maine, collins in olympia snowe who's leaving, she take it anymore. illinois, i think she waivers. it's just very difficult for office holders and office ans running for right now because there's a powerful interest movement on the right. nd that consists from the bottom up from the texas that were itizens keeping up. eagle eye on every single thing they do. hat's perfectly good as a democratic proposition. are good citizens citizens. and then there are big money eople prepared to send in checks, fun ad campaigns and challenges to anybody who knows the slightest inclination to eal with reality or to compromise. that's on't think forever. nothing in american politics is forever. and there are lots of republicans who don't agree with these things. there are a lot of people in office that don't agree with these things. but they're afraid to speak up the hey're the last of republican-identified voters who on't agree with these things, who think more like a middle of the road, americans in general about these issues. the health care arena too. but right now, something really xtreme happ

snowe. senator, good to have you on the program. >> thank you, maria. >> what are your initial thoughts on this proposal? i remember when i first left the senate and how upset and annoyed -- not annoyed, but how upset you were at the process that had changed, where all we do is fight and we're not getting anything done. democrats want to eliminate these tax breaks. how do you see it? >> well, it's more of the same. and i think both sides better reconcile their differences and develop a budget agreement by december 13 th. i don't think it's acceptable in any fashion if they don't. so, they have to work through those differences. the point is over the last few years, they continue to fight about it, so they can take it to the next election. and position themselves in a way that leverages them for gains, you know, in congress and other seats across the country with respect to legislative and gubernatorial races. i mean, it continues to go on. instead of taking concerted action to reverse the su

snows, ted stephens. >> rules built for an earlier time when partisanship was not as intense and more people willing to negotiate. these rules genuinely don't work with either side in power in this particular moment. rules are quite weird. most governments in the world function with simple majorities in one house much less three. i think really interesting is what going to happen when one party controls. the senate has been able to get some stuff done relatively speaking. the real sort of wall right now is the republican house. we're not really going to see the real repercussions until one party controls all three branches. >> when are we going to get that? >> could be a republican president in 2016. that is the earliest possible. >> luke, i want to ask you in terms of the supreme court -- >> is that your best bet. >> just a statement. >> could be a while. >> luke, in terms of the supreme court carve out. chuck grassley was saying, well, we're going to use the scalia option, the threat, threatening to expand nuclear option to encompass supreme court appointments. how likely is that if

that was olympia snowe and our own kansas senator pat b roberts. if it wasn't for pat roberts, i know he's asking for her to resign today but kathleen sebelius wouldn't be in charge of obama care today if it wasn't for pat roberts. >> interesting race unfolding there. from your understanding of the law and i will ask our panel here of doctors. gave them free white coats which is more than obama care will give them, and they get to talk. in your opinion, how does this impact the average american that all these people getting cancellation letters, seeing rate shock. as you understand the law how do you think it will imb pact the average person? >> this is so difficult, sean. i'm a doctor, not a politician. i deal every day with kansans, families. they are worried about rates going up. we talk about access to health care. the surest way to keep a patient away from a doctor is to make it expensive. they call it the affordable care act. not a word of that's true. it's not affordable and it doesn't provide care. >> doctor, thank you for being with us. >>

he couldn't even get olympia snow, the most liberal of republican senators to be on board. he did not work in a bipartisan fashion. he made that choice. it was a bad choice. let's stop making those choice. let's come together. let's allow a vote in the senate. >> let me jump in there listen to what matt is saying, he's saying listen, this is the republicans didn't vote for this thing from the get-go, if you will. but is that because you believe, debbie, that it was a bad idea or a bad proposal in terms of what was on the books and in terms of what is now a law, or was it political that they just didn't want to see it? >> no. i think it's been political. i think unfortunately this thing has been political from day one. what i'm really happy about now is to see republicans start to -- i mean, a year ago, people couldn't get agreement that we should be able to take care of people that had preexisting conditions, or that children that were 26 could be kept on their parents' plans or that we do something about the escalating price. now at least we hear republicans saying hey, ye

that was olympia snowe and our own kansas senator pat b roberts. if it wasn't for pat roberts, i know he's asking for her to resign today but kathleen sebelius wouldn't be in charge of obama care today if it wasn't for pat roberts. >> interesting race unfolding there. from your understanding of the law and i will ask our panel here of doctors. gave them free white coats which is more than obama care will give them, and they get to talk. in your opinion, how does this impact the average american that all these people getting cancellation letters, seeing rate shock. as you understand the law how do you think it will impact the average person? >> this is so difficult, sean. i'm a doctor, not a politician. i deal every day with kansans, families. they are worried about rates going up. we talk about access to health care. the surest way to keep a patient away from a doctor is to make it expensive. they call it the affordable care act. not a word of that's true. it's not affordable and it doesn't provide care. >> doctor, thank you for being with us. >> t

it was senator olympia snowe that cast the tie-breaking vote in the senate finance committee, let's remember. >> republican. >> that is the framework. republican, right. so, many of the ideas were negotiated during that time that did have a lot of input from both sides, and if she hadn't made that important and courageous vote, we wouldn't be where we are. and so, there are plenty of folks on both sides of the aisle that want to move forward. the most recent narrative, obviously, has been about the 40-some-odd votes to repeal, but i will say this, in the investment community and a bunch of the decreeos and entrepreneurs and innovators i've been dealing with, they're in the same frame of mind that thanks to the high-tech act and the affordable care act, there's never been a better time to be an innovator in health care right now. the opening up of data, shift in payment models towards paying for outcomes. so, these are ideas that are full market that are going to solve problems. >> by the way, when do you think we'll be on the other side of this, the other side of the real problems? when will

