rejected by sanders.of those, mike, behind-the-back passes that was absolutely necessary. >> mike: starts on the defensive end of the floor. paris really struggling. he invites the steal with that lazy pass back outside. >> tim: was that good or what? >> mike: this is a left-handed player making that with his right. good play. that was a fundamentally sound pass. you don't oftentimes say that when you witness it at the collegiate level. these guys know what to do at the free throw line had they get there as well. 15 points for cothran. another near steal. >> mike: bc continuing to try to throw the ball into the corner. i think they've got to get it into the middle of the floor somehow or over the top. >> tim: paris, he's going to force the issue and he's fouled. >> mike: it wasn't martell who cleaned it up. it was marquis jones on the reach-in. >> tim: marquis picks up the foul, his second. he's got a little help, too, from steve mejia. interchangeable parts, as we mentioned, real key to this rhode island

sanders, tough take. unable to get it to go. >> mike: tough finish trying to go left -- >> tim: oh, paris with a pick. count it! >> mike: that was all brought about, tim, by immediately switching over to defensive mindset. biko paris turning around, seeing where that pass was going to go and knifing in at the right time. >> tim: he may be coming of age tonight. not just as point guard for boston college, but maybe as a leader. how about that answer from rhode island. cothran just taking it right to the rack. >> mike: you haven't -- this is your first time seeing them this year but biko paris has established himself as a leader right from the start of the season. he doesn't say a lot but when he talks, everybody listens to him. he has really assumed that role from tyrese rice. >> tim: sanders is fouled. mejia reaching in that time. well, joe trapani struggling all night. you're supposed to call those, joe. (announcer) pizza hut knows you've been good. so here's a great holiday meal deal. right now get two

loose ball last touched by sanders.e out to rhode island. >> right now the thing that sanders is going to have to battle is the mental part of getting past an injury and trusting that ankle. he's going to be thinking about it for a while, but eventually the game will be instinctive again for him. >> marques jones, junior, co-captain of this club, he can put the pedal to the metal. that's what they want from him, to push this tempo and get it the way they want. there's a steal. sanders comes out of there with it. >> bc is going to change defenses. they played zone that time. rhode island is not a great three-point shooting team at all, so we have a feeling in the halfcourt you want to make them prove themselves from the outside. >> rhode island has averaged 21 wins per season for the last three years. but they're in a tough league with 14 schools, difficult to get more than three bids out of and they've been the fourth team of late. >> if you're jim baron, you want josh southern taking the jump shot outside. you'll accep

senator sanders? mr. sanders: let me pick up on the point that the senator from minnesota made. when you use the term "cadillac," what the implications are, maybe we will get some guys from goldman sachs who have this off-the-wall outlandish benefits package. when the c.w.a. did a bit of work on this, what their estimate is that as health care costs continue to rise and we're seeing 6%, 7%, 8% increases every year, obviously the way the language of this legislation is written, it will impact more and more health care plans. by the year 2019, it will burden one out of three health care plans in this country. does that sound like a cadillac plan? one out of three plans. and eventually as health care costs continue to rise, it will impact virtually every plan in this country. so the bottom line that we're talking about is, yes, we need to raise money. how do you do it? you do it by socking it to the middle class and working families. and as the senator from ohio has indicated, many of these workers have given up wage increases in order to maintain a strong health care benefit. and

independent senator bernie sanders. this is just under 10 minutes. >> thank you very much.e senator from maryland, who wanted to say a few words on one aspect of this legislation. in the midst of the overall crisis in america, there is one crisis focused on, the crisis in primary health care. that means some 60 million americans today do not have access to a doctor on a regular basis. what that and that meaning is that when people get sick, they end up in the emergency room. or they become sicker than they should have banned and end up in the hospital, a great personal suffering and pain, and somehow even death. we supported by a thousand americans who died because we do not get to it got them on a regular basis. what this manages to do is add $10 billion more over a five- year time into community health centers. what that means is that an additional 25 million americans will also have access to federally qualified health centers, meaning high quality health care, low-cost drugs, and health counseling. it also means because of a significant increase in health services, we w

vermont -- vermont, senator bernie sanders held out for larger medicaid payments for his state. neighboring massachusetts would get one too. i guess there's a number of maybe states that should have stickers on them so that the american people can see where these special deals were cut o

