i am going to go for number 3. what is the answer? it is always better to be lucky than good. 45 bc. julius caesar was reviewing the roman calendar. it originally followed the lunar cycle. he felt it was imperfect, and therefore the julian calendar was born. the romans didn't properly account for leap years, more than 1600 years later, the calendar was reformed again to the gregorian calendar that we now have today. you can pull that out at the next cocktail party. looking at the markets, the dow continues to move nicely. as does the nasdaq and the s&p. all those markets up modestly by 0. one%. two more trading days left to go, today, tomorrow, then sayonara. coast-to-coast starts now.

edward: the border crisis has some of our big cities on the brink. those mayors pointing fingers at the texas governor, not the president for border policies. we get the read from national border patrol council vice president plus anti-israel protests threatening to disrupt your travel over the holidays. driving to the airport could be a problem, ratcheting up to $33.9 trillion. each citizen widow $100,000 to pay that off. edward lawrence in for neil cavuto. you are watching coast-to-coast. first a fox business other, freddie mac releasing fresh mortgage rate data with rates

down 6. 61% for a fixed rate mortgage and 15 year fixed, 5.93%. let's get the read from director of strategy, founder dan gelt rude. the 30 year fixed didn't make a big move down from 6.67% to 6.16% this week. the 15 year made a big jump down from 6.95 this week to 5.93. that is more than a full point. why the change? >> that is this idea the fed is done raising rates. they had this dovish turn and we've gone from pricing in three rate cuts to the markets almost pricing in six rate cuts next year. interest rates, mortgage rates are catching up. we are still not low enough to

unlock that inventory. what you now have is you usually have as rates go lower, prices go up. as rates go up prices go lower. you have that balance. you have such a supply shortage, people don't want to leave their 4.2% mortgages. they are not selling because they don't want to get a new mortgage at 6. one%. these rates have come down more so you have a tight supply, low inventory keeping prices high. rates are elevated. madison: i have 3.12%. i will hold onto that forever. on the 30 year fixed, the housing market didn't fall off a cliff in 2023 like some predicted. do you think this move will make a difference? where will the 30 year fixed go? >> it is difficult to say what will happen.

as francis said, with the fed signaling more rate cuts, hopefully this is going to drive the rates down so you will be able to generate more inventory in the market. for people trying to view a home right now, it is literally impossible. the market is locked in. there's bidding wars everywhere. it is a good thing if you are a seller right now but if you are a buyer it is difficult. as you said, if you are going to be a seller, where do you go? because the way you are locked in is too low. i think next year, we are going to see an adjustment that should free up the market. madison: the dow hit its sixth record close yesterday. we are up again today 60 points or so. the new mortgage data. is that going to move markets? you think there's there is more room for that to fall?

>> there's more room for it to fall because i think there is anticipation that we will have a softening of the economy continue next year. it all depends upon the fed cutting rates and what they do with their balance sheet juxtaposed it to the fiscal spending which is keeping the economy very liquid. you have a bifurcated economy, 60% of people living on credit card debt, 40% who have assets. those 40% are spending. everything that is housing next year is going to be determined by credit markets and how stable credit markets remain given the lagging effect from rate increases that already occurred, the rate at which rates actually drop and basically any credit concerns. no credit concerns, rates go down, housing market is going to improve. if you have big credit concerns because we tightened too much you will see housing prices fall.

madison: what about refinancing. people who did buy that home over a year and a half are a year and 1/2 are sitting at higher mortgage rates. is this enough to see refinancing, or are they ready for another drop? >> people are still going to rate it out. we haven't dropped enough to generate all these refinances but because of the way the market is moving on all the signals about lowering interest rates it probably is the right choice to sit on this longer and watch where the trend goes but at some point i think there are going to be a lot of refinances on the horizon. that is for sure. madison: that is all the time we have for that. we have to figure out where the rate goes to get those buyers

to buy and the sellers to sell. we have to say goodbye to you and happy new year. dan, stick around, we are not done with you yet. thanks, guys. at the border, massive migrant caravan heads to the us. this is alejandra mayorkas, is meeting with mexico's president, quote, very productive. >> reporter: that is all we are getting from us officials who were in that meeting, alejandra mayorkas calling it very productive. not getting any specifics from him or secretary of state antony blinken who's also in the room. mexico's president obrador says, opening rail crossings that have been closed because of migrants. fentanyl hardly came up in the meeting.

