that is all the money that we have for you here tonight. but we are still open for business tomorrow in houston for part two of our special series. i'm talking some of the biggest names in business down here, we also have the ceo of landry's and the lieutenant governor of texas. "the willis report" is coming up next. gerri: hello, everybody, i am gerri willis. tonight, the middle-class is under assault in this country. those in power do nothing. the census bureau said incomes for typical american families were either flat or down throughout the country. despite all that talk about 4.5 million jobs being created, the reality is too many americans are scraping by and poverty is on the rise in many of our communities. essentially, any gains that we have made are gone.

the new numbers say we are no better off than we were a decade ago. joining us now is black brakeman brad blakeman. the president says he wants to be reelected. but his track record is poor. how do you defend that? >> you try to make sure the country on track and do better in the next four years. i think that is why barack obama will win. in the end, what we are looking at is there people on the low end of the income who are playing by the rules, but there are also people at the high end of the income to achieving this

country needs you to look at the national median income. in 2011, it was down 1.3% from a year ago. this is not a point in time where it should be better. >> if it wasn't for bad news, obama wouldn't make news on the economy. people are getting the bad news, the median income going down, whether it is the debt that we have, whether it is the credit rating being downgraded, bankruptcy, when you talk about trust, we have a president who broke his word. he promised a better america. i'm america is much worse off than we were four years ago. our country is headed in the wrong direction. over 70% believe it, whether you're republican or democrat. everything the president has

touched has been terrible. gerri: i want to bring in john fund, a columnist for the national review. what's going on with with income, the middle-class, it's a tragedy. what we need to do? >> uncertainty is the big cloud cover that his smoldering all of us. businesses have a trillion and a half dollars. sitting on the sidelines, not being invested in jobs, not being invested in productive enterprises. the reason is that all these regulations -- they don't know where it's going to go and this is going to decide a lot. the way to do this is reduce the regulations temporarily, make sure the tax cuts go forward, and give people a sense that these are the rules and this is what you can count on. >> i want to go up to another topic right now. marianne, i'm going to you

first. tonight in pakistan on seven networks there, there is a new ad running featuring hillary clinton and the president, denouncing this video that has gone so much attention -- negative attention in the middle east. people are protesting against what you make of this? is this an apology that is going out to muslims all over the world? >> i actually think it is very smart to try to get that information out there. you have seen that this network and many others have done what is shocking. i think the fact that secretary clinton and president obama are out there explaining to libya and many other muslims what they think about this video, it is the right message to send. if it quell some of the unrest there, all the better. gerri: let's take a look at a clip of it here. >> since our founding come in

the united states has been a nation that respects all faiths. we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. but there is absolutely no justification in this type of senseless violence. none whatsoever. >> it is obvious that the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. gerri: what you make of this? >> this is disgraceful. we have nothing to apologize for. finally from the white house had to come out and expose their lies that the libyan attack was premeditated, it was a terrorist attack and had nothing to do with the video. the fact of the matter is the apology by the president of the united states, the secretary of state has made us more vulnerable to further attacks, the excuse that they wanted us to believe, and now, our

president has been the excuse to be valid for the attacks that we are seeing, not only in libya, but the attacks that we have seen in egypt on our embassy and throughout the middle east. gerri: john, i would like to turn to you. the administration appears to be changing its tune on the cause of this attack. jay carney today saying that it is self-evident what happened in benghazi was a terrorist attack. our embassy was attacked violently. that is self-evident. that wasn't what they said the first time around. >> clearly, the terrorists used the cover of this video to launch their attack. as for the apology, the explanation, why are we paying money to air this? it's in the interest of the pakistan government. i mean, it's the principle. why are we buying time when they should be giving us time to send out a message to the pakistani people. not just on state television, but on all the networks.

gerri: they are supposedly our allies. this is the strangest definition of an ally ever. >> also, they are giving themselves the day off tomorrow so people can protest. >> secretary clinton was briefing congress behind closed doors, asking for more money for foreign aid for many in this country. there is a huge debate and even legislation in congress to kill some of this aid to some of these countries. some that are frankly killing our ambassador and other americans. would he make of that debate? >> one quick thing. i was not an apology. it said the video was wrong in the attacks were wrong. that is hardly an apology by anybody's definition. >> every action we that we take comes with a price tag. when we have been into wars that we should have been in for trillions of dollars, this is what happens. people cut back on other things.

