senator richard burr joining his colleague tom coburn who is a medical doctor, republican from oklahoma unveiling what they call the seniors choice act that would help america's seniors by building a more sustainable medicare program through immediate reforms. pointing that many are rooted in long-standing and bipartisan ideas ta democrats and republicans will support something that senator burr is hoping democrats will join. some experts have warned the current medicare program is facing insolvency due to the unsustainable growth. here's more with the north carolina republican. >> over a year ago, tom and i started working on a medicare transformation bill. it was to take all the good suggestions that were introduced or talked about to try to see if weep could incorporate them in a bill that provides at the end of the day seniors with choice and transparency. if we can accomplish choice, then we can create competition in a new marketplace that we've seen work extremely well in medicare part d, the prescription drug plan. if you look at all the government estimates as to what part d wou

senator tom coburn is here to tell you and joined by senator richard burr. senator coburn has something to say about first lady michelle obama. stand by for that. also, president obama did it. governor mitt romney, he did it, too. now another politician breaks into song. who is it? you will see and hear that performance coming up. without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol has stayed down. and here's another number you might be interested in. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. visit lipitor.com for details. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for

there are also skeptics within the gop ranks, including senator tom coburn who said he will not voteing that doesn't legitimately slash government waste. >> it's another gimmick not to make the pentagon responsible budget wise and in terms of being somewhat frugal, at least in some area, then no. >> there is already a similar measure pending in the house that was introduced by republican last year. though hasn't gone anywhere, mckeon did praise the measure today and said the two houses must continue to work together to, quote, avoid critical harm to our armed forces. brett? >> bret: shannon bream, thank you. europe needs a bailout fund of $1.3 trillion to stop the spread of its debt crisis. that's the assessment of the organization for economic cooperation and development. meantime, debt inspectors for greece say that country will need another $20 billion on top of what has already been promised to stay afloat. still ahead, why one republican senator is blocking federal money for the 9-11 museum. first, why an animal rights group now supports the slaughter of horses i'm in a tricky s

this guy, oklahoma senator tom coburn and his beard, sitting right next to him. that funny thing happened, right? at the national prayer breakfast today. it was as if just for a moment, just in the minds of the audience there was a funny moment like, maybe jeff sessions and tom coburn are married. ha. even without moments like that, though, the national prayer breakfast is a little bit creepy. do you remember c street, the c street house in washington run by the secretive religious group called the fellowship or the family? subsidized rent on a capitol hill mansion for conservative lawmakers, which sort of gives them sketchy tax status, they used to call this grand house on capitol hill where the lawmakers lived a church for tax purposes. that has been investigated in the past couple of years since c street has been involved in a bunch of sex scandals and has gotten more attention. the fellowship and c street also makes some fairly radical theological contentions. you may remember from our earlier reporting on them, they, for example, cited hitler and lenin and m

senators tom coburn and richard burr say they have a solution. senators earlier tonight. senators, nice to see you both. >> good to see you. >> greta: medicare, let me start with you, senator coburn so we understand. when under the existing system can we expect it will be insolvent, that they run out of money on medicare? >> if you take the worst case scenario, hospital trust fund, the fund that pays the hospital bills, will be out of money in 2016. each year that gets worse when the trustees look at it and say where are we? so each year it has gotten closer. the year before last it was 2017. the year before that, 2018. sometime around 2016, '17, we know we can say pretty specifically that the hospital trust fund will have no money. no money to pay the hospital bills for medicare. >> greta: senator burr, you and senator coburn have come up with a new idea. tell me how it's different from what we already have. >> let me say it's not new. we incorporated a lot of ideas from a lot of people in congress, and around the country. we tried to put in a bi