>> if they were serious about it, the tools they took off like remain in mexico, such as the first safe country policy and get rid of policies they added like catch and release. >> reporter: notably when the meeting was taking place and right now there's a group of thousands of migrants you mentioned making its way through mexico toward the united states and it is not clear how either country plans to deal with that caravan. democratic mayors of new york, chicago and denver are calling on the biden administration to help them deal with the influx of migrants and their cities. they want president biden to declare a state of emergency. >> federal government must take response ability and lead on this humanitarian crisis instead of leaving it to cities and localities to handle. >> we need more support from the federal government.

>> those immigration talks are happening in the senate even though a lot of lawmakers are on vacation. those talks are ongoing but slow going. madison: pictures of that caravan coming and still not able to shut the border. >> reporter: we know how this plays out. it will likely mean more migrants being bussed to places like chicago, new york and other cities but will this time around to be different? the biden administration see the video those migrants coming toward the border and do something? madison: as grady just mentioned, migrants starting to be a burden for the budgets across the country and there's no end insight to this so let's bring in national border patrol vice president, glad to have you on this but adding up all the people who have crossed the

southern border since president biden took office, changing the border policies, 7.1 million people, more than the population of chicago and los angeles. it is approaching the entire population of new york city. what do you think about that? >> we've got another year left with no end insight and you are talking about the conversations in mexico during the meeting saying it was productive. if their definition of productive is the same definition this administration had about a secure border than it's nothing more than checking a box and nothing is going to get done and we will see this problem continue throughout the next year. madison: 7. one million crossing illegally under president biden. this is more than the population of 35 states, 70% of the united states, more than

the population of all those states. this is unbelievable. it is almost an invasion. >> that look at the domino effect that creates. you have individuals, those are just the ones you know of. then add the got aways we don't know of an no number to describe them and realize it is used by the cartels so they can continue to bring drugs into the country. the domino effect is more people are coming in and getting released. you've got more got aways, more drugs, more local officers having to respond to other crimes and they are trying to respond, there is so much going across. this border has been chaotic and cause chaos through all major cities in the united states. madison: antony blinken and alejandra mayorkas met with the mexican president, mayorkas

testified the border is secure yet they beg to mexico to help stop the flow of migrants. this is what the secretary of state posted on x shortly after the picture we are going to show you was posted. he said as we made clear in mexico city today, we are committed to partnering with mexico to address our shared challenges for the irregular migration in the region reopening key ports of entry and combating fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. a lot of words giving no solutions. what did you hear? >> the same thing. it is check the box, smoke and mirrors, let's pretend we are doing something and no solutions and i don't see that they will fix anything because they will do this for a while and the and go back to the border is secure. definitions of securing the border, definitions of the safety of the american people,

and everyone else's definition. and look at what they've done so far, they've had meetings, talked about it, and this ends if they have the political will to have immigration judges down on that line to stop and see who is a true assignment who is not. they just want to continue with open-door policies and that everyone in. madison: 34 months since president biden took office. mayor after mayor with large sanctuary cities calling on the federal government to bail them out for paying for these migrants who are here illegally. this is what texas has been dealing with the past three years, right? >> not just texas but cities throughout the entire southwest border and what they need to do instead of calling for more help so they can continue to cater to individuals who are

coming across they need to call out the biden administration. enforcement of the southern border, this chaos needs to end today. madison: 8000 is what it is. thank you for joining us. a good conversation and we will have it again. coming up another busy travel week gets more intense as pro-palestinian demonstrators close access to one of america's largest airport. we will show you how bad it got and talk about it next. they're waiting for you. hey, do you have a second? they're all expecting more. more efficiency. more benefits. more growth. when you realize you can give your people everything, and more. thank you very much. [applause]

