max: but this baby hauls!! it's like (mimicking engine sounds) rrrgggnnnnn, rrrrnnnnghhhh, rrrrrghhhh... max: what's your hybrid sound like? (breathes like wind) whooooooh. max: that's cool. - why is it raining? - ( nextel chirps throughout ) - lose the rain. - roger that. no rain.no rainbows. ( chattering over nextel phones ) - could you tell us what's going on? - yeah, the cake is en route,

i want to applaud chairman max baucus, senator dodd, who have been champions in this issue. we are honored to stand with both of you. senator max baucus, with your strong leadership on the senate finance committee, with the creativity that led to the development of this very unique solution. we will also support the process and look forward to -- with optimism to the next up. the bottom line, without you chairman, we would not be here today. we offer you all of our thanks. when the president issued his call for all parties to come together to address the issues of health reform, a our peak, representing over 40 million members was proud to be one of the members to offer support. struggling americans who have looked for help in their pocketbooks just to stay healthy, to say that one of their single, largest, drivers of their health-care costs is prescription drugs. today, americans do not whole, the gap in coverage, will have their brand name drugs costs cut in half. a 50% reduction in cost, a 50% reduction. to many americans into this coverage gap. they stop taking their med

we're deeply honored to have as our speaker, our first speaker, max baucus. he's an old friend. i spent many, many months fishing the waters of montana. i have set a state record for leaving flies in the trees along the rivers of that wonderful street. [laughter] >> we're also deeply honored to have with us peter orszag, the director of the office of management budget and i'll introduce peter shortly. let me first step back for a moment from today's discussion. and agree with something that senator baucus said. i've been around economic issues in various regards for a long, long time. and i don't think there is any question that it's absolutely imperative that we have major reform of our healthcare system. to address wasteful expenditures, to reduce the rate of increase of healthcare costs, to improve outcomes and absolutely critically, to move toward accomplishing universal coverage. the rapid rate of increase in our nation's healthcare costs is in my view a grave threat to our economic future, both by undermining competitiveness and by fueling the steep rise in federal healthc

max: but this baby hauls!! it's like (mimicking engine sounds) rrrgggnnnnn, rrrrnnnnghhhh, rrrrrghhhh... max: what's your hybrid sound like? (breathes like wind) whooooooh. max: that's cool. >> back here on "espnews," mike yam and will selva with you. momentarily we will get you ought to california and manny ramirez will take his third at-bat of the evening. this is what is going on right now. the rockies and a's, an 11-2 score. and barmes, a solo shot in this one and the mariners and dodgers. and ken griffey, jr. a two-run home run and the 620th of his career. the third home run in the last five games. in case you are keeping tabs willie mays fourth all time and he is just 40 home runs back. >> the live coverage here on "espnews" of every single one of manny ramirez's minor league at-bats. his very first at-bat, manny, of course, batting lead-off. hit a home run against nick schmidt, the first-round draft pick of the padres in 2007. and then in his second plate appearance, manny walked with a man on. manny exp

max baucus hopes to release health care legislation friday, setting up four votes for next week. shreveport, louisiana, shelton, on our independent line. good morning from go caller: i agree with the first -- good morning. caller: i agree with the first caller. the president, the congressperson, has let the american people down. all the industrialized countries in the world have some form of single-payer health care. and to try -- the whole debate is this -- the whole debate is just profit-driven, trying to keep the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the doctors, which should be basically thinking about the health and welfare instead of their profits. host: so what should congress do with the president's proposal for health care? caller: i do not think congress is going to do anything. their hands are in the pie, and they are trying to give us the crumbs. what is going to have to be done is the people in this country are going to have to stand up and take a stand and vote -- even the president -- out of office, whenever it is, who do not have our interests at hear

fear that we can't trust the men and women working in prisons across america, super max facilities to incarcerate guantanamo detainees, that kind of fear which is what we hear on a regular basis, the regular diet fed to us by the republican senators is no basis for a sound american foreign policy. if we are going to have a policy that protects us abroad and at home we should recognize threats for what they are, understand our were strengths and weaknesses and be prepared. this idea of towering and fear which is what the republican senators offer as a daily regimen for their speeches on the floor is not what america has ever been about. just last saturday we celebrated the 65th anniversary of that miraculously invasion on d-day. i got on the phone and called one of my great friends in springfield illinois, joe kelley. he came in on the seventh day after d-day with artillery and spent 18 months in the army, fought the battle of the bulge, a great fellow. talked about volunteering and i want to tell you something. when joe kelly and his four brothers volunteered in chicago to fight in wo

