that's it for us. have a pleasant weekend, good night from new york. neil: good evening. >> it's not house, it's a at the home. and we need help. >> we are the people. we are the middle class. neil: this is getti heated. the fury over fema. welcome, i am neil cavuto.

staten island residents erupted over a fema that this is not helping. they are in a self-congratulatory bubble. >> fema has been fantastic. >> today you hear nothing about the things about fema. >> everyone has made this a number one priority and this continues to be my number one priority. neil: it remains sticky with this politician parade. thousands of angry victims simply looking for answers, and they are not getting them. cash-strapped homeowners dealing withortgage is very much alive and well and thinks the dataset

on keeping those mortgages current. this week it is like an awful lot. it's piling up. this next guest knows it firsthand. scott mcgrath. he was at that town hall meeting and he joins me now on the phone. or, you made your views very clear. very lovely. very well. did you get any response? >> absolutely not. they did not get a response. they never gave us a direct answer. they just among hear it. neil: was the whole idea of the town hall meeting anyway? this is going to be like a pta meeting? officials think things are hunky dory? >> we heard rumors about.

>> you know, everybody on the si of the house -- there are people dealing with water, i have 6 feet of water outside my house and now i have mold growing on my outer walls. you know, they keep telling me that they don't have the answers. they said the same thing, that the air was okay in 9/11, and look at what happened to the rescue people? they are dying from cancer. what is going to happen to the victims of hurricane sandy? in all the boroug. everywhere you go. those who are having the same

issue. what is there going to be a quality life in 10 years? neil: did you have any chance of dressing up as to talk about and it is? >> president obama i met personally. and i told him that he lied, enter, lies, they are all liars. neil: you told him that the presence face? >> well, he told me to relax. when i told him -- neil: he told you last? >> yes, he said let me tell him my concerns. and i said president obama, you are not doing what you're supposed to be doing.

he said scott, fema works for me and i can help you with insurance and without your -- with your mortgage, they took down my information and they wrote down my name two days later we heard from the mouth and right after we talked to the guy, they did give his rentals systems the ascends the same day i spoke to the president, $3000 from i believe it was under a lot of pressure. my wife handles that. and they are telling you every two months must be concerned. come look at my house, that's what i told him.

i have no sewage and water a i have no heat and electricity. the ones left all this time, you still basically have nothing? it's been more than a month? >> yes, sir. neil: well, you are bringing a voice and face-to-face. as victims a still dealing with hurricane sandy, democrats are rallying it out in a hearing about it. >> global climate change is happening and it is real. climate change, global warming. >> it is a reality and we are vulnerable. >> we have to fa the fact that the deniers are wrong. they are just plain dead wrong. neil: charles payne says there is no denying this. with people in need, climate change shouldn't be brought up

right now. melissa francis is with me right now. >> you know, this is thhtime when these guys come out of the woodwork. you know, after katrina, we were supposed to have a katrina storm every year after that. now is the time, youknow, that was what they were saying. it was quite a few years ago. i cannot believe that they pulled out the same playbook. it's not about the climate change or any any of that, it's about helping people right now. i got the chills listening to scott mcgrath story. it is essentially t same kind of crisis. you know, this is why the texas law. the federal government is a

total failure at almost everything. i don't know if they are too big. maybe you want to give them the benefit of the doubt. they just don't know when and solve problem we shouldn't send hem more tax revenue. this is exactly why. they may try tohelp people, but they are terrible about it. they never actually succeed. when you look at what is going on. neil: when they are out there to see what's going o, i have a couple of friends of the show that residents that were out there instead. >> right. neil: i think that is what is concerning me. getting it backwards think new jersey, something like $10,000

up to $40,000 -- we have to vent for the money back and we ave to wait for someone in a building in washington dc to decide where the money is going to be distributed when we should just keep it in the house. you know, keep the taxes the same, but let new jersey pulled onto a larger version of it. neil: melissa? >> you know the faces, you know how to help them. when this country relied more on the community, your friends, your church -- the people around you. it work better. ne: it's like with school shootings and all that. gun advocates, whatever you do, don't use something like bad. climate change is the same thing. where ey are going to use it. the u.n. talking about setting up climate hange, now this in the united states.