tom coburn says the timing couldn't be worse. what do you make of this. a new layer would be okay if we took a prior layer out but we just pile on. >> it's hard for me. there has to be a responsible people into positions now that can do that. this is about management. so if you are going to create something, you ought to be eliminating something with $1.3 trillion coming this year. i'll wait and see until i see the details of this and see what they have done. i'm not going to be too critical of it yet. >> neil: i've been critical certainly on pro pens it on the part of washington when it makes changes or coming up with agencies or new oversight committees, consumer protection agency is a good example, you are not getting rid of any underlying agencies that exist. it's just a pile on. people talk about the structure of the chain of command. leaving aside the money it wastes, doesn't it confuse people more? >> it could. again there is no additional money supposedly coming from existing funds but the question is does it cost you more money in terms how you a

tom coburn, he passionately representing the people of oklahoma in the senate, and will give us a readingpture. if you know tom you know his faith impacts his life. next i have the honor and privilege of introducing my wife, mrs. mary sessions, a partner for 42 years who enabled me -- who enabled me to be able to serve, has provide us with three children and five grandchildren. so we're very grateful once again to welcome the first lady of the united states, michelle obama. none of us can even imagine the burdens that you carry as the spouse of the leader of our nation. we thank you and pray for you and honor your work on behalf of the health of our nation's children and all americans. >> mr. president, did you hear the little thing about the national championship? you know, this year is alabama. last year it was auburn. it never stops. >> it never stops. >> you see what i have to put up with now? it's hard to be a razorback fan, but we're working on it. that's right. what most people don't fully realize that government is a team sport. we're all thankful to have our tireless and passiona

. >> yeah. >> one of the most important things mentioned on this show today is going to be what tom coburnch their flu shot cost them. nobody knows the cost of anything. they never ask. >> nobody knows nothing. >> tom and richard, it's always great to see you guys. come back. >> good to see y'all. >>> coming up next, congressional republicans of course saying the democrats are being irresponsible by not passing a budget over 1,000 days. we're going to bring in a good friend, chairman of the senate budget committee kent conrad. he's taking issue with that claim. in the works package, we change the oil we change the filter... tire rotation, suspension, we make suspension checks... what we have here is the multi-point inspection. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission... we inspect your air filter... it gets done,it gets done quickly and it gets done correctly. the works. oil change, tire rotation and more: $29.95 or less af

i like that. >> senator tom coburn. it's always great to see you.ll right, mika. i always pull for you against joe now. i want you to know that. >> i'm too sweet even though you don't agree withíúk)% thank you very much. >>> coming up, coming back from a trip to china, talking about a new online effort to showcase the effort of volunteers worldwide. >>> plus, rick stengel reveals the latest issue of "time" magazine. "morning joe" back in a moment. bra [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a seismic shift in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense? and we'll throw in up to $600. what do you get when you combine the home depot with this weekend? the cure for cabin fever. becaus

i do know that senator tom coburn is coming out with a big book this spring in april where he is going how would you gauge the influence of tax policy on investment policy and job creation? >> the problem with all of this is though that we know there are changes coming to the tax code. that actually creates uncertainty. a lot of talk about changing those things actually will stop people from making investments. if you don't think you'll be able to write off, i don't know, the depreciation of some sort of plan or factory now or six months from now you won't do it. i would say it's great we're doing that but we've got to get very real about this and come down with concrete solutions. the president, there is nothing stopping him from actually making these, putting it forward and at least then a blueprint that people can coalesce around when we get closer to being able to do something post november. >> jonathan, what is your sense of the temperature on the debate that we're attempting to spark here when you look at the factions from the tea party to the occupation, all sorts of the -- and

republican senator tom coburn says that taxpayers are getting burned on even mundane items like potatohips. the oklahoma republican points to a $50,000 grant to a private potato chip company so it can raise brand awareness and consumer knowledge. at the same time, dozens of other federal initiatives are promoting healthy eating and specifically discouraging the consumption of snacks like potato chips. you're also footing the bill for a new soccer field for guantanamo bay terrorism detainees. and what are highly compliant detainees live in a communal setting and the recreational center is constructed so detainees will have access 20 hours a day in addition to two already existing recreation fields, a military spokesman says outdoor activities help reduce behavior problems at the camp. finally, the american mustache institute says its tax credit proposal, we told you about last week, is being referred to a committee up on capitol hill. the organization says maryland republican congressman rosco bartlett has apparently passed allow to allow critical hair expenses, ways and means committee

