this hamp in the peak -- this mess in the hamp in the peak of the crisis, this has come darnell a tiny fish -- come down now a tiny bit because we have been so careful in managing the risks we're going to be continually selling off the risk to minimize lost and we are working hard to make sure that there are a set of financial reforms to make that happen. the basic package of these protections will be in a position to both prevent and better manage mistakes like that. >> on a slightly different, but i think related note, when does the administration returned fannie and freddie toothh private sector? >> i'm not sure when it is framed quite that way, but let me answer it this way. we are deep into a process of examining what set of reforms should replace the current system that we have in the housing and finance market. those required -- those would require somethiig well beyond the basic problems then prevented the gst's. -- the gse's. i have said publicly that we expect to recommend senate broad reforms sometimes -- sometime next month. a and i would point out that thh losses that we s

at the same time people are talking about the loss of oil, the loss of mmney from the peak. heard another take on the fact that general motors is not building the hummer anymore. people were out crying that they would not be able to buy their homer, these big gas guzzlers. the real problem in this whole thing is that we've, the american people, we are the problem. host: should he have appealed more to the american people to make a sacrifice? caller: absolutely. is it life or money? that seems to be all that we are thinking about. money and what we are going to lose because we are so personally caught up. what obama was talking about change everyone was jumping up and saying yes, a change. americans do not want change. they want stability in the ill- gotten gain of an unfair system that was never balanced. it was that -- it was meant to be balanced but it never was. host: san diego, sheila, you are on the air. caller: i just wanted to make a few points. one is something that you mentioned. in terms of transitioning to different sources of energy, what we have not considered is

you only see the peaks, but the valleys are not that low. i think the three threads are still prominent. i mentioned al qaeda coordinator informants. -- the second, which has been more prominent overseas are the affiliated organizations. by those, i mean organizations that as a whole have taken on the call qaeda mantle. the arabian peninsula, the yes, ma'amnies. -- the yemenis. after seeing affiliated operations around the world and knowing it was coming to our shores, the question should not be are we immune? it was inevitable. we are the head of the snake. in the internet age, the of the integration means nothing. your currency is beheaded spg videos, those that show a dead kid in gaza. finally, after having had al qaeda problems, we also have david hedley in chicago. in the past year, we have had the core of al qaeda, the kid in denver and new york, the like-minded who will carry the revolution forward. it is a global revolution. like-minded people in places like dallas. at their people who want to pick up weapons to attack. new jersey. i

that is the process that w >> given that we are very neil peak oil and a capacity and -- very near the peak o capacity and given that and conventional oil, like cadian [unintelligible] and evolve an acceptable climate change costs, what plans do we have to move e process flow toward as i am suree wants to diminish oil nsumption dstically before there is another horrendou catastrophe for the that the price of oil spikes horrendously? >> i think we share a lot of the same in stis -- a lot of the same instincts. in the next year, we will intend to accelerate their move to low-carbon. saving energy is by far and away the most low-cost means of closing the gap between our energy use and energ production. we also intend to a accelerate -- to a accelerate to the production of low-carb and sources of energy. that is something we will be bringing forward measures. this is a te ofransition. nothing can be done overnight. we're talking about enormous investment that cannot be others suddenly switched off. but we have a route map to a low-carbon economy which really does reduce our carbon emission

your shareholders lost 73% of the value in the stock from peak to today. the ratings enabled the issuance of trillions of dollars of mortgage securities which we now know were rife with significant problems from fraud to srepresentation and mahave well fueled the housing bubble. investors relied on the ratings suffered enormous losses intercompany's reputation, something i know that mr. buffett has held important, is certainly under a significant criticism. my question for you is really who should be held accountable? we have a system of capitalism are there are regutory mechanisms. we have owners, boards, and magement of who should be accountable if not you? >> the performance of the housing sector, and as a result the ratings, that are associated with housing assets clearly ve exhibited in variable performance in recent years. there was decades of strong performanc leading up tohe current crisis. we believed that our ratings were our best opinion at the me that we assigned them. as we obtained new information and were able to update our judgments based on

the anger at the peak and the anger at our administration is palpable. just look at the polls. we members of this committee have an obligation to get to the bottom of this to address the frustrations of the american people. the chief executive of exxon mobil testified just yesterday at the energy and environment subcommittee of this committee that, "we would not have drilled a well the way they did." in addition, the president of shell stated, "it is not a well that we would have drilled in that mechanical set up, and there are operational concerns." mr. hayward, my profession before congress was the practice of medicine -- obstetrics and gynecology. if i had delivered a baby that resulted in a bad in come -- a seriously bad outcome and two of my friendly competitors, well- respected peers, said that dr. gingrey in this instance practice below the standard of care i would be in a serious world of hurt. reflect on the fact that two of your major competitors said that bp drilled a well in a non standard way. in retrospect, what is your retrospect of bp's design plan for the well?

