alvin watts. all of the victims in the case were black while england and watts are white. three of those victims died. two others were wounded. we are back with more of today's top stories at the top of the hour. you're watching cnn saturday morning where news doesn't take the weekend off. your bottom line with christine romans begins right now. the battle for women in this election is on. good morning. i'm christine romans. democrats have been hammering republicans over cultural issues like funding for planned parenthood, contraception, but this week governor mitt romney said the real war on women is being waged by what he termed president obama's failed economic policies. >> these are just some statistics which show just how severe the war on women has been by virtue of the president's failed policies. 92.3% of all the jobs lost during the obama years have been lost by women.

>> romney's sudden focus comes on the heels of two polls released this week by abc news and "the washington post" which show romney 57% of women say they prefer president obama while just 38% were in governor romney's corner. will, this 92.3% stat has everyone all fired up. that's a pretty dramatic statistic. >> he flipped the script. >> it turned right around didn't he? it is obama's policies that are the war on women, not the war on women that people have been saying is waged in the republican camp. >> amazing flip of the script. two points. it's true. the statistic is shocking and true that 92.3% of women are jobs lost under obama meaning the start of his administration have been women. i can't even fathom how is that possible? something like 730,000 jobs lost? >> context. >> 680,000 have been women? now, although that is true it is not all that useful. for this recession, for defining

this recession and who is responsible for various aspects of it. the recession has been much longer lasting than just barack obama's presidency. >> that is exactly right and why it is disingenuous. i understand what mitt romney is doing. he is absolutely right to do it because quite frankly the numbers don't look good for him regarding female voters. when you look at cultural and social issues and add economic issues they haven't even acknowledged they support the ledbetter act yet. >> that was, you think that was a misstep this week? >> a huge misstep. basically the ledbetter act allows women to fight for better wages and allows them -- plaxma it easier to pursue legal means to get better wages. they asked in a conference call if romney supported that. they said we'll get back to you. that is not the right answer. in all fairness, it was a contested bill so i understand why they wouldn't want to just jump in but it made him look bad with a very weak voting base. >> so the war on women narrative, sort of switching, taking a new direction. hillary rosen a cnn political

contributor democratic strategist made news this week when she took on ann romney. >> his wife has never actually worked a day in her life. she has never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we need our kids, how do we send them to school? and how do we -- why do we worry about their future? >> she got a lot of grief and blow back about that comment because the way this was perceived is that until now the war on women has been cultural among, the narrative at least, grumpy republican men and the war on women. now it's democratic women who are targeting stay-at-home moms and a new twist on the war on women. >> i love the flipping of the script to use will's phrase. they kind of ignored the mid loss of jobs during the bush administration. there are only women left to lose the jobs. in this case no one was mad ann romney stayed home. it was the hubris with which she says i decided to stay home and not work and raise my children. yeah. you have $250 million. it is much easier to do that and is not a sacrifice not like most women who have to choose between

feeding their children and taking care of their children. >> live by the sword you die by the sword. play with fire git burned. if i can run five more cliche's out i would. here's the deal. the war on women has been a total bunk of nonsense from the beginning. there is no war on women. >> what was that? >> there is no war on women. there hasn't been. there's been a debate over access and whether it means free in terms of birth control. there's been a debate over religious liberties, whether contraception should be forced on businesses. >> polls show most women care about the economy and that is why the script flipped on the romney camp this weekend. >> if you want to divide americans and play this game and pit us against one another and create false wars, when you do that be prepared for the little mistake, these little mishaps you have in dividing women among themselves. >> all right. you keep fighting for two minutes while we make money on the commercial break. we'll come back and talk about taxes. is taxing the rich the right thing to do? does this make fairness in the economy or is it just a campaign gimmick?

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higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires. >> his opponents call it a campaign gimmick. soak the rich. that resonates in the polls they say but it doesn't create jobs. let's look at the facts. who are these rich taxpayers? it takes earnings of at least $343,000 to get you there. the top 1% of taxpayers? they pay 36.7% of all federal taxes. the 99%, everybody else, they make up the rest. here is the bottom line. you aren't going to fix the country's money problems by taxing the rich alone, but it is defining the obama campaign. mark, even if you let the bush tax cuts expire and the president gets his buffet rule to tax the rich at 30%, you barely close the deficit. is this a campaign stunt or is this good policy? >> i think it's both. i mean, i think you're right that it's a campaign stunt. this isn't going to pass and even if it did it would just be one step toward closing the economic gap. we absolutely can agree on that. i do think it is fair just

because there is a policy that is -- doesn't mean it isn't correct in the idea. the president is doing a right thing. we have to create a fair tax structure. right now you can show a number that shows 1% pays 34% of all taxes but they make 50% or 60% of the money. they should pay their fair share. that's all we want is equity. >> i don't know, will. let's look at how much they really pay. what are the rich paying? the rich pay higher taxes in some cases than the middle class. when you look at the effective tax rates we can put up the numbers for you and you can see it is the middle class pays in many cases a lower tax rate than the very wealthiest. here we have mitt romney, in 2010 i think it was 13.9%. the middle class 12.8%. >> right. >> you have the top 1%. they pay 27%. and the top 0.1% pay 30%. this is the irving brookings tax policy numbers for 2010. what does that mean? >> it means that almost invariably the rich pay more in taxes than the middle class. >> the tax rate and in dollars?

