telling the truth and getting the consistency thing down, are you going to resign from the united states senate think you're supposed to pose your question to ms. medina. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> i'm not going to resign from the united states senate. >> but i will. >> ms. medina, in a question that i was asking a little bit earlier. 23409 that i'd asked a little bit earlier but thought about a little bit earlier. you have said that or last to you said you'd consider legalizing demrugs texas, and i'd like for you to expound on that for the audience tonight. >> i have said that that is a power that ought to be reserved for the people in the state not something the federal government ought to be doing. we have certainly seen at the federal and state level a tremendous amount of resources poured into a drug war with little effect. i had the opportunity to ride with the dallas city police officer 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. he said 95% of what he does is drug-related crime. we are spending a tremendous amount of resources, frankly that we don't have in a way that's ineffective. we've got to get beyond this

one year from this week, our state will have a new united states senator.o do. so a few closing thoughts. i believe in bipartisan solutions, but i also believe you can only achieve those results with vibrant, robust, and civil partisan debate. i'm a democrat and very, very proud of my party's contributions to the vitality and strength of america. i would never have had the opportunity to serve in the congress had i not had the support and backing of my political party in connecticut over these years. i appreciate the passionate party activists who have never, ever faltered in their support of my efforts. i want to say thank you to my family for their tolerance of yet another generation of our family in the political arena. i'm especially indebted to jackie for her fierce loyalty, unyielding commitment to fairness and her unlimited capacity of empathy to the needs of others. she has truly been my anchor in these stormy political waters. there's nothing more pathetic in my view who announces they're only leaving public life to spend more time with their famil

he left the united states senate in 1979, and since then massachusetts has not sent a republican to the senate. tonight they've not only sent a republican to the senate, they have sent a very blunt message to president obama and the democratic party. they are against the obama stimulus plan, against what he calls the spending and taxing in washington, d.c. voters estimate obama carried by 26 points have now by a significant margin decided to carry republican scott brown to washington. i want to echo the point wolf just made. i'm told by two republican sources high up in the brown campaign that martha coakley, the democratic candidate, called a short time ago that she was conceding the race. i'm told she congratulated scott brown on the campaign and wished him well. very touchy days ahead, larry. >> larry: he can't be sworn in, according to massachusetts law, until the 29th. can the democrats in the house and senate try to do something before then on health? >> the answer to can they is yes. the answer is will they is doane don't be so sure. the white house has said they would like to mo

which are pending in the united states senate.hat is a frustration of the members of the house who worked hard on those pieces of legislation covering broad sections of policy. i mentioned that george washington's theory and the founding father's theory was the senate was to perhaps cool the passions that may be enacted by a body elected every two years. of course, the senate was originally representatives of the states, not of the people. they're now directly elected, of course, starting in the last century. but what they have become very rapidly over the last few years -- and both parties have affected this, but over the last four years, republicans in the senate have grown this to historic proportions in terms of utilization of the filibuster. by geometric progression order of magnitude of the numbers of time cloture needs to be invoked or voted upon. americans are frustrated by that. the majority rules in america. it's one thing to have a considered process. it's another thing to have a broken process. and many of us believe t

as you know, many of those issues are still pending in the united states senate. he senate is working on that and we continue to work on them but i want to remind you that when people ask me was it a distraction to focus on health care from essentially after passing energy on, although they were wouk odd in a parallel way in the -- -- worked on in a parallel way in the economies. within weeks of president obama taking office we passed one of the most significant recovery packages in history. to bring the economy back and to try to grow the economy. let me remind you what i said in my peach. that we went from a loss of about 650,000 jobs per month in the previous three months to the last three months a loss of jobs about 69,000 jobs per month. to go from 650,000 to 69,000 loss is a big step forward. however, it is not success. what you wanting to is from a loss of jobs to a growth of jobs. that is what we're going to be focused on very vigilantly. i would reject the premise that we have not focused and jobs and in fact, i would wednesday this reminder. what was the

these are pending in the united states senate. there are frustrations. members of the house have worked hard on these pieces of legislation. i mentioned george washington's. was that the senate was to perhaps cool passions that would be enacted by a body elected every two years. the senate was originally representatives of states. they were elected starting last century. very rapidly over the last few years -- and both parties have affected this, but over the last four years, republicans in the senate have grown this to historic proportions in terms of utilization of a filibuster -- of the filibuster, by geometric progression, the numbers of time cloture needs to be an vote or voted upon. americans are frustrated by that. the majority rules. it is one thing to have a considered process. it is another thing to have a broken process, and many of us believe that the senate process is broken, and when i say many of us, i speak for many members of the u.s. senate, as well. there is this gridlock created by this necessity not to have a majority on a vote but to