i know it is hard to keep the peaks and valleys. t me just say there is almost a common-sense test. your firm rated 42,000 tronches of rmbs aaa in a context where there are four corporations in the country and the context you were writing about 90% of the securities as aaa in terms of the corporate debt world where we have more transparency and understand the corporate data. only 1.4% side of that was rated aaa. you lead an enterprise for which you were compensated handsomely, $39 million, over this period. if american capitalism is about risk and reward, reporting says, should there have been a management change at moody's? do we need a culture in which success and failure are essentially accounted for? >> as i remarked a moment ago, we'd certainly believed that our ratings were appropriate when they were assigned. i recognize that those ratings have not performed well in the housing-related sector. as a result, we did make management changes. >> but not at the top. no board or ceo changes. >> if you are asking with respect to me, w

ppthis hamp in the peak -- this mess inn the hamp in the peak of the crisis, this has come darnell a tiny fish -- come down now a tiny bit because we have been so careful in managing the risks we're going to be continually selling off the risk to minimize lost and we are working hard to make sure that ppthere are a set of financial reforms to make that happen. the basic package of these protections will be in a position to both prevent and better manage mistakes like that. >> on a slightly different, but i think related note, when does the administration returned fannie and freddie to the private sector? >> i'm not sure when it is framed quite that way, but let me answer it this way. we are deep into a process of examining what set of reforms should replace the current system that we have in the housing and finance market. those required -- those would require somethiig well beyond phe basic problems then prevented the gst's. -- the gse's. i have said publicly that we expect to recommend senate broad reforms sometimes -- sometime next month. a and i would point out that thh losses th

this hamp in the peak -- this mess in the hamp in the peak of the crisis, this has come darnell a tiny fish -- come down now a tiny bit because we have been so careful in managing the risks we're going to be continually selling off the risk to minimize lost and we are working hard to make sure that there are a set of financial reforms to make that happen. the basic package of these protections will be in a position to both prevent and better manage mistakes like that. >> on a slightly different, but i think related note, when does the administration returned fannie and freddie to the private sector? >> i'm not sure when it is framed quite that way, but let me answer it this way. we are deep into a process of examining what set of reforms should replace the current system that we have in the housing and finance market. those required -- those would require somethiig well beyond the basic problems then prevented the gst's. -- the gse's. i have said publicly that we expect to recommend senate broad reforms sometimes -- sometime next month. a and i would point out that thh losses that we s

your shareholders lost 73% of e value in the stock from peak to today. the ratings enabled the issuance of trillions of dollars of mortgage securities which we now know were rife with significant problems from fraud to misrepresentation and may have well fueled the housing bubble. investors relied on the ratings suffered enormous losses intercompany's reputation, something i know that mr. ffett has held important, is certainly under a significant criticism. my question for you is really who should be held aountable? we have a system of capitalism are there are regulatory mechanisms. we have owners, boards, and management owho should b accountable if not you? >> the performance of the housing sector, and as a result the ratings, that are associated with housing assets clrly have exhibited in variable performance in recent years. there was decades of strong performance leading uto the current crisis. we believed that our ratings were our best opinion at the time that we assigned them. as we obtained new information and were able to update our judgments base

this hamp in the peak -- this mess in the hamp in the peak of the crisis, this has come darnell a tiny fish -- come down now a tiny bit because we have been so careful in managing the risks we're going to be continually selling off the risk to minimize lost and we are working hard to make sure that there are a set of financial reforms to make that happen. the basic package of these protections will be in a position to both prevent and better manage mistakes like that. >> on a slightly different, but i think related note, when does the administration returned fannie and freddie to the private sector? >> i'm not sure when it is framed quite that way, but let me answer it this way. we are deep into a process of examining what set of reforms should replace the current system that we have in the housing and finance market. those required -- those would require somethiig well beyond the basic problems then prevented the gst's. -- the gse's. i have said publicly that we expect to recommend senate broad reforms sometimes -- sometime next month. a and i would point out that thh losses that we s

