it failed in the... >> steny, steny. the commission recommended supply side economics. it recommended lowering tax rates. that is pro-growth economics. bowels is saying lower tax rates. >> as you know, i agree with that. >> so we agree with that. >> no, you don't think that revenues ought to be any part of this. >> we think revenues should grow by growing the economy. raising tax rates hurts economic growth. >> schieffer: both of you... >> bob, that's an important point because, with all due respect, that was your argument in 1981. that was your argument in.... >> i was a kid in 1981. >> not your personal argument but kemp's. listen to me. that was the argument in 1981. that was the argument in 2001. both times, we had continuing large deficits. >> the deficit today is the difference today is putting up the spending controls and the tax reform. tax reform for economic growth. >> what you're also doing is... >> i can tell you that.... >> what you're also doing is you're doing it in a partisan way. clearly, your medicare proposal was rejected soundly. we don't need to cha

steny or put out a warning to the president -- steny hoyer put out a warning to the president.t: i share mr. hoyer's position. last winter, a huge benefits accrue to the wealthiest in this country. i think he did that knowing he did not need house democrats. we have become somewhat irrelevant in this process. i think that is the nature of politics. the negotiations go on between house republicans and the senate democrats. that has what has become irrelevant. host: are you frustrated? guest: that is the nature of the dynamic. i think he will listen to us. in the end, he is the leader of our party and we will march behind him. host: steve, a republican. caller: have you heard the phrase that too many cooks spoil the broth? guest: i have heard that. caller: it will be critical to both sides meet in the middle. maybe we need to hire some mathematicians and to get together on this. the mirrors will have to give up some of that money -- the millionaires will have to give up some of that money. guest: i think that is where we do have to end up, in the middle. this is part of the dance

more line steny hoyer than you would think.weird day. carole king is

steny hoyer, but i will tell that you you and steny hoyer are a match made in heaven. steny and our democratic caucus is pushing what we call make it in america and if steny was down here today he would go on and on and really get excited about the fact that we will make it in america, that's what we do, we make it in everything we do. another part of that make it in america, we need to make more products in america. that's what we do, we manufacture things, we build things, we have the best innovation, but we need to make sure that we have a focus, a commitment and an investment in the american people so that they can make it here in america. so that goes right with what you're saying, mr. vasquez, because as steny will push that we make it in america, you're pushing that we buy american products and those two things go hand in hand so, mr. vasquez, i just want to thank you for chiming in and i'm sure that my minority whip, steny hoyer, somewhere right now is very appreciative of the fact that you also recognize the importance of making it in america. i'm sorry, that

steny, vlad guerrero off of jo- jo reyes. double. robert andino scores. 2-2. good shortstop, yunel escobar. three-run home run. adam lind off of alfredo simon. his second home run.7 7-3, blue jays. look at this pitch. strike three. robert andino not happy. the blue jays take two of three from the orioles. 5000 ravens fans in ocean city. >> how was that? >> interesting. a lot of fun. >> the miracle plane. it needed to be rescued again. >> expect some delays downtown this morning. >> a father takes embarrassing his child to a new level. how says goodbye to his child each day. >> it will be a nice day today. >> we will talk about the closures in the city. one accident on 95 in howard county. [ male announcer ] baltimore. a city that's been inspiring ideas and innovation since 1729. at bank of america, we live, work and help serve the community here through hundreds of branches and atms. every day, we're working to help set opportunity in motion. from supporting the university of maryland medical center... to the restoration of the hippodrome theater and american

. >> and finally you fact-checked somebody on this show last week, steny hoyer. >> 5$5.6 trillion surpluss trillion debt when george bush left off. >> half true. >> what's the difference? >> half true is partially accurate, but there are fact that are missing. barely true is like a major exaggeration where there's a small bit of truth, but lacking in important content. >> what would you rather have? >> a half truth. >> why was he half true? >> he was mixing and matches statistics? >> really? politicians do that? >> shocking. what he was doing was taking a number for bush's projected surpluses over ten years and compares them to the final debt that actually occurred. so mixing and matches to make it more dramatic. the numbers were accurate, but he didn't explain them. >> one thing we learned, when you take projected budget deficits and debt, it's never what presidents say they are. bill adair, you are never pants on fire. >>> up next, the big panel gathers around to weigh in on all things 2012. a big weekend. santorum announced this morning, perry is pondering, and palin is always posturin