>> yes. the average effective tax rate of a wealthy person, the millionaires in this country is 19%. they pay about 19% of their income into income taxes. your average middle class person pays something like 13% of their income into income tax. but the thing people don't understand is they don't understand the effects of marginal tax rates and effective taxes paid. in other words, because you hear the rich guys' top tax rate is 35% that doesn't mean he is paying 35%. because you as a middle class american think your tax rate is 25%, that's not what you're paying either. you pay each marginal dollar minus deductions. >> somebody this week tweeted me that what i've learned is we all need a better tax lawyer. >> yes. >> because somehow we're all paying our tax rate that we think we are. no one else seems to be paying the tax rate advertised. i want to talk about some polls that show the president -- people, americans still hold president bush and republicans more responsible for economic problems than president obama. it makes the bush tax cuts for the wealthy an easy target, right? a fact not lost on president bush himself. >> i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts.

if they were called some other body's tax cuts they are probably less likely to be raised. but if you raise taxes, you're taking money out of the pockets of consumers. >> first of all i loft bushism in that. the bush tax cuts with the bushism, some other body's tax cuts. >> does not stop giving. as always president bush is wrong on this. right? and republicans in generally are wrong on this. there is this constant wolf cry from wealthy people if you raise our tax rate and we have to pay one more dollar in taxes somehow the economy will collapse because we won't take risks and create jobs, won't do any of that stuff. people always say what is fair? fair is the sweet spot between raising taxes so we have revenue, people pay their fair share, but not inhibiting the business world. >> there are people who say don't raise taxes on the rich people or you'll kill jobs and people who say we have to make it fair. in the middle somewhere is a very complicated tax policy. >> absolutely. the argument the administration is putting forward, they admit it doesn't have much effect on

the budget deficit. they think it is a symbol of fairness. americans need to decide what fairness is. one thing we all nodded our head at a moment ago is the tax code is overly complicated. that is not fair. we can all agree on that. i don't think the buffet rule does anything to help it. only complicates it further. >> thanks. coming up next we'll look at what college degree carries the least debt and later we'll meet the women who won over millions of online shoppers and turned guilt group into an online phenomena. [ kyle ] my bad. [ roger ] tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really?

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with the major. laura is not worried about finding a job after graduation. >> i've always been into science, never knew exactly what, but now i am pretty sure i want to work in genetics. >> reporter: a bioscience major at farmingdale state college she is in the fast growing and high paying stem category. science technology engineering and math. her classmate michael kelly, a history buff, doesn't share her love for sighen. >> i was dead set on history. didn't want to major in anything else. >> reporter: he loves history but will minor in it instead. his degree will be in technology studies so he can pursue a job in information technology. >> i didn't want to finish school with no debt and then immediately jump into a situation where i have a lot of debt. >> reporter: kelly well knows starting salaries for general studies lag stem. by mid career the difference between, say, engineering and psychology is huge.

>> if you're studying to be a petroleum engineer and get a bachelor's degree you'll make $80,000 a year. if you're studying psychology, and you're going to become a counselor in a social work agency you'll make $30,000 a year. so what you make depends very much on what you take. >> reporter: but dollar signs aren't everything. find the intersection of what you're good at, like to do, and what someone will pay you to do. nancy zimfer is chancellor of the state university of new york. >> what we know is that businesses and industry are saying repeatedly we want creative people. we want problem solvers. we want people who can work in teams. the trick i think is sort of a dual degree or a major/minor where you cover your bases. >> reporter: these students think they've to know just that and that their degree will help them land a secure job in a less than secure job market. so it's decision month now, a time when a lot of conversations going on around kitchen tables about which college to head to

and how much debt it's going to take to get there. rick newman is the chief business correspondent for u.s. news and world report. rick, we know it pays to study stem. stem is the mantra. according to the national center for education statistics, college grads with the stem degree make about 39% more than those with general studies degrees. now, aside from choosing the stem degree, because not everybody is cut out for stem, what are some of the things people can do to make sure they're making the right choice. >> obviously you want to know what the job market is going to be like when you graduate. not everybody can predict that. i think it is really important to keep in mind that learning needs to continue after college. i mean, the most successful people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, are people who are continually learning. things change really fast in this economy. we're not really sure what kind of jobs are going to be the ones in most demand 15 years from now, 20 years from now. things change really fast. you need to be somebody who is going to be able to keep learning, creativity is really important. >> adopting new technology, asking a lot of questions, always being on the edge of whatever is new, right? >> paying attention to what is

new and also paying attention to what is going on in different fields. kind of a multi disciplinary approach. and, you know, it is not enough anymore to just know about one thing, to be an expert on one thing. people really need to know in depth about two things, three things, know what's going on in some other field, see how you might apply things from there to what you do. and really have a wide range of vision on what's going on in the job market. >> so interesting. because career cast.com this week made a list of sort of the best jobs. pay wasn't the only factor for this list. guess what? not all the jobs in the top five require a bachelor's degree. do you think it's time to seriously consider if four-year college is right for everyone? >> yeah. that is a fun liss. by the way, our job is near the bottom of the list. >> i know. do as we say not as we do. liberal arts journalism. >> this is a good point. there are lots of careers that don't require that big check writing for a college degree but, you know, look at community colleges. they offer a lot of things such as dental hi generalist for example is one of the -- that is a specific type of training and a good field.