additionally, the peak voluntarily agreed to establish a $100 million fund to compensate unemployed oil rig workers are affected by the closure of the deep water oil rig. we mutually agreed that ken feinberg will run the independent claims process we are putting in place. there will be a panel to adjudicate claims that are turned down every effort will be made to expedite these claims. ken feinberg has long experience such matters including running the fund that compensated the victims of 9/11. i am confident he will assure the clans are administered as quickly and fairly and transparently as possible. cbp liabilities for the oil spill are significant and they acknowledge that fact. we will continue to hold them and all responsible parties accountable. i am confident that the people meet their obligations to the gulf coast and to the american people. bp is a strong and viable company. it is in all of our interest that it remains so. this is about accountability. at the end of the day, that is what every american wants and expects. the structure we are establishing is an important step t

that is the process that we >> given that we are very neil peak oil and a capacity and -- very near the peak oil capacity and given that and conventional oil, like canadian [unintelligible] and evolve an acceptable climate change costs, what plans do we have to move the process flow toward as i am sure he wants to diminish oil consumption drastically before there is another horrendous catastrophe for the that the price of oil spikes horrendously? >> i think we share a lot of the same in stings -- a lot of the same instincts. in the next year, we will intend to accelerate their move to low-carbon. saving energy is by far and away the most low-cost means of closing the gap between our energy use and energy production. we also intend to a accelerate -- to a accelerate to the production of low-carb and sources of energy. that is something we will be bringing forward measures. this is a time of transition. nothing can be done overnight. we're talking about enormous investment that cannot be others suddenly switched off. but we have a route map to a low-carbon economy which really does reduce

the way they sort of scoot across the top of history and to the avoid the valleys and hittle on the peaks. he didn't mention i've lost more elections in three of the last four decades, i lost elections, i happened to be the only person ever to have lost his senate seat to a deceased opponent. so your willingness to sort of cast me in the role of a winner is something for which i am + grateful. i have a lot to say and that may mean i just make a lot of mistakes. i understand that i'm not as immune as i might have been when i was member of the senate from attack for what i would say, but i'm grateful for this opportunity. i believe the defense of america is tantamount to the defense of freedom and freedom is worth defending. freedom is what the alchemists were looking for in the middle ages. when in those days, it was thought that if you could just touch ordinary metal with some magic substance, you could change it into pure gold. sort of the pixie dust that would make us all what we hoped we could bfment there isn't any such thing in the area of physics or in the natural world, we know tha

i landed in iraq at the peak of the surge, and i saw a counterinsurgency work. the wind that momentum. in afghanistan, they found some mineral deposits that could help drive that the economy further and make them a stable partner on the world stage. >> thank you. any rebuttal? ok, mr. cunningham. there is a limitation to the damages in cases like the exxon valdez, and some are considering lifting that cap. as a federal lawmaker, there is some discussion of this, as well. when you lift the cap? >> yes. there should not be a liability cap. if b.p. caused the damage, it should pay for it. we're going to hear tonight the president talk about setting up an escrow fund that would be set up by b.p.. it should be administered by a third party so that b.p. does not control who is getting payments and win, and i also want to make sure that we deal with the fact that the oil and gas industry has been heavily subsidized and have not done what they should do to mitigate the spill's. this starts with lifting the cap. it includes ending the tax breaks for the oil and gas indus

you only see the peaks, but the values are not that low. i think the three threads are still prominent. the second which has been more prominent overseas are the affiliated organizations. by those, i mean organizations that as a whole have taken on the call qaeda mantle. the arabian peninsula, the many -- the yemenis. after seeing affiliated operations around the world and knowing it was coming to our shores, the question should not be are we a million? the question should be why did it take so long to get here. we are the head of the snake. and was inevitable. in the internet age, the of the integration means nothing. your currency is it be heading videos, those that show a dead kid in gaza. finally, after having had al qaeda problems, we also have david hedley in chicago. we have had the core of al qaeda, the kid in denver and new york, the like-minded who will carry the revolution forward. it is a global revolution. like-minded people in places like dallas. at their people who want to pick up weapons to attack. new jersey. i mentioned a

the peak effects have already occurred. >> brown: and what were those effects? >> well, there were waves six to seven to eight-feet range. there were southeasterly flow of 20-25 miles per hour that persisted for several days. the southeast flow will continue for a little while longer. zeal the onshore flow even after alex moves inland. >> brown: what about the weathering impact of those waves? what happens as those waves get to the oil spill area? >> any waves from the hurricane will accelerate the weathering process. now, alex was very far away from the oil spill and it didn't have nearly the effect or contribution to the weathering process that it would have had had it been much closer. so i don't expect much of an impact in terms of that apekt of things sdploun i was just told our audience did not hear your first answer. we were having audio technical problems. the first question i put to you was the situation with the hurricane. where is it hitting and with what force? >> okay. alex is a category one hurricane. it's about three or four hours offshore of the

