Sunday, December 20, 2009

plus 4, Brittany Murphy Dead - Updates, Background and Thoughts - Gather.com

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plus 4, Brittany Murphy Dead - Updates, Background and Thoughts - Gather.com

Brittany Murphy Dead - Updates, Background and Thoughts - Gather.com

Posted: 20 Dec 2009 12:50 PM PST

Brittany Murphy dead at just 32 years old was a sad story to read. After discussing our own family crisis, I returned to my computer to discover Brittany Murphy dead at such a young age. Reports state Brittany Murphy is dead from cardiac arrest.

TMZ reports a 911 call was made at 8 AM from the home of Simon Monjack, Brittany Murphy's husband, to the L.A. City Fire Department. Brittany Murphy was taken to Cedar-Sinai medical center. They pronounced Brittany Murphy dead on arrival. A TMZ update reveals Brittany Murphy was found unconscious in the shower by her mother.

Brittany Murphy dead is very upsetting to me. This popular actress was one of my favorites. I enjoyed her ability to make us laugh and entertain us. Brittany Murphy starred in many films including 8 Mile (with Eminem), Sin City, The Dead Girl, Just Married, Clueless (one of my favorites), Riding in Cars with Boys (another fave), Uptown Girls (yet another favorite and I can't believe Brittany Murphy is dead), Little Black Book and Spun. 

At just 32, Brittany Murphy was born on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents were divorced when Brittany Murphy was two and her mom Sharon Murphy raised her in New Jersey then Los Angeles. Wikipedia reports Brittany Murphy's dad is a convicted mobster. 

At nine year old, Brittany Murphy scored a singing role in the musical Les Miserables. By the time she was thirteen, Brittany Murphy had a manager. At fourteen, Brittany Murphy first worked in Hollywood in the series Drexell's Class. When Brittany Murphy was fifteen, her mom survived breast cancer with a double mastectomy. 

By 1995, Brittany Murphy landed her role in Clueless. In 1997, Brittany Murphy got the role of the voice of Luanne Platter on King of the Hill. She was also the voice of the younger version of King of the Hill character Joseph Gribble. 

Brittany Murphy was also a musician. Brittany Murphy and Paul Oakenfold recorded the single "Faster Kill Pussycat" in 2006. With the release of the film Happy Feet, Brittany Murphy covered "Boogie Wonderland" from Earth, Wind and Fire and "Somebody to Love" from Queen. 

Romantically speaking, Brittany Murphy dated Ashton Kutcher in 2002. She was engaged to a production assistant named Joe Macaluso but the engagement ended in 2006. By 2007, Brittany Murphy married screenwriter Simon Monjack. 

Beautiful Brittany Murphy landed on the 2006 FHM's 100 Sexiest Women List and Maxim's Hot 100 List. Brittany Murphy dead is almost unbelievable to me since she was always so vibrant and alive. My condolences to Brittany Murphy's family, may she rest in peace. 

Here is YouTube video of Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy in "Faster Kill Pussycat": 

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ESPN - ESPN.com

Posted: 20 Dec 2009 12:07 PM PST

Typically in most golf seasons, the winners in the majors dominate the story lines. For 2009, golf's biggest tournaments were center stage again, but this time for very different reasons.

So which of the top moments of the year stood out most in golf over the past 12 months? (And yes, Tiger's "transgressions" were purposely left off this list since that saga has taken on a life of its own.) ESPN.com golf writers Jason Sobel and Bob Harig discuss the possibilities.

This is an easy one, Bob. The stories of the year were the ones that didn't happen. This season will be remembered as one of almosts and near-misses at the major championships, considering we nearly had 48-year-old Kenny Perry win the Masters, David Duval return from oblivion to win the U.S. Open (or Phil Mickelson, just over a month after announcing his wife, Amy, was being treated for breast cancer -- more on this later), Tom Watson win his sixth Open Championship title and Tiger Woods get within three of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record at the PGA Championship.

Force me to choose just one of those and -- like everyone else, I assume -- I'll pick Watson, who was 32 years removed from the Duel in the Sun with Nicklaus yet nearly claimed another Claret Jug at the age of 59. It would have been a victory for the ages; instead it will simply stand as the best story of 2009.

You're right, this is easy. And we agree that Watson's near-miss is No. 1. You just cannot overstate what a huge deal it would have been if he had pulled it off. And we're not talking about some fluke. Watson contended the entire tournament, needed a par at the last hole to win his sixth Claret Jug, hit a perfect drive, a seemingly perfect second shot well, you know the rest.

