producing trash. when i learned that i was like wow i am so empowered. >> that's our show. let's not let the green tyrants run or lives. thanks for watc i]> yes, we can!çó yes, we[! can. >> politicians k' >> yes we can! >> yes, we can. >> yes, 4 >> and people believe. >> w yes, we can!e[/]éh9 >> but when;ñzú we f means government the fact iso'qxn they can't. jj:3dpiih5ów> yes, we 8ñ >> no.u8?uf™z!jh2wgvvc politicians can't. >> do youto) liberals live in az

fa who thinks the tsa does a great job. >> to be >> to be subjected to such disgusting abusesz'p@ ofz2í power. creator from day one. >> we're going to create millions of new jobs. >> my job is to create jobs. >> they keep saying that but does government create jobs p. >> absolutely. >> congressman keith ellison is co-chair of the congressional progressive caucus. >> the public sector and the private sector must be working together in order for the market to work properly. >> wouldn't it be nice if the

wise men and women in washington could make the market work properly and create jobs? >> john, nobody can doubt that we have schools that are crumbling, that our parks need more attention. my own city of minneapolis, we saw a bridge fall into the mississippi river, man. >> but government doesn't have money of its own. it has to take money from the private sector to give too those pro >> you >> you have to take the money from somewhere. >> congressman illinoiselleisonellison's caucus claims it can create 2.2 million >> if >> if they can create 2 million jobs why 5 million, 10 million? why are you soo cheap? spendz more. >> in needs to be balance. >> how do you know 2.2 million is the right balance of taking money from the private sector. >> no one ever does know the exactly right answer. >> i think this guy has the right answer. that's mark cuban, owner of the nba champion dallas mavericks. how many jobs have you created edcreated.

>> i don't know. tens of thousands. >> when politicians take money from the private sector, they take it from job creators like >> gove >> government is just not very effective and very efficient at using money. >> when cuban was 24, he had no job himself and no prospects. >> you end up with billions of d >> and >> and a hot wife. what more can i ask for, right? >> in 1983, cuban started a software company. he grew it and sold it to come pew serve for millions. then -- >> my partner at the time came to me and said you know, you're the geek. there's got to be a way to listen to indiana basketball over the internet. i'm like, that's a good idea. >> so cuban started another >> i p >> i put an isdn line in the second bedroom in hi house and i just worked. >> without a government program mark cuban again created so >> >> i said guys, when this is over, it's either going to be we're idiots and this is worth absolutely nothing and we'll know it right away, or we're all going to be rich. >> five years later they sold that company to yahoo! for $6

>> to >> to me, the most patriotic thing you can do as an american is be filthy, filthy rich. you're creating jobs. you're creating opportunities. >> cuban used his billion dollars to hire more people and create more wealth. and he bought a lousy basketball >> y >> you took a team not expected to win. they became national champions. >> yeah. we sucked. >> did you have some idea nobody else had, or -- >> yeah. i walked in and i said, if you mention our win/loss record you're fired. >> the attitude would spread it's contagious. >> yeah. losing is contagious. we had a survival attitude as opposed to let's win attitude. that's what i had to change. if you don't think like winners i'm going to trade you, get right of you. it took us 12 years but we finally won a world championship last year. >> now cuban stars in a reality >> >> $500,000 for 45% of the c >> b >> but cuban says it would be

hard for him to start his businesses today because government's gotten so much more intr >> a lot of these things now, there's so much paperwork and regulations, so many things that you have to sign up for, that you have a better chance of getting in trouble than you do of being successful. like, come on guys. you want people to start businesses. why m why make it so hard? >> they make it hard because they want safety and fairness and think their rules provide they a they also make it hard because big government demands higher taxes. cuban cuban will survive that but little guys get killed. >> that's right. two for the government one two for two for the government. one for me. >> ed land bought a small farm in south carolina thinking -- >> how can the farm produce income, pay for itself? that's when we decided to go into the ag row tourism bu >> he >> he sells cattle and produce