united states and is not something that this congress should tolerate. this congress should say to mr. bernanke, your nomination is here in front of the united states senate, and we will act on it as soon as you provide the information the senators have requested of you. and, by the way, the information that a federal judge, one federal judge has already ordered that you disclose. as soon as you comply with that, then your nomination shall have a vote in the united states senate. well, mr. president, i wanted to explain in more detail my response to people today who had asked me what i was going to do on that nomination. that, i think, gives adequate explanation. i also wanted to just comment briefly that the president today said something quite extraordinary, and i want to compliment him for it. i know that he's walking into a thicket of trouble here, because a whole lot of big interests are going to gang up on this, these proposals. but let me tell you the two proposals the president offered that make a lot of sense. number one, he says that big financial institutions in this country that are too big to fail are too big. well, that's pretty simple. if y

that was the minority leader of the united states senate. senator reid has been silent on his support. but based on conversations that i've had with him, i believe he also appreciates the dire financial situation our nation faces. still, i want to say that i've been disappointed that there has not been more after recent effort by the leaders of both parties to embrace the conrad-gregg commission, which is one of the most bipartisan pieces offings that we have seen during -- pieces that we've seen during this session of congress. i think it is the most bipartisan in this session of congress. my question is to senators reid and mcconnell, is you're not in favor of the conrad-gregg commission, what bipartisan proposal are you for? in other words, if you don't like the commission, then what bipartisan proposal are you for? i was also disappointed that the president initially threw in the towel on the conrad-gregg commission on the grounds that he understood that the votes to pass this proposal were not there. instead the president proposed issuin

something else to think about, we're not going to break the filibuster on the united states senate on this bill anymore. what kind of shenanigans do we have to guard against? are they going to delay the certification of the votes in massachusetts to try to delay the swear-in of senator-elect scott brown? i like the soubd of that. are they going to try to keep him off the floor? are they going to try to push a bill through with the 60 votes they have and defy the will of the american people? is speaker pelosi going to try to take a senate version of the bill now, something the house is lined up to reject and bill it -- bring it to the floor of the house before people understand what's going on and end it@president even though the american people have not just at every opportunity, and the election today was an opportunity for the voice of the people in massachusetts and america to be heard, thank you, massachusetts. but not only that, but people have stepped up to do everything they could and created opportunities that their voice be heard and still their hearts are hardened. if they c

even after members of the united states senate said make this information available. even after the american people said we deserve to know who got our money. total reserve board said we don't intend to tell you. we don't intend to tell you a thing. so there's a couple trillion dollars out there that the fed has made available. there was a risk to the american taxpayer. $2 trillion is not a small amount. it is a very large amount. and the fed says that it's our business, not yours. that's the business of the federal reserve board. and we in effect have a right to operate in secret and intend to continue to do that. now my problem with mr. bernanke, especially my problem with him as i said last week, i don't think his nomination should be voted he were on the floor of the united states senate until and unless he discloses to us and the american people the details about this $2 trillion. who got it, what were the terms? we now see some of the investment bank's reporting the largest profits in history. comparing to now provide bonuses we are told of 120 to $140 billion.

guest: this will be an institute that will study the united states senate, study the 47-year career oftor kennedy as arguably the most effective legislator in history. it will bring people's understanding of what happens and what has happened in the past in the united states senate, the constitutional role and function, what has happened in its history, perhaps to inspire younger generations coming forward. the importance of the united states senate and its deliberations at its core, it will have an educational mission. i believe over the course of time through history and analysis and scholarship it will continue to be an inspirational and educational institution for not only scholars but public, generally host: how you bring back that ability to cross party lines that you say was here when senator kennedy came and was lost molest 8-10 years. ? guest: i start with the politics of it. after the last election, colin powell, who served under republicans and so forth, gave some guys to the republican party and said that their base and mindset is becoming too narrow, if you will, and the w

colleagues in the senate, work with the administration so we can get the job done here in the united states senate. with that, madam president, i thank you for the attention, and i would yield the floor. mr. levin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: madam president, i recently returned from a trip to pakistan and afghanistan with senator al franken. we heard a great deal of troubling news out of afghanistan over the past few months. casualties have increased, the political situation has been unsettled. based on what we saw and heard during our trip, i am somewhat more optimistic that we will succeed in afghanistan. i'm a lot more optimistic now than i was after my last visit to afghanistan in september. now, success to me is defined as preventing the taliban from returning to power at the same time that we strengthen the afghan security forces to take responsibility for afghan security in order to ensure stability and -- in afghanistan. over the course of three days, we met with key civilian and military leaders in both pakistan and afghanistan, and, mada

