with adt. arm and disarm your alarm, watch secure video in real time, and even adjust your lights and thermostat wherever you are. with adt, you get 24/7 protection through our exclusive fast response monitoring. you can be confident that adt is always there for you. hey, lisa. is that the delivery we've been waiting for? [ male announcer ] and now during the adt get growing sale, get adt installed starting at just $99. [ woman ] i love the convenience of adt. i can finally be in two places at once. [ male announcer ] call today to get adt installed starting at just $99. hurry. this sale ends march 9th. adt. always there.

a hairline fracture to the mandible and contusions to the metacarpus. what do you see? um, i see a duck. be more specific. i see the aflac duck. i see the aflac duck out of work and not making any money. i see him moving in with his parents and selling bootleg dvds out of the back of a van. dude, that's your life. remember, aflac will give him cash to help cover his rent, car payments and keep everything as normal as possible. i see lunch. [ monitor beeping ] let's move on. [ male announcer ] find out what a hospital stay could really cost you at aflac.com. congratulations to my good friend becky quick. there's always a bull market somewhere, i'm jim cramer and i'll see you tomorrow.

everyone. i'm larry kudlow. this is "the kudlow report." all right. a touch of optimism tonight. that's right. corporate profits, record high. housing showing signs of recovery. business investment and manufacturing, reviving. we just had the dow post its second highest club ever. the fed, stimulative. it's not perfect. wages and jobs are on the sloppy side but i believe the budget-cuts sequester will not lead to catastrophe and the margin will help. here's something else to boost the economy p. the keystone pipeline. the oil industry is celebrating the fourth positive report on the project that came out late friday. president obama has run out of excuses. he must approve the keystone pipeline. you have heard of too big to fail. what about too big to jail? a bipartisan team of senators wants to know if the justice department is refusing to prosecute big banks because they are afraid it would implode

world financial markets. "the kudlow report" begins now. the dow continues to flirt with a record high. we are 37 p points from the 2007 peak. corporate profits at record levels. profit margin 14.2% in the third quarter of 2012. that's the best since 1950. housing getting better. the latest numbers show housing starts up more than 24% over the past 12 months. and the natural gas shale energy boom has begun. experts predict it will last for 30 years. the economy still suffers from high unemployment. not much upward movement in income levels. pot line, the economy is growing. the real bottom line to me, lower spending and limited

government is good for free market private sector growth and that's what we are getting out of washington -- warts and all. let's bring in dean baker, the codirector of the center for economic policy research, and former reagan adviser art laffer. art, i begin with you. it ain't perfect. i don't want to dwell on the sequester. it does cut spending which i think is a good thing. why is everybody doom and gloom? for the first time in i don't know how long we cut some spending? >> i think the spending cuts are great. we have been having spending cuts in this administration for probably three years now. spending as a share of gdp dropped sharply since almost the full four years of obama which is one of the major reason it is economy didn't go further south. if we can get sequesters and real cuts it could launch the economy into a boom. >> do you give congress credit? most of the spending cuts came

at the end of 2010, 2011 and now 2012. >> yep. >> maybe the gop is doing better than people think? >> i like what they're doing. it's good holding firm on the no tax increase. that's wonderful. then having spending cuts in addition to that, it doesn't get much better, larry. >> dean baker, do you buy the enthusiasm about the sequester? >> i think you guys are looking at different economies than what i have seen. the economy i see has been growing at less than a 2% annual rate. congress fall budget office projects 1.5% this year. we are down around 9 million jobs. the unemployment rates likely go up this year. i don't know. you think that's good news? i guess we'll have longer lines at the airports and delayed flights because of fewer air traffic controllers. i don't know. doesn't get much better than that in your world, i guess. >> the washington post fact checkers give four pinochios.

i didn't hear a single backup in airplanes. in new york if you can get out after waiting 90 minutes that's a win, not a loss. >> larry, nothing happens until april. don't look for anything. >> it's a lot better than it's been for four or five words. it's bush before. the last two years were catastrophes. we are starting to come out of it. this is not a good economy by any means. that's policy. you are starting to see the signs of a real recovery, especially in housing and energy. those areas are looking good going forward. >> that's what i'm getting at. dave? >> it's a long way to go. >> you're right. >> we lost about two-thirds of construction. it's going to take, like, four

