what we have in this economy is we already have one of the most flexible economies in the world and it doesn't seem to have done us any long term good terms of creating jobs or making people more productive this is the other side as the sort of solutions that i'm talking about are if you have to find solutions to challenge of a falling demand you might actually go down the route of making your workforce more productive getting more out of the capital that you are investing rather than simply saying oh well we can't do anything let's just let people go right on the dealt that's no solution for the economy as a whole actually happening is a solution for any individual company either oh into debt thank you very much. yet another tragic shooting right on the streets of the capital is again cause to open the gun debate across the nation now all the talking heads are saying that you got to take away the guns to be safe well the problem is that the shooting happened right on the streets of the capital of a country where the guns have already been taken away paris france three kurdish women on

of the economy. the s&p 500 initially shrugged off the weak g.d.p. data. but by the time the federal reserve announcement was released, prices were headed lower, ending down 0.4%. trading volume held steady from yesterday. 704 million shares traded on the new york stock exchange. just over two billion moved on the on the nasdaq. nine of the 10 major sectors were weaker, led by losses in the industrial, energy and materials sectors. amazon shares were in focus after last night's quarterly results included higher gross profit margins, encouraging it's investors. shares gained 4.8% as volume quadrupled. even though its earnings and outlook were weaker than expected several analysts increased their price targets for the stock, expecting profit margins to continue to improve. after hanging on through controversies over heavy spending and his personal business, chesapeake energy c.e.o. aubrey mcclendon will step down. on april first he will leave the executive office of the energy company he founded in 198

i mean, the economy, the job market not great still, 155,000 new jobs, but the economy does seem to be doing okay. >> well, i think that's probably right, the economy will do okay, but when you have unemployment at 7.8% and it's really stubbornly not pudge r budging, you want to do something-- something more for the economy than just okay, than muddling through. i mean, if you're the president and you can fly back and forth to hawaii, you're not feeling it, but there are lots of people who are feeling the malaise of the economy, the low, slow growth. so, i think it's disappointing that we weren't able to do something that was really more-- had more of a positive impact. >> well, there were a couple of big words attached to the fiscal cliff. one was uncertainty, the economy as a business needed certainty and the other was the prospect of a recession. i think the deal probably undoubtedly does avoid a recession. we're not going to have negative growth, but we are probably going to have growth as we have had for about the last two years of 2% or less. so, we do have an economy, but we do

being willing to crash the american economy as they go into this one i don't think the american economy is going to crash and two they are very serious about getting control of the spending of the federal government the constitution gives the house of representatives in specific control over spending preeminence not the not the senate not the supreme court we're not talking about spending here we are talking about snow we're not we're talking about paying the bills the spending congress authorizes spending the congress had a bank for a little while member when tom de lay was right when denny hastert was running the house of representatives they had this little bank and the most of the republicans they were that was there was young democrats too it was tom foley who was a town hall yeah i know you're talking about a lot of republicans did it is one of blew up but in the case they have sort of bank you know they and you know you're right if i check right yeah it was your earlier from lester was like i said you know exactly exactly exactly so the house of representatives had a bank for a l

. >> the economy is shrinking and the economy is playing the blame game. charles: welcome, everyone, i am charles payne in for neil cavuto. the administration is saying that it was hurricane sandy and defense spending cuts and uncertainty about marcotte. one more quarter and we are in a double dip recession with us tonight is xander -- sandra smith. >> that's right, they are trying to use this report. uncertainty when it comes to tax dollars in borrowing more money. charles: the mass media, i saw a report in new york. six reasons this wasn't a bad record. did you see that? >> the media was trying to spin this in every way that they could. they were trying to make it look like a god for them. what we need to do is say that as a lack of economic growth policy. where is the job growth policies? right now we have consumer confidence levels that we just got this week. they are plummeting because people are seeing their paychecks shrink as a result of the expirations of payroll tax cuts. people have less money to spend, they are less optimistic about the future.