it was senator olympia snowe that cast the tie-breaking vote in the senate finance committee, let's remember. >> republican. >> that is the framework. republican, right. so, many of the ideas were negotiated during that time that did have a lot of input from both sides, and if she hadn't made that important and courageous vote, we wouldn't be where we are. and so, there are plenty of folks on both sides of the aisle that want to move forward. the most recent narrative, obviously, has been about the 40-some-odd votes to repeal, but i will say this, in the investment community and a bunch of the decreeos and entrepreneurs and innovators i've been dealing with, they're in the same frame of mind that thanks to the high-tech act and the affordable care act, there's never been a better time to be an innovator in health care right now. the opening up of data, shift in payment models towards paying for outcomes. so, these are ideas that are full market that are going to solve problems. >> by the way, when do you think we'll be on the other side of this, the other side of the real problems? when will

snowe of maybe and john warner of virginia. what they devised was a quite simple solution. they were grappling with the same question that confronts us now, what can justify a member of the united states senate voting to block consideration, in other words, to filibuster, a nominee to the judicial branch. and their idea, simple as it was, had tremendous power. they agreed they would oppose a judicial nominee only in, quote, extraordinary circumstances. that was the gist of the agreement, there were other features to it but their spirit and intent in this short phrase had profoundly meaningful impact. in fact, for the remainder of the bush presidency, there were no more filibusters on judicial nominees. and those senators with that short phrase accomplished a historic impact. what did they mean by it? as one of them said at the time, -- quote -- "ideological attacks are not an extraordinary circumstance. it would have to be a character problem, an ethics problem, some allegations about the qualifications of a person, not an ideo

snowe and i got together proposed changes. belly that the records could be kept for decades. but the problem is despite the changes we have made on this exact authorization act, the victim actually has to sign something and say that they want these records retained and that would not have been in a civil court. current law only requires restrict retention of reports and that's when a service member chooses not to take legal action at the request of the affected service member and this might seem innocuous, but it is not. it allows for the continuing destruction, making it harder for servicemen or women for assault related ailments were to seek justice in the future. i noticed with a former marine when her case could not be brought because she was marine who was kept for five years. when the perpetrator got out and raped two kids, the prosecutor was able to look at the records. it is simply helping to look at the records to know what happened and if there was a similar mo. a service member who has been through an assault should

and that's why senator olympia snowe and i got together and proposed changes to that system. we actually changed it so the records would be kept for decades. but the problem is that still in the law, despite two changes we have made over the years on this exact authorization act, the victim actually has to sign something and say they want the records retained. that would not happen in a civil court. current law only requires retention of restricted reports and that's when a service member chooses not to take legal action at the request of the affected service member. this might seem innocuous but it is not. it's a loophole allowing for the continuing destruction of records, making it harder for servicemen and women who've been sexually assaulted to get v.a. benefits for assault-related ailments or to seek justice in future. i did an event with a former marine who literally her case couldn't be brought because she was a marine, the records at the time were kept for five years. so when the perpetrator got out and raped two kids in californ california, that prosecutor in califor

snowe. saying in a briefing at the daily conference call small businesses will still be able to sign-up workers, but they will have to do it by mail or phone or in person. with an agent p had >> is important to recognize with small businesses in particular, many of them today are served using agents and brokers for the particular mechanism we have outlined today in many cases is something very familiar with the small business community and something that will work for them. >> officials are trying to come up with a way to make it easier for people to estimate their insurance subsidies to you insurance companies some confidence that it will be accurate. >> it varies that parts of the affordable care act are not ready for prime time, but something the whole thing needs to be scrapped and start over from scratch. here is darrell issa. >> the website is still not delivering what the american people want, which is answers to their questions about costs and benefits but most importantly people are

maine, collins in olympia snowe who's leaving, she take it anymore. illinois, i think she waivers. it's just very difficult for office holders and office ans running for right now because there's a powerful interest movement on the right. nd that consists from the bottom up from the texas that were itizens keeping up. eagle eye on every single thing they do. hat's perfectly good as a democratic proposition. are good citizens citizens. and then there are big money eople prepared to send in checks, fun ad campaigns and challenges to anybody who knows the slightest inclination to eal with reality or to compromise. that's on't think forever. nothing in american politics is forever. and there are lots of republicans who don't agree with these things. there are a lot of people in office that don't agree with these things. but they're afraid to speak up the hey're the last of republican-identified voters who don't re

snowe, recently said, when you have these back-to-back rejections of nominees, at some point it may be time to reverse the results of the election. now, tonight we're going to try to end the filibuster against judge robert wilkins. he's got the highest rating possible by the american bar association. when he was up for the u.s. district court, he was confirmed unanimously. he's presided over hundreds of cases. he's issued significant decisions in various areas of the law. prior to serving on the bench, he was a partner for 10 years in private practice and 10 years the public defender in the district of columbia. this is a man who in past presidents, in past senates would probably go through by a voice vote after dozens of senators in both parties stood on the floor to praise him. but what the difference is, he was nominated by president obama and suddenly they're trying to block him. this is a man who served as the lead plaintiff in a racial profiling case which rose out of an incident in which he and three family members were stopped and detained while returning from a funeral in c