but he's been held back by gove >> and >> and i'm tired of them telling us what to do and how to live and how to do business how to can a product. i ask them permission for everything i do in life. you want to control everything? then you come out here and run the damn thing. >> why does the government do that has ed this frustrated? >> this is just part of the regulations we have to deal with right here. they just are going on and on and they just keep growing. >> government regulations stopped him from canning and selling his crops. >> we missed an entire harvest because we couldn't get the kitchen certified in time. >> and they forced him to make tons of little changes to his buildin a a regulator told him -- >> you need to put another hand wash in the sink beside this sink. for for what? for for employees to wash their h w what's wrong with the other sink? the the sink on its own was not a big deal. it's the little things that keep massing together and make this big ball that, before long, i can't carry that ball. >> he's learned that bureaucrats keep their jobs by finding

p >> >> let's say a building codes inspector comes out. if he doesn't find anything, then what good is he? he can't justify his position unless he says, boss, i found this and this and this. it just keeps rolling and r >> th >> that time and money he spends obey obeying government could have gone to create jobs. >> without the government deterring the growth of this business, we could hire ten more get out get out of our way and leave us alone and we can create all the vob cans. >> but big government doesn't get out of the way. it keeps helping us. for example, are you disabled? politicians in there say they can help you find jobs. but, no, they can't. >> we must take strong action. >> remember this guy? >> young senator al gore helped convince democrats and republicans to overwhelmingly pass the americans with disabilities act. >> the point of the ada was to get people with disabilities employed, and it's had

absolutely the reverse effect. >> a reverse effect. when the law was passed, 51% of disabled people were in the wor but but now it's just 33%. one reason is that the law makes employers see the disabled as a legal threat. if you fire a disabled person, he may sue you. in addition politicians promised the ada would force businesses to accommodate handicapped people. sot law includes hundreds of pages of detailed rules. every new doorway must be 32 inches wide. every mirror no more than 40 inches above the floor. if they aren't morris mare bond may sue you. he files hundreds of ada lawsuits every year. what would you do, john, if you were in a wheelchair, you couldn't move your leg snz don't you want something to protect you, to protect your rights? >> but as usual, the politicians' protection did nachty things. now some businesses are sued by disabled people who have never even been in their stores.

drive-byes, the lawyers call t a a disabled person or scout working for them drives up and down the street looking for businesses that might not be compliant. eric w eric wyatt was asked to do that. >> eric got an e-mail from his attorney, go to the following 19 businesses, get 19 business cards or receipts, and i'll pay you $1000. >> just get a business card to prove he was there and the lawyer would find a reason to eric eric said no but he could have made thousands of dollars a day. >> about 19,000 altogether. >> the disability rules are hundreds of pages so most every business violates some rule. >> it could be that a mirror is an inch too high, an unsecured floor mat, round doorknobs. >> a round doorknob is illegal? >> it could subject you to a l >> thi >> this man owns stores in san diego. his f his father was disabled and used a scooter to maneuver around the >> we >> we have a lot of disabled

customers that never complained or anything. and we always felt we were in com but but if an attorney comes in and his or her motivation is to make money on noncompliance i think they can be very creative. >> one person sued claiming the store aisles were too narrow for his wheelchair. but they aren't. so we decided, let's look in our security cameras. well, lo and behold, we couldn't find him. he never was in the store. >> but the phony plaintiff's lawyer still demanded money. >> he would just go away for $1 >> >> so george paid, even though he had proof that the man was not in his store. in total, being sued cost him 691x $ >> th >> they're faced with these claims that even when they're not true they pay anyway because it would cost them much more to win? it's as simple as that. >> we know of a number of defendants who spent $100,000, $200,000, $500,000 dealing with these cases.