hey max, new car huh? max: yeah. the jetta tdi clean diesel. i got a hybrid, so you know... max: a tdi set a guinness world record of 58 miles per gallon. 58 miles per gallon!? max: but this baby hauls!! it's like

super max facility and public should not be concerned. yet if detainees are transferred for trial in civilian court, they would have to be held in a facility near that court, near that venue. often these are local jails similar to the alexandria jail that held the 20th terrorist. such a move could mean that kalid sheik muhammad could be held in alexandria for the duration of his trial. similar trials in the past have taken more than four years. regardless of where these detainees are held, i believe that should be in a location that ensures the safety of both those guarding the detainees and american citizens. my primary concern is their presence in a large civilian population could invite additional attacks and danger to the citizens. i take the oversight responsibility of congress very seriously and the fact that the justice department would take these actions without notifying members of congress is incredible. these detainees could pose serious threats to local communities and place an extraordinary burden on the cities where these in

this max senator sanders, thank you for coming back to c-span. >> guest: three nice to be with you. now in discussion on this health care and ever is to compare the effectiveness of various treatments and medical procedures. the speakers include senate finance committee chairman max baucus and white house budget director peter orszag. from the brookings institution this is about an hour. >> [inaudible conversations] >> good morning everyone, i would like to welcome new to this brookings institute this morning, im mark mcclellan, director of the engelberg center for health care reform at brookings and on behalf of bob and the hamilton project we would like to welcome you to today's events on one of the key issues of health care reform. implementing comparative effectiveness research here and we're delighted to have such distinguished participants to discuss this issue and that, of course, includes all of you here, in the overflow room and i know we have a lot of participants, as well. comparative effectiveness research has vaulted to the front lines of the health care reform debate a

people talk about super max facilities that are -- there are 13 or 15 of them in the country. there are 13,000 beds available and 20,000 prisoners. they are already pretty crowded. if i were the president, i would not have announced an arbitrary date by which it will be done and then try to figure out how to do it. i would have figured it out first and then made the announcement. >> should be closed? >> in my opinion, no. the reason is twofold -- we spent $200 million to build a state-of-the-art facility which everybody who has visited, international organizations, across, they say it is well run and clean. they get better medical and dental care than any of them have ever gotten before in their lives. their religious needs are attended to. it is safe for those folks in our military guarding them. the first question is wide you have to close at? you then have to figure out what you do with the people there. you will have to release some. you'll have to imprison the rest in the united states. there are a lot of problems associated with that. the real question is why do it? it's

my understanding is that we're way overcrowded in the super max facilities today. by the way, can you just tell us do you know whether that's true or not right now or do you want to respond on the record? >> whether they're overcrowded? >> yes. my understanding there's a capacity of like 13,000-something and there are like 20,000 being held. >> senator, i'd have to get you those statistics. i just don't know offhand. >> all right. i appreciate. two other follow-up questions on that same matter. one has to do with the recruitment of terrorists in jail. we know that's a big problem with this particular kind of militant islamist. and it's something the fbi director testified in the house of representatives about. is there anything that you would like to offer us today on that question about how we could prevent that from occurring or if you'd like to respond in the same way, i'm happy to receive that. >> i mean, i understand the concern but i think there are measures taken to minimize that possibility. terrorists -- people who are considered terrorists are generally h

people like max blog was -- bacchus, well who are they to say single payer is off the table? the idea that things will even get debated because a senator from a state where the jackrabbits outnumber the people, it is not even clear he is representing his own people without the lobby is behind him. this is something that will have to be reined in. i don't see any leadership in the senate. i don't think anybody quite knows what harry reid is doing, or what direction he is pushing anybody. it is a sad thing to see. it is eroding a lot of the core constituency. host: kevin baker is the author of a number of books including, sometimes you see it coming and dreamland. he is a contributing editor for harper's magazine. caller: this is a very interesting topic. this reminds me a lot of the story -- i feel like the tractors are coming, because in not taking cues from big business. we have to start looking at things global as thickly. we will create plenty of jobs and careers. to be honest, i believe it is technology, and people will have to get into more technological fields. capitali