guest: senator sanders had his amendment on the public option.lican, asked for a reading of the amendment, 750-page amendment. there were several hours into what went sanders withdrew the amendment. republicans objected, saying that he did not have the right to withdraw the eminent on his own, but needed unanimous consent -- withdraw the amendment on his own, but needed unanimous consent to do that. senator mitch mcconnell, the minority leader, was very happy. the senate can operate by unanimous consent or they can filibuster. every day, everything that happens. one side proposes, the other side proposes, they negotiate. everything happens unanimous consent. that is what you have to remember when you watch the senate. host: the parliamentarian who made the call yesterday on the subject of republicans making that call. guest: senator mcconnell's point was that he was going to -- that sanders needed unanimous consent to that -- to do that, or the amendment would have kept being read. the parliamentarians, the guys to referee the four disputes, are

sanders -- [laughter] >>yes? >> mr. sanders, aye. mr. shelby -- no.[no audio] [no audio] >> and the other senators wishing to go toward change their vote? the amendment is passed. [no audio] >> i had a restless night worrying about bipartisanship and i think i found a way tested. nowhere in history have we found a way to make health care more affordable than today. this is a victory for the american people, those fortunate enough to have health insurance will be able to keep theirs and of those who do not will be able to have health insurance. this is a victory because we have affirmed that the ability to live a healthy life in our great country is a right and not merely privilege for the select few. this morning's vote brings us one step closer to making ted kennedy's dream a reality. it is the dream of americans which is part of that treatment ted kennedy. that has also become a reality. every step of this long process has been an enormous undertaking. i want to thank chairman baucus, dodd, and hearkene. i want to thank my leadership team, they have

sanders: right. mr. durbin: three-fourths of them were paying premiums. these were the people who were turned down when they needed coverage. these are the people who ran into caps on coverage on their policies. these are folks who had to battle it out and lost the battle with the insurance companies to try to get lifesaving drugs. that is the reality of the current system. and the fact is, the republican side of the aisle has not produced an alternative. we have worked long and hard to do it. they have not. mr. sanders: and i would ask my friend from illinois, if we are not just dealing -- not just with the personal health care issue of 46 million uninsured and people dying, but are we not dealing with a major economic issue? how are businesses in this country going to compete with the rest of the world when every single year they're seeing huge increases in their health insurance? rather than investing in the business that they're supposed to be in, they're having to spend enormous sums of money as health care costs soar in this country. now, i know sma

senator coburn's recommendation forced the clerk to read an amendment offered by vermont's bernie sanders in its entirety which was problematic in a way because for the democrats because the amendment was almost 800 pages long so there were several hours of the senate clerk reading through the amendment which was gobbling up precious for time. >> how common is it for senators to ask an amendment or bill be asked to read in its entirety? >> it happens from time to time but it's on common. the senate rule requiring a bill to be fred is almost routinely waived. >> can we expect to see more of this kind of tactic? >> we can. republicans are threatening to potentially ask to have a manager's amendment which still has not been fully crafted but the majority leader harry reid is working the next day or so. republicans say they may call to have that amendment which could be several hundred pages read aloud as well. >> let's take quick look how the reading ended. >> sections and t-note to repeal of certain provisions in the employee retirement income security act of 1974. >> the senator from vermo

bernie sanders' system is far better than this one. far better than this one. if that's what we're going to do, if we're going to ration care to control costs, let's let everybody know upfront. let's be absolutely honest about it. if you're 75 years of age and you need a hip replacement but the quality of your life is not all that great, we're going to say you can't have it. that's what we're going to do because that's exactly what they do in england. they have the national institute of comparative effectiveness and makes an evaluation of what your worth is. and no matter what your history is, no matter what your family situation is, no matter what your income, you can't have it. now, canada's getting around that because they've said, you get the right to buy what you want. their supreme court ruled 2 1/2 years ago. and so what we're seeing is a two-tier system now developing in canada which ultimately will happen in this country worse than what we have today. mr. ensign: if the senator would yield, though, if america does this with our health care system, wher

sanders: mr.president, i call up my amendment per the order. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders, for himself and others, proposes an amendment number 2837 to amendment number 2786. beginning on page 1, strike line 6, and all that follows to the end, and insert the following -- mr. sanders: i ask the amendment be considered as read. a senator: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the clerk:: b, table of contents. the table of contents of this act is as follows -- title 1, american health security. section 1000, short title. sub title a. establishment of a state-based american health security program, universal entitlement enrollment. section 1001, establishment of a state-based american health security program. section 1002, universal entitlement. section 1003, enrollment. section 1004, portability of benefits. section 1005, effective date of benefits. section 1006, relationship of existing federal health prog