clint eastwood was one of them. >> eastwood runs this hotel restaur he he has a handicap accessible bathroom, but a woman sued him because she claimed she was directed to a regular bathroom. eastwood is rich enough to say, go ahead, make my day. he fought back in court and won. usually business owners just pay the lawyer a few thousand dollars to go away. >> it's just extortion, but it's >> >> it sure feel that's way. it's an ugly, ugly process, but it works. >> you sue about all kinds of trivial stuff. >> well, it's trivial to you because you're arrogant and you don't see the point of view of someone -- >> you're parasites. you're freeloading off productive people. >> if it wasn'tor for people like me, thousands and thousands of businesses would not be kmriechbt with the ada right if yo if you want to call it a racket it's a racket written into the legal system. >> yeah, it's legal extortion. >> well, the entire legal system is driven by money. >> yes.

and by politicians who say -- >> yes, we can! >> yes, we can! >> yes, we can. coming up -- >> the first thing you're struck by is our jungle lobby. >> did you know you helped pay for this? you show up. you stay up. you listen. you laugh. you worry. you do whatever it takes to take care of your family. and when it's time to plan for your family's future we're here for you. we're legalzoom, and for over 10 years we've helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. so when you're ready start with us. doing the right thing has never been easier. legalzoom. legal help is here.

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want to go to college? it's expensive. a year at harvard now costs more than $50,000. state schools often cost $ >> the >> the politicians in there say, we can make college affordable for everyone. but, no they can't. they've tried. federal spending and college aid has doubled, then doubled again. but as government aid grew, so did tuition. over the past 30 years inflation was 160%. we're upset that health care costs grew more, 400%. but college tuition rose 750%. >> the first thin you're struck by is our jungle lobby, ban 81 trees, all the trappings of a jungle retreat. >> one place your money goes is to luxuries that entice students and their money. this is the rec center at the university of missouri. >> from there, you'll find yourself in the jungle gym, complete with the torches to welcome you into our cardio g not not to be outdone by tiger lair.

that's our spinning studio. it is outstanding, especially with its mural work done by that international artist lampo. then zoo life, our in-house day >> i >> it haes no surprise that tuition is high. >> we just keep feeding the >> >> naomi riley wrote a book about how colleges waste money. >> however colleges decide to hike their prices, the federal government says, okay, we'll contribute a little bit more. >> today almost half of college students get federal aid. >> we've got to make sure that education is affordable and available to everybody who wants to go. >> people are looking to the government to help them out of this mess, but the government got them into this mess. >> because the government pays for everything. >> yes. yes. the c the cost of college is not just this number that comes out of thin air. colleges know that they can keep increasing the cost because the government says, we will keep paying for it. so if the government said, we are not going to keep making up the difference no matter what you add to your costs, the cost would start to stop or start to go down.

>> but progressives say government should spend more. >> there's no evidence that college loans or any type of student aid increases tuition at public universities. >> oh come on. if you give people money, tuition goes up. >> it doesn't actually. >> tamra drought washgorks for a think tank president obama helped found. >> colleges have been forced to really cut to the bone. if you look at what has happened -- >> cut to the bone? >> absolutely. state funding has been steadily and pretty aggressively cut. >> what do you mean cut? it's gone up from 55 billion to almost $80 billion. up isn't a cut. >> it has gone up in absolute terms because there are aloft more students being educated. >> but it's -- do you liberals live in fantasyland? >> there are a lot more students, john. >> not enough to make up with the money you're throwing at >> pe >> per student amount of financial aid particularly -- >> it's up. today students get an average $12,000 in federal and state aid, up from $7000 in 1987.

>> good morning mr. vice pre >> at >> at least vice president biden understands that subsidyies raise >> how >> how do you feel about the idea that government subsidies by artificially increasing the availability of student loans is at least partially responsible for rising tuition costs? >> government subsidies have impacted upon rising tuition costs, and it's a conundrum >> it >> it sure is. colleges now advertise lobster dinners and expensive dorms with luxury pools. >> pools and spas and fancy gym facilities and sushi for lunch. isn't that where you want to take your next vacation? every college you go to you say, why do you spend so much money on this? well, we have to compete with the college down the street. >> a terrific climbing tower 42 feet with a variety of lights on it so we can simulate different times of the day. >> so the administrator says, good, i'll build a new rock >> i >> i would love to know where all of these rock walls are.