one year from this week, our state will have a new united states senator. in the meantime, we have important work to do. so a few closing thoughts. i believe in bipartisan solutions, but i also believe you can only achieve those results with vibrant, robust, and civil partisan debate. i'm a democrat and very, very proud of my party's contributions to the vitality and strength of america. i would never have had the opportunity to serve in the congress had i not had the support and backing of my political party in connecticut over these years. i appreciate the passionate party activists who have never, ever faltered in their support of my efforts. i want to say thank you to my family for their tolerance of yet another generation of our family in the political arena. i'm especially indebted to jackie for her fierce loyalty, unyielding commitment to fairness and her unlimited capacity of empathy to the needs of others. she has truly been my anchor in these stormy political waters. there's nothing more pathetic in my view who announces they're only leaving publi

that, in fact, when they were writing their health care bill behind closed doors in the united states senate and then the house of representatives, they were cutting deals with big labor and with members of the senate. people just were offended by that, and it gave state senator brown, now senator brown, awn opportunity to kind of dig into that hole a little more and say to the people, this is not the kind of change that you voted for, and look, barack obama and the dpems have become the corrupt majority and we need to change that. very ma very smart. >> larry: we'll be back with more after this. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.95 only

. >> here in the u.s., the house of representatives went on television before the united states senate. some said it was because the house was on television that the senate finally went on television. in your case, the house of lords was already on television, is that correct? >> that is right. the same could be said to apply. it became very difficult for members of parliament and the commonwealth. when the house of lords did not have a problem with that. we have had quite a number of changes to the loss of coverage making it much easier to watch -- to the laws of coverage, making it much easier to watch. there are still changes under way. and how many cameras are in the house of commons? >> is there are six in the lord. >> and how are they manned? >> they are robot thickly operated from a controlled gallery. -- robotically operated from a controlled gallery. uc wide shots of the chamber and -- you see wide shots of the chamber. we would like to have a reaction shot just like a broadcast. it is all long wait for word from the original position which is that you could only see the pictu

when i came to the united states senate in 1980, there were many moderate republican senators who reached across the aisle. we had senator hatfield from oregon just discussing the distinguished presiding officer brought me greetings from senator hatfield, the senator from oregon, and senator packwood, also a moderate from oregon. senator danforth from missouri, senator wyker from connecticut, senator chafee from rhode island, senator stafford from vermont, senator warner from virginia, senator heinz from pence, senator mathias from maryland. i could go on and on and on. well, today the moderates on the other side of the aisle with my departure can fit in a telephone booth. and it's not good for the senate and it's not good for the country. and when i undertook the town meetings this year, i made it a practice in my tenure in the senate, 30 years, to visit almost every county almost every year, and the first county i went to in august, first day i had an opportunity to travel when the senate was not in session. usually when i got to lebanon county, there were 85, 100 people. on this occasi

one year from this week, our state will have a new united states senator. in the meantime, we have important work to do, so few closing thoughts. i believe in bipartisan solutions, but i also believe you can only achieve those results with vibrant, robust, and civil partisan debate. i am a democrat and very proud of my party's contribution to the vitality and strength of america. i would never have had the opportunity to serve in congress had not had the support and backing of my political party in connecticut over these years. i appreciate the passion of party activists who have never ever faltered in their support of my efforts. i want to say thank you to my family for their tolerance of yet another generation of our family in the political arena. i am in specially adapted to jack elite -- to jackie for her fierce loyalty -- her unlimited capacity for empathy and the needs of others. she has truly been my anchor in these stormy political waters. there is nothing more pathetic in my view that a politician who announces their only leaving public life to spe

i don't remember or recall any senator coming down to the floor of this united states senate and saying asbestos? well, maybe it's okay if people breathe it in. and so let's repeal the rule that said we need to protect our workers from asbestos. no senator ever did that, thank god. so that our agencies can move forward and protect our communities and our people. black lung disease, that was a long time ago. there was a connection made between the coal dust and our miners. i don't remember, or i didn't read about anybody coming to the floor and saying we need to repeal the health finding on this. and because we didn't have any senators that did that, frankly, and because we had enough respect for health officials, public health officials, scientists, doctors, we let them do their job. and, yes, we might have fought it out here. gee, how much should we spend to protect our work tprers black lung -- workers from black lung disease and asbestos? how much should we spend as a society to take the lead out of paint? we never ever had a senator come down to the floor to try and overturn a findi