cart ok what's the greatest strength of the economy the greatest strength of the russian economy it's sovereign balance sheet it's one of the best in the world again sovereign debt is very low due to prepayments of that before. the household in russia is not encumbered with so much that as is the case with consumers in the developed economies so there is tremendous alene way for russia to grow not just through the development of infrastructure building roads bridges etc but also this. growth in household consumption that has been quite strong in the past ten years but can still support russia's growth going forward i'm quite optimistic about russia's long term. growth prospects the issue however is that even when they have a good strategy as you said they probably do have a good strategy they need to be better at presenting it at formulating at and then capsule later this year in the form of a full fledged reform program this is what markets want this is what they want to see i think. this is what i wanted to say actually exec is the crimean doesn't mean you know only because it doesn

happening in the economy? joining me now is marty leclaire. how is that the gdp can be done in 10%, that's the news we got today. and the stock market can be jamming away. >> the stock market can be divorced from the real economy at many times. back in the late '90s the stock market was strong in the economy is strong. the last four years, the economy has been tepid, but the stock market has doubled in. gerri: the all-time high, 14,164, that was back in 1997 -- when might we had hit that level again? will be sued in a. >> well, who knows. we believe that the future is unknowable. secondly, this rally started last summer, it's up about 15%. but it sure does seem like a freight train, so who knows, it could happen sooner rather than later. gerri: you sound not so optimistic. chumminess. the chapters about this. why is this market continuing higher? gdp, consumer is not upbeat, where are you finding this massive freight train? >> the last four or five or six years have not been good for the american individual. c

the economy adding 155,000 jobs for the last month. the unemployment rate at 7.8%. we can d see strength in the construction and manufacturing sectors. what do you think this report tells us about where we are now in the economy? >> it tells us, maria, that the economy is healing and that the labor market is healing. not only did we create 155,000 jobs, but we also increased the purchasing power of the labor force by 4.1% year-on-year, and we also saw some improvement in the structural indicators. the long-term unemployed are now down to 39% of total unemployment. that's the good news. the bad news is that it's still a very gradual process, and in particular it is vulnerable to dysfunction and polarization in washington. >> total dysfunction, mohammed. let's talk about that drama over the fiscal cliff. of course, the drama, i guess, goes away temporarily with this agreement on tax rates, but in just a few months congress is going to have to deal with the debt ceiling, and i'm being told, you know, the debt ceiling, the sequester and then a continuing resolution to f

the labor department says that the economy created 155,000 new jobs for the month. that was slightly below expectations. the unemployment rate stands at 7.8%, which is actually unchanged from november because november was revised upward to 7.8%, as well. well, after a painful and protracted battle in government, president obama signed a compromise bill avoiding the fiscal cliff. it makes the bush era tax cuts permanent except for individualses with incomes over $400,000. it also extends jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, allows the payroll tax holiday to expire which, by the way, raises social security taxes by 2% for everybody. the measure increases taxes on capital gains and dividends to 20% to those making other than $400,000. reaction from business was fierce. >> it's amazing how the politicians on both sides of the aisle were talking about how the bill to address the fiscal cliff needed to be balanced, and what came out couldn't have been more imbalanced by definition but nothing but tax increases. >> we have to get something within a couple of mont

what we have in this economy is we already have one of the most flexible economies in the world and it doesn't seem to have done us any long term good terms of creating jobs or making people more productive this is the other side as the sort of solutions that i'm talking about are if you have to find solutions to challenge of a falling demand you might actually go. to rather than simply saying oh well we can't do anything let's just let people. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike scott for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on r t. i. download the official publication to yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites from alzheimer's if you're away from your television or it just doesn't matter now with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere. deadly rivals the decades. if you had fifteen thousand people killing each other in any other country there would be diplomats there would be mediators. self-imposed out costs from society i will contact myself am

the economy next? >> i don't see how it can't, brenda. the person in tt little clip summed it up perfectly. it makes a little bit of a difference and a little bit of a difference times a few hundred million people makes a big difference. it's already been studied by economists, they predict 4 to 500,000 jobs lost, 1/2% lopped off the the gdp. if you look around the studio there, everyone that gets a paycheck, like they said in that little clip, sees less he money. that's less money they were going to spend on groceries, at the drug store, the gas station and that money gets sucked out of the economy, so do jobs. >> brenda: well, now, this does hit lower and middle class americans harder because there is a limit to the amount of income that is taxed. but toby, do you think the higher income americans can make up the spending? >> well, yes. and the fact is, whether this sounds fair or not fair, here are the facts that the top 20% earners in the united states, not the 50% who don't pay any taxes, by the w