and senator sanders has accomplished that.t there's a great deal of focus on some of the major controversial issues, but our objective is to make sure every american has access to affordable health care and senator sanders' initiative will help 25 million more americans reach that goal. congratulations, senator. >> any questions? >> senator sanders, senator mcconnell singled out vermont as receiving special farse in that bill. >> he used the term sweetheart deal. >> you know, vermont was -- and i don't have all the details in front of me. vermont has been very aggressive in making sure that all of our low income kids and others have access to health care. we were there in doing the right thing. and what many of us in vermont and around the country felt that it was wrong to penalize a state that had done a better job than perhaps any other state, i think massachusetts was up there as well. you don't penalize states because states on their own come up with money to do the right thing and say thaumpling very much for taking care

i think it's worth noting, that senator sanders, who has championed this effort in this bill, is actually picking up on work that a number of the most influential republicans in this country have been interested in for years. george bush -- president george bush was a great champion of community health centers an bernie sand -- and bernie sanders in this bill is making sure that we get a very significant increase. thousands of new clinics. so are opportunities for democrats and republicans to work together. i'm going to talk about a way we can create a new marketplace in american health care through these exchanges and get more value for the health care dollar, again, focusing on the opportunity that we see with community health centers for democrats and republicans to team up. and i thank my colleague for his statement. mr. president, and i know because of our work together on health legislation, you share my view that we can continue this effort to bring the senate together, both sides, around key principles of health reform. and i want to do that again this morning by focusing on one o

sanders: thank you. madam president there is something significant support in the house of representatives for a single-payer system. together h.r. 6676 and h.r. 1200 two different single payer programs have 94 cosponsors. let me say a word about state legislators who have moved to let me say a word about state legislatures that have progressively taught a finger payer system. in california, our largest state, the state legislature dared on two occasions passed a single-payer program largest state in america passed a finger payer program and on both occasions it was vetoed by the government. in new york state the state assembly passed a single-payer system among other states will finger payer has been proposed and seriously ohio, massachusetts, colorado, maine vermont, illinois, oregon, washington, new mexico, minnesota, indiana, and new hampshire. madam president, why is it that we need an entirely new approach for health care in this country quite why is it? and the answer i think is pretty obvious. ou

george bush, president george bush was a great champion of community health centers and bernie sanders now in this bill is making sure that we get a very significant increase, thousands of new clinics. so there are opportunities for democrats and republicans to work together and i'm going to talk about a way we can create a new market place in american health care through these exchanges and get more value for the health care dollar, and focusing on the opportunity that we see with community health centers for democrats and republicans to team up, and i thank my colleague for his statement. mr. president, and i know because of our work together on health legislation, you share my view that we can continue this effort to bring the senate together on both sides around the key principles of health reform, and i want to do that again this morning by focusing on of one of the most transformational and least understood parts of the health care debate, and that is the question of the health insurance exchanges. my guess is across the country people are still trying to figure out what in the w

boston college is missing one of their players, sanders who played only four minutes.he bad news is he will not get any more than four minutes from talking to the coach. the good news is they have a player in warmups. he went up for the shot and held his right foot. he's been out since he hurt his ankle november the 20th against st. joe's. maybe we will see him next week but tonight they have to go without him. >> we talked with coaches prior to the game and said rakim wants to play in this but when you have a high ankle sprain, you have to be careful. >> if you tweak it again, it could become chronic. it's early december, i realize it's a lead game, they need him healthy in february and march. >> let's look at the starting line lineups for hurricanes and miami. mcgowan and keep an eye on them today. boston college. reggie jackson will be making his seventh start of the year. he is also quite the spark plug. the head coach of boston college a member of umass hall of fame, the winningest coach in history. al skinner in his 15th year, 22nd overall, took them to the ncaa

sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont's recognized. mr. sanders: mr. president, let me begin by thanking senator casey for his consistent efforts in fighting to make sure that every american has good-quality, cost-effective health care. he's been a leader on this issue and i just want to congratulate him. mr. pr -- mr. president, i just want to touch on some of the health care issues that are out there. tell you what i think is positive in the bill that we are dealing with here in the senate and tell you what i think is not so positive. to begin with, as senator casey as aptly described, we have a system which in many ways is disintegrating. it is an international embarrassment that in the united states of america we remain the only nation in the industrialized world who does not guarantee health care to all of its people as a right. the result of that is some 46 million americans today have no health insurance. even more are underinsured with large co-payments an