i speak today not just as a united states senator but as a former governor worried about states and asthe former president of a great public university worried about our college students, many of whom are seeking an education to get a job. washington policies are turning our federal constitutional system upside-down. they're transforming autonomous state governments into bankrupt wards of the central government. in doing so, they're making it harder for states to support public higher education. therefore, damaging its quality and damaging the opportunity for americans to afford it. governor schwartzenegger of california says -- quote -- "with a $19 billion deficit, the last thing we need is another $3 billion bill for medicaid." at the university of california, students are paying a 32% tuition increase. why? because, according to "the new york times" -- quote -- "the university of california now receives only half as much support from the state per student as it did in 1990." and why is that? because when governors make up their budgets, it usually comes down to a choice between expl

about you're in the -- here in the united states, the house wept on -- went on television before the united states senate. some said at that point in time it was because the house was on television that the senate finally went on television. in your case, the house of lords was already on television. is that correct? >> that's right. the lords had been televised for four or fine years beforehand. and i think the same could be said to apply. i think it just became very difficult for m.p.'s, and the members of parliament and the commons to justify why they could not be seen. >> when the lords didn't have a problem with it. what is interesting, is ever since we had quite a number of changes, to the rules of coverage, making it much easier to watch. than it was at first. in every case the changes to the rules have started like in the lords, and then been adopt bid the com upons. that's still the case for some changes that are under way at the moment. >> how many cameras in the house of commons? >> we have eight cameras in the common six in the lords. >> how are they mapped? yao they're robotically operated f

passed the house of representatives with a strong bipartisan majority and was sent over to the united states senate and failed in the senate by one vote to get the 2/3 majority. requires a 2/3 majority in the house and 2/3 in the senate and three quarters of our state legislatures to ratify it. had that vote been provided to give us 2/3, it would be sent to the states. the president doesn't have any say to an amendment to the constitution. it would have been sent directly to the states and i believe three-quarters of those states would have ratified that balanced budget amendment and we would be in a much different situation today if we had done that. the american people have never abandoned this idea even though the democratic congress long ago abandoned this idea. and that's union fortunate. but the american people, poll after poll, shows that 75% or 80% or more believe that the federal government should be required to balance its budget each and every year except in times of war or economic emergency. and that would require a super majority vote of the congress to declare that they would not bal

president and ceo of the national association of broadcasters, senator smith served in the united states senate from 1996-2008, and he was on the commerce committee during that time which is very much involved in telecommunications policy. our guest reporter this week, john eggerton who is the washington bureau chief of broadcasting and cable magazine. thanks to both of you for being here. >> guest: thank you. >> host: senator, i want to start not so much with telecommunications, but with the supreme court decision this week, and i'm going to ask can you what their ruling on campaign finance means for your members. >> guest: well, i probably should admit i never voted for mccain-feingold, so i actually think it's a good decision for freedom of speech. but ultimately you can't get on tv or radio without paying for it. broadcasters have lots of costs and production of content and, you know can, the american people rely on their tv and radios. ultimately, i suspect it means there'll be more political advertising, but i think that the best part of the ruling was full disclosure, and i think the mor

nra's capitol hill office as one of its lobbyists where i would go and i would interface with united states senatorsgressmen and members of their sjñ and says and hear firsthand from them what it was like to be communicated to on an issue by an nra member. seeing just mail bucket after mail bucket after mail bucket of letters and seeing phone logs, page after page after page of nra members and gun owners making their views known on a particular issue. so that was very rewarding. now as the director of the grassroots it's my job to make sure our lobbying team has that air support when they go in to talk to a member of congress in a way of hundreds if not hundreds or7;é tens of thousand communications from their prosecond amendment constituents. one of the most important things to understand about the nra is who is our base?yúm who is it that we are targeting for education and mobilization? first and foremost we're talking about nra's nearly 4 million dues-paying members which makes us one of the largest organizations in the country. i sometimes would do panels from my from the aarp and my jaw will hi

i said if i was chosen as the first new united states senator in 30 years, we would have an open community served in the senate. so that is what we have done. we have met more than 500 times. for the next 90 minutes, we will practice pure, unfiltered democracy. commissioner dickson is just going to go into them all and hauled out a name. you will give me your assessment of various issues. i will try to give you my response back. but we will do it democracy the way the founding fathers wanted us to do it. that isç what. happened -- what is going to happen. we have a couple of formalities i have to take care of on my end. already, you will see in the course of the next 90 minutes that folks have differences of opinion on the host of issues we all know that health -- we all know that health care reform is a very non controversial topic. i am sure we will see that again today¤ c13 we will have plenty of differences. but one area where there is an organ consensus is we support it are veterans all the way. would they please stand to be recognized? oregon's veterans. i cannot hear you folks. [ap

