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also, presidential candidate buddy roemer, and republican senator rob portman of ohio. up next, nbc's chuck todd, david gregory, and tony perkins joins us. >>> but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. a little bit of light rain greeting people this morning from d.c. to philly to new york. so far, the airports are doing all right. no delays reported. we could have minor delays, but it's going to be another warm day. not going to rain in this region of the country. just light rain on and off from now until about noon. forecast today, look at these temperatures. this is march weather, folks. 67 in d.c. today, 62 in new york. and just soak it up while it lasts. temperatures around the southeast also warm. as we look toward the west coast, rain this morning in seattle, that should clear out for this afternoon. a peek at tomorrow's forecast, a big highlight come thursday and friday. a little rare winter snowstorm. do you believe that? it can snow this winter. watch out denver to omaha. you're watching "morning joe"

and i know that senator portman talked about producing more. we've got to get the gulf back up and operating and producing. not only is it the home to tremendous opportunities for oil and gas both deep and shallow, but the refining capacity for the country is, in large measure, or a large part of it, and the pipeline system, which is much more robust than other pipeline systems there. so getting the gulf back up and operating, mr. chairman and ranking member, is important, and it's going to remain a priority. let me ask any of you to further discuss the significant increase in liquid fuel production because while climate is important and the environment is important, i'm really, and my constituents, are very concerned about the economic vitality of the united states going forward. the president talked about building an economy to last. people are very interested in making america more energy secure. you talked about the increase -- substantial increase in liquid fuels. could someone describe in a little bit more detail, are we talking about oil

economy and what we can expect through the spring and summer and taking questions from senator rob portman. >> you talk amgts bit about the fact that you see some signs of improvement, especially in manufacturing. those are certainly welcomwelco. you talked about the long-term unemployment that's 40% of people now unemployed for more than six months, which was twice what it was in the last recovery. i would add it to that this recovery is not like any previous recoveries. it's certainly going back to the depression which you're a student of. we're over 5 million jobs down still. 48 months after the recession. at this time after the '81 recession, which was the deepest recession in recent times, we had 6 million jobs that have been created as compared to over 500 down. even in the so-called jobless recovery in 2010 we were up at least 350,000 jobs. something is going on very different. i think the labor participation issue is a keyish and part of your mandate. you didn't talk about that in depth, but my understanding is you said earlier 8.3% is understating unemployment. if this participati

among those participating, colorado governor john hick hickenlooper and ohio senator ron portman. this runs about 50 minutes. >> it's my pleasure to introduce our panel moderator, bruce katt. bruce is vice president at the brookings institution and a founding director of the brooksings metropolitan policy program which provides people with policy ideas to preserve the health and pos terty of policy reforms. please join me in welcoming bruce and the panel. ♪ >> good morning, everyone. let's get started. i want to introduce the panel, but i just wanted to do this little preface. i think everything we've talked about this morning, whether it's technology, whether it's regulation, whether it's skilled workers, everything used to recharge american manufacturing is a federalist act. the federal government, obviously critical, states -- remember, we're a union of states -- broad towers of over mark market-shaping areas. networks a manufacturing firm and the ecosystem that supports them. we have a great panel here to have one of the few federalist companions. but critical to this panel, a

. >> senator portman. >> no by proxy. i tried to warn everybody. >> hey, that's good. >> senator paul? >> no instruction. >> senator moran. >> aye. >> senator lieberman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the ayes are 9. the nays are 0. on the vote by proxy, the ayes are 3, the nays are 4. on this vote, the ayes are 12, the nays are 4 and the amendment is agreed to. >> thank you. i thank the clerk. senator carper mentioned the word lunch break earlier, so it stuck with me. we want to try to move an amendment or two more before we break. let's see if we can keep it going. senator moran, do you have any other amendments? >> i have no other amendments, mr. chairman. thank you. >> okay. so now i just think about who is here. senator levin i believe has passed. we'll go to senator akaka for another amendment at this time. >> thank you very much. >> senator akaka? which one would you like to call up at this time?ff akaka 5. >> akaka number 5. >> this amendment on medicare. >> okay. >> i would like to come ba

