the new year. >> we'll be here tomorrow. david: new year's eve and day after new year's day. thank you larry. >> that's it for dave and myself. we'll see you tomorrow night. "willis report is coming up next gerri: hello, everybody, i'm gerri willis. controversy, controversy over the increasing number of colleges and universities offering new financial aid to students from the middle class who are earning salaries up to $150,000 but is this solution to the ever growing costs of that four-year degree? joining me, campus reform editor-in-chief, caleb bonham. welcome to the show. $150,000 income how come they need more financial aid? >> that is what a lot of people are asking. colleges are a business and we're starting to realize that. gerri: if they're a business with a lot of overhead. the bureaucracy is out of control. >> exactly.

and what they're trying to do, you hit it exactly on the head when you intread this. introd. they're trying to find a solution but going about it the wrong way. they're trying to cut price of higher education. they're targeting middle income, and middle class families to incentivize enrollment rates in universities because we've seen past few years that colleges and universities seen massive decreases in enrollment rates. gerri: confusing me here. you're say they're trying to cut the price. i think prices are only going up. this is a little incentive, a little goose maybe 2,000 bucks for a family having major financial problems because of college debt. let me show you a number here and this i found surprising. 39% of families earning $65,000 have student loan debt of $30,000. at this level it is just unpayable, wouldn't you agree? this is just an impossible nut to solve for if you have debt

that high? >> i do agree. here's the thing. they're trying to cut price for students, not the cost of education. and that's the problem. that is the reason that we're seeing debt increase so much is because they're offering financial aid to middle class students so, incentivize enrollment. they're cutting price for them but it is not changing the cost of education. the cost is still extremely high. the cost is high because we're seeing like at leadership institute for campus reform, ridiculous courses being offered. we're seeing waste and abuse in the fund that these, these universities are receiving. so the costs are really high but they're simply using financial aid as recruitment tool to get students in the door. gerri: we have 20 million students each and every year going to college. 12 million get loans. if you can fog a mirror you can get a loan for college right? >> yeah. gerri: very reminiscent what happened before the housing bubble burst. the loans are given out to anybody at any level you want. what is the endgame in your

view? what happens? will this bubble burst? we have a lot of people out there who said this is just a disaster waiting to happen. >> ultimately the bubble will burst because these students have to pay back the student loans unless they elect somebody that will completely forgive them. i don't see that coming in the future while that push is there. what is it es going to burst because students in many cases are getting degrees that are not paying them salaries that allow for them to pay that debt off. so they're going they're not going to be able to pay that off. ultimately that is how the bubble bursts. what we need to be doing is refocusing education giving them a deliverable marketable skill when they leave college and you know, we need to be putting in cap on loans. gerri: turn off the money spigot. let's face it. it is almost un-american to say this money shouldn't be so easy to get. >> it shouldn't exactly. the ability for students, because they're federally-backed

student loans to take out whatever they want, has allowed for universities to inflate the cost of education or price at least, and that really caused a bubble. so we need to get the government out of it in many cases. allow for universities to really compete, not only in the realm of ideas and what they offer when it comes to education but also with prices. we need to allow for them to do it because without the government involvement in student loans. gerri: caleb, thanks for coming on tonight. happy new year. >> happy new year, gerri. gerri: with the new year comes a new opportunity for government regulations. that's right. america's unprecedented energy boom credited with bringing down gas prices and in the cross-hairs of the white house. will government red tape tie up our quest to become energy independent. we have rich lowery from "the national review.." welcome back. >> happy new year. gerri: in "the wall street journal" story they're talking about what the government wants to do, face it the obama administration wants to do with energy makers in

coming year. here is what they quote officials as saying, new regulations needed to address the impacts of surge of oil and gas drilling and production. i don't think they mean they want to encourage it. >> no. gerri: in fact i think they mean they want the opposite. >> for the obama administration has to be bitter irony one of the main drivers of this economic boom is fracking revolution, right? they think fossil fuels are thing of the past. instead they're foraging the future and they want to do everything they can at the margins to discourage it. gerri: wait a minute. this is a part of the economy working right now. >> right. gerri: this is one of the few parts of the economy that is working. it is actually the engine literally pushing everything else. employment gains. it is pushing gdp higher. >> yep. gerri: so why would you kill this engine of productivity? >> it is ideology and politics. it is a very negative view of fossil fuels. the belief that the fossil fuels are destroying the planet and catering to very powerful