years. i don't mean the bubble levels. just to normal levels of construction. >> that's true. >> it's going in the right direction. that's a long way to go. >> get the government out of the way. >> it would go faster. >> of course. on set we have chris kofinos. robert trainum, a former bush-cheney senior adviser and santorum aide. i like that one. i'm glad you put it on your resumé. jonathan gollup from ubs. i hope rick's not watching. i'll get a phone call for sure. he's an old friend. jonathan, i'm not making the case that we are in a 4, 5% boom but at the margins are things improving such that the alleged sequester recession i hear about, b 750,000 jobs lost minus almost 1% of gdp, can we avoid that? >> at the end of the day you

have a gap between tax revenues and spending. so either we'll address the spending or face huge tax increases down the road. what i'm not hearing is a progrowth agenda. talk about the keystone pipeline. energy could be a big part of that. i agree with dean. wall street estimates took gdp from 2% to 1.8% in the last month because of higher taxes on payroll and because some of the sequester. there's pain if we cut the spending now. >> why don't the stock markets show that? >> i think the stock market likes the fact that we avoided the worst outcomes of the fiscal cliff and the debt debate and perhaps the republicans unwilling to use the debt ceiling to fight a hard aer fight. they are looking at it as stimulative in the short run. >> robert, i want your take on this. sequester, good or bad? we are looking in terms of economics, not the politics. how do you read it? >> economically this is a good thing in the long term. in the short term it will hurt republicans. the republican party is the

party of no right now. from a messaging standpoint speaker boehner hasn't articulated why this is good for the american people. >> i'll tell him you said so. >> please do. >> what message do you want him to have? >> this is a good thing. every american family has to balance the budget. why can't we? every american budget, when you cut things back you have to reprioritize things. you focus on what's important. we have yet to do it as a country overall. i think the sequester, frankly i agree is a pro growth initiative in the long term. >> there is a spal but a good one. chris, your man senator mansion i would bet would vote for it. >> he's a fiscal conservative. >> i can say what i want now that i'm not working for him anymore. >> do you work for rick santorum also? >> no, no. ta would be an a interesting day. >> enough of that. >> when it comes to senator manchin, he looks at the sequester and realizes like i do

that it's not a smart way for government to do business. we all know we have to cut spending. >> no, we don't. some of us know economics here and that the private sector demand collapsed. you missed the collapse of the housing bubble. we lost over 1 trillion dollars in demand. if the government doesn't make it up, no one else does. that may be funny for wall street but not for the country. >> there is a smart e way of doing it. this is not a smart way. when you have an economy with with a split personality. high unemployment, stagnant wages for a decade. sure you have high corporate profits, a booming stock market. that's not bleeding down. when you have an economy that for good and bad is driven by consumer spending, a sequester that will go into effect and over the next few months -- it won't happen a immediately. it will roll in. >> 44 billion dollars. out of a 16 trillion gdp. >> that's true. >> the federal reserve prints $85 billion every month for

heaven's sake. every month. i don't know if it does any good. probably not. that's what they do. >> if you are a ceo and someone says to cut 2.5% across the board. or do you want to cut it in a way ta helps you grow? >> when it comes to the children in congress they have to take their medicine across the board. that's the only way to do it. i hear my friend dean baker. i knew he would oppose. but deceased nobel prize winners would say smaller government is good for growth. are they wrong? they preach smaller government. are they wrong? >> no, no, larry. have you heard of a poor person spending himself into wealth? it doesn't make sense. what's good for the family is good for the national economy. >> a lot of companies borrow money to grow. >> you can if you have good expected rates of return. we don't have good expected rates of return.

>> the tips is negative 70 bips? that's a terrifying future. >> people don't have confidence in the government or they wouldn't lend at negative interest rates. >> i don't think that's what it is. >> you have a bad customer you lend them negative interest rates? >> in this case that's what happened. it is. it's the only place to go. >> the real customer is ben bernanke. flut all the normal rules of credit and financial markets have been broken b because of the wild stuff bernanke has done. art, thank you. you're coming back later. dean baker, we appreciate your point of view as always. here's something i think is bullish. the state department make as good case for building the keystone pipeline. this is the fourth time they have made the case. the report released friday has the oil industry cheering. there are now no more excuses for delaying keystone, president obama.