>> it is absolutely despicable. essentially, that is what is going on. the politicians are so greedy for extra power an money. neil: the ire before them is not getting to these people. if you really want to go in direct climate change, you know, what is happening with the glaciers and blame on them -- but right now, this is not the time. >> that pr opportunity has are gone by. i hate to be cynical, that everyone has argues that for their political purposes and to whatever leverage they can out of it. now it is over for them. those poor people are left in staten island without a home and things being fixed. and everyone who swept through, smiled and had their photo taken, has are even reelected in november the next thing the. neil: it is incredible. we will keep an eye on us. you know, staten island tends to be kind of like the rodney

dangerfield of new york. neil: i would say to people, people talk about how great everything is, howunky-dory things are. i'm just telling you, this is one that is close to the fire and i can see the fire. it is still there. it is still there. all rigt, when we come back, the physical fight in the media picking sides. i will give you one guess what side that is. then we have been signed on the tax hike that could put a spike tax hike that could put a spike in this very twins. i didn't see them coming.

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neil: welcome back. >> most of you know me pretty well. what you see is what you get. while i may be affable and someone who can work with members of both parties, which i have demonstrated over the 20 years i've been here, i have also determined to solve our spending problem. to also solve this debt crisis.

neil: speaker john boehner is not too confident that things are looking good. saying that republicans are not the ones blocking a deal to avoid the disaster. if you're looking at the headlines, you would almost assume that he is lying. because it looks like publicans are the ones getting in the way of the compromise. so insisting on revenues, that it makes nothing of the point that democrats are equally insistent upon spending. start reading the fine print. $1.6 trillion in tax hikes. gretchen hamilton says the median is focusin on republicans rejecting the deal and maybe not democrats offering a lousy deal it is true. it is remarkable in terms of the coverage how unbalanced it is. >> by now, the media is focusing

on this and over the course of the year, it has been about a campaign that has happened across 50 states. but right now this is about a negotiation that is happening inside in the beltway. the press wants a soap opera. they are focused on the pettiness and policy and that is what we are seeing about republicans not willing to play ba o taxes and how there are internal problems within the party. instead of the real policy problem that we have. that there is actually no spending cuts on the table. neil: okay gretchen, let's say a ghost of willie. the media is going to blame republicans. will that stick with voters? average folks who look at this? >> well, most lls show tha yes, it will. there have been polls out there already saying that if they don't get a deal, who is to blame? there will be republicans. republicans have to make sure

that they are playing a good pr ga and communicating to the american public. but the problem is in washington. it isn't that the majority of americans get taxed too little. it is that congress spends too much. we have four years without a budget, three years without a budget -- three years th a trillion dollar deficit. so we are talking about a problem that needs to be solved with massive spending cuts on the table. neil: i don't know what is really happening behind the scenes. but i do know that these overtures and hands that you get from the white house that the president is open and willing to consider spending cuts -- i don't know what the truth s. the other thing on thi middle ground, the tax thing -- letting the difference of 37 or 38%. giving the appearance that there is a middle ground being found

here, do you believe that? >> if you look at the middle ground and what is reported, they are giving specifics on taxes, but not stunning. they ar saying that those tax cuts will happen 10 to 20 years from now. that is saying that congress at that time, 10 years from now, is going to agree with the spending cuts. listen, we are in this situation because coogress could not even agree on spending cuts your way when the sequester wasgoing into effect and they failed as a super committee in november. they can't even agree on spending cuts. how do you think they can kick the can down the road? that's not fair. it's not fair to the american people. neil: the immediate threat is just throwing together something that will ease the crisis are what we are told is a crisis. and while not a big issue that we will direct in congress. how likely is that? >> well, in washington, lately there is not very much that shows that it is likely. but it is a short-term deal that

will be something. stancing what we will be seeing that will work. the spending solutions with the help of following up a long-terreform. the problem is the follow-up normally isn't there. that is really what we need, otherwise will we be facing this crisis year after year. [inaudible] neil: we will watch washington for coming up next ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪

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>> a lot of the hostage holding mentality, the sad thing is that the governors measure, even in the title of summary said that it could be used for other spending commitments. so really, what you're doing you are doing is giving the legislature another blank check on spending is at an all-time high. who is the atm for that? mom-and-pop, and main street. the people that work for them. neil: i always think that, you know, democrats -- both parties have to work together to fix this. so we don't ever see that haven't materialized. again, easier said than done. in washington, it is like waiting to blank. we don't see it yet. when we get past this? >> well, i think when we get past it ishen we make sure that the elected officials know that the people they need are not the big public employee union leaders who constantly try

to flex their muscle or the big corporation leaders. it is the people who sent them to represent them. and we get past this when elected officials sit down and start listening to the people who work in schools, the kids come in the other people in their district. they are just not doing that. as a result, there is no question why we are seeing small business suffer and why we are, again, for the second year in a row, the shame of the country where he should be. >> earlier this week about the california -- real estate seem to be percolating, things were coming together. is tt not so? >> it's not so. we represent around 20,000 members of small business here. 350,000 nationwide. across the nation, but the best

content especially here in california. no hope or certainty. that optimism continues to plummet. so we are finding the mom-and-pop stores -- especially during the holiday season -- with a lack of will. it's very cruel way for the legislature and elected officials who continue to spend and not spent responsibly. i don't think californians are against government order paying taxes. they are just cynical the government is not being honest or responsible. we just hope and pray that they are going to do the right thing. neil: things have to be really bad when you would leave a beautiful state like that and go -o nevada. 250 degrees in the summer -- things are so bad at you believe that, leave your beautiful state to go essentially insinuate.