To think that he would have become the oldest major winner by 11 years and that his eighth and ninth majors would have been separated by 26 years. Just incredible. And, of course, he would have pulled within five majors of Tiger!

Yeah, I'm sure Woods would have felt Watson breathing down his neck in that regard. Of course, that leads to what I believe is the next-biggest story of the year: For the first time, Tiger held the lead going into the final round of a major and lost. He had been a perfect 14-for-14 in such situations entering the PGA, but Y.E. Yang posted the lowest round of the day while paired with Woods in the final group at Hazeltine.

Wouldn't have been my first choice as the guy who could beat the game's best in what amounted to a head-to-head match, but let the record show that Yang joins Bob May, Chris DiMarco and Rocco Mediate on a not-so-illustrious list of players who have given Tiger the most trouble in these situations. If I'm a PGA Tour pro who someday wants to take him down, I give this final round "save until I delete" status on the TiVo for future reference.

OK, I'll give you that and take Angel Cabrera's win at the Masters as the next biggest story of the year. Or, perhaps more appropriately, Kenny Perry's loss.

When Mr. Kentucky knocked it stiff at the par-3 16th for a birdie, who among us didn't think the green jacket was his? Perry was bidding to become the oldest major champion at age 48 -- surpassing Julius Boros -- and he was 2 shots ahead with two holes to play.

Forgotten in the aftermath is that Cabrera rolled in a birdie putt on the same hole playing with Perry, then made the all-time par at the 18th -- after rattling his drive into the trees -- to tie Perry, who went bogey-bogey. Chad Campbell was in there, too, but I'll remember Perry bogeying three of his last four after playing so well for so long. Another thing forgotten: Cabrera has won two majors.

Sure, the Masters is always going to make headlines, no matter the result, but I think you missed one here.

Phil Mickelson took two extended absences during the season to be with not only his wife, but his mother, Mary, who was also undergoing treatment for breast cancer. At the time of his first absence, which began just after the Players Championship in May, I believed Phil had an edge in the player of the year race over Tiger, with wins at Riviera and Doral. He returned to play some of the best golf of his career late in the season, winning the Tour Championship in come-from-behind fashion and then taking the unofficial WGC-HSBC Champions event in China.

It was a topsy-turvy, emotion-filled year for Mickelson, with some very high highs and some very low lows. And it was a compelling story the entire time.

You won't get any argument from me about that. Phil's turnaround in light of all that happened to him personally was quite remarkable. Few of us would have been surprised if he had shut it down for the rest of the year after his May announcement. But he came back to almost win the U.S. Open, and then after another extended break, took some time to get his game back in shape but did so with the help of putting guru Dave Stockton.

The fact that he played so well and so often at the end of 2009 bodes well for next year. Amazingly, we've gotten this far without a Tiger moment. At least not one that he would consider a good moment.

There were several, obviously. But I'm going with the putt on the 72nd hole at Bay Hill in near-darkness. Not only did it cap a 5-shot final-round comeback to defeat Sean O'Hair, but it was his first victory since knee surgery. And it was in just his third start since coming back.

Well, the PGA was technically a "Tiger moment," though I guess it was more of a "Yang moment," so I get what you're saying. And I agree; if you're going to pick just one specific instance from Woods' season, it has to be Bay Hill, where he provided some awesome drama on the final green for the second straight year.

If you want another one, try his opening-round victory over Brendan Jones at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. We hadn't seen Tiger compete in eight months, making it an electric atmosphere in the desert. Really, though, if we're talking golf-related stories and not just moments, his entire comeback from that injury should be accounted for pretty high on the list.

This is the same surgery that Ernie Els underwent four years ago, and he still hasn't returned to the same level. For Woods to play as well as he did this year is a testament to both his work ethic and talent level.

You and I were both in Arizona at Woods' first tournament back. I'll never forget that scene during the Tuesday practice round. The fairway ropes were lined with people just to watch one guy practice.

The hype and anticipation for that tournament were pretty overwhelming. It should not diminish what he accomplished this year. There was no guarantee he was going to immediately return to No. 1 form. That's why I have to throw in his victory at the Memorial next. Believe it or not, plenty of doubt surrounded his game after he didn't win the Masters and failed to win while playing in the last group at the Players Championship.

