i heard it as well from tom harkin. if a woman needs an abortion after 20 weeks, something has gone very wrong. this is probably a wanted pregnancy. and either her health is in danger and there's no exclusion for women's health either at all. a narrow, narrow exclusion for the life of the woman. so some dire circumstance is at hand that would cause a doctor to prescribe, to order an abortion at that point, but they would take that away. and they could literally cause the death of a woman or sterilization or some other horrible health condition that would last the rest of her life. >> we are having these reports, these anonymous behind-the-scenes reports to the press of some republicans, even conservative republicans, frustrated that these votes are still happening. that people who even if they are anti-abortion themselves, they want to focus on economic issues, but the house can't seem to stop itself. in the house, you're obviously a known combatant on this issue on the pro-choice side. do you see signs of frustration?

let me bring up our good friend senator tom harkin. >> first of all, thank you. thank you for your dynamic leadership at the department of health and human services. again, i can not thank you enough center. we team up together. senator kennedy asked each of us to had certain parts of the reform bill. we worked together closely to put this all together. while we worked hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone, because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an analyst from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple of years ago under the preventative services task force recommendation. a covered everybody. what we are talking about a dozen to effect tomorrow of the recommendations of the institute of medicine. that pertained particularly to women. that was what barbara championed so far and brought to the senate, this focus. this focus that because women -- do i need to state the obvious -- they are different than men. certain health requiremen

joining me now is senator tom harkin, iowa democrat who you just heard in that moving clip.enator, thank you for joining us tonight. >> al, thanks for having me on your show. >> it's an important day. give us your thoughts. >> well, again, my thoughts again are reminiscent of the two sisters i lost. and sad to say that's not a unique story in america. there are so many families who have lost a sister, a mother, a wife because they didn't get early checkups, they didn't get preventive health care. and now beginning today they'll be able to get that. so beginning today we really are making another step forward, al, in moving from a sick care system from what we have in america, a sick care system, to a true health care system. where we don't just patch and mend someone who's broken and someone who needs a mastectomy, someone who needs chemotherapy. we will continue to do that, but now women know they can go in early and get that early checkup which is so vitally important. we know if we get these things early we can prevent all these operations and chemos and deaths in the fut

hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcome to the big picture. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images. from the streets of canada. giant corporations are rooted. welcome back to spotlight i am our love and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is valerie get the principal conductor of the london symphony orchestra and director of the martin ski theory. which again gives the annual easter festival easter music festival which which is your child your hero one of your beloved children it's opening this weekend so isn't becoming like a world event you hear when you found it you promised you would make it a world world event is the geography increasing first of all it's called moscow is the first of its clearly indicates that it's a russian cultural group but be event starts in moscow traditionally and comes to me and also is a big concert in moscow in between. it's also leading singers some of brilliance always instrumentalists the violinist or pianist cellist. visit many regions o

there has been so much noise surrounding the affordable care act which our own senator tom harkin called one of the most compassionate pieces of legislation in generations. amy and i feel it is our personal and moral obligation to share our story in the hope that by doing so americans will finally be able to put real human names and faces and stories with the law that has already benefited millions of middle-class and struggling americans. separating out the truth of the law from the malicious, heinous and in excusable lies, yes, why is surrounding this law. as amy so eloquently and courageously shared we know the truth about obamacare. a term i use with the utmost private. we know the truth far better than most. amy and i are and have been tremendously fortunate to have excellent health insurance through our employers. however, prior to the signing of obamacare her insurance was capped like that of over 1 hundred five million americans. her is at $1 million. had it not been for the immediate relief on these cats once the president signed this legislation we would almost certainly have n

let me bring up our good friend and our champion, senator tom harkin. >> boy, is that tough to follow. [laughter] thank you, secretary sebelius, for your leadership in the department of health and human services, and we all teamed up together, senator kennedy asked each of us to head certain parts of the health care reform bill. we worked together very closely to put this all together, and while we worked very hard to put together a strong preventative package that includes everyone because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an ill pness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the preventative services task force recommendations, but that covered everyone. what we're talking about that goes into effect tomorrow are the recommendations of the institute of medicine that pertain particularly to women, and that was what barbara championed so hard and brought to the senate was this focus. this focus that because women, do i need to state the obvious? are different than men