sanders would you like to tackle this? >> the whole issue of the interest rates is very fascinating. i think it's, you know, we are priced stressing it too much. and the one thing i want to add to that that was i'm hoping everyone considers the fact that if we do in fact move to 2% of loans for a large segment of the population who are in financial difficulty etc., which is again very noble sounding. i want to point out that somebody is going to be holding those notes and when high inflation and high interest rates suddenly go kaboom in a few years which they will whoever is sitting on that paper is going to have catastrophic losses. right now it's the fed. danny, friday, is ensuring this. we have to again be very careful in the long-run implications for what we're doing here. >> the people who are holding those notes really are being the ones who took advantage of those individuals, right? why not make them lose? if those are the ones only in the notes, had all my losing because they got greedy in the first place. >> if p

independent senator bernie sanders. this is just under 10 minutes. >> thank you very much.america, there is one crisis focused on, the crisis in primary health care. that means some 60 million americans today do not have access to a doctor on a regular basis. what that and that meaning is that when people get sick, they end up in the emergency room. or they become sicker than they should have banned and end up in the hospital, a great personal suffering and pain, and somehow even death. we supported by a thousand americans who died because we do not get to it got them on a regular basis. what this manages to do is add $10 billion more over a five- year time into community health centers. what that means is that an additional 25 million americans will also have access to federally qualified health centers, meaning high quality health care, low-cost drugs, and health counseling. it also means because of a significant increase in health services, we will be forgiving debts for students going into primary care. in recent years, it has had a -- 20,000 more doctors, teachers, and

sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you very much. mr. president, as an independent, let me try to give an independent assessment of where we are, which ain't easy because this is a 2,000-page bill, and different people have expressed different thoughts about it. i know that my republican friends are down here on the floor every day telling us that the world, as we know it, will rapidly come to an end if this legislation is passed, and yet i want to say to them, where were they for eight years? where were they? during the tenure of president bush, some 7 million americans lost their health insurance, health premiums soared, tens of thousands of people died every single year because they couldn't get to a doctor. where were they? very easy to be critical. but it might have been a good idea if five, six, or eight years ago they were down here before the crisis erupted to the level it is right now. now, this bill, in my view, is far from perfect

you saw sanders and one guy has to step up.ckson has filled that bill and corey raji as well. raji more of the junkyard dog. he makes nice cuts off that offense, talked about the fact they don't really run any plays for him, has a nack for the ball. has a nose for it. one of those guys in the crowd, you know the loose ball will come to him, nine rebounds, seven on the offensive glass, 17 points for him. >> ron: you look at reggie jackson a guy wasn't a fan of the flex offense when he got here, i think he's becoming one. >> mike: paris is a true point guard and jackson can break you down off the dribble. rice used to do that and jackson has stepped into that role. miami had a tough time trying to stay in front of him. impressive. wasn't impressive from the perimeter. 1 of 6 downtown. and nine rebounds, four offensive. great numbers for somebody only 6'3. >> ron: reggie jackson averaging very high a game. but frank has to be disappointed 8-0 coming into this ballgame has to be concerned the guys are reading press clippings. how d

sanders would you like to tackle this?> the whole issue of the interest rates is very fascinating. i think it's, you know, we are priced stressing it too much. and the one thing i want to add to that that was i'm hoping everyone considers the fact that if we do in fact move to 2% of loans for a large segment of the population who are in financial difficulty etc., which is again very noble sounding. i want to point out that somebody is going to be holding those notes and when high inflation and high interest rates suddenly go kaboom in a few years which they will whoever is sitting on that paper is going to have catastrophic losses. right now it's the fed. danny, friday, is ensuring this. we have to again be very careful in the long-run implications for what we're doing here. >> the people who are holding those notes really are being the ones who took advantage of those individuals, right? why not make them lose? if those are the ones only in the notes, had all my losing because they got greedy in the first place. >> if pen

and later, we will rearir the comments of senator sanders who is placing all on the nomination of benanke to serve a second term. a couple of live events to tell you about tomorrow. the senate homeland security and government affairs committee looks at our economic future, including spending, debt, and deficit. witnesses include alan greenspan. that is at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, senators examine afghanistan's contracts and hear from representatives of the departments of defense and state, and the u.s. agency for international development. . prevent public sector employees from being laid off. and expand infrastructure projects. debate on the bill was an hour and 15 minutes. objection, so ordered. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. obey: madam speaker, i think people understand what this legislation is. it is an effort to redirect some $75 billion from tarp funds that in the past have been directed to help wall street, instead direct them to main street to try to help americans who are struggling to hang onto their jobs, their houses and th