At Muirfield Village, he hit fairways and greens with precision and then knocked one stiff on the 72nd hole to clinch his second victory of the year.

Maybe my brain is still fried from that week under the hot sun in the Arizona desert, but I can't think back any farther than the past few weeks for my next one, which is sort of a three-pronged story and our first non-PGA Tour mention.

That would be the ousting of LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens, then little-known Michael Whan being named to the position and Michelle Wie winning her first professional title. The ladies' tour was looking at some lean times under Bivens, who was driven out of the role by players who didn't feel she had their best interests at heart.

Whan won't officially take over until January, but already he's witnessed an uptick in the LPGA's figurative stock, as Wie represents the tour's greatest meal ticket regarding mainstream observers and casual fans.

Sadly, the Bivens/LPGA story did not even make my list. Perhaps that is what makes it a big deal.

The tour has fallen so far out of our collective minds that a lot of what happens there is lost. Certainly the ouster of Bivens was big news. Could you imagine the players trying to get rid of Tim Finchem on the PGA Tour? The LPGA has had its share of troubles, and it doesn't help an American-based tour to have so few victories among Americans.

Michelle Wie's victory was the first by a U.S. player in months. And it is obvious that her success is vital to the future of the LPGA.

Along the lines of the LPGA's woes is the PGA Tour's ability to withstand the economic downturn. If you remember, golf got a black eye early in the year when members of Congress called out some companies who were receiving federal bailout money for sponsoring tournaments. The tour has lost a few sponsors but managed to replace them for now. And that will continue to be an issue going into 2010.

In fact, that will be an even bigger issue this coming year, with so many title sponsorships up for renewal going into the 2011 season.

My next one is another recent -- and ongoing -- event, and yet another which remains an off-course issue. Doug Barron was the first player to be suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs since the PGA Tour implemented the policy and began testing in mid-2008. It would be foolish to think he will be the only player to come up positive; then again, it would be foolish to think that a guy who made exactly zero dollars on the PGA and Nationwide tours this season is really trying to circumvent the system.

Barron has a long history of illness and injury, and maintains that he was only taking prescribed medication rather than some type of muscle-accumulating steroid that would help beef up his driving distance an extra 30 yards. Either way, though, it's a compelling story.

And one, frankly, that has been underplayed. Think about this: The guy has a doctor prescribing him these drugs and the tour denies him the chance to play.

We're not talking about an athlete who sought the use of performance enhancers through shady means. This is for health reasons, and he is unable to play golf because of it? A pretty big deal; one I'm sure we have not heard the end of.

I will conclude by going back to the course, and I'm not picking one event or shot but a series of tournaments. After missing the cut at the British Open, Woods went 1-1-2-T2-T11-1-2 in his next seven events, wrapping up the FedEx Cup in the process. That's three wins and three runner-up finishes in a seven-tournament stretch. Anybody else gets player of the year honors based on that alone.

And it speaks volumes that you actually glossed over the most newsworthy part: He missed the cut at the British Open!

Say what you will about other greats of the game -- and no disrespect to anyone else -- but I think Tiger is the only player ever who makes bigger news when he doesn't play well than when he wins.

I'll leave you with this: There's no way of knowing what we'll be writing about in this exchange 365 days from now, but I guarantee Woods will again be a major story, no matter how he performs. Add in major championships at Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Whistling Straits and I think we'll have some pretty entertaining storylines next year.

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Business Notables - Battle Creek Enquirer

Posted: 20 Dec 2009 11:38 AM PST

Melissa Heffner has joined the Battle Creek law firm of Mumford, Schubel, Norlander, Macfarlane and Barnett as an associate attorney. She will concentrate her practice in the areas of divorce and domestic relations law and probate and estate planning.

Heffner received her Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 2008, where she received Jurisprudence Awards in arbitration, child advocacy and products liability. In addition to her legal degree, Heffner also has an undergraduate degree in biology/biotechnology from the University of Northern Iowa, and dual degrees in psychology and sociology from Wartburg College, Iowa. Her professional experience includes work as a juvenile probation officer with the 37th Judicial Circuit Court of Calhoun County, as a mentor with Starr Commonwealth in Battle Creek, and as a counselor at Bremwood Lutheran Children's Home in Waverly, Iowa.

has announced that Steve Koles has been hired to lead the news department. Koles will be coming from WPRI in Providence, R.I. He has been the assistant news director at the Lin owned CBS station for the last three and a half years.