or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcomes the big picture. but come back to the kaiser report i'm max kaiser time now to go to iceland and talk with jones a member of parliament in iceland who's about to launch the pirate party in iceland brigade to walk on back to the kaiser report thank you for having me again all right brigade you are forming the pirate party in iceland what is it why are you doing it well i had thought he started in two thousand and six and sweden. responds to. that very hard to sneak about tax on the people behind the hard day. as we have asked the party has developed it's actually looks like it is the new way for parties. with a new party in the world sort of taking over the role that the lean tos to have a long time ago where an entirely different kind of politics with. him particularly focused on. online rights. and freedom of information the right prissy and all these things are great concern to us or use the internet on a regular basis and so we in iceland. how are establishing this new par

hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcomes a big picture. view. of the. east. coast. welcome back to the kaiser report i'm max kaiser time now to go to new york and talk with james howard kunstler of consular dot com james welcome back to the kaiser report it's always fun to be with you max all right james howard kunstler you're out with a new book it's called too much magic wishful thinking technology the fate of the nation tell us about the book well the book is really about how we in america are sitting around waiting for santa claus to deliver a goody sack of technological rescue remedies so we can keep on running wal-mart suburbia walt disney world the u.s. army the interstate highway system and the rest of our stuff by other means which isn't going to happen well james thing. myth of america is that fake it til you make it and there's an idea that the keep hoping for the best and that american can do attitude and that the self-help books remember back in the fifty's and sixty's you had how to win friends and inf

or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcomes the big picture. but come back to the kaiser report i'm max kaiser time now to go to iceland and talk with her to get doug jones go to our member of parliament in iceland who's about to launch the pirate party in iceland come back to the kaiser report thank you for having me again all right brigade to you are forming of a pirate party in iceland what is it why are you doing it well that i had gotten started in two thousand and six and sweden now. responds to. that very hard. people behind the pirate bay as we have as the part of you has developed it's actually looks like it is the new way. when the new party in the world sort of taking over the role that the means used to have a long time an. entirely different kind of politics. particularly focused on online rights. and freedom of information right privacy and all these things or of great concern to us use the internet on a regular basis and so we and i spent. our stepless in this new party looking up the german purge party

you don't know i'm tom harkin welcomes a big picture. into the only military mechanisms to do the work to bring justice to accountability. i have every right to know what my government should do if you want to know why i pay taxes. i would characterize obama as a charismatic version of american exceptionalism. i'm laurin the sphere. is screwed news tropical storm isaac grazed the coast of florida yesterday hammering tampa with everywhere and rains and i winds put in a damper on the republicans two thousand and twelve republican convention but undeterred republicans gathered this afternoon to declare an official start to their convention and kick off a week long and strata ganz oval bob i eighty rich guy free market promotion and bashing government working people and poor people. already seen glimpses of what republicans will offer for their vision of america over the next few days there is of course the official republican platform which supports a federal ban on same sex marriage a reinstatement of don't ask don't tell and a call for mo

else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you don't know i'm tom harkin is a big. welcome back to the kaiser report i'm max kaiser time now to go to boston and talk with professor yanira barr yeah founding president of new england complex systems institute professor welcome to the kaiser report max good to be here all right professor i want to get john i read your report and i think it's a stream way important that people take a look at this your report the food crises a quantitative model of food prices including speculators and ethanol kind of version he looked at various possible causes for a food price rises tell us what factors you eliminated as the cause of rises which did your models conclude were the cause in general. there or the idea that supply and demand could fully account for the price increases was a lot which was shown to be possible there are two factors that are or one of them is a supply and demand factor that's increasingly. version of corn. and the other is of the effect of speculation on commodity markets. following the deregulation

hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcome to the big. welcome back to the kaiser report imax kaiser time now to go to london and talk with sandeep jaitley basis dot com sundeep lectures throughout the world on austrian economics sandeep welcome back to the kaiser report thanks very much sandeep i want to get your back on because you tweeted recently and i quote if it ain't mangere or as direct student eugene vonn b.b. australian sorry respectively too many mistakes were made now there is no i wanted to comment this is that many americans consider themselves austrian school libertarians but most will be following what are his mistakes i think his mistakes are probably too great to elaborate elaborate sort of almost. but essentially. didn't look back to. original axiom which was the value is not outside of your own consciousness. and he did a. mango observe about market action in the sense that there are always two prices there's a bid and an offer. didn't like to admit that interest was a market phenomenon. he sort of

hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harkin welcome to the big picture. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. for racial to rule the day. blogs are going to washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture and the annals of political convention history you'd be hard pressed to find another speech like the one all ryan gave on wednesday night thank you as the speech was incredibly rouse enough passionate or full of inspiration to add so many damn lies in it you'd have to think the guy has spent the last year living on a different planet but maybe there's a strategy behind all those lies i'll tell you what it is just a mob also mitt romney takes the stage tonight at the r. and c. clearly he's hoping people will forget about his numerous offshore tax havens while he's speaking if so why then is a a lot sure a yacht full of romney campaign donors sailing around the convention in the flag of the cayman islands and later the m

i'm tom harkin welcome to the big picture. welcome back to spotlight i'm al gore knob and just to remind you that my guest on the show today is jon alpert award winning american journalist and documentary filmmaker johnson. so you want me to tell you something i'll tell you something what's interesting is when i go to afghanistan or iraq and i make my reports you know who thanks me the most the soldiers the soldiers because they're the ones because the soldiers they don't want to fight. they didn't care that they were back around a young girl as they want back home to them to the mamas to their wives to their kids or no i don't think you can i mean about a million and so i mean. soldiers want to fight their it want to fight when the enemy is on their. their cities and towns but when they ascend thousand two hundred ten of the thousand miles away they probably they they don't like that idea even if they're doing it for money i mean no for what i would say is that. when they're over there and there's you're asking the question w

something else or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you don't know i'm tom harkin is a big. welcome back to the kaiser report imax kaiser we've got somebody in the studio today david smith geneva business insider dot blogspot dot com david as a law degrees qualified chartered accountant has worked as a senior executive for a major swiss and u.s. multinationals and global banks david welcome to the kaiser report pleasure to be in paris and to be with you today all right david smith let's talk about switzerland the legendary safe haven went bonkers a year ago pegged it's good as gold currency the swiss franc to the euro tell us about this act of madness or maybe it is madness why did they do it well the basic reason for doing it is because the main part of this was economy which is eighty five percent of it apart from the banks was suffering very much from having a strong exchange rate the difficulties are for the tourist industry for the experts ation of machine and capital goods and also if you think about it for the companies in switzerland with high rates the rep

let me bring up our good friend and our champion, senator tom harkin. [laughter] >> boy, is it tough to follow barbara mikulski. [laughter] first of all, thank you, secretary sebelius, again, for your dynamic leadership at the department of health and human services. and, again, i can't thank enough barbara mikulski, senator mikulski. we teamed up together. senator kennedy asked each of us to head certain parts of the health care reform bill. we worked together very closely to put this all together, and while we worked very hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone -- because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an illness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the preventive services -- preventive services health task force recommendations, but that covered everyone. what we're talking about that goes into effect tomorrow are the recommendations of the institute of medicine that pertain particularly to wome

that may bring up our good friend and our champion, senator tom harkin. >> boy is it tough to follow barbara mikulski. thank you, secretary sebelius again for your dynamic leadership at the department of health and human services. and again, i cannot thank you again, barbara mikulski, senator mikulski. we'll teamed up together. senator kennedy asked each of us to have certain parts of the health care reform bill. we were together very closely to put this all together. and while we work very hard to put together a strong preventative package that includes everyone because we want to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an illness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the preventive services -- preventive services health task force recommendation. but that covered everyone. what we talk about what goes into effect tomorrow are the recommendations of the institute of medicine that pertain particularly to women. and i was so barbara mikulski championed so hard and brought to the sena

women offered it often brought to the attention we have the support of a fantastic man senator tom harkin was one of the prime movers for the affordable health care act he's one of the movers and the whole concept of prevention and wellness when we save lives and save money and he's been a great champion for women and of quality never are shy about supporting women who seek equality let me bring about our good friend and said champion senator tom harkin. >> is it tough to follow barbara mikulski. [laughter] think you for your dynamic leadership but that part of health and human services i can't think enough senator mikulski we team up together senator kennedy asked each of us to have a certain parts of the health care reform bill. we work together very closely to put this all together and while we work hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone because we wanted to change of a sick care system to the health care system one where people could get early checkups and prevent an illness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the