sanders: mr.esident, there are two major goals that we have to achieve in health care reform, and that is we have got to expand access to everyone in america, and we've got to control costs. we focus a lot on expanding insurance but expanding insurance is not expanding access. there are people today in america who have insurance but they don't have access, and the fact is that we have 60 million people who do not have access to a physician on a regular basis, and many of those people, according to recent studies, 45,000 may die, may die because they don't get to a doctor in a timely manner, and by the time they walk in to the doctor's office, their situation is terminal, terminable. so we need to substantially improve access to health care, and when we improve access, we save money because people do not go to the emergency room, they do not end up in the hospital sicker than they otherwise would have been. mr. president, we need a revolution in primary health care in america. unless we do somethin

and a minute by bernie sanders to expand medicare to everyone. the other a republican motion to stop thieves and taxes and the bill from going into effect until health care benefits kick in. live senate coverage now on c-span2. confidence in your final victory over the hearts of humanity. may our lawmakers face these sometimes baffling days with the glad assurance that no weapon that has been formed can prevail against your eternal purposes. lord, help them to relinquish any negative thoughts to you and receive a fresh infusion of your hope. burn away the barriers to unity so that your will can be done on earth, even as it is done in heaven. we pray in your soverign name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., december 16

i'm very proud to work with senator sanders about the community health centers and primary care. senator sanders is able to get get $10 billion in the manager's package so we could dramatically expand access to care. if you're latino in america, you're 35%, have no dependable source of health care, compared to 50% in the white community. we need more federally qualified health centers. you can universal health coverage, but if you don't have facilities, it would be difficult to get access to care. the community health center expansion will provide access in underserved areas, many areas of maryland need this help. and there is substantial investment in primary care in this legislation. this bill will help. it will help those who have good insurance coverage today by protecting that coverage and making sure it's available tomorrow and stop the erosion that's taking place today, with insurance companies cutting back on what's covered and employers putting more of the costs on the employee. this legislation will help. it will help small business owners who today have very little cho

sanders: i'm going to speak on something other than health care. all right. that's fine. i thank my friend from montana for yielding. and, mr. president, what i want to touch upon is my strong belief that ben bernanke should not be reappointed for a second term as chairman of the federal reserve. and in that regard i place a hold on his nomination. mr. president, everybody in this country understands that we're in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we are looking at 17% of our people being either unemployed or underemployed. we are looking at average length of unemployment being longer than it has been since world war ii. we are looking at a situation where over the last eight or nine years, median household income has declined by over $2,000. we are looking at a situation where, according to "u.s.a. today", accept 18, 2009 -- quote --"the incomes of the young and middle-aged, especially men, have fallen off a cliff since 2000 leesk more age -- leaving more age groups poorer than they were in the 1980's." we're seeing a collapse in the midd

when this is finally passed, their ultimate goal is bernie sanders.ybody knows that the american people don't want the government's standing between them and their doctor. we have got that already in terms of rationing of medicare. the purpose was to make sure that people get to see the contrast. the other purpose was to delay as long as possible this bill so that we don't saddle the americans with another $2.50 trillion worth of government over the next 10 years. host: senator coburn, are you still a practicing physician? guest: i am. host: are you still delivering babies? guest: i am not. is the first year i have not been paid increase malpractice insurance. -- i have not been. increased malpractice insurance. host: let's get to our calls for senator tom coburn. marietta, california, howard of the republican line. caller: thank you, thank you. senator, i just enjoy it as amended of your -- just enjoy every minute of your debate on the senate floor. guest: well, you are up awful early. caller: i am retired. to avoid yard work, i try to get a little t

. >> i have a question when she went and sander photographs of the government had issued get them back? >> it is a constant struggle a photographer wants to immediately see the product of their work so that they can criticize it and it just may be the lightning is not right or the speed is wrong so you want to see them right away. theoretically there were to make work brands from the negatives and ship of those back. but there were times when it would be one month there six weeks longer and toshiba got to see them. that was a constant argument. but one thing that she did is they cheated and kept back certain photographs because they would not know what they were not doing but they could not allow someone to publish them because they did not own these photographs but it was really a constant struggle. . .

