mr. bachus. mr. bachus aye. mr.ye -- >> with that vote, the senate made history today, confirming judge sonia sotomayor. nine republicans joined the democrats, ted kennedy couldn't vote because of health reasons. what are the political consequences? time for "the fix." roger simon writes for the politico. let's talk ethnic politics. will this be a crashing defeat for republicans, people out west especially? >> this is a softball from the obama administration. she was such a traditionalist. and the republicans, all they had to do was maintain an even tone and not go after her, and basically actually win some points. >> did you think they went soft on her? >> not for political reasons. i think it's fair to vote against someone if you don't believe in their qualifications, but she was incredibly qualified. the tone that surrounded her. i remember watching those hearings. i felt uncomfortable. not only as a woman, but -- >> who bugged you? >> well, lindsey graham, when he started off his conversation by saying, i like h

mr. bachus added, meaning cameras. and he posited the agitateors were paid and probably from out of state. i could just sense it he said. first hint that some of the senator's instincts might be admirable but it is wrapped inside the caustic reminder this is the brain trust now running health care for democrats in the senate. meanwhile in another town hall event in dartmouth, mass last night congressman barney frank dismissing a nazi comparison as all such comparisons should be dismissed. >> they say we need to limit medicare expenditures in order to do that, in order to reduce the deficit. that's the origin of this policy. this is the t4 policy of the hitler policy in 1939 where he said certain lives are not worth living. certain people we should not spend the money to keep them alive. my question to you is why do you continue to support a nazi policy as obama has expressly supported the policy. why are you supporting it? >> i'm going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. on what pl

mr. bachus you are not the senator from sharing plough global health care even if they have given you 76e-election. ms. lincoln, you are not the senator from devita dialysis. because, ladies and gentlemen, president lincoln did not promise that this nation shall have a new death of freedom and that government of the corporation by the corporation for the corporation shall not perish from this earth. good night and good luck. my very great pleasure to say good evening to my very dear friend, rachel madow. >> thank you, keith. we missed you a lot.

mr. bachus you are not the senator from sharing plough global health care even if they have given you 76 re-election. ms. lincoln, you are not the senator from devita dialysis. because, ladies and gentlemen, president lincoln did not promise that this nation shall have a new death of freedom and that government of the corporation by the corporation for the corporation shall not perish from this earth. good night and good luck. \my very great pleasure to say good evening to my dear friend rachel maddow. >> welcome back, keith. we missed you a lot. tonight we report on the somewhat scary turn toward a political tactic in this country. we have upsetting footage to show you from settings that used to be for politics that are now descending toward something that looks a lot more like street fights. the senator john ensign scandal also takes a turn today raising some difficult questions now for the republican party itself. and cash for clunkers worked so perfectly that obviously it must now die. senator sherrod brown of ohio will join us. we begin tonight with recess. recess. it's recess time.

mr. bachus, is up for five minute >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. meyer, you described the proposed changes as incremental to the federal reserve. >> right. >> reading the treasury proposal on what they say about it -- they say this report proposes a number of changes to the formal powers and duties to the federal reserve including the addition of several new financial stability financial responsibilities. these proposals would put into effect the biggest changes to a federal reserve authority in years our decades. >> so i think you have to read the rest of the report and see whether you agree with that. i read the rest of the report and i don't see that there is this vast new -- now this administration possibly wants to look at this as a more sweeping set of proposals than perhaps it is. >> okay. but as the vice cirman said, this is not the case. >> okay. so actually you don't agree with their description of their own plan. >> absolutely not. >> okay. let me ask the panelists, can you function as a systemic isk regulator of significantly -- signifi

mr. bachus. >> thank you, chaman. chairman, i don't think there's anything that is in such sharp contrast as the administration's proposalor the feds roll and this a of the republicans i the house. we particularly object to what we see is allowing the fed to become a permanent bailout agency. and we believe that that is most troubling. that's allowed, they will sacrifice their independence. and there's absolutely impossible to make them an independent agency. and allow them to function as they are and yet give them the opportunity to guarantee billions of dollars without substantially increasing their accountability and transpabency. but i do thank you for holding this hearing. ether regulatory power and sweeping new powers really should be centralized and given to the federal reserve at a time when our country isaising unprecedented fisca enomic, and monetary policy challenges, we believe is very problematic. we have some fmost experts governor collin and our second panel. we look fward to your testimony. during the

mr. bachus for three minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you convening this hearing.ed a new made during the new deal to make homeownership more affordable, and they created freddie mac with a similar purpose in 1970. neither provides home loans. instead, their purpose is to increase the funding available for home mortgage financing, either by providing credit guarantees on mortgage-backed securities, or by directly investing in mortgages and mortgage related securities through their retained mortgage portfolios. to further their missions, the gse's congressional charters granted them unique privileges, shielding them from many of the financial standards and tax burdens imposed on their competitors. these benefits created a perception that fannie and freddie were backed by the u.s. government, and this implicit guarantee also provided them a funding advantage over private-sector participants. not surprisingly, over time that gse's advantages in enabled them to dominate secondary mortgage market. today they have more than five points on an opposition outstanding, an am

bachus's. so there is a whole industry here working against reform. the president needs to stop acting as though everybody's interests are aligned. >> to that end never mind how mr. obama can do this but how can mr. reed the senate democratic leader continue to keep a straight face and treat mr. grassley as a respectable player in this issue after what he said today in front of actual, living, breathing people? >> well, he should not. actually, i think senator reed should actually call for a vote of censure on senator grassley. remember, republicans do that a lot. whenever a democrat says something which doesn't make sense, which crosses a line, they call for a vote of censure. what about calling for a vote of censure on senator grassley? he absolutely lied about what is in the bill and he's a senator, not just a member of the fringe. he's not rush limbaugh or anne coulter or michelle malkin. he is a united states senator. there should be certain things he does not do or say. >> do we assume in both of these cases somebody got to them both in isakson's case and in grassley's and said if do you not repudiate what you seem to have said yesterday this good behavior