the fact is if you listen to the european union, the oecd, or the imf, they all point out that britain will have the fastest growth of any major economy in europe's -- in europe this year. but i have to ask them, what is his plan? we all know. it is a three-point plan. more spending, more borrowing from more debt. exactly the things that got us in the mess in the first place. >> i have to say we've gotten used to that kind of answer. he promises, he promises a better tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes. that is the reality. and he couldn't deny the fact that we're 18th out of 20 country. were done worse than the u.s.a., worse than candidate, worse than germany, worse than france because of his decisions. now last week, now last week the chief economist of the imf said this. he said if things look bad and at the beginning of 2013, which they do, he was talking about the uk, then you should be a reassessment of fiscal policy. so prime minister, after two years of no growth, county prime minister tells what he should do anything differently in the next two years? >> first of all i would sa

. >> so, would the oecd model work here in the u.s.? >> bell, i don't think so. the fact is, this country compared to a lot of countries in europe that were looking at and comparing, in this country women an men have staple amount likelihood of being manager, for example. only half that chance if you're in many parts of western europe. great to have family friendly policies, but does that encourage businesses to have -- then fewer women are going to end up in the opportunity to be managers. >> that's a poor reason for -- woman that she should go in to the workforce and let -- the reason that women who here are managers in greater numbers is because they can afford to pay for somebody to take care of their children. let's talk about the average woman. she's had to flood these -- they are flooded in to the workforce, why? because standard of living for the american family has been kept -- has risen, kept from completely eroding only because women have gone in to the workforce. and they have had to go come what may. i think women would say, i think you're absolutely

according to the 2012 ranking from the oecd deny estates ranks -- the united states ranks 22nd out ofd countries. a one to give a shadow of the federation of teachers, what are we putting up with? troubles don't end with high-school now ranking 14th in the world with percentage of 25 and 34 year-old's who have a college degree or higher education. where is education secretary arne duncan? i am not implying he is the solution or a reasonable part of it. we obviously have to take power away from the department of education education, teachers unions and restorer power to local school -- school district to power the parents and students before it is too late. not just for the sake of our children, the next generation, but the sake of the country. >> will know the truth about benghazi? secretary of state says what she knows. marking the 40th anniversary of roe vs. wade and the shift of public sentiment way use of the abortion debate. the psychology of cynicism liberty and gun-control. citizens have the right to bear arms the maniacs do not need guns to kill. doctor keith ablow. next. offi

each little dot represents one of the oecd countries. this represents life speckcy from -- expectancy from 72 to 84, which is a pretty good measure of how good the health care system is if it's making you live longer. and this represents the cost per person of health care. and as you can see, virtually everybody is grouped kind of around in here, with reasonably good life expectancies. between 78 and 82. japan has actually driven it up to 83. 78-82. and roughly 2000 -- $2,000 to $4,000 per patient, per individual. you could almost cover them all with my hand. this is the united states of america. below all of them life expectancy, above all of them in cost. so let's not pretend there is not a lot of room for progress here. and the worst part is this is the rate of growth of our united states health care system. look at this. 1960. i will astound the pages who are listening by telling them i was alive in 1960. i was 5 years old then. $27.4 billion, $2.7 trillion. we spend 100 times as much on health care now as we did when i was 5 years ol

in terms of corporate tax per gdp, we are lower than any other country in the oecd. >> that is just amazingthat is amazing when you throw these numbers out. and i think it brings us back to one word. americans, focus. you can hear a lot of talk about debt ceiling and deficit reduction. focus on the ideology of what has brought us to where we are right now and an ideology that has brought us here is not going to fix it in any way, shape, or form. senator, the filibuster. doesn't it really start with that? we've really got to get that fixed first. >> it is enormously important. we grew up as kids believing in america majority rules. well, we've got 100 senators. you would think that is that 51 votes would rule, would allow us to pass laws. since obama has been president, the republicans have used an unprecedented way, the filibuster, to obstruct and to block legislation. and your point is exactly right. we're not going to have fairness in our policies. we're not going to have progressive tax reform. we're not going to have campaign finance reform unless majority rules in the senate. and that