>> thank you for having me. neilthe focus on income taxes and what's going to happen, we've been talking about that. you know, a lot of these taxes are going to soar at the stroke of midnight on january 1. ben stein says that that is the armageddon you should be hearing.

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neil: whole foods is saying that you can stop it. well, the health food chain, owing full throttle on shareholder payouts instead of spending cash on hiring.

avoiding tax hikes that rates will triple if congress doesn't do something. it could prompt many to take a hike. good to have you back. when you makeof this? i would think this is under the radar that no one sees coming up you probably have much much more impact. what a thing? >> it's going to have a huge impact. a lot of the total return of the stock market is dividends. the value of vidends, that is cut in half because of tax increases -- that has an enormous impact on the stock market. dividend taxes could be astronomical.

neil: that was the single best explanation of this entire phenomenon that i have heard. >> youlatter me, sir be met really. >> you are very kind. neil: he talked about the avenue of successful investors who was inhibited by the tax rate. i am paraphrasing. but regardless of what the tax situation was, turning around your argument on dividends, but it could have a big impact on those who might invest in dividend paying stocks with a cd that you get, andmaybe that won't happen at all. would he make of that? >> i think he is talking about something else. he is sang that people will not add to employment.

neil: i get it, it won't kill the old world investment. >> that will knock it down. 30% of the long-term gain. rohly the right amount in stocks. if you're going to cut that i have, then very roughly, 15% of the value of the stock market, just like that. this is not something that affects only wealthy people. it affects anyone who is saving stock market for his or her retirement. that is tens of millions of people. it is already super critically bad. you heard it in this way is something we should be very careful about. as you well know, we have to raise taxes. it is a very questionable maneuver?

>> we have had trong markets in a much higher tax environment. we think of that? >> it is absolutely true. it is the possibility of capital gains and the stream of dividends. it is the same as diverting water away from the river. the river won't have the same amount of flow and that will affect the value of the water come into the river and of the stock market. eventually in time, that will be repriced and recess -- but for now, it is a big deal against the stock market. neil: all the companies that have been hiking up their dividends.

whaa is enough for them to do it now? >> well, what's in it for them is that the stockholders get a dividend of four the taxes are increased upon him. and that is a big plus for them. by the way, they can accomplish very much the same thing through stock buybacks. neil: we are probably not seeing that now. >> big smiles, i see people all the time. people don't look happy. neileven when we had a boom in the economy, i would be in a mall and i would not be happy. >> that we are talking about the other people

[laughter] neil: you can catch him on fox news. >> thank you. neil, you are always a start. neil: it's you, buddy. you are always trusted. thank you very much. i've never heard such a good explanation. that's what makes him a star. did mitt romney lose because he was the butt of jokes? and why the president got the last laugh. this is interesting stuff music is a universal language. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a langua all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost.

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neil: iss president obama still sitting here? governor romney does visiting here? all because mitt romney was in a

serious order taken it seriously? that he was the butt of more jokes. david brennan is on the phone right now. thanks for joining. >> thank you. neil: you have seen the studies. remember, they broke down the juxtaposition of jokes you and it was something like 10 to one, making fun of romney. >> i think first of all you have to know that the comedian's lean left anyway. always. i mean, they are basically -- even though they try to balance that, they are going to make fun of the other guy who is running against ademocrat. but in spite of that, it doesn't

matter. you know, look at george w. bush. talk about a walking talking joke. the second time that he ran -- were you kidding me? all he had to do was repeat what he said and people were screaming. neil: and he got reelected. >> and he got reelected i will say that that is right. i do think it was overly disproportionate and part of my thinking is that everything that mitt romney would do or say became a joke. even stuff that had to stand out as being unusual.