later on the new forbes billionaires list is out. the list is longer than ever. i didn't make it. billionaires are great. more billionaires mean strong, vibrant economies. that's right. free market capitalism should produce more billionaires. i'm kudlow. we'll be right back. hey. they're coming. yeah. british. later. sorry. ok...four words... scarecrow in the wind... a baboon... monkey? hot stew saturday!? ronny: hey jimmy, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? jimmy: happier than paul revere with a cell phone. ronny: why not? anncr: get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf., and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

all right. we're one step closer to finally seeing the full keystone pipeline become reality. friday's state department report said keystone pipeline would not have a significant effect on the environment. so let environmentalists push back. the president has run out of excuses and it's time to improve this thing. here now is sabrina fang of the american petroleum institute. my panel is still with with us. is this it? tu do you expect mr. obama to sign this thing? >> we're hopeful, larry. as you mentioned, the report that came friday showed no significant impact from the pipeline. it's his fourth report in more than four years. we believe keystone should be built for the reasons we were saying. energy security, jobs. the eis found out this project

will be creating thousands of jobs. that's what we have been saying all along. we don't have any idea why the president is delaying. >> secondary and tertiary jobs would be a couple hundred thousand. >> that's right. >> when you're through with the transportation and supplying. so what the state department said -- again, this is not new. no significant damage to the environment or no creation of greenhouse gases. they passed the nebraska test. we had government dave heineman on. what's left not to like. what's left not to sign? >> well, that's a good question to ask the president. we feel all of the answers, all the questions have been answered. the environmental questions about nebraska. the president was concerned about having to answer. the governor of nebraska is for the project. the state department found no significant environmental impacts from the project. it's the same conclusion we have come to time after a time.

the pipeline is thinking it's the most reviewed pipeline in history and it needs to be built. this is a job project. it will create jobs immediately, directly with building the pipeline and indirectly with the lifetime of the pipeline. it will create job security for construction workers who are out of work. their unemployment is double the national average. the pipeline needs to be built. we are hoping the president will come decide this is for the public. and it should be built. >> 70% of the american public according to the recent poll support the pipeline. 16,000 good, high quality, perhaps maybe even union jobs come out of this. >> directly. i'm talking second and third. >> right. the governors are for this. it there is no reason the government shouldn't sign it. he's not running for re-election. the only reason the state

department pushed back on this in 2010-11 is he didn't want to upset the environment. >> your liberal environment friends -- >> can i get them on the phone please? >> good man. the others you hang out with want to end all fossil fuels. they want windmills, solar. >> we don't want to walk. >> you're going back to the 14th century? >> exactly. there are concerns. they have valid concerns. you have to weigh those versus the economic positives. >> they're going to do it anyway. >> from their perspective this is furthering us down the hole where you are creating more damage. my perspective is when you look at the weight of this.

it makes it difficult for them not to sign. >> one reason is we like canada. the state department. >> who doesn't like canadians? >> the choice is they take this stuff out with the same greenhouse effects, put a pipeline to the west coast and ship it to china, help china and we import more oil from venezuela. who is the winner? we don't have as much control over our oil independence. >> you're right. let me go back to is a bree that. any estimates on when the president will make a decision? >> there is a comment period starting march 8 that ends the 22nd. the national determination period begins. we hope to get a decision from the president. we feel all issues have been addressed with the pipeline as

you have said. many people have said. the public wants the pipeline. it's a jobs project. we hope the president will green light the project. you have to wait and see. >> we're with you, with one exception. thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> how close are we to the all time closing high on the dow? we'll look at the bullish news from wall street coming up next. it's not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels.

it's a hawk with night vision goggles. it's marching to the beat of a different drum. and where beauty meets brains. it's big ideas with smaller footprints. and knowing there's always more in the world to see. it's the all-new lincoln mkz. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before.

this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪

the dow closing at its second highest level ever. seema mody has the market numbers and more. good evening. >> good evening. the dow staging a comeback today closing at 14,127. just 37 points from the 2007 peak. modest gains for the s&p 500 and the tech heavy nasdaq. two of the biggest dow gainers today were walmart and home depot. that could be a sign of improvement in consumer spending and home depot could gain if the housing recovery takes hold. an interesting development between tech stocks. apple down, not participating in the rally. google closing at # $821 a share. another record high. in other news a potentially huge medical break through. a 2-year-old girl was cured of hiv. she was on aggressive drugs since birth when her mother stopped the treatment. no trace of the virus was found.

