the opinion of justice kennedy makes clear, it involves the reversal of two prior opinions, one involving senator mcconnell, and one of few years before. the core of the dog -- of it all is that the rights to head -- to participate, to be heard about matters political, social, and the light is one in which the public at large -- and the like is one in which the public at large has into interested in -- has an interest in. there are views which the first amendment protects, and that applies to corporations, as well as to individuals. as justice kennedy pointed out in court today and as his opinion points out, this is a significant protection for media corp. as well as all other corporations, because there is no way the court is going to treat media and it is any different from anyone else. corporations either have rights or do no

. >> mitch mcconnell said the very words, that this chairman and this president would be calling for his head. and they would be labelling every republican in the country as a racist for saying exactly what this chairman has just said. so if i sat here and i said what he just said, if mr mrmr. mr. mcconnell used the words, no one would find it credible. if it's not credible for me saying it, it's not credible for the democrats to sit back and say it was in the context of saying something nice. it's an old mindset when you are using language in a 2008 that harkens back to the 1950s and '60s. >> chris:r. steele, turn to your problems, and you have a few. >> problem? >> chris: yep. g.o.p. congressional leaders say they did not know that you were releasing the book right now, a 12-step program for defeating the obama agenda, until they saw you selling it on tv. and former g.o.p. chairman said they can't believe that you personally are getting paid $20,000 for a speech at a time when your party is having such money problems. >> a couple of things here. one with respect to leadership, i th

mitch mcconnell. i hope we have him. while we are waiting for that -- we will get ready for you. senate democrats face of hurdles -- hurdles to get votes. it could be part of the fallout. republicans vowed to oppose the increase. facing growing concern over the debt and president obama's switch of of the economy democrats are aiming to set the debt ceiling high and up -- as the debate opened wednesday finance committee chairman max baucus said a significant increase in the debt limit is the right thing to do. "we have gone to the restaurant, we have the in the meal, and now the only question is whether we will pay the check." let's now listen to mitch mcconnell. >> what is the bottom-line question mark is the health care bill as we know it dead? >> i sure hope so. what we ought to do, which is what we said repeatedly through the month of december -- you know, we were here every day. we ought to stop and start over and go step-by-step and concentrate on fixing the problem, which is rising cost. and we've laid out a series of things that we thought would address the cost problem wi

i know it's part of the job but i want us to focus on helping mitch mcconnell and john baneer in theongress push through the legislation to keep america moving in the right direction. and the folks out there in the grass roots feel this party will be true. it's principals and lead from the principals during this century. host: there was a new poll saying who was the face of the new party. john mccain came out on top. do you agree? guest: he's one of the many headers in this party. i remember the july when john mccain was up against the wall. i remember july seeing him in an airport in 2007 by himself catching a flight and no one paying attention to him and his determination and perseverance through that campaign to come out as an nominee is a lot of something that people should admire. he represents so much this party has to offer along with mitt romney and sarah palin and governor palete. we have the leadership that's out there and guess what's going to happen? over the course of this year and early next year, individuals will begin to emerge who will contend for the presidency that

yours sincerely, mitch mcconnell, republican leader.a call and you're shocked and saddened and stunned. that was such a call for i'm sure all of us when we learned that paula nowakowski had passed away. shakespeare said she should have died year after. there was time for such a word. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. paula will not see those tomorrows, and we are sad, and we share the sadness and loss that her family has experienced. and, john, we share the loss that you've experienced. all of us who have staff know that they've become family, not just staff, not just bureaucrats or somebody that we rely on to do that, this or the other. they become alter egos in many respects. particularly those who leave our offices. paula nowakowski had that relationship to john boehner, and indeed to others as well. since 1995, paula was an important and positive part of leader boehner's team. and in that time she earned respect throughout the congress for her political skill, for her work ethic, and her dedication to her ideals. i particularly re

i know it's part of the job but i want us to focus on helping mitch mcconnell and john baneer in the congress push through the legislation to keep america moving in the right direction. and the folks out there in the grass roots feel this party will be true. it's principals and lead from the principals during this century. host: there was a new poll saying who was the face of the new party. john mccain came out on top. do you agree? guest: he's one of the many headers in this party. i remember the july when john mccain was up against the wall. i remember july seeing him in an airport in 2007 by@@@@@@@ @ @ to come out as the nominee is something that a lot of people admire, or should admire. he represents so much that this party has to offer, along with mitt romney and sarah palin and governor pawlenty and governor general, my good friend, haley barbour. we have the leadership that is out there. over the course of this year and early next year, individuals are going to begin to emerge that will contend for the presidency, who want to represent the principles of this party nationally f