you hear what they have to say, certain guys, and it's easy to get a joke out of them. you know, obama, from the time he wa running for president the first time -- you don't want to come off as picking on that guy's the one i see, everyone holds their tongue because they don't want to look like -- >> yes, you don't want to look as racially prejudicial. his mother a muslim to live in the white house, that's a great show. but when it comes to the serious things, i think comedians are holding back. mitt romney, he makes statements about 47% of the american people

without knowing that somebody is reporting it -- you know what i'm saying? [laughter] neil: you talk about the presidential candidate, so i am hardly sounding as an insider, but people at the house, i'm telling you, mitt romney was dealt deprecating bob newhart and he blew away without self-deprecating and funny he was. hysterical. i said to my wife after that event, why don't we see this -- it has to be out there. but what would you tell them?

i said, you better be funny. people like a guy who has a sense of humor. he had a lot of things he could pick him. neil: you never heard that mitt romney. >> he didn't do it when he was on the stump. you know,hen these guys, they

get disillusioned. they always think they're going to win. they are preaching to the crowd. they get out they are, 25,000 people screaming. and he walks out of there before he is. he thinks he's going to win. meanwhile, obama -- you know, the undecided people, they were screaming and calling his name. they get disillusioned. you get this euphoria state. but you make fun of yourself, and you make fun of the other guy and good taste,ou he a good chance win. neil: i think you're right. i think you have to recognize the inherent joke we all are. neil:

>> he could've made fun about the offsre and islands and how he loves $4 million and how he deposited it. the one with the media would've said it wasn't funny. >> you think the media is, you know, people listen and the media can do what they want to do. but when it gets down to it, most people vote on one issue. you know what i'mm saying? no matter what the man is campaigning on, everybody has their one issue, whether it is immigration or abortion or israel, and most people don't say, you know, i wish he was more for this or that. but he had eight or 10 good strong points. neil: i wish we had more time, david. i don't know what it is, but we have to either like the guy will relate to the guy and that is

what closes the deal. >> as long as he doesn't have a mustache, we might vote for him. [laughter] neil: thank you for joining us. we hope to have you back again. a very funny guy. he is absolutely right. meanwhile, the news that will make you laugh but it could make you cry. an economy so bad that we are not in the mood. we have a baby booming and we we have a baby booming and we are talking twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

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neil: the race is on, but instead of running, the birth rate is falling.

people are not taking it slow. i am not surprised. wednesday, when you think about this? >> what is interesting is that it's not a composition and it's not a difference of childbearing age. this is a decision story. women are deciding not to have children or delaying it until later date and it makes sense given the current economic situation. in the backdrop of one of the worst economic situation since the great depression. >> we have seen a long-term decline but we did see an uptick or in the boom years. we did see were -- more women. they are saying the real unemployment is up 15% -- the one wait, wait, wait -- [talking over each other] [talking over each other]

>> i think there is certainly a discussion of how it's going to be esparza's decision to. neil: area, we think about that? >> i agree with wednesday. i think the thing is -- you know, who could be in the mood now? the things that she pointed out -- you think about having a child and if i want to have a child and it will cost close to $300,000. there is feeling out there that my husband or wife doesn't have a job. i go to the supermarket, i can't afford to buy ground beef. you know, it's going to cost me a fortune.

i'm not in the mood. goodbye now. neil: there are serious, serious issues goi on right now. lindsay, we are looking to much of this. we go through the birth rate charts and what is that one bad in one moment could be boom in the next. smart young men and women -- and has nothing to do it, oh, my gosh, where we are now is going to impact what i think my child will be dealing with 18 years from now. >> there are fluctuations, but we see a correlation between the drop in the birth rate when economic conditions take a turn. neil: what about the birth rates during the depression? >> very low bih rates during the depression. neil: so in the boom we were booming?

>> yes, exactly. neil: it's a real nuclear? >> this is a real decision. chdren are expensive. >> i just don't buy it. i'm not trying to be silly, i just think that, i just don't think that he gets to the point where we are thinking in the moment what will affect prices two decades out. >> it doesn't jibe with the facts. look at the drop in birth rate. when did the drop off again during the malaise of the 70s? wanted to drop now when you have the malaise of the 2000? neil: you were wrong about the dustbowl. [laughter] >> we are seeing a long-term trend and women having babies

much later in life and women are staying in the workforce much later. we are seeing these trends. the fluctuation certainly correlates with what the economy correlates with what the economy is doing. and we can save you 10% on ground shipping over the ups store. look this isn't my first christmas. these deals all seem great at the time... but later, not so much. this isn't that kind of deal. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. i tell them dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can grow and multiply. polident is specifically designed to clean dentures daily.

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♪ neil: we paid a lot forsheuer,> we paid a lot for that. you have to think about changing dollars from bills to coins. that's what congress wants to do to save cash. twitter followers are having better ideas to cut our debt. what will save money not spend more on ridiculous projects. stop stimulus funds or make companies more competitive globally. foreign aid until we have more money to spend if that ever happens again.