senator portman is next. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and welcome, mr. zients. couple quick questions for you. senator reid has said we don't need to bring our budget to the floor this year. do you agree with that? >> i think that the most important thing is that -- >> just a yes or no. >> -- that congress act and that we pass the president's policy. >> so yes? yes or no? do you think we should take a budget to the senate floor, yes or no? >> i think the mechanics and the process are not my area of expertise. what i do -- >> that's -- i'll take that as a no. which is consistent with what the white house has said. i find it pretty amazing. >> i will note that the bca as the chairman said -- >> second question, what do you think is the most significant policy issue facing the country in terms of our fiscal policy? what's the single most important thing in terms of our fiscal posture? >> i think it's -- i think it's actually two things. the short term and the long term. short term is continuing this recovery. and we need to make sure that payroll taxes i talked abo

you may be aware that senator portman and i have sponsored energy efficiency legislation that addresses a number of sectors of the economy here. can you talk about how energy efficiency is incorporated into your projections and what increased use of energy efficiency would do to your future projections? and dr. gruenspecht, if you want to begin. viously, plays a very big role in our projections. again, we, for instance, our economic growth projection for the next 25 years for the united states, i think it's on the order of 2.5%, plus or minus. and our growth in en slower tha. like half a percent a year. so, you know, energy efficiency plays a very important role in that. i have already indicated that in our reference case projection, we build in existing laws and policies, including final regulations, but not new ones, in response to a question from the chairman, i indicatedten on proposed, likely to become final, regulation, would have a significant other policies that, you know, might be implemented by policy makers, which you are and i am not, that would, you know, also have potentia

to see it going that direction, because now you're going 80% efficiency. >> thank you. >> senator portman? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and dr. chu, thank you for being before the committee again and for working with me and other members of the committee on some important projects. i like some things in the budget. one is energy efficient as senator shaheen has just talked about. and with buildings using about 40% of the energy in this country, i think what you're talking about there is consistent with the legislation, which as you may know is introduced in the house, a companion bill yesterday. so we're hopeful that s-1000 can make its way to the floor. i appreciate the support of the ranking member on that as well. i'm concerned about some other aspects of the budget. but let me focus on something else point of view, which is a small modular reactor licensing technical support program. you funded that at $65 million. and these smrs i think are really an exciting innovation, and as you know, have safety advantages as well as economic advantages. i know that nuclear regulatory commission h

senator portman and i have a bill 1,000 that addresses energy efficiency in the industrial sector in government, and in buildings, but one of the best ways to encourage energy efficiency is by supporting the expansion of co-generation or combined heat and power. these are, the technologies used are generally off the shelf. they exist right here in the united states. the jobs that are created. the jobs are are here in the u.s. so can you talk to what the position of the department is on combined heat and power and how you address that in this upcoming budget? >> we are very bullish in combined heat and power. in today's modern, let's say gas turban generation you can get 55, 60% efficiency in converting that energy into electricity, but it's at best 60% efficient. i guess some companies claim 61% or 62% but i'm not going to quibble. and heat and power, you go up to 80%. it can be -- now, we think that, and if there's any way to encourage people to do that, that would be great. there's also new ideas and new innovations being deployed now that seem to work. here's the issue. sometimes

so the federal government critical, obviously, and we have senator portman here.ember, we're a union of states, broad powers over market-shaping areas. cities and metros are where it all comes together. and business, networks and manufacturing firms and the ecosystem that supports them. so we've got a great panel here to have one of the few federalist conversations we actually have in washington. senator portman, the senator from ohio, but as critical to this panel, former u.s. trade representative, former head of omb and coming from a state that's a major global manufacturing presence. governor john hickenlooper, governor of colorado. former mayor of denver. also a former founder of a small manufacturing firm. [laughter] okay? now, it was a microbrew, but over the weekend i actually lookedded at the north american industrial classification system, and micro brews are there as part of food production. [laughter] so greg fisher, mayor of louisville. sixteenth largest city in the united states. obviously, large manufacturing presence. and mayor fisher also was the o

