later, we'll continue our look at job training programs. the northern ♪ host: one day after the dow jones plunges 635 points, how the markets are reacting this morning. it is all adding up to another day of big losses. the benchmark index's and britain and other places have a opened up but have since fallen very down -- have fallen. dow futures have been all over.

can the federal reserve do anything to help allay investor fears? a policy meeting today. we want to hear from you this morning on how all this economic news is impacting your financial decisions. if you make under $50,000, call the first telephone number. from $50,000 hundred $50,000, the second. start dialing in now. let me show you the headlines in the paper this morning. this is the "start daschle ledger," investors fear slowdown. -- this is the "star-ledger," courtesy of the newseum. here in the "denver post."

the front page of the "washington post." the dow plunges 635 points. the new york times, a free fall on fears of economic and credit was. "daily news," and the on " new york post." we want to hear from you how this is impacting your financial decision making. diane and heinz co, alabama, go ahead. -- in huntsville, alabama, go ahead. caller: it is really having an effect on me because i get disability and i am not working. it is hard to even think about how people could just play with our lives like this.

host: who is playing with your life? caller: the politicians. host: what you want them to do? caller: want them to come together and work with the president, give them that opportunity to do his job. work with him to help him regulate this economy. it is all about working together. host: diane, what is your field from your does a benefit to the benefits -- your disability benefits? caller: my medicine, i cannot even afford to pay for my medicine. i am a diabetic. i had triple bypass surgery. i take all types of medication. and i cannot afford to keep my insulin.

this is really taking a toll on my life personally. and i know it is hurting other people in my situation. host: die and calling in on the under $50,000 line. from maryland, how was this impacting your and its decisions? caller: [unintelligible] they want to make obama [unintelligible] host: abraham, where you putting your money? caller: [unintelligible]

host: son that is in salisbury, massachusetts. -- linda is and saul terry, massachusetts. caller: this is raised a lot of new panic. it is going to be quite difficult for me to try to stay on top of bills i had accumulated. i was using this opportunity to get saddled with my bills. now i am not going to be able to do that as well as i can. host: lie not? -- why not?

caller: i was trying to pay way over the minimum and now have to use that money to do other things. host: what is happening in the economy, how does that impact? caller: everything costs more money, utilities, car payments, i have a car payment. i also have other financial responsibilities to other people in my life. and it makes a huge amount of difference, because what heights -- when i was starting to work, they were facing layoffs, then that impacted my job security. host: here is the "wall street journal." bracing for further squeeze following last week's downgrade

of government debt. consumers of party been struggling with higher unemployment at elevated levels of personal debt. host: sarasota, florida, mike

mayes more than $150,000. what kind of decisions are you making? caller: i did not want to make too many hasty decisions. we are a two-member household and to sources of income. -- two sources of its security. social security in many caribbean for an. we also have a 401(k) that has been doing quite well. but we will be losing on that end. and when you look to the featuring you see both of those being impacted severely by the economy, you have to start looking at options. we are looking at gold and natural gas and domestic energy resources. personally, what will happen is that we will be impacted so strongly that we are going to be poor. in terms of domestic resources and the future.

i think we will have to work a whole flock -- a lot harder. we have gold right now as a hedge against all of this and i think it will continue. host: you think the price of gold will keep going up. caller: yes, i do. host: johnny, what are your thoughts? caller: i have two daughters in college they have their own apartments. one will have to move back home and one may have to because of the economy. and is a manufactured situation, because congress can fix the problem if it created jobs. our infrastructure is falling apart. if congress is there and says we're not going to spend money. you have to spend money to

create jobs. you have to raise taxes. if you say we are not compromising on anything, nothing will get done. this country was built on compromises. no one gets everything that they want. if you have a political person that says they will not compromise, it is my way or no way, then nothing will get done. host: you have two daughters under the age of 25? and the unemployment rate for under age 25 is reaching 20%. hallwood and infrastructure bank, or construction jobs, help your daughters to work? caller: when you create those construction jobs, those jobs, people have to spend money. you go to the store and you spend money and in the process of people running the stores, murray generates more money.

-- money generates more money, it creates other jobs. you need accountants and everybody because more money is generated. when you sit around and say we're not doing anything, and i'm trying not to be political, but if the republicans say we're not going to do anything until president obama is out of office, if he says left, they say right. he says up and they say down. they are no, no, no, and then it is not hurting president obama. it is the 01-term president, he is out but he is still rich. but what about the regular people they work every day? they are not only hurting him being reelected, but the actual working class people. host: i don't know if you saw that he had a press conference

yesterday. part of the headlines about how this continues to slide downward. but during that speech, he said his ideas on what he would help address the s&p downgrade three entitlement reform, a payroll tax cut, tax reform, and unemployment insurance as the waste and not only tackle the debt and deficit but it our economy growing. there was a memo put out yesterday by house republicans eric cantor where in the memo he says that staying strong on republicans, when the super committee comes together, republicans should not agree to any sort of tax revenues put on the table. and here is a senator from texas's response to the president's speech yesterday. he won this and april and again

in july after sears fiscal reform that the credit rating would suffer. senate democrats blocked one proposal that may have averted a downgrade. and then in the papers and opinion section, here's the "wall street journal." a downgrade awakening is how they see it. the current u.s. debt debate is not a sign of american political dysfunction despite what the s and p and the chinese say. "washington post" has this editorial. adjustments to it, programs must be part of the equation even in the face of democratic

opposition. new revenues must be considered despite republican vows to resist. we will go to robert in indianapolis. caller: i have had to modify some changes, and i think the political wrangling in washington is not doing the economy any good. but what has the tea party crazy, creating an atmosphere and confused people that do not follow the news and up on their issues, what they're doing is missing the point and

encouraging the people to support their position. what is beyond the driver of the situation is directed at president obama, simply because he is a product of mixed parentage, and as extremist, -- those extremists, they will not say a publicly, but they are doing everything to wreck this economy so that poor people like myself will not have an opportunity to survive. is going to get so chaotic until it is going to force their hand, and the people in the country will rise up and create their rebellion. what i cannot understand is the

fact that a lot of the people that are somewhat intelligent are sitting on the sidelines and allowing these people to do this. they are kneeling over and saying, take the country and do what you want to do with it. host: joining us on the phone is william watts from frankfurt this morning. let's talk about how the markets are responding today as the asian markets closed. guest: the european markets are falling down hard again. situationly seen the where in europe, the markets are reacting to debt problems here as well. it looks like u.s. markets are set to open higher although it

has been very volatile. so there is a lot of uncertainty out there. host: what is happening in europe with the situation with spain and italy? guest: the european central bank has waded into the government bond markets in a fairly large and substantial way. they have bought italian and spanish government bonds and as a result, they have pushed down the yield on those bonds significantly, which lowers the borrowing cost for those countries and is being credited with pulling them back from the brink of what could have been a financial meltdown, had they not participated. and if this crisis had spread to italy and spain, there were big questions about whether the euro could survive and whether there were enough resources to bail out as countries. host: water you watching for in

the coming days? b has made an impact on borrowing costs over the last couple of days. they're big questions about whether this strategy is liable. we have seen the ecb do the same thing for greece, ireland, and portugal when they were headed toward bailout. and they were able to have a short-term impact on borrowing costs, but over the long run, there were not able to keep them down. the question will become a they will keep a close eye on the credit markets here, a close eye on equity markets as well. we're getting to the point were people are talking about the possibility of some kind of coordinated global intervention of some type to respond to this crisis. host: who is talking about that?

guest: uc chatter in the market, economists talking about down the road we could see some kind of move to. it's all the group of seven over the weekend issue a joint statement, which fall short of that. it did show that people are talking and policymakers are very concerned. it does seem like they are raising the odds of some type of action. host: was the talk about like -- what is the talk about a double- dip recession? guest: there is seeing a softening in the second quarter, a much softer economic performance and the second quarter. as we go into the third quarter, there are signs that this is deepening. with that very strong growth in the core of europe, the big

economies like germany and france. those economies are starting to cool off now. that is part of a function of the slowing global economy, as well as the fact that we're being -- seeing a big slowdown in southern europe with greece still stuck in recession, although they are not a major player. but italy and spain are stagnant. we see this a creeping into the core of the eurozone. host: asian markets closing already, how much are they down and what does that tell you? guest: the asian markets seemed pressured today, all little more of a mixed bag. but i think what has characterized the market since the u.s. closed yesterday is

just extreme volatility. we've seen wide swings in u.s. stock index futures, for example. big moves in the european markets, wild swings in the foreign-exchange markets. that is a function of fear and worries about where this is going to go. we could see something of a recovery here early on, but people are still very nervous. host: what about the riots in london? this is "the guardian" this morning, the battle for london. then you see the globe and mail, london is burning. what impact economically does this have on your? guest: i do not think we have seen much in the way of concern about this in terms of its overall economic impact. obviously they are not going to be good for british -- for u.k.

consumer sentiment and those sorts of things, which were already suffering quite a bit. the u.k. economy has been pretty stagnant so far this year. we've seen big hits to consumer confidence, things like that. i think it would probably know that this would not help at all. host: william watts with market watch, thank you for joining us from frankfurt, germany this morning. coming back to all of you and your phone calls, how does this impact your financial decisions? if you want to send a safe tweet, go to twitter. we'll read some of your comments on there. you can also the fourth page -- our facebook page. here is one of the comments there.

mark is in philadelphia in the mid range. caller: what my wife and i have done is basically that sent down the hatches. i am a retired federal employee. my wife is currently working as a federal employee. as far as i configured, all of this tall, it is coming straight at us. it is coming right at my pension. i have not gotten a cola and two years. god knows how many more years. by health insurance is gone up 20%. those who say that we do not pay anything, i pay 33% of my premium and so does my wife. none of us have gone raises and two years, and our health insurance is going up 30% a

year. usually we take a week down the jersey shore. our sole vacation this year has been all long weekend in brooklyn when my knees got married. that has been met. my personal opinion is that this is exactly what the republicans want. all these talks of entitlement cuts and other cuts, they're trashing consumer confidence. that is why we're going to have a double-dip recession. that is why the stock market is going down for it with all these cuts coming down the road to people, they're not going to spend. why would my wife and i go out and buy a new car when two down the road, how many that for insurance premiums? to twoe'll be talking economist coming up in 20 minutes, a conservative and a progressive economist, to get two different takes.

if you have questions about consumer confidence and all of those and other economic indicators, you can call and then. we would go to greg in the high range. go ahead. caller: i am extremely frustrated with this congress and this president. i'm a diehard republican. i have gone to a cash position and everything. i've sold all my stocks. we sold some of our real estate. but we have to have compromise. we need the republicans, by refusing to not negotiate here with taxes, don't they realize that we are and two wars? when have we ever thought a war and not had taxes raised?

