observations, concerns, and questions? post your comments on our blog at cnn.com/fredricka or on facebook at fredrickawhitfieldcnn and we may use your comments at 4:00 p.m. eastern. and stay with cnn on the latest-breaking news. "your $$$$$" starts right now. president obama says health care reform is vital to economic recovery, but will opposition from his own party ultimately doom landmark legislation? i'm christine romans, welcome to "your $$$$$." ali velshi is off this week. in the folks hour, we're following your tax dollars. we'll show you exactly where the $787 billion in stimulus money is being spent. plus, we'll find out if the surging stock market is a mirage or maybe a sign that we've come back from the brink of financial collapse. but, first, we begin with the president's battle to reform health care. he made his case before the american people this week. >> if we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. if we don't act, 14,000 americans will continue to lose

their health insurance every single day. these are the consequences of inaction. these are the stakes of the debate that we're having right now. >> how will he pay for the massive overhaul? where are the details? former new york mayor and republican presidential candidate rudy giuliani insists americans were left with more questions than answers. >> the cost of health care is going to go up over the next five to ten years. when you add the trillions of dollars that he's spending, inflation alone is going to drive it up. so, i mean, that's why i think why even his own democrats -- he's got so many democrats that don't support this. he's not telling the american people really how it's going to operate. and i think they left the press conference last night with more questions than they had before. >> so, did the president succeed in making the case for health care reform? let's pose that question to jamal simmons, democratic strategist with the raven group, and steven moore, editorial writer for "the journal." jamal, let me start with you. did he sell you on the need and the urgency for this plan?

>> well, nerve i was sold before he started talking. so, let's just be serious. >> the president had you at hello, didn't he? >> he had me at hello. i do think he did a good job. one of the reasons why people voted for barack obama and the reason why his poll ratings don't stay above 50%, 55%, is because they trust him and they think he's smart. and the one thing that he did do at that press conference is he showed off his brain and he sort of established that he's still the person speaking straight to the american people on this issue. rudy giuliani just said that costs are going to go up under the plan. well, you know what, costs are going to go up anyway. right now we're spending $2.5 trillion on health care. that will go to $7 trillion in 2025 if we do nothing at all, so the president wants to get this donnell so we can try to save some of that money and get it out of american's pockets. >> he had an unscripted moment where he said if you want to guarantee more people uninsured, going to guarantee higher costs and more suffering for more

people and not necessarily better care, we've got that plan, it's the status quo. >> yeah, christine, i think the problem the president has right now, though, despite what jamal said, the public opinion polling shows continued decline in support for this plan. it's like the more americans get to know what's actually in this bill -- by the way, it's a 1,200-page bill, so a lot of us still don't know what's in it. but the more we start to glean what's in it, support is eroding. i think one of the biggest problems is the way they pay for this trillion dollar bill is mostly on the backs of small businesses. and, you know, my line on this if we pass this bill, everybody's going to have health care, but nobody's going to have a job. >> well, that's interesting. i want to listen to something else the president said in that press conference, talking a little bit about the politics. he's talking about the politics on the other side of the aisle. listen to this -- >> i heard one republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to go for the kill. another republican senator said that defeating health care reform ask about breaking me.

so, let me be clear. this isn't about me. i have great health insurance. and so does every member of congress. >> but, jamal, what's the problem here? is the problem here roadblocks or opposition from the republicans, or is the problem here that he's getting pushback from his own party about what this will look like and what kind of timeline there will be to get this thing done? >> you know, health care isn't just for democrats. it's going to be for republicans also. there are 14,000 americans who lose their health care every single day. some are democrats, i'm sorry are republicanses. the republicans have responsibility to get in the game and try to figure out how to help solve this problem just as much as the democrats. of course, the president has to convince democrats to go along with it, but it shouldn't just be a one-party bill. this should be a bipartisan piece of legislation, and frankly, it's a little discouraging that republicans would rather play politics and try to disable the president when we have this big crisis than to try to help to figure out how to fix this problem. >> it sounds like everyone is playing politics. on it's a big, huge undertaking