sherman. >> senator portman. >> thank you mr. chairman and secretary and general dempsey thank you for being here this morning. i have told secretary panetta i was going back and forth between the committee and the budget committee, and it's interesting because i am seeing two different points of view and i commend both of you today and your comments about the need for us to deal with the unsustainable growth on the entitlement or mandatory side of the spending in response to your question from senator gramm is the mandatory for the system but you gave the simple answer colin no. i will tell you to be honest, having just engaged in the budget committee of the president's budget that was submitted yesterday it not only adds another 11 or $12 trillion to our debt taking it up to over $25 trillion but it takes a pass on any tough decisions that have to be made on the biggest part of the budget and the fastest-growing part of the budget and that is the entitlement side to beat actually grows under the numbers from 64% of the total bu

rob portman, always great to see you., senator. >> we'll talk to you soon. >> tina, that is the real challenge. how does mitt romney rev up the conservative base? >> what's interesting is romney's personal negatives have gone through the worst, how does he address that? one of the big problems he might have is -- >> approval ratings have collapsed, all of them. and is that because of the super pacs? you think? or the negative ads? >> i think it's the contentious campaign and the fact there is this dissatisfaction in general with the -- everybody seems to have an issue with somebody in the field, and they're uncomfortable, and this is a problem. john kerry was sort of in a similar position. he sort of got the nomination in '04, and by the way, democrats kept saying, you'd have democratic senator counterpart like senator portman say, you know what? they're not going to beat president bush. and you get on the ballot and it's going to be president bush, what happened? you know, kerry, you look back at history. nixon's the las

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we had senator portman here.tates, remember we're a union of states, broad powers over market-shaping areas. cities and metros are where it all comes together. and business. networks and manufacturing firms are the ecosystem that supports them. we've got a great panel here to have one of the few federalist conversations we actually have in washington. senator portman, senator from ohio, but as critical to this panel, former u.s. trade representative. former head of omb. and coming from a state that is a major global manufacturing presence. governor john hickenlooper, governor of colorado. former mayor of denver. also former founder of a small manufacturing firm. okay, now it was a micro brew but over the weekend i actually looked at the north american industrial classification system. and microbrews are there as part of food production. so, -- greg fisher, mayor of louisville. the 16th largest city in the united states. obviously large manufacturing presence. and mayor fischer also was the owner of a small manufa

continues at this hour as we expect to hear more evidence concerning dna that was found in love's portman and huguely's apartment. it is anyone's guess as to when the state will rest its case. >> there is still much more ahead on 11 news at 6:00. >> including a preview of a story of forbidden love and a baltimore couple's 50 your journey to make things right. >> oriole pitchers and catchers report to spring training. we will take a look at the chance of making a splash in the rick -- in a free agent market. >> there is some snow not too far away. right now, mild temperatures, 48 at the airport, still 50 downtown. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. >> it is the busiest day of the year for florists, with delivery trucks rolling out well before dawn to get gifts to sweetheart's all ar

his natural choice would be a rob portman. that's what you heard in that clip, right? that's exactly the discussion -- >> real low-key? >> that's exactly the discussion they were having in "game change," right? >> you get to that place that john mccain is told he can't win with any of the boring white guys. that choice may confront romney. >> i think rubio would give the best of both worlds if he would go along with it. marco rubio, excuse me. unusual demographic, at the same time a very likable guy. >> in defense of mitt romney, he's just been bashed here, he has lots of good qualities, and his private sector experience brings lots to the table. if the economy is still in the pits, it's going to be a ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options

i think his natural vice president choice would be a rob portman. chris: isn't that boring, real low key? >> that is exactly the discussion they were having in game changer. >> you get to that point where john mccain is told he can't win with the boring white guys, and that was the only way to change the game. >> i think mario rubio yo could do that. he is an unusual candidate and demographic, and he is a likable guy, and the right likes him. >> mitt romney has been bashed here. he has lots of good leadership qualities, and his private sector experience brings lots to the table. if the economy is still in the pits, it is going to be a competence game. chris: thank you very much for >> tell me something i don't know is brought to you by charles schwab. let's talk about the personal attention you and your money deserve. talk to chuck. chris: welcome back. john, tell me something i don't know. >> well, economics really aren't going to matter in this general lexi. private forecasters on wall street think unemployment is going to be below 8%, we are goin