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madison: holiday travel has been stressful enough, lines, delays, weather. pro-palestinian demonstrators presenting a fresh challenge to new year's travel, protesters blocking roads to disport -- disrupt airport operations. alexis adam shows the chaos. >> reporter: this isn't what people wanted to see when they showed up at the airport, it chaos coast-to-coast, police arresting 63 people at those protests in la and in new york. at jfk airport protests blocking the roadway, some travelers had to get out and

start walking to make their flight. 26 of those arrests yesterday were made at jfk blocking traffic, port authority dispatched two report buses to help travelers make it to the airport on time to hopefully catch their flight. a similar situation at lax in los angeles where protesters had free palestine as they locked hands and stood in the roadway bringing traffic to a standstill. protesters, construction debris, roadsigns, tree branches and blocks of concrete to block the road. investigators say demonstrators attacked cars and a cop who was thrown to the ground. that officer was not seriously hurt. one person was arrested for battery on a police officer in 36 arrested for riding

according to authorities. the police department posting this on x. the only objective is to ensure public safety for all while facilitating the first amendment rights of those peacefully demonstrating. this was not a peaceful demonstration. we know more protests are planned in coming days across the country. that's not a surprise. we are used to seeing it every week but in new york city the mayor says palestinian protester they think could interrupt the new year's eve ball drop. keep you posted on that. madison: as the operations in gaza intensify, so does the international pressure. we are lucky to have ron whitman on the house armed services committee and vice chairman of the select committee on china. happy new year to you. i want to start with the middle east. the french president said they need to work towards a cease-fire.

hamas trying to turn international pressure? >> israel has the right to defend itself and i don't support a cease-fire, i don't see how you can accomplish a durable cease-fire against a terrorist organization that says they are out to destroy israel, that says they don't recognize israel's right to exist. 's israel's effort to destroy hamas's capability and capacity is purely within i think a needed strategy much as pursued with isis and al qaeda. that is what is real is doing. we need to support israel. the house passed in a bill to israel to help them in the surface defend themselves. madison: no one told the us to stop going after al qaeda october 7th. 's relapse 9/11. should other countries including the us be dictating a

timeline for operations for israel? >> absolutely not. this is about israel, their ability to not have this threat at their doorstep. we have seen in the past where they haven't taken out hamas's capability, israel has said they take out hamas. i believe they have the right to defend themselves in the united states needs to be there to support them. madison: at least 116 times, irani and proxies have attack us positions in the middle east and what they are treated for, they just backed off. >> the us should have been acting preemptively months ago, we saw these attacks being launched.

in iraq and syria. two of them sponsoring the houthis. they have irani and backed support. the weakness by the biden administration, failed policies of not fully enforcing sanctions, contemplating releasing $6 billion in assets just emboldens iran, policies preempted action to go after their capability to perpetrate these attacks needs to happen now but should have happened months ago. madison: the chinese president told president biden he was taking taiwan one way or another. we heard how good it went for the president. i was at the news conference after the leaders met.

>> we need to believe xi xinping when he says they are going to take taiwan by force and he tells his military to be ready to take taiwan by force by 2,027. we understand what is going to happen in the region. our allies do too. in the indo pacific in august, met with our allies, japan, the philippines, taiwan, australia, they are committed to making sure weedeater xi jinping. week response, week language by this administration only encourages xi xinping. i want to make sure we are doing everything possible. this year's national defense authorization act has some unbelievable efforts in it that are going to deter china. if we continue on that path, doing the things necessary with our military and doing things necessary with our allies, we have a chance to deter china in 2027 but we have to do that

with a sense of urgency. madison: do you think american businesses need to move away from china, trying to get into the chinese economy? >> actions speak louder than words. the united states businesses need to act, to disenfranchise china through their economic ties. that is the quickest way for china to see that our efforts are serious and those efforts have an impact on china. xi jinping understand one thing only and that is assertive action. businesses need to do that. if they do, there will be an impact on china. madison: i appreciate it. still to come, how the irs's new tax brackets could affect america's paychex, more after this. ♪

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madison: americans could see their paychecks changes the irs tries to adjust brackets to deal with inflation. gerri willis has more on what's coming into thousand 24. the end result is more money from all of us. >> reporter: for of people. you are about to increase your take-home pay without getting a raise. the irs putting in place higher limits for federal income tax brackets in the new year, americans will be able to shield more of their income from the taxman. they are increasing by 5.4% for individual and married filers. the tax rate remains 37% for 2024. it starts at $609,350. the reason for the change, avoiding bracket creep when

inflation pushes people into higher tax brackets when they have little additional purchasing power. this year's change is not going to fix the problem. >> it is never going to keep up all the way. making this one time adjustment based on cpi doesn't go into effect until january. you have the lag period. >> reporter: standard deduction rising from 27,700. married couples filing jointly, 5. 4% bump. for individuals, it will be 14,600 from 13,850. the standard deduction reduces the income you pay taxes on, the irs also increasing the thresholds for several tax provisions including the earned income tax credit with families

eligible to receive 7830 if they have three or more qualifying children. edward: real wages since president biden came into office are down 3% when you factor in inflation. you take out inflation, wages have risen. america's accountant dan gill trued --gelrtude joins us. you demand a raise and because you make more you can purchase same as you bought last year but you pay more in taxes. it drives me nuts. >> reporter: that's the point. when you look at what inflation is, it is a tax, sales tax. every time you are purchasing something it is costing you more. this particular case, the irs is trying to make up for that by moving the tax brackets. it is not the tax rates.