with a lot of different constituencies with different viewpoints on how it should be done. >> i'm all for bipartisanship, i think there is a bipartisan solution to this. but this is being handled exactly like the stimulus bill was done and the cap g trade bill. >> that's not true. >> the democrats only, republicans are out of the process. none of the republican ideas are in this bill. that's i think the reason that it's become so bifurcated. republicans said, look, if we're not at the table, why in the world would we vote for this? there are waifs to do this to ensure the people without insurance, but you don't have to screw up the entire health care system for people. most people have health care, which is the vast majority of americans, like the insurance they have right now and they're very nervous about losing it. >> is it true -- go ahead. >> according to the president's plan, they want to maintain people's quality, maybe even improve quality. keep costs down, and allow people to have choice and keep their own plans if they want it. now, you just said that republicans didn't have a chance

to participate in this bill. the president mentioned the other night, one of the bills moving through congress had 160 amendments from republicans that have been considered. so you can't say republicans don't have a chance. >> they've been considered, but they've all been voted down by the democratic congress. >> maybe they were bad ideas. >> it's not bipartisan. >> maybe they were bad ideas. it doesn't mean they don't have a chance to participate in the process. they certainly do. >> but, you know, christine, at this point we're coming into the fourth inning of this. it's not going to happen before the august recess. >> right. >> they're going to go back and i think the democrats will have to get this done. i do think there will be a bill this year, but i think it has to move more to the center. it cannot put all the costs on small businesses, because small businesses are the backbone of our economy. >> i agree with that. >> and it has to be a system that also constrains costs. and, jamal, i agree with you, we have to do it. i just don't think this bill -- for example, there's no medical malpractice insurance reform in a 1,200-page bill and everyone knows that's a good way to control health care costs. >> all right, and health care costs is something that we still continue to worry about and talk

about, how it will be affected here. and there's still a feeling that we haven't gotten control over that quite yet either. gentlemen, we'll leave it right there. stephen moore, "wall street journal," jamal simmons, democratic strategist. thank you very much for joining us. have a great weekend. the debate over health care reform happening all over the country, probably even at your dinner table. but what exactly is everyone arguing about? here's what's at stake -- projections estimate that by next year, 164 million of you will get your health insurance from work, through your job. 81 million from medicare or medicaid. 14 million of you will buy insurance on your own. and 49 million of you, and counting, won't have coverage. the democrats want to cover the uninsured but also preserve the employer-based health care system. the exact plan, the details, still in flux. but we'll break it down and explain how it could affect your doctor visit and your monthly budget. jeanne sahadi from cnnmoney.com is here.

if you get health insurance through your job, through work, not a lot is going to change for you in the very beginning if this plan happens. >> right, there's the near term and the long term for people, called the esi. in the near term, premiums are not expected to go down measurably. it's unlikely your employers going to drop you into the public exchange that they want to create, a national insurance exchange supermarket. what could happen, though, is that within five years, all insurance plans, those from employers, those on the exchange, will have to conform to certain regulations. what you'll hear president obama said this week, what nancy pelosi said this week, was you will have your out-of-pocket costs annually capped. you will have the cap on lifetime benefits from a plan removed. you will be guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions. so, that could help somebody with employer-sponsored insurance today, because it means a couple of things. within five years -- and really, we're talking 2018, because this won't get under way until 2013. you might see a reduction in your out-of-pocket costs if that

cap soon applies. you also might be freer to leave your job, because right now if you leave your job, like, ooh, how am i going to get insurance especiallify have a pre-existing condition. now, you know there will be options out there for you. >> this is most people at this point. most people still have the coverage through their job. you also point out you could pay a tax. you don't have to pay a tax on the benefit you get from your job. it could be on the table. >> a couple of things. we don't know what the pay-fors will be. the house bill that everybody is talking about has a surtax on the wealthy. the threshold for that was couples making $350,000 or more. nancy pelosi wants to push it up to $500,000. we don't know what will happen there. the senate finance committee has yet to put out its proposals. the leading idea had been to tax your benefits at work which are currently tax free. >> right. >> the portion your employer pays. don't know what's going to happen there. and now there's a competing idea coming out to tax insurance companies and employers who provide these cadillac plans. but that could get passed down to you by way of costs.

