. >> susie: like many of us, congress is scrambling to wrap things up before christmas. this afternoon, president obama called the congressional session of the past few weeks "a season of progress for the american people." as darren gersh reports, lawmakers have surprised many with a spurt of last-minute productivity. >> reporter: how is congress like a college student? it left a lot to the last minute, and is now working around the clock to catch up. and that joke, says economics professor donald marron, has consequences. >> the number one feature of our tax code now is that every significant portion of the tax code has a big temporary tax cut in it. individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes and the estate tax. all of those have some significant feature that expires in the next year or two. >> reporter: to be sure, one reason this congress has pulled so many all-nighters is that it has been very productive. from banking reform to the start arms control treaty to "don't ask, don't tell." it's a long record of lawmaking, says i.s.i. group's andy laper

it all the way along the line in the debate process we just heard about there from gani in the us congress what was russia so interested though in their twenty's passage through the washington machine. with a very key know both sides being keen for this to reach the stage for this new treaty to be ratified because this marks a very significant step in the road to reset of course it's been a year since the last treaty spied and that was agreed upon over twenty years ago and so this really reasserts that both sides are on the same page on the long road to a nuclear free world that's the long term goal obviously not only will this reduce the arsenals but it also mean that russia can monitor the u.s. arsenal and vice versa so it's all about transparency and so russia was very keen that it got went through the u.s. senate i'm sure the u.s. senate will be very keen that it gets ratified here early last when the bloodier talk about how we've got this farther to go thus far if and when it is finally fully ratified now here in moscow when are we going to see some concrete evidence of the treaty and

the us congress won't adjourn for christmas until the new treaty is ratified according to a white house spokesman president obama has been pushing hard to pass the key to deal with russia before the new year when the new congress convenes in january republicans will have a presence in the senate making approval of a tougher job with a vote expected after major tax debates it seems that some are trying to stall the deal. on reports. in terms of. since there is nothing that can stop the new start from being routed fight key questions concerns whatever senators had during the course of the past eight months of hearings were all addressed i do think that we have as i mentioned done our homework with regard to the new start treaty and that it is. in a good situation to ratify it in the slam duck session it has the you know.

chest that is unemployment benefits we can't hold on much longer and we need these benefits and as us congress has shown in the last few weeks those benefits can be quickly suspended stepping back and reflecting that reality sinks in oh man. i don't think about. and fear takes over. this family lives in this very typical suburban neighborhood feels very far removed from washington d.c. but the decisions being made in the u.s. capital can literally make the difference in whether a family like this can get by or not i use that money to to you know course put food on table through your benefits is you know. you could be losing it feels like a losing your whole world that's a heavy subject because in this recession even when some people try their hardest to move forward. sometimes they can't pass go. that literally means ever undergoing in trying to look for work where you've got a thousand guys on the bench and the biggest thing that goes through my head as my son was some things you simply can't afford to roll the dice. you know. we. shield. our children from. devastating situation. like we're g

. >> they want to ram this bill through congress and they're using once again the christmas break as an inducement to the vote for it. >>. >> dropped on them democrats call shenanigans. >> what hasn't been commented on by senator kyle, that's exactly the amount they asked for. so to stand back in horror and look at $1.1 trillion and say where did this figure come from? it came from mitch mcconnell in a motion he made before the committee. >> our guests, congresswoman debb debb debbie masserman schultz. >> something you could hit your crazy relatives with over dinner this weekend. a study that shows everything we

we could do the spot month right now which would get us to where congress instructed us to go. i don't know if the chairman wanted to add. >> i con cure. -- concur. we have more flexibility and congress has given us a recommendation in what's called the spot month. we have the limits. this is just when somebody is about to deliver the corner into the contracts. we have the limits in energy, metals, and agriculture,, -- i shouldn't say we. the exchanges and we have them. i think those could be phased in sooner than the all months limit. >> thank you. mr. conaway. >> thank you, chairman jones. thanks for being here. not being the lack of data head horse, but if you go ahead and move forward without the data, how quickly will you know that you've gotten it wrong? are there things that you will watch for to pay that we have driven specklators off of that side of the deal? and that burdens on hedgers have increased? i'm assuming, mr. gensler, you mean increased cost of transactions and other things that you might expand on a burden a little bit. how quickly will you know that you've