guess what i thought about the global economy. i actually think that growth will be moderate with not necessarily a lot of volatility around that. that it might be better, might be worse. >> see, i'm hearing a lot of positives about the u.s. economy if washington can get its act together, but europe is still a big issue. what do you think about europe right now? have we made progress and what's to come? >> well, i think there's some big long-term things they need to do in europe over the next five to seven years. they clearly have bought time with what mario draghi did, but they've done some structural forums. they've raised their pension ages. they've done labor market reform. nothing has happened in the united states. actually nothing. there's reasons for optimism from the shale. people are excited talking about that. and there's some optimism coming from the easy money, i suppose, still. but i think in the united states, you know, if we get to the consensus, which needs to be 3% at the end of the year, i think that would be goo

the economy moving. and we're basically in that situation right now. all the productive capacity is there. all that's lacking is the intellectual clarity and the political will. >> you make this so clear in the book, that's why i recommended that president obama read this book as the one book i would like to see him read before the inauguration next week. if he read it, what would you hope he would fasten on? >> i would hope that he would fasten on the notion, you know, he faces real political constraint. so we understand, he can't just pass legislation. but that the most important thing, his policy priority right now should be doing whatever he can to at least move in the direction of the kinds of policies that we want for full employment, that we need for full employment. and that the obsessions of washington about a grand bargain on the deficit are really pretty much beside the point right now. that, if given a choice between doing something that will help the economy in the next two years, and someth

the private economy did well up 3.4%. it was the government economy that fell. i would like to see us finishing the spending cuts of the government. shrink the government more. grow the private economy by 5%. that is my vision. now there is more bad news for new jersey senator bob menendez as the fbi raids the offices of one of his close financial backers. will it present key evidence in the alleged prostitution scandal surrounding the senator. it's all unconfirmed but the potential legal fallout is huge. >>> israel takes no chances. the air force launches two air strikes in syria preventing the assad regime from transporting chemicals and weapons of mass destruction to hezbollah. if the red line is crossed israel will attack again. we cover it all. "the kudlow report" begins now. first up we learned today the fourth quarter gdp fell slightly, much to everybody's surprise. so the white house is blaming republicans for the fiscal tax cliff and the spending sequester which i think is hilarious. they invented the sequester. we have had tax, spend and regulate polic

for the stock market and the economy. big board trader jonathan corpina says investors are pleased the u.s. isn't a total embarrassment around the world. >> i think the fact that we have some sort of resolution put in place for a short period of time is viewed positive into our markets. i think the transparency, the information, some solid facts out of washington is helping this market move higher. >> reporter: still, wall street, if anything, is good with numbers. and, many market pros worry a deal with higher taxes and no spending cuts is not going to add up for investors. so, expect the stock market to fixate now on how washington tackles spending and the debt ceiling. investors should buckle up for another bumpy ride, with the white house and lawmakers in the driver's seat. >> sadly washington is going to continue to be a focus because we only solved a little bit of the problem with this negotiation of the last several days. we still have the federal debt limit increase to go through. that promises to be a lot more co

the point is, we have a down economy, that flat economy. we're not pulling anything away from the private sector. i was making the point about barnes and noble, and the point is that business -- i've never seen a business that says i'm going to go out and invest because the government's cutting spending on education. >> i think it gives confidence. i don't think -- dean baker is a terribly smart guy, but doesn't understand how business people think. business people want lower spending and lower deficits and loafer taxes. isn't that true? phil, the confidence factor alone, we're not greece. that's going to help us. >> yeah, look, we've still got a tremendous amount of capital on the sidelines. we've essentially got a capital strike, business profits have been very high, but they're not being reinvested. and that's because of all of the uncertainty about this enormous federal government that we've got and whether we're going to get it under control or it's going to continue to have an ever increasing footprint that's going to crowd out the pr

the economy will do okay. but when you have an unemployment at 7.8% and really stubbornly not budging, you want to do something that something more for the economy than just okay, muddling through. if you are president you can say why you are feeling it but there are lot of people feeling the slow growth. it's disappointing we weren't able to do something has more of a positive impact. >> there were a couple big words attached. one was uncertainty, the economy needed certainty and the other was a prospect of a recession. i think the deal undoubtedly does avoid a recession. we're not going to have negative growth, but we are probably going to have growth as we have had for the last two years of 2% or less. we do have an economy, but we do have an economy that is bumping along the bottom. in terms of the certainty of the tax deal, yes, we do have that. on the other hand, the obama health care law is going to be implemented. "wall street journal" reported that 14% of small businesses actually understand it. there