millions of babies are born to infected mothers every year. while this is only one patient it could be a huge step. the u.s. is giving $250 million in aide to egypt. john kerry pledging the money to egypt's president mohamed morsy telling him the u.s. is keeping a close eye on the situation there. as they should. >> i wish i knew what that meant. let me ask jonathan. transportation index. i believe it hit a new all-time high today. what's that mean? >> it's positive. >> as a matter of fact, you know i'm cautious on the markets from my tone. the industrial sector has been doing well, not just for a month but for the last three months. you're seeing weakness, unfortunately, on the consumer sector. the payroll tax and delayed tax refunds and gasoline are hurting the consumer at a time when t t

that. home depot is basically a consumer stock. >> what you have seen over the last month is the restaurant and retailers are saying the tax increase dos matter and they have taken some wind out of the consumer sail. the consumer has done great throughout the recovery. i think it will be a soft patch and i think the industrial sector is likely to take a little bit of the lead. >> one last one. china putting the screws to the mortgage market. particularly if you own a second hoim. higher mortgage rates, capital gains tax rate. got to put down more points. that's good, i guess. i would like to see 20%. what's that mean? commodities down, copper down. everybody's scared about china. too tight. >> if you look at china's balance sheet their central bank p it's ballooning. they are doing a ton to support it. they don't have a consumer sector that can carry them. ultimately they will continue to put more infrastructure in and spend, i don't think china is

the biggest problem now. china is fine. >> if you can't get above 2% growth -- >> profits are strong. there was a lot of talk about the chinese announcement. >> definitely. china's plan to curb housing prices was definitely did have an impact on the market today. we saw a major comeback on the dow. interesting to see that regardless of the head winds facing the market. concerns around china. political gridlock in italy. the sequester. we are still inching towards an all-time high on the dow. in my humble opinion p, larry, i'm hearing if you are looking for you have no other choice but to invest in the stock market where you are not going to get it in treasuries or get it if you put in a bank and sit on near interest rate lows. >> what would we do without ben bernanke? bernanke is the guy. >> he's the glue keeping us

together. no question about it. we would collapse. >> it's funny. >> are you saying you think as someone who doesn't want to spend. >> he's the only one showing leadership. you think we're getting it from the white house and congress? >> we're printing a trillion dollars a year. there are side effects like that. no different from side effects. uh in the short run it's all good. >> i'm not saying he works on water. >> there is no one else to grab it. i wonder if this level of liquidity leads you to the same place. >> there is still tepid growth. >> limping along. >> you squeeze the liquidity and the fed changes its approach. you will have more growth or less? >> take a look at the down side. you talk about yields. >> i have to get out. >> seniors have a yield problem now. >> you're right. there is a lot of down side.

it doesn't patter. he isn't going to change his policy. he may not change in my lifetime. i can tell you there is no way. he made it clear. he made it clear last week as the spending cut sequester was put into place. that's called a fed safety net. he's now safety netting the sequester, the economy, the world economy, china, japan, everything. that's real power. seema, thank you very much. i appreciate it. here's a question. is the justice department giving big bankses a free pass? we have the latest on an inquiry into the too big to jail controversy. first here's what our friends at "saturday night live" have to say about the worst of the supposedly painful sequester. >> we are all going to feel the pain from these cuts, even in the white house. from now on my wife michelle will only do -- uh, four television appearances a week. down from her usual 75.

(music throughout) why turbo?

trust us. it's just better to be in front. the sonata turbo. from hyundai. but at xerox we've embraced a new role. working behind the scenes to provide companies with services... like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. reducing document costs by up to 30%... and processing $421 billion dollars in accounts payables each year. helping thousands of companies simplify how work gets done. how's that for an encore? with xerox, you're ready for real business. barrow island has got rare kangaroos. ♪ chevron has been developing energy here for decades. we need to protect their environment. we have a strict quarantine system to protect the integrity of the environment. forty years on, it's still a class-a nature reserve.

it's our job to look after them. ...it's my job to look after it. ♪ welcome back to "the kudlow report." i'm larry kudlow. in this half hour the forbes billionaires list is out and

longer than ever. why the ranks of the super wealthy are getting more crowded. this is great. i love wealth creation. it is what i don't love. punitive taxation. now the richest americans are paying the most in taxes in 30 years. how cue expect to grow the economy that way? fl and what was dennis rodman doing in north korea last week? you won't believe what he has to say about the country's brutal dictator. we are all familiar with too big to fail. now more than four years after the financial crisis prominent senators are wondering whether the big banks and executives are too big to jail. >> the phrase refers to the corn by some on capitol hill that the department of justice is holding off on blinging prosecution against major financial institutions because of fears of the economic impact that the charges might have.

