We want an effective and efficient government, and the trick is--I come from the private sector, and we were talking about earlier that in the private sector, you have the fiscal discipline of going bankrupt, of making sure that you not…

53 percent that were termed 'improper' or where there was--I am not exactly sure what this represents, but 53 percent by Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) are actually overturned.

Now, that should not be a very difficult thing to fix when you take a look at--especially with the Internet now, you can really get a competitive price very quickly.

Senator Johnson mentioned. In this scheme, a supplier number is established for a DME supplier that does not exist.

we want to definitely discipline and go after bad actors versus the quality suppliers throughout the industry.

Then who determines that, in 2011, for example, that 61 percent of the $9.7 billion that was paid by the MACs, who determines that 61 percent of that were improper payments?

I am not satisfied with the progress, and I certainly have more questions that have not been answered.

Taxpayers would like it, though.

So, total, what does Amtrak lose a year, then, in total?

So, in other words, the Federal Government pumps money in, you count that as revenue, and then you still lose $500 million.

One of the reasons we had budget surpluses in the late 1990s is government spending was only a little over 18 percent.

OK, ``multiple billions.'' Are you talking $10 billion? Are you talking $15 billion?

So wouldn't that be the policy prescription, the first policy prescription is make sure that, rather than have the taxpayers subsidize that, we come up with a model where the people utilizing the track are actually paying for it?

But the freight rail system is pretty profitable, correct?

Would you say that one of the reasons is because of the discipline of a private-sector marketplace?

Wow. So you can't tell me how much you lose in a year?

I am not interested in the way Congress figures it. What does your profit and loss look like?

One of the macro pieces of information that was pretty eye-popping to me when I came here was a study commissioned by the Small Business Administration (SBA)...

What proposals have you heard potentially coming out of Congress that would help reduce our regulatory burden?

I appreciate your willingness to step forward and serve. It is a sacrifice, particularly with a young family.

To me, that certainly qualifies under the law of diminishing returns as something we really need to take a look at.

Between 1998 and 2010, the opportunities for public comment have really declined.

Just a quick suggestion. We held a pretty interesting hearing chaired by Senator Mark Warner about the British one-in/one-out rule.

I would call up my amendment No. 213. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is pending.

this is a very simple amendment. It recognizes I think what most of us recognize; that is, the entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, are the primary drivers of our debt and deficit. So it is a very simple amendment. It…