. >> andy sullivan of reuters. >> senator you picked up a fair amount of support for this proposal so the latest count 35 sponsors and cosponsors. how do you convince the rest to give up some of their authority if you're in a pro creator or tax writer you'd be handing over a fair chunk of what you to do to this commission. >> good question. what we say to them is that going through the regular order, the normal committee process has not and will not address a challenge of this dimension. and i think we know in history that when we have come to something of this significance, we have had to look to a special procedure. in the 80's we did that with social security. that was a commission. of course, we also adopted a special procedure with the summit that was at andrews air force base that came back with a bipartisan plan to put the country back on track when we were then facing record deficits. the situation now is far more acute than in either of those circumstances because the baby boom generation is poised to retire and that fundamentally change everything. we no longer have time to

president sarkozy has proudly told reuters the english are the big losers in this business. why did the prime minister fail to win it for britain? >> mr. speaker, if he looks at the policy that is being adopted by the european union at the moment and they're discussing today on the policy of financial services and look at the policy that is being adopted on the economy generally, it is british proposals, british influence, british policies that are making a difference. and i say to him that is the advantage of being at the heart of europe. if we took his advice and his party's advice we'd be on the fringe of europe isolated dealing with minority parties and unable to change the course of the debate. that is not the position we're in. >> my right honorable friend wouldn't know there's a need to change legislation for the civil service compensation scheme. he knows this is also used as an opportunity by the permanent secretary dining club to propose slashes to the entitlement of lower paid civil servants in the event of redundant si. that a strategy instrument which i believe

the guy from reuters is almost the most pushing carry carey. the supreme court information office says here is the material. we will make sure you have the material. that is an enormously in fireable function. it is nice not to have the sense of us came up i want to hear the decision announced from the bench. i want to hear the justice announced what is in the opinion. then i will go down to the press area and i write a first version of that story so it can get on our internet site. it is much different than when i first started covering the court when he would take all they do call people, get their reaction, and then file a story of around 6:00 p.m. and now readers want to know as soon as possible what the court's role. the amount we are in the early stages of profound shifts in which the press attention to the court, the press awareness of the court, is going to be so much smaller over time. maybe the american people can find the court even more of a stranger to them. the newspaper industry's decline is something that will not be reversed. o

. >> he said it to reuters yesterday, because i -- >> secretary-general is in town, he's talking to peel. i think, you know, people want to get this done, kathy. you know that. we have the huge campaign now. clean energy works. we're all part of it. >> is it working? >> eye lines i -- alliance is pf it. meg is the co-chair of it with jean. they have 500 people in the field, all over the country. >> anything for advertising? >> yes. you know the challenge is, if it's a political campaign, you know what day election day is. here, you don't know. you don't know. it's very, very good. >> it's hard. >> it's very god, but things are definitely moving. >> that's great. >> thanks to everybody's hard work. >> how is it at doe? >> it's fabulous. >> send rick back to us. >> no. >> where is he. >> he should be here. >> he never tears himself away. he and i had dinner last wednesday night and he was supposed to go to the c.i. dinner on friday night and everyone said rick was supposed to come, but he cancelled. i went. i'm here because i'm having date night with my husband. >> where is your husband. >

there were many memorable moments in 2009 but according to reuters, michael jackson's death was among the headliners. the word -- the worldwide appeal of the king of pop and pushed him over the top. >>> the kick off of the awards season, people's choice awards. this year's host is queen latifah. sandra bullock, l.l. cool j and the list goes on for those expected to attend. >>> dancing with the stars champ and friend of 9 9 news now helio gives usagers glimpse of his baby on twitter. he posted thisic churr of himself. and his new daughter and mom. >>> last call to meet the cast of the real world dc tonight. the mtv reality show teamed up with metro mix for the premier of the real world dc. meet them tonight at black fin at 1620 i street northwest. space is limited. to rsvp, go to wusa9.com. >>> nehemiah clark took time to chat it up with our army reporter. his thoughts on the dc version. >> the houses are amazing. i would love to see what they have in dc. anything on the east coast i'm a big fan of. dc should be a good season. >> reporter: thank you for that report. >>> in other report