activist groups and environmentalist donors to the democratic party. the thing is, lower prices are a boon almost to everyone except for the producers. so the last thing you want to do when prices per barrel are going to 60, $50 a barrel is increase costs to these producers which they're going to try to do next year across the board. gerri: it is unbelievable. the tin ear out there for the energy industry. we've already seen the coal industry kid right? i have had ceos from the industry on this show. we talked about how tough they have made it for people who want to produce coal. now they're boeing after oil and gas. to me this is an administration that does not like growth. this administration does not want to see this economy expand. what do you think? >> they talk so much about infrastructure and good blue-collar jobs the way they should. here is the main source of them. of course the highest profile example is the keystone pipeline. i believe the first thing congress will do is pass.

that it will pass the senate with more than 60 votes. bipartisan majority of in favor of it and president very likely will veto it because he is so dug in on this issue. gerri: it is ridiculous. this is something that could fuel our future. the president likes to say that the energy is going offshore. it doesn't matter to us but it brings down prices across the board. >> of course. gerri: face it, we've seen energy prices in this country go down by 40% over six months. this is has been the best gift, this administration could have given to americans. this is helped the middle class. >> sure. gerri: virtually every other policy that the president put into place has just done the opposite. >> there is no cost to this. it is boon to consumers. a boon to agriculture. it's a boon to carmakers. it is impossible to find a downside of this and completely happened without government just based on ingenuity and drive of american entrepreneurs. gerri: more rules on energy production. it confound me that this is where they're going to go next. you know after cuba i asked myself what other lefty issue are they going to attack next?

is there anything else on your agenda you think they might go for? >> this is the big one and. we talked about how they don't like pipelines? turns out they don't like transporting by rail either. that will be one of the bigger regulations. gerri: irony here, we talk about cruel ironies rail fires have been devastating there. is a decision here they want to try to stop those. what about a pipeline? wouldn't that work better? >> pipelines would be good. we weren't transporting oil basically by rail several years ago. it is because of the boom. because we don't have enough pipeline. so build more pipelines. guess what? you need workers to build those pipelines. that is the good thing. gerri: a few more jobs. jobs productivity, better economy. it all adds up. great to see you rich. thanks for coming on. happy new year. >> you too. gerri: speaking of regulations the president's signature legislation, obamacare, still struggling to get traction with americans. that's the conclusion of the

latest obamacare enrollment report. four million people signed up for the first time or reenrolled. department of health and human services breaks it down by saying 3 1/2 million used healthcare.gov. 600,000 used state exchanges. the report does not include people who are automatically reenrolled. yes they're doing that. but still a far cry from the nine million target for 2015. however, open enrollment continues through february 15th. we have more to come this hour including your voice. your voice is important to us. that's why during the show we want to you facebook me or tweet me @gerriwillisfbn. point your browser to gerriwillis.com. of the at the bottom of the hour i will read your tweets and emails. next, how many times have you wanted to scream at your cable company or the airline you're traveling on? a look at most hated companies with the worst customer service. you know them, coming up we'll have the list. 2014. ♪

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so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. gerri: is customer service dead or dieing? the university of michigan released its annual american consumer satisfaction survey and

bunch the company you already know fail to earn top marks and the big reason is customer service. with more on this, a small business expert. susan, great to see you. so tell me, is customer service dead? >> you know gerry i find it really funny. go to almost any major company and read their marketing and branding material and talks about customer service importance of providing excellent service to customers but that message doesn't yeah, yeah. it doesn't trickle down to the front line employees. unless it is becomes a part of dna of that company's culture it is rhetoric. employees are not hearing. it. companies like time warner cable and comcast they're not incentivized helping the customer. it is quite the contrary. gerri: get to the list. that is payoff for this. time warner, bingo. at top of the list, internet service and tv cable service. then you have comcast.