senator sanders spoke on the senate floor for 10 minutes. >> mr. president, what i want to touch upon is my strong belief that ben bernanke should not be reappointed for a second term as chairman of the federal reserve. in that regard, i place a hold on his nomination. mr. president, everybody in this place -- in this country understands we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we are looking at 70% of our people either being unemployed or underemployed. we are looking at average length of unemployment being longer than it has been since world war ii. we are looking at a situation where over the last eight or nine years, median household income has declined by over $2,000. we are looking at a situation where, according to "u.s.a. today", accept 18, 2009 -- quote --"the incomes of the young and middle-aged, especially men, have fallen off a cliff since 2000 leesk more age -- leaving more age groups poorer than they were in the 1980's." we're seeing a collapse in the middle class, an increased gap between the rich

sanders: thank you very much. mr. president, i was proud last night to have voted for the health care bill. and the reason is, as senator tester just indicated, this bill accomplishes a whole lot. and before i go on to talk about what i really want to focus on this afternoon, i do want to say that there are a number of provisions in the senate bill that i don't support and that i hope we can improve in the conference committee by adopting house language. one is the issue of public options for which, mr. president, you have been so strongly involved with. at the end of the day, it seems to me the american people have been very clear is that if they are not happy with their private insurance, they want the option of a medicare-type public option. and i think we should give them that. and, furthermore, as we look at the soaring cost of health care in this country, we understand that one important mechanism to control escalating health care costs is a public option which provides real competition to provide insurance comp

and hurray for bernie sanders, the independent from vermont.ll, guess what he got? $10 billion, and that was for federally-funded health care centers, they care for you, if you do not have health insurance it pays for what you can w3afford and based on your income, and it gives scholarships to fund health ç care workers who need health care clinics. he is my idol, he did not put in a gun law, he did not restrict women's rights, he's working for the american people and i thank him. host: chad, the independent line in seattle. caller: good morning. host: is health care being rushed? caller: yeah, you look at obama's speech, you can tell right away, his lips are moving but you can tell he's lying. when someone walks away, they say, what about the option. host: the public option. caller: yeah, and he walks away. yeah, he was lying the whole time. if he really cared about çpubl health care, there wouldn't be an expansion in afghanistan, $500 billion. that would have taken care of everything. and this trillion, bernanke, he keeps expanding to $2 bi

and today, vermont indepdent senator rnie sanders-- who has t a hold on bernanke's nomination--ontinuedis push to have the chairman repced. >> one okey functions of the fed is to oversesoundness. and alaround him was wild spulation, gambling type taking place. where was ben beanke when this was happening? >> repter: the nation's top banker has takenxtraordinary actions-- usg the fed's power in novel ws to pump trillions of dollars into thfinancial system. last year,mid debate over the wall street bailout,e answered critics who said the gernment should let the csis take its urse. >> why don't we allofree market system to correct ielf? >> my respon is that the pain would be very signifant, it would be very difficult fomain street, if this credit syste broke down, it would be ry costly to average people. here's better solution. the tter solution is to recognize thathings went wrong, we've got a proem that we c solve if we address it with enough force. >>eporter: bernanke defended his use of tt force again at his sena confirmation hearing two weeks ago. >> ten together, the federal reserve'

i think it's worth noting, that senator sanders, who has championed this effort in this bill, is actuallypicking up on work that a number of the most influential republicans in this country have been interested in for years. george bush -- president george bush was a great champion of community health centers an bernie sand -- and bernie sanders in this bill is making sure that we get a very significant increase. thousands of new clinics. so are opportunities for democrats and republicans to work together. i'm going to talk about a way we can create a new marketplace in american health care through these exchanges and get more value for the health care dollar, again, focusing on the opportunity that we see with community health centers for democrats and republicans to team up. and i thank my colleague for his statement. mr. president, and i know because of our work together on health legislation, you share my view that we can continue this effort to bring the senate together, both sides, around key principles of health reform. and i want to do that again this morning by focusing on one of

sanders, can you give me a citation to a published peer reviewed study that shows judicial modification makes volunteer modifications more difficult? >> that's a very good question. and i will send it back to you saying that we are, as laurie has testified to, such uncharted waters that all that matters is that a 50% decline in house prices will see how this works. no, i have no evidence that ms. gordon was referring to that this was going to be terrible. however, when we are with high unemployment and this far upside down then ministates or ten states in the united states believe that when i'll see it. >> professor sanders, isn't it true that on the bankruptcy laws every other kind of that is exactly the same way that the legislation we talked about last year would modify how mortgages? every other kind of secured debt? >> that is true. >> thank you. >> but there's a reason why mortgages were not included in knots. >> that's the only reason? >> i didn't say that's the reason. i'm just a mortgages are not included here that the statement did not a reason. >> okay. >> gentleman from geor