let me be clear, bankers do not need another vote in the united states senate. they have got plenty. where's yours? that is the question. and it would not be just any vote, but on many of the major questions of our day, a lot of these measures are going to rest on one vote in the united states senate. that is what the opponents of progress have been pouring money into the commonwealth in hopes of promoting gridlock in failure to keep things just as they are. i would think long and hard about getting into that trap with martha's opponent. it might take you where you want to go. and where we do not want to go right now was backwards to the same politics that got us into this mess into the -- in the first place, when we started making progress cleaning it up. massachusetts, we have had one year to make up for eight . it has not been quick or easy, but we have begun to deliver on the change that you voted for. think about this -- some of these members that i just talked about, what we have done just over the last several months, we've started to see the economy grow

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the united states senator from kentucky.se] >> thank you. thank you. it is with great honor that i am here today to celebrate abraham lincoln. i am proud to play a role in the abraham lincoln bicentennial commission. as you may know, the commission was established in 1999 to early passage of the abraham lincoln bicentennial commission act, h.r. 1451. this legislation recognize lincoln for his achievements, a visionary leader, and a great uniter. born of humble roots in larue county in kentucky on february 12, 1809, he rose to a commitment of the united states. the commonwealth of kentucky is proud to share in the lincoln legacy. he had the strength to bring americans together during our darkest hour. uniting politics and integrating our diverse backgrounds. with the belief that all men are created equal, abraham lincoln led the effort to free all the slaves from the united states. he had a generous heart that was filled with charity and no ill will toward anyone. he gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and all americ

united states than it? [laughter] >> governor, i think you're supposed to pose your question to ms. medina. >> i'm sorry. i will not resign from the united states senate >> ms. medina, and a question that i was asking a little bit earlier, not that i asked earlier but thought about earlier. you have said or released you said you would consider legalizing drugs in texas and i would like you to expand on that for the audience. >> i have said that is a power that out to be reserved to the people in this day, not something the federal government ought to be doing. we have certainly seen both at the federal level and the state level a tremendous amount of resources poured into a drug war with little effect. i had the opportunity to ride with the dallas city police officer, 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. he said 95% of what he does is drug related crime. we are spending a tremendous amount of resources frankly that we don't have in a way that's in effect gives. we've got to get beyond this emotional debate and look at objective outcomes and results. texas has got to be courageous enough to have this discussion and under a debra medina governorship we will. >> than

different about today, however, is not to announce the beginning of yet another campaign for the united states senate, but rather to announce that after 35 years of representing the people of connecticut and the united states congress, i will not be a candidate for re-election this november. i want to begin these very brief remarks by expressing my deepest gratitude to the wonderful people of connecticut for the remarkable privilege of being elected eight times over the past four decades to our national assembly. you have honored me beyond words with your confidence. let me quickly add that there have been times when my positions and actions have caused some of you to question that confidence. i regret that. but it is equally important that you know that i have never wavered in my determination to do the best job for our state and our nation. i love my job as your senator. i always have, still do. however, this past year has raised some challenges that insisted i take stock of my life. over the past 12 months, i've managed four major pieces of legislation through the united states congress, served as

kennedy institute for the united states senate. where it gathered at the boston campus of the university of massachusetts, on whose land the kennedy institute will eventually be built. in an order determined by lottery, let me introduce the three candidates that are with us. scott brown, the republican candidate, is in his third term in the state senate welcoming -- representing the north folk district. martha coakley, the democratic candidate, was elected in 2006 after serving eight years as district attorney of middlesex county. joseph kennedy, no relation to the late senator, is an independent candidate who was a member of the national libertarian party pretty worse in information technology. in preparing questions, i consulted with members of the media and other peoples whose judgment i trust. the questions themselves are known only to me. to the audience, once again, hold your applause until the end. we will begin with a series of question to the candidate, leaving time for response in discussion. by lottery, the first questio

