mr. elliott then mr. rosner. >> yeah, thank you. i just wanted to say to give you a wider view i think that the countries that much of the panel here thinks are insolvent aren't necessarily insolvent. greece, clearly. but italy, for example, italy this year is going to run a primary surplus meaning that absent the interest payments, it's actually in surplus. it has had in the past decade a number of years in which the primary surplus was 4 or 5% of gdp. >> what's that attributable to? >> basically, in the last decade or so they have managed their deficits much better than they had historically and, certainly, far better than us. in the last decade, they had deficits, and these aren't primary, these are actual deficits as we normally look at, they've had deficits lower than germany over that decade, lower than france. so my point about the politics earlier is assuming that italy is insolvent essentially assumes that their political system is so bad they can't find a way to pare a few more points of gdp off of their deficit, and they'

mr. elliott and mr. rosneft. >> i think that much of the panel that -- the countries that much of the panel thinks are insolvent are not truly insolvent. greece is clear. but italy, for example, they will run a surplus this year. that means that absent the interest payment, it is actually in surplus. it has had a number of years in which the surplus was 4% or 5% of gdp. >> what is that attributable to? >> in the past decade or so, they have managed their deficits much better than they have historically, and certainly, far better than us. in the last decade, they have had deficits -- and these are not primary. these are actual deficits as we look at them. " they have had deficits lower than germany over the decade. lower than france. my point over the politics earlier, assuming that italy is insolvent, it assumes that their political system is so bad that they cannot figure way to pare a few points of gdp off of their deficit. >> you have to remember that in talking about the problems of europe, we're tal

mr. elliott and mr. rosneft. >> i think that much of the panel that -- the countries that much of the panel thinks are insolvent are not truly insolvent. greece is clear. but italy, for example, they will run a surplus this year. that means that absent the interest payment, it is actually in surplus. it has had a number of years in which the surplus was 4% or 5% of gdp. >> what is that attributable to? >> in the past decade or so, they have managed their deficits much better than they have historically, and certainly, far better than us. in the last decade, they have had deficits -- and these are not primary. these are actual deficits as we look at them. " they have had deficits lower than germany over the decade. lower than france. my point over the politics earlier, assuming that italy is insolvent, it assumes that their political system is so bad that they cannot figure way to pare a few points of gdp off of their deficit. >> you have to remember that in talking about the problems of europe, we're tal

mr. elliott will testify in 2010 our experts in the european union leaders and $400 million. we have direct investment in the european union. we are exposed to nearly $5 trillion in potential losses and commitment to european government, bank and corporation. the economic power house has become insolvent the ripple effect throughout the global economy would be catastrophic. if europe sinks into a prolonged recession, american small-business will lose out on valuable customers. retirees, retirement plans invest in european assets with a clear risk. the economy would grow more slowly or slide into recession. a healthy economy is vital to the national interest of the united states and the american taxpayer. but we must protect the american taxpayer of the euro crisis not successfully resolve the. i look forward to testimony from the government witness. ac the proper role of the u.s. government. either way europe must reform its health. benson and others need to address their short-term financial challenges but offer credible long-term debt reduction. of course if it sounds like

mrs. elliott will last if he gets up to that many. >> reporter: she might have to start helping a little bit>> it's big enough now that he can start helping. >> reporter: their son will be old enough to help. >> all right. we're glad it's fun. >> let's hope no big winds come along. >> on display now are some of the most prized possessions of one of maryland's most highly regarded politicians. we're fwaug the late william donald schafer's model trains and other sentimental keep sakes. they're in baltimore. they're holding a festival of trains and toys there. schafer was the long time mayor and then comptroller and governor at one point. he loved collecting trains as a child but lost several of them over the years. they were later recovered though and are on display. >>> dan has a look at what's coming up next. >> reporter: of course we're going to be. we're also going to be talking redskins. they are hoping for more of the same from their offense. when is the last time we said that? the wizards' three back court babies are growing up quickly. and here at verizon center, a huge game. huge game

mr. ryan elliott cunningham was arraigned on seven felony charges and get this, he told the judge, i don't remember much of the chase. >> he probably doesn't. >> doesn't it look like his joyride was very joyous, baseded on his expression. >> i think that's coming down from whatever it was that made him not remember the car chase. >>> when you guys see this video you're going to say, this is a christmas eve miracle. this is in new mexico. what you're seeing is a cop car that crashedinto the patio of a. specifically -- >> holy cow. he didn't just come in, he flipped over and was on his side. >> uh-huh. and so people had just been sitting in that patio. >> we came in and we were super excited to sit down and eat. and they had just been told, come inside, we have your table ready. when he they rushed outside, there was a fire pit. >> and i'm smelling gas and hearing gas. >> so i, i grabbed this fire pit and dragged it out into the parking lot with the help of a couple people, jumped in and helped me pull it. >> there were some propane tanks. >> we rushed everybody out the back door is what we

mr. elliott and then mr. rosner. >> i just wanted to give a wider view. i think that the countries that much of the panel here thinks

mr. lonnie quinn has the day off but john elliott of wcbs does not.is here in new york bus with another check of the weather. >> i'll be shopping later. that is great information, too. i hope people take advantage of that and help out. >>> i want to help you out with the forecast. nice and warm in the northeast and pop-up storms could be in florida but the concern is parts of texas. i think the rain/snow line just misses dallas but it is going to be a little sloppy and definitely wet in houston. to the west, though, we are going to see some accumulating snow so the problem is going to be in parts of west texas and into new mexico where you are going to be dealing with the snow. take it easy and make sure everybody has a safe hanukkah and gets ready for a nice safe christmas. >>> how sweet is rebecca jarvis? she brought in a huge tray of cookies so that is what i'm going to eat. so right now let's toss it back to the very trim rebecca. >> thank you, john. i don't know if those cookies are going to fall in line with next segment we have coming up but th

mr. president, 160 million american workers will have less money to spend on groceries and gas and rent unless congress acts on their behalf. t.s. elliott said it about as good as i can figure a way to say it when he said -- "hurry up, please. it's time." mr. reid: for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that the senate proceed to h.r. 2845. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2845, an act to amend title 49, united states code, to provide enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline transportation, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate, that any statements related to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: sck i ask unanimous consent the foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r.

mr. berger, edward herger. >> guest: he was actually the eventual winner. c-span: and elliott was.c-span: at the university of -- i went to see berger and west in person and they are different kind of styles of teaching. less is, he is not dry but he sort of is telling a story and telling the story about american history for many years. there and a lot of you know prior shenanigans going on in his classroom but i was sitting in an audience of two other people in the only visual aids he was putting up her sort of slides of historical photos. everyone was just sitting and listening to him because he kind of knew how to tell a story in there was a lot of information. he wasn't reading off of notes and just sort of staring down like this. he really was engaging with the audience, trying to see our people away? are you listening to me? amberg or was much more dynamic, kind of doing a little more jumping around but again, there weren't a lot of fireworks and he really, he did a speech at parents weekend at william williams out with parents and students but he is a math teacher. now, and