the push is fueled by a frustration that goes back years and is a peak in the health care debate. -- d has peaked in the health care debate. looking at other races across the country, we have a full list of the race is happening tuesday -- iowa, maine, house and governor, california, senate and governor, montana has a house race, new jersey has a house race as does virginia, south carolina has senate and governor and south dakota has senate and governor along with house races and all of those states. the questions continue about how influential are are the politicians when it comes to your vote? do they motivate you to get out and have a voice in the primaries? former governor sarah palin has given her support to a handful of candidates, including haley, running for south carolina governor. she also came out this past week to endorse a candidate who is running against senator lisa murkowski. that is up in alaska, murkowski is a republican there. the former governor palin endorsed little-known -- "competition makes everybody worker, be more efficient, debate clear, and produce more. th

at the peak of the housing boom in the d.c. area, they bought a house in the distant virginia suburb because of affordability and because of the reputation of the schools. like so many minority families to fear that if they did not buy right now, the boom was just going to continue off into the future and pass them by, making it impossible for them to buy a house, they instead squeezed through the front door of this house, spending every penny they say. they have adjustable rate mortgage, home values are plunging in their areas and each of them is working fewer hours today than they were a year ago. so far, and they had just managed to hold on. as much as they're worried, frightened, under pressure, there is a part of rebecca story that leaves us sounding more bewildered than anything else. she has done what the voice is large and small in the culture have been saying to do since she came to the country as a teenager. ricard, get legal, keep your nose clean, investing your kids, save, getting house, and now the whole house of c

across and only hit the peaks. i have lost many elections. i lost elections and happen to be the only person to have lost a senate seat to a deceased opponent. to cast me in the role of a winner is something for which i am grateful. i have a lot to say and that may mean i make a lot of mistakes. i'm not as immune from attack as when i was a member of the senate. i believe that the defense of america is tantamount to the defense of freedom. and freedom is worth defending. freedom is what the alchemists were looking for in the middle ages. in those days, it was thought that if you could just touched ordinary metal with some magic substance, you could change it into pure gold, sort of the pixie dust that would make us into what we hope we would be. there is no such thing in the natural world. we know that. we memooize the periodic table and understood elements have their own character and are not susceptible to transition. there is a pixie dust in human existence and it is freedom. is what changes ordinary people into world beaters. some people,

whether it is the president or congress or the peak, someone has to say do it. host: does the u.s.egal obligation to honor permits for offshore drilling? guest: the government is the grandeur of the permit and a taker of the permit. if the government deems that the permit should no longer be valid. does the government controlling the operation from the beginning to the de-commissioning of a platform. it fits within the procedures under the mineral management service or bureau of land management within the department of interior. host: the next call is from the republican line. caller: i think the operation is awfully slow cleaning up. everybody is saying what a disaster it is. if you think about all the disasters that came with thousands of people getting killed on our highways and airplanes crashing, it's just an accident that happened and we have to figure out how not to let it happen again and keep going forward. that is my comment, thank you. guest: that is a good point and keep in mind that we are, whether we like it or not and we will continue to be whether we like it or not,

the coast guard has set sent the peak two bills the first of  was for $8.9 million d second bill has yet to be paid. the white house has invited tony he were to meet with president obama. republicans in congress have criticized the president for not speaking directly with bp officials since the explosion more than seven weeks ago. the bp chairman is based in britain but will be here next week meeting with the president and testifying before congress. we will have those hearings live for you on cspan 3. the resident as a meeting this morning on the oil \ spell. he will make a statement about small business and we will have that live for you on sees that it also at 2:30 eastern today, the assistant attorney general for national security will be talking about u.s. counter- terrorism policy. that will be live from the brookings institution. prime minister david cameron will take questions on electoral reform and the british mission in iraq and afghanistan. you can see the exchange sunday night on c-span. this weekend, the chicago tribune lit fest. two days of panels and collins. --call-i

the majority of our readers are really angry at the peak. bp. there is a lot of back and forth about big oil be too powerful and the government not having regulations to keep them in check. >> that you. the hearing gets underway in about 20 minutes. we appreciate your time and your background. let's open the phone lines. we are going to have your calls take us up to live coverage. we have been talking about the announcement yesterday of the $20 million reserve fund for the victims of the golf oil spill - - gulf oil spill. while we are waiting for calls, we put on screen a little bit of the bio of tony hayward. his training is as a rig geologist. he joined the company in 1982. he has a ph.d. in geology from the university of edinburg. about the escrow deal announced yesterday, the suspended dividdnd amount is estimated to be about $10 billion. bp has been paying a dividend of 84¢ per share to its shareholders. 49% of the bp shareholders are american. independence line, you are on the air. >> i am calling about comment about what is going on in the