footprints of the twin towers, its completion could be delayed further now that republican senator tom coburnas blocked legislation that will provide 20 million a year in federal support for the next decade. >> every year i send a letter to every senator saying if you put a bill on the floor that's going to spend new money, then you need to put with that bill what you want to eliminate to pay for that. >> coburn says reducing the federal deficit requires tough choices, cutting spending on what he calls less vital priorities. so he says the museum will just have to come up with the cash on its own. new york democratic senator chuck schumer is fighting back. >> this is sacred ground not only to new yorkers, but americans and to have the memorial, the museum in as good a way as possible, not limited by lack of funding makes eminent sense. >> the dispute to do million federal dollars a year would pay a third of the museum's estimated $60 million annual operating budget. coburn's critics point out washington's kennedy center for the performing arts get 22 million in federal support every year. the

friday of conservative heroes including senator rand paul, pat toomey, marco rubio and mike lee and tom coburn and congressman steve king, frank luntz to the political consultant and former house majority leader dick armey. all of them contributed introductions to the various chapters that he will be discussing with us today, so please join in giving a warm heritage welcome to senator jim demint. [applause] >> thank you mike. bike has been an ally since my house days helping to run the republican study committee and i appreciate your help and the heritage foundation is without equal as far as being the best resource for conservatives here on the hill. ed fulmer is here and since almost the first day i walked and it seems like we had some big piece of legislation reforming social security or the tax code measuring dependency, the heritage foundation has the resources to get that done. so thank you ed and mike and i understand bob pennington is here one of the trustees. i haven't had a chance to shake your hand that i know you have been a big help to the heritage action group which is really inc

richard burr from north carolina and tom coburn from the state of oklahoma. escribed as a third rail of politics because no voter, not one, really wants this messed with. why did you think this had to be done? >> well, soledad, everybody in washington sits idly by as the congressional budget office tell us about the involvancy of part a medicare some time between 2016 and 2022. tom and i felt as a member of congress we had a moral obligation to our parents and to our children to make sure that we saved medicare and that we put it on the financial footing that we would expect to hand over to them. and as we did that, to create choices where seniors could choose how they navigate health care which is very difficult and very expensive. what we've done is we put together a tremendous blue print that will seek the input of seniors, stakeholders, insurance companies and government officials for the next several months. >> let's walk through the blue print because the focus is on how you get prices to come down. that at the end of the day and if you have two theories

my republican friend tom coburn is right. washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. >>neil:s with he right? >>guest: well, i don't believe in the buffett rule. i think you modify the tax code, lower the rate and spread out the cost of it and you will get good economics. i believe we ought to quit, before we tax millionaires, the people who are accomplishing things in this country, and actually creating the capital before we raise the tax on them, we ought to eliminate the $30 billion a year in subsidies. so, i propose part of an overall tax reform package, to take those away. >>neil: which would raise their taxes. >>guest: but, neil, can you really justify me, somebody who has a second home has a yacht whether they can appreciate the we yacht, deduct the mooring fees for the yacht and call that a second home when, in fact, this we have another second home and another second home? you know the point is, our country is in trouble, there is in question we need to all have to sacrifice, but the tax code is a mess. why in the world would we allow that in the first place u

especially with tom coburn's book. to have a real debate on tax code in this country. >> beyond trade, i would like to see the president deliver on his promise of the state of the union to rev up domestic oil production. to open up the gulf, importing the stuff only shifts the problems to developing countries. i would like to see genuine tax reform. that's a winning issue for the president, whoever might become president. even if we have president obama, we can go beyond dodd-frank. it's time to take a look at the idea that large banks can have 10% of the large deposits and five or six banks have 50%. they are not lending that money back out where it needs to be loaned. maybe it's time to start breaking up the large depositories without necessarily bringing back. that opportunity has been missed for now. we should break up the large depositories. >> the watson and crick of jobs debate and invest mement in america. i give you ladies and gentlemen, jared bernstein and peter marici. more on my thoughts of the job report.

