senator mccain? >> thank you. by phil president obama has made the right decision to embrace a counterinsurgency strategy for afghanistan into resource it properly. i would have preferred that general mcchrystal receive the entire force he requested. i think that 30,000 additional u.s. troops plus greater force commitments from our allies will enable us to reverse the momentum. i support the president's decision betta i think it deserves the support of all americans both republicans and democrats. i do not support and what concerns me greatly is the president's decision to set an arbitrary date to begin withdrawing forces from afghanistan. that sends the wrong message to both our friends and our enemies. a withdrawal date emboldened al qaeda and the taliban without dispiriting are at camp partners and making it less likely that they will with our allies to take our side in this fight. our commitment is not open ended. large numbers of u.s. combat troops will not remain there indefinitely. this war will one day and

so, senator mccain, i appreciate you asking me the question. i feel very strongly about this. i wish that the other side would consider my request for a unanimous consent agreement that says timeout, everybody. let's pull out the special deals with its nebraska or montana or whoever. it doesn't matter to me. let's pull those out and take a step that and work for what senator risch talks about and the rest of us. we can get 80 votes on health care reform bill. i guarantee of this bill. >> i would echo what the senator from nebraska just said. and i know my friend from arizona has been one of the most outspoken critics of special deals and special earmarks. this is of some catchall appropriations bill to get through to the end of the year. this is one of the most major pieces of legislation any member of the senate currently serving will ever vote on. this is one-sixth of the american economy, and the american people are learning about the special car -- carve-outs where one state will be treated differently not because of a formula or poverty level but because the political pow

the john mccain campaign may have the worst reputation compared to the obama votes. some of that was funding, some just the regular challenges our campaign had that was more global. it was not specific tactical things. i have some good examples from john mccain about why early votes helped us make different decisions or inform us on things we did that may not be logical. but why we made the decisions we did. had the tides changed the way we hoped it would work to our advantage. i want to tell you what the tactical things are that you can do that will work for you. 40% of the vote will happen before election day. almost half of the people are voting before election day, this will impact how you deliver your message, whether you put something in someone's mailbox for a volunteer tries to contact them or you put radio commercials up, all those things. if you underperform, you can lose an election on the margin. one of the things the bush campaign is famous for is turning known supporters into early voters. they did what we called banking their vote. we tried to get thos

mccain: thank you. mr. president, i rise in behalf of the amendment which, according to the congressional budget office, this amendment would provide an estimated $100 billion or more in consumer savings over ten years. that's unique to this bill. it's unique to this legislation. it actually saves the taxpayers money. i think it's important, mr. president, to -- for us to go back and see how we got here. again, with the administration and the president reversing his previous position in favor of drug impureation, or the president's chief of staff, dr. rahm emanuel, reversing his position on drug reimportation. a lot of it has to do with the deals that have been made. i refer to the august 6, 2009, "new york times" article, "pressed by industry lobbyists, white house officials on wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion." and then it goes on to say, "we were ass

we can't even vote on the mccain amendment. we can't even get a vote because the republicans don't seem to want to move forward on this legislation. but again, let's go back to why the mikulski amendment makes so much sense. all health care plans would cover comprehensive women's preventive care and screening, requiring that these recommended services be -- be covered at no cost to women. and that's -- you know, we know to get preventive screenings and care, that if we -- if we make them at no cost, the chances of people getting them are significantly higher. we know that more than half of women delay or avoid preventive care because of those costs associated with these services. one in five women aged 50 has not received a mammogram in the past two years. this isn't because of this commission that made this decision, this commission appointed by -- by the former president, president bush, it's not because of their bureaucratic decision that senator vitter rails about and many of us agree with him on, it's not because of that t

it is still there now if you look at the majority common mccain did great. he got 55% of the white vote which is usually enough to get you elected. 56 of those aged 49. they are there break-in generation, those that came of age politically when ronald reagan was president. 52% of married voters come a 65% of the white protestants, a 55% of those who went to church weekly but if you look at that, you say all my goodness he should have been elected and 90% of the mccain vote was white. that would have worked very well even as recently as 1992 as march have talked about that, if that majority had been in place in 1992, i am sorry, it 1992 electorate and 2008 barack obama would have lost. ed gillespie, the republicans get this by the way. they get it but they don't like to talk about it. [laughter] our majority already rests to heavily on white voters. given the current demographic voting percentages will not allow us to hold a majority in the future. he is right. the problem is they get it but do not know what to do about it. or they are struggling in terms of

mccain: mr. president, i understand that there will be debate until 2:00 and then a vote on appropriations consolidated, consolidated appropriations conference report. what is consolidated appropriations conference report? it means that there are six bills, three which were never considered on the floor of the senate. that's what the senate means by consolidated, my friends. and so three of the bills were never -- we're never allowed to debate or amend or accept or reject. they are now spending spending $450 billion loaded up with 4,752 earmarks, totaling totaling $3.7 billion. 1,350 pages long. and of that, 409 pages are dedicated to listing congressional pork-barrel spending. i know that most americans are watching nfl football today, and they probably don't pay much attention to what we do on a sunday afternoon here on the floor of the senate, but if they knew, if they knew what we're about to pass, a bill that's increased spending by 14% over last year's level, with the exception, of course,