Prior to Providence, he was the assistant news director and acting news director at KJRH in Tulsa. He has also served as executive producer at WMAR in Baltimore and senior news producer at WAVY in Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport.

Voltek Division of Sekisui America Corporation has donated $140 to the Community Health Center of Branch County's Community Cancer Center for breast cancer diagnostics. This donation will be used for annual mammograms for women who cannot afford to have the yearly test.

Employees raised the money through a Pink Friday event. Those who donated $5 to breast cancer could wear jeans to work. This is the second year that Voltek has held this event, and more money was raised than last year.

Local business owner and Hap Ki Do Grand Master Hee Kwan Lee, founder and president of Korean Martial Arts, LLC, has been inducted into the Martial Arts World Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. He was honored for his contributions to the martial arts community.

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Senators Landrieu, Brown, Snowe & Alexander on "Face the Nation" - RealClearPolitics

Posted: 20 Dec 2009 11:24 AM PST

BOB SCHIEEFER: And good morning again from snow-bound Washington where we got nearly two feet of snow yesterday. As the Senate Democratic leaders were claiming that they finally had the vote of Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and that gave them the 60 votes they need to pass health care reform in the Senate. Final vote now scheduled to come at 7:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

The bill is massive, more than 2,000 pages. Basically it extends insurance coverage to 31 million Americans who are not now covered. It creates nonprofit insurance exchanges where people can purchase insurance. It does not include the so-called public option that is a government-run plan similar to Medicare.

The cost, an estimated $871 billion over the next decade. This bill also tightens restrictions on funding for abortion. It has many other provisions, including barring insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. It will be paid for by new taxes on employers who provide health care by various fees on medical services and procedures, and taxes on some high-cost plans themselves.

All our guests are in the studio with us this morning. We begin with Republican senator and appropriately enough Senator Olympia Snowe who is with us this morning. She was believed to be the most likely Republican to vote for this bill. In the end, senator, you decided not to vote for it. Thank you for joining us this morning.

SNOWE: Thank you, Bob.

SCHIEFFER: Why in the end did you decide you couldn't do it?

SNOWE: Well Bob, at this point anyways, I deeply regret that because I frankly I have been fully immersed in this process for a better part of the year, both my staff and myself because I'm committed to health care reform.

I believe that the current situation is unacceptable and unconscionable when you think about rising health care costs. That's why the only Republican on the Finance Committee, I voted for legislation. I did have some problems with that particular legislation. But at the time the credibility of the process going forward would determine the credibility of the outcome.

So here we are today with a bill that's dramatically different, more expansive than the Finance Committee. In fact it's 1,200 pages more than the Finance Committee legislation. It was placed on the floor just short of three weeks ago. Four hundred amendments and two dozen have been considered voted upon.

As 400 members are not unusual since each of the committees that considered the legislation have had more than 500 amendments. Then less than 24 hours yesterday, we get a 400-page amendment that was filed by the Senate majority leader. We are scheduled to vote on that major amendment 15 hours from now at 1:00 in the morning with no opportunity to amend it. All to get done the entire bill with no opportunity to amend it, to change it by Christmas, so that we can adjourn for a three-week recess for a bill that doesn't become implemented until 2014.

SCHIEFFER: What was the tipping point for you? What was it that happened that made you say I just can't do it?

SNOWE: Well it was a number of issues. I have been in countless meetings, meetings and telephone calls, meetings with the president, meetings with the majority leader, a number of people across the aisle without question. The problem is the bill became bigger. It has the class act which is a whole new entitlement that frankly will turn in the red five years after the benefits begin.

SCHIEFFER: What is that?

SNOWE: It's a long-term care insurance. And it's a whole new entitlement. In fact, half of those revenues that will be set aside for a vesting period will be used to calculate the deficit reduction over the next 10 years. That's where they derive half of their deficit reduction. Then you have a whole new layer of taxes. The Medicare payroll tax. We have good tax subsidies. And I applaud Senator Landrieu that you'll be hearing from in a moment on those tax subsidies for small businesses.

SNOWE: But on the other hand, you have a 1 percent Medicare payroll tax on small businesses, affecting them disproportionately at a time we're depending on them to create jobs to lead us out of this recession.

It is not indexed for inflation. It's a 62 percent increase. So this will be devastating for small business as well.

I had submitted a CBO letter on December 3rd with substantial questions on what is the premium cost for every American who will be participating in the exchange? What can they expect?