. >> listen to what steny hoyer said today. two democrat in the house. i will play the clip. >> we had a discussion. i told him that he needed to handle this and needed to give the facts to the public. >> reporter: has he done that to your satisfaction? >> frankly, i have not been following it. i don't know whether he has done th that. >> do you agree with steny hoyer? >> i think this is a personal matter and that's how it should be left. >> eric cantor, the republican, majority leader in the house of representatives, he says that anthony weiner has a lot more explaining to do, if you will. >> anthony weiner is dealing with a personal matter and should be left as a personal matter. >> do you believe someone did hack into his account and -- send out that picture as he says. >> i think anthony weiner is dealing with a personal matter and that is where it should be left. >> there are some that say there -- he is a member of congress and should be a formal investigation. as the leader of the democratic party is this becoming a dist

i give credit to steny hoyer. he is courting this phrase "made in america."e trying to insist that money spent in government contracts are on american-made products and at the top of the list to help to find ways to support our manufacturing base so people are manufacturing in the united states and not in other countries. the jobs are the key. it is the answer to our deficit and debt problems. it would be helpful if the new republican majority would spend at least one day on jobs. we have talked about everything about jobs. they get into a big frenzy about whether we should cut money for national public radio. that is not what people are worried about. they are worried about their economic security and jobs. let's put people back to work. i think the president is doing a good job trying to get this economy back on track. host: biggie is joining us from toronto, ohio. caller: good morning. we could change all of this by taking all of the tax breaks and loopholes out of what corporations pay, and make corporations take 50% of their profits, invest it in jobs in

considering resigning which colleagues have urged, both democrats and republicans over the weekend we saw steny hoyer, the number two on the democratic side here saying he needs to resign. paul ryan, the budget chair saying this is, this was his quote, a ridiculous distraction from the things that we've got to get done here. new yorkers are backing him, playly in queens in his district over 50% support, one that we heard from said that when you get a good congressman like anthony weiner you need to stick behind him. so, lots of support at home. not so much on the hill. >> no kidding. keeps coming out on him. can't believe. thank you. >> new photos of congresswoman gabrielle giffords slows her looking in good condition six months after she was shot in the head. the photos were posted on her facebook page. both images show her smiling and appearing happy along side her mother. while the pictures look promising, aides say she still has a long road to recovery. she has a hard time speaking and communicating. >> it's a very slow process. she suffered an injury that unfortunately leaves 95% of those

. >> woodruff: picking up on that, congressman clyburn, we know that your colleague steny hoyer, theratic whip, has said that everything has to be on the table in these talks going on under vice president biden, including medicaid. is that something that you accept? >> let me remind listeners and watchers, judy, last november the democrats addressed medicare in the continuing resolution that we passed. and that continuing resolution had a $500 million cut in medicare. did not cut one dime out of medicare benefits. it cut $500 million out of the providers' side. so i think that we have demonstrated that we know how to address the medicare problems. we can do so without cutting one dime out of benefits. this thing of just cutting benefits, inflicting pain on seniors, is something democrats are not going to do. i'm not going to.... >> woodruff: so you disagree with your colleague, mr. hoyer, who says that additional cuts in medicare have to be on the table? >> well, i'm not disagreeing. i didn't hear what mr. hoyer had to say. i'm just saying that we have demonstrated that we know how t

role in libya from republican speaker john boehner and the number two democrat steny hoyer.time for our sunday group. brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. "new york post" columnist, kirsten powers. bill kristol of "the weekly standard." fox news political analyst, juan williams. the house, i think it's fair to say, sent a mixed message this week. on the one hand refusing to authorize the u.s. operation in libya. but on the other hand, refusing to cut off some offenseive funds for offensive operations in libya. brit, what is the message to the president? >> the message to the president is he can keep on doing what he is doing and the most conservative body of congress, that being the house, is not going to stop him in the way that would be most effective, which would be cutting off the money. the other vote is kind of a resolution of disapproval. it doesn't really carry much force. it should be a warning to the president that what he is doing in libya is unpopular. and that there is no real constituency for it. and there are all kinds of reasons for that which we can

steny or put out a warning to the president -- steny hoyer put out a warning to the president. uest: i share mr. hoyer's position. last winter, a huge benefits accrue to the wealthiest in this country. i think he did that knowing he did not need house democrats. we have bece somewhat irrelevant in this process. i think that is the nature of politics. the negotiations go on between house publicans and the senate democrats. that has what has become irrelevant. host: are you frustrated? guest: that is the nature of the dynamic. i think he will listen to us. in the end, he is the leader of our party the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 235 and the nays are 186. the previous question is ordered. the speaker: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, i have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a letter received from mr. robert brim and on behalf of mr. todd valentine, co-executive directors, new york state board of elections, indicating