that actually have air pollution warnings throughout the peak tourist season in the smoky mountains.that is heartbreaking. so yes, by learning about montauk removal coal mining -- about mountaintop removal call money, i have learned a lot broadly. i also really suggest you read "lost mountain," an explicit diversity of appalachian%- mountains. >> also in the spirit of the language in the technology of the national press club, i have a question submitted by a black berry. have you ever met don blankenship, and what is your interactton with folks who would be considered on the other side of this issue? >> on the other side of the issue. i don't have any difficulty whatsoever envisioning coming together in a spirit of dignity, talking with people. i was going to make a joke about not wanting to meet him because he might push me. i would love to meet mr. he was the first person on my list of invitees on the kennedy school forum that never happened, but i would absolutely love to. i would also love to me president barack obama. i would love for him to do a flyover of mountain top removal

most of the people on the peak -- on the sheet i am looking at, the program, most of these people are all dead and gone and i remember the weekend he. on the standard candy company portion of the opera -- this is primarily for people like senator byrd -- he autographed by program backstage. i asked him to. the funniest thing i remember about our conversation back there, i have an autographed copy of an album he made called "now and fiddler." most probably are not aware he enjoyed music much less played a musical instrument. but he did. and he signed this thing and he asked me who my favorite politician -- i am trying to remember part of the conversation. i told him, i said, senator byrd, to be honest, i am not really particularly fond of any politician. his head jerked back and he kind of laughed and he said, well, son, decant be all that bad being here of the grand ole opry on this beautiful saturday night in march. he was just, like a lot of folks i have seen around at festivals of around the country, he loved it. he loved it at that time. i had not heard him speech because i would

caller: you briefly touched upon criminal charges being brought up against the peak. d they commit these felonies in furtherance of getting these wells up and running, resulting in the deaths of? if so, they should be charged with felony murder on top of that. guest: well, i do think that there should be a full investigation from a national bipartisan commission that the president has appointed. yesterday the president said that they would follow the evidence regardless of who was involved. and if that meant that bp and trans ocean, or halliburton, if they violated the law and is -- and are responsible for this that, they need to be held, but -- responsible for the deaths, they need to be held accountable. host: what will make this one different? guest: to my knowledge there has never been an investigation like this of such an event. the commission that president obama has appointed was modeled after the one that president reagan appointed after the challenger space shuttle disaster. by transparent we mean that they will release all documents. release all depositions o

unified command was comprised of the minerals management service, the coast guard, and members of the peak. we have worked closely with all federal members invvlved. as well as numerous state, city, and county aggncies. all of the fees surface and non- response must be approved ultimately by area command. we are also working with the full support of industry colleagues and are making every effort to keep colleagues and government officials informed on what is happening. meeting the needs of the state and local government remain critical. we have locked out grants of $25 million each to the states of aaabama, louisiana, mississippi, and lorida. following those block grants we have just announced the second round of payments. after discussing concerns about tourism with state and local officials we made payments totaling $70 million to alabama, florida, louisiana, and mississippi to assist those gulf region to minimize and mitigate the environmental and economic impacts related to this bill. details regarding our open water response are contained in my written testimony. i will now focus on

for example, the percentage of complex attacks, thhse deploying more than one means of attack, have steadily droppee since its peak in february. the average number of casualty ppis below 2009 levels. the show increased willingness to report itt's and insurgent weapons caches, which suggest growing pockets of confidence among ordinary people and a willingness to support afghan efforts to support government. we're taking a deliberative approach, expanding our efforts to improve local governance in key districts, has operations improve the security situation graduallyy some confidence have expressed -- some in congress have expressed concern. we share this concern and we recognize that there are ways in which our own contracting practices have had unintended consequences, concentrating wealth among are relatively smmll number afghans. general petreaus and admiral mullen have created a ask force to examine our practices to reduce these unintended consequences. when we have evidence of corruption, we will work with the afghan government to prosecute those who are on the law. let me return to our efforts to build the ca