i wish mccain would have gotten voted in. like i sarksde i couldn't vote or whatever, and i wish that would change about convicted felons, because everyone who commits a crime is not a bad person, perçó say, but it was te that i learned a lesson, but like i said, i was a u.s. veteran. i fought for this country. i am not too happy with barack obama, per say. host: looking at headlines, with friends like these, u.s. help depends on a nation deeply suspicious of american intentions. this year saying 2009 will be remembered as the year the american people stood up and put pressure on washington. next is bob joining us from chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. [unintelligible] caller: rush limbaugh is one of the most racist people in america to a black president. only in america could that happen. what is astonishing is that george bush, i felt comfortable during the iraq war, and then for him to keep -- when he had a son that trashed this country, is really astonishing. i appreciate being able to say this on c-span. i t

[speaking tibetan] honorable speaker, senator mccain, chairman, and mrs. lantos, and also katrina, family members of a very dear friend of mine, the late congressman tom lantos. distinguished guests, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to receive this inaugural prize of lantos human-rights award. and for me to receive the award is a truly great privilege, especially in that the award is named after an individual whom i admire deeply into made tremendous contribution to human rights for the world. [applause] >> i just want to express my -- [unintelligible] and i am very happy to see your face. as before, very fresh. [laughter] and full of spirit, although no doubt your wonderful late husband and even his friends have the feeling of view of freshness. i appreciate it. [applause] [laughter] >> it is a nature where there is a beginning, there is anend. such wonderful people also sooner or later have to go that way. but what is very important is their spirit and they're wonderful sort of service to humanity. that we must remember. and not only remember but

senator mccain? >> thank you. i want to thank general mcchrystal and ambassador i can vary for joining us today. i want to thank you both for your distinguished service to our country. i want to express my deep gratitude to the americans you lead as well as their families who are serving and sacrificing at this moment. i want to reiterate that i support the president's policy for afghanistan. i think he made the right decision, a brave decision against the objections of many in his own party. to reject half measures on the counterinsurgency strategy into resources properly. i think the policy can succeed. i think it deserves robust public support both from the public and democrats alike. my main concern is the decision to begin with drawing our forces in 2011 regardless of conditions on the ground. we discuss this issue a lot last week. i appreciate the efforts. they are trying to clarify the meaning of this decision. i understand that this marks the beginning of a process. the pace of our drawdown will be conditi

mccain: madam president, i -- i rise to speak on the bill -- the pending bill before us. one of the great pork barrel earmark-billed pieces of legislation that i seen come before this body. i'd like to quote from abc news by jonathan carl and def inn -- devin pryor, this is the season of pork, i quote -- "before returning to their -- excuse me. "just weeks before returning to their districts for christmas, congress is poised to give the gift of pork, roughly $4 billion of it. more than 5,000 earmarks were included in the $447 billion omnibus bill, funding pet projects of key members of congress from both parties in all regions of the country. senate will vote on the bill this weekend. independent analysis of the bill reveal a whopping 12% increase in government spending for 2010 while the inflation rate in the country remains near zer zero." a 12% increase in spending when people are out of jobs, out of their homes. they cannot afford to -- the -- basically what they need to sustain their lives and we have increased spending by 12% and 4,500 earmarks. $4 million -- said b

>> senator mccain, when we add the marines i was very clear about the potential there. that casualties would go up. and i don't think there is any question that there is part of the risk associated with these additional troops and they will go up. >> i think the american people need to understand. >> yes, sir, i agree. >> secretary gates in answer to chairman levin's question, he said that it was conditioned-based the withdrawal plan for july, 2011, and you said no. would we withdraw our forces based on conditions on the ground or an arbitrary date? >> we are talking about the beginning of a process, it will 60% of afghanistan is not controlled by the taliban or have significant taliban influence. >> i said with with respect, my question is that if the date of withdrawal of 2011 that the president said would be based on an arbitrary date regardless of the conditions on the ground? >> i think it's the judgment of all the people in department of defense involved in this process that we will be in a condition in uncontested areas that we begin that transition. >> let's sup

john mccain, john mccain wanted to make a clear break and go in a different direction. that is a different context from al gore to didn't make a break when he probably should have. weaknesses and strengths are likely to be important. i was just emphasizing that. not that everyone has weaknesses but do they matter in the campaign? i was involved in one race, the big attack spot, the opponent's father had bought his son a house and therefore relieved him of some financial responsibility in terms of what he could do for income and there was a contribution -- an illegal contribution. /my son a house i would do it. that has nothing to do with running for congress. other things we got into -- indicated or convicted -- what is the impact on both parties in other political races? the view of the republican party and the democratic party is pretty grim and very hard for both candidates from either side to get that upward swing that the democrats had in 2008. the other thing, and this is really important and you should take time -- what are your opponent's likely strategies? not