. >> last week i was speaking with finance democrats, they insisted that max baucus and chuck grassley, but i am wondering if they are grasping at straws. trying to grab for olympia snowe, maybe a couple of others. does not sound like to me you will pick up a bipartisan vote. >> you are exactly right. charles grassley has been given no authority to negotiate anything. he has said that while his staff has spoken to senator baucus, he is not negotiating with max baucus. we have not had a republican meeting to decide the republican position. it may reflect the fact that i know that our democratic friends know what a lot of us are thinking. host: you will be able to see the entire interview with senator jon kyl later on this morning after this program, at 10:00 a.m. on c-span. we are going to continue our discussion of spending by the obama administration, especially with regards to health and other areas right after this break. we will be right back. ♪ >> the government funding of direct aid to colleges and students is aid late 1960's thing that has grown rapidly since then. >> today, n

some information following up on the president's speech when he talked about the fact that our super max facilities hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. i had written asking if you could break that down for us. i don't have response. i am going to submit for the record a question, because i know you can't answer it sitting here, to find out who they are, what kind of category of folks they are, if they are congressman rabble to the kind of -- comp rabble -- comparable to the kind of detainees at guantanamo today. my understanding is that we are way overcrowded in the facilities today. can you just tell us, do you know whether that is true or not? do you want to respond on the record? >> what, that they are overcrowded? >> yes. my understand sg there is a capacity of 13,000 and there are 20,000 being held. >> senator, i would have to get you those statistics. i don't know off hand. >> two other matters. one has to do with the recruitment of terrorists in jail. we know that's a big problem with this kind of militant islamist. it is something the f.b.i. director testified in the houps abo

max: that's cool. >> they shock no. 1 seed spain. speaking of shocking, manny ramirez playing baseball again. he's playing for the albuquerque isotopes. manny is out of the game. manny's old team, the dodgers in action. best record in baseball, taking on the white sox. not looking good. and the red sox taking over d.c. >> hey there, welcome to espnews, i'm ryan bur, thanks for stopping by. manny ramirez, this is kind of the manny ramirez network, if you will. we show you all of his at-bats for the isotopes. live right here. we've done that tonight. manny, 0 for 1. he walked and grounded out as manny continues to work his way back to the big leagues. july 3rd, he's currently on that 50-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. manny running out on the field, or should i say, jogging out on the field. his first at bat. manny would jog to first with a four-pitch walk. second at bat, routine groundball to the shortstop. and manny's night would be over. two at-bats, a walk, and a ground out. manny, exhausted. and he'll play again t

the picture of senator max baucus, also the head of aarp and senator christopher dodd who is taking over for senator ted kennedy in supervising as chairman of the house committee hearings continue this week. it points out the lobby for drug companies, pharmaceutical research manufacturing organization said it pledged $80 billion of 10 years to help reform are troubled health-care system. the commitment came in a deal with the white house and senator max baucus, democrat of montana and chairman of the finance committee. but further in the story, senate aides and drug company lobbyists say the $80 billion reflected total projected savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions, besides the drug discounts and the coverage gap. some reflects savings to the government, some reflects savings to older americans, but all the savings from closing the so-called bill mudhole would go to beneficiaries, and not to the government. flint, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. host: we will be in your town next week. what is the situation like? caller: i would like

him.now, i'm proud to say that >> last year max, you and fleur would have latal fight before ewe you'd come out. this year your ritual changed. what exactly do you say or did you say to him before the games to get him pumped up? >> we always say the same thing. we talk a little bit about life, about anything. about the game coming up. about the -- our family watching us at home when they're not there. you know, be proud to play. we're lucky to be here. that's what we say, just basic things. we realize before every game that we're lucky to be there and that's exact thing we're saying. and it gets us going. obviously we feel fortunate to be there with two guys that lives 30 minutes away and same age and we went to the world championship world juniors together and lost in the final. and since then we're in pittsburgh together. and he's a great friend of mine. and you know, i'm so happy. you can quote me on that fliewrly is winning goaltender right. nowea everybody always says we'e not sure. he's never won anything. but he proved everybody that he's a winning goaltender and i'm so happy fo