. >> the top three currently in office or senator tom harkin, a republican from huntington beach that has received the equivalent of $2,200 in tickets. coming in second it is a republican from modesto, with $800. and third, cameron smith from santa clarita with about 1400 in disney freebies and making the top 15, two former bay area legislators, including a democrat who reportedly received 1400 in free tickets. and former senate president from alicante, don perata, getting $1,200. we spoke up to those on the list, the former center said by phone that he did take the free tickets, but he did not use them personally. he said that he is beyond the age before the matter and says instead he gave them to his staff. mickey mouse is a drawl for a lot of kids, for families that can often not afford it. a move that may not be so popular on main street. >> i certainly understand why people out there who can afford to take their families to disney land feel like they're legislators are letting them down. >> and with the legislature killing a bill that would have prohibited them from taking ticket

this past month tom harkin and the senate released a report on the industry, the product of a two-year investigation. the report was not good. >> for-profit colleges charge tuition and often provide an inferior education by experiencing sky high dropout rates, how are they able to recruit a steady stream of new students? the answer is that for-profit colleges are what i would call a marketing machine. >> whether or not you graduate, whether or not your degree is worth anything in terms of getting you a new job, perhaps in the field of video games, whether or not you are able to repay the loans that you took out to be able to pay for these expensive programs, the business model of the for-profit school industry is to market to you aggressively and get you to sign up, to then get you to take out loans to pay your tuition to the school and cash the loan checks. they get paid and you owe the money to whoever gave you the loan. more often than not, the entity ask the federal government. the 2009 school year, for profit schools got paid $32 billion in federal money. one out of every $4 the d

a lot of people who don't agree, tom harkin made a statement that birth control mandated because womenle menstrual cramps, a brilliant statement by your fellow democrat. here's the point. look america in the eye -- why should people that have their religious views pay the $9 a month for birth control or pay for abortion-inducing drugs? they didn't have the sex? why should they be forced by the government to do something contrary to their deeply held religious belief? explain. >> number 1 is because the employers are not churches and religious organizations as much as they are employers-- >>> this is catholic institutions -- hospitals, charities. >> churches that employ thousands and thousands of people-- >>> why should they be forced to go against their belief. >> birth control is not just -- it's contraceptive. it is used for many other reasons. >> sean: abortion-inducing drugs? [overlapping dialogue] >> the last one to make -- >> homosexuality, birth control, those are the key issues. >> sean: you keep interrupting, you don't worry the question. >> tam tamara, this is not birth contr

let me bring up our good friend senator tom harkin. >> first of all, thank you. thank you for your dynamic leadership at the department of health and human services. again, i can not thank you enough center. we team up together. senator kennedy asked each of us to had certain parts of the reform bill. we worked together closely to put this all together. while we worked hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an analyst from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple of years ago under the preventative services task force recommendation. a covered everybody. what we are talking about a dozen to effect tomorrow of the recommendations of the institute of medicine. that pertained particularly to women. that was what barbara championed so far and brought to the senate, this focus. this focus that because women -- do i need to state the obvious -- they are different than men. certain health requirement

host: that is senator tom harkin who is the chairman of the health committee.guest: i did not want to begrudge senator harkin. he is a friend of mine. he signed on to the report. let's understand it for what it was. the minority party was pretty critical of the outcome, the failure to look at all the challenges in higher education. but look at some of the numbers that you brought up. you talk about 500,000 leaving before they get a degree. the fundamental misunderstanding of how this sector works -- unlike that traditional campus where you go for a semester or four year and you take five -- or for a year and you take five 3-credit courses at a time, you take one course at a time for a month. you may be waiting for the course to start the next month. somebody might say you drop out and did not complete your degree. you finish one course, then you take the second. these are adults with real jobs and real lives. they take these courses on a part-time basis for the most part. it is a fundamental misunderstanding of how we work. to say 63% of the students withdrew -