all it is doing is giving you more room to accumulate taxable income before you jump into the next bracket so is it helpful? absolutely but it is also a mirage because americans really aren't gaining anything. they are barely keeping pace with purchasing power. that's what it is about. do you ultimately have more money in your pocket to be able to purchase more things? and the answer is right now, no. you don't. edward: could this affect spending next year? >> reporter: looks like americans are spending whether they have extra money or not. we see credit card debt going over a record $1 trillion and counting. looks like the american consumer wants to keep buying stuff. if they are going to have extra

money in their pocket or so they think, are consumers going to continue to spend the? i believe that they will. it seems people are getting more optimistic about what's happening because inflation is coming down. keep in mind that inflation is cumulative. when they say year over year, inflation is reducing. it is not the case. look how it went up last year and combine the two. edward: a year ago today i asked you to look forward. these videos don't go away. listen to this. what sectors do you like in the new year, the value in big tech has come down significantly. if you like big tech before now, you get it at a super discount. >> i like what's going on in the energy sector and utilities as well.

they had a tremendous year in 2022 and i anticipate that will continue through 2023. edward: if i had listen to you i would have made a lot of money. at the end of 2,024, what are we looking for? >> if it ain't broke don't fix it. big tech has a lot to do with where we are going, expanding every where. big tech is a good spot, a company like chevron and oil prices, and it is great with dividend. sticking with that until there is a reason not to. edward: i've got to listen to you because you were right. i appreciate that, thank you very much, happy new year. beer sales expected to hit

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sharrock's. happy new year. you were, way before the bad decision in the bud light spokesperson, there is a feeling of that at the end of 2022 into 2023 the pendulum swung too far, florida took disney's special status away, the beer campaign broke that pendulum, didn't it? >> the beer campaign brought the issue to hundreds of millions of americans, bud light was a brand that used to unite us, bringing people together whether you are black, white, gay, straight, democrat, republican, it marketed to sporting events, music, backyard barbecues, things everyone could get together and all of a sudden people saw them do this partnership with dylan mulvaney, a very divisive political figure and people said what is going on when you have the number one beer brand, that brought folks together, getting involved in divisive political issue.

the same way you never put president biden's face on a can of bud light, or donald trump's face, you would alienate have your customer base, you shouldn't put dylan mulvaney's face on a can either. everybody saw it's going too far with companies involved in social and political issues that have nothing to do with their underlying mention which in the case of bud light is easy to drink, easy to enjoy, bring folks together. edward: it knocked bud light out of the number one beer spot, a spot they held for two decades. what do you see with companies taking positions on woke policies? >> i think companies, the pendulum is starting to swing back. it is very simple. follow the money. take a look at the stock prices of companies like disney, companies like bud light. since they have gotten involved in divisive political ideology, had nothing to do with the

premier entertainment company, bud light getting involved with dylan mulvaney, stock prices have plummeted relative to the general market and for a lot of people who rely on these companies, go out and get great product and services to customers, make money so your stock price goes up so stock portfolios go better and retire with dignity. that is when people push back and say enough is enough. i am optimistic that companies will be less involved in divisive and social political issues. and blackrock, forcing them to get involved in political asset managed, and at the largest shareholder in companies like anheuser-busch, forcing them in that direction. that is problematic but good to see companies like strive pushing back. edward: a few high placed

people in these companies imposing an agenda on black rocks of the world or is it companies trying to ride a wave by lawmakers, because they did that are one point. >> the large asset management company's, black rock and vanguard. a lot of the money from black rock and vanguard does come from political organizations and the state of california, and the pension system relies heavily on democratic organization. the pension fund, a lot of cases sovereign wealth funds, comes from organizations that are more progressive. if you manage my money, we want you to enforce companies to adopt certain environmental and social, governance standards, diversity, equity and inclusion standards that might not be in line with what shareholders want but want companies to make