this is absolutely ridiculous. we are in such dire consequences with our debt that we have to do both. we are in a position right now -- i am not former military officer -- if we had to come to the aid of taiwan, we would have to borrow the money from china. it is gotten absolutely ridiculous. we have to have some major leadership out of the president and the congress. host: so let the bush tax cuts expire? caller: absolutely let them expire. we're going have to have both tax cuts and cuts in our social programs. this is to get out of debt and to get back on some kind of financial footing here. host: more news on the s&p. the senate banking committee

gathering information on this decision to downgrade the u.s. government's credit rating. tim johnson called the downgrade irresponsible. the senate banking committee will be looking into that. here is the money section of "usa today." the downgrade of fannie mae and freddie mac yesterday, though those lenders account for the bulk of home purchases, it could lead to higher borrowing costs. the s&p cut its ratings on 10 of the 12 federal home loan banks. many rely on federal funding, so they could be something that could be coming over the next few days. something to be watching for.

also, the "washington post," consumers find bright spots. the weekly average for 30-year mortgage falls to its lowest level in 2011. john joins us from maine. caller: i am doing like my grandparents did. my grandparents were immigrants, coming over from italy. they had 11 children. they made out during the depression, they have food on the table, and my grandfather worked no matter what kind of job, they have food on the table. nowadays people by their little toys like snow mobiles and all of this stuff, and they're wondering why they are broke. i do not buy these things. i am mainly concerned with the food in the refrigerator, a mortgage, and that is it, and the clothing on my back.

i am paying for it, but i have hospitalization, i am a disabled vet. i'm very fortunate in that area. but get rid of the credit cards, too. people are going crazy with that. years ago, they used to have a layaway plan. you pull money down and it to you pay that out, the you can get that item that you want. instead of depending on some credit card and you go into debt, and that is what happens. and this has happened before. this financial stock has happened before. if people know their history, go back 8035 when the cotton crops went belly down. this country was in a financial bind.

in 1880 or something, there was a world bank, i am not sure, there was some kind of world bank and the banks almost went that. host: speaking of the base, the "wall street journal" has this headline. the biggest one day drop as investors questioned how giant investor firms will weather a slowing economy. that is the front page. also, president obama holding the town hall meeting today in springfield, virginia. he will be talking about your efficiency standards and other issues. live coverage at 11:00 a.m. eastern time here on c-span and seas -- c-span.org.

as we talk to the top, the federal service meeting today appeared here the headlines on that. that is in the "washington post." the business section of the "new york times." meridian falls, north carolina, brand that is in the mid range. -- brenda is in the mid range. sorry, that is a bill in maryland. caller: i am a baby boomer. 78 million of us and we're looking at retirement. i could retire renown but i am not because i am trying to wait for full retirement age 66. if the government and the legislature gave us an incentive, if they could fix

our mortgages, the senate could drop medicare from 65 to 62, and i could retire. we're making -- you could hire three or four people and our positions. the baby boomers could save this country, the jobs waiting for people to take, if we had an incentive to leave the workforce. host: cornell west and have a smiley are on a party to. they will be our guest on the washington journal to talk about this party tour. here is the "new york times." budget cuts and smartphones for the teenage messengers.

they will disappear from the house side of the capital. budget cuts and improvements in technologies have rendered their document and message-taking duties obsolete. according to a press release put out by the two leaders yesterday, the outside review calculated the total cost of the program has more than $5 million. not including capital cost associated with the dormitory and the schools. it could run as much as $80,000 per year. that is far more than college tuition. also in political news, the governor of texas rick perry signaling an intent to enter the race as a gop candidate. many speculate that is entering the race could happen on saturday when he visits south

carolina and new hampshire and it will have an impact on the aisle at ames straw poll, something we will cover your on c-span. go to c-span.org. but in this piece, they have a quote from mitt romney on monday when asked whether he could compete in all regions of the country. he declared that he would do pretty darn well in dixie. there was a poll a month ago. also, politico has a front-page story this morning. this is on there website about the 2012 politics and how president obama plans to go after romney. go after him personally, is being outlined in political.

this is texas, pete makes more than $150,000. what kind of financial decisions are you making? caller: i am celebrating my 68th birthday coming up in a couple of days now. host: happy birthday. caller: thank you. i was born during war war ii, and this country has gone up and down on its economy since then. i like to say something to a lot of people out there. do not sell your stocks. do not be a bunch of chicken littles every time the market takes a flip. millions of americans stop believing in their country. you're not going to make any money like this. it weakens our country. believe in this nation and keep your stocks. you're going to be ok. host: let me show you this tweet

from a viewer. caller: i do not know who tweeted that end. i'm a multi-multi-millionaire and i will tell you something. i did not make any money by selling out at the low end or not believing in my country. if everyone of us out there would stop jumping off the griddle every time it gets hot, you're going to be ok. your stocks will be ok. this is the greatest country, the greatest economy in the history of the world. if you cannot trust in that, then take all your money home and put it in your your bed. and one more little thing i like to say. one of the things that hurts so many americans is selling their homes because they are under

water. i have never heard and economists say this before, but i'm going to say it now. i went out and bought a car the other day, and before you get around the block, the thing is worth 20% less than what you pay for it. you don't go running back in and tried to turn your car in because it is not worth what you are paying on it. the same thing with your house. do not sell your houses. our market is going to come back. your house is going to be worth much more than you paid for it even at the high point made. host: unlike the vehicle which is always in depreciation. caller: exactly, it's a sure bang loser. host: are you buying right now? caller: i am at the stage right now where i have everything and i'm not selling anything.

how have money in bonds and this that in the other. i know my bond ratings have gone up -- gone down. i've got hundreds of thousands of dollars in b rated bonds. i am not selling. one credit rating agencies trains as from aaa to aa. by golly, i wish all my stuff was in that. i never lost a nickel and bonds. host: how did you make your money? caller: i did it through investing. host: what did you invest in? caller: i took it slow and easy. i put a lot of money in the bank, back when interest rates were up to 10%. i put it in up to 90% under

carter. i put it into long-term money. of we're down a couple percentages, but i am not agree with that. whatever i can get, i pay. the first thing you have to do is protect your principal, but if you are in the stock market, you have to ride it out. and you write it out with your house, too. you do not sell everything you've got every time something happens. that is a good way to lose your money. host: that is pete in houston, texas. another newspaper article. 20 recall elections in the united states. rio vista, california, josh, go

ahead. what your thoughts on all the economic news? caller: i am much like the first caller, diane. i'm on disability and if i were to fill all of my prescriptions, it would be more than the money i get in. the cost $2,000 a month. i cannot afford them all. they ask you how much you've made the year before, and if you make so much, you do not qualify. so i can i get the medicine i am supposed to get. -- i cannot get the medicine i'm supposed to get. host: richard in north carolina, from the mid range. caller: i am retired. thank god i am, i do not have to

fight this battle. host: what about your pension or 401(k)? caller: i am worried about that but i went out four or five years ago and bought gold. host: what you paid in? caller: $11 for silver and 1300 for gold. you can see where it is today. caller: over $1,700 an ounce for silver, and the other was $40 an ounce. host: to you plan to hold onto it? caller: yes because i'm worried about the dollar losing value every day. this government and president obama's policies which have been poisoned or economy, you can see

what happens with health care. over 1800 corporations and companies had to ask for waivers so that they could just exist when he implemented his health- care plan. congress apparently does not understand what the people want. they continue to govern against the will of the people. we sought in november with the message coming from the majority of the people was to cut spending. balance the budget. limit government. however today, the government is more expensive. next year it will be more expensive due to the legislation that congress just passed. the people need to have another massive vote out of legislatures. host: about the dollar, here is the "washington post."

caller: i hope so. the dollarhope that -- i think with the federal reserve, if we get rid of geithner and change our tax cutting get rid of the federal reserve, an international bank, then the dollar will retrain its strength again. the entrepreneurs will come back to america. and we will grow and be the great country that we should be. opportunity will be there. we're going down the wrong road right now. host: in michigan, less than $50,000, jesse, water you doing with your money these days? caller: and paying about 1%, oh.

host: moving on to donna who makes less than $50,000 as well. you are our last phone call. alice is impacting your financial decisions? we will continue this conversation with two journalist coming up. caller: i put the money into my 401(k) and hope that the markets -- i have a retirement. what gets me upset is where was the tea party when president bush was in office, implementing all of these bad policies? it is the republican party that got us into this mess and they sit back and cry and complain about we are in a bad situation. your party put us there. your party is policies did this. and then president obama has this chaos and has been trying

to get it right. host: but the s&p blamed their downgrading on both parties. caller: up from the beginning, what got us there? when president bush came into office, we had a surplus. it goes to show that their policies put us there. i don't think that the trickle down economics is going to get the country back on the right. road. host: two economists will be joining us and talk about what this downgrade means for our economy overall. we will be right back. ♪

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guest: i do not think so. there's enough good stuff on the investment and even in the housing market. but the bad news is that what we have in the economy is not enough momentum to carry us forward to lower unemployment. that means we need in order to get to lower employment and stronger growth we need policies of intervention. the president and congress to pay attention to jobs and growth. while we can avoid a double-dip recession, i think the biggest threat is that we will can lumbering along at low growth and high unemployment. host: how quickly do we need that policy intervention? in the coming days to have though markets react in a positive way, or is it something that can wait until congress gets back in town? guest: i do not think our policy should be driven by wall street thinks from one day to the next. but it needs to be sooner rather

than later. much of the air has been sucked out because of the debt ceiling debate. that was never really kinetic -- connected back to economic growth and jobs. and that is what policy analysis are looking for. not simply about spending or taxes in the abstract form, but how relates to the real economy and to create jobs. that needs to happen sooner rather than later. but it is necessitated on the realities on the ground, high unemployment, not what wall street thinks for one day to the next. host: let me turn to diana furchgott-roth. double-dip recession? guest: i can forecast the past but the future i have a problem with. it is not the debt downgrade but what is going on in the economy. a week ago friday, we had very

slow gdp numbers, completely unexpected. that was a big downgrade from a growth of 1% in the first quarter to a growth rate of 0.4% in the second. that call a lot of people by surprise. second quarter growth was a lot lower. 1.8% and people thought would be higher. we have serious problems as christian said what the economy, with jobs, with gdp growth. the president is capable of doing a lot himself without waiting for congress to come back to town. host: what he'd do? guest: many regulations set by the cabinet agencies that he has control over. he could call epa administrator lee said jackson and teller to lay off of the ozone roles. that would have to cut back on

emissions, cut back on factories, cut back on their industries. he called the secretary of interior and moved more drilling permits through in the gulf of mexico. he could go to the national labor relations board and sale lay off of boeing building that new factory. we need more plants in the indebted states instead of moving out to china. host: here is what the president said yesterday in his plan for recovery he put entitlement reform on the committee when the super committee starts doing its work under the recent debt deal. he is also calling for payroll tax cut, tax reform is part of the joint committee, and unemployment insurance. let me take payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance, what is the impact of that? how does it help or hurt? guest: people have to understand

that we already have under the tax deal struck last year with the republican congress and president obama, we have an extension of unemployment insurance benefits in the payroll tax holiday. they are expiring at the end of the year. the fear is that if they expire and there is nothing to follow on, there will be a severe cut in come to lower income families who at this point, when they get the money, they spend it immediately and boost consumption. limited to onet year, they thought there would be a catch up to bed with a strong economy. at this point, we note that the economy is weaker than expected. the labor market is weaker than expected, and that these additional measures are necessary, especially because long-term unemployment is at historic highs.