secondly, a june 9, 2009, reuters article said, and i quote -- "cuba has rolled over 200 million euros in bond issues that were due this may as the country's central bank asked for another year to repay for and holders of the debt, financial sources in london and havana said this week." those are direct quotes from those articles. as a reminder, in castro's cuba, you can only do business with the regime because private business activity is strictly restricted. so the real reason why so many whose work is often subsidized by business interests advocate cuba policy changes is about money and commerce, not about freedom and democracy. and it makes me wonder why those who spent hours and hours in havana listening to castro's soliloquies cannot find minutes, minutes for human rights and democracy activists. it make me wonder why those who go and enjoy the son of cuba will not -- the sun of cuba will not shine the light of freedom on its jails full of political prisoners. they advocate for labor rights in the united states but they are willing to accept forced labor inside of cuba. they talk

the guy from reverse is always pushing the most to get through so he can -- a guy from reuters is always pushing to get through. the supreme court public intermission office says here is the material, make of it what you will. we will make sure you have the material. that is an enormously invaluable function. it is also nice not to have the sense that someone is trying to spin you. >> i like the pageantry, i like to hear the justice announce what is in the opinion. then i raced down the stairs to the court press area where we all have our laptops set up, and i write a first version of that story, so it can get on our internet site. essentially, you would have to take all day and then file a story that would appear in the next day's newspaper. now, readers want to know as soon as possible what the court ruled. >> my sense about the press and the court is that we are in the early stages of a profound shift in which the press attention to the court, the press awareness of the court is going to be so much smaller over time, that maybe the american people will find the court even more of a st

and this is robert kelly, vice president, health care annually particulars, thompson reuters. highly esteemed reputable firm that says every year between $600 billion and $850 billion of money is wasted in health care. is wasted. it doesn't help anybody get well and it doesn't prevent anybody -- anybody -- from getting sick. and when you look at the breakdown of where that comes from, it's rather apparent that the largest component of it is unwanted use. and they break down. what is that? that's me doing -- as a physician, i'm a practicing physician, delivered thousands of babies, cared for thousands of grand moms, granddads, kids, set bones, done operations, old-time, broad-based practice. but this, what is this unwarranted use? 40% of $700 billion is $280 billion a year. $280 billion a year, they're saying a total of $700 billion. $700 billion times ten years, in my math, at least from oklahoma, is $7 trillion. we haven't begun to touch in any of these other bills this unwarranted use, the fraud and abuse. 19%, all right? 19% comes to $175 billion a year in fraud. most of it

and it also addresses many of the problems that are outlined in the thompson reuters study on health care in america. so, saying "no" at the right time saves lives. saying "no" at the right time saves money. saying "no" at the proper time preserves our future. saying "no" when "no" is the best answer is the correct right thing to do. we have a government we can't afford -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. coburn: i will finish up. i ask unanimous consent for 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: we have a government we can't afford. we're borrowing money to buy things that we don't need. we earmarked $18 billion worth prof skwrebgts this year. -- worth of projects this year. some are good, some are terrible. we eliminated no duplication in any of the agencies. we did nothing about efficiency, and we did nothing about creating priorities in this country. i agree with my democrat colleagues that health care should be a priority. and when we had the leadership, we didn't do anything with it, and we should have. mark my words, this is