she is in there trying to make the case to people and say that our budget is cut and it comes with a price attached to it. we need more resources to make sure that we can protect our interests around the world. that is what is going on. unfortunately, that's the debate you have across all government right now and across every issue that we have. for all those people who want everything done, including protection security and everything around the world, with all the money we spend in the last 10 or 12 years. we never should've spent it. gerri: brad, you get the last word here. i want to bring up this issue of this campaign poster that is so controversial. it is getting a lot of talk. essentially, it replaces part of the stars and stripes with the obama emblem. is that un-american interview? >> welcome i would not go so far as they un-american, but it certainly disrespectful. i think that this is coming from the campaign itself. it's not coming from a third party. and i think it's wrong. it certainly disrespectful.

again, it's coming from a president. they should take it down immediately. >> it can survive this, this is nothing. gerri: thank you all so much for coming on tonight. great conversation. >> thank you, gerri. gerri: now we want to know what you think. is it un-american for obama to change the platform for his campaign? i will share that resulted in "the tonight show." much has been written about mitt romney and his comments on the 47% of americans who pay no income tax. but nothing has been said about the impact. that is, until today. the tax foundation released a report detailing the rapid increase in those taxes and how that is affecting the overall economy. there are more americans now off the tax roles than at anytime

since 1940. 50 million tax filers who had a zero tax liability and fewer people paying into the system, the more are expected to take from it. it is a disconnect that the experts call the fiscal illusion. we all like free stuff. the tax foundation says a one percentage point increase in the share of tax filers becoming non-payers as more than $10.5 billion in government payments. it also says $213 billion in government tax in 2010 directly related to the growth in nonpayers. here's the bottom line. the fewer people who pay taxes, more tax money has to go to support those people in the cycle continues. not a good situation for a majority rule democracy like ours and it doesn't sound like a model that is ever going to work either. but of course, our election officials continue the cycle. if you're fired up about this or any issues on the program, drop me an e-mail at

gerri@foxbussiness.com. >> coming up on "the willis report", more turbulence for american airlines as cancellations continue and outreach fliers have had enough. we get to the bottom of this coming up next. bad news for uninsured middle-class americans. new numbers show the president's health care law is expected to cause major damage to your wallet. jon barrasso weighs in on yet another obama broken promise. the newest iphone hits stores tomorrow and getting two thumbs up from apple reviewers. but is it really worth all the hype. the national editor in chief is here to be the judge. we are on the case on "the willis report." woman 1: this isn't just another election. we're voting for...

the future of our medicare and social security. man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan...

and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin. that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affe seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org gerri: pink slips are flying over american airlines. it seems that the bankrupt company can't get its act together. major flight cancellations are in the works.

the tenants are too busy fighting with each other forcing a four-hour delays for passengers. joining me now is the founder of airfare watch dog. airfare watchdog.com. is their website. we have some 300 cancellation cancellations of flights out there. as a consumer, what do you make of this? >> i'm flying tomorrow to new york city. it really depends on new york to los angeles, i think you'll be fine, it's been very slow, there were probably be seats available on another flight. i do recommend that the people go to airports early. to get there three or four hours ahead and you might actually get on an earlier flight. if you are scared of flying on american come you might ask for a full refund.

if they cancel your flight, proactively, far in advance come over a few days in advance, you are entitled to a full refund, even on a nonrefundable fare. gerri: at the end of the day, i would like to avoid all of that. they sent layoff warnings 11,000 workers. they cancel 300 flights. should you be avoiding it if you can? >> i think if you're going to a funeral or a very important meeting, you probably want to avoid it because you might not get there. i wouldn't go to my uncle harry's funeral and get britain out of the will if i was going to be an american. for example they can put you on another airline, so you could ask for that. you know, i think it is that the system is broken in this country. that is why we are seeing all of these murders.

>> let me read you a comment from "the wall street journal." this is about american, but some of this could apply to other airlines as well. "the wall street journal" wrote that pilots are calling in ground of flights for broken hearts that they wouldn't normally delay. i know you have had a lot to say, too, about some of these workers that might be sidelined its maintenance workers, that that could create problems for travelers. >> there is a real concern. most airlines outsource a great deal of their maintenance on their aircraft. that maintenance can be done in any country far from the eyes of faa inspectors. americans did most of their maintenance in-house and it looks like they're going to go along the route of outsourcing. i think that's dangerous and it's not to be desired. gerri: let's talk about how

people rate airlines. who do they like? >> most of the legacy network carriers, they rank very poorly. what we did was we took statistics from the faa looking at time performance and baggage handling and bumping and the best airlines are the new entries, jetblue and virgin america. unfortunately, they don't like very many places. but they were developed in response to where the u.s. airline system is. >> jetblue, alaskan frontier, i think your point dashboard, that is really telling. george, thank you for coming on the show tonight. it's a pleasure to talk you and i hope you come back soon. coming up later in the show, or obamacare broken promises. it shows just how costly the individual mandate should be. next, stock traders are making big bucks.