money but solve the political agendas that governments and organizations are trying to foist through the back door. edward: we will see where it lands. happy new year to you. >> thank you. >> 3 more days until we ring in the new year but we might be waterlogged before we get to 2024. rick reichmuth has the latest. >> we have big storm that brought blizzard conditions to the central plains. we have some of that snow, rain are cross-border, the last gasp of the storm, center of the storm is back here across the midwest. we have some snow falling but almost day 4 in snow tapering off. we will see a few isolated spots, additional 1 to 3 inches eventually, we get some of this

snow across the southern appalachians to the mountains, by the time we get towards saturday. we've had a lot of rain towards the northeast. it is beginning to wind down a little bit. we've got maybe just half an inch of additional rain that will fall through the day today and tomorrow and snow across higher elevations. we have a new storm across the west coast, rain to the pacific northwest to northern california. this storm will have impact into california. some spots getting 2 to 3 inches of rain, snow across sierra nevada. we had a really big monster storm a week ago today the brought flooding to southern california. it will not be as significant the storm this time. i want to show you temperaturewise cooling down

but not really cold. chicago 40 ° in dallas, no called arctic air yet but take a look at this, saturday and sunday we get intrusion here of cold air, 22 for a high-end far go. fargo. we see them flirt with 48, something we haven't seen so far this winter. colder air gets here but this big storm almost done and then it is calm for a while. edward: i will take that any day. so the us national debt is soaring, up next. ♪

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edward: the national debt reaches $33 million propelled by the increased government spending and weaker than expected tax revenues coming in.

the kicker, performer white house office of management and budget director, at this level each citizen in the us would have to pay $100,000 to make the federal debt 0. what do you think of that? >> astronomical when you put it in perspective, what citizens would be required to pay, in terms of taxpayers even higher. it is one more data point the 34 trillion, we will be at 34 trillion in january most likely, that is totally unsustainable. we are headed towards a fiscal crisis if we don't take an opportunity to cut spending and get a handle on the fiscal side of the house that has been so unsustainable. edward: what about finances like the federal government?

>> they would be so unprepared for the kind of recklessness you see by lawmakers and policymakers, families do everything they can, some rely on the credit card too much. if they rely on the credit card too much, they tear it up and they have to go and make changes to live within their means but we have a federal government the doesn't operate on sound principles and they get on and on into more debt and we gave president biden, house republicans gave president biden and endless debt ceiling throughout the entirety of his administration. there are limits to the leverage we got that are disposable and important to use later this month. edward: the federal deficit is up 13% from the same month last year according to the treasury department signaling more government spending. the cbo projects the deficit will be closer to $1.6 trillion

next year. going the wrong way to pay down the federal debt, right? >> when we left office in the trump administration, interest costs too high, $300 billion, $350 billion, $700 billion now per year but we are headed potentially next year to $1 trillion in interest payments, that is higher than what we spend on defense and it would approach the highest cost the federal government has on an annual basis and that's just the debt. you are taking on debt to pay for the new spending and it is completely unsustainable. edward: how much is debt a drag on the economy? >> it is. the cost of financing debt from the treasury, they have to pay

more making those treasury bills more attractive and as a result, shifting, financing away from more productive parts of the economy where you have businesses that want to be able to find loans and capital and it is going to have an impact through the economy but it will lead to a financial crisis. we can't predict when these things happen. they happen at a point when you least expect it. these storm clouds have to be understood and recognized and dealt with. that is why it is important for the policymakers who care, house republicans, to do about it in january when they have an opportunity. the federal government is on autopilot. 1/3 is not on autopilot. edward: democrats and republicans have been spending.

how do you change the mindset of lawmakers? 15 seconds. >> it is a bipartisan problem. republicans are responsible. they have ignored and not been willing to cut spending and they have to take the opportunity they have in january to do that. edward: they will have 8 session days to figure out the federal budget. happy new year to you. more coast-to-coast after this. ♪

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edward: boeing, virgin airlines, to inspect all 37 planes for potential loose bolts in the rudder control system after maintenance check turned out a bolt with a missing not. boeing stock down on the news, united airlines says it does not anticipate these inspections will have an impact on our operations. let's look at the markets, the dow on pace for the second record close of 2023. let's go to brian brenberg. brian: not what