congress. because everybody will use the system. playing advocate, they ask does congress have the power to force every american to eat procly because it's -- broccoli because it's healthy for you? to paraphrase the reply, everyone is getting nutrients of broccoli, i.e. healthcare, but whether they pay for it or someone else pay for it is another matter. expected in a month. >> bret: phil keating with props in pensacola. thank you. >>> first-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week. home construction nudged up 3.9% in november after two months of decline. the broadest measure of the u.s. trade deficit is up 3.3% in the third quarter to $127 billion. the current account tracks good and flow of services and investments. stocks were up today. dow gained 41-3/4. s&p 500 finished ahead 7-2/3. nasdaq added 20. oregon democratic senator ron widen says he will undergo surgery monday for early stage pros kate -- prostate cancer and says he expects full recovery. >>> fox news and iowa republican party will present two presidential debat

the flip side is do you think congress is using the tools at its disposal to communicate with the constituents? >> whether congress is effectively using the tools, some are using it very effectively. there are other still trying to figure it out. with the explosion of media and these social media types of things, it basically means you are on 24/7. you cannot let your guard down because you can be at a party or a social gathering and you can make humorous -- make humor out of something and it can be taken out of context. and it can be devastating to the person who said that. it has taken some of the spontaneity out of us as representatives. you are always on guard for what you may or may not do. you have to be very careful. but i think it is a wonderful explosion of information to the public. i am looking forward to being able to hear about what is going on in congress through the 24/7 media. and be able to understand what is going on and what my colleagues are going through. >> is it a better thing for the institution to have this explosion of watchdog websites and people keeping tabs on how

plosser is right to emphasize that is a risk for us. >> this week, congress mandated a bunch of records to be released. we spent a good part of the week chewing over these and try to make sense of them. it shows that all kinds of financial institutions and foreign banks receive loans. what are the risks for the fed and the country having made all these loans? are you confident that the moral hazard problems are being dealt with? >> we did make a lot of loans. we did not lose any money on any of those so far. i like to divide the monetary policy that has occurred since 2008 into three parts. one is the liquidity requirements. another is the mortgage backed securities program. all that is in the context of having the policy rate down close to zero. the liquidity programs part, as far as the amount of lending outstanding at a point in time, peaked at $1.60 trillion. that is the north i have been speaking about. it was pretty successful. when there was a financial crisis, the thing for the central bank to do over a broad hundred years is to lend out collateral at 8 guilty rates. that is ess

i am not sure eliminating earmarks will cover the cost per of the money that those of us in congress, our people sent us here to fight for projects back on, we are now leaving to bureaucrats who know nothing about our state. that is my concern. dr. fox, do you have any questions or insights? >> i want to point out again that many of you talk about tax cuts that we are giving to the rich. we have tax rates which you want to raise. i think it is very important that we clear up the language here. i think mr. penn's did that. -- i think mr.pence did that. this is not about giving tax cuts. it is about stopping tax increases from occurring for every single american in the country. debate is think this about that. this is about fairness. i will say that middle-class families in this country have unfortunately been forced to carry the burden of this economic catastrophe we are in now. i don't think it's fair to ask them to dig us out of this mess. we all have a responsibility. it is about fairness and multimillionaire's should be able to pay their fair share. >> mr. chairman, i agree with yo

congress is to blame. the ones that preceded us are to blame. you meant well. congress meant well, but instead of helping, we hurt future generations, not just one, future generations. it's time we undid that. it's time that in the spirit of christmas, we don't legalize taking somebody's money that doesn't want us to have it and giving to our favorite charity. what we legalize is incentives for people to reach their full god-given potential, regardless of their race, color, national religion, gender, we make sure that they have their opportunity. that's our obligation. and as we go and approach christmas, close with the words of benjamin franklin in 1787, suffering from gout, 80 years old, the constitutional convention was falling apart, they seeing no hope, 80-year-old franklin, brilliant and witty as clever as ever who had to have help getting into independence hall. was recognized by president george washington and he pointed out, we have been going for five weeks and have more nos than ayes. franklin said, how has it happened, sir, that we have not thought o