one of our great senators here, bernie sanders of vermont, has been a clarion voice on behalf of community health clinics. he knows as we all do that these clinics placed in cities and towns across america are a lifeline to low-income people so they have primary care at a fraction of the cost of a visit to an emergency room. good care. i've seen them. i've visited them. the erie clinic in chicago, alivio medical clinic in chicago. good, clean, modern clinics with people dedicated to health care and dentistry who can help these people. we envision 10,000 more community health clinics as a result of this bill, at least 10,000, and thousands of primary physicians to be there to help. and that will mean that we will be creating across america a network of care and peace of mind for people who otherwise have few places, if any, to turn. i think the day will come soon when this bill, after it's passed, will become evident to america in terms of what we set out to do and what we achieved. and if history serves as it has in the past, many of today's critics will not dwell on the fact that they vot

>> it means that bernie sanders does not want ben bernanke to be fed chairman and he is making it known. what it means is that he will need 60 votes for the confirmation to happen. what is interesting is that some of the objections to ben bernanke come from the right and the left. you suspect that they are doing to be just as eager to not vote for him. host: congressman ron paul has been a longtime vocal critic of the fed. sounds like more people are ascribing to that? >> that is true, they have done many things over last couple of years, bailing out during the crisis, efforts to prop up wall street, as well as regulatory failings that go a farther away. there are a lot of different concerns going around. all of that and the fact that we are in a big recession is enough to make ben bernanke less popular than he might have been. host: at the same time, should judge greg has announced support. >> that is right. it looks like ben bernanke is likely to be extended into a second term. it will take 60 votes, but there is a solid middle of the senate who seem to respect the guy, that he has do

. >> first of all, bernie sanders is honest. he has the courage of his convictions.d us and the rest of the american people to see what it was going to be like when you get this health care bill that nobody has seen yet, expect the leader, when it's finally passed, their ultimate goal is bernie sanders. they won't say that publicly. it's dead last year. everybody is denying that now. the american people don't want the government standing between them and their doctor. we have that already in the terms of rationalling of the medicare. the purpose was to make sure that people get to see the contrast. the other purpose was is to delay as long as possible this bill so that we don't saddle the americans with another $2.5 trillion worth of government. >> senator, are you still a practicing physician? >> i am. >> host: are you delivering babies? >> i am not this is the first year. >> host: why? >> increased malpractice? >> host: can we ask how much? >> if i had practiced and delivered 100, it would have been $80,000. >> host: $80,000. republican line you are first up. >> ca

sanders would call for single payer. that will fail. hutcheson amendment i believe this tax related. i am sure they will fail. most have a 60 vote threshold. yesterday democrats put their rift over the real importation of prescription drugs to rest. it was interesting, normally you have a democratic amendment or a republican alternative, but here you have democratic and -- amendment by byron dorgan for rea importation of prescription drugs, it did not get 60 votes. then an alternative by a democrat, frank lautenberg of new jersey, also did not get 60 votes. democrats will work. the passage of byron dorgan and then it could blow up some of the financing and health care bill because the deal the pharmaceutical industry made what max baucus and president obama to fund the reform and bring down costs. the democrats were kind of fighting among themselves. looks like it was put to rest. another and a long line of republican attempts to have the build yanked back -- yanked back to the floor and sent back to committee, defeated, mike ribeau ame

sanders: before i get into the subject i want to talk about, which is drug reimportation, i want to say that i find it interesting that my republican friends are spending a whole lot of time down here on the floor attacking health care legislation. i suppose it's at least a positive thing that they're beginning to talk about health care. er you know, they ran the government from 2000 to 2006. they had the president, the house and the senate, and at that time health premiums soared. millions of americans lost their health insurance. where were th? where were they in beginning to come up with ideas to control health care costs and provide health care to more americans? they weren't there. having said that, let me also say that i have problems with the bill that's currently on the floor. clearly it does a lot of things that are good, but there are weaknesses in this bill in terms of cost containment that we have got to address. when some of my friends talk about expanding medicaid and the problems associated with that, they make a good point. we need to significantly expand our primary hea