"face the nation," steny hoyer and paul ryan. five network television talk shows brought u.s. public service by the networks in c- span. meet the press, this week come boxed is sunday, stated the union, face the nation. listen to them all on c-span radio in the washington d.c. area, on xm satellite radio, downloadable as a app. >> connect with c-span online with the latest video on twitter, continuing conversations on facebook, political places in washington and beyond with foursquare, and programming highlights on our youtube channel. c-span and social media -- connect today. >> this weekend on american history to become more than 20 years after the end of the cold the civil rights movement, and restoring civil war photographs. get the complete we can schedule at c-span.org/history or press that c-span alert button to get our schedules e-mailed directly to you. >> "washington journal" continues. host: for the next hour, we will talk 2012 presidential politics with charles hurt, political columnist for the " washington times," and george zornick from "the nation." give us your

. >> today house democratic whip steny hoyer touted the democratics "make it in america" initiative, aimed at increasing u.s. manufacturing and expressed hope that republicans would support parts of their plans. his remarks came during the discussion of u.s. manufacturing, hosted by the center for american process action fund. this is about an hour. >> welcome to the center for american progress. i'm the vice president for economic policy here. so let me start by saying i flew back from cairo, egypt yesterday. which i see is relevant for a couple of reasons. first of all, i'm really jet lagged. i had originally planned on taking today off. this event was too exciting to miss. as long as i stay awake for the whole thing, but i'm very excited for it. the second reason that i bring it up, i was in cairo for a conference on youth unemployment. it was organized by something that we have -- we organize out of here called the just josh network. which is a network of think tanks from both developing world countries and the developed world. it works on labor market issues, you know, of mutual

house speaker john boehner, minority leader nancy pelosi and her deputy steny hoyer. a field not far from the capitol to watch the lady lawmakers take on the bad news babes who seem to realize they have their work cut out for them this year. >> those are competitive women. >> they want to win. >> reporter: and there to throw out the first pitch, supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. >> i just started throwing a softball, so forgive me if it's not perfect. but if i throw a strike, you better report on it. >> reporter: not bad. not bad at all. so how do you get all these people in one place? a great cause. the game raised about $50,000 for the young survival company a application to help young women diagnosed with breast cancer. it's not very often that you can get democrats and republicans playing together on the same team, but you managed to do it. >> yes, and unfortunately, breast cancer the highest risk to get it is just being a woman. doesn't matter what party you are. >> reporter: laura richardson batted in three runs early in the game. in the sixth inning with n

the number two democrat steny hoyer told our ous today they'r waiting to see what he decides. two options. one to strip him of his committee assignments. another is to kick him out of the democratic caucus. neither of these, we're told, are actively being discussed yet because they're kind of still waiting a couple of days. but the question is, what is he going to decide? you know, brooke, we had talked about last week about the fact that i'd heard that he was telling his colleagues that he wanted to wait until his wife, huma, returned to make the final decision. the source i talked to who spoke to weiner told me that specifically he said that he wants to be able to, quote, look her in the eye and discuss whether or not this is the right thing to do. because he has hurt her so much. he was telling his colleagues that she was saying that she wanted him to stay. whether that is a delaying tactic or whether that is real really remains to be seen. >> that would be a very, very difficult conversation. dana bash, do me a favor and stay right there. we also want to continue this conv

. >> reporter: the number two house democrat, steny hoyer told "face the nation's" bob schieffer that weiner, who has refused to go, should reconsider. >> seems to me extraordinarily difficult that he can proceed to representative his contistituen in an effective way with the bizarre way. >> reporter: this was speaker john bainer in a commencement address at ohio's university this weekend. >> my name looks like beaner, bonner, boner. thank god it's not weiner. >> reporter: it may be funny for republicans, but democrats feel that this scandal is completely overshadowing their agenda and that's why they're asking him to go now, when they're coming back into session after a week-long break. erica? >> nancy stay with us for a minute. we want to check in with you for a second. we're joined by host of "face the nation" bob schieffer as well as cbs news political correspondent jan crawford. good to talk with both of you in person. bob, as nancy mentioned there are reports out of new york, congressman weiner is from new york, he represents new york he may finally be considering resignation. b