it was senator kennedy and senator mccain who brought us to it -- brought it to us and it failed because the health insurance crpz s companies wereo political powerful. but we've got them this time f. we can pass this bill, we finally have the protections that the american people so desperately need. there are many other provisions in this bill. right from the beginning we provide more help to small businesses. these are businesses with 50, 25 employees, an average payroll of $50,000 an employee to $25,000 an employee or less. and for each of those business businesses, we say we're going to help you buy health insurance. for the owners of the business as well as for the employees. you know, those are the folks that are struggling and losing coverage. people like the realtors in your hometown. did you know one out of four realtors in america have no health insurance? i didn't know it until they came to see me. well, this gives them a hand, gives them a tax break as a small business to provide health insurance for their people. so, madam president, i'm going to reserve the balance of my ti

john mccain did. he did not call it that, but he certainly said we have got to pay for broader health care coverage by getting rid of the exclusion from the income tax -- which is a big deal number and would have been a good policy, i think. >> the social discourse is a little bit imbalance. >> i do think that. i think we're saying that if we have got it -- if you want these benefits, we have got to pay for that. >> we have a number of people defeated over raising taxes. that is why we do not have energy taxes are carbon taxes, and as alice add before, -- said before, you call it something behind attacker the politics of attacks, they have bad off the table for a serious -- in a serious way for quite awhile. that is why the crisis is going to get so big. what is going happen is that we will have a value-added tax, because we have to put money into the medicare and social security trust funds and pay down the deficit. it will be all large on the bus agreement. the only question is, what happens to heal

me of the incident with you and john mccain there. if you were elected president in 2008, would you have kept them? could you explain why you would disband the group? if so, what we have seen more transparency and what would their function have been? guest: is another secret group and it was created by the executive order. we do not need another group of people, even though they are part of the government like the federal reserve and the treasury and the a a cftc and sec people. to get involved and have this asano 40 to prop up markets. broadway know they've bought -- they get involved and have this subtle authority to prop up markets. for all we know they buy and sell. even if they get in the market and they sort of slow up a bad day, they get in and start buying, they cannot change the market. it is kind of like interfering in the gold market, keeping the price of gold artificially low and the dollar artificially high, eventually, the market went up. we should not have these economic planners. in a way, they are an extension of the

he campaigned with john mccain for president. his attitude is -- what are you going to do to me. on the question of abortion with senator nelson. this strikes me as something out of the norm to raise abortion as an issue and then drop it. that's something i think he'll probably pay a price for. >> i've been impressed with the creativity people have shown. first the opt out for the public option and now for theÑf abortion issue. he comprimised. it's true. they strengthen the fire wall between federal money and private money on premium payments. they do everything they request to make sure no federal money is going to abortion. states are different. you can't say that the faff rite republican argument is that one size does not fit all. for this case, that's completely true. new york and california will probably never outlaw abortion or abortion coverage. to my mind, it's the best that could be done. i think it will probably peel off, it has probably divided proponents of abortion to the fact that it will get to the house where it is good enough. host: john on the ind line. caller:

. >> mccain and others have been critical to having a start date it pull out. and by doing that you give the taliban and others the chance to lay low and when they leave, we will move back in and take over. could you respond to that? >> yeah, first of all, as evidence of the last year or two, the taliban and al qaeda don't need a reason to withdrawal. we have had a deadline and the situation is deteriorating. so the presumption that this will make them angry i don't think is logical. second if they do go to ground, then we will minimize the casualties while we continue to take back and secure and take out their leadership and disrupt their networks. if that's the case, i think that would be a benefit. and that's the view of secretary gates also. if they want to hide and leave the country, we will build up the afghany army and secure the territory and strengthen the tribal governance to the detriment of the taliban and al-qaeda. >> talk about eliminating civilian casualties, and this is an increase of troops? >> i was in iraq and we were down with a division, an

publicans like john mccain of arizona warned today itll means years of pain fore any benefits >> it's one of the great bernie madoff gimmicks tt i'vever seen, that anybody has ever seen. if theill were signed by the prident on the first of january, the taxes would kk in andhe medicare cuts and other cutsould kick in and it wouldn't be fouyears later that any othe benefits begin to accrue. what is that that's nuty stuff. and by t way, it's unacceable. >>eporter: while the drama of majority leer harry reid scouring theemocratic ranks for the one finavote he need was unfolding inside, outside the catol was broughto its knees by a blinding swstorm. reed finally gothat 60th vote from nebraska'sen nelson. nelson madhis support known sarday morning. >> wle each of my colleagues may differ on how to fix the system , i ow of no members who arsuggesting that the currt system is satisfactory. i knowf no member who doesn't think that we need t change our health ca system. where we dfer-- and i say so th great respect to all of my colleagues on bh sides of the aisle-- is in e way we fix our health