it would be a good thing if we have more of that in the congress today. it would help us get our work done. the role and mission of the cuent congress, as expressed by senator mcconnell, is to make sure that the president as i get a second term three what kind of stability can you have when the central intent is to be president in the next election? --eat the president in the next election. >> can you talk to was a little bit about the democratic south that once was and what ha become of that today? >> the democratic south emerged from the 1890's with the decision of the supreme court to stop reconstruction. it became the solid south for the next 75 years. it has definitely changed in terms of its makeup back home. people think differently. they live differently than years ago when we have these solid democratic parties. i think that that has been an improvement over the past 75 to 100 years. we have recognized the american rpose. we have given meaning to the american public. we have overcome slavery and desegregation. that is true in the south today. no question about it

but this judge made a very interesting argument when he said that no stat use -- not law authorizes congress make you progress -- purchase something. >>shepard: how will this end up? >>judge napolitano: it is 2,300 pages long, and politically, it is the heart and soul of what the president and the democrats wantedded. legally, there are other aspects of the law that can stand on their own which the virginia attorney general asked the judge to invalidate but he decideed not to and to let other judges to look at those. the regulation that 85 percent of collective premiums must be spent on health care, which is what mcdonald's and others are asking to be exempt from and the regulation that states set up health care exchanges. he has not affected any of that with his ruling today. those are before a florida judge where other states are the plaintiffs and from whom we expect a ruling after christmas. ship when the next couple of years, maybe, or so? jug the attorney general of virginia is trying to get the supreme court to take a direct appeal. there is a rule that allows the supreme court to tak

president, he said that your popularity will cost us control of congress." he writes -- >> did you say that? >> i'm not going to get in an argument with president bush. that's not how i remember the conversation. getting in an argument with him over the book is not productive thing to be doing. the facts are -- >> bret: wait, wait. >> no. the facts are i supported the effort to increase funding and my bill got funding for the surge. i have stand by my record of supporting his effort to win the war in iraq and it worked out pretty well. >> bret: because september 5, you said the democratic leadership finally agrees on something. unformerly it's retreat. people look at the quote in george w. bush's book and what you said that month and would see concerns about whether you support it publicly and privately. >> what i did is support the surge. it was my amendment when we were in the minority to achieve funds to implement the surge. i stand by my record. i don't think getting in argument with president bush over private conversations i don't rememberbe the way he

the tube didn't affect shoppers who still managed to find their way around to the stores using buses. >>> congress has dealt another blow to president obama's to shut down the prison camp at guantanamo bay, cuba. the phone budget forbids funding for a prison by sending them to the u.s. or to other countries. only three of the 74 detain's have been formally tried and found guilty. dozens of others have been cleared but no other country will accept them. strong american opposition to any being freed here on u.s. soil. >>> an alert san diego county sheriff's deputy is credited with saving a family from a fire. mike cruz was patrolling a neighborhood in spring valley when he saw flames coming from a us 40. he jumped out of his car and pounded on the dow are to wake everyone up. a father and his three children escaped the burning home. >> me and my family all thank him and god bless him. we are just very grateful. >> the family was not injured but a dog and several pet birds did not survive the fire. >>> changes at the airport. how security has evolved ever since a man tried to blow up a u.s. bound pla

in 2006, congress decided to put the question of which diseases define into the hands of experts. while it makes sense to let experts determine the best use of scarce resources for research, congress still has an important role to play in fighting alzheimer's and other diseases. specifically we must identify laws and regulations that pose barriers to developing new treatments and diagnostic tests quickly and safely. most importantly, congress must ensure that our government is acting efficiently and effectively. we often hear concerns about a lack of coordination between government agencies. the government already devotes substantial resources to alzheimer's through such things as direct care, research at the n.i.h., and the activities of the administration on aging. however, it is imperative that these agencies coordinate nate their activities. the national -- coordinate their activities. the national alzheimer's project act would ensure that coordination. if these agencies have a unified mission with a coordinated strategy, we significantly increase the chances of beating this disease. mr. speaker, i urge all of my colleagues to support