max, a conversation with u.s. supreme court john roberts. he is joined by harvey wilkinson, a federal judge serving on the fourth circuit court of appeals. this is part of the judicial conference. it is a low " -- a low over 30 minutes. >> could we have you take your seats, please? >> good morning, we have a very special program this morning. chief justice marshall worried that the supreme court's role in the trial apartheid -- in the tripartite government, one from each justice as was the custom at the time. he felt that the court should speak unanimously as an institution. he conference cases after dinner, after serving wine, which should personally purchased. in that state of euphoria, the court was able to work through the problems and resolve their differences and issue opinions that were unanimous. in retrospect, the chief justice was impressive as successful during a particularly active. -- during the particularly active time. 437 people -- for the 37 were unanimous. chief justice roberts shares justice marshall's view. as chief justi

i think max baucus needs to be stripped of his personal insurance. anyone at that what set against the public for their best interest to cover, and give the people of america what they deserve, with their own taxpayer money, by the way, with our own choice, needs to be booted out of congress. thank you. host: north carolina is next on the independent line. caller: i would like to just make an opinion about the two- party system we have here in america. to me, it does not seem like the republican party or the republican party have america's best interests at heart. it just means that, if i can make up but, that is what i will do. or if we have to cut programs here, or spend

max: actually, volkswagen has no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. even the cc. >> i don't think the clearinghouse is an easy, perfect solution. .1. but i think they are a good cases for extending a clearing platform beyond the credit world. i mean, this has been discussed by some academics in the u.s. but simply having cbs in clearinghouse and leaving other derivatives of the clearinghouse creates problems. i think that there needs to be more scrutiny and transparency still of how cbs are being used and-- the route is changing the way that credit behaves when a company goes into bankruptcy and quite a radical and tested manner and i don't think-- i think there needs to be more discussion about how that is changing the way that credit is behaving towards companies. but to think somehow we have a clearinghouse and that is the and the story, i don't think that is true at all. >> gillian,-- [inaudible] >> he is actually sitting behind you. [laughter] >> you worked very hard, did you not mark, to prevent it from being regulated? do you think he was right

i believe in the famous max imthat you -- maximthat you make peace with your enemies. and that you talk to people who maybe adversaries, not that i necessarily put syria in an adversarial position, and certainly wouldn't characterize them as an enemy. but the ambassador was withdrawn four years ago as a protest to the assassination of former lebanon prime minister harare. the security council of the united nations thought a resolution on april 7 of 2005 to establish an independent international investigating commission to inquire into all aspects of the terrorist attack killing prime minister harare. that tribunal has faced considerable obstacles, but it is still in operation, and i think its report would be very important in making a determining as to who is responsible for the assassination of prime minister harare and whether syrian officials were complicated in any way. but i do believe and have believed for a long time that syria could be the key to advancing the peace process in the mideast in kwebgs with my duties as -- in connection with my duties as work on th

max: actually, volkswagen has no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. even the cc. ( chuckles ) ...no charge. even on the cc. bus: you know what they say about the best things in life, amigo. that's awesome... for volkswagen owners. ( cheerful tune playing ) ah, man, love that drinkability. drink-a what? drinkability. it's what makes bud light so incredibly refreshing. it's like a wave of refreshment, gently washing over your whole body. it's getting bigger. here comes the refreshment. [ sfx: screaming, wave splashing ] whew. well that almost never happens. easy drinking, always refreshing. bud light. the difference is drinkability. [ sfx: hairdryer ] no hard feelings. >> tiger woods, and the black course has, and the par 4's, measure more than 500 yards. the 7th is the longest par 4 in u.s. open history. >> the all americans is one of the most prestigious events. it's also one of the most challenging year in and year out. it means challenge, it means a test. ever since i was a little kid, the u.s. open was the pinnacle of golf. without question, the on