do you see a trend here? then united airlines. it is either tv or airplanes one or the other. you were saying some of these big companies don't incentivize their customer service people to do the right thing. how should they change their policies? >> look at terms of the cable operators. first there is little competition. if you don't want their service or don't like what they're saying hey, what are you going to do? the second thing is the paycheck of those customer service reps depend on you signing up for more service or certainly keeping you from canceling your service. and, if you do those things, they get penalized for it. so as sometimes people have actually said that they service with these reps has been abusive or bullying. gerri: right. >> this is their livelihood. there is something very wrong with the management structure like that. that starts at top. >> we've had some of the folks on tv and played some of the sound from some of these phone calls. it is appalling. you can not believe how abusive

some they use a stick and not a carrot with these employees. tough tell you there is some arrogance out there too. we're time warner. we're only game in town. if you want service you will have to come to us, right? >> precisely. where do you go pay higher rates, get unreliable service and get treated like that? most of the time we consumers we can vote with our wallets right? gerri: sometimes you can't. >> there is very little choice. jo that is really true. >> time warner and comcast a merger, come on, gerri really any know that the paid subscriber tv business model is dwindling. they need to come together to have economies of scale in their management theory. at end. day that will not be good for the customer. competition is good for the customer. a lot of businesses, small industry -- gerri: wait. i want to talk about somebody who did it right too because there is that. >> okay. gerri: amazon topping the list

here. i can understand. that they are there for you. you pick up the phone you call them they're answering. interesting walmart on earth side of that kind of fell down. they have taken a lot of people off the floor trying to keep the everyday low prices. i'm a big fan of walmart by the way but i think they have fewer people there to help you out with critical customer service. >> well i think that is very true but i also think honestly i don't like walmart. i don't want to see people shopping in walmart. gerri: come on. >> i'm sorry i would rather go to target. gerri: you think you're a bit of a snob. >> gerri i know but you still love me right? gerri: i do. i do. the bottom line with walmart they have a serious public relations crisis on their hand right now with they're not paying a living wage and i don't agree with that strategy.

gerri: a portion of walmart employees make minimum wage. i don't think you will point to somebody who does that i don't think it is walmart you want to point to actually. and i don't believe this pr crisis for them. i just don't buy it. i've seen communities where they come in, where there was no retail options whatsoever and there they are. i think their issues are they're so big you no, how do they get extra margin. we're talking about customer service here and clearly they're having some issues there. >> they are. and they're not staffing like they should but let's face it. you get what pay for. you want low prices you will not have somebody to take you to certain department to help you. gerri: true. >> i like to shop at bed, bath & beyond. i probably pay more for products there but i get great service when i'm there. i walk in they take me to where i need to go, products i need to find. time is money. that's a value for me. you get what you pay for. gerri: i do think there is a whole group of customers out there right now willing to pay the extra bit and retailers who

are savvy are learning that and talking two languages one to the every-day low price customer and another to people who want help and service. susan, good to see you thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> gerri, thank you, happy new year. gerri: happy new year to you too. later in the show, how those red light cameras are making it more dangerous to drive not less. next we answer the question, how do you do that? we have advice best ways to use all the new gadgets you got for christmas without draining your electricity around adding to your monthly bill. ♪

announcer: every day across america, excess food is gathered by a network of good people at local food banks, giving hope to millions of children who struggle with hunger. they've earned their wings. and you can, too. together we can solve child hunger. support feeding america and your local food bank at feedingamerica.org.

gerri: well christmas has come and gone if you were fortunate enough to receive your favorite high-tech gadget you may soon find that gift comes with a hefty price. today's electronics can consume lots and lots of electricity energy. taking a toll on your monthly power bill. here with ways to cut the energy consumption, keep a few bucks in your pocket, mashable tech editor pete paschal. welcome to the show. >> thank you. gerri: you have stuff here i never heard of. everybody got a game console. what are the word for wisdom? >> game consoles are most notorious power drainers. xbox is power brick comes with its own fan. so it is huge. gerri: that is not a good sign. >> not a food sign. there is not a lot you can do during game play. needs the power to have performance. when it is in standby mode it can still be a energy drain. there are sets on playstation four and xbox 1 and wii-u.

go to energy savings turn off everything you don't need. maintaining active internet connection for example, when you're not gaming. if you're not a hardcore gamer if you're not doing other things with it if you don't need auto updates you can turn that off. same thing with the xbox. it has instant on setting versus energy savings setting. unless you're using the xbox as the center of your mode yaw center of your whole media experience you don't really need that you can turn to energy saving mode. this will mean it will take a minute to turn on every time you turn it on but power savings will be good. gerri: automatic updates if i turn off the power will i get them? >> you will be interrupted now and then. you can always dismiss it and do it later so you're not interrupted in the middle of the game oh, you have to stop everything you're doing to do this you will have to actively doing something to have the update rather than happening at 3:00 a.m. when you're sleeping. gerri: my favorite tip involves

