show. >> we'll be right back. going wild in washington. as our debt keeps climbing, a new study exposing $2.7 billion in pork barrel spending this fiscal year and that was a ban. now, a growing number of democrats and republicans are looking to lift that ban and bring on even more pork. >> i have been a fan of earmark since i got here the first day. keep in mind, that's what the country has done for more than 200 years except for the brief period of time in recent years. >> i liked earmarks and i don't like the policy of no earmarks. i think it's not wise. >> with the nation's debt at

$17.5 trillion, is this any time to be pushing for more dollars? hi, everyone. i'm brenda buttoner, this is bulls and bears. gary b. smith, tracy burns, jonas max furnaerfernas. politicians call them earmarks and you say they're off the mark. >> absolutely. look, the same earmarks they had. they say this bill is the ominous bill and the void of earmarks, it's not. the exact same earmarks they had for several years and harry reid says historical precedence. historical precedence doesn't mean jack when you're wrong. look, the commission is one example. president obama doesn't want it and the inspector general of the commission said it's worthless, but, still being funded because it is a favorite to jobs in that

congressman's district. i mean, this is absolutely insane what's going on. they're stealing from the american people and this is corruption at its finest. >> chuck, do you agree with that? >> well, i tell you what these politicians think about these earmarks. the same way they feel about the pom moped. everybody loves to ride it and have fun with it but they don't want their friends to see them on it. that don't make it right, but it's politics. they want to take this money back so they can show their friends about it and be all big and mighty and look what i did for the district. since they put the ban on it, it has really reduced, but i think politicians are always going to try to find a way to get that money and take it home. >> gary it's been likened to basically opening a bar tab for recovering alcoholics if we get rid of this ban. >> well, it's like opening a bar tab for all the voters in your district as chuck implied. it's a vicious cycle, brenda. these people, these politicians get elected and, oh, my gosh, in favor of earmarks.

why? because earmarks are basically favors. they're either favors to unions or favors to big companies, if you will. they're favors to private businesses. in paraphrase, chuck, we got it done and, oh, by the way, elect me. they're buying votes and it just keeps going on and on. that's why you see many incumbents get re-elected. there really needs to be a ban on this because not only is it basically buying votes, but the money is almost always invariably spent inefficiently. we've gone through the bridges to no where and a million of the shows we've done in the past. to show just how wasteful and inefficient this spending is. it really has to stop. >> we want to hear what you think, tweet us at #bullsandbears. it could be described as getting things done in washington. you give somebody a bridge for his district, you know, you get,

i don't know, save the rafter in the other district and you pat each other on the back and you get a bill through. >> i'm sure companies is a little bit of ways where they're essentially bribing each other for business. it's not like it's unheard of and makes such progress. this figure is down 90% from 2006, the amount of earmark which was like $30 billion or something. that's good enough for government. you can't expect perfection out of our congressman. maybe it is the 10% the best earmarks and the least ridiculous. >> i don't know. >> so is the other spending. i don't think it's more or less spending. more wasteful than giving oregon money to build a website that doesn't work? i don't know, i don't see the difference. so, if it gets stuff done and it's not a lot of money, more than a few hours of total government spending for the year, i don't see what the big deal is. >> tracy, put pork back on the table, do you agree with jonas? >> no, it adds up all the bits

and pieces. earmark for cancer research and then the abuse runs wild. so, it's unfortunate because causes that need some sort of earmark and money put aside are completely taken advantage of and wiped out of the system because of the corruption to john layfield's point and they just use this money to buy votes from each other. the system has gone so awry where really at the beginning it started as an effort to help certain people, certain industries, certain things that really shouldn't be getting help from us. instead, let's save the turtles and let's save the whatever fish and salmon need to be researched in who knows what country and none of it, i don't want any of it and that actually hurts all of us. >> john, jonas made the point of the costs have gone down and the number of earmarks have gone down and what has gone down as well as accountability and transparency it is hard with

this band to point towards a certain congressperson and say that is your earmark. >> yeah, that's exactly what's happening right now. earmarks that were two years ago earmarks. the same thing right now. they're just not called earmarks. they're called by a different name. this is dishonest and not transparent at all. look at the take, $90 million is going towards that. general odierni said they have tanks doing nothing. the pentagon said we don't need this, we don't need more tanks. they spent $90 million because tank suppliers are in several different congressional districts. this is dishonest. they are buying votes and keeping themselves in power by wasting tax power money. i don't care if it's gone down. shoplifting has gone down significantly. you still prosecute the thief and taking taxpayer's money for reasons of corruption. >> well, chuck, why do you think that senate majority leader