they are on average out 40 weeks before they find another job. they really require some measure of support that they do not have. extending unemployment benefits is a way to boost income for lower-income families. guest: i would say it that unemployment benefits has been longer, 99 weeks, that is why we have such high unemployment rate. we need to move back to the traditional 26 weeks. many people say the way into the last moment until their benefits are about to expire. that is not the right place to focus. we need to focus on getting employers to create more jobs we need more jobs for all of these people out of work. and their many things we could be doing about their right now. all the regulatory burden that we have preventing small businesses from creating jobs.

the new $2,000 per worker penalty under the new health care law in 2014, if the firm does not have the right kind of health insurance, they have to pay $2,000 per worker per year. there's a lot of uncertainty about how the new regulations will affect jobs and we need to fix that. host: what about the payroll tax? is that a good idea to help employers? >> we've had to cut and the payroll tax and it has not been helping. it has not been giving an incentive to hire more workers. that should end. host: let me ask each of you before we get the phone calls, you sound like s&p made the right call. guest: i think the united states has very substantial fiscal problems. i would not say that they made the right call in that we're

going to continue to pay the interest on our debt. no danger of us defaulting. moody's and fitch made it different call, but i do not think the current problem in the market aren't due to the s&p downgrade. it is due to the fundamental economic problems. if the s&p gave us back to triple or raid -- the aaa rating, i do not think the market will go up. it's more about the unemployment report a we had last friday. guest: i did not think the s and p did itself any favors with this decision. there is nothing new here. the economy is weak. we know we need to focus on jobs and growth. the policy makers need to put a plan motion to reduce the long- term structural deficit, the lack of revenue, the driving factors. those things need to be addressed. but there is nothing new in the

s&p's decision. they have not open the vault and found new information that we did not know we had. the media announcement, they bundle the whole thing, and did not focus on the real problems of the economy. host: the senate banking committee is going to look into the decision, gathering affirmation about how they came to that decision. let's go to steve, a democrat in florida. caller: hello. host: we are listening. caller: i have two questions. you're referring to a lot of cutbacks on regulations for businesses. guest: yes. host: what if we cut the

corporate income tax rate down to 14%, because most do not pay more than 40% anyway. -- 14% anyway. and as a counterbalance, repeal law that enables corporations to take their operations overseas? i heard the reason that they do this is to prevent double taxation. but if a corporation is not providing jobs for americans, why would that be our problem? the other thing i wanted ask, when the market was going down yesterday, i was listening to a show where they were saying that a lot of people were taking their money out of stocks and purchasing u.s. treasuries because that was a good thing. and i will go offline to listen to your comments. guest: that is an excellent

question. the united states corporate tax rate is the highest in the world right now. it was second-highest to japan, but in japan lowered its tax rate. so we have the highest in the world. but top tax rate of 14% would be a substantial improvement. unfortunately it is not possible to repeal any laws that prevent u.s. corporations from going abroad. companies can locate wherever they live. as i just mentioned, a general election just moved its x-ray headquarters to china. we have a big impediment with a high corporate tax rate, companies repatriating these funds and bringing them back. when they are coming back in, they are taxed at 35%. so corporations lose millions of dollars immediately. if we lowered the rates, that would give a stimulus fund right there.

host: and the story about treasuries. investors are pouring money into treasury bonds. guest: people still look to the united states dollar and treasuries as a safe haven. host: given that, the federal reserve meets today. there are a lot of headlines in here that the fed might have to dig deeper to do something. what can the fed do at this point? guest: the fed could institute a new buying program, buying up securities and providing more liquidity. would allay any fears that the turmoil in the markets would translate to the credit markets. the other part is the fed could announce that it will do whatever is necessary if the

economy weakens further to help the economy. that would be contrary to statements bernanke has made so far. i think to some degree that is what we are looking for from the administration and federal reserve, to have some reassurance that poles makers are -- policy makers are ready to step in if necessary. that is one thing i would look for. but let me address the corporate tax issue. statutory highest tax rate in the world but we have so many loopholes and exemptions and deductions that the effective rate is fairly low, in the middle of the industrialized countries. all tax professionals agree we need to streamline and simply fay the tax code -- simply if i the tax code. it is going to be easier if it would mean the layoff of tax accountants but it would make it

easier for corporations to operate in the u.s. we know from all international tax studies tax system misty is something -- simplicity is something they value. so we can't look at the top tax rate but the effective rate. that is actually fairly low because of the gamut of tax loopholes. we started the conversation about closing loopholes and so far republicans have been reluctant to start the conversation. host: we are having an economic roundtable on the "washington journal" until about 9:15 a.m. we have two different perspectives about what we are seeing in the economy and how wall street is reacting, what the fed might do today at their meeting and what president obama had to say yesterday and republican leaders about had you to spur economic growth. here is president obama on the payroll tax cut and

unemployment. >> specifically we should extend the payroll tax cut as soon as possible so workers have more money in their paychecks next year and businesses have more customers next year. we should continue to make sure if you are one of the millions of americans who is looking for a job that you can get the unemployment insurance that your tax dollars contributed to. that will put money in people's pockets and more customers in stores. host: let's hear from the republican in little rock, arkansas, bill. stkpwh i see obama time remember the peter principle he is over his head but i think this lady has something here. here is what i wonder. we have all of these minds in washington and you folks in these think tanks. what about some leader, the president won't, but some leader

saying to the chamber of commerce i want you to come to the white house, labor unions i want you to come to the white house. we are going to have a conference, we are going to have it public and we are going to brainstorm every chance and find a way -- you talk about repatriation. forget the loopholes. if you need no tax rates. unions, you have to give up something to get some of these jobs. business, you have got to want to take care of americans. want it in your heart. yes, it is a business and you have to earn money. but this is nothing we are playing with here. get to the white house, both sides give up. unions with osha and the environmental regulations, it is no wonder the businesses had to go overseas. host: let me stay on the point of regulations because here is a

tweet. look of regulation adds to the financial market cause a huge hit on the economy. that led to the taxpayer bailout. ugh. guest: i would beg to disagree and i would think the overregulation of sarbanes-oxley and dodd frank are making it more difficult for companies to upgrade in the united states. a lot of firms are not hiring here, they are hiring abroad. the dodd frank bill sets up an office of minority and women inclusion to make sure that banks and financial firms and subcontractors like the janitors and paper shredders have fair inclusion of women and minorities. that means that the presidents of our banks have to think do i have enough pacific islanders even though none might have applied. plus there are many other bureaus that make it tkeuf for

our companies to -- make it difficult for our companies to operate hear and it is easier to operate overseas. so i would cesar baines oxley -- i would say that those have immeasurable obstacles to locating here that other countries do not have. host: now an independent caller from michigan. caller: the fundamental problem that our system has, i believe, the taxation act of 1920 was supposed to offer the public a n nonburdensome tax -- i thought those key words were voluntary and temporary. but the supreme court has never honored this attitude nor does the politician on top of that. the concept is we are authorized $40,000 of taxpayer money from the federal government to put in

-- to build an alzheimer's building bond firm. they projected either a $3.5 million facility or $6.5 million facility. you really can't tell. the billionaires donated $3 million to the building bond fund, so it brought it down to $3.5 million. we voted for it. after two or three years they collect too much money, they claim they can't pay the bond off early without facing penalties. they are lying. they could pay it off but they don't have a process to. the concept is they collect too much money, they give money back to the rich businesses because they are supposed to help us prosper and from that standpoint it is going to be a taxpayer funded mandate and become unsustainable and they won't pay for the building. host: what are your thoughts, christian? guest: when we hear taxes and

spending the important piece is sort of you need to look at what the role of the government, what do people want, and then the taxes come after that. you don't collect taxes just for the fun of it. the important piece is when you look at what the federal government -- and i can only speak to the federal government hear -- what it does is often very popular. it provides the largest program, social security, retirement benefits, disability benefits, medicare, medicaid and defense. that eats up the bulk of federal spending followed by benefits for veterans, education. then a whole host of smaller programs. most of the programs that we have and much of the federal government spending is very popular. it is sort of this amorphous notion of government spending that is unpopular but each program has enormous support and is very popular. once you go through that and say

these are the programs we want to keep then you have to find a way to finance them. that requires additional revenue measures given where we are at this point. but it ultimately manassas more efficient spending. that is particularly relevant on a health care side. we have unsustainable healthcare inflation expected the next 10 to 20 years. we can handle it right now but it is something we need to address. healthcare costs are rising much faster than cost and incomes. healthcare law put in place in 2009 is a first step to increased competition and transparency in the health insurance market to reduce the cost, but that is one small step in the right direction. in the end we have to ask ourselves do we like what the government is spending its money on and once you move below the amorphous notion of government spending to individual programs you will find the vast majority of voters support those. then the taxes need to follow.

and we have to have a conversation of how you raise the revenue. host: here is a tweet from house speaker john boehner about growth. it is time to scrap the failed stimulus policies. d.n.r.'s must come together to cut spending and save entitlements. now craig in manhattan. caller: i think the job creators and entrepreneurs are kind of cowardly -- they want the government cut them a path. business is always fraught with uncertainty. if you get into business, you get the lion's share if you succeed. but imagine if the wright brothers said the laws of gravity are too oppressive i be able to fly. now we fly from continent to continent because they wouldn't take no for an answer. what is more oppressive than the laws of gravity? host: appear now from linco

lincolntown, g. -- georgia. caller: good morning. good to be with you. there is a point that needs to be brought up and that is the finance, insurance and real estate grew to be 40% of profit and 20% of the economy and it was built on the back of the securitization that has proven to be fraudulent. i would submit that that 40% profit and 20% of the economy needs to revert to manufacturing and go back to manufacturing which is 8%. short of that i don't think there is going to be a recovery. host: diana? guest: well, it used to be that many, many americans were employed in agriculture and that shrank. the same is going on about manufacturing as lower wages abroad take some jobs out of here and move them elsewhere to

china and india. but our financial sector is making profits right now. we should be glad that we do have profitable sectors in the u.s. economy. to go back to the previous caller about entrepreneurs, john kerry and dick luger have the start-up act that would give visas to foreign entrepreneurs who could come here and create jobs. if they created jobs for native born americans for five years they would get a green card. this is the kind of policy, very low cost, that we need to look at to increase innovation and entrepreneurship and growth here in the economy. host: a gentlemen in randolph, vermont responsibilities s responds to -- responds to the comments about repatriating says when you mention repatriating --

guest: i think it is unfortunate that most of the jobs american companies are creating now are offshore because of the lower tax rates. we need to do something to equill celebrate that and -- equill celebrate that. i say more and more of the funds continuously flow into the united states. i'm not talking about a one-time tax holiday. perhaps that will make joan more annoyed but i was speaking about something permanent rather than temporary. host: here is another e-mail. if you want to send us an e-mail send it to journal at espn.org or twitter.com/cspanwj and you