televisions. this blue me away, those sneaky dogs in the stores, they do something to make your tv look better. >> the thing is, manufacturers all want tvs to stand out in stores. they do at the factory is the default set something brightest possible setting on tv. gerri: why it looks so beautiful in the store. >> the showroom has huge lights. so they have to compete with that. thing is when you get your tv home, the first thing you should do make sure you switch the default picture setting from whatever it is, probably bright, vivid retail. might even be called retail change it to standard and normal. that saves you bumped dell right away. gerri: that is amazing. that have good stuff. that was worth the price of your appearance here today. there is no price. >> not being paid at all. gerri: let's talk about getting rid of stuff that might be a drain you're not using. >> right. so what is happening now is that a lot of people are getting things like dong gels and media streaming stuff like apple tv. gerri: we have it all over the

house. >> tvs have apps, hulu, amazon instant video. key thing a lot of this stuff is redundant. you don't need netflix on three different devices. if you bought a row cue device for netflix, your tv has it. do a cleanse and get rid of gadgets using. when was last time you fired up dvd player. if you're not using disks anymore why have it hooked up? just save you immense amount of power switching from stuff apple tv or row cue box to a dongle like chromecast. >> i like that. >> cleanse gadgets. gerri: turning off power strip. that. >> that he is effective and super simple. i don't recommend it, as kind of a last resort. you should power down all your stuff first before you switch off power strip. the power strip will abruptly cut off everything. if something is in middle of

update and still on there is a small chance it could get a little wonky you try to turn it on. only most anal retentative of power downers should go to the power strip solution. but that is extremely effective because reduces everything to zero. gerri: hard to get to zero with this stuff. pete thanks for coming on. great information. happy new year. thank you. >> my pleasure. happy new year to you as well. gerri: still using dvds. i must be alone in the world. oh well. "fox business alert" for you now. this year the present made it under the tree according to shipment tracker shipmate tricks. fedex and ups were able to improve their performances this christmas after an epic fail last year. remember that? both companies delivered 9% of the all the packages on christmas eve compared with a rate of just 90% for fedex last year. 83% for ups. oh. the delays last year were blamed on mix of bad weather overloaded system thanks to last minute promises from retailers.

to avoid the headaches shippers invested millions to improve systems and hired many more seasonal workers. coming up 2014 was a year of major population changes in the u.s. we'll take a look at the impacts. next, the country's largest red light camera program is under fire because it is said to be increasing car crashes not preventing them. a live report after the break. ♪ i've smoked a lot and quit a lot but ended up nowhere. now...i use this. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq.

♪ ♪ gerri: red light cameras greedy bureaucrats love them, drivers hate them x for good reason. it's not just that they're another tax on already overtaxed drivers, they don't even deliver on the basic promise which is to prevent accidents. jeff flock has the story from chicago the undisputed king of the red light cameras. jeff? >> reporter: they do have more

red light cameras than any other city in america, gerri and they're marked so you know what you're up against. actually, that may be, there's some suggestion now leading to more crashes at intersections. that's what the cameras look like by the way. you can see them. it's the couple of cameras up there, one takes a picture of your license plate, the other a wide shot to show that you've gone through on the red light and there you go. but a new study by "the chicago tribune" that hired some experts to do it found while they did reduce some t-bone crashes at intersections like this they actually increased the rear end crashes because people are slamming on their brakes not wanting to get a ticket. it's not just here, new jersey recently end a fife-year experiment with the red light cams and, in fact the number of red light cameras if you take a look at those numbers has actually gone down since its peak in 2012. this used to be big business for cities looking to generate revenue. and here's the other thing, at

this particular intersection -- this is kind of an interesting one -- tribune did some studies of the data on who got tickets. right here you see up here, this is one of those lights that at night it will flash if the camera goes off. this will flash to illuminate the intersection. well, what happened was a couple of years ago they look at the number of tickets. the tribune studied the number of tickets each day, it's usually two or three tickets a day that happen at this intersection. all of a sudden, the end of the year it spiked up to over 80 tickets in one instance. what happened was is the city reduced the amount of time on those yellow lights like that one you see right there? they cut it down to the federal minimum. most of these don't do that. people didn't really know it was coming, less time to stop, lots more tickets. half a billion dollars generated so far by the red light ticket camera program in chicago. half a billion.

