Page 320 - C Span News Today

>> dont you think the independents and moderates that voted people like obama in and his administration in dont you think the same independents and moderates are going to cross over once again and vote for republicans. >> what i am saying is had they swung the other direction and thought a republican was going to be the one to solve the problem they would be just as disappointed. we would still have the unemployment. >> european countries such as poland which cuts spending and cut taxes in the f...

Obama. >> dont you think independents and moderates that voted people like obama in and his administration in dont you think theyre going to cross over once again? >> yes. >> what im say sthag... had they swung another direction and thought a republican was going to be the one to soflt problem theyd be just as disappointed. wed still have this unemployment. >> look at european countries. such as poland. cut spending and taxes in the face of the global recession. theyre recovering quickly. countr...

People try to dig out from that massive weekend snowstorm. the cleanup effort is slow going. thousands of homes still without power. it could be weeks before everything is back on. and travel troubles continue. air, bus and train service is nowhere near normal yet. to make matters worse, the washington, d.c. area could be hit with another snowstorm tomorrow. and those are your headlines. we escaped all that snow here a little bit more north. >> luckily, yeah. it was a strong storm track but were...

Health care saying they may break the bill into smaller parts, they might keep it together, they might hold off on action or they, quote, might just punch it through congress. meanwhile its not clear how much the presidents offer to open up the health care meetings will matter this date late in the game. a lot of americans are turned off by the secret closed-door nature of the negotiations. they expected more from the candidate who vowed to broadcast it all on c-span. remember? dont forget, this...

Which is they dont have much to offer. and the idea that it -- there was no transparency, the back room deals, 98 percent of the hearings were on c-span, in fact, and going down to the white house and sitting down and putting their ideas on the table i think is a very good idea. i think andrea is right, id be careful if i was republicans because in fact they dont want obama to have a bill and secondly, they dont have any really solid ideas to pass a bill. so i think theyre going to be exposed he...

They have tried to do the back room deals necessary in their old strategy to getting things through congress. >> richard, as far as the democrats, though, a number say, look, the solution is clear. the senate has to swallow some of its pride, the house has to swallow its pride, pass what the senate has already done, and theres no expectation republicans are going to go along, so for those democrats who say, what are they waiting for, how does the white house respond to that? >> reporter: well, t...

There has not been enough bipartisan negotiation. democrats scoff at that. republicans say it really hasnt been sufficient and it would be more transparent. by putting it on television, it sort of undercuts one of the big arguments that was so effective, even in the most recent case of massachusetts, when the president had promised that all the negotiations would be on c-span, many of the early hearings on health care were televised but in the late game when some of those deals were cut that got...

Reform the insurance markets so people with pre-existing conditions, for example, can get health care? how do you want to make sure that the 30 million people who dont have health insurance can get it? what are your ideas specifically? >> it sounds like a good idea. that would be on c-span on february 25th, thursday afternoon, taking half the day. republicans are now saying that they dont want to meet with the president on television. pretty bold move by the president to do that. lets get to it....

>> i was worried, but they are just fine. she has a big opening tonight it will be fun. >> my art exhibit was there last week. >> it was? did you show your postcards? thats good. michael lke allen has the m playbook. the joint summit on health care. i like the idea if you think it will give the idea of health care reform momentum. >> well, sure. i think people in both parties wonder why now? we said on this show, one of the easiest things for the president to have done was to call republicans,...

Of criticism he has had from both his own party and, of course, republicans. from his own party, there are liberal democrats who believe he has not done enough to push health care across the finish line, to be personally involved. one of those would be the liberal from minnesota, thats al franken, whos been very verbal, telling the white house that they need to do more. now, from critics on the right, they have made the case that the president has not done enough in terms of bipartisanship, from...