[laughter] >> you're talking about senator mccain talking about in the health debate? anybody? >> were you watching the senate in action on a football weekend? [laughter] >> maya, you have a question? are you going to answer it also? >> so i was at a dinner party recently where i saw perhaps the best dinner party trick i've ever seen. somebody took off the cap the invisible fence call and put it around her throat and walked up to the invisible fist to the what action feels like to get hit by one of those. it was something to watch. >> you go to somewhere dinner parties, maya. [laughter] >> do you know what that will do to washington's image out there on the c-span audience because as a result that is become a favorite analogy to the fiscal crisis that we don't know when a tipping point is going to happen but as a chief warning we know it will really hurt big and that is sort of one of the samaras. you get zapped, there's some price of. the other scenario is sort of a softening where they have an ongoing economy. but what i would like, if a couple of folks are counted boil that

mccain was way down in the district. mark kennedy running against amy klobuchar, is this klobuchar year. this is wellstone year. this is franken year. franken was ahead of coleman at that point in time in distribute as well. the fact we're ahead at all makes us feel pretty good where we are in this election cycle. the september 15th happens. all of sudden now we're back to, we're back to a whole different set of issues because energy is going out the door and everybody is worried about their jobs. so michelle was somebody who voted against both versions of the bailout bills. and, we wanted to explain that vote in terms of why it was she would vote against something. if you remember, right after those votes, there was a lot of talk that was taking place about where special interests once again in control in washington. this is the ad that we put up to show michelle's viewpoint on, michelle's point of view what is taking place in washington and why she is a little different than most of the other republican members of cong

. >> senator mccain and others have been critical of the notion of having a start date for pulling out. they said that by doing that you essentially give the taliban and al qaeda and others the chance to say they will just lay low, and when we start to leave that will go back in and take over. >> first of all, as evidenced by the last year or two, the taliban and al qaeda did not need a reason to be emboldened. we have had no deadline for withdrawal, and the situation has deteriorated. the presumption that this will just make them angrier is not logical. second, if they do, it will minimize casualties i think that would be a benefit, and that is the u.s. secretary gates also. if they want to go out and hide or leave the country, what we will do in the interim is build up the afghan army, secure territory, build governance, stringfield -- strengthen the local tribal government, to the detriment of the taliban and al qaeda. >> the general mcchrystal's insistence on eliminating civilian casualty -- does that entail more casualty's for our troops? how long will the u.s. public tolerate tha

the president promised in his campaign actually criticized john mccain for that. so i think that is part of the senate bill. i hope it's not coming out of conference committee because those are people that have negotiated union plans but not just union plans but negotiated good health insurance, given up wages to do it. they shouldn't pay taxes on it. i would also say that i hear all this about medicare. i appreciate lindsey's comments but the a.a.r.p. and the a.m.a.wouldn't be supporting this bill if it didn't have... if it were not doing the right things for medicare and not doing the right things for attracting physicians and to treating medicare patients. so i think this is the right way to go in medicare. it gives medicare beneficiaries as i said it gives them physical, they'll have the annual physicals and colonoscopys and mammograms will be available. and again it lengthens medicare life expectancy by ten years something that no one has really focused on doing in this body for many many years. >> ifill: senator graham, looking back on this now, was bipartis

i've yet to hear, aside from senator mccain and senator coburn whorbgs went to two or -- who went to two or three provisions of the bill they disagree with, i've yet to hear anyone say we shouldn't fund our military. we certainly should. some have come to the floor and argued the reason we're in this predicament is because the democrats, in control, have waited too long to bring this bill to the floor. but that statement fails to acknowledge the reality of what this calendar year has meant because day after day and week after week, month after month with very few exceptions the role and strategy of the minority -- the republicans in the senate -- has been to slow down and stop consideration of important legislation. mr. roberts: would my friend and colleague yield? mr. durbin: pardon me? mr. roberts: would my friend and colleague yield? mr. durbin: only for a question. mr. roberts: only for a question? mr. durbin: i yield for a question. mr. roberts: i want to assure him, in the form of a question, if he were asking me am i filibustering, that is not the case. the problem was, as i s

mccain: mr. president, as we approach in less than an hour the -- a very important vote. some have called it historic. some call it pivotal. some -- it's been given very -- various adjectives and adverbs. i think it might be appropriate to discuss for a minute or two how this all began. it all began in the presidential campaign. i don't really like to spend much time recalling it. but health care was a big issue in the presidential campaign. and on october the 8th of 200 2008, just less than a month before the election, then-candidate obama said -- and i quote -- concerning health care reform -- quote -- "i'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. we'll have negotiations televised on c-span so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies" -- keep that in mind, the drug companies -- "or the insurance companies." now, that was a statement made by then-senator/candidate obama. so what we have seen here -- what we have seen here is a dramatic departure. there's never be