gerri: mr. flock, we have talked about these shortened yellow lights before with data from aaa. it's not just chicago, other folks doing this as well. and i understand there's a lot of graft going to folks in chicago to make this happen. >> reporter: big court case on that now. what happened has been known to happen at times in chicago the company that got the contract wound up taking back to one member of city government as much as $1500 for every red light camera ins ration they put in -- installation they put in paid for one of the guy's girlfriend's condo, a kid's education, some tickets to sports events. you know how that works. [laughter] gerri: that's unbelievable. jeff, thank you. >> reporter: it's the city that works, what can i tell you? [laughter] gerri: it works, it lurks. thanks for being on tonight have a great new year's. >> reporter: thanks gerri.

gerri: here's our question tonight, have you ever gotten a red light camera ticket? log on to gerriwillis.com, vote on the right-hand side of the screen. i'll share results at the end of tonight's show. here's what some are tweeting me tonight, lee writes this: yes they're the worst even got two in australia which are following me around. lots of people get these tickets. and another viewer says, yes, was behind a large truck and couldn't see the light was red. photograph passing through the red light, $100. in addition to following me on twitter and facebook, be sure to like fox business on facebook. and here are some of your e-mails. charles from missouri writes -- i love charles in missouri -- gerri, keep up the wonderful job, you are, indeed, a joy to watch. thank you, sir. and greg from arizona tells his immigration story: my wife is from mexico, we played by all the rules, followed the law, paid over $7,000 in fee, filled out dozens of forms hundreds of hours involved, it took a total

of seven years to legally receive citizenship. now with the executive, order that is, we simply should have ignored the laws like millions of others. wow, what a story. and here's kathleen from virginia on the takata airbag scandal. i have a bmw series 3 i received the recall notice in late august, i've contacted three bmw dealerships, none have the new airbag. i've now called bmw customer service, was told to put the person in the backseat. this is ridiculous. yes, kathleen, it is ridiculous. come on the show and tell your story firsthand. we love hearing from you gerriwillis.com. well the new year is bringing a new record for u.s. population on january 1st, our population will pass the 320 million person mark. here to break down the demographic trends, wendell cox. wendell, welcome back to the show. great to see you. tell us, what do you make of our growth? >> good to be here. gerri: are we growing at a quick

rate compared to other nations? >> well, we're growing a good bit faster than nations like japan, but we're actually growing a bit slower than we did in previous decades. we're down about seven-tenths of a percent or eight-tenths of a percent per year, and just in the last decade it was more like one. so there is a significant reduction in the national population growth rate at this point. gerri: what kinds of movement changes do you see? >> well, we're seeing a continuation of really a huge trend from the east and north and midwest to the south and the west. in the last since is the 70, for example, we have seen about 85% of the growth in this country has been in the south and the west. and in more recent decades, it's been in the south. for example in the last four years and over the last 40 years about 50% of the nation's growth has been in the south. so there are radical changes

taking place slowly in the demographics and population distribution of the united states. gerri: you know, i read recently that the air lines are having to change their routes over the holidays because there's so many people coming from the north and the west who are going to the south to visit not to visit family but to go home because that is totally changing it's completely opposite the trend that it used to be. what is driving that growth in the south in your view? >> well a couple of things. i mean, first of all, the very obvious thing is there's been a huge increase in the number of retirees moving from the northeast and midwest to places like florida and other southern states, not to mention the western states of arizona and so on. but beyond that probably the biggest issue and probably overall the biggest issue is the movement of business to the south. and that really has been the result of very pro-business climate that exists across the south so that, for example now you see companies leaving

california in large numbers many going to texas going to georgia, going to other places in the south and, of course going to places in the mountain west as well. so the exodus of businesses is a big factor in the change in population growth around the country. gerri: in fact, in this very report florida becomes the third most popular state supplanting new york. did that vise you? -- did that surprise you? >> oh, not at all. i've been expecting it for a long time, of course as anybody who was looking at the data would do but that's an incredible story. back in 950 florida -- 1950 florida had a population about equal to brooklyn, and since that time they've added a population equal to two new york cities. so now florida will pass 20 million people fairly soon, new york's slightly behind, but florida is growing far faster than new york state. gerri: among the fastest-growing states, north dakota, nevada and texas. do you believe the energy boom going on in this country is

driving some of that trend? >> well, there's no question about north dakota, i mean, you look at the data in north dakota, and you find little or no population growth seriously for 80 or 90 years until the last decade. and colorly the energy -- clearly, the growth in north dakota has been the result of that. on the other hand, texas has to do with good climate, it has to do with international migration, and it happens to do with a very positive business environment. for example texas had been rated by ceo magazine for ten years as having the best business climate where at the same time california, that a lot of people don't realize has lost something like a million and a half residents to other states just in the last ten years, has been ranked as number 50 for ten years. gerri: 5-0, dead last. [laughter] you know i'm not surprised. [laughter] that's pretty dramatic. wendell, thanks for coming on the show. happy new year. >> thank you. to you too. gerri: and when we come back, a