that was universally -- >> that was congress that made the distinction. you are asking us to say that congress has less authority over the essential issue over who should be nationals in the united states. maybe there is some authority for that. is there something i can read that tells me that? >> [unintelligible] this is the first case where it was in a land of mission case. about citizenship being transferred by a united states citizen. and the petitioners father has equal protection against the discrimination here because a similar lead-situated woman would be able to transfer citizenship -- >> i did not quite follow this. as i understand it, what remedy will there be if you are right? a child is born abroad, one is american, one is born. if they're marri that child is american only if the father or the mother has lived in the united states for at least two years. now it is five years. as opposed to not married and suppose the american is the fall there. same role. now suppose they' not married and american is the mother. now it is not five years or two years, you only

it's time democrats in congress reach a similar conclusion and enable us to act for the good of the whole country. >> reporter: but mcconnell may have some work of his own. not all republicans like the deal.

so my secretary of interior came up with a idea of using bill that passed the congress in the early 1900's. i think 1907. it was called -- it was designed to save monuments and highly soluble things to the future that should be preserved and he gave the president almost unilateral right to do so. we used that legislation on large areas of land to designate them as national monuments to be preserved, and there was nothing that congress could do to override my decisions. and eventually, the amount of land that we set aside as national monuments and alaska and other places was large as the state of michigan. i mean an enormous amount of property. so i had that to use. and -- >> host: and would you actually have a map of alaska and start learning the -- >> guest: absolutely i did. and the house of representatives or the very famous house member who was my partner and i had others as well in the senate. but we would sit around the table in the president's cabinet room with maps very precious, so i would set it aside by the struggle of ten to save it and set aside permanent as a national monum

we use that legislation on large areas of land to designate them as precious monuments to be preserved. there was nothing that the congressto do to override my decisions. eventually the amount of land that we set aside as national monuments in alaska was large. i have that the use. >> host: would you actually have a map to really start learning? >> guest: absolutely. i did. the house of representatives, the very famous house member who was my partner and i have others as well. we would sit around the table in the president's cabinet room and said this is very precious. i will set it aside to save. set it aside permanently as a national monument. i think the original bill referred to just one specific building or something like that. we use it for vast areas of precious land. it was that leverage that i used on the members of congress from alaska and also others who were reluctant about the alaska lands bill to prevail. so after i was defeated in the election in november 1980 that is when the alaska lands bill actually passed. we actually set aside an area almost as large as the state of california. we doubled the size of

now, congress had decided to give it to us, i suspect they would not, they could, but that option is not an option available to us at this time. >> mr. secretary, i mean, i disagree with your characterization of the leverage around the question which i think is implied by your statement about not having legal authority. i think the web of rips that -- relationships that exist with the gse's fed, and the like give you a fair amount of ability to open that question up. i want to take you one last place with the chairman's permission. given the fact this is a difficult problem and what is clearly a matter of numbers, the increasing reliance of nonhamp mods across the market to drive the mods, i'm puzzled by when i read, and maybe i read incorrectly, the treasury's opposition to having the state agencies among the uses of the money that they've gotten from hamp use that money to help homeowners get counsel so they can then have a better shot of negotiating mods. >> you're referring to legal aid? >> yeah. >> that's a good question. we spend a lot of time looking at this, and of course, we

we realize that we need to make sure congress represent us. ve to do something to get congress's attention. the public does not want any more job-killing offshore agreement. host: what other creative ideas are out there? what have you heard? guest: since the announcement was made, all lot of discussion -- there has been a lot of discussion in the tea party world. having a strong america -- that is -- having a strong america that is a with a reduction the things we need an employer our people is a key perspective across the board of the party. this is one of those things that would unite americans who disagree on the other things. this is an issue that is not left versus right. it is, are you for american jobs, the strength of our country, the manufacturing base, the future for kids? are you for nafta? it is pretty clear where we are. if you die, we can do something about this. host: there are some beef and pork provisions. one viewer, by twitter, and once you to explain the beef provision. guest: this trade agreement covers everything. the issu