lots of other things like that. there are now advanced manufacturing jobs that pay pretty well, don't require a college degree, but they do require the kind of training you might get at a technical school or community college. you know, there are lots of things in towns and communities that i think people are just not aware of. if you look around, see what employers are what people are offering, a lot of times employers will be tied in with the local technical schools. there are lots of things. you have the look for them. coming up next, meet the two women who built one of the most fascinating start-ups of recent years and changed the way millions shop. the american addiction to online flash sales. there they are. they join us right after the break.

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on the web while the clock is ticking is a relatively new phenomenon. alina cho is here with us. she was one of the first to go inside guilt group. alina. >> can you imagine? they made it into a game. what's more exciting than that. it's called deadline shopping, and the idea really is simple. websites like guilt group, outlook and rula la entice customers with high end labels. they're bringing the sample sale concept to the public. it's driven by the fact that they've made shopping into a game. the sales start at noon. there's a limited supply and only a set amount of time to buy. call it the mouse wars. >> people want a deal, but they also don't want the exact same deal that everyone else is getting so the brilliance of these sites is it makes you feel like you and a tiny group stumbled upon this fabulous find

it's like a gambling of the horse races. >> in the beginning gilt host 2d to three sale as week. there are 22. 5 million members and the site as built to gilt man, gilt baby and kids for piece who want high end travel deals and take a look at gilt global reach. shifting to more than 100 countries averaging 10,000 packages a day. tokyo, japan, and here at home in las vegas and kentucky. that one in kentucky, 3,000 square feet, christine, operated by robots. you don't even need human beings. >> to think it started by two women in a recession, selling things. it's not a fad, by the way. gilt is the second most valuable ecommerce company following amazon.com. the authors of a new book

about it called "by invitation only." . they're along with alina. ladies, a thousand employees now? >> over a thousand employees. >> you started with five of you in the middle of a recession. i want to go back to that day, november 18, 2007. you say most of us were worried about what would happen when the clock struck 9:00 eastern. would we have to take our heels off and put on flats to fill commerce' orders faster and answer customers' questions? the truth is we were deeply afraid we would sell nothing but you've sold and have been selling ever since. it's an amazing trajectory. what about starting something in the middle of a recession, something that's been a boys' network until now. what gave you the confidence to do it? was it just the idea? >> the first thing that helped us, is we were passionate about it. we were shopping this way tlrd. we were going to what we knew

and that gives you a lot of confidence. if you're focusing on ideas you're passionate about and you feel equipped. >> you guys are growing so fast. a lot of people are saying initial public offering? is this a company i'm willing to invest? >> you must be talking to bankers about an ipo. >> not yet. >> we're talking about it, 2012, talk about it internally in 2013. >> if anybody's looking to invest, there's your answer. alina. >> part of the reason i found interesting about this book is people came to you and saying not when are you going to sell your next vera wage dress, how are you doing this, how did you start this? what i understand is it comes down to your relationship, type as in different ways and execution. i loved when you said this. ideas are cheap. execution is key. it's really in the execution, right? and you were naive. that helped a lot, didn't it? >> yeah.

it at times helped. we were a team of five co-founders and relationships were critical. first of all, they helped us hire and grow our team. they helped us to build our membership because we didn't have a big marketing budget. our biggest member "showbiz flashpoint" were our friends and friends friends and then ultimately it was the relationship with the designers that brought them on board. zack powe extend was our first designer. >> i was surprised by that. zack and e-mailed and he said -- i said all these years later are you still with gilt? he said, yes, are you kidding me? i love gilt. there you go. proof is in the pudding. that's pretty amazing. that took a lot. >> zack was a pioneer. now we have 6,000 working with us but having him on board really helped us to get all the brands to follow. >> the world was so different in 2007 so as we were going out and

presenting the zack powe extese the world our idea, a lot of people weren't selling online. >> when people didn't want to hung hunker down, you did. you said this is the way it's going have to be. what do you think about that? >> i think there's a lot to be said about that. in this case if i look at the economy today, there's 28% women-run businesses. the dollars flowing from investors to the way women run businesses are only 4 to 10%. >> how can that be? they don't get as big as yours. >> and it can be tougher and more intimidating for a woman to raise capital without a doubt. >> one thing that was really so interesting to me back when i first talked to you guys was the fact that back in the day when you started, it was very difficult to get consumers to wrap their heads around the idea to buy something online without being able to try it on, like the traditional sample sale. so you really took that whole let's show the product off to a different level. you made it