who knows. >> of course. let's talk about the people who buy their own insurance. what does it mean for people, the democrats' health care proposals for those people? >> in the near term it could be a benefit for them, because it's very expensive to buy on your own in the individual market. those folks will be immediately eligible to go into the exchange when it opens. and the idea of the exchange is you have a lot of different plans competing with each other for your business. and also if they're very low income, they can qualify for a subsidy. >> okay. >> the subsidy is if your income takes you to 400% of poverty level. so, that's another potential. >> what about the 49 million, they get the most out of this? >> there will be a mandate to buy insurance, so they will have that. if they can't afford it now, they will be subsidized to buy it. they will have more choice innen nas than they do now. they will have all the protections that will immediately apply to plans in the exchange, you know, guaranteed coverage if you have a pre-existing condition. >> sure. >> they scant toss you out of the plan if you get sick. >> all of this in flux, of

course. there's two tracks you keep saying, what will your health care look like and how are we going to pay for it. two different kinds of -- very complicated and difficult political conversations going on. thank you. the government paying $5 million for turkey meat. on the surface it looks silly. we'll tell you what it's all about. find out what uncle sam is doing with your stimulus money. . to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

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never has more money been pledged to stimulate the economy in such a wide array of projects. your stimulus money is starting to flow around the country. more than 10% of it is already out the door. now, you can track it yourself at the government's website following the stimulus, that's recovery.gov. but here's a taste, just a little taste, on what you're spending money for. $9,034 in washington, d.c., for office chairs, contracted by the department of labor. they're setting up an office for up to 20 people. the chairs usually retail about $1,100 apiece, but that's just one small contract your stimulus money going for office equipment at the department of labor. at wisconsin, here is one project, almost $200,000 for a bathroom remodel and door replacement. that's what the contract said. we called and dug into it.

it's four bathrooms for a forest service office space. the company doing that project set it's been able to not lay off employees because of this project. this one caught our eye. look at this. $5.3 million for jennie-o, they say it's going to food banks and soup kitchens. it's part of $100 million in emergency food aid that's meant to combat the recession. right now a lot more food including pork and mozzarella, 800,000 pounds of mozzarella, all being paid by your tax dollars to go to soup itch conditions. here by far is the biggest single contract on here. look at this. you can see this for yourself at recovery.gov. it's in washington, more than $1 billion to clean up a nuclear waste site, the hanford site. the department of energy said this contract is putting 832 people to work. that's a snapshot of your stimulus money at work. but is this how your

stimulus dollars should be spent? is it a good use of your money? these are a few examples. thanks for joining us, sir -- gentlemen, i should say. let me ask you first, in new jersey, what kind of contracts are you seeing doing there? are they going to create jobs, and is it good for your state? >> i think it is good. there's a highway that runs right through my district that is pockmarked. a lot of the bridges need repair. and people working today on that project. i think it's going to solve some major traffic problems and create some good jobs. so, i think it's what we should be doing. >> congressman campbell, let me ask you about some of the blowback for some of these projects. when you go looking through the recovery.org or .gov website. the $9,000 for office chairs, stirring the debate if it should be regular appropriations. why is this stimulus? you can see bridge-painting contracts that haven't gotten exactly up to speed yet.

is it stimulating, all of these projects, or do some stimulate more than others? >> no, i don't think it is stimulating. and most of this, as you just suggested, in my view should have gone through the regular appropriations process. there are many of these things that are welfare programs, bureaucracy, bathrooms, whatever, things for bureaucracy, and that's great, we can discuss whether we should spend the money or not. to say it's stimulating the economy, it's not. because there's no multiplier effect. what would have been stimulative is if 3% of this was infrastructure-type projects, only 3% of the spending. had more of it been that, if you build a road or you create wireless internet or put in a bridge, then you create additional jobs than just building that. because the private sector uses that infrastructure to create more jobs. and that's what we should have been doing, but this -- this so-called stimulus didn't do that, and in my opinion is actually going to harm the economy, because all the borrowing we're having to do to pay for it. >> congressman andrews, let me

ask you about the infrastructure part of all of this. because there are democrats, too, and democratic economists and progressive and left-leaning economists who say we need another stimulus and it needs to be focused on infrastructure. would you use that argument to say we even need more stimulus and we should do a big infrastructure package? >> i don't think we should do a second one. i think we should give this one a chance and give it a chance to get people to work. we need to spend it carefully. i hate to hear the examples of expensive office chair, it's not supposed to happen and it's our responsibility to make sure it doesn't happen. >> it looks like the government got them for $400 and some, so they got them for better than retail. >> we should do better than that. there's money, for example, to try to make the grid smarter. so if someone builds a windmill, they can get the electricity from the windmill to the utility company.