if you list many of the things of us in congress wanted-- unemployment insurance, cuts for people in the true middle-class, $250,000 or less, we've got the popular position. the top 1% of many t american people... very few people watching this show... well, maybe this show people are getting at the estate tax. (laughter) but we're fighting for the things the american people want and yet the president as acting as if he's bargaining from a position of weakness. like, you know, the description that was just given is very apt. all these things are good and then things these are too old bad. too bad he had to go along with it because the congress is changing. that assumes the president doesn't have the ability to get up and say "i'm going to fight for the ngs that are right around here and i'm going to try to lead this campaign and i believe if you turn up the heat on the republicans, they will fold because they have an unpopular position." >> rose: how do you know the president didn't fight as hard as he could? that's the point, isn't he? he did everything he could! >> well, everything

us started this. we are going clear through to the beginning of the next congress with some ideas. get rid of the secret hold. why does america want bills and judges to be secretly held? this has always you been a country of openness. this is the foundation of our democracy. you can see with people that agreed with bernie or not when he stood there for eight hours. if they're going to filibuster things, make them stand and explain why. make them do what you saw in that movie "mr. smith goes to washington." those are a few of the ideas we're talking about. >> do you think on the first day of the next congress, january 5th, there will be a vote on changing those rules, that constitutional option would take 51 votes to establish new rules? do you see that happening on january 5th? it's much harder to change it for another couple of years. >> you're exactly right. that is the time to do it. this isn't changing the constitution, right? it's a tool that has been used in the past that is okayed by vice presidents who preside over the senate from hubert humphrey to nixon. the idea is eithe

us. why would congress do that?in 2003 the amendment passed, the gun lobby led by the nra pushed for this. they felt the gun tracing data was unfair to dealers. there were lawsuits over this data. their argument was just because a lot of guns are traced to the dealer doesn't mean the dealer did anything wrong that is accurate. sometimes dealers sell a lot of guns. we felt it was important to uncover this investigation, and see where these guns led us. what kind of trafficking patterns we could see? what we saw, as i said most of the guns are coming from texas that found in mexico, then in arizona and then in california. the dealers say they are the first line of defense. they are trying to stop the trafficking and in some cases it is very difficult because of something called straw s. someone comes in and buys a gun for someone else, someone prohibited from buying the gun who may be a felon or illegal immigrant. >> greta: why are these guns being purchased in the united states? are they not available in mexico for t

congress has given us some clarity on rules and what our regulations should suggest. with that i do support the proposal. i would be particularly interested in comments on whether there is a viable or more pro competitive alternative to setting prices consistent with the legislation and secondly interested in better the impact of a proposed rule on the broad set of payment options available to consumers so we continue the trend toward a more dynamic -- >> i support putting forth proposal and would like to add my compliments for the job of identifying issues and gets robust comments. i thank you for the work you put into it and my sympathy for the work you have ahead of you. >> thank you. i too can support issuing the proposed rules but echo in what gov. watch said, we need to be particularly open-minded. sometimes when we put out a proposed rule we are convinced we have to absent something we anticipate coming in. difficulties in implementing this legislation. subtleties of staff already had to deploy to come up with a proposal suggests to us -- suggests to me we shou

i want to suggest some ways that you can help us and congress. we need you to continue to share your ideas about ways to further facilitate trade in a safe and secure environment. we also need you to help the administration work with congress. lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we need you to help tell the story by strong u.s. engagementondition with other countries and why it is important. no one tells the story of jobs and trade as well as those of you in this room. as critical as we relaunch an aggressive trade agenda, that you are out front leading. john, with that, can we take some comments or questions? >> thank you. introduce yourself and tell us your affiliation. there are microphones are around the room. >> hi. inside u.s. trade. have you spoken to the speaker and the other members of the leadership about your hopes and the incoming ways and means chairman's hope for the uses three trade agreements within six months. if not, when you expect to do that? this would be very ambitious, since the united states had never done more than two