in recent days, chairman max baucus, who has been doing an outstanding job leading the finance committee on this issue, as well as members of my administration's has been in discussion with the pharmaceutical industry to bring down costs for america's seniors. i am pleased to report that over the weekend, we reached an understanding that will help close the notorious bowknot hole in medicare part d. this is a significant break -- breakthrough on the road to health care reform, it will make the difference in the lives in -- of many older americans. the doughnut hole refers to a gap in prescription drug coverage that makes it harder for millions

this is like maxing out on the personal credit card and then promising not to use it anymore, but offering no plan to pay off the balance. now, the president rightly pointed out today, i would suggest, and, again, i'm quoti quoting: "the debate of the day drowns out those of what we face tomorrow." unquote. maybe it is a thoughtful time to look at what we face tomorrow because of the unpaid credit card balance. it is important to dissect the rhetoric, to speak to americans who have been promised something that i would suggest the president cannot deliver. remember that those in the so-called middle class, and the definition of that has changed, but they've been told that they will be shielded from tax increases. well, i would suggest that the evidence is obvious. the rug is about to be pulled out from underneath them by the president's explosive growth in spending and borrowing. if congress continues to follow the president's unlimited spending spree and tries to balance the budget at the same time, the middle class will get hammered with tax increases. this, i would suggest, is the elepha

max notched the longest outing of his career. 7 and 2/3. while striking out 6 for the win. the win snaps a three-game home losing streak for the d-backs. jonathan sanchez continues to struggle on the road. falling to 0-6 away from home. >> the brett favre athon continues in minnesota. favre, of course, is not there. he's still rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. but now there's a he said, he said game going on between the media and vikings coach brad childress who insists the team did not give favre a deadline to show up. espn is standing by its story that the teasm did exactly that. pedro gomez has the latest. >> vikings head coach brad childress admitted he called and talked to brett favre as recently as last week. childress wouldn't say what was discussed. >> generally i think the guy's still retired. >> you know, you have it hanging over your head all day every day. every time you see something about favre, something about him working out at high schools, you know in the morning. but you do want it to be finished with, and you want to know. >> the tight en

guest: i've arranged for a meeting between a number of physicians and nurses organizations with max baucus. months ago, he said single payer is not on the table. he indicated to us that he regrets saying that. the truth of the matter is, the power of the insurance companies that make so much money out of our current health care system is so strong that it is very hard for us to get the kind of hearing and the kind of success that we need to move toward a single payer system. host: you are say you special interest are influencing the debate? guest: no, i think special interest on the debate. they're spending hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure we do not have a cost-effective, comprehensive universal health care system. host: what does that tell the person out there who does not have insurance in wondering what will happen next? guest: after i leave this interview, i will be meeting with the health education and labor committee. we will be talking about this. we do not know what the result will be. it is possible we will make some progress in terms of primary health car

this is from max baucus and ed kennedy, a key democrats. also writing in "bill" today is a key republican player, chuck grassley, r he voices concerns. -- this is in "the hill" newspaper to do. he says there's no shortage of ideas, but most fall short of revenue to pay for them. some favor universal coverage financed entirely by the taxpaying public. i caution those who favor driving 120 million more americans into a taxpayer- financed insurance system that the federal government is an unfair competitor and would likely run the private sector of business. let's take the first call from the republican line in indiana. caller: i appreciate it. my basic overview is that america cannot pay for everybody. it is difficult for politicians to turn around and say "no." i believe that if you go to a hospital for any need if you cannot pay for you should be turned away. we have to be responsible financially. we have to be responsible for our own actions. nobody should have to pay for anybody else's mishaps or inefficiencies. if you cannot make it, can

max: actually, volkswagen has no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. even the cc. ( chuckles ) ...no charge. even on the cc. bus: you know what they say about the best things in life, amigo. that's awesome... for volkswagen owners. ( cheerful tune playing ) ( "big mac chant" plays ) ♪ ( "big mac chant" plays ) big mac. you so want one. ♪ ba da ba ba ba >> welcome back to "espnews." live coverage of every manny ramirez at-bat. and ramirez suiting up for the 66ers, of the california league. manny batting lead-off. the first time up, had a home run against nick schmidt. introduced a smattering of boozing with some cheers, and some fans with dread locks and blue bandanas. and the sell out crowd. the only available tickets sold for $6 allowing the fans to sit in a grassy berm of the chosy stadium. there is manny, taking that pitch. the fans are chanting out his name. ramirez expected to play long enough to get four at-bats here. that was minor league rehab tour started in new mexico. in albuquerque to be exact, where he played tuesday and wednesday. goi