harry reid says, we want earmarks. they're good for us. >> because harry reid is in power and the way the politics work in this town when you're in power, you want to be able to dull out those earmarks because you have a lot of vulnerable senators right now who are democrats running in red states. on the other side of the aisle in the house, you have 90% of the members that are in safe seats because of redistricting and manipulation of those seats. when there is no accountability, this is what you get. if they all had to fight tooth and nail to get to all the voters, you awouwould see a muc different congress. >> the problem is the voters. let's be real here. we can't put all the blame on the idiots in congress because the voters go to the booth saying i got money for simon research in my district and i'm voting that guy back in. it just feeds on itself and continues. that is part of the problem, too. people should vote with their feet and their brains and say, i'm done with this. >> jonas? >> if you take the spending discretion away from congress,

even just a little bit doesn't more go to the white house? maybe that's why the president doesn't like earmarks. maybe, they're not going to give the money back to us or lower taxes when they get rid of earmarks. why not have congress people spend it versus the white house? >> on turtles. >> gary b., let me get him in there. >> jonas, my gosh, we can't change. it can change. that's what i don't quite understand. this whole business of, well, it's change because we reclassified, you know, into a different category. but the earmarks, trust me, are still there as john points out. the point is this has to change by law or something else. because there's really, when you think about it, very few things in the states or districts or the congressional areas that private industry couldn't do. you know, someone made the point earlier about the cancer research. well, you know what, most of the cancer research is done by private industry, not the government. so, even that can be done by

private, even roads, highways, all that stuff can be done. if we got rid of earmarks, believe me, the country would still move forward economically. >> okay, that has to be the last word. we want you in this discussion. #bullsandbears on twitter. coming up next, unions were happy when then senator obama said he would never shop at walmart. but now he's singing its praises at a walmart and big labor is having a big

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and bears." for more logon to foxnews.com. attention walmart shoppers. make way for the president. that's right. president obama visiting a walmart in northern california on friday praising the retailer for committing to double its energy efficiency over the next ten years. unions blasting the visit, gary b., you say it's time for them to just get over it? >> absolutely, brenda. just as an aside. this is the same president who said, specifically, i don't shop at walmart. i mean, okay, let's just move on. look, walmart is basically anti-union for a reason. look, they believe that they have the freedom to set the wages. the workers have a freedom to come and work there and as we've seen in many, many walmart openings lines around the block

for those jobs. a monopoly perspective. they want a monopoly so they can ensure and bulldoze higher wages. the two are not compatible so i can honestly see why the unions want walmart totally out of business. >> jonas, why, though? unions are oftentimes pro-green and wall administmart is really some advances here. >> a fine line the president has to walk between the constituency and the working class. not always a crossover. sometimes environmental jobs hurt jobs. a lot of union jobs are not green jobs. these are not jobs with benefits from a high fuel tax or something. so, he had to commit to one and kind of not dance around it like with the pipeline and the gas pipeline. you know, walmart is doing a great job. one of the largest users of solar energy and he has to award that and, yes, they don't have the highest labor rates in the country or the best health

benefits. i do think labor is never going to get over that unless walmart pays a higher rate than target and then maybe move on to target. i don't know. the president did the right thing. >> you know, chuck, if the store provides low-cost goods, groceries, jobs, nation's biggest employer, why do unions have a beef? >> because as both of these very intelligent panelists of mine have said, they have low wages. and so the union wants to come in and see if they i give the workers a voice. you'd say it's a free market and let that dictate the price and we'll drive this down to the lowest common denominator and people will wait outside the doors and that's the reason the union wants to organize this place. there is a difference between him being there to talk about environmentalists and the unions there saying we want to drive up the wages. i would remind people, also, unions and the environmentalists don't always see eye to eye. i would also be wise to know that i didn't even know there was a walmart in san francisco

and i'm curious if they sell birkenstocks there. >> tracy, has been labor ever been the stop taking on big labor? >> workers paid through federal contracts, federal dollars that make less than walmart employees, but we'll never hear that side of the story. we'll never hear that the people who are paid through those federal contracts are paid less than walmart. walmart is big evil. the president has flip-flopped back and forth on his environmental push and this week he was all about it. we heard all week long that he is back on the environmental kick because his leftist environmental voters are really, really kind of upset with him right nubecause from the beginning his agenda was to go green and we haven't seen anything. if he is expecting to get these people to vote for him or anyone in his party, he has to do something. he is almost coming to walmart with his tail between his legs. >> walmart is saying to the u.s. government they produce more solar energy than 38 of the united states.

