joining me now is senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island, a member of the senate budget committee. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> sir, this is serious, this is even dire. are you encouraged by the meeting today and the president's remarks in the aftermath of that meeting? >> well, i think that the decision to move the forum for the negotiations to the senate was a necessary one. i have a lot of confidence in harry reid's negotiating ability. mitch mcconnell is a veteran negotiator, and i think there's a far better prospect of something being worked out in the senate than there was dealing with speaker boehner and his completely dysfunctional house republican party. >> sure. well, abiding by convention and of course protocol, the senate won't return until sunday. will there be enough time for the senate leaders to really craft a deal that is substantive and makes a difference, especially to the most vulnerable americans? >> yeah, i think the two keys that the president laid out are to protect middle class americans from tax increases and to protect familie

. >> eliot: senator sheldon whitehouse what can the president do. >> i give a speech every week on ther to keep the pressure up on this. we have the problem here which the republican party has categoryically denied that climate change exists, and they're in a place magic and fantasy. and we have to live in the real world as prepare as your state knows better than any about the consequences of the climate change. the storms and so forth. two things, one the president needs to engage on this issue. they gave it a pass in the first term and they can't do this any longer if they want a legacy in the future. second, we need to get the public engaged. that's how you'll move congress. this is a battle between the entrenchinged polluting special interests, and what i hope will become an energized public and white house. >> eliot: in your speeches time and again you point to the data. we have opposition that is devote of a scientific gene that want to ignore it and tonight want to acknowledge what is reality. rising water levels, ice melt that is melting at a faster rate. >> those are things th

senator sheldon whitehouse has said to us over and over and over, we are spending more than any other country in the world as a share of our national income on health care. we're spending 18% of our g.d.p. on health care. no other country spends more than 11.5%. and the best minds in the country have told us we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars in health care that don't improve health care outcomes at all. and if we would save money in overall health care, 40% of that savings would flow through to the federal government. senator whitehouse is right about this. we ought to focus like a laser on where the waste is. you don't need to increase the eligibility age for medicare. you absolutely do not have to do it to save $500 billion. but what it would do if you save $500 billion is it would keep the growth in health care spending about equal to the growth in the overall economy. that would stabilize the growth of health care spending. that would be a huge contribution to the economic competitive position of the united states. now, mr. president, the republicans have also said, he

. >> jennifer: that is the incredible senator sheldon white whitehouse unloading on his colleagues atg. exactly who is he talking to? take senator gyms inhofe. he's with the senate committee of environment and public works. that senator, senator inhofe has referred to global chime change change as an alarmist. why would he say that? maybe because the top three contributers to his political campaign for the top five years are some of the top fossil fuel industries in the campaign. koch industries, murray energy. devon energy. is there any chance that reason can speak louder than money? here to help us answer that question is jefferey sachs. he's comeing to us via skype from new york. thank you for joining us in "the war room"." >> thanks for having me again. it's great to be with you. 12,347 >> jennifer: i appreciate your perspective. even on climb changes blockburg when they put it on the cover of the magazine, how can we get our leaders to take action. >> the president has to put forward a plan. it has to not only acknowledge theeverything that your wonderful show has been discussing

senator sheldon whitehouse has said to us over and over and over, we are spending more than any other country in the world as a share of our national income on health care. we're spending 18% of our g.d.p. on health care. no other country spends more than 11.5%. and the best minds in the country have told us we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars in health care that don't improve health care outcomes at all. and if we would save money in overall health care, 40% of that savings would flow through to the federal government. senator whitehouse is right about this. we ought to focus like a laser on where the waste is. you don't need to increase the eligibility age for medicare. you absolutely do not have to do it to save $500 billion. but what it would do if you save $500 billion is it would keep the growth in health care spending about equal to the growth in the overall economy. that would stabilize the growth of health care spending. that would be a huge contribution to the economic competitive position of the united states. now, mr. president, the republicans have also said, he

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable sheldon whitehouse, a senator from the state of rhode island, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: without objection the majority leader. mr. reid: new year's eve is fast approaching and for decades and decades the american people have watched the ball drop in times square. it's the countdown to midnight, the start of a new year. but this year, mr. president, the american people are waiting for the ball to drop but it's not going to be a good drop. because americans' taxes are approaching the wrong direction. come the first of this year, americans will have less income than they have today. if we go over the cliff, and it looks like that's where we're headed, mr. president, the house of representatives as we speak with four days left after today before the first of the year aren't here with the speaker having told them they'll give them 48 hours' notice. i can't imagine their consciences. they're out wherever they are, around the cou

you know, i just got a book from our colleague, the senator from rhode island, sheldon whitehouse. and i got it today and i've already finished half of it. and it has a wonderful introduction, i would recommend to all my colleagues, i know you'll get one to read it. but it's a collection of the thoughts and sayings. and if you read what daniel webster said and you read what benjamin franklin said and you read what winston churchill has said about bowing to the public pressure rather than doing the best right thing, you won't regret it. and so this is a popular amendment, it's going to pass, the service organizations want to you do it, but it's not the right thing to do. we have to begin as we negotiate increased revenues from the very wealthy in this country, declining expenses at defense department, everybody has to share. everybody in america. and if they don't share now, they'll share much more painfully in the future. mr. president, i don't have anything else to say on this other than i will vote against it. not because i -- not because i want veterans to have to have a co-pay

senator sheldon whitehouse has said to us over and over and over, we are spending more than any other country in the world as a share of our national income on health care. we're spending 18% of our g.d.p. on health care. no other country spends more than 11.5%. and the best minds in the country have told us we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars in health care that don't improve health care outcomes at all. and if we would save money in overall health care, 40% of that savings would flow through to the federal government. senator whitehouse is right about this. we ought to focus like a laser on where the waste is. you don't need to increase the eligibility age for medicare. you absolutely do not have to do it to save $500 billion. but what it would do if you save $500 billion is it would keep the growth in health care spending about equal to the growth in the overall economy. that would stabilize the growth of health care spending. that would be a huge contribution to the economic competitive position of the united states. now, mr. president, the republicans have also said, he

senator sheldon whitehouse has said to us over and over and over, we are spending more than any other country in the world as a share of our national income on health care. we're spending 18% of our g.d.p. on health care. no other country spends more than 11.5%. and the best minds in the country have told us we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars in health care that don't improve health care outcomes at all. and if we would save money in overall health care, 40% of that savings would flow through to the federal government. senator whitehouse is right about this. we ought to focus like a laser on where the waste is. you don't need to increase the eligibility age for medicare. you absolutely do not have to do it to save $500 billion. but what it would do if you save $500 billion is it would keep the growth in health care spending about equal to the growth in the overall economy. that would stabilize the growth of health care spending. that would be a huge contribution to the economic competitive position of the united states. now, mr. president, the republicans have also said, he

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable sheldon whitehouse senator from north carolina. mrs. hagan: following leader remarks, the senate will consider the conference report to the national defense authorization act. the filing deadline for amendments to the emergency supplemental bill is 1:30 p.m. today. at approximately 2:00 p.m., there will be a roll call vote on adoption of the national defense conference report. we will work on an agreement for amendments in order to complete action on the completely as well as an agreement on fisa. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: last night, the house of representatives proved what we have known for quite a while. speaker boehner's plan to raise taxes on 25 million middle-class taxpayers while handing out $50,000 bonuses to millionaires and billionaires was dead on arrival. we said that yesterday. we knew the so-called plan b was no plan at all. it couldn't pass the senate. turns out, it couldn't pass the house either. it's too bad speaker boehner wasted a week in this futile politi