my experience here is colored by the fact that i landed in iraq at the peak of the search. i saw counterinsurgency work. in afghanistan, they found mineral deposits that could help drive the economy forward. >> thank you. rebuttal? all right, cal cunningham, the oil pollution act of 1990 passed shortly after the exxon valdez spill. it limit corporate liability to $75 million for economic damages. in north carolina, state lawmakers are considering lifting that cap. as a federal lawmaker, there is discussion of this. would you lift the cap? why or why not? >> yes. there should not be a liability cap. if bp caused the pollution, caused the damage, it should pay for. i think we will hear tonight the president talking about setting up an escrow fund that would be funded by bp. it should be administered by a third party, so that bp does not control who is getting payments and when. i also want to make sure that we deal with the fact that the oil and gas industry is heavily subsidized. they have not done what they should do to develop technologies for mitigation of spills. we have

as the peak of the 2008 financial crisis approached, lehman declared bankruptcy. within a week it sold its core business. within six weekts its credit default swaps was solved. experts have shown that the lehman case didn't cause the financial system to meltdown. this bill discards our proven bankruptcy system for something that the american people forcefully reject, government-sponsored bailouts. the roler coaster bailout ride of 2008 is what caused the financial -- the roller coaster bailout ride of 2008 is what caused the financial meltdown. the bill sponsors openly admit they don't know if it will work but they urge us to build it anyway. the question is why and the answer is simple. when government picks the winners and losers, government becomes more powerful. so do the wall street winners that government picks. meanwhile, main street and free enterprise lose. this administration and its congressional allies embraced with the founders fought against, ever expanding government power over the lives of free men and women. the founders rejected this approach, th

>> we've been the maximum impact could be 10 to 12 peak season. he only impact on emigr operations will be a potential delay for the third vessel. we're tracking that very closely right now. >> the next question is from kristin hayes. >> i understand you will need on wednesday. -- tiyou will meet on wednesday. >> there will be a meeting that involves the science team that has been working on this bill. they will do an analysis for a second kind of containment and have and whether or not that makes sense in light of the amount of oil that can be collected with a third vessel getting ready to hook up. there is that meeting. it really is evidence once again of the continued adaptation and accordance with the evolving nature of this bill. as this new methodology gets developed to apply to containment. >> the next question comes from terry weber. >> just so i understand you correctly, are you saying that if a hurricane force the evacuation of workers, that that could shut down operations for roughly 15 days from the amount of time it would take the equi

the money went into a clean up a trust fund, which reached its peak of $3.8 billion in 1996. the fund ran out of money as the taxes expired in 1995. the obama administration will push to reinstate the so-called superfund tax. at the environmental protection agency, which rarely urges passage of specific bills, will send a letter to congress as early as monday calling for legislation to reimpose the tax. they are looking to ease the burden on taxpayers where no one has accepted responsibility for the contamination of certain sites. opponents say that it amounts to an unfair legislation. since the fund ran out of money at the end of fiscal 2003 the federal government has appropriated public dollars each year to peak -- to pay for each side would accounts for 206 of each site. and the program completed just 19 sites last year compared with 89 in 1999. superfund sites are found in the district of columbia and every state except north dakota who is one site was restored to health. the atlantic would industry, the washington navy yard, still struggling with contamination dating from

instead of falling into a deep division, colombia is ascending the peak of freedom and democracy. and i have no doubt that the vital alliance between our country and colombia is poised to become ever closer and more successful than ever under the leadership of president-elect santos. and i remain ever hopeful that this alliance will soon include the passage of the u.s.-colombia free trade agreement. colombia has enormous potential for u.s. businesses, especially in my home state of florida. miami has nearly $6 billion in colombia last year alone. signed nearly four years ago, the f.t.a. is one of the easiest, most obvious steps that congress can take to expand these important economic ties. we can ask for no better partter or trusted ally than the people of colombia. its commitment to the democratic process as demonstrated by this weekend's free, fair and transparent elections shows what can be accomplished when the basic tenets of liberty are afforded to a people of a nation. in closing, madam speaker, i'd like to congratulate president-elect santos on this momentus occasion and o

that is the process that we continue to undertake. >> given that we are very neil peak oil and a capacity and -- -pvery near the peak oil capaciy and given that and conventional oil, like caaadian [unintelligible] and evolve an acceptable climate change costt, what plans do we have to mooe the process flow toward as i am sure he wwnts to diminish oil consumption drastically before there is another horrendous catastrophe for the that the price of oil spikes horrendously? >> i think we share a lot of the same in stings -- a lot of the same instincts. in the next+ year, we will inted to accelerate theirrmove to low- carbon. saving energy is by far and away the most low-cost meanssof closing the ggp between our energy use and energy production. -- to a aacelerate to the production of low-carb and sources of energy. that is something we wiil be bringing forward measures. this is a time of transition. nothing can be done overnight. we're talkkng about enormous investment that cannot be suddenly switched on while others suddenly switched off. but we have a route map to a low-carbon economy which