with unemployment at 10%, a big tax increase on a variety of different americans as senator mccain has pointed out. in addition to all its other problems come a subset of problems or process problems if the job killer in the middle of a difficult recession. >> i.t. to my colleagues that the lack of transparency, one of the things my friend president obama said he wanted to have was transparency. there's been no transparency in this process. and that's why at least if there's no transparency. there's going to be no transparency in the process, we ought to at least have a transparent to the americans for 72 hours. and even a quote from the finance committee is i think it's impossible to certify that any senator will fully understand it. so, we're going to have a 2000 page plus bill and the chairman of the finance committee says he thinks it's going to be impossible to certify that any senator will fully understand this bill. that's the best reason i know not to pass this bill. because if we don't understand it, you can bet the american people aren't going to understand it. >> that seems

the previous motion to commit by senator mccain of arizona said send this bill back and make sure you take out any reference to savings in the medicare advantage program. that was defeated. the vote was 42-58. there were two democrats who joined the republicans. they needed 60 votes. it didn't make it. i take it the senator from utah may offer another motion to commit relative to the medicare advantage. i expect it to have the same fate, but he has his chance to argue his point of view, and he may be persuasive to more members on this side of the aisle. unfortunately, although we are good, close friends and i really bask in his wisdom on a daily basis, he is not going to change my mind on this issue because the medicare advantage program is a program that needs to be changed. let me tell but this program. we started years ago with the health insurance industry telling us government cannot do a good job when it comes to insurance. let us show you how private health insurance companies can sell a medicare policy more cheaply than the government, and we invited them to do it. and over th

mccain: mr. president, we are here obviously, as we are on a daily basis, to discuss the a daily basis, to discuss the >> mr. president, we are here obviously as we are on a daily basis to discuss the issue of health care reform, but we are and a rather unusual situation this morning, because we don't know what we are discussing or debating. i mean refiners cells in an interesting situation after almost a year of consideration of health care reform, with the measure of that is-- at least a couple of the outlines of that we no, but frankly we have had no details, except that medicare is going to be extended to eligibility for medicare is going to be extended to age 55. i just would quote, there was a meeting yesterday amongst the senate democrats and many senate democrats emerged from yesterday's caucus meeting saying "they learned little about the public option agreement and there were many outstanding concerns. senator mary landrieu called the agreement a very good idea. senator burr lance linco

and i can assure you that in -- if mccain had been predicted to be the winner of the last election, mccain would have gotten the same money that obama got. it makes no difference democrat or republican, they bribe them both. so that's why we are at a state of revolution, and that's why i want you to read the book, "whores," because we need to wage that second revolution or we'll have no country yet. >> host: larry klayman's been our guest, he's been joining us this morning from new york. thanks for being with us. >> guest: you're welcome. thank you, god bless. >> larry klayman is the founder of the public watch dog organizations judicial watch and freedom watch. to find out more, visit freedomwatch.org. >> we're at the national press club's author night, and we're here with jason, author of the new book, "hollywood on the potomac." jason, you talk about los angeles and the beltway and the connection between presidents and celebrities. do you want to give us a little background on your book? >> sure. washington and hollywood have a love affair going. it's been a long-time love affair betwee

controlled between senators baucus an mccain or their designees and then at 2:45 p.m. the senate proceed to vote in relation to the bennet of colorado amendment 2826, that upon disposition of that amendment the senate then proceed to vote in relation to the mccain motion to commit. that prior to the second vote in each sequence there be two minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form. that each of the above reference of amendments or motion be subject to an affirmative 60-vote threshold and that if the amendments or motion do not achieve that threshold, then they be withdrawn. further if any of the above listed achieve the 60 vote threshold, the amendment or motion be agreed to and be laid on the table. if there is a request for thians to be ordered with respect to that amendment or motion, regardless of achieving the 0-vote threshold, if the yeas and nays are requested, that the vote occur immediately with no further debate in order with respect to this particular consent. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. mcconnell: mr. presiden

[laughter] >> you were talking about senator mccain, talking in the health debate? >> were you watching the senate in action on a football weekend? [laughter] >> do you have a question? are you going to answer it too? >> so, i was at a dinner party recently where i saw perhaps the best dinner track i have ever seen. someone took off the invisible caller and put it around their throat and walked up the invisible fence to feel what it feels like to get hit by and one of those and it was something to watch. >> you go to some weird dinner parties. [laughter] do you know what this is going to do to washington's audience in the c-span audience? >> as a result that has been my favorite analogy to the fiscal crisis for do we don't know when the tipping point is going to happen that as we keep warning we know is really going to hurt and that is one of the scenarios, you get set up in some prices. the other scenario is a soft landing for we have an ongoing undermining of the economy but what i would like is it a couple of folks from the panel would boil that down to families