but it is high frequency trading ruining capitalism. i will break it down after the break.

gerri: high frequency trading and our investors short a notice that? i will give you my take coming up next

gerri: believe it or not, there was an important hearing today. today, members actually talked about something important. something that every investor needs to know about. we talked about it last night, high frequency trading.

this is just computerized trading on steroids. traders who plays hundreds or thousands of buy and sell orders on stocks at the same time. it explodes small quick moves in the market. a former trader testified in front of the senate banking committee, laying out the dangers of this type of trading. >> the u.s. equity markets are in dire straits. we are truly in a crisis right now. the past decade of technology revolution on wall street has been marked by two primary trends. extreme marketplace fragmentation and the rapid growth as the primary supply liquidity. >> it was behind the evaporation of $1 trillion in the flash crash in may of 2010. in august of the next year, more crazy volatility.

4.5% unexplained. initial public offerings both went awry because of the computerized trading glitches. many crashes happen every single day. who knows when the next mini crash will have maximum results? well, are you feeling worried yet? you should be. the new york stock exchange has exchange has been investigated for giving these sorts of traders access information about trade before the rest of us. i think that individual investors should get the same respect as any other investors. even if your name isn't goldman or sax, you should be treated fairly by the markets. we should have an even playing field. the nyse says that they didn't do anything wrong. but one former regulator, harvey pitt, says that the time has come to put a leash on these traders. because investors like you and

me have stopped trusting the market. fewer companies are coming with their ipos. why bother when the process is such a mess. >> we are having all sorts of glitches with such software that is driving individual investors out of our markets. gerri: he believes the major exchange is only with what he calls a toxic situation. long-term investors are fleeing these exchanges. more than half is now computerized trading. it is time for some serious reform before we have a bigger and better flash crash that none of us can afford. that is what i think. coming up, the cbo says obamacare says obamacare will

cost billions of dollars more per year. senator jon barrasso coming up. stay with us.

♪ gerri: it's time to call cold blue on president obama's promise not to raise taxes on middle-class. why? to get the new report that shows the majority of americans will now have to pay the obamacare tax. middle-class. with more on the republican senator john barasso. what is your reaction to this news from the cbs that it will not be 4 million people who will have to pay this tax, but 6 million? >> is says to me that this is another broken obama promise. the supreme court said it is.

the congressional budget office's main effect for million people. the end of it -- elevated that to 6 million people. really talking about the middle-class will get stuck with this. a huge fee annually because of this mandate of the health care law that they have to buy health insurance. gerri: afford -- according to some folks as would cost 12 million per year. the government will collect 7- 8000000000. how ironic is this that the government passes legislation because they think they can afford health care. this is a penalty the you can afford. it's catch-22 of the worst order. >> that's why i've been such an outspoken critic of the president's health care law. he promised premiums will go down by about $2,500. instead they have gone up. we know many people cannot keep but they have a thing like it. these taxes and fines, call the money will.

is an expense that will hit middle-class america and impact the quality of -- the quality of life of american families. gerri: to your point, 86 percent are middle-class. so its middle-class people the most. we just got news yesterday that i want you to respond to, and that is oklahoma attorney general filing a fresh legal challenge to obamacare. the focus of that is employer penalty for not offering affordable health care insurance are you going to piggyback on this? you see more of this happening in other states? >> i support what they're doing in oklahoma. actually, lindsay grand i almost a year ago introduced legislation, the state health care choice act which would allow states to opt out of this mandate that businesses have to supply health insurance to their employers. this is an undue burden, and expense. a lot of businesses to want to supply health insurance and a level that is something that

they can afford and to work for their employees. that is not good enough for the obama administration and the democrats. they want all of these people to be supplied with the level of insurance which may be more than they need to more than they want, and more expensive than they can afford him. >> well, torras is not a part of the planned to my friend. thank you for coming in tonight. gerri: coming up, could your household that lead to a pink slip and how much higher will it go? apple stock on a tear. in other ways he can cash in on his company's success. say with us. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier,

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now you're a real fishman. [ male announcer ] humana. ♪ gerri: customers have been lined up for days outside apple stores all across the country to be the first to get their hands on the latest gadget, the iphone five. of course you heard about it. now, if you're still debating whether to get the new device we have a last minute like what you need to know at the tomorrow's lunch. joining me now, tech expert, national debt, editor in chief. having your right here on set with me. amoy confused. is this everything it's cracked up to be?