we use it in vast areas of precious land, and it was that leverage that i used on members of congress and alaska and also others who were reluctant about the alaska lands bill to prevail. so after i was defeated in the election of 1980 that is when the alaska bill passed, and we actually set aside an area almost as large as the state of california, the total. we doubled the size of the national park service and triple the size of the wilderness areas in america and the one bill and although i was very unpopular than in alaska because they convinced than i was taking away alaska land, this is not become one of the popular things i did even with alaska people because they see how much this meant to their state. >> host: what about sarah palin and the drill baby drill with the arctic refuge to you think it should never be allowed to have leal? >> guest: never. >> host: have you been to the arctic? >> guest: absolutely. >> host: what was it like and white you say never? what do you say to people that say that it's empty tundra and nothing there? >> guest: i have stated in front of the so-

congress doesn't quit after it right legislation. it is involved in rulemaking. it stays involved in rulemaking. one of the routes you can use ads in bashing as an advocate try to influence an agency is back to the very congress that wrote the legislation in the first place. the second is the president. the president is an enormously important player in this because he establishes the regulatory program and the regulatory agenda for his administration. if he decides environmental quality is a big deal, it becomes a big deal. if he decides the rules are going to be written on a strict, cost benefit standard, nothing gets written in less you can see net benefit, and nothing will come out of an agency with that characteristic. if on the other hand he decides we're going to produce an enormous body of rules that make up for a decade of laxative rules in protecting the about, protecting workers, protecting the financial security of the american people, then you're going to be seeing signals throughout the government that reignited the rulemaking process. by the way look at a table data. it hasn't happened into a mama administrati

the congress said all use of marijuana is unlawful. but, 14 states have medical marijuana in defiance. the congress has said to all states comply with the real i.d. act which is an imprint inside your driver's license and 47 states said "no." so speaker boehner assuming the obligation to buy health insurance will be found unconstitutional by the supreme court, assumes that other parts will, as well. >>neil: but didn't a judge say that was not the case? the beef was with the you have for get health care coverage. >>judge napolitano: the reminder of the statute was not before him. the only thing before him --. >>neil: the allowance, and all of that he said was untouched. >>judge napolitano: correct, so john boehner is saying to the states, before you raise your taxes and spend them the way the congress hold you, before you set up the co-opts and exchanges , if there could be no market for those things, and the rest of the statute could, therefore, crumple so i suggest to you, governor chris christie of new jersey, by way of example, and a

second, a lot of people like their individual member of congress because they know us. finally, we reflect the views. if you ask people in the adjoining district whether they like me, they would say no. so it could be when you ask people in my district do you like congress, they are thinking of the other guy. >> congressman, i was speaking to a smart politician, getting a smart political answer. here is better, tougher question. i know nancy pelosi, you know her, you know her as an inside political player, i know her as an outside person in the media. i like her. when i'm with her, i think she is a really nice person. i can't understand these -- maybe i can, but i want you to voice it, why is there a disconnect between the nancy pelosi you and i know in a strong political player, grew up in a political family who is a real pro and this nasty imagery that goes on about her that you see and i think reflected in this poll number, 83% against the congress? >> i think even if nancy pelosi wasn't in congress, when you've got a 9.8% unemployment rate and you've got congress is

us like a brother. we loved his mother, carry, and we saw in him those traits. as he worked hard in the 30-something in the first couple of years in which he was in the congress, trying to get us back in the majority but more importantly speaking to the people. he ran a fantastic, open, wise, welcoming race for the united states senate. his great days are before him. his wonderful wife and children were a fixture around this place and we pay tribute to him because of the passion and sacrifice he made for haitians in his area and for the many people that he represented. so, madam speaker, let me say to you, sadness falls because we will be losing to great things members like congresswoman diane watson, congresswoman carolyn kilpatrick, congressman arturo davis and congressman kendrick meek and as my dear sister congresswoman diane watson is on the floor of the house, i will tell you that's indicative of her work, that she was here for us in the morning, here for us late at night and so i have no doubt that she will be carrying forth the torch in california as will all the others will be doing, having just hosted -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has e