the unemployment rate is forecast by the obr to peak this year at 8.1% and then fall for each of theext four years to reach 6.1% in 2015. some have suggested that there is a choice between dealing with our debts and going for growth. that is a false choice. the crisis in the eurozone shows that unless we deal with our debts, there will be no growth. these forecasts demonstrate that a credible plan to cut our budget deficit goes hand in hand with a steady and sustained economic recovery, with low inflation and falling unemployment. what is more, the forecast shows a gradual rebalancing of the economy, with business investment and exports playing a greater role and government spending and debt-fuelled consumption a smaller role. a sustainable private sector recovery built on a new model of economic growth, instead of pumping the debt bubble back up. part of the reason, as we have always argued, is that tighter fiscal policy can enable interest rates to stay lower for longer. as the governor of the bank of england confirmed this week at the mansion house: "if prospects for growth were t

tightl that we know mistakes were made, how then do we correct it without sort of grabbing the system at sort of a peak of one pointand just sort of grabbing the pendulum a far arc and say okay we want you to stay there because that's them minimizes risk. we all know there's going to risk going forward but as a look at this i still come back to when we see what is going on in fha and some of the debate are we just trying to look at that down payment increase to what was the oposal, 5% i think, the debate surrounding that is that there is going to be i think a strong political and supposed to economic component of this argument going forward and i have to say you are more the expe and that than i am. >> i am new at this game. i have been in politics for two and a half years now, so vy different than physics. [laughte >> john, i want to say allan has the logo of the flying thing when you had the acronym esd, endogenoustabilizing factors. i ink need to run with that. >> i am going to pass for now. >> during the course of this panel, it was great to be able to sit here and listen towhat all my colleagues h

executive said it would take "a few days" for the cap to get to "peak efficiency." while that operation continued, president obama made his third quick trip to the region-- the second in two weeks-- landing at louis armstrong airport in new orleans. he held off-camera meetings with federal, state and local officials, and also with people affected by the spill. >> it appears the cap is holding. we will know more over next 24- 48 hours. it is way too early to be optimistic >> woodruff: to underscore his point, the president canceled a trip to indonesia and australia scheduled for later this month. meanwhile, the spreading effects of the disaster in the gulf were seen in stark relief-- heart- rending images of heavily-oiled birds, dead or dying in viscous waves on grand terre island, louisiana. governor bobby jindal: >> we're concerned about, is not only this bird, but the future. that's why it's so important for us not to allow this oil to get in these wetlands. >> suarez: the brown pelican, louisiana's state bird, had survived near extinction caused by the pesticide d

the world. so with that, let me take a few questions. i have got a handy list here. i am going to start with darlene from a peak. -- ap. >> thank you, mr. president. deficit-reduction goals, the repudiation of your view that cutting deficits too quickly and too fast would hinder the global economic recovery, and then, if i could ask you just quickly, on north korea, you said yesterday that north korea must be held to account for the sinking of the south korean war ship and that there must be consequences for such irresponsible behavior. what specifically, what kind of punishment would you like to see imposed on north korea short of some sort of condemnation from the u.n. security council? >> ok. >> thank you. >> darlene, since you are the first, i'm going to give you two questions. anybody else, let's try to stick to one, please, especially big questions. with respect to the first question, we helped to draft this communique, which reflects our policies. i know leading up to the conference, leading up to the summit, there was some sense of a divide. in fact, the policies that we have been promoting are reflecte

imagine if a hurricane hits during the middle of peak season. have to be sure we can keep citizens safe and secure. when we talk about securing funding, i am excited about the energy project. it is how we can bring jobs and growth to north carolina. there are 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas off of south carolina. the national petroleum institute says it could be to lend it $50 million of royalties. that is money we can use as we see fit. i imposed we use 70% for infrastructure and poll but charges. couple that with nuclear energy, we have a tremendous tax base for that of the structure. >> until we get our 73 done, the grand strand will never reach its full potential. it is almost impossible to get in or out. that is primarily a federal responsibility. there is another exaaple of washington not doing what it should be doing. what i would do as your customer is working as hard as i could with their congressional delegation. you have to work with people to see that it is funded. we are sending the money up there and we are not getting it back.