i said if i was chosen as the first new united states senator in 30 years, we would have an open communityat i served in the senate. so that is what we have done. we have met more than 500 times. for the next 90 minutes, we will practice pure, unfiltered democracy. commissioner dickson is just going to go into them all and hauled out a name. -- call out a name. you will give me your assessment of various issues. i will try to give you my response back. but we will do it democracy the way the founding fathers wanted us to do it. that is what is going to happen. we have a couple of formalities i have to take care of on my end. already, you will see in the course of the next 90 minutes that folks have differences of opinion on the host of issues we all know that health care reform is a very non controversial topic. i am sure we will see that again today. we will have plenty of differences. but one area where there is an organ consensus is we support it are veterans all the way. would they please stand to be recognized? oregon's veterans. i cannot hear you folks. [applause] thank you for recog

i said if i was chosen as the first new united states senator in 30 years, we would have an open communityk. but we will do it democracy the way the founding fathers wanted us to do it. that isç what. happened -- what is going to happen. we have a couple of formalities i have to take care of on my end. already, you will see in the course of the next 90 minutes that folks have differences of opinion on the host of issues we all know that health -- we all know that health care reform is a very non controversial topic. i am sure we will see that again today¤ c13 we will have plenty of differences. but one area where there is an organ consensus is we support it are veterans all the way. would they please stand to be recognized? oregon's veterans. i cannot hear you folks. [applause] thank you. for recognizing our veterans. also, our forestry efforts. we have been able to get a little bit of a truce on the east side, 8 million acres. the environmental folks and the timber industry coming together. it could not have happened without an oregon state professor. could norm johnson and his wife debb

kennedy institute for the united states senate. we are gathered at the boston campus of the university of massachusetts, on whose land the kennedy institute will eventually be built. and in order determined by lottery, let me introduce the three candidates here with us. scott brown, the republican candidate is in his third term in the state senate, representing the norfolk bristol and middlesex district. he previously served three terms in the house. martha coakley, the democratic candidate is the attorney general of massachusetts. she was elected in 2006 after serving eight years as district attorney of middlesex county. joseph kennedy, no relation to the late senator is an independent candidate who's a member of the national libertarian unit party. he works in information technology and. in preparing questions, i have consulted with members of the media and other people whose judgment i trust. the questions themselves are known only to me. to the audience, once again, please hold your applause until the end. we will begin with a

president, is to at least demonstrate that as an institution, the united states senate is willing to say that we are going to take some steps, no matter how modest they are -- and i would say that my amendment isn't going to go a long ways toward eliminating this federal debt, but it certainly, i think, demonstrates to the american people that we get it, that we're hearing that they are uncomfortable with the massive amount of spending and borrowing and taxing that's going on in washington, d.c. of course they're going to end up paying for this. they're going to pay for it in the form of higher taxes, higher inflation, in the form of higher interest rates on mortgages and small business loans and student loans and those sorts of things. and so we have a responsibility to demonstrate to the american people that we are serious about getting our fiscal house in order. the most recent example, of course, as i mentioned earlier of this pattern of expansion of the federal government is the health care bill, which is in the process right now of discussions evidently between the house and th

he told me to make sure that you tell everybody you have been more diverse in the united states senatean anyone else put together. that is where we are and i will move forward and get health care done the next couple of weeks. >> you apologized to president barack obama and black leaders. what about of butter is? do you think you owe them an apology? -- what about the voters? >> i talked to the national leaders in the last few days. the african american leaders in nevada, i told them just to call me. the present majority leader of the senate in nevada is one of my proteges. i am very proud of him. i am not going to dwell on this anymore. it is in the book. thank you all very much. >> did you know that the number one free application for your iphone is cspan radio? you can get quick and easy access to three streaming audio programs. there's also a tablet links to all of our podcast, including q&a and afterwards. it is free and available from the at store. -- the app store. >> "washington journal" next. we will take your calls. later in the morning, senate republican leader mitch mcconne

madam president, it is arrogant to imagine that 100 united states senators, that we are wise enough to reform comprehensively a health care system that constitutes 17% of the world's largest economy and affects 300 million americans of disparate backgrounds and circumstances. how can we be sure, for example, that one unintended consequence of spending $3.5 trillion over ten years won't mean higher costs and more debt? won't new taxes be passed along to consumers raising premiums and discouraging job growth? won't charging insolvent states $25 billion over three years for a medicaid expansion raise state taxes and college tuitions? ask any governor. and how can a senator be so sure that some provision stuck in a 2,700-page partisan bill in secret meetings and voted on during a snowstorm at 1:00 a.m. won't come back around and slap him or her in the face? such as trying to explain why nebraska got a cornhuskers kickback to pay for its medicare expansion and my state didn't? james q. wilson also wrote in his essay that respect for the law of unintended consequences is -- quote -- "not an