[laughter] >> you are talking about senator mccain talking about the health debate? >> were you watching the senate in action on a football weekend? [laughter] >> maya, you have a question? we going to answer it, too? >> i was at a dinner party recently where i saw the best hat trick i've ever seen. somebody took off the cat at the invisible fence, and put it on their own throats and walked up to the invisible fence to see what it was like to get hit by one of those. it was something to watch. >> you go to some weird dinner parties. [laughter] >> as a result, that has become my favorite analogy to the fiscal crisis. we do not know when the taping it point is going to happen, but we know that it is going to hurt. that is one of these scenarios, you know, you get zapped and there's a crisis. the other scenario is an ongoing softening of the economy. one thing we do not do is talk about how this affects real people who spend their day worrying about budget deficits. >> alice, are you offering to start? >> i think the crisis triggere would be that, first, their interest

all of which would fall if we adopt the mccain amendment. so i urge my colleagues to not listen to the rhetoric of the other side. listen to those that really do represent our seniors. make sure that we preserve and protect the basic medicare functions for our seniors and for those who are about to retire. you won't get that through medicare advantage. now, if medicare advantage wants to exist and compete on a level playing field, god bless them, go ahead and get it done. that's what we were promised. but medicare advantage came through here. i remember it. oh, yeah. competition. but what we found out is we had to cough up an additional additional $12 billion a year to subsidize it. to subsidize it. well, mr. president, it is time for us again to say no to the fearmongers, to those who are trying to strike fear in our seniors. it's time to stand up, support the bennet amendment. support the bennet amendment which makes very clear -- and here's what the bennet amendment does. it makes very crystal clear that any savings thatomes from medicare

senator mccain has taken the lead and mention this as well. we have been talking about the fact that a lot of arizonans are participants in the medicare advantage program, 337,000 as a matter of fact. we are talking about the fact that so many of them will be dropped -- will drop their medicare advantage coverage. that is an exaggeration, what are the actual facts, what does cms say about that? they talk about the result of less generous benefit package is, enrollment plan would decrease by 33%. decrease by 33%. the other group of people who would suffer as a result of this bill with fewer benefits, the idea that if you like your plan you will get to keep it is not really true and it is not just medicare. for others as well. the taxes will, according to c m s, be passed on in the form of higher premiums or higher costs for the medical devices in the event of a medical device. as a result of the taxes on plans, employers will reduce employees, health care benefits. our point is you cannot any longer argue that benefits are going to be the same

president, let me say that senator mccain has been a part of a separate for a long, long time. it's really interesting with all of the action on the floor of the senate in recent weeks, this is one of the few examples of a significant policy that is bipartisan. we've got republicans and democrats over 30 cosponsors who i worked with us to make certain that we can do this, do it safely, and give the american people the opportunity they deserve. this is really bipartisan. i appreciate that a lot. i want to say that the national federation of business supports this. with a long list of organizations that are strong supporters of this legislation or this amendment i should say. and i really hope that today perhaps that last, as long, long last after eight or ten years we might finally achieve a breakthrough and get this to the united states senate. i have said previously the pharmaceutical industry as a formidable opponents. i understand that. and we've had difficulty getting this in a piece of legislation that get signed to give the american people are pricing. and we do this, sen

i have voted on both sides of the aisle -- senator mccain's last grant. at the beginning of the process everyone was on the table, it was on line, c-span, whitehouase.gov, too, but my issue is there is so much compromise. can look at and posted the differences between both bills. there is a public option in the congress will, in the house bill, run by the house and human services which is so security and medicare. there is a public option in the senate bill. run by the same overhead people that covers the federal employees. there are good and bad things about both bills. one thing they don't tell you is in the public option what will be the bottom line you will have to pay. i do have insurance through my employer. it went up for my children 41% starting the first of january. i now pay over $750 a month. i wish this part would be enacted soon because it is getting to be almost 40% -- host: for how many family members? caller: my employer pays for me and i pay for two children. my oldest one who is going to college part-time was kicked off because he is 22.

[speaking tibetan] honorable speaker, senator mccain, chairman, and mrs. lantos, and also katrina, family members of a very dear friend of mine, the late congressman tom lantos. distinguished guests, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to receive this inaugural prize of lantos human-rights award. and for me to receive the award is a truly great privilege, especially in that the award is named after an individual whom i admire deeply into made tremendous contribution to human rights for the world. [applause] >> i just want to express my -- [unintelligible] and i am very happy to see your face. as before, very fresh. [laughter] and full of spirit, although no doubt your wonderful late husband and even his friends have the feeling of view of freshness. i appreciate it. [applause] [laughter] >> it is a nature where there is a beginning, there is anend. such wonderful people also sooner or later have to go that way. but what is very important is their spirit and they're wonderful sort of service to humanity. that we must remember. and not only remember but

high-yield the floor. >> senator mccain's motion was defeated. of the measure would have expanded benefits for the enrollees the vote was 42/57. of the senate is back tomorrow morning for more work on health care legislation for gulf war intimation visit c-span.org/health care. >> lays in and gentlemen to introduce the president of united states plays will come brookings institute president strobe talbott. [applause] >> huckabee have been forming i do not get that very often. [laughter] welcome to all of you. president obama honors all of us who are gathered here today. he honors us with his presence. over the past year, he has honored brookings by bringing many colleagues on to his team. at the white house, state department, treasury, defens e, energy, commerce, and the key embassies around the world. we do not regard those departures as a loss. we regard them as a donation to the public good. government service is a longstanding brookings tradition perk up 35 years ago the founding director of the cbo was a brookings scholar and still is. alice

