mr. yarmuth from kentucky, to join me in this colloquy. mr. yarmuth: i thank the gentlewoman. it's a great pleasure to be here today to discuss with the american people the fundamentals of the problem that we're trying to deal with with the wall street reform legislation now working its way through congress. and i had the privilege in the last congress to be a member of the oversight and government reform committee when all of this was unfolding. in the fall of 2008 when for the first time people were getting a sense that wall street was essentially operating like an unregulated casino. it was essentially the wild west of finance. and, you know, my economics training as skimpy as it may have been taught me that the financial system is -- in our capitalist form of government, in our free market, is supposed to help with the allocation of capital in its most productive way. so that capital fines -- findsity most productive uses. and what we found looking at these incidents as they unfolded in 2008 and as we have seen even until the last couple of weeks is that the giants of the

mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, i know our republican friends don't like it when we call them the party of no, but let's review the score for just a minute. on health care reform, 177 noes, no yeses. on wall street reform, 175 noes, no yeses. on the american recovery and reinvestment act, 177 noes, no yeses. let's look at the senate. in two consecutive votes whether to bring wall street reform to the floor for a debate, 40 noes, no yeses. they are just not the party of no, they are the party of no jobs for america, no energy security, no wall street reform, no consumer protections against predatory practices, for no equal pay for women in the workplace, and the party of no for tax relief for middle class families. if the republicans don't want to be called the party of no, they better learn to say yes. i yield back the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker, as t

mr. yarmuth: i ask permission to address the house for one minute.speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, i'm very happy that our republican colleagues have brought up the c.m.s. report because while they try to proclaim this is some kind of revelation, what it actually verifies is what we've been saying all along. that we will expand the coverage in this country, not by the 30 million people that it was originally protected, but now by 34 million people. for a 1% increase in our total health care costs, something said we were always going to do, we are going to insure 11% more of the population. that's a pretty good deal. another big surprise in that c.m.s. report, not just that we're going to insure more people than we thought, but we are going to extend the life of medicare's trust fund, not by nine years but 12 years, all the way to 2029. yes, there was some news in the c.m.s. report. it's good news for the american people. it's good news for medicare, and it's good news for the democratic congress which did this great s

mr. yarmuth: "alice in wonderland" is in movie theaters is out. as you heard this morning, even president reagan's domestic policy advisor says that taxes are lower by every measure since president obama became president. this congress has done an incredible job in lowering taxes for the american people. this year the average refund for working families will be $3,000, which is a 10% increase over last year. we are taking less and less out of the working family's paycheck. in fact, the federal taxes as a percentage of the national economy is at its lowest rate in nearly two generations. only in a fantasy world like "alice in wonderland" can you claim that this congress has not done a great job in lowering taxes for the american public, and we will make sure that american families have the best standard of living that we can create. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> mr. speaker, unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to rgs. the speaker pro tempore: without objec