that makes sense. there are people that are closing on buying a home that will get an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit that's helping to bring back the residential real estate market. and i think what you'll begin to see is that over time -- it's not soon enough as far as i'm concerned. you will see over time people go back to work, more companies prosper and more opportunities for the american people. i think it will work. >> coffin gre >> congressman campbell, let me ask you about waste. the size of this project. we've never undertaken something of this size before. we know there's government waste and abuse in contracting in all kind of different areas. are you concerned at all about that? >> yes. there's no way -- this is almost $1 trillion. and remember you hear from the white house, from the administration, so forth, well, we've got to get the money out real quick so it stimulates the economy. the problem is if you get it out quick, literally billions at a chunk, tens of billions at a chuching, you will have abuse and waste and fraud. and there's no way you can just

create a trillion dollar program, dump it all out there in 12 months and not waste a lot of it. now, that's not an indictment of the administration. that's just a fact of how it's going to happen. that's why we shouldn't have done this, because unfortunately, we've -- this money is not free. it's all going to be borrowed. and we're going to have to pay that back. and my fear is that even if you make an argument that it has some help to the economy now -- and i don't think it will. but even if you do make that argument, it will absolutely hurt a recovery in the future as we try to pay this money back. >> all right, well, this was, you know, billed as a jobs, jobs, jobs package. we'll keep following all this spending is find out where we're creating jobs and what we're doing this with money and what kind of impact it is happening on the economy. thank you very much. john campbell and robert andrews from new jersey. a luxury item that saves you time and money. small business succeeds by packaging one really good idea and focusing on the customer. .

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it's just brutal out there for small business. customer traffic is down. costs are up. it's hard to borrow money. that's why we were so pleased to visit a small business owner in brentwood, missouri, who's found the right ingredients for success.

>> reporter: can a small business survive, even thrive, in a recession? paige oliver thinks so, she and three partners started time for dinner five years ago. based on an idea they found in a magazine. >> we're a meal assembly service where people come in and assemble meals in the raw form and take them home and put them in the freezer and put them out when they need them. >> reporter: the business has grown nearly 15% each year. the goal now is $1 million in revenue this year. that's right, a small business succeeding. despite recession and obstacles like a flood last fall. three feet of water shutting down the facility for three days. >> have your rewards card. great, great, great. >> reporter: it's hard to find good customer service these days. and the ladies and the entire staff that works here should be an example for everybody. >> reporter: this customer drives 45 minutes from illinois to prepare meals for her family of six. she's been coming for five

years. >> you know, i think we're thinking about changing that. >> reporter: she says time for dinner listens to the customers, making changes that always makes it better. time for dinner is still going strong while 13 local competitors, mostly national chain franchises have gone under. >> because they are local and because they are doing so much to connect with their community and their customer base, they are excelling. they are succeeding. and they are doing better than the national chains. >> reporter: customer amy pugh says she and her husband save money and time using this service. >> we both work full time, and so coming home, both of us are tired and neither of us want to cook. and he comes home. we have a meal that's defrosted in the fridge. we usually budget about $200 every couple weeks for meals. and this is $115 for the month. so, it saves a bunch of money. >> reporter: clients say they save money because they can't buy all the ingredients used in the recipes as little as a time for dinner meal costs, and they