if you are concerned about this tax issue, which i think is a straw dog, because i know that mitch mcconnellnot going to appoint four senators to this group who are for some sort of massive expansion in taxes and certainly congressman bay sneer in the same -- congressman boehner is in the same camp, so i think it is something drummed up by those with other agendas. the baucus-grassley amendment basically takes it away. i'm from new hampshire. i'm using the new hampshire pronunciation. does that come off my time? so i would hope that people take a look at that amendment and agree with senato the senator ts is an appropriate amendment because it makes this whole process even stronger, and, mr. pres timt, the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: than thank you, mr. president. i thank the senator from new hampshire, senator gregg. mr. president, there's a real reason why i support to protect social security. social security is probably the most successful social program this congress, this country has ever adopted. just look at how many people it's helped. if we

mitch mcconnell was one of them and want to get involved and bridges that divide.ants to work with democrats. we will have to see if he actually does it. host: he asked -- he was as by a reporter if he could name a situation where he was an agreement with the president. he agreed on in afghanistan and that was about it. what about other possible air is a common ground? guest: that is not too long of a list. when democrats had 60 votes, they were very -- their work among themselves and saw that with health care. some are saying that big a silver lining is that now that they need at least one republican, maybe there will be more bipartisanship. democrats will not just people and to their own party. senator lieberman, centre nelson, had enormous way and elbow because they needed all the democrats together. now that they need it least one republican, maybe those conversations will be more frequent and the little bit more realistic. maybe there will be more bipartisan shepherdeship. host: senators have come out before -- for and against ben bernanke. guest: you have dem

later, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell talk to reporters about afghanistan, u.s. foreign policy, and the senate's agenda. that is live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> the veterans affairs department said that suicide rates have risen among male veterans or 18 to 29 years -- who are 18 to 29 years old. after that, the debate for an open u.s. senate seat in massachusetts. later, senate majority harry reid on this 2008 " on president barack obama's skin color and electability -- on his 2008 quote on president barack obama's skin color and electability. >> now available, c-span's book. a great read for any history buff. from his early years to his life in the white house and his relevance today. in hardcover at your favorite bookseller and now in digital audio to listen to any time. available where digital audio let downloads are sold. -- a digital audio downloads are sold. >> speakers include eric s hinseke. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> how exciting. we have about 1000 folks who have signed up for this conference so we're excited to have you here. this is our second

later in the morning, mitch mcconnell along with other gop senators talked to reporters about u.s. foreign policy and the senate's agenda. that is live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. the white house said president obama was not offended by senate majority leader harry reid's use of the term "negro" when describing the candidacy but it was an unfortunate choice of word. >> he has made amends. would you like to extend that? >> i am happy about that. i have enjoyed working with him. it has been tremendous and terrific. i have -- my heart has been warmed from the response to run the country. whether it is julian bond, a call i got today from the attorney general, eric holder. he said i've known you for a long time. anything i can do, anyone you want me to talk to, i would be glad to do that. we have a lot to do. i have spent the last couple weeks on the phone with the president and others on health care. we have a lot of work to do. >> some have suggested that your comments were uncomfortable but true. >how do you feel about that? >> i have -- i appreciate people writing nice things about me.

this is the headline -- they took about opponents including senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. raleigh, n.c. caller: yes, thank you for c- span and for your panelist. i think the reason republicans are not calling in is we are still celebrating our victory in massachusetts and planning the victory in november when we stomp democrats. obama has to go and ben bernanke has to go. banks are hammering at the average joe. they have been hitting them with special charges, increasing interest rates, lowering credit worthiness arbitrarily. it is wrong. the whole thing is a sham. they really think the average american is stupid. they all gotta go. host: lots of calls about ben bernanke, they should think about the rest of the economic team. are there changes afoot? guest: lot of rumbling. a democrat from maryland said last night that she was leaning towards a ben bernanke because she had some tough talks with the white house, including telling them they need to shake up their economic team. she would not explain exactly, but the general sense is that treasury secretary tim geithner who i