. >> your agenda has been my agenda in the united states senate. before debating healthcare.ndy stern in seiu members. >> glenn: i feel like in the last year i spent my whole life representing your agenda, america's agenda. can you believe it's been a year? >>> up next, want to play a game? still ahead, the most talked about moments ever on the show. can you guess which one that was? when glenn beck's new year's countdown returns. ♪ ♪ >> do you ever lie away at night and think man, i just wish i had a juggler on hand to help me explain the role of government interference in our lives? yeah. we're making a big pile of monopoly money to make sense of foreign debt. lucky day for you! look no further. just record this show. or dvr it every day at 5:00 p.m. eastern. i mean i'm this for you, baby. you know what i'm saying? >> i think i made most of the audience throw up in their mouth just a little bit. there is nothing like a little glen afterhours. look, did it again. remember, midnight snack and a side of me. they took away my m&ms and replaced them with grapes. i am grossing am

[cheers and applause] i thank the people of massachusetts for electing me as your next united states senatord applause] [chanting "majority won"] [cheers and applause] >> and every day i hold this office i will give all that is in me to serve you well and make you proud. and most of all -- [inaudible] thank you. most of all i will remember that while the honor is mine this senate seat belongs to no one person, no one political party. and as i've said before, and you've heard it today and you'll hear it loud and clear, this is the people's seat! [cheers and applause] thank you very much. i spoke to interim senator paul kirk. he has completed his work as the senator. [inaudible] i spoke to senator kirk, and he was very gracious. he said he would help in the transition. he welcomes me as soon as i can get there. and i want to thank him from the bottom of my heart. i want to thank him -- [inaudible] and i want to thank him very much. the people, as you know, by their votes have now filled the office themselves. and i'm ready to go to washington without delay! [cheers and applause] i also want to

it would put more americans at risk unnecessarily and it wouldn't work, he had a right as a united states senator in a democracy to speak his opinion. he was joined by others, john kerry and others. patriot act renewal. when it came time to renew the act which was passed by large virtually unanimous vote of congress in 2001, when it came time to renew it and came under fire from people like senator finegold of wisconsin and senator sanders of vermont, that was their right in a democracy to speak their opinion. i thought it was disingenuous of the president, this president was on the front line of attacking the previous administration's use of gitmo as a repository are for these enemy combatants. he was a frequent opponent of interrogation techniques which were vital to keeping us safe. he was opponent of the surge. we had a democrat nominee for president in 2004 who voted against a war funding bill while our troops were in combat. and nobody on the left thought that was inappropriate. and frankly, it's not. what is inappropriate is when when it goes too far. when you question motives. for example

believe the country can afford today have someone who made these statements be the leader of the united states senate. >> tara, trent lott's statements -- trent lott's -- tara, tara. >> in the same situation. if we have this wonderful moment talking about race -- >> trent lott's statements -- >> we are going to stop here because we're out of time. when we come back on this, tara, there's so many people that want to rebut your rebuttal, we're just go to hold on to the other side. we have opinions and analysis on both sides. we want to hear your opinions as well. go to cnn d.com/larryking. ahead, why did sarah palin call senator biden joe during their debate? it's not what you think. stay with us. that's ahead. okay, class, our special guest is here -- ellen page. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ]

turner, the founder and chairman of the united nations foundation and timothy worth, the former united states senatorpresident of the foundation. the foundation has made a $1 million donation to the u.n. central emergency response fund. much money is still needed. what are you going to say to people, ted? what should they do about this? >> well, do what they can. that's what we decided to do this morning. it's a terrible tragedy in a part of the world where they don't have a lot in the way of resources. so it really is helpful for wealthy americans to help out. >> we have a fund, larry, which goes right -- >> larry: what is the foundation doing? >> the foundation, our job is to help the u.n. and the u.n. and the united states government together are the major coordinators for this kind of humanitarian disaster around the world. both of them, they have the capability, and the u.n. operates on voluntary contributions. and so we're very involved in that. the website is unfoundation.org for people who want to contribute. this is the best kind of coordination. the u.n. and the u.s. work very closely toget