eat out less often because nice meals are waiting at home. the recipe for small business success in this recession, a unique idea, hard work, but, most important -- >> it's all about the customer, and that's how we make decisions here. if it's good for our customer, then it's going to be good for us, and it's proven that that works. from success to uncertainty, another look for struggles to small businesses across the country. let's go to west hempstead, new york, a horse farm there, tightening the reins in this economy, but is it enough. here's the stable owner in his own words. >> pull yourself up. shoulders back. there you go. you are looking good. beautiful. >> it's a struggle every day to keep lakewood stables open. mortgage payment here. $12,100. another one here, $23,000. bill for shavings that were delivered last week $5,100. we have easily $50,000 to 60,000 of bills a month depending on the month. in order to take care of a

horse, it costs. even our basic costs is about $500 to $600 a month to just take care of that animal, one horse. we have over 60 horses here. children that used to take two or three lessons a week are taking one lesson a week. some families had to cut it out temporarily, you know, until they get back on their feet because of the recession. people don't have that extra money to spend is. i've only been here three years. you have people that have grown up here. so, you talk to them about this place closing down or going under, their world is over, you know. and it's not right. >> this is my home. i grew up here. i've been here for 20 years. i live here. i ride here every day. i come here every single day even on my day off. >> my girls are taking a lesson. there's an age where they are always like this at each other's throats, but coming here, they're getting along so much better, let's put it way that, because they have so much in common and they both really love it. >> lakewood stables is i would say 90% kids but -- okay.

you have little boys and girls, mostly girls here on a daily basis. and you have thousands on a monthly basis that come through our doors. our summer camp program, this is a program that took off since the inception. and unfortunately this year, you know, we see it. we see our numbers down from last year's camp because of the recession. >> what do we tell our horse? >> good walk, please. >> we have developed a therapeutic riding program with horsability which is a program that helps handicapped and autistic children through therapy on four legs. >> guys? >> this place has been here for 100 years, you know? and some of the things we're doing here are so great for the children that it would really be a shame not to get what we need to keep it here. >> jacobson says there are three things that lakewood stables needs to remain open, an indoor arena to keep revenue in regardless of the weather all

year-round. tax relief. he currently pays $70,000 a year because the operation doesn't have the five acres needed to be taxed as an agricultural property. they've applied for an exemption that could cut their tax bill and they've worked out a payment plan in order to keep their mortgage current, they have to pay a lump sum of $60,000 at the end of the summer. you've heard of the stay-cation. that's the stay@home vacation. fun and employed and not having a job and using the time to do fun things. three the recession. we'll explain when we come back. . announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. hp me b bte itnoa std.ot a steroid. ceeey announceit keeps my airwa. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

i think i'll go with the preferred package.

good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. all right. it's time forour news ticker. every week we go through the headlines so you don't have. we add our opinionated guests to add their comments. i want to start with stocks. above 9000. the dow, i've had my hands over my eyes for six or seven month. you turn around, suddenly is the market telephoning us that things are going to get better,

or is the market telling us that the lights are still on essentially? >> i think the lights are still on. how much worse can it go than 6500. it had to come back. the somewhat sustained performance by the stock market. you saw the news on the housing starts. >> sure. >> that's encouraging. i think we can take a breath, but i don't think we can relax yet. >> are we getting better? yeah. you are at 6500 and you are now at 9000, that's better rush limbaugh, better! whether you like it or not. so, you know, it amazes me when people act as if you cannot acknowledge when the number is better. i remember every day, it was -- i mean, every night, i'm sitting on campbell brown's show and ali velshi, the market is down 4 left hand points, oh, my gosh, what's going on? and all of a sudden as you come back up, okay, fine, it went up, no big deal. here's the reality. i'm not one of the big whiz financial experts. i'm the kind of person who -- i'm in the mutual fund, and i

pulled it out because i'm tired of losing money. you can put the money back in because i have confidence. >> you're talking about restoring confidence. for the second week in a row we got signs that it is recovering and it's restoring confidence. >> he brings in rush limbaugh, because he mentioned me. my show and susan lisovicz because talking about the stock market rally we were somehow missing all the terrible things that had happened. >> like it's not a fact. >> it has been a very brutal, brutal time for workers. we still have high unemployment. >> absolutely. >> it's still a problem. but you can at least open up your 401(k) statement and see that you're getting a little bit of it back. you're not back to where you were. but you starting to get a little bit back. >> what you want is traction. you want a feeling that things aren't sliding anymore, that things are moving forward. >> it's not a political statement. it's a fact. they are up 30% and 47% respectively from the lows in the market. >> rush, you can't argue with the facts. you always want to see positive