she lost her job as a result of legislation sponsored by senator tom harkin's that closed down factories in bangladesh that were not up to the standards that american lawmakers thought day off -- ought to be up to. about 50,000 children lost their jobs as a result. she was interviewed by an anti- poverty activist in bangladesh at that time. this was her take on this situation. we are poor and not well educated so they despise us. that is what they shut the factories down. there is one difference, though, between us and 1840 and the third world today. the differences that we were poor, there was nobody was which. there was nobody we could turn to for help. the poorest people today are turning to the relatively rich and asking for help. that raises the question of what ought we do about that? a hard question with a lot of aspects. i will not settle it for you today. i do want to say a few things you might want to keep in mind when you think about that kind of question. it is remarkable to me the extent to which arguments for income redistribution, either across the world or with in a count

the whole option -- it was tried in january 2011, tom harkin, jeff from berkeley all proposed amendmentssenate filibuster rule on the first day of congress. on the theory congress could do it. the colleges where students are attending disproportionately and need our attention. adult education is important as well. we look for reauthorization of the act so that they may help people learn the skills. also learn adult based 6 in the modern economy. is our tremendous topics that include latinas. the priorities in which to expect in the years to come. i have also been asked to cover immigration. amiga for the top lines of the immigration recommendations we're making clear me go through the immigration recommendations. we must maintain an -- a path for removal. this program unveiled andros -- unveiled will go through two years. it is up to the next white house to continue this and a path to -- in a path. temper solutions are not enough. we must enact the dream act to give students a path to legalization and eventually citizenship. it does not just affect and people and youth. we must enact com

in january of 2011, tom harkin, tom udall, jeff merkley all proposed amendments to the senate filibuster rule on the first day of congress. on the theory that congress could do it. the senate could do it. lamar alexander of tennessee got up and said, madam chairman, i object because under rule 4 the senate cannot vote on something on the same day as introduced without unanimous concept and, therefore, i withhold unanimous concept. consent. the first legislative day was, lasted over two weeks because they adjourned, they recessed instead of adjourned. when they came back, the day ended, and the next day the chair ruled you gotta do it by a two-thirds vote. the senate doesn't have the power to declare its own rules unconstitutional. and that whole theory is, you know, a dog that won't hunt or the dog that barked but had no teeth or whatever the right metaphor is. [laughter] it won't work. >> let me, let me suggest, though, that emmett is overstating a little bit what marbury v. madison said. there are actions by the government that courts will never review under any circumstances. for exam

she lost her job as a result of legislation sponsored by senator tom harkin's that closed down factories in bangladesh that were not up to the standards that american lawmakers thought day off -- ought to be up to. about 50,000 children lost their jobs as a result. she was interviewed by an anti- poverty activist in bangladesh at that time. this was her take on this situation. we are poor and not well educated so they despise us. that is what they shut the factories down. there is one difference, though between us and 1840 and the third world today. the differences that we were poor, there was nobody was which. there was nobody we could turn to for help. the poorest people today are turning to the relatively rich and asking for help. that raises the question of what ought we do about that? a hard question with a lot of aspects. i will not settle it for you today. i do want to say a few things you might want to keep in mind when you think about that kind of question. it is remarkable to me the extent to which arguments for income redistribution, either across the world or with in a countr

term senator, but spearheading efforts to recruit others to support increases for the nea, and tom harkin who was chairman of the health committee on health education, labor, and pensions, has been placing a spotlight in the decline in art education programs in grades k-12. the republicans we have that our heros, friends, tom cockrin, from mississippi, he's great, and susan collins from maine, a long time supporter for public funding of the arts, and tom coburn was one to mention today as being not as wonderful as we'd like him to be on the issue of the arts, and i wanted to mention that we have a couple of -- is this the one right here? we have a list here -- oklahoma, yeah, in the state of oklahoma, we've got, you know, in march of 2001, the oklahoma visual arts coalition received a grant of $15,000. in march 2001, and in may 2001, the lyric theater of oklahoma city, all five grantees in oklahoma city, by the way, -- >> [inaudible] >> 2011 rather. oklahoma visual arts coalition was march of 2011, and in may, it was lyric theater with $45,000. the oklahoma council of the arts, an umbrell