>> okay, i'll show you. more than 600 colleges now have rock walls. >> what's important to any leisure resort and what's important to any red-blooded american college student? spring break. give our tigers spring break every time they step into the student recreation complex. >> when you go on a tour here, they definitely throw that in your face. >> students will come to us and say, this is what seals the it use it used to be reading writing and arithmetic. we're the fourth l, recreation. >> pretty much every parent i have on my tour is like i want to be back in school. >> we are putting colleges on notice. >> >> now even progressives are upset about the rising costs of c >> we >> we can't just keep on subsidizing skyrocketing tu >> >> but in that exact same speech, the president also said -- >> my administration is increasing federal student aid so more students can afford

c >> don >> don't politicians see the no. no. coming coming up -- imagine a place where fewer rules create prosperity. >> buildings are coming up. hotels are being built.

what in the world is happening on wall street? >> customers are freaked out, waiting to see how low the dow will go. >> when the housing bubble burst and markets fell, people intuitively felt someone must do s >> the >> the politicians in there said, we know what to do. senator dodd and congressman frank will write more rules to make sure it never happens again. and and so they wrote. and wrote. hundreds of pages. they say this will create a new financial system. >> one that is innovative, creative, competitive and far less prone to panic and c >> why

>> why is dodd/frank a good >> >> well, consumer protection. an agency that is dedicated to make sure that financial products like mortgages, credit cards have simple contract that's are easy to understand, transparency is a good thing. >> is dodd/frank simple? did you read it? >> absolutely. >> did you understand this? this whole thing? you understand these? >> yes, i stayed up and read that thing. and let me tell you, running a bank is complicated. >> but banks already had to follow these thousands of pages of complex rules even before dod if you if you wantveñk to open a bank you've got to obey all these regul economi economist richard ron is a former bank regulator. >> again, i think most people had trouble remembering the ten commandments let alone 10,000 pages of something. >> ron used to work in the cayman islands. the cayman islands. sound familiar? >> you have assets hidden in the cayman islands. >> we're not going to beat barack obama with some guy who

has swiss bank accounts, cayman island accounts. >> oh, yes, the caymans are the caribbean islands where mitt romney supposedly hides his >> >> you know the reputation of the cayman islands. >> people keep telling us it's where rich people go to cheat on >> >> here's a little building down in the cayman islands. >> over 12,000 businesses claim this building as their headqu >> it >> it's monkey business. >> either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam. >> i mean you hear it all over the news, well, about the whole tax season foolishness. i mean it really isn't true. >> she's right. look at this gao report. the irs says cameman officials require all requested information in a timely manner. >> mitt romney pays taxes on all the money earned from the came man entities. >> i would think it would be like pirate heaven, some pirate would go and steal all the >> we >> well, that actual live

doesn't happen because the rules are understandable. >> our laws are so complex, even regulators don't understand the the s.e.c. investigated bernie madoff six times but didn't stop >> ber >> bernie madoff could never have gotten away in cayman what he got away with here in the u.s. >> >> america's complex laws only pretend to stop fraud. remember the solution after the enron scandal? >> with the tough new law we will act against those who have shaken confidence in our m >> tha >> that gave us a law called sur veins oxley which cox americans billions in paperwork but didn't prevent madoff's fraud or the next bubble. >> the economy in crisis. big banks in a death spiral. >> banks made bad decisions. it makes sense that you should have a rule to stop that. >> no. >> but what about that cayman building? doesn doesn't it suggest tax fraud? thousands of companies are registered here. >> it has nothing to do with