growth. you always want to see if things are getting slightly better, it's a lot -- that's much better than it's getting worse. i mean, literally, it was every day. >> every day. >> people going, oh, my god, not another report of how bad it is. >> we still have a lot of hurdles, though, we can all agree there's a demand problem. small businesses are really hurting. >> can they cut further? >> and corporate profits frankly are up because they're selling divisions and because they're able to lay off workers. >> you still have to get through the next quarter. let's talk about the credit rating agencies. they are getting sued. and they're part of the puzzp a puzzle of who is to blame. >> i don't think suing is the way to do it. we all, of course, trusted the ratings. >> i don't. >> you don't or you didn't? >> no. >> you never did? >> no. >> okay, well, you are the exception to the rule. everybody else thought if i had a aaa rating, it was a -- >> aaa is good. >> i think we need to go back to say exactly what the ratings

mean and who is held accountable. will it happen as a result of a lawsuit? i don't think so. >> if you put people under deposition, i think the truth comes out. i think you should be going after the credit report companies. >> why? >> because that's the biggest fraud. if you sit here and pay stuff off, oh, i'm sorry, your credit score is very low. no, no, we want you to have a credit card. we need you to have a credit card. i don't want to have debt. if you want to sue somebody, sue those fraudulent folks. >> i have a theory. i think over the next ten years hat so many people will have bad credit scores, it will become irrelevant that what your credit card score is. you're triaging your bill. it's a tough period for many people. tell me what you really think. >> rush. i want to talk about the recession. there's a couple things, he-session or man-session, 20% of the johns that have been lost

are men. it's the end of macho, the global dominated, high-risk, high-reward behavior is because of men. and maybe it's death of macho. >> macho has been dying for the last 60 years. if you haven't been paying attention. you can't have two secretaries, one to do your work and one to chase around the desk. all of that stuff has been changing for a long time. i'm ruining your day, i know. here's my solution. i have three daughters. have as many daughters as possible because they will take care of you in your old age. >> why is that? because they're getting the degrees and making the money? >> they're getting the degrees and doing well. this is part of a very long-term shift. we're really noticing it global globally. all this means, to my one son, is going to have to change what it means to be a man in the global economy is what it means. >> i think back to bernard shaw when he gave a speech a couple years ago when he said, white men, take notice, you're a speck in the ocean of color. his whole point there was the

world is changing. >> exactly. >> it used to be a male-dominated world, a white-male-dominated world, white males are going to have to get used to the fact that they will see more hispanic and african-americans and asian in the marketplace. the same thing comes to gender, so it changes. >> but black and hispanic men are losing the number in the 80% of the jobs lost. middle-class and manufacturing jobs. >> we're going to have to retool future generations of young men. my son cannot think about training in a factory. he has to have a different mindset when it comes to a working man. >> for instance, one of the areas where we have a severe shortage in this country, nurses. >> nursing, absolutely. >> so, when you typically have women who are largely going into nursing, guess what, you now have a man who is saying, i might need to go ahead and get rid of -- >> my macho bias about what a nurse is, absolutely. >> you can be a male nurse as well. that's part of the whole issue. >> thanks so much, gentlemen.

we'll see you next week. a lot of fun. >> the market's great, rush! where in the world is ali? well, right now, he's on vacation. but before he left, he got to spend some quality time in the kitchen at chipolte. >> reporter: let's make a burrito. >> oil start with a flour tortilla. what would you like in your burrito? >> they say you are what you eat. so what did our friend ali put in the burrito? >> his hands are in his pocket. >> not a speck of flour on his apron. come on, ali! he better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