can have this conversation with each other on our facebook page. here is another e-mail, christian. guest: the rating agencies are private institutions funded under the new law. they will be supervised by the s.e.c. we go through this every crisis. the rating agencies, standard & poor's, et cetera, do not have the best possible track record. they mickelsssed a number of cr. there are a number of crises they missed or misinterpreted. let me get back to a bigger we have sort of circled around and that is what drives job creation. when you look rat employer

surveys, what they are missing is customers. they think sales are low. they are worried that their consumers are maxed out on too much debt and consumers do not have enough income to spend. it is not a question of companies not having enough cash hand. they are very profitable. they have been building up cash since the early 1980's. they are not spending, not hiring. it is not a matter of regulations. we know that job growth is stronger in countries that are more heavily regulated. germany is doing well and other european countries. so it is not a regulatory or tax issue. at this point companies are sitting on cash and holding on to their cash. there are a number of reasons why they are doing so. primarily they are not investing and hiring because they look at the consumer side and see consumers not getting jobs, consumers running essentially into a wall when it comes to income. the payroll tax holiday and

unemployment insurance holidays ending but overburdened with debt. host: diane? guest: so what do you propose to do about it? how do you propose to get them out of debt? more stimulus? guest: at this point the first order is to extend the unemployment insurance extensions to at least do no harm. extend the payroll tax holiday. there are other things we can do. we need to continue the mortgage reworking, continue to deal through the banks, through the hud nment, through the programs to make sure -- guest: so, no more spending cuts? guest: i think spending cuts in the short run will be harmful. but back to the debt ceiling deal, many of the spending cuts were back-loaded. much of what will happen in terms of long-term deficit reduction is unknown. we don't know what the super

committee will do. and i think that is an opportunity to do the right thing. both on deficit reduction and job creation. that is at this point protect the weak economy, ensure we have job creation. don't cut spending in the short term but put the deficit reduction and spending cuts and revenue increases on the table. host: diane, before you weigh in let me show our viewers what the president had to say about no more spending cuts. >> our challenge is the need to tackle our deficits over the long term. last week we reached an agreement that will make historic cuts to defense and domestic spending. but there is not much further we can cut in either of those categories. what we need to do now is combine those spending cuts with that additional steps. tax reform that will ask those who can afford it to pay their

fair share and modest adjustments to healthcare programs like medicare. host: he said not much more we can cut. guest: when we've a problem he calls for tax increases. that will take away more funds from private individuals. it will adversely affect small businesses who have the individual tax rates. and it is interesting when the president calls for more taxes on millionaires and billionaires this refers to the bush tax cuts which set people earning $200,000 and more a year. so that is the wrong description. we need to look at entitlement cuts down the road, not necessarily now. we are now borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar we spend and it is an unsustainable situation. host: john boehner responded to what the president had to say in a statement saying republicans

have demonstrated this problem can be involved without tax hikes. difficult work remains and members of the joint select committee will need to make tough decisions to rein in the spending that is driving our long-term debt. the debt is driven by two factors, low revenue and unsustainable healthcare inflation over the long term. so, we need to have a conversation of how we spend healthcare dollars more efficiently but at the same time we have to have a conversation about the look of revenue. much of the debate over taxes centers around the extension of the bush tax cuts for the top 2% 3% of tax paeurpayertaxpayers. when the tax cuts were enacted in 2001 they were followed by the weakest employment creation on record and weakest investment record on record. so taking them back shouldn't do

anything for economic growth. we're talking about a very small group who have done well the last few years despite the crisis. i think that taking it back is a sensible approach, a balanced approach because the alternative is to cut in the near term programs that benefit a broad swath of americans such the unemployment insurance and deep cuts into social security, medicare and medicaid. host: we have this tweet. isn't it fair to say s&p's overrating of the 2008 crisis is a factor in the current status of u.s. debt and deficit. next to marie in wisconsin. caller: good morning. first of all, i just want to say i do agree with mr. wells completely on many of these points. everyone seems to neglect to mention a couple of key things where a lot of money goes and that is into the billions spent on three wars that quite frankly

have not proved to be nation building for the united states in any which. the second point is when you look at the overall economy of the united states the priorities of the majority of americans have nothing to do with paying welfare to corporations some who are o international. perhaps we need to stop that and tax completely for social security all the way up the fee scale. if they don't want to pay extra taxes fine. start building the fund but collect everything that has been completely robbed from social security by the government for all kinds of nonsense. host: all right. guest: well, the attacks of 9/11 did mean that we went and defended our country and we could have just kept going like

we did in the 1990's and not reacted at all. but getting rid of al qaeda, getting rid of osama bin laden, al qaeda and taliban unfortunately are still very much alive and we mourn the death of those servicemen who died over the weekend. we need to protect the united states from further attacks by attacking these people abroad. there is less chance we will have another 9/11 here in the united states. but we do need to make substantial cuts in entitlement, not just healthcare, social security, gradually raising the retirement age, perhaps increasing contributions also, to bring the funds become back balance. we are fortunate that americans are living longer but it means cost of the programs continue to grow and we need to be restructuring those. we also need fundamental tax reform. i would agree with christian that we need to get rid of some of the lap holes, lower rates,

make the system more efficient. host: go ahead. guest: i would add something to entitlements. entitlement is this catch-all and it doesn't help the debate. we need to separate healthcare from social security. social security right now still has a surplus. it takes in more revenue than it spends. we need to have a conversation, a national conversation, about what we are going to do about social security in the next 75 years. but it can pay its full benefits to 2036. it has money in the trust funds. we need to have a comprehensive discussion on how to streamline benefits and improve them. there is bipartisan support to improving survivorship, divorce benefits, creating poverty benefits, something both democrats and president bush put on the table. that is a separate discussion. security is not the driver of our long-term deficit. it is healthcare. that means we need to have a conversation on how we are going to reduce healthcare inflation on medicare and medicaid.

the patient protection and american care act, healthcare reform bill of 2009, started this by inkraesing competition in -- increasing competition and increasing transparency, lowering costs but that is just one small step in the right direction. host: we will continue taking phone calls during the economic roundtable but joining the conversation is hrurpa senior vt the national so, of realtors to talk about the downgrid of fanny and freddie by s&p. what impact does this have on the housing industry? >> any time there is a downgrade of a company that is not good and the borrowing cost of that company would rise. but what has happened is right now the mortgage market is essentially nationalized. so the fanny and freddie are the children of the government.

and given that the government is downgraded fanny and freddie will be downgraded. but given the uncertainty people are seeking safe havens so what we noticed yesterday is that the borrowing costs for the u.s. government as well as fanny and freddie dropped on the news of the downgrade. host: we saw that it was the lowest it has been in 2011, the interest rate. >> the interest rate, mortgage rate last week was 4.4% average on 30-year larate. that is a 50-year low but i wouldn't be surprised this week it would be lower given the situation and the chaotic market conditions and stock market where people are seeking safe instruments and turning toward u.s. government debt even with a

downgrade. and i think another thing we keep in mind is sometimes the dog that did not bark and you have other rating agencies such as moody and fitch. host: is the time to buy now? >> certainly i think the overall macroeconomic pressure is for rising rates. we have high budget deficit and will continue. if there are signs of a respectable economic recovery the rates will rise. so, certainly from a consumer, who are very comfortable in their finances, have secure jobs, it is a great time to lock in these low rates. host: we had a viewer earlier who said, you know, when you drive off the car you -- when you drive off the car lot a block away your car is worth 20% less. it naturally tkraoerbts. -- depreciates but he says

hold on to the howls. but what security can you give to people that their house will continue to appreciate? >> i think in some markets -- you go back to the supply and demand situation. i think that during the bubble years clearly prices were way off the handle and you had to see them come down. now prices are now overcorrecting, slightly below the fundamentally justifiable levels based on price to rent ratio or price to income ratio. also in the u.s. we have a growing population, that means there will be a steady demand for housing at some point. it is not occurring right now but at some point it will be growing demand for housing. so i would think from a national price point of view that the are right now bottoming long. we are not seeing any measurable declines. in fact, some price measurement in the past few months have

shown increases. so the declines are probably over. but the recovery may take some time to get back to normal. historically one would about four or fi five percent and we may be a couple of years from reaching that steady 125eu9 state. host: the president said one way he would like to help is have fanny and freddie rent the homes that are now foreclosed upon. do you agree with that strategy? what would be the outcome? >> certainly less foreclosed property on the market will help stabilize the market but the key is whether it is better for private investors to purchase and they have -- they would have their own private incentive to rent or whether there should be more government intervention it delay some of the homeowners who are going through the painful process. it is a tricky call.

but one thing we have noticed in the past 12 months is there are an active number of buyers who are willing to buy foreclosed properties provided the price is right. in places like las vegas, miami, we are seeing heavy cash transactions, meaning people are bypassing mortgages and going straight cash and cash makes up close to 70% of transactions in these depressed markets. nationwide one-third of transactions are cash. host: fear returns is the headline of the "wall street journal." what does that mean for bank of america and others that hold mortgages? >> the situation on the bank is that they have been making profits. the cash reserve had been rising. they have easily passed the stress test. and we have been hoping for the lending standards to return to normal given that they have

plenty of cash reserves. now, the latest news where they are feeling additional financial pressure could mean that there is overly stringent underwriting standards that could be in place. because one thing that needs to occur for the economy is for the housing to recover and the housing to recover. for the housing to recover, we need the buyers to enter the market with the u.n. -- with the normal underwriting, but the stringent underwriting is keeping buyers from entering the market is not good news that the banks have to reexamine their overall balance sheets. host: before you go, the federal reserve meets today. what are you watching for? guest: i think they will try to say something about extended -- the quantitative easing, not a new one, but just to say that if there is no -- but just to say

there is no immediate rise in interest rates anytime soon. i think the federal reserve needs to be very careful not to just come out and say they will print more money. that could be more psychologically damaging for the investor community. host: lawrence yun, thank you for your time. christian weller, what are you hearing? guest: i think much of that is wishful thinking. when it comes to the housing market, what we have to news -- what we have to realize is that many homeowners are still underwater, about 23% of homeowners zero more on their homes than their homes are worth. 23% of homeowners owe more on their homes than their homes are worth. what that means is that we are going to see years of high foreclosure rates.