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gerri: well, with 2015 right around the corner, you may be thinking about financial resolutions. i hope you're thinking about financial resolutions. what's your plan; spend less, save more? tonight we're going to show you some realistic goals for your wallet that you can stick to all year long. joining me now, greg mcbride chief financial analyst for bankrate.com. greg, great to have you here. you know, i didn't realize this but people are getting into more debt right now. let's take a look at a couple of numbers here. 66% of consumers overspend an average of $116 so overbudget for christmas, and consumers are

taking on $48 billion in new credit card dead in the fourth quarter -- debt in the fourth quarter. it looks like we're going right back to our old ways here, greg. >> sounds pretty familiar doesn't it? adding credit card debt was just a change we just saw this year. for the past several years consumers have actually paid down that credit card debt. now people are starting to feel better, more people working, you're starting to see that number creep back up, and as for the holiday overspend that's as an american tradition as apple pie. gerri: guilty as charged, even i did it. what is the top financial resolution and do people keep up with it? >> well the financial equivalent of diet and exercise. it tends to be saving and debt. your financial resolutions the most common ones tend to revolve around those things. again, it's just a reflection of the financial reality for so many american households. gerri: you know, one of my un-favorite things people talk about is the budget you've got

to have the budget. i want to play some sound from david bach. here's what he said about the budget, listen to this. >> people hate budgets and personally what i recommend is throw the budget out because people, they don't work. but here's what does work, what works is realigning the way you spend money. gerri: so, greg, tell me, what do you make of that? are you a fan of budget, or do you think they're just too difficult to keep? >> i am a fan of it. people don't like the word, so call it what you want, but, i mean, i i this what it boils -- i think what it boils down to is you have to track where your money's going down so you can maximize your saving and identify opportunities to cut back. you know, only about 60% of americans actually do some form of this. so four in ten americans really have no idea where their money's going. and, you know consequently we also find that about four in ten americans say that their top financial priority is just getting caught up or staying current on the bills. i think there's a lot of core lace between those two --

correlation between those two groups of people, and i think that's where getting a handle on your finances begin. jer yr i really like rules of thumb, pay yourself first, make sure you're ponying up a lot of dough for that 401(k) or ira, you know, make sure you're saving to the limit. can you do it backwards like that instead of, like, you know, following every nickel and dime in some computer program, can you just make sure you've got the basics fundamentally correct? >> well, yeah. i think the bottom line here is you've got to find a system that works for you, and what works for you is, you know something that you're going to hold yourself accountable you're not going to be overspending and undersaving. and i really think, you know, for so many people they're woefully undersaved for both retirement and energies and -- emergencies, and in an era where people aren't getting the pay raises, the money to do that's got to come from somewhere. getting a handle on your spending is as good a place as any to start. gerri: let's talk about debt for just a second here.

i think, you know we just saw the higher levels of credit card debt, but americans have still even now after paying off a lot of debt still have a lot of it. what's the best way to go about attacking your debt? >> well, from a financial perspective, purely financial perspective, you'd prioritize from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate and pay off debt that way, first things like credit cards and personal loans and at the bottom of the scale would be things like your mortgage and federal student loans, for example. however, i think another way is look at your smallest debts first, knock those out initially, that gives you some sense of accomplishment, really reinforces the sacrifices you might be making for debt repayment. again, do what works for you, but the bottom line is, do something. of. gerri: that's for sure. greg thanks for coming on. happy new year to you. >> happy new year gerri, thank you. gerri: and still to come my two cents more. next, break out the bubbly my friends, and before you shell out the big bucks on new new year's eve for champagne, we're going to show you a less expensive and