i also want to compliment senator sanders. i've done this before on the community health centers. as we deal with the disparities of health care in america, one of the problems is, yes, we have to get people health insurance, we have to get people the financial wherewithal to have health care, you need to have the facilities in place to deal with the health care needs. it's one thing to say we'll cover the costs, it's another thing to say that we'll have the doctors available to you. i met with one of the leaders at johns hopkins university located in the urban part of baltimore city. they said, look, we need help. we need more community health centers, we need more primary care doctors, we need more nurses. we need help with those seeking care through traditional channels rather than emergency rooms, that's great news, with them being able to afford it, that's great news. let's have the facilities. there are many underserved areas around the nation and in maryland that just need facilities. and thanks to the sanders amendment, which i'm proud to be a cosponsor, worked with him, t

to commit -- excuse me, the hutchison motion to commit regarding taxes and implementation and the sanders amendment regarding the national single-payer system. senators will be notified when any votes are scheduled. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. adjourn: the health care bill. we will also hear from connecticut senator joe lieberman and about his opposition to the expansion of medicare. after that, and the date on health care from earlier, and then we will hear from groups opposed to the senate health care legislation. >>> president obama said earlier that he is consciously optimistic about efforts to pass health care legislation and praise the latest moves by senate democrats. the president is joined by senate democratic leaders. this is just under ten minutes. >> hello, everybody. we just had a very productive session about the final stages of health care reform in the senate, and from the discussions we had, it's clear that we are on

the way you have to persuade or influence, let's say a senator like bernie sanders from vermont is differenthan lobbying senator hatch from the state of utah. you have to know the differences. and that's one of your jobs. and you have to know about what procedures might be used in terms of moving something. externally, you probably have to come up with a good communication strategy in order to try to win support, how do you move public opinion and move grassroots support in order to move your idea and stop a bad idea from going through the process. couple of other points and i'll stop on this and see if you have any questions and that is theories of lobbying. this is a little more academic. scholars and others have always been worried about this issue of when does the prime interest might sort of overwhelm the public interest, this sort of conflict. they try to get a better grip from the theoretical perspective just what are lobbyists engaged in. we have so far three prominent different kinds of theories. one is called the exchange theory and this is the idea that lobbyists are able to provi

very positive reaction the day after we came out after the plan with positive reaction from bernie sanders and joe lieberman. that says it is alive. >> in the last -- [talking over each other] >> mrs. roberts, seventh grade. >> impressive. >> in the last 48 hours there have been a lot of concerns about the medicare from senator lieberman and other moderates, hospitals, doctors. is there a hostility among have to drop that idea? >> we are going to wait. when people see the details they are going to be pretty happy with it. and i think many of the concerns that have been voiced which are legitimate, i believe when we get a score and people see the details -- >> a question about those little problems. the amendment fell on the floor all week and i want to ask is that stuff on the floor because it breaks up the field and there is a worry that there are enough votes? >> it has been championed for a very long time. there are concerns, people have always had legitimate concerns on that issue about making sure senator menendez has consistently -- that the drugs that come into this country are safe

and i want to ask for faster sanders about this.re lenders going to have to reprice their consumer mortgage project or their consumer mortgage product in order to adjust for the risk to investors presented by something like bankruptcy creamed down? is that the likely consequence of legislation like this? i remember the justice department court justice john paul stevens comment that there's a reason why the bankruptcy code does not treat residential mortgages like it treats credit cards or auto loans and basically what he said was we want to enjoy investment in certainty and encourage the flow of capital into this market. if congress keeps making mistakes, errors in judgment that blends the market like what was done with fannie mae and freddie mac and then comes back with crammed down our legislation like that, do we drive the private capital out of the market. i mean at the end of the day i don't think congress did any favors or disadvantaged people i pushing fannie mae and freddie mac in mandating that half of their goals mandated

sanders: thank you, mr. president. you know, when the republicans controlled the white house, the senate, and the house, they had the opportunity to do something about the health care disaster in america. from 2000 to 2008 some seven million americans lost their health insurance. where were the republicans? during that same period health care costs soared in america. small business people found themselves unable to provide health care to their workers. where were our republican friends? i'm delighted that down -- that they're down here on the floor now every single day criticizing an effort to try to improve the situation much but it might have been a little bit better eight years ago bringing forth their ideas, but they weren't. now, having said that, let me suggest, mr. president, that the midst of this health care crisis, where 46 million americans have no health insurance, in which health care costs are soaring, and, as the president indicates, will double in eight years if we do nothing, at a time when 45,000 amer