about 4% of mortgages are in foreclosure, about 8% or 9% of mortgages are delinquent. we have an oversupply to potentially enter the market, that are all on the market. there is not that much turnaround because people know they live in these neighborhoods. they know there are lots of homes for sale. they know that prices are not rising, possibly falling, especially in the weakening labor market. in that world, nobody really wants to invest. it is a symbol deflationary spiral. if you think the prices are -- is a simple deflationary spiral. if you think prices will be lower tomorrow, you will wait until tomorrow. the oversupply of existing homes, i do not think we'll see a quick turnaround in the housing market. host: diana, your take on the housing industry? guest: it is very regional, places where people have

purchased a lot of second properties, they're doing a lot worse. we need to look on a regional basis, but the product -- but the prognosis overall is not good right now. host: we have retweet -- "he has called for tax increases, but we have not had any, is his point. and yet the unemployment is up, gdp down. why? guest: we have had $1 trillion in stimulus. we started off in january 20,009 2009 and we have been sucking money out of the private sector. the government has attempted to step in thinking it can spend money better than the private sector can. this just has not worked. that has seen a lot of uncertainty. taxes were about to go up last

december. this is not a good environment for investing in creating jobs. the president went on national television yesterday, and frequently over the last couple of months, calling for tax increases. there is a lot of uncertainty as to regulations, taxes, and that is one reason why americans do not have more confidence. they are not going out and buying, and businesses are not treating jobs. host: on that point, if fox says, "the market was plunging while the president was speaking. how does that speak to the company's the market has in him? guest: the market is reacting to fundamental uncertainty of what exactly the downgrade for s&p ultimately will mean. it is a technical aspect, to some degree. the s&p downgraded the u.s. debt from aaa to aa-plus. depending on how regulations are written for by financial markets, banks, insurance

companies -- some pension funds have to get rid of u.s. debt. u.s. regulators have said they cannot hold on to the u.s. debt, it is still as good as cash. others may not. the market is trying to figure out the technical consequences of this downgrade. we will wake up in a few days and realize this was all turmoil. that is one part of where the market went down. other point -- and that has hinted at this before -- we are at an inflection point at the economy. some economists say we will get faster growth in the next six months. some say we will get a double- dippers session. the market swings are rightly -- the market's swings vary widely as it always does during these times. to reaffirm the markets, to say that we are going to do whatever

is necessary to avoid a -- dead recession. we are going to create the jobs recession.-dipp so that we have a track record of boosting confidence in the private sector, boosting job growth in the private sector. i think we need to continue those efforts by extending unemployment insurance, not enacting spending cuts in a rash fashion as the economy still weakens. host: ryan has been waiting patiently on the democratic line in arlington, virginia. caller: when the s&p downgraded, they were absolutely right. nobody wants to admit it, but they were absolutely right. and i would like to ask diana -- diana, you keep saying when are they going to lower tax rates for corporations? well, g.e. got a $14 billion tax

break, $5 billion domestically, not abroad. tell me, how could we help a corporation any more? tell me what other loopholes we can close. >> well, as kristin mentioned earlier, there are many loopholes but they just a fact -- as christian mentioned earlier, there are many loopholes. lower tax rates in a revenue neutral manner so that we have a more efficient and fair tax system as to the point that we save jobs, maybe we did, but the unemployment rate is two percentage points higher than before we started this whole stimulus exercise. the s&p downgrade i think

reflects the views of the economy as a whole. gdp is a lot lower than we thought it was going to be. the employment news came out, only 117,000 jobs were created. the labor force participation rate, americans choosing to participate in the labor force, went from 64.1%, 63.9%, the same level as january, 1984. we have one of the smallest percentages of able-bodied americans working in the labor force in a very long time. so the economy is not doing well, and that is why the markets are going down. the s&p downgrading is perhaps tangential, but it reflects what is going on in the economy. that is what we need to fix. host: diana furchtgott-roth and christian weller, all this talk about economic news and

indicators, what it means for you. tim, from michigan. caller: good morning, greta. i feel like i hit the lotto today, a kid. i actually got through while you are hosting. host: what is your question or comment? caller: my comment is about this class war that the republican party has been waging, especially since -- that president reagan started but especially under president george w. bush. it was said that when social security, when it first started -- you can tell me what the ratio was to people contributing to the people collecting. i think he said it was like 30 to one.

when you tie it to the advantages where they are eliminating jobs, corporations should still be responsible for a portion of the gross domestic product. even though there are not workers, that it will be taken out of, they will not be paying someone a salary, but they should still be responsible to contribute to social security. one other thing -- the way they have taken over the lexicon job creators, it is more like job exporters. as far as entitlements go -- when mitch mcconnell and john boehner and that ilk refer to medicare, social security as entitlements, that is ridiculous. what really scared me is when mitch mcconnell, about three weeks ago, they were talking on the news about trying suspected

terrorists in american courts, and mitch mcconnell said, "i'm sorry, terrorists are not entitled to american justice." how dare he used the entitlement word when referring to terrorists, and referring to entitlements when it comes to senior citizens in this country. i don't see how you can refer to terrorists and americans. >> we did not need a rating agency to tell us that the gridlock in washington over the past several months has not been constructive, to say the least. we knew from the outset a prolonged debate over the debt ceiling, a debate where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip, could do it burke -- enormous damage to our economy and the world prosper that threat, coming after a spring of economic disruptions

in europe, japan, and the middle east, has now dampened consumer confidence and slowed the pace of recovery. host: here is "usa today" with the headline, reaction from republicans after he gave his address yesterday. the gop rebuffed tax push. and the "financial times" has its headline, "obama seems to have the upper hand in the deficit debt talks." inside the store, it says, "some analysts see the trigger as a democrats' best option. if they cannot come together, automatic spending cuts, half to domestic, half to defense, has to go into place. from being -- that is because

the domestic cuts set out by the trigger largely exempt the programs that are important to democrats are being slashed. without revenue increase, there is no reason for democrats to compromise. there are the best cuts they're going to see, says tom davis, a former republican congressman from virginia. at the same time, shifting party dynamics from rank-and- file republicans and isolationist views from the tea party mean there will be internal divisions of bond many about how far the party should go to protect the defense budget. eric cantor said there will be renewed pressure on republicans to give in to tax increases. but remember to resist that pressure." christian weller, the you think democrats have the upper hand? is there no reason to compromise? guest: it is very difficult to say who has the upper hand. i think the politics on the debt ceiling debate are shifting all the time. we should not make a

pronouncement at this point on how the super committee will react. there are priorities and needs to be addressed. the first one is to strengthen economic growth, strengthen job creation. and the supercommittee will discuss that the president is pushing in that direction, some members of congress and voters want to see action on jobs, on growth. we will have the conversation about what should happen on the spending side and tax side to help growth, to help jobs. that will dominate increasingly the debate over deficit reduction. that needs to be traded off, the short-term emphasis on job growth needs to be traded off against the long-term challenges of massive deficits, especially the lack of revenue and the health care inflation problem we face over the next t 10 to 20 years. but we should not assume anything about the supercommittee at this point. it has enormous power and opportunity here to do the right thing for the economy in the short run, for the deficit and

economic stability in the long run. host: here is the latest week from republican tom price. "house report and put it before back in april that outlined how we can get this nation back on sound fiscal footing." what about the differing factions within their own party? guest: we really need to get a handle on spending. later this month, we are going to get the mid-session review, the new numbers put out by the office of management and budget and the congressional budget office. it will downgrade u.s. growth from the projections they put out in january, and they may wait -- they may well wipe out all the deficit is by increasing the deficit through lower growth. the growth the projected for this year was 3.1%, and it will probably go down to about 1.5%,

4.2% next year, and we will not get that next year. taking three or four percentage points off gdp growth increases the deficit. it will basically wipe out all these savings they're having so much trouble over $1 trillion with the special committee in savings over the next 10 years. we will have to come up with a lot more just to keep even. host: let's go to rob, republican, from rochester, new york. caller: for mr. weller, he keeps referring to revenue, an increase in taxes. i'm a real estate broker in rochester, and the market shot. i sold one house here. they're hiding all these houses in foreclosure already. there are hundreds of houses in foreclosure that day are not telling anybody about. if you go to hothomes.com, if

you live in rochester, there are four houses. that is a bunch of hooey. there are hundreds of homes in foreclosure. you keep referring to it as increase in revenue, you mean increasing taxes. maybe last year we made $60,000. you cannot increase my revenue anymore. it is like taking blood out of a stone. host: we will get a response from the christian weller. guest: throwing around these buzzwords, if they mean it -- they do not mean anything to real people. important point here is that there are ways to generate more revenue without taxing somebody who makes $60,000. that is clear. when you look at what is on the table, you need to close

loopholes for corporations, taking back some tax credits that simply do not do anything for economic growth, treating income of hedge fund managers and private equity managers the same as my income and your income. those kinds of measures would not hurt you, they would not hurt 99% of america. they would not hurt economic growth, but they will ultimately allow the government to maintain the programs that people value. they will maintain social security, veterans benefits, medicare, medicaid, education, and so forth. we need to be very mindful about when we talk about spending and tax increases, we're talking about real people. there are ways to be smarter about spending and there are ways about being smart about the tax side that do not hurt the economy and most people. that ultimately is the conversation we want to have, because we need stronger economic growth, we need more jobs, and we need ultimately to

have the budget that protect the recovery right now but reduces the deficit for the long term. host: "companies are -- diana, companies are themselves sitting on record amounts of cash. i wish to misspending keeping them from that cash? guest: a smaller percentage of it gets taken out, and we need to be encouraging them to bring it back here to the united states. guest: i would like to jump in on the cash issue because we have talked a number about it. the companies have been building up cash since the early 1980's. when you look through the data, they are largely using it for things other than productive investment of hiring. they are using it for mergers and acquisitions to buy other companies.

they are using it to defend themselves against takeovers. they are using it to defer buying back of their own shares and to pay dividends. there are a number of things companies are doing with the cast that does not necessarily translate into more investment and hiring. at this point companies do not need more cash to do things that are not productive. at this point -- and they say so. they need customers. we need to boost jobs, incomes, and those things are what companies need. they need customers. host: diana wants to jump in here. "u.s. workers were less productive in the spring and that does not bode well for future hiring." guest: the short-term numbers are fluctuating widely, and they go along with -- they are often subject to revisions, but there

is a lot of noise and that data. long-term, if you look at the last three years, productivity has gone up at a reasonable rate. guest: it is difficult to say that we think emersion acquisition deal or dividends is a productive use of company kaspar they're trying to do the best they can -- of company cash. they're trying to do the best they can, and they think it is a good use of the funds. how can we say that it is not? guest: it is not a productive use. they're not investing in productive capacity. terms of net investment beyond depreciation of the lowest levels. you ultimately see that translates into productivity over the long term. will we are not investing today it will ultimately come into -- from a policy perspective, that

does not mean we should encourage those activities. the dividend tax cut that we enacted in 2003, it led to more dividend payout, but it did not lead to more it best man, growth, and hiring. -- into more investment, growth, and hiring. guest: the dividends were double taxed to begin with, so the change was getting rid of a double taxation. the whole problem in washington, we think we can tell companies what the most productive way is to organize their assets and the finances. it is possible that new companies emerging into more companies separately? i do not know, i should not say. these are decisions that maybe we should have low corporate tax rates come and take away some of the decisions rather than trying to second- guess. >> we know from the literature that is not boosting innovation and economic growth. there is a vast literature that

shows that. we also have to be mindful that we have spending programs in place that people want, that the country wants, that needs to be financed. we cannot simply lower taxes on corporations and let them get away with keeping a few people their shoulders happy to dividend payouts, and at the same time burdening the american middle-class more and more with higher taxes. host: we will have to leave it there and get back to our viewers. go ahead. caller: i do believe that there is an inability to realize that we have been had. we have been fleeced by our political classes, the elitists in our country. george bush, when he left office in 2008, pardoned one of the biggest housing scammers. the guy stole $30 million from h.u.d. and other programs. they used strong buyers, and it

seems to me the political classes in this country produced nothing. it it was not for equity in the housing market, they would have had no money for their campaigns, and so on. it was silverado savings and loan with the bush brothers, neil bush. it was real estate scamming. on long island, there was a man named john mcnamara who stole half a billion dollars from general motors acceptance corp. in mortgage frauds, and he got away with it. he never did a day in jail. even this other gentleman, he stole $30 million from h.u.d. in one year alone, did not pay any taxes. you can follow the trail and see he paid every executive in my government -- and even my current government, steve levy, my county executive, he has had to relinquish millions of dollars of campaign cash. he cannot run for election because of some federal probe.