her deputy steny hoyer. those were just the spectators.ocratic and republican female lawmakers there and check out who was there to throw out the first pitch. none other than supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. you know, she did actually a pretty good job, i have to say. she told us we needed to report on it if she threw a strike. i have to say, she ended up doing quite okay. now, the reason all these people come out, brooke, really, it's for a good cause. it benefits the young survival coalition, the top organization in the u.s. for young women 45 and under who suffer from breast cancer. a really good cause. that's why you have democrats and republicans and people from different branches of government coming out. >> let's listen to your big get. supreme court justice sotomayor. let's listen. we don't have it, i'm told. but bottom line, you were happy to be talking to her obviously. there she was in her zebra print top throwing out the first pitch. i'm told we have it right now. then let's listen. >> i just start throwing a softball. fo

. >> now tell us whether or not you challenge steny. >> we basically agree with what you said. we said that we do not challenge the district court standing. with respect to the states, we agree that they do have standing to challenge the medicaid provisions. so we are in agreement. >> so we do not have to reach the issues on standing because there is standing. >> the only way you have to reach for that question is if we get to the point to declare the act unconstitutional. then there's the question about several ability analysis and whether the district court judgment on that was right. with respect to that, we think that, while florida has standing to challenge the minimum coverage provision, they do not have for the rest of the act. >> even accepting all that is true, if accepting the premise of your question, the mandate went down and there is plenty for this court to entertain that, we could entertain a question of sever ability only of the states have standing as to the medicaid provision. am i not correct about that? >> that is correct, judge markets. if you believe that

. >> now tell us whether or not you challenge steny. >> we basically agree with what you said. we said that we do not challenge the district court standing. with respect to the states, we agree that they do have standing to challenge the medicaid provisions. so we are in agreement. >> so we do not have to reach the issues on standing because there is standing. >> the only way you have to reach for that question is if we get to the point to declare the act unconstitutional. then there's the question about several ability analysis and whether the district court judgment on that was right. with respect to that, we think that, while toyota has standing to challenge the minimum coverage provision, they do not -- while florida has standing to challenge the minimum coverage provision, they do not have for the rest of the act. >> even accepting all that is true, if accepting the premise of your question, the mandate went down and there is plenty for this court to entertain that, we could entertain a question of sever ability only of the states have standing as to the medicaid provision

host: that is the " there from steny hoyer about some sort of temporary deal. missouri, democratic line. you can talk about any public policy issue that you would like to discuss. caller: i wanted to get in to talk to the rep. i was not able to. but i wanted to say that it was a breath of fresh air to hear the republican willing to make a reasonable deal with the administration. what he is talking about, doling out to reasonable policies in terms of home ownership, thank you to c-span for bringing someone on like that who is willing to work with the president. host: 20% down, no more than 28% of your monthly income can go to your mom or average monthly mortgage, under those rules would you be able to afford a home? guest: -- caller: by m 61 years old. -- i am 61 years old. what he is suggesting is not radical. it will affect every homeowner. yes, i think that they are on the right track. host: for lauderdale, bill, independent line. -- fort lauderdale, bill, independent line. about the credit default swaps, one of the callers' questions, -- caller: about the cr

. >> that, you just heard from steny hoyer, the number two democrat in the house.e democratic leader, came out with a statement asking for anthony weiner to step down, very significant statement. one thing remains clear, kiran. what will his future hold? what will he decide? he's taking a leave of absence for an undetermined amount of time at an undisclosed treatment center. from a democratic source telling cnn, we understand that the congressman doesn't want to make any decision without talking to his wife first when she would return, which we hear is thursday. she has been away on an overseas trip with secretary hillary clinton, a long-time aide for her. we're waiting to see how things develop there, as well as how their colleagues react as they come back to work. >> thank you so much. >>> first close-up look at arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords since she was shot in the head hed back in january. her office post twog photographs. she looks remarkably good. her hair is shorter. all smiles in both pictures. giffords expects to leave a houston rehab facility