i said if i was chosen as the first new united states senator in 30 years, we would have an open communityo that is what we have done. we have met more than 500 times. for the next 90 minutes, we will practice pure, unfiltered democracy. commissioner dickson is just going to go into them all and hauled out a name. you will give me your assessment of various issues. i will try to give you my response back. but we will do it democracy the way the founding fathers wanted us to do it. that isç what. happened -- what is going to happen. we have a couple of formalities i have to take care of on my end. already, you will see in the course of the next 90 minutes that folks have differences of opinion on the host of issues we all know that health -- we all know that health care reform is a very non controversial topic. i am sure we will see that again today¤ c13 we will have plenty of differences. but one area where there is an organ consensus is we support it are veterans all the way. would they please stand to be recognized? oregon's veterans. i cannot hear you folks. [applause] thank you. for r

launching a new biography of lincoln in 1922, forming a united states senator, alberts j. beveridge denied that the last word on lincoln had already been written by arguing that the first word has not been banned. today the first words are still being written. a lincoln bugs with ever greater frequency. one a week as every generation seeks to discover lincoln for himself. it's self. in some ways the past two decades have been a golden age of lincoln scholarship. theodore roosevelt complained for family by his times had denied him greatness because he could not preside during world war i. a man has to take advantage of his opportunities he said after leaving office. but the opportunities have to come. if lincoln had lived in times of peace, no one would know his name now. not only what authors continue to write about lincoln, but they've managed to find new and unexplored topics on which to base their works. although the traditional themes are still discussed, martyn biographers have focused increasingly on lincoln's personal life and explore the little-known aspects. in re

politics now, and a big blow to democrats hopes to hold on to their super majority in the united states senate. two veteran lawmakers said they are calling quits. >> one of president obama's closest and most powerful allies has essentially decided you won't have him to kick around any more. we're talking about chris dodd, and he's not the only democratic senator bowing out. >> in the past 24 hours, two veteran senate democrats announced they're retiring, chris dodd who was facing a tough re-election bat nell connecticut and byron dorgan of north dakota. >> he said he didn't have a republican opponent yet, he said he wants to do other things, his retirement will mean an uphill battle for democrats to hold on to that seat. >> that means the democrats will be defending four open senate seat this is year, it's increasing the pressure on them and the president to get their agenda including health care approved this year. usually presidents in their first term lose seats in their midterm elections, it's clearly going to happen to obama. >> these democrats drank the obama kool-aid, and they're commit

make the institution work and find ways to try to work together -- i've tried that in the united states senate i'm trying it now, i'm very fortunate to have a good colleague, senator incee is our chairman, we're hoping to get things done -- we'll be down just below the surface but we'll be getting things done and i think that's the way it will be. we'll be up at the top, too, to sound off, but in the meantime, hopefully, we'll get some things done. >> i'm still always fascinated by the rich and the powerful in the criminal situation because it's always different for them than it is for an ordinary person and there is that kind of a story in this based on a real story. >> charlie: that is fascinating for you, the notion of the rich and powerful getting their comeuppance especially when they've committed in horrible crime. you did say this, which is interesting. you were a little embarrassed about how you were back then. do you still share that? you're embarrassed? or you say, "look, that was me then. i understand it. maybe i'm a little bit embarrassed but life is a journey and you" -- >> life i

intelligence community, we turn to two who served on the 9/11 commission: former united states senator slade gorton, republican of washington state; and deputy u.s. attorney general in the clinton administration, jamie gorelick. >> woodruff: good to have you both with us. jamie gorelick, i'm going to start with you. have the reforms instituted in the intelligence community since 9/11 worked? >> they have worked but they have not worked perfectly. and that's kind of obvious from what's happened. clearly having an all-source center, a national center to fuse all the information is critical. but you still have people reading the intelligence and maybe not reading it as well as they should. you still have people providing the intelligence in ways that perhaps don't have the flags on them that they need. and a lot of this, judy, is just blocking and tackling. it's the hard work of execution. and that is apparently where we had failures. >> woodruff: senator gorton, how do you see whether these reforms have worked? >> i agree with jamie. but hi will go one step further. in this case, it wasn

he has yet to serve a single day in the united states senate. can prove us right before we anoint him as the next great right hope. >> larry: stephanie, what's the effect of that election on legislation like health care? >> i don't know, larry. i know things have changed when the republicans elected a former nude model who tried to auction his daughters off at his victory speech. that's a little bit of a change for the family values party, you're right. i think he has run as an obstructionist. like the rest of his party. he has run as i'm the 41st vote against everything. so, you know, i'm not sure how this is different. i agree he's good looking and charismatic and i think martha coakley unfortunately was not just a good candidate. i don't know how, you know, if this is the end of civilization as we know it as a lot of the republicans like to cast this. >> larry: mark, do you think there will be a health bill coming forth? >> well, i think there will be a health bill but i think that it's really going to be changed over time here. i think this