As they're sitting around their kitchen table, they expect certain answers to certain questions. We don't have those answers to those questions. And that's why I indicated to hold off. I said to the president and I said to the Senate majority leader and others, please, give us the time; come back after the new year; get together. This is a generational issue that has substantial effects with -- in fact, I would say sweeping effects because you're recalculating one- sixth of our economy.

And, frankly, we're treating it as if it's the legislative appropriations at the end of the year. It's like the last train leaving the station; we're going to dump everything in there.

SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you this. It's my understanding that, even after Leader Reid announced that he had the 60th vote, the 60 votes he needs, you met again with President Obama. What was -- what was that about?

SNOWE: Correct. The president, you know, and I have -- have worked together on this issue. And I applaud him for, you know, his knowledge, his grasp of the issue. It's his major and highest domestic initiative, on this issue, and he wants to get it done this year, and encouraging me to support the legislation.

And as I indicated to him, I'll continue to work through, our House and Senate conference, but the legislation that is pending -- this process denies us the ability to thoroughly and carefully and deliberately evaluate what is at stake. I mean, we're talking about reordering $33 trillion over the next 10 years.

SCHIEFFER: Well, do you -- was the reason for this meeting -- was he asking you to vote for this thing when it comes out of conference? Is that what it was?

SNOWE: No, it was the pending legislation.

SCHIEFFER: But you told him you couldn't?

SNOWE: That I had -- yes, that I had problems, because the process is denying me and others, for that matter, the opportunity to amend it, on a big bill.

Why Christmas? There's no magic deadline. This "beat the clock" is really overruling legislative sanity.

SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you -- let me ask you about the abortion language in here. Senator Nelson insisted that the abortion language be tightened on what money could be spent on abortions in these insurance policies.

But now he's satisfied, but now the right-to-life folks, the anti-abortion people say they're not satisfied with it. But the people who favor abortion say they're not satisfied with it, either. Are you...

(LAUGHTER)

... how do you feel about that part of it?

SNOWE: Well, I helped to -- to work on the underlying legislation and the provision that basically, you know, embraced the status quo, making sure that we're not using any federal funds to finance abortion, using a precedent that already exists in domestic family programs and in national family planning programs, as well as Medicaid.

And I think there's 17 states that separate their funds. They're not commingled. That is a process that's worked time and again.

And I think it's regrettable that it's reached this point with respect to this issue because, clearly, what is in the current legislation should have satisfied those concerns. It was every attempt to write it as it is in existing law that would not use any federal funds to finance abortion.

SCHIEFFER: All right. Senator, so thank you very much for coming in on a very snowy day here in Washington.

SNOWE: Thank you.

SCHIEFFER: We'll be right back.

SNOWE: Thank you, Bob.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHIEFFER: And we're back now with Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican Lamar Alexander from Tennessee. Well, you heard Senator Snowe. She was one of those, Senator Brown, who was very much -- almost really wanted to vote for something here and in the end just couldn't bring herself to do it. You were one of those who very much wanted a lot more than what's in this bill. In a sense you wanted a public option. You said you're going to vote for it. But are you happy with it?

BROWN: I'm disappointed. I think it could be a better bill. But we're making major progress in this bill. First of all, for those people who have insurance in this country, right now you're paying $100 a month more than $1,000 a year of hidden tax for basically for care for people who don't have insurance that go to emergency rooms and all that.

This bill has got good insurance reform. It says that no more pre-existing condition. No more exclusions for that. No more discrimination. Women paying more for health insurance than men. It strengthens Medicare. It provides free screenings for Medicare, for every Medicare beneficiary. It lengthens the life expectancy of Medicare. And it gives tax breaks for small business. And those start immediately so small companies can begin to ensure their employees.

Most companies in Cincinnati and Cleveland and Columbus that I talk to want to insure their employees. They simply can't afford it. If they have 20 employees and one of them gets cancer, it makes their premiums unaffordable. So this bill moves absolutely in the right direction.

SCHIEFFER: Are you convinced people are going to pay less, that this is going to reduce costs? I keep hearing people saying it's going to cost a lot more.

BROWN: This bill -- if we do nothing, insurance premiums are going to double. You know, I'm amazed as I hear Republican after Republican take to the Senate floor and defend the insurance companies, practices worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge. And the way they'd have it is that the insurance companies would cancel Tiny Tim for pre- existing condition. I mean it's clearly not sustainable what we're doing now. We clearly need to go on a different path.