one could argue that the religious tension has been somewhat curtailed in the age of obama, maybe it had reached its peak during the iraq war of 2006. now things arm somewhat stabilized -- now things are somewhat stabilized. host: joining us from shobi town, michigan. caller: i have called in saying thhs before. saudi arabia contributes more to terrorism. our troops are being killed in afghanistan because of saudi arabian money. 15 of 19 hijackers were from saudi arabia. bin laden came from saudi arabia. you have the circle of death. was george bush going to group -- going to do a meet and greet with the monarchies from saudi arabia and give them a big wet kiss? i cannot understand why ww are going after i ran when all of this is from saudi arabia -- i cannot understand why we're going after miron. guest: if you talk to terrorism experts and are in agreement with them that the main threat in terms of terror is not state terror from countries like iran that non-state terror from militant organizations like al qaeda and others. in this predominantly funded by saudi arabia. so many organizations are not fun

imagine if a hurricane hits during the middle of peak season. we have to be sure we can keep citizens safe and secure. when we talk about securing funding, i am excited about the energy project. it is how we can bring jobs and growth to north carolina. there are 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas off of south carolina. the national petroleum institute says it could be to lend it $50 million of ralties. that is money we can use as we see fit. i imposed we use 70% for infrastructure and poll but charges. couple that with nuclear energy, we have a tremendous tax base for thaof the structure. >> until we get our 73 done, t grand strand will nev reach its full potential. it is almost impossible to get in or out. that is primarily a federal responsibility. there is another exaaple of washington not doing what it should be doing. what i would do as your customer is working as hard as i could with their congressional delegation. you have to work with people to see tha it is funded. we are sending the money up there and we are not getting it back. we nee

the money went into a clean up a trust fund, which reached its peak of $3.8 billion in 1996. the fund ran out of money as the taxes expired in 1995. the obama administration will push to reinstate the so-called superfund tax. at the environmental protection agency, which rarely urges passage of specific bills, will send a letter to congress as early as monday calling for legislation to reimpose the tax. they are looking to ease the burden on taxpayers where no one has accepted responsibility for the contamination of certain sites. opponents say that it amounts to an unfair legislation. since the fund ran out of money at the end of fiscal 2003 the federal government has appropriated public dollars each year to peak -- to pay for each side would accounts for 206 of each site. and the program completed just 19 sites last year compared with 89 in 1999. superfund sites are found in the district of columbia and every state except north dakota who is one site was restored to health. the atlantic would industry, the washington navy yard, still struggling with contamination dating from

i have suggested all along to improve the bill, but to take just a meat axe approach and a peak -- repeal the whole bill, there are components to the bill that cannot be repealed, and i have been very up-front about articulating what they are. >> you would have voted for the health care bill? >> i would have voted for the health care bill. i also think we need to put some caps on the pharmaceuticals. my opponent in 2003 voted to deregulate pharmaceuticals, and one of the things he has talked about is the fact that this does not control pharmaceutical costs. i believe that in fact, we need health care, and it is affordable, and i also think that i would have voted for this health care bill. i would have voted for the one that had a public option. >> in this most republican state, mr. matheson's electability is not in question. some say they yours is. what is your path to success in november? >> i believe anybody watching politics right now would realize there is a political realignment going on. we have increasing numbers of moderate republicans coming into the ranks of democrats. even at

to date, the drongen somebodies lines are made quite limited and far below their peaks reached at the height of the financial crisis in late 2008. but they are nevertheless providing an important backstop for the functioning of the >> we will take the actions necessary to ensure stability and continued economic recovery. the actions taken by european leaders represent a firm commitment to restore market confidence and stability. at markets continue to stabilize and the effects of the crisis in the united states will be modest. the falling equity prices in europe will leave some imprint of the u.s. economy. offsetting factors such as gold prices for oil ongoing developments in europe point to the importance of maintaining sound government finances. in many ways, the united states enjoys a uniquely favored position. our economy is large, diversified, and flexible. it is our intention -- global investors have used treasury securities as a safe haven. barrier to achieve fiscal sustainability will sap the nation's vitality, reduce our living standards, and increase the risk of economic ins

and having listened to the panel of people that preceded peake, i continue to think i have the ec sideis crowd. i am not here just to make you comfortable in feeling like you are already doing all the things you need to be doing, and that we as a movement are on the side of the angels because we are not doing enough. last summer bill clinton was a keynote speaker. he was in the middle of a speech about how everyone there should support the health care bill regardless of what was in it because it was so important to the obama presidency. in the middle of the speech when he was saying we should not be picky at the tails, someone stood up in the crowd and demanded that he answer a question about "do not ask, do not tell." his response was to say that the reason he had made "do not ask, do not tell" the policy was because progresses had not been there to pressure him to do the right thing. he was getting so much pressure from the right and no pressure from a left that he felt like he did not have any choice because he did not have the back of he needed from the movement caught -- back up h