the concerns were raised by comment that is a the department of justice's lanny brewer made on "the untouchables." >> if i bring institution a to some huge economic effect if it creates a ripple effect so counter parties and other financial institutions or other companies that had nothing do with this are affected badly it is a factor we need to know and understand. >> senators brown and grassley of ohio and iowa say that's not at all the way the department of justice should be making its decisions. take a look at the letter they wrote to the attorney general eric holder. they said in that letter our markets will only function efficiently if participants believe all laws will be enforced consistently and v violators will be punished to the full extent of the law. there should not be one set of

rules that applies to wall street and another set for the rest of us. the department of justice wrote to the senators and said no corporate entity, no matter how large, is immune from prosecutions. prosecutors must determine whether there would be disproportionate harm to investors, pension holders, customers and employees and others not personally culpable. i can tell you the two senators called the response from the department of justice aggressively invasive was the term. they don't like that the department of justice didn't reply to a number of their specific questions about how often this has happened. they say they are going to ask eric holder when he comes to capitol hill this week. >> according to news reports, senator jeff merkley of oregon is annoyed at the bank hsbc and says not only will they not bust the institution they won't bust the senior bank executives. is that true? >> there is concern on capitol hill there weren't enough

investigations into the financial crisis in 2008. what you're seeing is brown and grassley are pointing the finger where they apparently, according to breuer take into account economic damage. they are saying they should be concerned with whether or not there was a crime committed. the department says we have a wider context to take into account. >> joining us now to talk about this, former white collar prosecutor tom cur ren, now head of white collar criminal and regulatory enforcement. our panel is with us. tom, hsbc. laundering mexican drug money. pushing money into iran. these are criminal offenses. can you throw a bank in jail? >> no. as a matter of fact about a hundred years ago corporations weren't held criminally responsible as well.

it's a new thing. lenny brewer says you have to take into account individuals at a corporation do you charge pensioners and their customers and anyone else? >> for what purpose? you will choke the criminal justice system. >> you bust them. arthur anderson. >> it's like the too big to fail. too many entanglements. >> the supreme court said arthur anderson wasn't the right thing to have done. arthur anderson was gone by the time they over turned that three years later. you don't want to do it. communities rely upon them. you will lose tax revenue.

everyone is highly regulated. >> if they are chronic law breakers. mexican drug money. pushing money through. how do you punish them? >> if you go for the individuals responsible there and hsbc has to go in as part of a deferred prosecution agreement or one with of the nonprosecution agreement options which are no prize, by the way. the department of justice offers short of actually trying. they have to comply. >> did the senior guys get thrown in jail? does anybody? >> as part of the compliance testify to do self-analysis. the justice department -- >> self-analysis? are you serious? >> yes. you investigate yourself. >> psychological term. >> you investigate yourself. >> you hand the findings over. >> it's part of therapy. >> more than that. this is the inmates running the eye asylum. it's ridiculous. at an elementally level they are

making billions of dollarses illegally. they are fined on the makeup. they pay it back. where is the sense of following the law? there is no incentive to follow the law. >> first off, you throw a billion out. when talking about a company that's $500 billion, so 1/500 of their business. >> it's nothing. >> do you drive them out of existence? >> if they broke the law. >> who's "they." if the individuals or company broke the law they should be held accountable? >> they are. >> i don't know how many here have engaged in the discussion, but it's not a walk in the park. >> i'm not sure you do. >> there is another part to this. there is a moral hazard. the same moral hazard we had with the idea of creating bigger banks and not punishing bad behavior. you create another moral hazard if you're not punishing

behavior. >> >> first of all it offends the public ice right in terms of justice. >> the only thing you do. >> everything the criminal now. everything results are criminal. no. it's important. we are labeling everybody as a criminal and we've got to take a deep breath. >> i don't label everybody a criminal. all i'm saying is -- >> look at the regulation. >> they are pushing money to iran through mexican drug smugglers. these are all criminal offenses. the iranian thing is a high criminal offense, right? >> do you want to prosecute hsbc out of existence? >> perhaps i do. if they are that bad p as you said, a billion dollar fine. i read it was $1.9 billion dollar fine out of the $500 million bank or whatever. that's nothing.