by gerald celente director of the trends research institute he speaks up next with parties marina portman. in the autumn of two thousand a lap band of phenomenon a grassroots movement that we all know as occupy wall street became the growing face and voice of america but at the start of two thousand and eleven there was one man that predicted movement such as occupy wall street would be sweeping through the united states and that man is my current guest here to speak with r t gerald from leonti founder of the trends research institute and publisher of the trends journal thank you for saying time to speak with me again q what do you think will happen with occupy wall street twenty twelve occupy wall street is gone global you know people keep looking to america for something to happen here and then the rest of the world kind of latches on to it even though you think that american spirit is dead this whole world kind of focuses on the united states for the center of some kind of social economic geo political or cultural change and occupy wall street was just that it inspired an occupy moveme

i think his natural vice president choice would be a rob portman. chris: isn't that boring, real low key? >> that is exactly the discussion they were having in game changer. >> you get to that point where john mccain is told he can't win with the boring white guys, and that was the only way to change the game. >> i think mario rubio yo could do that. he is an unusual candidate and demographic, and he is a likable guy, and the right likes him. >> mitt romney has been bashed here. he has lots of good leadership qualities, and his private sector experience brings lots to the table. if the economy is still in the pits, it is going to be a competence game. chris: thank you very much for ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options

senator portman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i may be between you and a much-deserved break for lunch. first of all, thank you for your testimony today. i had two other hearings. i bounced around. i got to hear some of the opening and i also listened to senator mccain in his open. he talked about the reports about the link between al qaeda and iran. director clapper, last year, the treasury department talked about the high-ranking members of al qaeda who operated a facility in iran. there is a press release announcing the issue from david cohen. we are illuminating the match for terrorism. that is a troubling statement. what is your understanding of the secret deal, so-called, between iran and al qaeda? >> iran and al qaeda have had sort of a to a certain extent, a shotgun marriage. i think iran has harbored al qaeda leaders and facilitators, but under house arrest conditions. remembering that iran is a shi'ite state and al qaeda is sunni. they don't agree ideologically in the first place. i think iran was, of course, pays atten

and as you know, super committee, we have senator portman has done good work on this, did it in the super committee, a lot of that work has been done now, there are tough, tough political calls to be made,i to address tax reform the principals are clear. clean out the junk and special interest breaks and wouldn't long-term predictable tax reform address the shocks that you are concerned about for the economy? >> that is good and a good tax code promotes growth, most economists agree that a simpler fairer broader base tax code would be constructive for growth yes. >> and to converse of it all, wouldn't piece meal changes where again, we go through another round of temporary credits, temporary extensions. modification to this provision and that provision, wouldn't that make it hard u grow? >> as you appreciate, politics are complicated, but from an economic point of view, obviously the more comprehensive and clean the tax reforms or spending reforms can be, the more likely they will be good, efficient from an economic point of view and more likely they will reduce uncertainty. >> i think yo

>> if not and romney is the nominee, the finalist will çbe rob portman of ohio. >> the new york giantsll beat the new england patriots this sunday in the super bowl. >> next sunday. >> effectiv

super committee, you know, we have senator portman has done very good work on this to get night the super committee. a lot of that work has been done now. i mean there are tough, tough political calls to be made, of course, to address this tax reform. but the principles are pretty clear. much of what we've done in 1986 cleaned out a lot of the junk, especially interest breaks, the hold down rates and keeps progressist. wouldn't long perm predictable tax reform be the kind of cushion that would help address the shock that you're concerned about from the economy? >> predictability is good and a good tax code promotes growth. most economists agree that a simpler, fair ir, brofarreifair is better. wouldn't peace meal change it? again, you go to another round of temporary credit, temporary extensions, modifications to this provision, that provision. wouldn't that contribute to the uncertainty and the lack of predictability that make it hard for us to grow? >> well, senator, as you fully appreciate policy is complicated and sometimes not everything is feasible from a political point of view. bu