for goodness sakes. get a grip. >> at think this is really going to appeal to the iphone fans. the people who are devoted to this platform gives them a little more of everything, more screen real-estate. if you looked at the iphone 4s and the four and take a look at the five, it looks quite similar, but it's actually bigger and it has more scream real-estate. is still has the red and display, but it doesn't feel beer in hand. gerri: okay. beautiful. it models, turns to what tourists. let's get down to brass tacks. looking at the math function on this. this is not to will maps. this is some ridiculous apple at >> you know, apple and two will use to be best friends, not so much anymore. pushed up the services. off of the i/o s six, off of iphone five. what this means is yarkand a brand new map, a brand new

interface that is interesting, but apple said today that they are working on it. they want to make it better, take in the feedback because for aeschylus' some of this 3d flyover stuff is, it's not as detailed. the 3-d flyovers tough in some areas. gerri: as city and an action. c'mon. let me ask you this question because i interesting story. he took the components of this phone and he price them, it comes in at $150. is not worth that much money. all in love with apple. we drank the kool-aid. really. >> hundred 99 at its base price for of model. if you give more storage it will go up. so it is close to its component price at the base level, but it is really about the ecosystem. it is not just --

gerri: its iphone, it's now because system. >> phone, e-mail, data, access to the internet. gerri: $25 adapter. >> that is a very big change. for years it has had a 30 bin adapter. have they changed it to this really tiny one. you can plug in either way. bad news, your peripherals will not work without the $29 adaptor which is probably going to annoy some people. gerri: the critical thing. the ltv service. a very good, but it is expensive . >> well, here's the thing. you're going to love it in the near nine. eleven when you see how fast you leak data and images appear battery life. we have not tested the iphone five, but my experience, the other name for l t e, is great and so your phone nice three-quarters of the way through the day. gerri: last word. you can say something nice about

this product. >> you know what to might think it is exciting because they haven't proved the product. is still feels the same in your hand. that's why i like it. that's what people are excited. a gorgeous looking product that does things i needed to do, but if you are in android fan, i don't know if you're going to switch him. gerri: and nice to the detail that the terrain at the end fee. i am an apple fan. i think people have lost their minds of this product. thank you. a pleasure to see you. of a question for you. if i were to give you $700, like i have right now. okay. it's not mine. it's my producers. this is real money. would you rather buy a share of apple stock which is crossed the $700 mark in is 9798, do you take that money in sin said -- splendid in the apple store. i'm going to pose that very question to my next guest.

what can i do? >> ticket to the track on the giants tonight. if their apple lovers, there is an index out there. 29 percent of the holdings of apple. you don't have to adjust by apple. microsoft, google. gerri: no diversification. 25 percent. >> come on. if you are an apple lover that is a good y -- a good way to just get something else the. it's cheaper than a $700 a share. gerri: cold, hard cash. you buy a single share of stock. is it going up? >> if apple keeps doing what they have been doing which is nailing estimates, boiling away. i think it can be is that is what has done to this point. no, it is such missing those

estimates we will be in trouble. possibly sold by the end of the year. that's nuts. gerri: bottom line, stop talking to me about how many telephones where selling. i cannot cover the fact that people are so excited. it's a phone, for goodness sakes gerri: part of people's everyday life. you don't just use it as a phone. facebook. it takes your you need to go. a lot of good applications that the bonn has the people rely on. and telling you. i myself am a new apple night. i used to be a blackberry fan. i love the thing. gerri: is on going to buy -- let's say i'm going to buy and exchange traded bond. you suggested down the road and i still going to buy actual shares of apple? if so, where they going? he looked at any tech mutual fund in the country in they are all 25% apple. you cannot get away from buying

this, even if you have not bought the etf you're talking about. you already own apple because mutual fund investors, yes to run these have bought it and tell their heads given. gerri: that has been a good thing because that is actually boosting. apple has been a savior to the market. s&p, nasdaq. a big player for why the market has been doing well. gerri: more than one stock. this is the only stock we ever talk about, and at the end of the day, are their component makers. >> the qualcomm as of the world. another one to look at is other retailers, consumer discretionary index. people got in by this. guess what, stop at best buy. it gets them in the mood to spend money. a big boon to the economy. and need to come on. gerri: on the other hand, i play

contrarian. everybody is so excited about something. >> that is let me with the movie titanic. here is the thing. it's like a frat -- / crash. and people spend a lot of money on something that's when you don't want to watch it. gerri: its money. >> put it on the giants. gerri: thank you for coming up. but the stock price around $700, apple is by far the world's most valuable company. how much cash does it have on hand? the company is sitting on the most cash. number five, we just mentioned apple. you may be surprised to see it lowest. earlier this year they had 100 billion in cash. short-term investments, but in the spring the company returned some of the money to shareholders paying a huge dividends. oracle, the enterprise software company has nearly 31 billion -- i could not even say that,