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wants new regulations that could affect your money and your investments. at the heart of this plan, the creation of a consumer financial protection agency, a single agency, to regulate mortgage, credit cards, insurance, the things that touch your money. it would have the power to examine subpoena information from banks and it would ban financial products deemed deceptive. the financial industry says the power should remain within the fed and they fear the new agency could stifle innovation and freeze the credit markets. the treasury market disagrees and says it is needed to avoid a

repeat of this crisis. how could it affect you? i spoke with the former ceo of citi wealth management and asked her what she saw in the administration's proposal that could help individual investors. >> there's some really important things here for the individual investors. the thing we're hearing a lot about is the consuper financial protection agency. a lot of noise about that. if it's done poorly, it can be a morass of red tape and bureaucracy, if it's done well, i think it can really provide consumers with a way to cut through the clutter and confusion that the financial service products can be for so many of them. mortgages, what are you really signing when you sign a mortgage? and if done correctly, i think it can be a very interesting watchdog and helpmate for the individual investors. >> the watchdog, the proposals are anything that has to do with your money, your house, your tiremt would come under this umbrella. you say it could go well or it could go poorly. how can they make sure it goes well? what are your recommendations to make sure this is something with teeth that helps individual investors? >> well, one, it's got to have

teeth. two, it's got to have the independent funding and the ability to really maneuver. but i think, more important than anything else, it's just got to have common sense, right? the issue with disclosure is people tend to think more is better, right? it's another risk, put it on in there. if the average consumer of financial products cannot understand what they're buying and what the risks are, i think in ten minutes or less, then we fail. >> we know there are a lot of different agencies that had -- >> right. >> -- a mission to protect consumers and somehow nobody actually did it. >> well, and that is an issue. if you scatter responsibility too broadly, then no one really has responsibility. so, that can be -- that can be a problem. but with any of these things, it really is, do you have the right regulations in place? and, very importantly, do you have the right people in place who can cut through it? and do you have a number of the right initiatives in place? >> people have been burned whether it's by the mortgage or whatever it is, confidence has to return. >> if you stalk to the individual investors today, you

know what, i feel like the jerk, right? we had the research scandal some number of years ago. we had this meltdown. what's having these folks do the best thing for me? and so by bringing out this consumer protection agency, by bringing out this fiduciary standard, by fixes the rating agencies, doing a few of the things, shoring up the monetary found, the most important thing is to bring back the level of confidence. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. all right, you know, so let me get this straight. while i'm here in the studio working hard, ali gets to go shopping and he gets to ride his motorcycle with orange county choppers and he gets to cook with rachael ray, and she's learning the act of burrito making with the founder of chipotle. i'm clearly doing something wrong.

you know, if you'd asked steve ells what his dream job was after he graduated from culinary school, the answer would be to open a fancy

restaurant. that was his dream. you've probably heard of his creation, which is neither fancy nor expensive. it's the fast-food restaurant chipotle. our traveling ali velshi recently got a taste of how it all unfolded. >> i moved to denver in 1993 with the idea that i would open this one restaurant called chipotle, and it would be the cash cow that could help fund my real restaurant. >> reporter: right. >> and it did very well. it did so well, in fact, that i said, maybe i'll open one more. one more chipotle. and that did even better than the first one. and, you know, when i was doing this, though, i was feeling guilty. i was feeling like i wasn't really following my calling. i'm opening these chipotles and it's nice, i guess, but it's not what i'm meant to do. >> reporter: tell me about your philosophy about what's on the menu. >> it's important to understand where your food comes from and how it was raised. and i started to become interested in this about ten years ago, when i visited some pig farms. i mean, it's really sort of a

brutal condition that they're raised in. and they're raised with antibiotics and they never see the light of day and they're in small cages, and it's very, very unpleasant. and at that moment, seeing antibiotics, and they never see the light of day, and they're in small cages, and they're, it's very, very unpleasant. and at that moment, seeing that, i knew that i didn't want chipotle's success to be based on that kind of exploitation. so that led us to look at every single ingredient we buy. to make sure it is raised the right way. >> but there is a tradeoff here, right? >> there is. >> better quality of food and it's going to cost them more. >> it costs a little bit more. absolutely. especially in these tougher economic times, it really puts a squeeze on folks. and unfortunately, you know we have lost some transactions in the last, last year. but not a lot. and, and people are still willing to pay a little bit more for the kind of quality they get

at chipotle. maybe they just don't come as often. >> let's talk about the menu you don't seem to have a lot of items and it hasn't expanded a great deal over the years. >> we have a very focused menu. neat thing about chipotle with just a few things you can make different combinations, 60 some thousand combinations, burritos, tacos, beans, salss a. we satisfy lots of different tastes. >> i asked you all the questions i can ask you. one thing left. let's make a burrito. >> let's make a burrito. ♪ ♪