SCHIEFFER: So Senator Alexander, as a Republican, I take it you don't quite agree with that. Let me ask you this. Republicans have done everything they can and openly. They're not making any secret of it to slow this process down as much as they can. Is it now done or will you continue to try to slow this vote down?

ALEXANDER: Well no, it's never done in the Senate until it's done. And I thought Senator Snowe pretty eloquently explained why we want to know more about the bill. There's a reason why we're voting on it in the middle of the night. We just learned about it yesterday. They're trying to push it through before Christmas. There's a lot of explaining to do.

I mean, how are you going to help Medicare by taking a trillion dollars out of Medicare over a 10-year period at a time when Medicare is going broke in five years according to its trustees?

How will taxes help create new jobs when we've got 10 percent unemployment? How are governors going to pay for the Medicaid expansion? Almost all of them are saying they'll have to raise state taxes. They'll have to raise college tuitions. Then what about the $16 million Americans low-income, who are getting dumped into Medicare, Medicaid, excuse me, the program for low-income Americans, where 50 percent of the doctors won't even see new Medicaid patients? There's a lot of explaining to do.

SCHIEFFER: Let me get back to the question I asked you. Are you going to continue to try to slow this process down or are you going to let it come to a vote?

ALEXANDER: Well, we want to take the time to let the American people know what it costs, what it is, how it affects them because we believe when they find out, they won't like it any better than they do now and they won't allow Congress to pass it.

SCHIEFFER: Do you believe it is possible to keep this from coming to a vote before Christmas?

 

ALEXANDER: I'm not sure. We'll have to see. But it is outrageous in the middle of a snowstorm to give us a 2,700-page bill yesterday, start voting in the literally in the middle of the night and say let's pass it before we go home for Christmas.

SCHIEFFER: Senator Landrieu, you were one of those like Senator Snowe who was very much on the fence but then somehow in what people are calling the Louisiana purchase, $300 million in Medicaid help for your state came your way and you suddenly were able to vote for that.

LANDRIEU: Bob, let me be very clear. Nothing could make me vote for a bill if I didn't think it was the right thing to do for my state and for the nation. Nothing, no amount of money.

That was one of about 12 things that I fought very hard for. And I'm pleased to say in the final bill, many of them have presented themselves. One, Sherrod mentioned tax credits for small businesses. I'm the chair of the Small Business Committee. I was not going to support a bill that didn't have robust help for small business. I was not going to support a bill that had a small business mandate. So there were a number of things. That was just one.

LANDRIEU: And it was a very worthy request in the sense that, after Katrina, our calculation for Medicaid put us in the same category as Connecticut. People know that Connecticut is a much richer state than Louisiana.

But having said that, I'd like to answer the question you asked Lamar. There's only one reason we're going to be here until Christmas, and that's Senator Tom Coburn . We don't have to vote in the middle of the night. But he's the one making us do it, not Harry Reid , not the Democrats. It is a Republican obstructionist that is making us vote in the middle of the night.

Number two, we've been discussing this issue for 40 years, not four months, not four weeks, 40 years we've debated this. And since last March, this discussion has been public. So this business about they don't know what's in the bill, it has been widely, widely distributed. The language has been on the Internet. We are going to get this done before Christmas.

And it's extraordinary that Democrats, Sherrod, who started out for a robust public option, I was not necessarily for that much government involvement, have come together to write what we think is a great, very good, great bill for the American people.

(CROSSTALK)

ALEXANDER: The assistant Democratic leader, Dick Durbin, said on the floor last week he didn't know what was in the bill. We got a 400-page amendment yesterday. The reason they're rushing it is because they don't want people to know about the Medicare cuts, the tax increases, and the chief actuary...

LANDRIEU: That is not true.

ALEXANDER: ... of government has said that rather than decreasing costs, it will raise costs over the next 20 years. That's the chief actuary of government in the Obama administration said that.

LANDRIEU: That is not true.

BROWN: Let me put a human face on this. In Toledo, in Dayton, in Piqua, Ohio, 390 people every single day are losing their health insurance, 390 people a day. Across this country, a thousand people a week die because they don't have health insurance.

A woman with breast cancer is 40 percent more likely to die if she doesn't have insurance than if she does have insurance, 40 percent more likely. So this kind of obstruction -- I mean, this "gang of six" started meeting in -- formally in June, but much before that as they started negotiating this bill.