secondly, june 9, 2,009 reuters article said, and i quote, cuba has rolled over 200 million year rose and bond issues that were due this may. as the country's bank asked for another year to repay holders of the debt, financial services in london and havana said this week. those are direct quotes from those articles. as a reminder in castro's kube you can only do business with the regime because private business activity is strictly restricted. so the real reason why so many whose work is often subsidized by business interests advocate cuba policy changes is about money and commerce, not about freedom and democracy. and it makes me wonder why those who spend hours and hours in havana listening to castro's soliloquies cannot find minutes, minutes for human rights and the locker see. makes me wonder why those who go and enjoy the sun of cuba will not shine the light of freedom on its full of political prisoners. the advocate for labor rights in the united states but are willing to accept forced labor in side of cuba. they talk about democracy in burma but are willing to supply rahm with

the guy from reverse is always pushing the most to get through so he can -- a guy from reuters is always pushing to get through. the supreme court public intermission office says here is the material, make of it what you will. we will make sure you have the material. that is an enormously invaluable function. it is also nice not to have the sense that someone is trying to spin you. >> i like the pageantry, i like to hear the justice announce what is in the opinion. then i raced down the stairs to the court press area where we all have our laptops set up, and i write a first version of that story, so it can get on our internet site. essentially, you would have to take all day and then file a story that would appear in the next day's newspaper. now, readers want to know as soon as possible what the court ruled. >> my sense about the press and the court is that we are in the early stages of a profound shift in which the press attention to the court, the press awareness of the court is going to be so much smaller over time, that maybe the american people will find the court even more of a st

thompson reuters put out a study that said 125 to $175 billion in fraud and health care. ifrs said it is $100 billion in medicare and medicaid and it is an hhs's spraw permeance rook to $90 billion this year. there's nothing to address that. that is some place we could really cut and in delve the future of medicare that is not available. saxby. >> i want to address just three very quick items, where the president has made statements and made commitments that he is simply not keeping. first a want to take off on what tom just alluded to with respect to him having said that you like your plan you can keep it. that remark was made by the president on july 21 of this year. basically he said and i quote, if you like your current plan you would be able to keep it. every repeat that. if you like a plan he will be allowed to keep it. senator casey came not just last week as senator thune has said and i quote came in saying we are not one to be able to say if you like what you have eking keep it in that basic commitment that a lot of us around here have made will be called into qu

andy sullivan of reuters. gentlemen thanks for being with us on "newsmakers" on this sunday. have a good day [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> up next a hearing on contractors in iraq. after that senate banking committee votes on a new term for federal resaid of chair ben better nan key. after that a house hearing on u.s. counterterrorism efforts. >> his mark on history includes "manifest destiny" and in his new biography of james k. polk, a country of vast delife and times of our 11th president. tonight on c-span's q and a. >> now friday's hearing on contract oversight for security forces training in afghanistan was held by the federal commission on wartime contracting. members recently returned from a trip to afghanistan where a training local security forces has been made a top priority by the obama administration. >> good morning. i'd like to call the commission on wartime contracting in iraq and afghanistan to order. our hearing. >> this opening statement is made on behalf of my cochairman

nancy of reuters and finally paul merriam washington bureau chief of cranes chicago business. [applause] >> well, the nation has trained its attentions of the excesses of wall street, main street has suffered quietly. small businesses typically derive job creation, but the news from the main street has been dismal lately. banks have reportedly cut more than $10 billion from their small-business lending over the last six months. businesses with fewer employees cut another 68,000 workers in november. at president obama's jobs summit earlier this month, the message from small businesses was clear. no jobs without growth, no growth without credit. as the recession continues and rate of joblessness remain struggling labor leaders and democrats in congress suggested to the obama administration to turn its attention and its bailout money to small businesses to read the president prodded bankers today to make more small-business loans. our guest today is one of the administration officials charged with trying to fix the situation. karen mills runs the small united states business admi