economy today five years post the crisis? >> it's a strange mood in davos, where people are not euphoric. in fact, you talk to heads of multinational corporations, businesspeople around the world, they say, you know, things aren't even as good as i thought they would be this quarterbut they're calmer. there's a feeling that the world is not going to fall apart. you hear more about geopolitical risk, cyber security, and less about europe's going to blow up tomorrow. >> so, you're not seeing over enthusiasm but it's certainly better than a year ago? >> yes, it's definitely, definitely calmer. their theme here is resilient. yes, and dynamism, not so much. guess what i thought about the global economy. i actually think that growth will be moderate with not necessarily a lot of volatility around that. that it might be better, might be worse. >> see, i'm hearing a lot of positives about the u.s. economy if washington can get its act togeer, but europe is still a big issue. what do you think about europe and what's to come? >> well,

shrinking economy the anticipation of these cuts. now that's raising spin to a whole other level there's no way that the possibility of shrinking the deficit is what caused the numbers to be weak if we actually did shrink the deficit if we actually did reduce government spending that would be a net positive for the economy because the government is draining the economy of the resources that it needs to grow unfortunately we didn't get that government spending is in is going up they've basically suspended the debt ceiling so that's not going to restrain us any more they're going to cancel all the spending cuts i'm afraid they're going to use the weaker fourth quarter g.d.p. as justification for cancelling the spending cuts and so the government going to keep on spending the fed is going to keep on printing the monetize the growing deficit and we're marching towards a real economic crisis the united states where the dollar is going to plunge and that's going to send prices and interest rates in america soaring there i want to ask you i

american economy into the brink. ladies and gentlemen, your outgoing 112th congress. but if you think that's bad, just wait. why it's even worse than it looks, next on "now." she knows you like no one else. and you wouldn't have it any other way. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection la

in the administration of the economy. that confidence is absolutely lost. i have never seen more dismay in the business community in terms of what they feel about the national leaders of the economy and when we are now witnessing. i have been watching it for 34 years. so i think that is a real problem. if he doesn't care, that's his problem because it's going to have direct and negative effect on the economy. cheryl: but the problem, i would say for csn leaders the c'mon the business network like yourself is on the one hand you're frustrated with the policies are seeing, extra regulation, texas, but at the same time this is what we have for four years. you still have to have some type of relationship with washington and with the administration. how you balance the frustration with doing business on a daily basis? >> i balance it easily. i write editorials attacking policies which i have done quite frequently on the economy. frankly, it is clear. you can see, no effect. does not mean there were wrong. i still think it or r

in the economy. we have to start with the news of the day. and that, of course, is in the uk. we have the gdp figures out today. david cameron is saying he's going to do a referendum on whether or not to keep the uk in the eu. what would be the implications if the eu has left? >> i think we are still quite far from that happening. of course, this announcement of a referendum years from now is creating uncertainty and is not necessarily helpful in terms of stabilizing the economy, neither in the uk or in the european union. >> do you think changes need to be made in terms of policies to encourage the uk to stay? >> in fact, many of the elements or the policy agenda of david cameron are something which are very important and the commission is working for the confidence of european industry, a rather comprehensive free trade agenda as well as the competition of the single market. this beneath for restoration of the european industry and of returning to sustainable growth and better employment. but there

>> bill: the economy is tied into the debt. surely you know that. >> do you think this deficit matters about the economy? >> bill: of course. >> the fact is he spent that money and did stimulate the economy. >> bill: no it didn't. bob beckel o'reilly, everybody. >> there it is, buddy. >> bill: you make the call. thanks for coming, in bob. "new york times" incredibly running a front page story about gun murder chaos in chicago even though that city has the toughest gun laws in the country. also up ahead, miller need i say more? the factor is coming right back as we continue all across the u.s.a. and all around the world. >> bill: imlacket segment tonight. crime, guns and sanity. today on capitol hill, more hearings about gun control. a lot of blather, nothing urgent. we have the story with rosen and cammeron with what went on in a few moments. here is something interesting on the front page of the "new york times" today they actually ran an article that said despite chicago's tough gun laws, the murder rate there continues to be