Everybody knows the great majority of what's in this. Everybody has debated it. Everybody is -- and it is just a question of delay. I mean, and in the end -- and you know, I like Lamar and I like most of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but it's so much what the insurance industry wants.

The insurance industry stands to lose a lot. CEO of Aetna made $24 million last year. Under this bill, because we've got a provision in this bill that no more than 15 or 20 percent of every premium dollar can go to the insurance companies, the rest have to go to hospitals and doctors in Knoxville and in Baton Rouge and in Columbus. And so that...

ALEXANDER: The fact of the matter is...

BROWN: That means that insurance companies are going to come to the table and going to have to give a little bit up.

ALEXANDER: I would like to hear Sherrod Brown or any other person explain to me how you're going to take a trillion dollars out of the Medicare program on which 40 million seniors depend, which is precisely the amount when the program is fully implemented, and not spend it on Medicare, not spend it on grandma, but spend it on somebody else.

(CROSSTALK)

ALEXANDER: ... at a time when the program is going broke in five years.

LANDRIEU: First of all, we don't take a trillion dollars out of Medicare. We take a couple of hundred million by streamlining the program.

ALEXANDER: Now, Mary...

LANDRIEU: We streamline the program.

ALEXANDER: ... if the CBO said it's a trillion dollars...

LANDRIEU: It's...

ALEXANDER: ... over 10 years when fully implemented.

LANDRIEU: It is not a trillion dollars over time. And Republicans like John McCain and Lamar Alexander have supported many of those same ways to streamline Medicare in the past. John McCain actually ran on some of this. So to claim that we're doing something that Republicans and Democrats haven't tried to do for Medicare, we're strengthening Medicare. That's the bottom line.

Seven years expanding that trust fund. And we're taking some of that money and providing tax cuts and tax credits to small business. And for the first time in America, Americans will have an opportunity to have the same kind of insurance that federal employees have, including members of Congress. That's a promise the president made. And we're keeping it.

BROWN: And the AARP and the American Medical Association wouldn't be supporting this bill if it were substantially cutting Medicare. Most of the cuts, the reason -- you know, when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that howls is the one you hit. And most of the people, the reason that the Republicans are howling on the Medicare, quote-unquote, "cuts" is because we're cutting insurance company subsidies that have gone to Medicare.

So you take those subsidies out, of course they're unhappy with that because the insurance companies are their biggest supporters in election after election.

ALEXANDER: This is exactly why we shouldn't be voting in the middle of the night and passing at Christmas. They are saying that tax cuts -- that tax increases aren't tax increases. They're saying that a trillion-dollar cut in Medicare spent on a new program isn't a $1 trillion cut in Medicare.

They're ignoring the fact that they're dumping on states new expenses for Medicaid that, in my state, our Democratic governor has said is the mother of all unfunded mandates, will cause tax increases and increases in college tuitions, and they're dumping $16 million low-income Americans into a Medicaid program which 50 percent of the doctors won't -- in which they won't see new patients.

LANDRIEU: Bob, let me just add this. They're going to -- 94 percent of all Americans are now going to have health care. This is being done through a private-public partnership, not a government takeover but reform of the insurance industry that people even who have insurance are desperate for.

And it is not being done, you know, in a -- in a very quick way. As I said, we've been debating this all year. So we're ready to come to this great compromise that we believe -- that brought the Democratic Party together.

We wish the Republicans would have joined us. But it's easy to be unified when the only word in your vocabulary is no. That's all they've been able to say to the American people. It's time to say yes to them and get on with the job of governing.

BROWN: Let me tell you why this is no longer business as usual.

SCHIEFFER: We have about 10 seconds.

BROWN: OK. OK, in 2003, when the insurance companies and the drug companies and President Bush pushed through the Medicare privatization bill, they had no -- they were not paying for it in any way. We are paying for this bill. The Congressional Budget Office says it will over -- in the next 20 years, it will be a $1.4 trillion paydown of the national debt. LANDRIEU: Savings.

BROWN: This is the Congressional Budget Office saying that.

SCHIEFFER: All right. One -- 10 seconds, Senator Alexander?

ALEXANDER: Medicare cuts, tax increases, big new taxes on states and dumping low-income Americans into a Medicaid program where half the doctors won't see new patients.

SCHIEFFER: We will continue this conversation...

(LAUGHTER)

... but we're out of time. Back with some closing thoughts in a minute.

 

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