tom harkin, tom udall, proposed amendments to the senate filibuster rule on the first day of congress. on the theory that congress could do it. the senate could do it. lamar alexander got up and said i object because under rule 4, the senate cannot vote on something on the same day as introduced without unanimous consent and i therefore withhold unanimous consent. the first day lasted over two weeks because they adjourned and recessed. when they came back, the day ended and the next day, the chair ruled you have to do it by a two-thirds vote. the senate that i have the power to declare its own rules unconstitutional and that whole theory is a dog that won't hunt. it won't work. -- won't work. >> let me suggest that he is overstating a little bit. there are actions by the government that courts will never review under any circumstances. whether the president should recognize it for a country -- a foreign country, the president has unlimited and total discretion to decide whether to recognize a foreign country and the supreme court will never hear a case where somebody challenges that d

has been so much noise and distortion surrounding the affordable care at, which are owned senator tom harkin called one of the most compassionate pieces of legislation in generations. amy and i believe that it is our personal and moral obligation to share our story in the hope that, by doing so, americans will finally be able to put real human names and faces and stories with a law that is already benefiting millions of middle-class and struggling americans while separating out the truth of the law from the militias, heinous, and inexcusable lice -- yes, lies -- surrounding this law. as amy eloquently and courageously shared, we know the truth about obamacare, a term i use with the utmost pride for we know the truth far better than most. amy and i are and have been tremendously fortunate to have excellent health insurance through our employers. however, prior to the signing of obamacare, her insurance was capped, like that of over 105 million americans. had it not been for the immediate relief on those caps once the president signed this legislation, we would have almost certainly needed to

tom harkin, tom udall, proposed amendments to the senate filibuster rule on the first day of congresson the theory that congress could do it. the senate could do it. lamar alexander got up and said i object because under rule 4, the senate cannot vote on something on the same day as introduced without unanimous consent and i therefore withhold unanimous consent. the first day lasted over two weeks because they adjourned and recessed. when they came back, the day ended and the next day, the chair ruled you have to do it by a two-thirds vote. the senate that i have the power to declare its own rules unconstitutional and that whole hunt. is a dog that won't it won'd work. -- won't work. >> let me suggest that he is overstating a little bit. there are actions by the government that courts will never review under any circumstances. whether the president should recognize it for a country -- a foreign country, the president has unlimited and total discretion to decide whether to recognize a foreign country and the supreme court will never hear a case where somebody challenges that discretion

i remember sitting in health committee with senator mikulski and with tom harkin as we wrote some of the preventive, the preventive elements in this bill and how important they were and the fights that those two made to do the right thing. and it really is because of people like ann craich that we know are out there living their lives every day, caring so much about the community. and she's willing with all of her illnesses over the past, she's willing to step up and fight in an ongoing way. she's an activist in toledo, she's an activist here, and we're proud, and i'm proud to introduce ann craich. ann, thank you. >> thank you. i'm proud to be here. thank you, senator brown, and senator mikulski. it is a pleasure to be here, and it is an honor. and listening to all of everybody speak, three minutes is kind of a tough ting to stay with when you're pleading for a human life here, but that's exactly what i'm doing. pardon me? >> talk as long as you want. >> okay. i am a three-time survivor of cancer. you live with cancer every day of your life, it doesn't just go away. i have been very

much noise and distortion support -- surrounding the affordable care act, which are owned senator tom harkin called one of the most compassionate pieces of legislation in generations. amy and i feel it is our personal and moral obligation to share our story in the hope that by doing so americans will finally be able to put real human names and faces and stories with the law that has already benefited millions of middle-class and struggling americans. while separating out the truth of the law from the militias, cannas, and inexcusable lies -- yes, lies surrounding this law -- as any so relevant -- eloquently shared, we know the truth about "obamacare," a term i used with the utmost pride. amy and i and have been tremendously fortunate to have excellent health insurance to our employers. prior to the signing of "obamacare," her insurance was capped. hers at one minute dollars. had it not be en for the immediate relief on caps, we would have almost certainly need it to declare bankruptcy to cover the expenses necessary to save amy's life. i ask q. panelists to please imagine for just one moment