help the economy but the u.s. currency is coming off a bit after reaching the highest point since june 2010 in early asian trading. dollar-yen at 88.80-84. the euro is also gaining against the yen. the european currency is now down at 117.74. that's going to do it for biz tonight. let's get a check now of the markets. >>> the eastern u.s. is seeing warm temperatures, but changes in the forecast. meteorologist robert spet that has the latest. >> yes, gene. all across the eastern seaboard we have just been seeing absolutely temperatures above average. it's all due to this frontal area here. ahead of it you are seeing this warm air come in from the south. that's really been raising up these temperatures. but, yeah, things are going to start to change, because as that pushes off there towards the east, bringing heavy rainfall towards the northeast, the western great lakes will see a mix of freezing rain across this region, very dangerous for driving. but behind it, see this cold front here? that is really what's going

and as the economy grew, and as the economy grew, the government shrank as a share. melissa: yee. >> that's where we have to get back to. simon, you're a clinton guy. is this true? do you want to go back to the clinton days? does that mean the smaller government. >> go back to your days, simon. let's go right back to your days, simon. i'm ready right now. >> the two biggest drivers of growth of government spend having been defense and medicare. i think we, if we want to get spending under control, we're going to have to tackle health care costs, which is what barack obama said in his inaugural speech last week and we have to continue bring down defense. if we can do that and raise a little bit of revenue i think we can make significant progress on getting debt under control. melissa: steve, last word. real quick. we don't have time. >> of course health care entitlements are the big problem. simon why did we create a new trillion dollar health care entitlement? that didn't make a lot of sense. we can't afford it. when you talk about negatives for the economy i think o

the amount of debt that -- >> that's the economy, exactly. i think what's interesting and what i'm looking to see is, what exactly does this vaunted pivot to asia mean? does that mean they're going to take their eye off other crucial areas, like what's happens in africa with the al qaeda affiliates. what about the peace situation in israel? the truth of the matter is unless israel/palestine is fixed and solved, many of these neighboring countries are going to feel the reverberations. >> should that would be a priority? >> i think so. and so do many people who cover that region. it will take political capital and political courage. without a vested u.s. presidential involvement that is really consistent and persistent, not much is going to change. and previous histories have shown when the u.s. president is really into it, things do change. but i think come back to afghanistan, the president wants to get out of that country and is, 2014 will be the out date. this is where al qaeda started. and people are concerned that the u.s. and other force

economy well the i.m.f. knows this to be true the fact that they say this is a surprise is a lie the austerity measures and by the way so i'm supposing austerity in the u.k. the debt seven gone up so there has really been no austerity when the i.m.f. talks about hysteria in countries like greece or when they talk about here in the u.k. it's justification to bypass civil liberties to commit massive injustices against the local population that's having their wealth stolen so when the cops in greece would use tear gas and other forms of punishment collective punishment on the greek people they say it's part of the stereotype package even though we know and the i.m.f. knows that that's false it's just justification for trampling on civil liberties and so they talk about fiscal multiplier but. have to mention the fraud multiplier as well what does that how does that factor into these models you know it for every dollar of real collateral in the economy remember there's not least one hundred dollars of fraud backi

what does all this mean for the economy? >> i think it means for the markets, melissa, new places and new opportunities. despite the disaster which i happen to think the bill ii it will actually in my opinion be good for stocks. stocks, even the s&p starts ook really attractive compared to debt of our own u.s. government. i'm using fiscal cliff and supposed resolution to shore up bonds to bet against bonds. think 2013 will finally be the year of substantially higher interest rates. melissa: really. >> funds like dps are good bets this year. melissa: why would interest rates go up this year? the fed has signaled they will do absolutely everything they can to keep money cheap for the rest of our natural lives. >> and the bond market seems to be laughing at the fed up sharply in terms of yield today. not too far off from multimonth highs. this sunday radar screen idea that could make big money in 2013. melissa: harry, are you brave enough to fight the fed? >> yes, i am. i think they will lose this battle. they are doing everybo

but don't impact the economy . last year was an election year, we have a small number of regulations that are hitting us. >> you bring up an interesting point. emac, the's new list of regulations that are 77,000 pages was issued on the friday before christmas. trying to get buried in the holidays. >> it was released between april and october. these rules are going to cost the economy 128 billion . that is it one estimate out there. even russian czar said i don't rule russia. my miniczar's do. rich has it right. burrcrats are justifying and creating n rules . and i lk to them. they have to hire tir own burrcrat to dole with the government burrcrats. >> emac said you need new administrators and czars. >> maybe it would add jobs. but it is important to point out regulations are necessary. even governor romney said that . porly -- case in point. oregon is coming out with a law that makes employers not discriminate against unemployed applicants that is it important. we have seen discrimination there. that is good for th