the photograph that included a picture of senator max baucus and the head of a arpey and chris dodd who is taking -- and the head of the aarp. robert points out that the lobby for drug companies, the thomas senecal research at manufacturers association had pledged $80 billion -- the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers association pledged $60 billion. further into the story of drug company lobbyists say that the $80 billion reflected a total savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions. some of the money reflects savings to the government, summer flex savings to older americans, but all of the savings would go to beneficiaries. -- some of the savings reflects savings to older americans. we're going to be in your town next week. caller: good. host: what is the situation like? caller: i would like to talk about the banks. we have citizens bank here, at standard and poor lowered their credit rating. they just received money to back them up, and i went there yesterday and all i could offer you was 1.5% of cd's. i think it is ridiculous. a man had retire

the main players are ted kennedy and max baucus. they are realistic that single- payer will not fly. this president is more pragmatic than thinking he would just push it through. host: our guest is also an author. if you read about something about two months ago concerning china, and the u.s. currency. it is complicated but you say we must be careful. you say it china owns an awful lot of the u.s. guest: i am not a financial expert. i started focusing on it since last september. but i have been reading and talking to experts. mark wolfe of "the financial times" anticipated this would happen. he is the chief financial correspondent, columnist for the paper. he identified this problem. the problem in housing in america including corruption and subprime loans was the product of several things one of which was the extraordinary flood of capital because china, japan, other parts of asia and the middle east were saving more than they could spend. then the fed loosened of the money. also, as that imbalance between us and china grew, the ch

senate finance committee chairman max baucus who plans to unveil his plan next week has said he favors limiting the tax break. this is anna "the new york times" -- doctors group opposes public health care insurance plan. the ama says it will oppose creation of a government- sponsored insurance plan which president obama and many other democrats see as an essential element to remake the health care system. the opposition could be a mutuamajor hurdle. it is america's largest physician organization with about 2 minute 50,000 members. next caller, how you pay for caller: health care as the europeans do, with a gas tax. you drive a fuel-efficient car and it does not cost you that much. it costs less than some of the averages monthly premiums. individuals paying $800, families paying $1,500. on a similar note, many republicans are being very disingenuous. if john mccain were president at think he would be running the government and the economy almost the exact same way. bailing out the economy, bailing out the auto industry -- and they're blasting obama. i really believe that there are many

max: actually, volkswagen has no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. even the cc. ( chuckles ) ...no charge. even on the cc. bus: you know what they say about the best things in life, amigo. that's awesome... for volkswagen owners. ( cheerful tune playing ) >> the nhl awards show was in las vegas, thursday night. for the second straight year, alexander ovechkin is the hart trophy winner as the league's m.v.p. ovechkin who led the nhl with 56 goals is the first non-goalie to repeat since wayne gretzky won eight in a row from 1980-1987. ovechkin also won the lester pearson award as the most outstanding player as voted on by his peers.

i congratulate chairman max men -- waxman for passing the bill and the commerce committee. the other committees have their jurisdiction to weigh in on. that is the process we are involved in. when we're finished, it will go to the floor. >> there are bipartisan discussions in the senate about an idea of looking at creating a privately run cooperatives instead of a public auction. i was wondering what you think of the concept. is it something you might be able to -- >> i think that members have been very clear about what their concerns might be about a public auction. i agree. it should be sound, it should be an administratively self- sufficient . it should be a real competitor with the private sector and not have an unfair vantage. when you say the words public auction, if that is the term we are using, you have to say right next to it, level playing field. there is strong support for a public auction in the house and a great respect for the concerns that have been raised within our caucus. we will address them. >> given that it is going to be very complicated for people to