divided as follows in the order listed to the first 17.5 minutes under the control of senator mccain for his designee. the next 17 minutes under the control of senator baucus or his designee. and the final ten minutes, five minutes each for senator mccain and senator ben and from colorado. >> without objection. >> thank you. senator from iowa. >> matter president, i heard the distinguished minority leader and his comments this morning say that one of the reasons they're kind of slowing to spill down and having all this debate is because i quote his words, a strictly partisan venture thus far. well, i beg to differ with the minority leader. nac are distinguished ranking member of our health committee here on the floor. in the health committee, the health committee, let me just again or the alignment of the senators, we have 13 days of markup, 54 hours, 788 amendments for file, 287 amendments were considered, debated, and voted on or accepted. 161 republican amendments were adopted. 161 republican amendments adopted. no one was denied the opportunity to offer any amendment to discuss a

, is to go along with my friend, john mccain. [laughter] so i think our differences were always overstated and related to very few policy differences, and we found ourselves allies on the mary duff things in recent times, and i am happy to be stand by his side. .. totalling 3.billion. are they so insulate from the american people that they think that we can afford billions of dollars in earmarks and continue this practice that we're in? this is why we need 60 votes is because this is an outrage. >> add to the senate bill is that something you will oppose? >> we'll have to wait and see how they pack taj remaining0 business of congress. there is remaining business. you have patriot act expirg. apparently a need to raise the debt ceiling. tax extenders there's a variety of different unfinished items that really must be done this year and we spent an awful lot of time on a bill that shouldn't be done this year and in my view any other year in its current form and that's the healthcare bill. >> you can find more information about the

mccain: mr. president, could i say before my colleagues begin, i think it's important for us to point out where we are here on december 16, 2009. we are now almost a year into the discussion and debate about -- quote -- "reforming health care in america." and we'll still don't know what's in the bills. we still don't know the specifics of what we are considering here. i've had the honor of serving here for a long period of time. but i've never seen a process like this. i have never seen a situation where a major piece of legislation is not before the body and is somehow being negotiated and renegotiated amongst the other side and, meanwhile, according to "the washington post" this morning, a newspaper that i always have the utmost trust and confidence in. i'd like to say that -- that the title is "public cooling to health care reform as debate drags on poll finds." and i -- quote -- "as the senate struggles to meet a self-imposed year-end deadline to complete work on legislation, a new "washingto

put out mccain kays and deos on -- commune kays and video they have roughly 40hard-core followers, and include peoe from france, germany, ausalia, i've been told, as well foreign fighte from egypt and kistan. >> can you how much popular support it has tre? i me, you're on the ground. what do you sein terms of any support for it or feeling foit on the streets? >> well, you don't seeny grfiti or outright, you know, support r al-qaeda, but you're also talking aut a country th has sent owe over the years has sent thousds of fighters to fightn afghanistan and iraq, basilly fighting to libete muslims from nmuslims. in ts sense there's this great syathy for al-qaeda, because of their core messa of protecti muslims and fighting for muslims, but at the sam time most yemenis d't want to see suicide bombs in the streets ery day. >> wt about yemen as a failed stat whether it's the kind of place whe terror groups can fill a power vacuum? what do you se again, just around the country, or lking at how govnment works or doesn't work? what do yosee? >> yeah. i wouldn't calleit a failed stat i would say

mccain: madam president, i -- i'm sorry to be repetitive, and i know my colleague is waiting so i'll end with this. this is wrong. we all know it's wrong. the american people know it's wrong. people who vote for this kind of pork-barrel spending are going to be punished by the voters, and we're going to end this obscene process and we're going to end it soon, as early as the next election. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, we are now considering a bill that represents the dramatic expansion in government spending. as the senator from arizona has so eloquently stated, this omnibus appropriation bill represents a 12% increase over last year, a fiscal year that ended with the largest deficit in american history of of $1.4 trillion. i don't know of any other area in the economy where people are spending 12% over what they spent last year. no family in america, no business in america is spending 12% more this year than they did last year. while we see 10% of our people unemployed. mil

and when we do this, senator mccain and myself and others. it is suggested that somehow we have no regard for the industry. it's not the case at all. we have no regard for the pricing policy that we believe is unfair to the american people. it's been that way for too long. a long, long time too long. perhaps today if you vote on this amendment, i expect later this afternoon, perhaps today will be the first step in getting that change. >> mr. president, i yield the floor. >> the senate is in recess while democrat senators meet to discuss the health care compromise. while we wait for the senate to return, here's the questions with gordon brown. this is in london. >> questions for the prime minister. number one >> the floor listing my engagements, it is deep sorrow that we remember the first battalions, corporal that died on monday. my thoughts and i know the thoughts of the whole palace will be with his family and friends. every life lost is a personal tragedy. and the the -- we mourn every single loss. on the scale of the tactical, it is not d