. >> senator portman? >> aye by proxy. >> senator paul? >> yes. >> senator moran? >> no. >> senator lieberman? >> no. >> mr. chairman on the vote of those present, the ayes are five, the nays are 12. and the amendment is not agreed to. >> okay. senator akaka. you're next. >> thank you, very much, mr. chairman. i want to offer akaka amendment number one, to strike title three regarding governmentwide workers compensation or feca reform. let me tell you why i'm offering this. feca reform should not be done in postal reform. most of the employees affected by this are not postal employees. and the savings expected from these changes would have very little effect on the postal service's deficit. feca has not been reformed in close to 40 years. we need to take a closer look at comprehensive reforms to make shush we get it right and we -- to make sure we get it right and we can include adequate measures to reduce waste. there are complex issues related to the appropriate benefit levels that deserve more analysis before we cut benefits. at a hearing i held in july, witness

. >> senator portman? >> thank you, mr. chairman. to the question as to whether energy storage is part of efficiency, yes. it is. and part of using our system more efficiently. earlier we talked about your commitment to a new enrichment technology that gives the united states the ability to get back on the cutting edge in terms of our technology, great advance and manufacturing jobs and also be able to supply our energy needs and from the national security point of view to deal with our need for dealing with the nuclear arsenal. that comes from domestic sources of enriched uranium, correct? >> correct. >> is that the policy this administration we should have a u.s. source of low enriched uranium for production at tva? >> it's not the policy. by treaty, we're obligated to have u.s. sources to create it. >> so this is a requirement that we have a domestic source. with regard to other activities, a huge campus and by the way would once again extend an invitation to you to come out. i think you would really enjoy seeing what's going on t

and as you know, super committee, we have senator portman to some very good work on this, did it in the super committee. a lot of that work has been done now. there are tough political calls to be made of course to address the texas. the principles are pretty clear. much of what was done in 1986 cleanout a lot of the giunta as special-interest breaks to hold down their rates and keep progressivity. wouldn't longer-term predictable tax reform be the kind of cushion but would help address the shocks that you are concerned about for the economy? >> predictability is good and also a good tax code itself to promote growth i think most economists agree that a simpler and fairer broadbased tax code would be constructive for growth, yes. >> wouldn't piecemeal changes, where again, we go for another round of temporary credit on a temporary extensions, modifications to the provision, wouldn't that contribute to the uncertainty and lack of predictability the would make it hard for us to grow? >> cementer as you appreciate politics is complicated and sometimes not everything is feasible. the more c

. >> senator portman. >> no by proxy. >> senator paul? >> aye. >> senator moran? >> aye. >> senator lieberman? >> no. >> mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the ayes are two, the nays are six. >> can i ask the clerk to go back to the senators we passed. >> senator landrieu. >> yes by proxy. >> senator mccaskill. >> no by proxy. >> and senator brown has just appeared so rather than his voting by proxy -- >> senator brown? okay. mr. chairman, on the vote of those present the ayes are two, the nays are seven. on the vote by proxy the ayes are four, the nays are four. on this vote, the ayes are six, the nays are ten and the amendment is notgr >> all right. i thank the clerk. thank you senator paul. senator pryor? >> i think that senator landrieu wanted to be noted that she based her vote on the napoleonic code. listen, this amendment should be noncontroversial. i think we haven't passed an amendment yet so maybe this will be the first one. >> we passed one. >> we passed one? >> noncontroversial. >> there we go. i would like to, at the appropriate time, ask tha

. >> senator portman? >> no by proxy. >> senator paul? >> no. >> senator moran? >> no. >> senator lieberman? >> no. >> mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the ayes are five, the nays are eight. on the vote by proxy, the yays are zero, the nays are three. on this vote the ayes are five, the nays are 11. and the amendment is not agreed to. >> i thank the clerk. thank you, senator akaka. of those here, let me indicate that next we'll go to senator johnson and then senator mccaskill. then senator paul, then senator tester, then senator moran and then senator begich. all of whom have amendments pending. senator johnson? >> thank you. i'd like to offer johnson amendment number one and only. i would -- like my colleague from kansas, new to this process, and as i studied the issue, there's pretty -- pretty eye popping charge here that the gao study laid out the deficits of the 30esal service and it's $250 billion and it is a quasi private quasi governmental agency here, but the fact of the matter is if we experience those types of deficits we'll be on the hook fo