. >> from reuters. could you just clarify, you mentioned at least an additional 5000, possibly several thousand more. how many of that number will include troops who are already on the ground and have been sent in as election reinforcements? >> well, i am not able to make that separation in exact terms right them. the fact is that the number 5000 will be an additional contribution compared to what we had expected for 2010. and on top of that, i would expect some thousand extra. and i think that is what counts. i mean, if the country had planned to withdraw a number of troops in 2010, then it would not be possible for our commanders in the field to operate on the basis of these troops. so if that stay -- if they stay, it is a fact that it is as strengthening of our operations in afghanistan. delores' yes, secretary general, in almost all member countries -- >> yes, secretary general, in almost all member countries, public opposition to the war has grown steadily as the number of troops have risen above l

the caller said but the one thing i would take issue is with the fact that we failed the public -- reuters the democratic faith. so the majority of the country believe that the best way to break the strangal hold is of the private insurance agency is through the public option and not only don't we solve the health care crisis but we rescue depressing the base of the hold in 2010 if they see senator lieberman gets his way over what 80% of democrats want. host: do you think there's a tie between senator lieberman and connecticut and the health care industry? guest: i think it's obvious and quite clear. look, i don't purport to know what snoort lieberman's motivations are. it could be his connection to the pharmaceutical industry or angry at the liberal base who tried to oust him but the people who will fay for it are those like the caller. host: fort worth, texas, you're on with ilse from moveon.org. caller: i'm questioning her motives. looks to me like blaverage lincoln stood in front of it first. i told people she said it's like 150 years because the -- defied the supreme court and said wh

slighty higher than the 52 --ç 52.9%, slightly higher than the 52 prediction of economists surveyed by reutersld signal a solid recovery cau of." dallas, go ahead. caller:ç i'm a social worker, d i've been following this issue. with taxing the regular folks, is there any way they can tax the health insurance or the hospitals themselves? the people of and benefiting, making money for many, many years. host: okay. little river, south carolina, next on our question of taxing high-end insurance plans. and true on the support line -- andrew on the support line. caller: yes, i support the bill. host: why do you support the bill? caller: because congress has worked hard on it and i think we should pass it. it has been difficult listening to all the frustration that goes on. host: okay, we will leave it there. this is from the u.s. census bureau talking about population in the united states, january 1. the object of population on that date will be a 308,400,408. the increase in population over january 1 come to us and i, 2.6 billion -- january 2009, 2.6 billion. that is information from the census bu

states, idaho, kentucky, oklahoma, missouri and north dakota that only allow abortion coverage through reuters. guess what? the individual market does not accept this type of a policy. it doesn't exist. abortion writers severely undermine the patient privacy. as a woman would be placed in the position of having to tell their employer or insurer and many cases has been an employer that they anticipate terminating a pregnancy. also requiring women to spend additional money to have comprehensive health care coverage is discriminatory we don't do that for services that affect men's reproductive rights. and the last point i would mention is i hear frequently from friends on the other side of the ogle that the statements we make, that is those that support the bill, the underlying bill, that this allows individuals who have current insurance to be able to maintain their current insurance build on what's good in the health care system. this amendment takes away their rights people already have. so if you have insurance today as an individual that covers abortion services, if this amendment were adopt

. >> susan heavey with reuters.the economy is struggling and health care sector we points out there is one area growth is a good thing and there is a number of jobs, there is innovation. so how do you -- how do you tackle that and reduce health care spending and the cost curve and unnecessary care? how do you factor that against this industry where jobs and the economy is still a huge concern for people? >> well, don't forget i think what we need to do is the sector needs to be experiencing the same sorts of productivity improvements commented in other sectors so that you are orienting again toward out comes rather than just giving more to it and no other sector do you have this -- well, very few other sectors do you have such strong incentives just for volume. and that is the right incentive to be giving any market. we want to be providing incentive for quality, not quantity. and so i don't think this really speaks to the question of the sector's financial health or in employment levels but rather with those people