john mccain and john horan talked about the bill. this is about 40 minutes. mr. mccain: madam president, i -- i rise to speak on the bill -- the pending bill before us. one of the great pork barrel earmark-billed pieces of legislation that i seen come before this body. i'd like to quote from abc news by jonathan carl and def inn -- devin pryor, this is the season of pork, i quote -- "before returning to their -- excuse me. "just weeks before returning to their districts for christmas, congress is poised to give the gift of pork, roughly $4 billion of it. more than 5,000 earmarks were included in the $447 billion omnibus bill, funding pet projects of key members of congress from both parties in all regions of the country. senate will vote on the bill this weekend. independent analysis of the bill reveal a whopping 12% increase in government spending for 2010 while the inflation rate in the country remains near zer zero 12% spending when they are out of their homes and cannot afford to sustain their lives. we have increased spending by 12% @ 405,000 earmarks. that

i'm disappointed that the joe lieberman was campaigning with mccain. he should have been dismissed move d republicans than. i am the person who wants the public option we did not get that. now we're in a bad situation with joseph lieberman being a stick in the mode. in my opinion, he is not even worthy of watering the plants on capitol hill. host: you may be interested in the front page of "the new york times" this morning. host: merrill lyrhonda of the '' line. caller: i want to remind people of one thing. there are americans who work every day who cannot afford health care. there are small businesses that cannot afford to give their employees health care. all of this discussion between the egotistical politics that's going on -- i would like both republicans and democrats to remember that they're there to serve the american people. in the people who are the most vulnerable who do not have the lobbyists, the insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies to donate money to influence this legislation. they are the ones that need our politicians

the guests on nbc's meet the press, secretary clinton and robert gates and john mccain. on abc's this week with host and texas senator john coryn, on face the nation from cbs, you will hear host bob shefer along with secretary gates and clinton. and senator james jones and whip kyle and chair diane feinstein, you can listen to all stations here at c-span radio, and nationwide xm 132, and you with listen to us on the web and follow us on facebook and twitter. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is andrew ross sorkin from "the new york times", thank you for being with us. guest: good morning steve. host: let me begin with your observations in dubai two years ago, you said that the bankers were to be blessed and looking for more people to bless them. that was two years ago and there were plenty of signs back then that dubai was building a financial mirage in the desert, how so? guest: there were two issues, one was just being in dubai and walking around, it was hard to imagine this was a sustainable proposition. their buildings are building into the sky, eve

maryland democrat -- center john mccain has a motion to send the bill back to the finance committee to remove medicare reductions. the senate returns at 9:30 a.m.. watch live coverage on c-span2. >> our coverage strategy in afghanistan continues in a few moments with british prime minister gordon brown answered questions from members of parliament about the role of the united kingdom there. in about 10 minutes, more reaction to president obama's speech from the nato secretary general. after that, the house foreign affairs committee about troop levels and structure -- strategy from secretary gates, secretary clayton, and admiral mullen. >> this week on "q&a", our guest is malcolm glad well, author and writer for the new yorker" magazine. he currently has four books on that best-seller lists. his newest book is a compilation of articles he wrote for "the new yorker" magazine. >> american icons, three regional documentary's from c- span, now available on dvd. you need to read through the iconic homes of the three branches of american government. see the swiss the detail of the supreme cou

neil worked on the mccain campaign; correct? [inaudible] >> right, yeah. but they worked not only at the presidential level but senate, congressional, gubernatorial -- i mean, at every level. as i said it's one of the really outstanding survey research firms. we're very thrilled that neil is willing to come in first thing and speak to us. and so i'm going to turn it over to neil new house. -- newhouse. so thank you. >> you can hold your applause till later. >> one other thing, if you have questions, wait for the boom before you ask them so that people can hear them. >> and, chris, i've got a remote for this thing. okay. cool. let me give you a little bit of background about where i came from and kind of like -- 'cause it's very similar to you you guys. i heard a couple of people taking voter behavior courses in college. that's what got me started. i went to duke university and graduated a long, long, long time ago. and what really got me -- i mean, i'm from kansas. i never was interested in politics until i went to college and i took a couple of courses. f

chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. i understand that the order that our witnesses desire to be recognized is secretary gates first and then secretary clinton and then admiral mullen. secretary gates, welcome. >> thank you, mr. chairman. actually, i think the secretary of state's microphone is the only one working so perhaps we should allow her to be the only witness today. mr. chairman, members of the committee, thank you for inviting us to testify today. last night president obama announce add renewed commitment and more focused strategy for afghanistan and pakistan. i would like to provide an overview of the strategic thinking and context behind his decisions, in particular the nexus among al qaeda, the tall pan, pakistan and afghanistan. our objectives and thousand president's strategy aims to accomplish them and the military forces required. as the president first stated in march, and re-emphasized last night, the goal of the united states in afghanistan and pakistan is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al qaeda and