democrats have put forth in america agenda and leadership with a steny hoyer then that. we have specifically put forth legislation, which we are calling for a discharge position to bring to the fuller to address china's manipulation of current seat, which could be costing us between 1,000,001.5 million jobs in her country. are there other issues that are concerned best to coors is medicare which is repealed and the republican budget. medicare is very important to the republican people while republicans are asking seniors to pay more, they still insist in companies that ship jobs overseas and the wealth he is people in that country. today, we congratulate the president for putting -- releasing a 30 -- 30 billion barrels, which is part of the 60 billion barrels of oil, a concern to america's working families. this has been part of our energy bill that is part of our in america proposal. we are very pleased the president has taken action. other news of the day, mr. van holland and knight and i am very honored to be here with the ranking member of the budget committee and on

steny hoyer, he is the house whip, one of the top leaders in the house of representatives -- democratic leader in the house. he said this, "do i believe that there are other things we can do related to medicare? the answer is, i do. i'm not going to get into articulating each one, but my expectation is they will be under discussion by the biden group." they have a little secret group down there meeting in the bhows with some republicans and white house, and we're supposed to all relax now because they're going to solve our problems and put it on a silver platter for us, and we're just going to vote for it, and it will be good for the country. i'm a little dubious about it, but i'm anxious to hear what they're going to produce. the longer they wairkts the more critical our situation is. what about the house minority leader, former speaker, nancy pelosi? she was on larry kudlow's cnbc business channel. mr. kudlow is very articulate moderator and he asked this question, "is medicare on the table? are entitlements on the table?" he said to the former speaker, pell low sivment answer, "yes,

earlier in the day steny hoyer at a press event had basically urged members to vote president -- present if they had any qualms. it was a way to cast a vote without stating a preference. in the end, only seven did so. -- 97 did so. in never had a chance of succeeding in the house. it was seen as entirely a political gesture by the republican majority. >> why did democrats vote the way that they did? >> 114 had signed a letter by peter welch which called for the clean debt ceiling vote, unencumbered by any spending controls are spending reduction. they had said that debt ceiling is too important, the country's full faith and credit is too important to be held hostage to debates about how one fixes the budget. they had signed this letter and perhaps they felt that even though the vote was purely a political one and not one that they had been pushing for, they have to follow through with their intentions. they could not very well but no having publicly called for a vote. perhaps they felt they were left with no choice. >> you mentioned that the vote was political. why did they go ahead with

that was the special message from the democratic whip, steny hoyer. >> ross is very much, madam leader. this was a very productive meeting. the president responded. he had a clear objective that we need to address -- the debt, the deficit -- bringing those down while at the same time strengthening the security of the american people while making short medicare is strengthened and preserved for seniors. in addition to that, the american public was focused on jobs. we have the jobs agenda. it is called "make it in america." not make it in terms of succeeding, but make it in terms of manufacturing it, growing it, and sending it around the world. america can compete with anybody in the world given the proper -- given the proper incentives and environment. we will work with the president to create that and continue to create jobs in this economy, which has slowed. we will get back to providing the jobs that people need. i will be -- yield to the assistant leader, jim clyburn. >> i was very pleased today to meet with the president of the united states. i shared my dealings about the boss i w

[applause] >> we replaced steny hoyer as majority leader with eric cantor who will be here in about 90> women executed this program and initially in '09 just into states where only a few months old. we raised about $2 million. we identified the program and the tea party conservative vote. we contacted it. we turned it out, and in new jersey we replaced liberal big spending jon corzine with conservative champion chris christie. [applause] >> and in virginia bob mcdonnell one that virginia governor's race by 18. [applause] >> in ohio, we replaced ted strickland with our friend john kasich was one of the finest governors in america. [applause] >> and in the fourth largest state in america, we replaced charlie crist with taxcutting rick guy. [applause] >> and i think that's a pretty good trade. and then after chris ted betrayed his party and his professed runcible, we beat him with marco rubio was not in the united states senate. [applause] >> but we are not done yet. we are just beginning, and that's what this weekend is about. because in 2012 we are going to add to the majority in the ho

democrats put forth and make it in america agenda and the leadership with steny hoyer.hin that we specifically put forth legislation which we are calling for a discharge petition to bring to the floor to address chyba's manipulation of currency which could cost between 1 million to 1.5 million jobs in our own country. other issues of concern to us our medicare which is repealed in the republican budget. medicare and medicaid, very important to the american people. while the republicans are asking seniors to pay more to get less, they still insist on giving tax subsidies to big oil companies that ship jobs overseas and to the wealthiest people in the country. the news of the day, congratulate the president for putting -- releasing 30 billion barrels which is part of the 60 billion beryl release of oil which i believe will immediately bring down the price at the pump which is a concern to america's working families. this has been part of our energy bill that is part of our making it an american proposal, so we are very pleased the president has taken this action. as our n