host: got your point, anthony. we go to nebraska. caller: i'm curious why we do not go back in history on the trade problem. back in 1860 week passed a tariff to fight cheap imports from britain. why don't we do the same thing? even mckinley did that, and it increased employment and decrease the cost of labor. guest: it would cause a trade war, and other countries would -- what we really need, speaking of trade, is the free trade agreements to be ratified by congress. we have outstanding free trade agreements pending, but not ratified, with colombia, panama, south korea. this would give more market to our export, and a substantial number of americans work for companies that export. it would be against world trade

organization regulations. guest: i agree with diana to some degree that we do need to focus when it comes to trade on exports. we have been doing fairly well on exports since 2004. even last quarter, export growth was much stronger than our imports. clearly, we're doing right on exports and trade. we do need to keep imports coming because what happens is we are importing intermediate goods, we add value, we put them into cars, machines, airplanes. then we export them at our high profit for u.s. manufacturers had not think the solution is passing more trade agreements. what we do need is to help smaller companies, small manufacturing companies to really gain access to the market. jeff insel, who heads the president's competitive this --

jeff immelt, who has the president's competitiveness -- we need to build on that momentum that we already have on the manufacturing side, by bringing in small manufacturing companies into the game. host: diana, there is the situation in europe as well that is playing into what we're seeing in our economy. explain your take on that. guest: we think we have problems here, but it is nothing compared to what your past. the eu has bailed out ireland, greece. now they are needing to bailout italy and spain, and this is taking a tremendous amount of resources. the bank's there have real solvency problems -- the banks there have resulted problems, and they will be able to buy

fewer of our exports. some of our banks are also invested in europe. guest: to some degree that is right. i do not think we will necessarily talk about bailing out italy. guest: d e u. guest: i agree that there is this worrying about could this spillover into the banking systems. you saw negotiations early into summer where france and germany were pushing the private banks to participate more in bailing out greece, and the banks, especially finland and others, said, no, if we do this, our banks will gondar. that raises red flags for me and for a lot of -- will go under. that raises flags from me and for a lot of other observers with the bigger countries like germany and france, and how could this ripple effect free more uncertainty in world financial and the world market. host: should there be a

coordinated global response? guest: no, i think the you should be dealing with this on its own. french and german taxpayers will get tired of bailing out greece, ireland, and these other countries if the you decide to do it with their european stability mechanism. host: here is another tweak from our viewer who wants you to debate the infrastructure bank proposal. kristin, let me begin with you. ,e heard that -- chris ctian let me be with you. why would it work? gas co we're talking about a national infrastructure bank. it would be a loan guarantee program, possibly through the department of ccommerce. there are infrastructure banks that are alternative models that exist in other countries, typically economic development

banks, that you have to get some government subsidy and backup guarantees. but they would be largely self refinancing through the investments they make. we know we have massive infrastructure needs when it comes to growth, bridges, school construction, greening of office buildings, so on and so forth. it would work because the way these banks loan guarantees would be structured is they would have to look for a positive rate of return. in some cases, the government would add a little extra, would subsidize the rate of return to bring in investment response. by and large, there would only be profitable investments that the private sector is not undertaken in because the payoff would be over such a long. of time -- over such a long put to of time, and they often did not want to go there. the idea is not to take something over that the private

sector is already doing, but filling in the gap for the private sector is not yet going and will never go. host: why will it work, diana? guest: just for the reason he said, that is because that is where the private sector will not go. it will be a question of the infrastructure bank playing political favorites. you can see that there might be a lot of money going to illinois are california, but here we're talking about cutting spending. we do not need an infrastructure bank when we have the private sector. that can finance many infrastructure projects. also our technological capabilities have increased to the extent where now we can toll roads. tolling means that private companies would be interested in building a road, and then there can be told to get back revenues.

there is one close to prince george's county, one close to dulles airport. there preventing the private sector from investing in infrastructure, such as not allowing private sector investment on federally funded projects and roads. we need to look at the regulations and see if we can roll those back. guest: it has always been sort of -- it is surprising to hear diana speak like this because there has always been an agreement between conservatives and progressive economists -- even milton friedman argued that the government has a role in infrastructure investment. banks will leverage public dollars to bring in private vectorinvestors' dollars. the reason private investors are not going there is they have a short rate of return in terms of recovery could bring their money. the infrastructure bank is meant to deal with that problem.

into projects that private investors themselves will not -- guest: 1 infrastructure product is high-speed rail. the government wants to spend $53 billion on high-speed rail, and fewer than 2% or 3% of americans use rail, so it would get funneled into projects such as that like mass transit that are politically correct. this is not something the private sector wants to invest in and our tax dollars should not go into it either. guest: private companies would like to run rail, they just do not want to invest in the infrastructure on the actual rail along the corridor, which costs $20 billion. guest: because they think it will not pay off. guest: know, when you look at other countries like germany and britain, the privatization of the rail, increasing -- private companies said they would like

to run the trains. they do not necessarily want to invest in the real capacity. neither do they in other countries. guest: $53 billion in president obama's high-speed rail project? guest: in the northeast corridor there is the demand for high- speed rail. host: we have less than 15 minutes to continue this debate. i want to show you what the president said yesterday about this supercommittee and what he will do to put pressure on them to come to some sort of agreement. >> i realize after what we just went through, there is some skepticism that republicans and democrats on the so-called supercommittee, the joint committee that has been set up, will be able to reach a compromise. my hope that -- my hope is that from a's news will give us a renewed sense of urgency. i intend to -- my hope is that from yesterday's news we will give us a renewed sense of urgency.

the committee will have this administration possible cooperation. host: "the washington post" editorial echoes what the president said, the call for compromise between two sides . it will be worth only of the country's leaders come up with full-fledged solutions. "the wall street journal" says this. "a downgrade awakening. they argue that we are taking a step back to the daily turmoil, look at the larger picture. terming u.s. debt debate is not a sign of political dysfunction, despite what the s&p and the chinese say. it is a sign we're finally beginning to comprehend and correct the problem. the process will be messy, as democracy always is. it is a sign of progress. guest: i think they got it right. the as and he got it wrong saying that we have a dysfunctional system, ignoring the fact that we got a budget deal, a debt deal.

the important point is, yes, it is messy, but in the end, we have a deal. there is a national conversation over the right party. how do we get growth? how do we strengthen growth, create jobs, and how do we ultimately address the challenges of the structural deficit? despite incredible divisions on partisan ideology, it can come together to fix the problem. the hope is that the supercommittee will do exactly that, that it will come together and address the nation's priorities, create jobs, broke job creation, promote growth, and address the long-term structural deficits in the long run. host: diana, your thoughts. guest: the fact that we went through this battle and all we got was $2 trillion in cuts the white house office of management and budget midsession reviews

will come out later this month, and they will add right back at $2 trillion by reducing gdp growth. we need to look at what is being done in the house of representatives, where the house passed a budget resolution that would cut $6 trillion over the next 10 years. house republicans also passed cap and balance that would cut spending and cap future spending and pass a balanced budget amendment. these are the long-term solutions we need to be looking at. we cannot just cut $2 trillion over 10 years. guest: we also have to understand the cap, cut, and balance approach, the house passed it knowing full well the senate would not pass it. on the other hand, the democracy and budgeting process is a step- by-step issue. it is not that one day congress will fix all problems and we will go home and not meet for 30 years. every congress will face these

challenges, especially in an economy that is not as turbulent as ours. at this point we need to figure out how we're going to start making downpayments and creating growth. at the same time, start thinking about how we're going to reduce the structural deficit. host: cnn is reporting this morning that pressure is on the white house. here is a tweet from congressman connie mack saying that "mac again calls for geithner to resign in the wake of market fears and permanent unemployment of 9%." about: i'm wondering more campaign reform. host: what about it, dennis? caller: is c-span taxpayers? host: no, it is part of your cable bill every month, brought to you by your cable service.

caller: get the presidential campaigns to use that. host: we're getting way off topic here. go ahead, john. caller: i have been working since 1976. since the epa came in to the government, our government has shut down a bunch of different companies due to the epa regulations. is there any way to get epa to relax on businesses and do a corporate tax on companies that are moving to different countries? guest: diane not addressed that. i want christian to address that. why do you think the epa should not relax the regulations? guest: well, it is not just simply giving polluters what they want.

it is protecting natural resources while also protecting the health of people. when you look at countries like germany or spain, and armenta releases are a double-edged sword. they rearrange costs in the short run, but often these regulations are phased in over long enough periods of time, giving companies exemptions, to prepare for the new regulations. they have made the company's much more fuel-efficient, less polluting. when you look at countries like germany and others, they have used this to really build marine industries, to be very well -- to be world leaders when it comes to win craft and solar power, and so forth. that is where we are behind. we could use regulations, voluntary agreements, and others, as we have done with other fuel efficiency standards to prod companies to become more efficient and to go were clearly markets are. guest: so why don't we just

announced that in 20 years everything will be wind and solar? the companies will have the time to invest in those jobs. we now have natural gas, coal, and oil, and these are the more efficient forms of fuel. america is getting cleaner every year as we've been in new plants, buy new vehicles. it would be relatively simple for the president to call lisa jackson and say let's hold off on the car and regulations, let's hold off on the clean air transport regulations. until unemployment goes down to 7%. host: isn't it that they want certainty that this will go away? guest: even better. these are optional. the epa is not required to put forward any of these rules right now, and what they're doing is making energy production, making

any kind of factory usage more expensive here, which is why so many plants are going overseas to china and india. host: 1 more phone call, richard, a democrat from massachusetts. caller: thank you. the thinking from conservative think tanks -- where was your voice during the bush administration? it had two tax cuts. that prescription drugs and of $800 million that -- $800 billion that wasn't paid for. also, diana, when the private sector is not hiring, it is the duty and responsibility of the government to create jobs. president eisenhower did it with the international highway system that created many jobs.