that is tom coburn's phrase. there was a dramatic increase in earmarks under speaker gingrich. the corruption that members of congress in prison and cunningham and may and others. i fought against it. speaker gingrich called me and those that fought against it, the perfectionist caucus, i'm proud of being a perfectionist. >> greta: will romney carry out your view on earmarks? >> yes. i respect anybody who is running. i respect santorum and gingrich and ron paul. i just have a strong belief that mitt romney's background, knowledge and experience and vision of this nation's requirements both economically and national security wise qualify him as being president. >> greta: the president doesn't like the super pacs? >> the president back in 2008 when he first ran, he was going to take matching funds. i did. we are still being audited from 2008. he has been trashing super pacs until he finds out he needs them. now, the word out, cabinet people and supporters go out there and crank up the super pacs. the decision of the united states supreme court will go down the worst in history. i

its completion could be delayed further now that republican senator tom coburn has blocked legislation that would provide 20 million a year in federal support for the next decade. >> every year i send a letter to every senator saying if you put a bill on the floor that's going to spend new money, then you need to put with that bill what you want to eliminate to pay for that. >> reporter: coburn says reducing the federal deficit requires tough choices, cutting spending on what he calls less title priorities. so he says the -- vital priorities. so he says the museum will have to come up with the cash on its own. new york senator chuck schumer is fighting back. >> this is sacred ground to americans and to have the memorial, the museum, in as good of way as possible not limited by lack of funding makes imminent sense. >> reporter: the disputed 20 million federal cigars a year would pay 1/3 of the museum's -- federal dollars a year would pay 1/3 of the museum's costs to run. the national hole cost museum gets 50 -- haul coast museum gets 50 -- holicosh museum gets 50 million. coburn says th

but oklahoma senator tom coburn is blocking that federal money saying lawmakers should cut other areasully supportive of having a museum. and i'm not really objecting that the federal government should pay for part of it. what i'm objecting to is adding to our debt. >> shepard: the uncertainty over the museum is among several issues that have tempered the progress here. the rise of the signature sky scraper one world trade center slowed for a while as crews dismantled equipment on the upper floors. down below, real estate conditions are forcing crews to leave tower 2 at ground level for now. and construction on the 80-story tower 3 will stop at just the 7th floor unless developers find a large enough tenant within a year. >> there is no more complicated rae development project in the world than this one. there are always going to be setbacks. >> david sampson recently became chairman of the port authority which has taken harsh criticism lately. an audit called it a dysfunctional organization. that allowed world trade center costs to balloon to $14.8 billion. up from the previous estima

republicans like tom coburn argue that the party needs a bold plan. i think romney, from what we're hearing, seems to be sticking with don't deviate from what's safe. >> i also think he wants to make sure he can do it, you know. he wants to -- i was -- i saw this morning some of the proposals he had. they're do abl. they're safe. but you know, with bold plans comes the devil is in the details. jonathan mentioned mccain plan where they said that you know, what about people who aren't paying taxes or people -- in the lower income brackets. just kind of make it up as he went along saying they won't pay taxes. the romney campaign wants to avoid that kind of okay, those people, too. tack ons and details. >> let me bring in peter alexander who is in detroit ahead of mitt romney's speech today before the economic club there. so, peter, what is the romney campaign hoping to get out of this speech? >> two big challenges over the course of this. first one is to get across their economic message. romney has had a challenge throughout the course of this campaign