peanuts. a slap on the wrist. >> you drive them out of existence for that? >> should the senior bankers be held -- >> individuals are on their own. prosecutors expect that the corporation will report on individual acts of impropriety and criminal nalt. >> didn't we hold people accountable during the snl crisis? >> some we did, some we didn't. >> doesn't it make sense that at least given a habit of improper behavior you would hold someone accountable? >> we didn't prosecute the snls themselves. >> a multi billion corporation will collapse if you prosecute two, three, four people who break the law? >> if you hit a bank -- >> what happens? >> they lose their securities license. the s.e.c. is going to lift their -- it's over. >> being over means going into bankruptcy court which is what i wanted to do with too big to fail. >> bankruptcy won't reveal criminal convictions. >> it's too big to criminally

fail. you have a liberal and a conservative. interesting. democrat and republican. >> and we agree. >> they both agree and you've got a free market guy. i don't know. it misspisses me off. >> equal opportunity. >> it doesn't pass the smell test. >> tell it to the employees. tell that to the guy on main street. >> talk about the people who were employed on main street. >> you're a defense lawyer. you're making a fortune. >> i defend those who are misunderstood. >> i can't believe i'm defending them. >> you people are perverse. >> when he leaves here first he'll talk to his tailor. a quick programming note for wednesday. i will come to you live from our nation's capital and will be joined by house speaker john boehner. now the forbes billionaire list grew this year, but look out. taxes on the rich are at a

30-year high. that's no good. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] you're the boss of your life. in charge of long weekends and longer retirements. ♪ ask your financial professional how lincoln financial can help you take charge of your future. ♪

welcome back. this is "the kudlow report." forbes listed the world's richest people out today.

a record number of billionaires, over 1400 and 210 new ones. a bunch from the usa. total net worth of $5.4 trillion. now they have the most u.s. billionaires, 442. this is great wealth creation, exactly how to grow the economy. now we have to ask why the tax the rich class warfare? did you know the rich in america are paying the most taxes ever? we have art laffer and chris kofinos, robert traynhan and jonathan golub. here's the new number. it came from this tax policy center which is left of center at the brookings institute. the top 1% of american taxpayers, 35.5%. that's their effective rate and

includes income and payroll and all manner of corporate and estate taxeses. the highest since 1979, art. what do you think it means? >> it doesn't make much sense to me, larry. what's happening here is you are trying to tax these people at a high marginal rates. they are the reasons why we aren't having the robust recovery we should have. what you need to do with these people and everyone else is lower tax rates and broaden the tax base. you can get the rate down to very low numbers and create enormous prosperity and have tons of tax revenues. not only statically but dynamically. this is bad tax policy. >> the top 1%, as i said, averaging $1.4 million. the effective rate is 35.5%. the bottom 20% doesn't pay anything. >> they go ahead paid.

>> they get refunds. the middle pays 18%. that's all it is. so i have to ask you. all of this crap that i hear in washington that the rich don't pay their fair share is just that. c.r.a.p. according to the brookings institute. >> the reason they pay a lot in taxes is they make a lot of money. >> he was talking tax rates. >> here's the question. you have 1% paying 35% of taxes. you have 1% that control 45% of wealth. >> 35% tax rate. >> when you are talking about a question of fairness, if you look at comparison to the clinton era versus the first te term. >> the marginal is 40 and now moving up to 44. >> you had higher rates during the clinton era. >> but the point is.

i don't want to go with the higher rates of the clinton era. this is what the data shows. robert? the data show the rich are paying their share and then some. the idea that the middle class will benefit by hurting the rich or that the middle class pays more than the rich is nonsense. the middle class according to this study, their effective rate is 13.8. the upper end is 35.5. what are we talking about? >> the numbers don't lie. >> why we haven't done a good job articulating that. rich people are rich but they are also job creators. we need to do a better job of explaining this. >> the argument -- >> nancy pelosi often hears

talking points that says the rich people need to pay their share and trickle down economics. >> we have had wages for the top 1% increase by double digits. >> so what? >> for the rest of the 99%, decline. >> no, no, no. middle income wages have gone up over the same period at 40%. art, i have to be blunt. this is class warfare. if you want equality of opportunity then we should be getting it here in america. if you want equality of results i thought that was the soviet union. what i'm hearing is equality of results. that's nonsense. >> exactly. >> it's not how the country should be run. >> no one question that is rich people should pay more in taxes than poor people. if you pay five times more than i do you should pay five times more in taxes. but having the tax rate at 35% on the top 1% is very different than 35% of all taxes.

