. >> the next question is from tammie from cnn. please go ahead. >> thank you. [inaudible] >> the next question is from lisa from abc news. please go ahead. >> thanks. my question has to do with the recovery act and state fiscal spending with respect when you talk a little bit about how even with the recovery act the decline has gone on. if you can speak a little bit more about how the recovery act impacted in medicaid and education, where we are seeing specifically how that has helped. >> okay. as i mentioned, those two programs represent about 135 billion. it is the only flexible money that is there. and what it's allowed states to do particularly under medicaid, because it is also the medicaid money was retroactive to november 2008 and it's over 27 month period but that has allowed the states to take back their money because the feds were picking up an extra 6% share and to spread it around you find places where that money plus used to protect education and from a macroeconomic standpoint it was very positive because we have shortfalls of 200 billion going in

press, miami tammy amy jeep dodge. he told me his dealership was perhaps the top seller in the south florida area and top in the country seems like the kind of dealership you would want to see continueed the other is in central florida holler chevrolet. i've grown up in central florida, holler is synonymous with chevrolet in the central florida region until bill hurt chevrolet ceased to exist, they were number two. presumed now since they are no longer around they would be the number one dealer in the central florida region how in the world does it make sense for a dealership like that to also be on the the list for close yures and in addition to the top seller they also have excellent customer service they know how to do this business, they've been in it all their lives so the specifics of this is what rhyme or reason is it because of this? because it is people's lifely hoods and businesses so we need to understand that this so we can understand these questions. i think they deserve to understand the rational why a de

speaker, i rise in support of the gentlewoman's amendment and i want to thank tammie baldwin from wisconsin for not only working with me but also other members of my conference, republican conference, on important issues related to eye and retinal health and i appreciate her recognizing today the 40th anniversary of the national eye institute, h.res. 366. and also i appreciate her dedication to people that are suffering with retinal and eye diseases and these vision issues that we speak about today as a result of our support and the support of the national eye institute make a difference to thousands of people who have these eye diseases and their families and i'm very proud of this resolution. last congress we, meaning mrs. bald with win and i, joined together in support of national glaucoma day and today we're here to recognize the 40th anniversary of the national eye institute and express support for the designation of 2010 through 2020 as the decade of vision. the national eye institute, also known as n.e.i., was established by congress in 1968 to protect and prolong vision of the ameri

. >> our next question is from tammy from cnn money. >> our next question is from lisa from abc news. please go ahead. >> thanks to my question has to do with a recovery act, interstates fiscal spending as with respect to a. you talk a little bit about how that even with the recovery act the decline has gone on. did you speak a little bit more about how the recovery act impacted in medicaid and education? where are we seeing specifically how that helped? >> okay. well, as i mentioned, those two programs represent about 135 billion. it is the only flexible money that is there. and what it has allowed states to do, particularly the medicaid, because it's also medicaid money was retroactive to october as a remember, 2008. and it's over a 27 month period. but that's allowed states really to take back their money because the feds are picking up over a 6% share. and to spread it around in fact you will find places where that money was even used to protect education. from a macro economic standpoint it was very positive because we had shortfalls of 200 billion going into -- or before the rec

i want to think representative at tammy baldwin. there she is, right there. for her tireless leadership on this and the broader struggle for equality. i want to thank senator joe lieberman. he is here, as well as susan collins, for championing this bill and representative barney frank for his leadership on this and so many other issues. this is his second trip to the white house today. [laughter] it is a day that marks an historic step toward the changes we seek, but i think we'll have to of knowledge this is only one step. among the steps we have not yet taken it is to repeal of defense of marriage act. i believe is discriminatory and interferes with states' rights, and we will work with congress to overturn it. we have work to do to ensure that government treats all citizens equally, to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms, to bring about that. i am committed to these efforts and i pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these

. >> the next question is from tammy from cnn money. please go ahead. >> do you think the governors and legislators are getting a better handle on the declines in the revenue, so that the money in their budgets for 2010 are going to be even more, i don't want to say realistic but accurate, or will we see you know, continued scrambles? >> i personally don't, i mean unsell the rate of decline really begins to bottom out, in terms of the state revenue numbers it is going to be very difficult. one of the hardest problems in economic forecasting is to hit the turning points, and it is very, very difficult so once you begin to see that bottoming, then i think the accuracy will increase quite dramatically, but until that time i really think there's going to be a lot of unknowns. >> yeah, i have to say. that is what is so remarkable about this period. the fiscal folks come i can't tell you how much the way to that day when they have the stability in the month of coming in and therefore keston they continue to believe they have ramped their fore

and he turned to congresswoman tammy baldwin and senator joe lieberman who was there along with my colleague, the gay rights hero, he gave the act which will remedy between federal employees with same sex partners and heterosexual employees. there are a number of things such as health insurance that i as an employee of the labor department cannot get for my partner. but of course my partner is a foshe national so we have the whole additional problem of being separated because we are treated as strangers. so we have a long way to go but we have an ally in the white house and we have to work with him. and it actually helps him to achieve his own agenda when we apply constructive pressure across the board in various ways. and that means more than just having this meet on the mall that some people are calling for where people gather on the west lawn of the capitol and talk to each other while people are out of town. >> talking about the relationship between the gay community and the obama administration. he is a political affairs activist with the gay and lesbian activist alliance. and if you wo

interest in the workplace legislation, and the person who was so close to him, they called him his tammy twin, al smith. frances perkins is an vault in helping both of those men advance their careers. she orchestrates hearings on factory conditions where those two men began to shine. robert wagner becomes a very important u.s. senator from new york. shabes labor legislation for decades to come. al smith becomes governor of new york and a presidential candidate. when he goes to run, for president, he meets-- need someone he can count on, someone who is going to be a good governor and intends to franklin roosevelt. frances perkins is friends with owls smith before she becomes close friends with fdr. and, as fdr rises she rises with him. al smith was not the only person that came out of machine politics that frances perkins became a great friend to. another person she sawed during the candidates seek was harry truman, who she first met add add event in independence, missouri and they were being screamed and yelled at by the ku klux klan who were opposed to al smith running for president. ha