24.2% of their global energy comes from renewable energy. they lowered food inflation in the united states by a full percentage point. i'm not sure why the left and the right doesn't like these guys. they have just become evil because they're big and big is necessarily bad in some people's eyes. the unions are dying and they know if they can get into walmart, it might give them some type of life support that they might be able to replenish themselves. >> gary, do you think it was wise of the presideunions to bl president? >> i don't think anything they can do to say against the president can harm them. make so much money and make all these other billionairs to give money. probably give more money than combined. they are allowed to speak up. at first they want to protect their own pockts and then make sure that obama is taken care of. i don't think the latter will be a problem at all. >> it's interesting how they have been speaking up a lot lately, right, gary?

unions are against obamacare and now against walmart and this green push. the president has to be worried that his strongest constituency is fading by the second. >> i think it's obvious that the unions have to focus if they want to live and get the consumer to demand products made from higher wage workers whether made in the usa or whatever. the white house is not going to make this problem go away, this long-term decline that the unions is in and it has to come from the consumer. walmart wants to deliver what the consumer wants to make them want that. >> that has to be the last word. coming up, another obama care state exchange is on life support. and neal's gang is asking if that was the plan all along. they'll explain, but, first, the best and worst cities to start a career. we have the list that might just unlock the secret to getting jobs back to america. mine was earned in korea in 1953.

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add breathe right to your allergy medicine. trwith secure wifie for your business. it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. trwith secure wifie for your business.

it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. looking for work or know someone who is then listen up. a new report identifies the ten best cities to start a career. you see them right here. no state holding more than texas. then to the ten worst. the list is based on things like the number of entry-level jobs and starting salaries. and, john, your home state of texas right up there. you say this is very telling. how so? >> well, there is a reason texas specifically from california and california poverty has doubled

since 2006 to 12 to 24%. taxes are through the roof and your schools and your police are underfunded. you can go live there or you can come to texas where you have no state income tax and your schools are funded and police are funded and our governor there can't remember three things in a presidential election, but our businesses are doing great business down there in texas. >> and just so you know, you can see the full list on our website, foxnews.com/costoffreedom. chuck, what do you think of these lists? >> i'm also from texas and i can tell you there are plenty of jobs in texas and you need two or three of them to make a living. i was in a plant and they shut down my factory where i had $20 an hour and they moved my job to china but you can get two jobs making $8 an hour. that is the job they're handing out down there. in california, things haven't always been as rosy, but in 2012 their gdp grew 3.5% and we take

that in the united states every single day. the other thing in texas, you have business friendly court system because it is run by the conservatives for a long time. if you're a business and afraid of getting sued, you want a judicial system that is favorable towards you. >> what is wrong with all that, gary b.? >> well, it gets back to basic mathemat mathematics. the whole point of this segment is do taxes affect business? they have to. look, you make a profit and you make a product and you deduct your expenses and from that you have a profit, hopefully. from that profit you pay taxes. there's some even on this panel that argue, well, that doesn't matter. you're going to go in business because you still make the same profit. the problem is after you pay the taxes what you have left are retained aearnings. those retained earnings go forward to build your future business. if you have a subway subshop and you're a fran chizy, you build it and go on to the next one. >> i have to get tracy and jonas in. jonas, very quickly.

>> the first city on this list is washington, d.c. place one in three people work for the government is the best place to go. you can't look at the methodology is perfect. there is more than taxes. >> tracy? >> it's a math equation at the end of the day, brenda, just like gary said. money in versus money out. whatever is left you have room left for head count. nothing left, you have no head count. >> thank you, guys. coming up, a teacher gets the boot for trying to help break up a nasty fight with a broom. should she get an award instead?

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predictions, tracy, you're up. >> a teacher in detroit that tried to break up a fight and, unfortunately, she hurt some of the kids in the process. she has been fired as a result. the woman should get an award, she put herself in such a compromising position to save those kids. god bless her. >> gary b., your prediction? >> brenda, netflix is raising prices and, guess what, no one cares. we're addicted to netflix. up 30% by the end of the year. >> john. >> i love netflix. i think you can get it a little cheaper. >> jonas. >> apple is buying dr. dre maybe a billionaire and also competitive for pandora. >> gary b., bull or bear on that? >> i'm bear. i don't like companies where

their business model is free. >> john, your prediction, quickly? >> twitter is beaten up. i think it's too far down and goes up 20% in the next year. >> jonas, bull or bear. >> down side. >> hash tag us on twitter. forget about too big to fail. where some obama care websites set up to fail. i'm neil cavuto. massachusetts dropping the current health care exchange website because costs, well, apparently are out of sight. oregon is already ducking out and maryland is close to saying, well get us out. who is exactly is stepping in? will the united states government, the health care exchange ring a bell? was that the plan all along? charles payne and dagen along with adam and charlie. i want to first of all thank charlie for filling in the past couple weeks. couldn't get back a moment too