host: diana, what is your response? guest: between 2003 and 2007 when the bush tax cuts were fully in effect, we created hundreds of thousands of jobs every month. i would say it is not the government possible to create jobs, rather it is the government's role to invest in the private sector to create jobs. the government could hire one group of people and have one group dig ditches and another fill them in. we have seen that in the past couple of years with the shovel- ready projects and the $1 trillion stimulus package, and we're left with unemployment that is two percentage points higher than when we started in january 2009. we have seen it does not work and we need to take a different track. yes, president bush did spend too much when he was in office. many people said at the time -- i was working at the department

did labor and the council of economic advisers. part of it was congress. my boss, of the labor department, went in every year to congress lower budgets and she was called uncompassionate by congress. they put the money right back in. so this was not just president bush's problem. guest: the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were a lesson on how to squander money. the important piece is going back -- and i agree with diana -- that we should be creating a situation where the private sector is adding jobs. when you look at the past couple of years, that is exactly what we have. the private-sector is creating jobs. the private sector added 154,000 jobs. that is not enough to reduce the unemployment rate, but part of the problem is that the government, especially states and local governments, are

cutting jobs -- laying off teachers and public workers. on all categories at that level. at the state and local government. education is the largest category, public safety is the second, transportation is third. we're seeing private sector momentum going forward because the stimulus and other measures have created an environment where the private sectors are comfortable hiring. what is putting a drag on it is that the government is cutting back on jobs, and individuals do not have enough income to drive more momentum forward. for the near future, we need to continue the extensions of the unemployment insurance benefits and the payroll tax dollars. host: we have run out of time. real quick, diana, 20 seconds. guest: how many people would not like to have that back right now? guest: unemployment is the wrong

measure. we're talking but job creation. the job creation measure for the bush and administration, whether after 2001, 2003, it was an abysmal. it was the lowest since the great depression. host: many people would want a 4.8% unemployment rate right now. guest: the job creation track record for the bush administration was the lowest since -- host: we've got to leave it there. christian weller is a senior fellow for the center for american progress. and diana furchtgott-roth is the director of the center for employment policy at hudson institute. for more information on her thoughts as well. go to hudson.org. coming up next, we will continue looking at the american work force, part of our week-long series here at "washington journal." first of the news update from c-

span radio. >> the labor department says productivity dropped 0.3% in the second quarter, following the decline of 0.6% in the first three months of the year. it is the first back-to-back decline in productivity since the second half of 2008. when workers are less productive and cost more, companies are less likely to add jobs. speculation that the federal reserve board may announced another round of monetary easing has the market on the upside to the fed gave no indication of what action it might take at a's meeting, but hopes are that it will be forced into more action. that is helping stocks in europe. dow futures are up ahead of the bell in the states, over 100 points. david cameron says he is tripling the number of police on the streets of london. he vows to restore all order as a way to stop the riots spreading to other english cities. prime minister has also recalled parliament from its summer

recess to deal with the crisis. touched off by three days of riding. david puttnam is calling on blackberry to stem the rights. more than 500 people have been arrested since saturday. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> seen as a testing ground for presidential hopefuls, republican candidates are gathering in iowa for grass- roots politics and activities. saturday we will go to ames for the iowa straw poll, where three of the past five winners have gone on to win the iowa caucus. this week on c-span. >> the ayes are 74, the nays

26. >> with the debt ceiling deal now signed into law, see what you're elected official said and how they finally voted. with c-span's congressional chronicle. there is video of every session and complete voting records. when members return in september, follow more of the appropriations process, including daily floor action in committee hearings, at c-span door/congress. every weekend it is american history tv on c-span3, starting saturday mornings, people and events, telling the american story. watch personal interviews on oral histories. revisit the figures it, battles, and events during the 100th anniversary of the civil war. visit college classrooms across

the country. go behind the scenes at museums and historic sites on "american artifacts." the presidency but set the policies and legacies of past american presidents. get our complete schedule at c- span.org/history. "washington journal" continues. postcode we continue our week- long series, looking at the american -- host: today we continue our week-long series, looking at the american work force. on thursday, key federal jobs programs. we will wrap up the week with women in the work force. today we look at technical education. our guest is bob templin from the northern virginia community college. grant in training program is something the president

announced recently. what is it? and that is designed specifically for community colleges to help -- guest: it is designed specifically for community colleges to scale up the work force so we can match up the skills required with the ways the economy is growing. host: so how are you at northern virginia -- how much money did you receive from the grant program, and what are you doing with it? guest: we're still in the phase where the the pproposals have bn made to the department of labour. northern virginia community college participated in three rounds of proposals. the first, increasing those that are in the manufacturing sector. to train folks on the front line in high-performance manufacturing. in our particular region, micron is a manufacturer of computer chips, and the educational requirements in that field at

increase to several years of education beyond what it was 10 years ago. the second area is in health care. there are significant shortages of highly technical jobs that have vacancies still, at northern virginia community college' has made strides in tht area. the third area we are creating a series of stackable credentials for people in the hospitality industry. many of the entry-level jobs that are there are lower wage, by training up and skilling up through what we call portable stackable credentials, wicking create career pathways for hire wage employment. host: are you seeing a lot of interest from youth applying to community college in the areas you outlined? guest: over the last three years, our enrollment has increased over 12,000 students. that has made up a significant portion of young people

graduating recently from high school, but it also represents those who have been laid off and those who are trying to scale up. we're seeing a huge increase in community college enrollment. host: what is the impact of this, for those people enrolling, they have decided not to do traditional four-year degree but go to a community college? guest: actually, they can do both. many students start at community college, get job-related skills, earn an associate's degree, and then they can qualify to go to a university for a bachelor's degree. it is a matter of being able to do both. community colleges served as kind of the crossroads between business and industry and higher education. host: our focus, technical education. if you live in the eastern central area, dial in at 202- 624-1111.

from the mountain pacific area, 202-64-1115. if you're a student or a 0.aduate, dial 202-624-007 let me ask you about job placement. guest: it reflects the economy generally. in the field weather is still strong demand, job placement continues to be high but students are not getting as many offers as they did three or four years ago. health careers are still in demand, but students are now having to accept positions may be with shifts on the evenings and weekends, or in a location that was not their first choice. in areas of information technology, there are still critical shortages, but people do not get three and four job offers for orders of cybersecurity, network security, fields like that. guest: how does a community

college like yours differ from the traditional four-year college as far as job placement, getting those students the graduate jobs? guest: our students usually have some form of on- the-job experience prior to graduate, and that creates a connection between the student and employer. it often results in employment immediately upon graduation. host: let me show our viewers this latest statistic. job gains among viewers 25 and older, if you are a high-school dropout, you can see the numbers right there. for unemployment. job gains, excuse me. it is less if you have a -- if you are a high-school dropout. some college or associates to become a little bit of an uptick there. bachelor's degree or higher, you

see even more of an uptick. so if you are about to graduate from high school, thinking about community college vs. four-year education, why pick committee college -- community college when you see the numbers. guest: you can get job training in the community college and leverage that to a baccalaureate. so you do not need to go to get job training before going to university. host: jim, you're on the air with bob templin. go ahead. caller: yes, i graduated with an associate's degree in network communication, and before that i was laid off a trying job. i'm having a hard time finding employment because the employers say they want people with experience.

i had an internship for three months, but that is not enough experience that most employers want. can community college do anything better to communicate to local businesses, or what can they do to help their students get acquitted? -- get employment? guest: there are several things. community colleges are increasingly making sure that there programs are affiliated were in alignment with industry standards so students can not only complete the program but sit for certification, which is an industry recognized credential. a second thing that community colleges can and should do is work with employers so that students can have employment opportunity while they are still students. some of the employers of northern virginia community college work with us beginning the summer after the first year with summer employment.

then they keep the student on as a nominal employees throughout the rest of the year. that way, when graduation occurs, the employer has an employee already oriented to the workplace and familiar with the work site. those colleges that wait until students graduate to try to help them find employment in this market makes it much more difficult. host: diana, where do you go to college? caller: i go to essex community college, and i graduate in two weeks. host: what is the job prospects looking like? caller: in this area, not too good, but i am questioning how the programs work. it's like they're training us for a workforce that is in critical shortage area. to put in ehr systems, and we are working with the medicaid

and medicare services. we were told that there was a work force needed, but we're finding out the same as the gentleman before me said, they want people with experience. we have gone from a six month course to be fully trained in systems, we have an eye the background, clinical background to help them, and yet there were regional extension centers that receive $23 million to make a reasonable -- a regional extension to health providers to put in their eh systemr. i was under the understanding they would hire us but they are not. they were asked if -- i asked if they had any plans to hire us, and they just sent us a newsletter. host: if people like you are not getting that job, who is?

caller: i do not know. providers are resisting it or there is not enough money. all the money that they allocated to put into this, like 90 billion of the stimulus money, allocated to help push this through. and then to setare you questiong you got? caller: here we are going to graduate and there is no help to connect us with the people that need us. the whole reason for the stimulus money was to train the work force. they are going to incentivize the providers, getting up to $44,000 or $60,000 as an incentive. it looks like the on the people that will benefit is the vendors to produce this software. that is who would hire us, too.

we're even willing to work for free internships. i am on unemployment. i'm going to this program and willing to work for free just to get the experience and the hospital will not accept it. host: bob templin? guest: the economy is in tough shape, even the health-care sector where there is still demand. employers have the opportunity to pick from experienced individuals who perhaps were out of the workforce and decided to come back in. people who are part-time want to go full time. people who were on evenings and weekends want a better shift. the second thing to intervene to this particular field is the turbulence in health care reform itself. we're literally creating new roles and specialties before the jobs have been created. for some time in some locations, we're going to find people with the skills that will be needed before the jobs are actually created. that is the case in health care,

the electronic medical record. i have complete confidence we're in the early stages of revolution and health care and electronic medical record will be very, very important. i cannot promise that. community colleges cannot promise jobs, but we can try to anticipate or the market is going and how people get the skills and sometimes experienced so they're qualified. employers will not promise jobs at the end if they do not have the resources to do so. host: is hell i.t. -- is health i.t. considered? guest: turning programs have been mounted and students are beginning to come into the workforce having completed those programs. that was part of the health care reform rather than the trade adjustment act. host: according to the

department of education, when you look at education and seller, 25-34 with high school diploma and median income for males. among women, earned $23,500. that is our discussion this morning. technical education community college. here is a tweet the says, why is there no universal system for transferring credits from any community college to any traditional college? guest: higher education tends to be on a state-by-state basis. each state having different policies and rules. and virginia, for example, we have standardized course transfer agreement with all of the state universities and a guaranteed admission process of students that complete at the community college are guaranteed admission at the state universities.