senator mitch mcconnell said the he would accept a cut spending commission but not one that had taxes on the table. >> i have told you in a lengthy conference, which i appreciate, and early story debt we talked about, thank you, it is clear to this senator that the problem is so big that you can measure the amount of deficit reduction. if you wanted to be bipartisan, since it is an american dead. it does not belong to the republicans or the democrats, but americans, incurred by americans for americans. you want that, you've got to put entitlements on the table, and if you do, you have to put taxes on the table. i am sorry that the republicans -- some republicans think otherwise. but i do not believe, i was there a long time, i do not think you can do spending alone and then later come back and bill and what you did not do. it's got to be a package. to my way of thinking, if you have got to have taxes on the table so you can look at it and see how it fits. >> i think that is the answer. and this spending commission, it existed, would not have gotten the support of democrats. you have t

senator mitch mcconnell said he would come to is spending commission but not one that has taxes on thend? >> spending. >> well, iç have told you and a lengthy conference which i appreciate an early story in which you wrote a talked-about. thank you. it is clear to this senator that the problem is so big they can measure the amount of deficit reduction you are going to have to get. and if you want to be bipartisan, since it is an american debt -- but does not belong to republicans or democrats, it was incurred by americans. if you want that, you have to put entitlements on the table. and if you do, you have to put taxes on the table. i am sorry that some republicans think otherwise, but i do not believe -- i was there a long time -- i do not believe in due spending alone and later come back and fill in what he did not do. it has got to be a package. and it has got to have taxes on the table so we can look at it and see how it fits. >> i think that is the answer. and this is spending commission, if it existed, would not have democratic support. if you walk all parties there, you have to

institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says that he does not expect any more votes on health care until scott brown -- until scott brown is sworn in as the new senator from massachusetts. >> the people of massachusetts spoke very loudly and said that the congress to go in a different direction. i think we all experience that all around the country, even though we might need from -- might not be massachusetts citizens. i was flying back from kentucky last saturday and a number of people on the plane brought up as a lot of people have, can you stop that health care bill? the most interesting was a woman who came up and said i am a constituent of yours but i am married to a man from massachusetts. here he is. and she introduced me to him. we're going to massachusetts to vote for scott brown. they made a special trip so that he could vote for scott brown. this was in many ways a national referendum. it was on the major issues that we were wrestling with, whether or not the government to take over 1/6 of our economy, raise taxe

senator mitch mcconnell said yesterday he would come to a spending commission, but not one with taxeson the table. >> he would come to would kind? >> spending. >> well, i have told you in a lengthy conference, which i appreciate an early story you wrote about what we talked about. thank you. the clear to this senator that the problem is so big that you can measure the amount of deficit reduction you're going to have to get. and if you want it to be bipartisan, since the an american debt, it doesn't belong to republicans or democrats -- it belongs to americans, incurred by americans, for americans. if you want that, you've got to put entitlements on the table. and if you to, you have to put taxes on the table. i'm sorry that some republicans think otherwise. i was there a long time. i don't think you can do spending alone and then later come back and fill in what you didn't do. it has got to be a package. and to my way of thinking, you've got to have taxes on the table so you can look at it and see how it fits. >> i think that's the answer. and this spending commission, if it existed,

. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said today that he did not expect any more senate votes on health care until scott brown is sworn in as massachusetts' new republican senator. this is 20 minutes. >> good morning, everyone to read slow in the day -- every one. slow news day? the people of massachusetts had a chance to speak yesterday and i spoke rather loudly that they would like to see the congress: a different direction. the massachusetts special election was unique in many ways but i think we all experienced it all around the country, even though we might not be massachusetts citizens. in my own case, i was flying back from kentucky last saturday and a number of people on the plane brought up, can you stop that health care bill? but most interesting was a woman that said i am a constituent of yours, but i am married to a man from massachusetts, here he is. he introduced me to him and they said we're going to massachusetts to vote for scott brown. made a special trip to go to massachusetts said that he could vote for scott brown. this was in many ways a national referendum

we've watched mitch mcconnell and john and the team on the floors of the house and the senate propose measure of measure tort reform. how do you do health care without tort reform? i don't understand that. small business pools, small businesses can pool their employees and get competition going in the insurance market. reforming the health savings accounts provisions to expand them to allow greater flexibility for individuals to save for their health care. there are so many aspects of what needs to be done in health care that are not in the bill that's before the congress right now for consideration. that we will continue to fight for and should our number -- we will be able to close the gap or indeed take control of one or both chambers. you are going to bet that we bring the issues back to the floor. >> host: do you see any similarities between this year and 1954? >> that's a good question. there are aspects, but the environment is very different. the at a to do is very different. i mean you are seeing, almost like it's accelerated. newt gingrich and i were talking about this. he is