in addition, what is sometimes called a max black districting was a product of a justice department that labeled maps as driven by intentional discrimination if a civil rights group had come up with an allegedly better plan. if a state's legislative black caucus had submitted the state's supported plan that was not necessarily considered relevant. minority legislators, the assistant attorney for civil rights explained in 1993 may have a host of political and thus unacceptable reasons for going along with a state's redistricting map. he had greater trust, he made clear, in advocacy groups such as the aclu and the naacp and he saw the motives of such group as pure. in contrast, to those of black state legislators. by 1993 when the assistant attorney -- assistant attorney general for civil rights gave this speech the creation of numerous majority black districts would have been the natural result of demography, of residential patterns in addition as time went on black legislators had become important political players in the districting process. they would have successfully insisted on a nu

max baucus said previously that the bill would come out this week. mark up would be next week. he said earlier in the week we will have them marked which they are ready. they can say how much that bill will cost. trying very, very hard to get the public to support that panel. that bill could come out next week. you'll never know. but at the end of the day, at the end of the year if they get the bill done they get the bill done. so there have been all sorts of timeline that have come out. one that came out of a meeting with democrats. obviously the key curitiba's with the president of a few weeks ago. we heard earlier, on capitol hill when they passed the medicare prescription benefit. i think the president signed that into law. >>host: we are talking about health care reform. let's take our first call from mary on the democratic line from pennsylvania. >>caller: good morning. my concern is pharmaceutical company's advertising on television. i think it raises the cost of the price of drugs. my doctor is the one who should be prescribing my medicine. i don't need it to be adverti

districts but for community-based organizations and parks and recreation and a time when we need to max mize currently whatever resources and we also need to make the case for an additional federal, state and local dollars to target a time of year that's historically been elected. host: specifically what are they using this money for in baltimore? keeping the schools open or special sflams tell us about that. guest: sure. what they are doing is structuring full-day comprehensive programs for kids. many of them take place in public schools but also in and in the recreation centers in the afternoon so they are offer indeed collaboration and non-profit organizations and offers kids choices taintsd and instead of mandating calendar change and these solutions for everyone, we see a tremendous amount of penalty. they are coming out in droves. the kids are really interested and i mean, it's not your traditional model of summer school that kids would dread but simply there aren't enough opportunities for this. host: from shawnee, oklahoma, raj on our line for democrats, go ahead. caller: hello.

in recent days, chairman max bauccus who has been doing an outstanding job leading the finance committee on this issue as well as members of my administration have been in discussions with the pharmaceutical industry to find a way to bring down costs of prescription drugs for america's seniors. and i'm pleased to report that over the weekend we reached an understanding that will help close the notorious doughnut hole in medicare part b. this is a significant break through on the road to healthcare reform, one that will make the difference in the lives of many older americans. i think many of you in the press are familiar with the issue. the doughnut hole refers to a gap in prescription drug coverage that makes it harder for millions of medicare beneficiaries to pay for the medications they need. the way the program is structured, medicare covers up to $2,700 in yearly prescription costs, and then stops. and the coverage starts back up when the costs exceed 6100, which means between 2700 and 6100 folks are out of luck. and this gap in coverage has been placing a crushing burden on many ol

max baucus, a democrat out of montana, has been adamant in wanting to produce a bill that would garner republican support. doing so would make sure that it has staying power of the coming decades, let alone over the next year or two. i would like to see if the sketch of the bill that they markup will leave republicans screening or frowning. >> thank you for talking with us. >> in a few moments, treasury secretary tim geithner on the economy and the government's efforts to aid financial institutions. in half an hour, senate term rakowski talks about the energy bill being marked up in committee. -- murkowski talks about the energy bill being marked up in committee. on "washington journal" tomorrow, we will discuss the supplemental spending bill. and with the former director of the national institutes of health, and she joins us at 9:00 eastern to discuss health care. after that, our guest is the un bureau chief of the "the new york times." he has written a new book called "at hezbollah wishes you a happy birthday." a couple of live events to tell you about our companion network, c-span3.