[applause] >>> house democratic whip steny hoyer held a town hall meeting with residents and staff at the evergreen senior living community in maryland to discuss how republican budget proposals would affect medicare. the senior adult communities located in maryland fifth congressional district which congressman hoyer has represented since 1981. this is an hour. >> good afternoon ordered morning i guess. nice to see all of you. thank you for being here. appreciate it to read much. i don't have a podium, so i'm going to sit down because i want to go through this because it's very important information for you and for all of us of course in terms of medicare and medicaid and how we provide health care for people. we have had a lot of debate in washington gaziano, so i'm going to sit down. if you want to come forward, you can do that or if not, if you can't hear me, let me know. i'm going to use the microphone as well. c-span is here. they are taking pictures, so we will see what happens here. >> [inaudible] >> i didn't bring any ice cream. we had wonderful ice-cream yesterday at simple

congressman steny hoyer from maryland to my right is a great friend and needs little introduction, but nevertheless i will say he's been a member of the house since 1981, currently the house democratic whip in the second ranking member of the house democratic leadership. he previously served as the majority leader from 2007-2011 and prior to that, he was also the democratic whip. he's been a very strong advocate, and i know in meetings with him, i've seen this up close and certainly publicly. he's been a very strong advocate of strengthening the american middle class and the national economy and national social security. it's been a huge focus. you know, i think very relevant today, he's spearheading the make it in america agenda, a coordinated strategy to support job creation by creating an environment for businesses to innovate and make products in the u.s. and sell them to the rest of the world, some of which he's worked with. next is ron bloom. he's been the administration's senior counselor for manufacturing policies since september 2009 and has been senior adviser to the secretar

i give credit to steny hoyer. he is courting this phrase "made in america." we are trying to insist that money spent in government contracts are on american-made products and at the top of the list to help to find ways to support our manufacturing base so people are manufacturing in the united states and not in other countries. the jobs are the key. it is the answer to our deficit and debt problems. it would be helpful if the new republican majority would spend at least one day on jobs. we have talked about everything about jobs. they get into a big frenzy about whether we should cut money for national public radio. that is not what people are worried about. they are worried about their economic security and jobs. let's put people back to work. i think the president is doing a good job trying to get this economy back on track. host: biggie is joining us from toronto, ohio. caller: good morning. we could change all of this by taking all of the tax breaks and loopholes out of what corporations pay, and make corporations take 50% of their profits, invest it in j

speaking now is steny hoyer, minority whip. >> engaged and the president responded positively with a clear objective that we need to address the debt, the deficit, bring those down, while at the same time, strengthening the security of the american people through making sure that medicare is strengthened and preserved for our seniors in addition to that, obviously, the american public was focused on jobs. we have a jobs agenda. we call it make it in america. not only make it in terms of succeeding, but make it in terms of manufacturing and growing it and sending it around the world. america can compete with anybody in the world. given the proper incentives and environment. we intend to work with the president to create that and continue to create jobs with this economy which has flowed and will get back to work to provide the job that a lot of people need. on -- i'm now pleased to yield to the jim clyburn. >> thank you, mr. whip. i was pleased to share with the president of the united states about the feelings about the talks that we're having about the biden group. i've said to him

earlier today, house minority leader steny hoyer held a town hall meeting in maryland.scussed the republican budget plan which he believes would and medicare for seniors and future generations. medicare for seniors and future generations. this is an hour. >> good morning. we have had a lot of debate in washington, as you know. i am going to sit down. if you want to come forward, you can do that. if you cannot hear me, let me know. i have a microphone. c-span is here. they are taking pictures. we will see what happens. i did not bring any ice cream. we had wonderful ice-cream yesterday at simple pleasures. you were there. a number of us were there. it was great. i appreciate all of you being here. can everybody hear me? all right. does everybody want to hear me? [laughter] the senator used to tell a joke i love. he was giving a speech for about 250 people, and somebody in the back of the room raised their hand and said, "senator, i cannot hear you." immediately, somebody in the front row jumped up and said, "i can, and i will trade places with you." [laughter] i am pleas