why is congress fired up just before the new term? john karl tells us. >> reporter: don't call it a lame duck. this congress has accomplished more in the last six days than in the previous six months -- the repeal of don't ask, don't tell which passed over the weekend, the first step in lifting the ban on gays serving in the military. >> a thrilling day. >> this is indeed an historic day. >> reporter: late last night, it was food safety -- the senate passed sweeping new regulations designed to prevent outbreaks of tainted foods. and all this after the tax cut bill -- extending the bush era income tax cuts for everyone, adding even more tax cuts and extending unemployment insurance. and there may be more to come -- the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty -- which would reduce the number of deployed nuclear warheads in russia and the u.s. by 30%. it's hotly opposed by many republicans, who feel the treaty favors russia. >> we got snookered. we got snookered on missile defense. >> reporter: and democrats now say they have the votes to pass the 9/11 health bill to establ

congress. what is your view of his chairmanship of this subcommittee? >> barney frank is right that congressman paul's the use do not think with the rest of congress. the fed has not been criticized much over its recent history. it has been seen as an untouchable force. ron paul has been around for a long time. he is using his decade of seniority. he gets a chance to become a thorn in the side of the fed. that is important given the current situation going on. any real changes in the fed are what we will be watching. >> we have been focusing on the house side. he was joined in his challenge to the fed by bernie sanders. now the new senate will have a number of senators who are new. what do you think that will mean? >> i think we have to remember that the reason independent central banks were created is partly to give politicians something to complain about when the economy -- the barrier to making substantial changes to how the fed operates are extremely high. all of the governance of the fed are appointed on a long-term basis. they are independent. the legal framework of the fed -- gives the fed a lot of lat

and the one thing that's perfectly clear to me and should be clear to all of us is that the american people want a congress that works for them, that does their business and that puts the americans' interests ahead of the political interests of those of us who are privileged to serve here. when we come back next week, let us resolve to do what needs to be done at this difficult moment , to ensure that those who don't have work can get by, that those who have been getting by can get the benefit of a tax break and that those seniors who have given so much for so long can receive the benefit of a payment in lieu of two straight years without a cost of living adjustment. madam speaker, i look forward to coming back to perform that work. i look forward to passing those votes and i look forward to having those debates. the days in this 111th congress are short, but the people want us to get this done. it is time that we remember why it is that we have been sent here, working together we have to provide what everyone knows needs to be provided and to take those first steps as soon as we can upon our return. miami

we're a fired congress, in a lot of ways. america has sent us home. many people who set the policies for the last two years have been unelected. some have retired. but the decisions that are being made now in this congress are decisions being made by people who have either retired or have been turned out of office. and so much is being pushed through because of the fear here that if we actually let the newly elected congressmen and senators be sworn in before we take up these important issues, that they will actually reflect the opinions of the american people and stop what we're doing. so we have decided to use this lame-duck session to push many things through, a very unaccountable congress. we tried to push through a huge omnibus spending bill with thousands of earmarks, exactly the thing that americans have said, "no more." but thankfully republicans stood together to stop that. we needed to extend our current tax rates, but in order to get even a temporary extension, we in the minority had to agree to more deficit spending. and in this lame-duck s

congress was fully aware of the interrogation methods that were used. they might not be aware of the legal justification is that the executive branch might have but congress has their own ability to make their own judgments and they can enforce this through the decisions on funding at the creating of military intelligence agencies. ty have to be fully briefed before this can do any kind of covert action. congress did restrict the military's ability to conduct interrogations'. they did not pass a law applying the same provisions to the cia. congress is playing an interesting game where they want to take some responsility for some areas but they want to leave the intelligence agencies a free hand. if you loo at the opinion polls, 65% approval for aggressive interrotion methods of al qaeda leaders. that is why congress is doing what they're doing and it does not get into the nitty gritty grade. they can pass a code but they have not been dow. >> what troubles me about those directives is that were fully briefed and those 8 members of the congress say, we we