. >> hi, susan with reuters. the economy is still struggling and the healthcare sector repeatedly points out how they are one area where growth is a good thing. there's a number of jobs. there's innovation. so how do you -- how do you tackle that? how do you reduce healthcare spending and the costs curve and unnecessary care? how do you factor that against this industry where jobs and the economy is obviously still a huge concern for people? >> well, don't forget, i think whatr we need to do is the sectr needs to be experiencing the same sorts of improvements that are common in other sectors so that you are orienting again towards outcomes rather than just doing more. in no other sector do you have this -- well, in very few other sectors do you have such strong incentives just for volume. and that is not the right incentive to be giving any market. you want to be providing an incentive for quality, not quantity. and so i don't think this really speaks to the question of the sectors financial health or employment

i'm with reuters.r forecast shows or you say that all demand will virtually be flat in the u.s., i was wondering or -- for the next few decades, i was wondering do you see them getting back to the peaks that were reached a couple of years ago? and if not do you feel it has peaked in the u.s.? >> right. well, we're focusing in terms of kuehntion we focus on liquid fuels because it's not petroleum that is meeting the needs for increasing transportation needs. so we do see the overall consumption of liquid fuels increasing over the projection but the portion of that that comes from petroleum both domestically supplied as well as imported is roughly flat so it will not -- we do not think it will go back to what previous levels had been. but nonetheless, the increase in domestic consumption of liquid fuels is primarily the -- the net is met primarily through biofuels both domestically as well as imported. there's one behind you. >> elliott roseman with icf international. in your first slide you mentioned th

. >> dave alexander from reuters.do you anticipate he will have another meetings with north koreans before the start of the six-party talks and can you address the issue of the plan and thailand -- [inaudible] >> first we have not agreed on a subject on the second meeting. in fact we didn't really discuss it. i wouldn't rule it out but i wouldn't rule it in either. on the other hand we have specified that this meeting took place on the effect of the six party talk as to the plan as you know the facts are still being developed. we think this is a good example of why sanctions are effective and the importance of sanctions. and this process will play out in the procedures of the united nations to read it will go to the sanctions committee etc. and the u.s. obviously will follow this with interest. >> meshaal with national public radio. i wonder if you can elaborate what does it mean when you say i was the message and the fact that you apparently didn't meet with kim jong il or they sending you a message by not meeting wi

. >> hi, susan with reuters. the economy is still struggling and the healthcare sector repeatedly points out how they are one area where growth is a good thing. there's a number of jobs. there's innovation. so how do you -- how do you tackle that? how do you reduce healthcare spending and the costs curve and unnecessary care? how do you factor that against this industry where jobs and the economy is obviously still a huge concern for people? >> well, don't forget, i think whatr we need to do is the sectr needs to be experiencing the same sorts of improvements that are common in other sectors so that you are orienting again towards outcomes rather than just doing more. in no other sector do you have this -- well, in very few other sectors do you have such strong incentives just for volume. and that is not the right incentive to be giving any market. you want to be providing an incentive for quality, not quantity. and so i don't think this really speaks to the question of the sectors financial health or employment

marilyn, senior business editor of npr, nancy waits of reuters, and finally paul marion, washington bureau chief of crane's chicago business. [applause] while the nation has trained its attentions on the excesses of wall street, main street has suffered quietly. small businesses typically drive job creation, but the news from main street has been dismal lately. banks have reportedly cut more than $10 billion from their small business lending over the last six months. businesses with fewer employees cut another 6 # ,000 workers -- 68,000 workers in november. at president obama's jobs smut earlier this month, the message was clear: no jobs without growth, no growth without credit. as the recession continues and the rate of joblessness remains troubling, labor leaders and democrats in congress have suggested that the obama administration turn its attention and its bailout money to small businesses. the president prodded bankers today to make more small business loans. our guest today is one of the administration officials charged with trying to fix the situation. karen mills runs the united s