i just want to encourage -- i think max baucus needs to be stripped of his personal insurance there in congress. anybody who would set against the public for their best interest to cover and to give the people of america what we deserve with our own money, our own taxpayer money, to supplement, and with our own choice, needs to be booted right out of congress. thank you very much. host: spring lake, north carolina. dennis on independent line. caller: i just wanted to make an opinion and voice my concerns about this the two-party system. the way it looks to me, it doesn't seem like republican party or the democratic party really have america's best interest at heart. it is all about self interest, and it just seems that if i can make a buck, that is what i will do, and if i have to step on your neck to do it, or cut programs here or spend money on defense of their, it is all self interest and nobody seems to have america's best interests at heart. host: how long have you been an independent? caller: it has been about 85 years -- i was a republican, not a democrat, and not independent. i

explain the white house view on a single payer system and whether you think that congress, in particular max baucus on the senate finance committee, will take up this issue? guest: the president has said he wants to build health reform on our existing employer based system. the system has worked very well in this country. this is the kind of reform that says to you with the person as -- with insurance, you can keep what you have if you like. but we want to build on the current system. folks who want a single payer plan really want the same thing that we are seeking in health reform. they want more affordable options. they want to make it possible for people who cannot get any health care to get affordable health care. we have the same goals, adjusted for ways of achieving them. host: will health care benefits be a taxable benefit for americans? guest: that is certainly under discussion in one of the committees. the president has said all along that he is skeptical of any plan that would tax the health care benefits that you get from your work because he wants to build a health reform upon th

finance chairman max baucus and democrats had of montana has been ottoman -- adamant in garnering significant public support and he believes do so will ensure whatever passes his staying power or this coming decades monotone the next coming year or two and so i am curious to see if he's sort of sketch o

former community organizer, wrote, sent yesterday to the chairman of the senate finance committee, max bachus, and the chairman of the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee, senator edward kennedy. he wrote, quote, i strongly believe that americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. this will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest. and the other thing he could have said is that it's also going to save us money by helping to reduce the costs all around for health care. in fact, there's been estimates that over 10 years, about $3 trillion can be saved because there will be this choice of this health care option. and it is about time that the united states joined the rest of the industrial world and said, yes, our people are going to get the health care they need. that it's going to be a right, not just a privilege for those who can afford it. let me just tell a couple of stories before i yield back, quick ones. the other day, a friend

case which uses the word to the amendment similar provides no relief for a punt and privileges of the max that do not in to appear with fundamental rights or a single i suspect classifications karen with a strong presumption of constitutionality and must be upheld related to legitimate state interest. i think barely read and she says this does not interfere with it on the mantel right which we believe, i believe among that every american and of the second amendment has a fundamental right to keep and bear arms unless the have been convicted. >> wasn't that the issue of whether or not conservative sort of this amendment and as with the supreme court said and run the signing to manicure right to

. >> go ahead and give max mr. chairman, as we all know and the president has made the point and is totally inappropriate, one of the average has to be to reduce the cost of health care and the rate of a growth and cost over the years because we are basing -- >> [inaudible] >> i do. we are facing an unsustainable situation in our federal budget which is jim and in large part by the cost of health care. we know that we have a approximately $38 trillion unfunded liability in the medicare accounts. another large amount of unreliability i think in the range of $10 trillion in the medicaid accounts and we also know that health care is not taking 17 percent of gdp headed toward 20% of gdp in the these numbers are simply not sustainable for our government coronation and thus one of the core elements of health care reform has been not only to get everybody covered which people on our side are totally committed to it and to give people quality health care which we are equally committed to put in the process develop proposal

baucus, max thank you, mr. chairman year earlier remarks i would say that whether we tax this on a bush and sort of pin the tail on the dock you're whether we pivot on the elephant, it is now all our problems and is now, not then. and i just ask that we all work together to get us out of this, these bailouts and government-funded programs that we extricated herself from that end of the deficit spending that we have witnessed. we work together on that i hope. let me say this, gene, you and i have worked on several things and have a deep respect for you. i very much agree with you that one of the contributing factors to the excess risk taking that was central to the crisis was compensation and that was linked to short-term gains without any consideration of a long-term risk. and as you say, across the subprime mortgage business, brokers are compensated in ways that place a high rating on volume without regard to whether the far worse had the ability to make those payments. that is pretty clear. i associate myself