it won't surprise you -- i want to ask you about the third scenario, and pick un -- up on senator portman's point with respect to tax reform. on this, i understand your answer and respect it that you couldn't do a full kind of quantitative analysis of a third approach. so i want to start by picking up on statements you have made that are on the public record that ought on the encouraging for those of us in this kind of third space where we'd like to have progrowth tax reform. for example, i was very pleased in the discussion that came up in connection with the supercommittee that you said it was possible to write a pro growth and progressive tax reform that would generate revenue for the government. you were asked that supercommittee, and again, absent the details that was something that was useful for those of us that have tried to constantly come back to this third path between the sort of parade, you know, of horribles. so let's pick up on that. are there any reasons, for example, that you can give us based on the analyses that you have done thus far that would suggest that pro growth ta

. >> senator portman? >> thank you, mr. chairman and dr. elmendorf, thank you for your testimony today and what you did in relationship to the so-called supercommittee which turned out not to be so super. we appreciate the work of your team, some of whom who are with you today. we did a lot of good analysis that i think can be helpful going forward. and in answer to the chairman's question and the ranking member's question and the confidence that people are looking for would be helped by having a plan. and part of that plan is what the supercommittee was not able to arrive at, but what we still have to do. the problem doesn't go away and part of that plan includes tax reform, not just tax increases and so in the context of that, let me ask you a couple of questions about the tax side. first, with regard to your report, this week which was very helpful, the alternative base line as you know shows that the tax extension would save jobs. you apparently looking at your testimony referred to that. basically, as i look at it, you're saying that u

. >> senator portman? >> thanks, mr. chairman. and to the question whether energy storage is part of efficiency? yes. it is. and part of using our system more efficiently. earlier we talked about your commitment to a new enrichment technology that gives the united states the ability to get back on the cutting edge in terms of our technology, create great advanced manufacturing jobs. but also be able to supply our energy needs. and from a national security point of view, to deal with our need for tritium for the nuclear arsenal which comes from enriched uranium. that tritium comes from domestic sources of enriched uranium, is that correct? >> correct. >> and is that policy of this administration that we should have a u.s. source of lowly enriched uranium for tritium production at tda. >> it's not only the policy. by treaty, we're obligated to have u.s. sources to create our treaty. >> so this is a requirement that we have a domestic source. with regard to other activities, it's a huge campus. and would once again extend an invitati

natalie portman. she's a true beauty.heir jeweler. you can see something on her left hand sparkling there. apparently according to the jeweler the two have tied the knot and they were -- the jeweler made them recycled platinum bands with conflict-free diamonds. i have no idea what that means. but apparently, they are doing very well. they had a little baby last year. so now they are a married couple with an adorable baby. >> good for them. and more couples news as well. >> we do. this time it is jennifer garner and ben affleck. and they have a new baby boy after their two little girls. and at first they were thinking, oh, we really want another girl, this is -- ben was saying, we've got girls. that's what i know. but they're ecstatic over the baby boy. no word yet on the baby's name yet. >> aw. but good-looking kid. we can count on that, right? absolutely. also, ashton kutcher back in the headlines a little bit this morning. obviously off to the oscars ceremony. a ton of those glitzy hollywood parties. all the a-listers c

and as you know, supercommittee, we have senator portman here has done very good work on this, did it in the supercommittee. a lot of that work has been done now. i mean, there are tough tough political calls to be made, of course, to address tax reform, but the principles are pretty clear. much of what was done in 19826, cleanout a lot of the junk, the special interest breaks, to hold down rates and keep progressivity. wouldn't long-term predictable tax reform be the kind of cushion that would help address the shocks that you're concerned about for the economy? >> predibltability is good and also a good tax code in itself promotes growth. most economists agree a simpler, fairer, broader base tax code would be constructive for growth, yes. >> and on the converse of it all, wouldn't piecemeal changes where again, we go through another round of temporary credits, temporary extensions, modifications to this provision, that provision, wouldn't that contribute to the uncertainty and the lack of predictability that would make it hard for us to grow? >> well, senator, as you fully appreciate