is it him or john boehner or mitch mcconnell? it john mccain who has a record number of twitter followers? is it sarah palin? they do not have one clear leader. for 2005 after senator tom-0 and senator kerry lost, then the democrats did not have a face either. it did not hurt them for 2006. host: daytona beach. caller: good morning. host: you have a big senate race coming up in florida. caller: yes, we do. independent intellectuals understand with regards to the history --the senate of the country began under the rule of law that no one is above the law. over the past 200 years society has evolved into different groups of people. the senate reflects them. when the majority get into power the bring forth their agenda here regardless of the law. instead of advocating for health care, although law and first get the amendment. most intellectuals i know -- that is where my interest is is looking more for the principles of people. i just view the senate as a reflection of people. over the past 200 years we have gone from believing in p

. >> minority leader mitch mcconnell and other senate republicans are just back from a congressional delegation trip to afghanistan. there will speak to reporters right after "washington journal .' later, a forum on reallocating the broadband spectrum for public safety communications. a number of firefighter, sheriff, and police groups are meeting in washington to discuss the topic. >> did you know that the number one free in his app for your iphone or itouch is c-span radio? there is also a tab with links to all our podcast. it is all free and available from the app store. host: will be talking for the next 45 minutes about the 2010 congressional agenda. first off, drew armstrong of congressional quarterly -- you have a headline here. the final version is likely to include a modified version of the senate's tax on high-cost insurance plans that union groups would like to kill. it may also reflect the house as preference for boosting taxes on the wealthy. tell us about the struggle that will happen when both the house and senate get back on. health care on guest: we have a situation

[applause] >> this morning, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and other republicans hold a news conference on their delegation to afghanistan and pakistan, where they met with leaders of those nations, plus american and british military commanders. we'll is have live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span. later, emergency responders from around the country come together for a news conference on relocating the broadcast spectrum on public safety. live coverage at 5:00 p.m. also on c-span. >> did you know that the number one free news app for your iphone or ipod touch is c-span radio. now you can get quick and easy access to three streaming audio channels, c-span radio and c-span2. there's also a tab with links to all our pod& a and of afterwardd it's all free and available from the apps store. >> now available, c-span's book, abraham lincoln, great american historians on our 16t 16th president. a great read for any history buff. it's a unique, contemporary perspective on lincoln, from lincoln's early years to his life in the white house, and his relevanc

eastern on c-span, and later in the morning, mitch mcconnell along with other gop senators talked to reporters about afghanistan, u.s. foreign policy, and the senate's agenda. that is live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. now the final debate for the open seat formerly held by ted kennedy. the candidates are scott brown and joseph kennedy. this event was held at done edward kennedy institute in boston. independent candidate joe kennedy is not related to senator ted kennedy, who died last summer. >> good evening. i want to welcome all of you to this closing debate among the candidates for next week's elections to the united states senate. tuesday will be a crucial time here in massachusetts. voters will go to the polls and select a person who may well determine the outcome of a long fight over health care legislation in washington. at stake it well is jobs, energy, the environment, abortion, the war's oversea. we have much to talk about. moreover, the candidates are seeking to fill a seat that is legendary in american politics. among the giants of the past, ted kennedy and his brother john, to

is it him or john boehner or mitch mcconnell? is it john mccain who has a record number of twitter followers? is it sarah palin? they do not have one clear leader. for 2005 after senator tom-0 and senator kerry lost, then the democrats did not have a face either. it did not hurt them for 2006. host: daytona beach. caller: good morning. host: you have a big senate race coming up in florida. caller: yes, we do. independent intellectuals understand with regards to the history --the senate of the country began under the rule of law that no one is above the law. over the past 200 years society has evolved into different groups of people. the senate reflects them. when the majority get into power the bring forth their agenda here regardless of the law. instead of advocating for health care, although law and first get the amendment. most intellectuals i know -- that is where my interest is is looking more for the principles of people. i just view the senate as a reflection of people. over the past 200 years we have gone from believing i