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♪ ♪ gerri: new year's eve is tomorrow, and when the clock strikes midnight, what will you be toasting with? for years most of us would have said champagne, but that may not be the case anymore. sales of prosecco have been booming in the u.s. in the past few years. prosecco producer david noto joins us to tell us about the excitement. now, i have been buying pro sec coe for a long time. at first it was because it was a bargain, but now i actually

prefer it. why are people turning to this now? >> well prosecco has a wonderful price to value proposition, price to quality. and as italian wines and cuisine is getting more popular in the united states, people are more willing to explore and try prosecco over the -- gerri: you were mentioning in the break before that it has fewer suggest fites than regular wine, so you may not have that headache the next day. >> definitely not. due to the wine-making process of prosecco, it inherently has about half the suggest fites of champagnes. and with ours it has about a quarter. gerri: so this is an italian wine right? so where did the grapes come from? >> the grapes, all prosecco is made in northeastern italy. gerri: that's around venice right? >> yes, it is. gerri: it's a lovely area. i didn't realize it was from there. that's awesome. okay. so tell me more about how i choose one.

can i still get a prosecco on a budget? >> of course you can. the average price is around $11. what you look for if you're wanting the best prosecco you can find is the do doc -- the docg. gerri: what does that mean? >> there are label on top of the bottles that say doc or doocg. the government certification -- gerri: so they all have that little designation, and you know you're getting the best when you look for the right thing. >> exactly. gerri: you're looking for, you're saying, is docg? >> yes. gerri: okay. tell me about serving this. obviously, you know, we're thinking new year's eve and that would be a great thing. how else might you use this wine? >> we make cocktails. we were featured on a bunch of places for doing fantastic cocktails with prosecco. gerri: what do you mix it with? >> about everything. [laughter] every type of juice --

gerri: how about peach neck to have? >> that would be -- nectar. that would be fantastic. gerri: what else do you mix it with? >> i've used cranberries during thanksgiving fresh cranberry juice, you can make desserts with it with sparkling, the prosecco a little bit of vodka and a little bit of lemon sorbet -- gerri: wow. that is a punch my friend. vodka and prosecco oh, my goodness. what's the trend in this your sales? >> the trend in all prosecco sales has been on the uptick and i think it's going to be that way for quite a while to come. gerri: well, david noto we appreciate you coming on and bringing us some prosecco. unfortunately, we cannot drink on on set, but it's gorgeous and it smells fantastic. thank you so much for coming on the show. >> thank you for having me. gerri: we'll be right back with my two cents more and the answer to your -- our question of the

day, have you ever gotten a red light camera ticket? we'll tell you all about that coming up. ♪ ♪ many people clean their dentures with toothpaste or plain water. and even though their dentures look clean, in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher brighter denture everyday.

gerri: have you ever gotten a red light camera ticket? we asked the question on gerriwillis.com. 12% said, yes, 88% said no. i'm in the majority again. all right. if you're heading out to ring in the new year wear an extra layer in most of the country. in las vegas you can bet on snow falling on the strip new year's eve. some 340,000 people are expected to pack the strip for the festivities, forecasters are predicting a 70% chance of snow. this is unimaginable, with a low temperature of 32 degrees. if the predicted 2 inches of

snow does occur, well, it could be a big problem considering the city doesn't have any snow removal equipment and neither does the airport. in comparison, those huddling in times square here in new york city could expect a low of 27 degrees, but no chance of snow. and finally i have a sneaking suspicion that after having squashed the recovery with bureaucratic meddling and miles of red tape over the past six years the obama administration will double down on that policy in the new year with new rules that constrain the economy again. make no mistake, policies like obamacare, low down payment home loans, mortgage reform, student loan forgiveness even dodd-frank, they have all hamstrung the recovery. that's why growth has been so low. my best guess is this administration is not done yet. oil and fracking, as we said at the so much the show -- at the temperature of the -- at the top of the show, will be the next target as democrats talk their

last shot at getting the policies they want. that's my two cents more. and that's it for tonight's willis report. don't forget to dvr the show. "making money" with charles payne is next. ♪ ♪ charles: i'm charles payne, and you're watching "making money." it's been a great year for the stock market, but i say 2015 will be even better, driven by a strong u.s. economy, higher wages, more business investment and even reasonable valuations. tonight, the five biggest tech trends in the market that you will make money from. we've got 'em for you. right now straight to lori rothman on the floor of the new york stock exchange. lori? >> hi, charles. stocks retreated today with the dow losing 55 points and closing below 18,000 for the first time since december 22nd. the s&p caved ten points, snapping an eight-session winning streak. so investors weren't all that interested in taking some risks today, we saw a bid in u.s.