>> that's your burrito. >> perfect. i will enjoy this. >> enjoy. >> enjoy. ali will be back next week. here on "your money" we look to do roman's numeral. get it? play on words. today looking at the roman's numeral for today. well since most of you don't live in ancient rome, we'll have to tell you what the number is. here it is, the number 725. and that is where the minimum wage stands right now. the recent 70-cent increase may not seem much to some. but to small businesses it makes a big difference. and you the customer, maybe, maybe you will feel it. rafael queere doesn't want your grocery bill to go up. he owned this shoprite, since 2005. in that time he has seen the minimum wage drop from 7.15, to $7.25. to meet the payroll.

>> what happens. extra payroll transitions over to the consumer. cuellar has 40 to 50 minimum wage earners. his payroll costs won't go up dramatically with the wage hike. but suppliers, produce, meat companies and consumer goods factories they're going to get hit hard. >> all these companies have thousands, upon thousands of minimum wage earners that are obviously their costs increase. it passes on to me. and it passes on to the consumer. >> but many consumers will have more money to spend argue economists and business owners like cuellar will benefit. >> even if they have to raise their prices a little bit, they often, make up for that in increased business. because workers are able to spend more money they have in their pockets. >> not all workers are getting a raise. others argue in this economy, employment will suffer. >> it is going to cost us lots of low skilled jobs, employers won't be able to hire as many

people. some will get laid off. well those with jobs will have more money in their pocket. though that don't get hired won't have any at all. >> empty pockets is what concerns rafael cuellar. >> long term effect it makes people who weren't making minimum wage a little poorer. millions of other people didn't get a pay raise. >> still there are many economists who point out it is simply the right thing to do. if you are earning the minimum wage, working full time, all year round, you make about $15,000 a year. thoolt is depending on the size of your family not even enough to cross the poverty threshold. all right. are you sleepy? if you can barely keep your eyes own, can't think, you, you don't like our show, or maybe part of a growing number of americans tossing and turning night after night. why, we'll tell you next. don't fall asleep. my airways o. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

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are you counting more sheep at night than money in your bank account? you are not alone. americans are losing sleep over the state of our economy. cnn money.com's poppy harlow takes a look and a nap. >> reporter: if a good night sleep seems like a faint memory, blame the economy. one third of americans are losing sleep over their concerns about their personal finances or the economy, according to the

national sleep foundation. >> we're seeing a combination of people, people who have had long standing problems with their sleep, who report that their sleep is getting worse because of the added stress of the economy as well as poem who are coming in saying that they have never had a sleep problem before. >> prescriptions for sleep medications at a record high, topping 56 million in 2007, up 54% since 2004. if pill popping doesn't sound like the solution, consider a good old-fashioned powernap. >> you can nap in response to sleep loss. so after the fact. or you can nap in anticipation of sleep loss. because only sleep can replace sleep. >> and napping may be just the ticket. business is booming here at yellow wellness where believe it or not people in manhattan will pay nearly $30 for a 40 minute nap. >> it has been a real interesting change in terms of consumer behavior. more september, a lot of people

were coming here and saying, i need, like to get a nap. now what has been happening is that people actually need their nap. it's become a necessity in people's life. >> i just think it makes a real difference. first of all in my work. i do a better job. which means i get a better bonus. and i'm not going to burn out. >> reporter: 2/3 of adults say sleepiness interferes with their concentration and makes handling stress on the job more difficult. regulars here say the fee to sleep is a small price to pay to overcome exhaustion. >> coming here, spending the money, taking a nap, allows me to kind of burn the candle at both end. >> poppy harlow, cnn, new york. according to a study, taking a 30 minute power nap three times a week can reduce the risk of heart disease in healthy people, by 37%. national sleep foundation found those people who report losing sleep over the economy are