that's a very different number. rates are the killers for job creators. they should have lower rates and a broader base. >> quickly, were you surprised that the hike in taxes, not just on the upper income people but capital gains didn't have a negative impact. >> i don't think this is how it's gone up. we make the assumption there is 11% who owns everything. that group of people, they take risks, invest and it rotates over time. if you're a winner you have the ability to move in. if you lose, make a mistake, you can rotate out. >> all right. i have to get out. i gave you a shot. >> oh, come on. >> the gop should make this message. art, thank you. thank you to jonathan golub. thanks. this is some of the strangest video you are ever going to see.

basketball bad boy dennis rodman traipsing around north korea, of all places. wait until you hear what he has to say about kim jong eun. >> you know, he was so honest. the one thing that, guess what, his grandfather or father were great leaders. he's such a proud man. ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 but there is one source with a wealth of etf knowledge tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 all in one place. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 introducing schwab etf onesource™.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's one source with the most commission-free etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 one source with etfs from leading providers tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and extensive coverage of major asset classes... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 all brought to you by one firm tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with comprehensive education, tools and personal guidance tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to help you find etfs that may be right for you. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etf onesource-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 for the most tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free etfs, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you only need one source and one place. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 start trading commission-free with schwab etf onesource. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should carefully consider tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 information contained in the prospectus, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 including investment objectives, risks, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 charges, and expenses. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can request a prospectus by calling schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at 800-435-4000. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

former nba star dennis

rodman back from a controversial trip to north korea with the harlem globetrotters where he met with leader kim jong eun. he's the first american to see kim since he became leader of the oppressive regime. here's what he had to say about the dictator who is believed to be one of the most brutal leaders in tworhe world. >> he's proud. his country likes him. not likes him, loves him. guess what. i love him. the guy's awesome. >> he loves him. joining us assistant secretary of defense peter brooks. i guess it's a free country. if you can get in they have basketball diplomacy and jong loves basketball. there is something about this i cannot stand. >> first, look, larry, mr. rodman should stay in his basketball lane and off the court of international politics. it's fine to go as a private

citizen as long as he didn't break laws. they are under the trading with the enemy act that goes back to 1950. he's there as a private citizen, fine to do basketball. he's involved in a documentary. the fact is he shouldn't be talking about international politics. he didn't get to see the real north korea. he saw what kim jong eun allowed him to see. he didn't see prison camps, starvation, the military build-up, nuclear test site. he should have stuck to basketball. >> i have a list here. this is not the first time celebrities or whatnot. sean penn went to iraq. sean penn went to cuba, spoke well. danny glover and sean penn went to venezuela to see hugo chavez. came back and said he's not a dictator. what do they know? to spew how i love him and

president obama should talk to him, what gives them the right? >> it is a free country. remember what john kerry said in germany about americans have a right to be stupid if they want to be which is a tremendous insult to americans back home doing that overseas, but people should stick to what they know. it's like me coming in and getting involved on the discussion on tax rates. i may have a personal opinion. but i don't have a professional opinion on it. i hate to see people taken advantage of. they can be used as propaganda tools within the country. kim jong eun is the new leader. he tried to build a cult of penalty which his father and grandfather had. he's probably going to use these individuals to look bigger in the eyes of his people. >> i have to ask you. this is great. >> as long as you don't say "my friends." >> will president obama call kim now that dennis rodman -- obama

is a basketball fan. rodman says he's a great guy and he wants president obama to call him. do you think president obama will call him? >> i think president obama is a basketball fan. i don't think he is a dennis rodman fan. i think there is zero chance he'll call. >> this makes it impossible to establish conversation. >> as an american i'm embarrassed. rodman has the right to say whatever he wants but not speak on my pe half from a foreign policy perspective. h he should shut up. >> should the state department debrief dennis rodman? >> it might be worth having the conversation if he's willing to do it. i don't think it will be of much value to them. but they may want to have a conversation. we shouldn't consider this diplomacy. state department does the diplomacy. we had ping-pong diplomacy with china. i recommend your viewers look at that. we have tried wrestling diplomacy with iran but sometimes it goes nowhere. >> it's a bizarre story.

i think dennis rodman fouled out. peter brookes, thank you. that's it for this evening's show. thanks for watching. sorry, dennis rodman. no more for you. keep the tax rates low. that's all i will say. he