that is not true cross the nation. it represents one of the gaps in our system. host: from utica, new york. caller: is that robert templin? what is his opinion of increasing the internships or apprenticeship programs that are concurrent with coursework at technical colleges? many young people that i have met are much more intimidated and discouraged by the entire resume an interview process versus the actual [unintelligible] they have the skills, but are so intimidated by the suit and tie and the panel interviews and are so nervous, all of this nonsense like resume fonts. host: that is a critical

position. most community colleges have programs of internship, court of education and apprenticeships the provide workplace skills, teach individuals how to behave appropriately at the worksite, with the jargon is like, with the protocols are. but the gap here talking about with literally the job search and preparation for the interview is an area that some colleges offer more services than others. at northern virginia community college, we provide assistance for resume writing, preparing for interviews, and understanding how to complete the job search process. you are right, it is intimidating and something that you have to experience in order to gain greater knowledge about it. host: robert templin from the

d.c. area, joining us as part of our week-long series looking at the american workforce. today's focus is technical education. i want to give you an update on this story we covered drop the "washington journal" this morning, the market. cnn reporting as the market opens, up 100 points. regaining about 5%. go ahead, richmond, virginia. caller: good morning. i went to a technical college. i am from virginia. i tell people i went to medical school. something interesting i found in moving back to virginia was a lot of the titles for some of the positions that are available that i qualify for, and they are different titles as far as what i went to school for. the qualifications are the same. something interesting mr.

templin mentioned was i found also state university's are really based on federal budget, so to speak, and community colleges are easier to get in with a grant. i got down -- got in with a grant in georgia, but i did not see any other money. guest: there were several points made. the first, positions that you have trained for once you're out in the market may not be exact job titles that employers are looking for, particularly in another state. consequently, it is important students be able to document what the specific competencies' are that they learned in the program they had. if all possible, received independence certification.

the second issue with regard to getting into a community college been easier than a university, that is true. it is easier in terms of the policies of the institution. committed the colleges are colleges of opportunity. even those who have not done traditional well in school often come to community colleges for a second chance to build their skills and portfolio. financial aid is typically available to community college students. this much more affordable because typically it is less expensive. i am not sure what his experience was with his financial aid, but for us, anything beyond direct expenses are immediately transferred to the student. host: community colleges are sort of like high school life. this is the plan to save america? send them to community college? guest: they're not high school

light. they offer a comparable to years of a lower division of undergraduate education and high skills, high which employment opportunities for those that go into technical education. i will give you one. as an example. in health care, a field that is changing rapidly is in diagnostic imaging. there are many specialties their including radiation, oncology, and a number of fields. a community college graduate with a proper clinical experience and certification kent entered those fields between $80,000-$100,000. host: these are some of the degrees in certificates to prepare for students. associate arts degree, applied science degree, certificate and also the career studies cert.

can you explain the difference? guest: we try to help students interested in the immediate employment to get just the job skills needed to secure employment. that is through a career study certificate which will prepare someone for a very specific job title. but it will not lead to career development of a person stops there. what we do is create a second level, which would be a certificate program rican leverage that first-degree into a second by taking additional course work. moved that on to the associate degree at a higher level. i will give you an example. in the health-care field, you can come into the college and in six months, qualify to be a certified nurse this a system. that is an entry-level job. with additional education while working, you qualify to be a of a licensed qualified nurse. higher pay, more responsibility.

you can leverage that into a registered nurse at the associate degree level. host: at a community college? guest: yes. then you can continue on and transfer that to agree to a bachelor's degree. the areas we have represent a ladder of a career progression. host: here are some other courses that nova offers -- and this is from linda in california. caller: with a very large community college here. i know people who go there. one of the prime course of studies this summer remedial.

it is a remedial english, remedial math. we do have a nursing program which is extensive, but the waiting time in order to get into the program can be up to four to six years. host: are you having the same problem? guest: we do because funding cuts have been inflicted, in the states, expensive programs like nursing and other technical fields often have limited enrollment. host: this person emails -- guest: it is an important area.

many individuals who have been laid off or out of school for quite some time, the math and english skills are pretty weak compared to what the job requirements are for fields bill like to move into. i will use the health-care field. if you do not have background and proportions, ratios, fractions, statistics, algebra, geometry -- if you're not strong in those areas, he will not be qualified to enter the field. you will need to do some remediation. what we see often are folks moving from one job that require much less in ways of math, science, an english. trying to qualify for higher level jobs. in order to do that, we in effect have to start where their skills are and built them up. unfortunately, many of our highs

graduates across the nation are graduating from high school without the english and math skills necessary to succeed in college. then again, community colleges work with them to build those skills up through our programs. host: another e-mail -- guest: where it does not exist, it represents a cap that needs to be filled. where does exist -- host: is it offered a atnova? guest: yes, but not everywhere. in programs like paralegal, or we do not offer that, it is a shortcoming. host: go ahead, caller.

caller: i work for a community college. my history is that i started at 45 years old into this community college because i did not have any experience, nor did i have any education. what i found, one of the most important programs for me was the work study program which got my feet into a position on the financial aid. i was able to expand while a went to school, work with the college and now work full-time for the college. i think that program is really important. it is important for people such as i who do not have experience. i also wanted to comment, career services. that is the other resource at a community college that really helped me to develop my skills, with resin made an interview don't mesh with resume and

interviewing. also, enrollment. we have seen about an 80% increase in the past three years. it has been difficult for students to get into certain programs, especially in nursing. for this term for the fall, we have seen a decrease. host: a decrease in enrollment? guest: about 19%. host: why? guest: all of the sudden, there is this decrease. one of the things i do at the college is i kind of oversee the placement testing. [unintelligible] not up to college level. host: you are kind of breaking up. according to the website,

northern virginia community college as the largest institution of education in virginia, one of the nation's largest community colleges will enroll about 78,000 plus students in the 2010-2011 session. six campuses throughout the area. guest: i think the caller that just spoke about the sudden decline in enrollment is a direct reflection of what is happening in our economy. the uncertainty of the markets, of the economy have many people deciding to step back and not make an investment at a time when it is not clear about what the future is going to bring. my prediction would be that is going to be temporary. the fact is, we're going through wrenching changes in our economy and it is headed toward not less skilled and less education, but more skill and more education. i have a feeling the enrollment

will come back strongly at community colleges because they are accessible, affordable, and responsive to the changing market. host: that brings up a tweet -- there is an article about america's skill set and a says, looking to old europe for ideas. americans used to take great pride in the flexibility and dynamic system of their economy, casting a cool eye and a more stand economy such as germany's with its antiquated industrial power apprentice structure. germany's unemployment rate of just over 6% is well over -- is now well below the rate here. guest: germany has a public policy of subsidizing employers so that they will take apprentices and work with them and employ them where is the united states does not have such

a policy. i will agree that our k-12 public school system needs to prepare all of its students so that they're prepared not only for the workplace, but to continue their work education. our experience is a very significant number of the students are not prepared for either. community colleges are beginning to reach into working with public schools, a line in the curriculum and working together. host: let's go to a graduate of community college from virginia, tim. did you go to nova? guest: no. ccac of allegheny county.

one point wanted to make was the difference the trinity college will provide just in the freshman level classes, instead of being at a four-university or you have smaller class size, you have professors and not interested only in their research, you can get a much better foundation for your course studies. i am an electrical engineer the graduated from a four-year university. but the community college actually gave me a much better grounding than the other students had with the math and science is.

host: you went for the first two years a community college and then transferred? guest: yes. host: what was the transferring process like? guest: they had an agreement with the university, so it was pretty much -- it was almost a seamless transfer. host: let me ask you, did you need a four-year degree to do what you're doing today? guest: yes, definitely. host: why is that? guest: i am an electrical engineer. host: ok. guest: with what i do, i needed the advanced math and science to do a good portion and understand what i do. truth be told, i got the

ability at the community college to understand the higher level courses. host: bob templin? caller: that is a good point and a typical --- guest: that is a good point and a typical comment. classrooms are smaller print teachers get to know the students' names and backgrounds. they tend to adapt the course to the is there. as was just mentioned, foreign language, english, math, science -- they all tend to be high marks for committee colleges in contrast with universities that often have large glasses with graduate assistants who are doing the teaching while the university faculty are doing research and publishing. we find that during the summer, almost half of our summer enrollment is made up of university students who come home during the summer to take math, science, and language with

us because of the attention they can receive and the success they experience when they return to the university. host: michael, from california. guest: i want to ask mr. templin to comment about having stronger english skills for students. i am a product of the community colleges and also a sociology professor. i have gone all the way through the doctored and i owe a great deal the getting started at the committee college. i am a big supporter. i am also dreading going back to work in the months when we have a lot of students who cannot put a sentence together, really, and we find them coming into our class is where they do not really belong. they belong in much more remedial work.

it is very frustrating to try to teach a college level class and not come down your material, which struggling not to do. i would liken the focus a little more on those english skills that seem to be lacking across the board for most of our students when they come in from the high schools. host: is that a complete to get at northern virginia community college? guest: it is a reflection of our public education. often not even from the middle group, but today, families realize that nearly everyone has to continue their education beyond high school in order to have a career opportunity with a livable wage. consequently, we often -- the community college is a point of entry for those or non-

traditional students, the first and a family to ever go to college. they often have prepared poorly while in high school to enter college. consequently, community colleges have a very difficult job. if we just think about the immigration effort right now, the changing demography of the american landscape. at nova, 25% of our students come from families where english is not spoken in the household. consequently, we have students that are second language learners and those graduating from high school that necessary skills. so my colleagues in california accurately identify is a real challenge at community colleges. at nova, what we're attempting to do is create a new diagnostic assessment or students on the way in are assessed for what it is they can do in relationship to what would be needed. then we began to target the remediation around a specific

deficiencies with the hope they will improve. i'm afraid it is going to remain a challenge for community colleges and for american higher education in general. >> the president will be travelling to the midwest on a three-day bus tour august 15. members of the cabinet will be hosting a white house role economic forum at northeast iowa community college which will bring the other small-business owners, a private sector leaders, role organizations as well as government officials to discuss ideas and initiatives to promote jobs. we go to delaware. caller: how're you doing? i have a question in a statement for the gentleman. when i went to community college, i went to eastern arizona junior college. it did have a high school field. they did not treat me like as if i was going to a bigger

university. i do agree with you because i did not prepare myself for college as well, but when i took the classes, they put me in remedial classes, classes i did not get credit for. i did not really understand or they did not explain to me the benefit of that. all i knew was i was in class and not getting credit for it. now have someone telling me, that is more money i have to dish out pork class --college. guest: that is becoming a recurring theme. often, students are entering college are not well-prepared are very knowledgeable about what the workplace requirements are, either. our focus increasingly is on making sure students better leaving high school have the skills the necessary so they do not have to pay twice for the education they should have received the first time. host: we go to florida.

are you with us? you are on the air. guest: i am a brand new student. i am 49 years old. i'm a navy veteran. i was honorably discharged from active and reserves. i am having trouble finding a field with alternative energy or solar energy. i live in the sunshine state. you think are the kinds of opportunities here. luckily, our community college has a certificate program, but not a degree program to help in that area. host: before we talk about that come out as a decision to go to community college. what made you decide to go back to school at 49 and wanted to choose a community college? guest: i was laid off. my job was outsourced. i worked in the i.t. field as a

systems analyst. when i got into the field originally way back in the 1980's, he did not need a degree to get into this field. not every time i go to an interview, i get the from a year, too bad he did not have a degree, thing. you do not get the job because you do not have a degree. host: we have to leave it there. caller: this is a typical frustration that students and veterans find themselves with. that area has not fully developed yet. simultaneously so you get the