president sarkozy has proudly told reuters the english are the big losers in this business.why did the prime minister fail to win it for britain? >> mr. speaker, if he looks at the policy that is being adopted by the european union at the moment and they're discussing today on the policy of financial services and look at the policy that is being adopted on the economy generally, it is british proposals, british influence, british policies that are making a difference. and i say to him that is the advantage of being at the heart of europe. if we took his advice and his party's advice we'd be on the fringe of europe isolated dealing with minority parties and unable to change the course of the debate. that is not the position we're in. >> my right honorable friend wouldn't know there's a need to change legislation for the civil service compensation scheme. he knows this is also used as an opportunity by the permanent secretary dining club to propose slashes to the entitlement of lower paid civil servants in the event of redundant si. that a strategy instrument which i believe i

it was at 2:00 a.m., thereby having the editors of the associated press and reuters based in london callingng story here. the cuban government, indeed, has been very watchful over its online images and impressions. nevertheless, the cuban government, like every government in the world, has been subject to the onslaught of viral videos. there are any number of which that one can view on youtube, which includes an outburst by castro in 2006 during an argument in argentina. there was a well-known case just last year when a young cubans didn't confronted riccardo allentowarcon and complain abouk -- a young cuban students confronted ricardo alarcon and complained about the lack of access. [unintelligible] then you have the rise of independent cuba in los feablog. it receives millions of hits every month. she is one -- she has won a number of notable prizes, but she has not been allowed to leave the country. the united states has changed telecom policies. earlier this month, there was in the arrest of a u.s. contractor accused of distributing equipment in cuba. we have to top experts who will try

nancy weights of reuters. finally, paul marion, washington bureau chief of cranes chicago business.applause] while the nation has changed its attention on the excesses of wall street, main street has suffered quietly. small businesses typically drive job creation, but the news from main street has been dismal lately. banks have reportedly cut more than $10 billion from their small-business lending over the last six months. businesses with fewer employees cut another 68,000 workers in november. at president obama's job summit earlier this month, the message from small businesses was clear -- no jobs without growth, no growth without credit. as the recession continues and the rate of joblessness remains troubling, labor leaders and democrats in congress have suggested that the obama administration turn its attention and its bailout money to small businesses. the president prodded bankers today to make more small- business loans. our guest today is one of the administration officials charging with trying to fix the situation. karen mills runs the united states small business administra

thompson reuters, a study put out october 9, this year, very well-respected firm, their estimate of the $2.4 trillion that we spend on health care per year in this country is that between $600 billion and $850 billion of it is pure waste. defensive medicine costs and malpractice is between $250 billion to $325 billion by their estimate. not one thing in this bill to address that. not one thing. fraud, theirs is between $125 billion and $175 billion per year. not significant in this bill: $2 billion to $3 billion. administrative inefficiency, 17%, between $100 billion and $150 billion wasted on paperwork each year. provider errors, that's me, that's either wrong diagnosis, failure to treat appropriately, it's the smallest of all of them. and what are we doing? we're going to tell the providers -- the hospitals, the medical device companies, the drug companies, the doctors, the radiologists, the labs, the physical therapists -- we're going to tell them how to do it. that's not where the problem is. my hope is that the american people will come to their senses and say, wait a minute, slow

tonight we have to reuters. one is a novelist and one is a memoir. they work very similar to rain. the first reader is matthew goodman and she's written a book called "hold lot strong." by touchstone books to read it said in a fictional housing project in queens and it is a retelling of the biblical story of abraham. and it's just out. matthew grew up in white plains or neyer white plains and lives now in brooklyn and he spent about six years or so working with prisoners who had just been released from prison. and i look forward to hearing him read. here is a few good -- is matthew goodman. [applause] >> how is everyone? good. i parents and friends so you always get a good response from them because they have to love you. so hopefully come you don't have to love me but maybe for five minutes you can just listen. [laughter] this is a story about a young man named abraham and his family. they live in a fictional housing project called ever park and he lives there with his grandmother, his two cousins, his aunt, his uncle and himself. this is -- i will begin by the beginning of the bo