for the economy to really take off. and the reality is we need to get americans back to work. we've put over 5.5 million americans back to work in the last five years but we need to do more. but er time congress gets in the way it makes it very difficult. so i hope what we find is the republicans will not use their leverage as the majority in the house to keep us from moving forward. the president has said he's ready to work on all these tough issues. immigration, gun violence, the economy. but we need some help from our republican colleagues. >> but to continue your met for. if mom and dad have wildly different views how those priorities should progress, those families are also stalled which is what the difference is philosophically in the the house between the democrats and the republicans. what's different that would make people want to work especially with you've seen the project of the majority in the next elegs? >> mom and dad should talk to the family and neighbors. because as i said before americans are way ahea

the economy had grown 3.1% the previous quarter. a shrinking economy over time spells recession, but don't panic yet. this number is likely to be revised as more data come in. senior business correspondent anthony mason found this dark cloud may have a silver lining. >> reporter: the headline may be disappointing, but the underlying economy was showing renewed strength at the end of last year. consumer spending, which drives two-thirds of the economy, was up 2.2%. home building soared more than 15% and contributed to economic growth in 2012 for the first time in six years. only government spending cuts on defense caused overall economic growth to flatline. julia coronado is chief economist with p.n.b.-paribas. >> the fiscal tightening is taking a toll. it took a toll on growth in 2012. it will take a toll again in 2013. >> reporter: but in the trade channels of the u.s. economy the tide appears to be turning. are things getting better? >> things are definitely getting better. >> reporter: robert landry is the chief commercial office

and germany are strong economies-- the 5th and 7th largest economies in the world-- and they continue to be very significant trading partners, even though their growth rates are stagnant. >> reporter: people move for many reasons-- not just a new job. it could be marriage, or a desire for a warmer climate. but there's no denying migration patterns tell a lot about regional economic differences. so where are workers moving to in the u.s.? >> washington d.c. has been the top destination for several years now. i think that's a reflection of the growth of not only governmental activity in washington, but it's defense contrators, and fks who are there to protect the interests of their company. >> reporter: oregon, nevada, north carolina, and south carolina are also popular places to move. on the other hand, states like new jersey, illinois, west virginia, new york, and new mexico had an exodus of workers. many of those departures are rooted in lack of jobs, high taxes, and expensive housing. economists are pleased to see a pick-up in moving, because it reflects greater job opportunities, a

and coming up next the trouble was plaguing the european economy on the continent single currency now the man known as the father of the euro talks about his creation eleven years after his callings and bank notes replaced local money in european markets. about mandela nobel prize winner and as many call you they've got father of the year oh it's great to have you with us today nice to be here you know at the time of its inception euro was hailed to be the catalyst for growth unemployment in here up as of today at the unemployment rate in the eurozone is twelve percent and also the economic problems are looking pretty bad this year in terms of growth what went wrong wrong wrong is the current problem. very high debt and combined with high deficits and i do there's a large part in the great shock of the recession the. global slowdown starting in two very sweet and they really became a big target now. it isn't the creation of the euro. cars the problem so much because before the euro came into being countries where they clearly had a hundred three percent. g.d.p. ratios and greece greec

we can grow the economy. the best way to do that is to put american, middle-class workers back to work. to me, every time you talk about stifling the economy through these very aggressive cuts to services and earned benefits, you are not helping the economy grow. the jobs deficit, to me, is the biggest deficit we face. but we have a lot of other challenges. social security medicare are among bashar not among the most immediate challenges. if you ash social security and medicare are not among the most immediate challenges. we have paid some $15 trillion in payroll tax to take care of social security benefits. how much have we actually used in benefits received by all americans? $14 trillion. we have a one dollar trillion -- $1 trillion in cash. all the trillions of dollars we have paid towards this have earned interest to tehe tune of about $1.5 trillion. $2.5 trillion in unused surplus. why should we cover the cost of tax cuts for the wealthy? >> those monies have been tapped for other priorities. >> that is