billion dollars on the books. google with the success of its ad revenue has helped the generic to the internet giant. cisco systems. 49 billion in cash may be just the thing to keep this company continuing layoffs. the number one company is microsoft. and those are the tech world today. microsoft could days are behind it. more than 62 billion in cash on hand. no wonder chairman and founder yesterday was named the richest man in america for the 12th year and a rope. congratulations. we celebrate capitalism. still to come, my "2 cents more" on urinals and consumer debt crushing our economy. is it also keeping americans from being in ploy? could it lead to losing jobs? ♪ [ engine revving ]

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through mercedes-benz financial services. gerri: one man's personal debt got him in so much trouble he got the boot. that story in a few minutes.

♪ gerri: in focus tonight, money moves that can get you fired. stockbroker finances spiraling out of control, he defaulted on several credit-card the national liberal by his employer. our next guest says this could happen to anyone, not just those managing other people's money. joining me now, all right. you know. look. if you are a stockbroker, a financial adviser and you have

big money problems, don't you running my money. but for other people, how likely is it that the credit score will plan to solve this. >> it's almost like having a bus shriver. look. and the federal level it is completely legal taluca your report and have held them base their employment decision. this is something that people need to realize. it is preemployment and continued employment with his work cut this guy up. he added job. gerri: is that in every profession? it can't be. >> to send a note. it's not every profession, but it potentially be every employer at the federal level, it's fair game. there are states that have restrictions were a credit screening, for continued employment are preemployment can

only be done for certain levels of professions. in other words, someone who is handling sensitive have permission will with access to cash. someone who is an hourly employee or landscaper the not for the person. by and large you should be aware of them not looking at a credit as a credit manager of a to determine a by hiring new a racketeering to employ you they have liability for your midsections. other employers can get over things like old criminal records and all that, but what not many employees -- employers will turn a blind eye to is the dishonesty. gerri: if he lied or are a big financial trouble and that set the blaze deal, that is when

people get upset. they can do this on an upcoming basis. >> it depends on the empire and the level a position apparently there is a rule you have to disclose this set of issue with respect to judgments and potential wage garnishment. apparently he did not and get a warning the first time. the second time it basically said, okay, that said. that is more about dishonesty in withholding information. don't get me wrong, he had $90,000 of defaulted credit card debt. after about seven seconds used up feeling sorry for him because he brought this upon himself. gerri: it should be his clients. >> i don't think anybody disagrees, especially with all

of these fronts thursday. if someone is managing money i want to know how they're managing their own money and run and a personal pressures they are under. having your wages garnished is extremely stressful, and this drags your employer on billion the into the problem because of the requirement by law. they don't want to be involved. it puts them in the middle of that situation. gerri: people are in el the financial position and have been in the past. are you seeing this plan yourself? >> i am. this is good news, and you would like to think that it is all good news. a little bit of a glass house full perspective. some people are not in debt because they cannot qualify for loans. live like to buy houses, but they are either unemployed or underemployed.

it's a segment of the blues and i would love to buy a house right now. the rates are killer, but i cannot do it. gerri: that is a good point. people don't take that into consideration. thank you for coming on. always a pleasure. appreciate your time. >> thanks. gerri: will be right back with my "2 cents more" and the answer to our question of the day. unamerican for president obama to change the flag for his campaign? stay with us. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more.

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the

gerri: barack obama said there are no red states or blue states. it turns out that he thinks that there are no states. this is a new image.

his campaign replace the stars with the obama logo. you think it's un-american for obama to change the flag for his campaign? here's what some of your posting on my facebook. dan says he did not change the american flag but betray his own message in an abstract way. marine calls it aired them. jackie agrees. definitely un-american, which obama has displayed time and time again. we also asked this on gerriwillis.com and 99% said yes, 3% said no. here are some of your e-mails. on election 2012, linda says is a 60-year-old democrat, i cannot and to watch the lunatics take over the party. i will be a romney voter this year. john from nevada has a campaign slogan, obama isn't working, neither is america.

that's pretty darn good, john. it's no surprise that this nation is overregulated. a new report shows half a trillion dollars is spent on regulation. we told you about that yesterday. if you think everything this country is regulated, you are pretty close. but it's not the kitchen sink. the government seems to be focused on urinals. according to numbers fleshed out by our news director. urinal manufacturers are trying to find ways to use less water. i'm not done. osha requires at least one urinal for every 40 workers. the american with disability act also requires handicapped accessible urinals. these are just federal laws. states have their own rules. this is just