this is the oecd project enough things being equal. therefore notwithstanding the inequality that exists in mexico that has to be dealt with and will be dealt with over time, the fact of the matter is that texaco socially is becoming more and more middle-class society and that is reflect to and every one of the usual measures. demographically, lifestyle, in terms of fertility rate, number of students in university, quality of the housing. all of these trends have brought mexico to the point where it is becoming predominately of middle-class society and will continue to move in that direction. and third, mexico lyrically speaking is a functioning democracy. not perfect, nor is our democracy perfect. but when you look at their electoral system, if you look at the way in which freedom of the press has been moved into mexico with passion, he began to see the development of an extraordinary political change. in fact, some would say to her work position of the mexican people and president calderon in taking on the mafia was very much a part

have the highest corporate tax rate in the oecd and an outdated system of taxation, it is not too difficult to see why they do not see america as a place to hire. nothing changes this. that is why the ways and means committee will pursue talks -- comprehensive tax reform. to createstep closer more and higher paid jobs. i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from decision -- michigan, mr. levin. >> this is a bipartisan bill. as we are here today on january 1st, hours away from americans returning to work, markets reopening around the world and all eyes focusing on whether this institution can govern. this allows us to get done what we can get done. this bill is vital for our economic well-being. i want to emphasize, for outstanding as the world's economy, it is vital for 114 million middle-class families whose tax cuts are made permanent. it is vital for two million unemployed american workers who need the continuation of their insurance while they continue to look for work. it is vital for 30 million middle-income americans who would otherwise be hit by alternative minimum tax.

countries and the developing world is that in the oecd countries we are drowning in regulation. our government is telling us. they are killing innovation and slowing down business, et cetera. because why? governments are by large very young. in the developing world, they are drowning in corruption. they have no regulation. they are -- any regulation they do have is instantly corrupted. and they are so corrupt that, in fact, they got the opposite problem. they can't grow. so two very different, two very different kinds of outcomes. and has led to two very dinnertime sub legislation. >> you mentioned corruption. in rhode island were used to live, corruption was used by politicians as just a tip for good service on their flight. [laughter] >> just to the point about government doing things and corruption, just one data point, we're talking a performance of government at all levels, from the city, state and all the way through. so in the city, detroit schools, they went into bankruptcy. financial manager came into the state, first thing he did was make everybody picked up their payro

has the highest corporate tax rate in the oecd, and is not too difficult to imagine why many do not view america as an attractive place to invest and hire. nothing about the bill we are considering tonight changes any of those realities. that is why the ways and means committee will pursue a comprehensive tax reform in the next congress. by making republican tax cut permanent, we are one step closer to a comprehensive tax reform that will strengthen our economy and create more and higher paid jobs for american workers. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and get us one step for -- closer to tax reform and reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from michigan. >> i yield myself such time as i may consume. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> this is a bipartisan bill, and i will try to keep it in that spirit. as we are here today on january 1, hours away from americans returning to work, markets reopening around the world, around the world, and all eyes focusing on whether this institution can govern. this legislation allows us to get done what we need to get done. this bill

every other country in the oecd has health care for everyone. they get better outcomes and at least 30% lower cost. there somebody here from the embassy of the netherlands. why don't we ever talk about that? i mean, that's a model up and running and it's decentralized. >> well, we do talk about it and we spent a very long 2008, 2009 and half of 2010 trying to decide what would work for this country, which is much bigger and more diverse than the netherlands or street or norway or countries who talk about. i don't know whether what was passed in 2010 is going to work very well or not. i have doubts about some aspects. the positive as i said earlier is that it goes a long way to ask an insurance coverage to almost all legal citizen in the u.s. immigration reform does occur, that will open up another group of people who were left out of the affordable care act. doing it in a way that works for this big diverse country is tricky but something referenced earlier. it works in one part of the u.s. may not work in another part. it's not that other countr

groups in washington and looking at health care, seems analogous to the other american is dictation that is failing compared to other oecd and that is education. in los angeles and some other cities, teachers are rebelling the nea and its fixation -- [inaudible] nea as a unit. they're interested in in quality education. there's been no talk of any incentive for doctors other than cash, but lots and lots of physicians take positions that pay less because they're motivated. >> by primary care physicians. >> i agree with that completely. i think that doctors go into medicine for the right reasons. >> might it not be worthwhile to come up with reforms for doctors or groups of.yours that were performance other than what cash? >> i think a lot of doctors are taking jobs as opposed to small practice opportunities, largely for that reason. i think it's easy to come in to a basic for them. at the same token we need to make it financially practical for them to pursue the, which is at least how i look at it. i don't have to send my kids to college. don't worry, i'll just do good work. you need to have a sustainable economic system