the only senators to vote no were senator jeff bingaman, senator richard burr and senator tom coburn. officials are telling consumers throw away any raw milk from the family cow farm in chambersburg, p.a. they've seen growing demand because of concerns in hormones or traditional dairy products. >> back to that breaking news from egypt where two american women kidnapped earlier today have just been released. nbc's eamon modin has the latest from cairo. eamon. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. two american tourists have been released after being kidnapped on friday morning according to security officials. there was a group of tourists. it was there that armed bedouins intercepted this group of americans. two were kidnapped. they began intense negotiations with the local bedouin tribes to try to secure their release. we don't believe it was politically motivated for any reason. so we understand that they have now been released. all of this coming against the backup of a lot of political upheaval in the country for a third day in a row. protesters are clashing with security forces in cai

you can see senator bernie sanders and senator tom coburn. i thank you for joining us and agreeing to do so in this conversational fashion. we could fight about a million things. what would you say will be the thing that you think, senator sanders, that you're most likely to agree when it comes to electoral dysfunction in america? >> i honestly don't know the senator's position, but i think it's clear to most americans that big money plays an extraordinary major role in the political process in this country on issue after issue. bills that come to the floor, the american people want to move it one direction and congress moves in another direction. for example, the american people are very strong about wanting to maintain social security, maintain medicare. big money interests want to cut those programs. people in congress are talking about that. i would hope that the senator would agree with me, that when you have a result of citizens united these horrendous super pacs pouring in huge amounts of money from a handful of billionaires, that they

you know, senator tom coburn has taught me through the years that earmarks early are the gateway drug to more and more spending. i don't get this. >> well, larry, and a lot of people don't understand that. they say it's only oh, $20 billion or so a year, but that's how they pass all these bills, the bloated budgets. sprinkle a little sugar in there for everyone around the senate and the house and we pass these things and we shouldn't be focused on local interests when our country's going bankrupt. this is something i think the american people need to take a look at for this election, which members of congress in the senate are willing to take a stand against these local -- what we call a favor factory and keep our eyes on what we're here for and that's america. >> i mean, it's not bad enough the cbo just said we're going to have another trillion dollar deficit, this will make the fourth consecutive deficit, and it is dragging down the economy. they have very low growth for 2012, even worse for 2013, and so that brings us to the second point. what about the term limit vote? maybe, in f

the big fight is over medicare, and this morning senators tom coburn and richard burr began to have thatit's political suicide. >> robert. >> clearly, the democrats wong the payroll tax cut debate. obviously republicans can make the case. they took it off the table, out of the election discourse. the reality is the narrative building over the payroll tax cut, over protecting student loans for middle income kids, over a whole range of programs for job retraining, a focus on the democratic position being one standing up for the middle class and one of fairness. however, unless my party and the republican party get serious about dealing with the deficit, they'll be no real winner in the economy. >> patricia. >> i want to strike a cautionary note. this has not passed congress yet. i think today with the news there's an agreement, it's a huge win for president obama. he told congress to act. he told congress to extend this tax cut, and they did it. looks good for him. when you get into the details, there's a lot of spending in here that republicans don't like. there's also a lot of pay-fors i

joining us live to talk about this, senator tom coburn. a member of the senate finance committee. senator you say you don't have any concerns about the merits of this project. so what exactly are you your concerns about the way is being paid for? >> well, first of all, let me explain. every year i send a letter to every senator saying if you put a bill on the floor that will spend new money you need to put with that bill what you want to eliminate to pay for that. the fact that we're $15.4 trillion in debt and our kids future has been mortgaged means we can't continue doing business as we've done in the past. so every bill that comes to the floor, republican or democrat, no matter what it is floor, i don't care what it is for the one thing congress has got to start doing is selecting priorities. if this is a priority, this museum is a priority, when we know we have $350 billion a year in waste, fraud and duplication, certainly we can find $20 million somewhere else that we can eliminate to pay for it. there are some other questions that we

. >>> on tomorrow's show, we will talk to tom coburn and the democrat kit conrad.live. up next, new poll numbers show daylight for president obama as sick santorum and mitt romney go after each other in michigan. "morning joe" is back in a moment. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. [ horn honks ] [ dog barks ] [ dog whimpers ] [ wind whistling ] [ dog whimpers ] until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know