in in delaware there's buildings that have ten times or a hundred times as many registered com >> >> it's true. companies register themselves in delaware because delaware has simpler rules. i wubs started a business there, and in just one week -- fox t-shirts? fax hats? -- i could have registered my stand even faster in the >> wha >> what i set out to do was to design a system that was market responsive and fast. >> john seymour helped create the simple rules. it takes just ten pages to register a hedge fund. and the simple rules work. >> look at our track record. just in the past decade we've been through the crisis of 2000 2004, and the most severe crisis being 2008. and no cayman financial institution needed any kind of government intervention or needed any bailout. >> simple rules also created

pros >> to >> today we have the highest standard of living in the world. >> we can't complain. >> jobs are always opening up. the businesses are booming out of nowher buildings are coming up. hotels are being built. >> simple rules has been good for people. >> yes. >> it's counterintuitive. people's reaction is we protect people with more rules. >> i go back to the ten commandments. you you know, the bible said you needed ten. they didn't say you needed coming up -- do you hate the [otsa? >> that's disgusting abuses of power! >> but >> but good news. there's something better. >> people here are friendly and willing to help. >> that's next.ónóv

af after september 11th politicians said government must take over airline security.

>> get federal law enforcement to do this job. >> tamom daschle said you can't professionalize if you don't fed and and the senate voted 100-0 to take over airport security sc >> sir >> sir, do you have your i.d.? >> so is it now professional? >> opt out! >> these people don't think so. fliers complain that they are -- >> subjected to such disgusting abuses of power! >> tsa employees ordered the elderly woman remove her soiled adult diaper because it was preventing a former pat-down. this former -- >> she actually touched my vagina vagina >> the >> there haven't been successful attacks since september 11th. you might say that shows it's w >> >> actually, every report shows that tsa missed things. what actually saved us was the passengers and crew. >> congressman micah helped

create the tsa, the chair of the transportation committee. >> richard reed. it wasn't a tsa that saved the day. if you if you look at the diaper bomber it was the passengers and crew that saved the day. the times square bomber he called on his cell phone, ordered his ticket on the way to jfk, went through tsa, got on the plane. >> on top of that, the tsa is such a lousy place to work that more tlan 50% of the work force has quit. >> the agency keeps losing employees and hiring new ones. >> they're advertising on the top of pizza boxes. >> a career where x-ray vision and benefits are standard. turnover is high not because the tsa is underfunded. it spends ten times what the previous private screening companies spent. micah said he was shocked at how much money they can waste. >> john you don't want to know. i just sent two guys down. they've got a warehouse in texas and they have hundreds of puffers that didn't work. >> remember these? they cost $150,000 each.

and were supposed to detect exp but t but they didn't work. >> they sat in warehouses and they paid i think $600 apiece for d.o.d. to destroy them. >> sot tsa wastes money, misses terrorists, infuriates passengers and creates long isn't isn't there a better way? oh, here's one. the lines are shorter at san francisco airport. they move quickly. and passengers even say the screeners are nice. >> people here are friendly and willing to help. >> i think they're a little more underst >> eve >> everybody here is friendly. a lot more friendly than dallas. >> dallas and all the other big airports employ government screeners. san fr san francisco is the one major airport that was allowed to hire screeners who work for a private not not only are these screeners nicer, they're better at finding the the tsa tested them and found they were twice as good at finding contraband. why would private skeiners be nicer and better? here's a reason. they practice.

here they're racing to match these security carts together under black lights. the fastest screener will win $2,000. ther there's even dramatic music. the tsa trains its screeners, too, but not like this. in this competition, screeners race to search bags and identify forbidden items. there's a pipe bomb. then they rush to repack the >> all >> all right all right! >> in this test they look at slides of people and try to remember details. >> how many buttons are on her >> f >> four? >> >> yes. >> >> the private company makes these screeners special. >> you have to be able to look at something, look at a lot of people and be able to retain what they saw. so this isn't things you find out who is very good at that >> >> we're really competitive. >> screeners love the contests. >> so usually it's, did you go? what what's your score? i'm not telling you.

if you tell a person your score, they're going to try to beat you ju you just want to be a winner. it's like bragging rights. >> i suppose they get better with these contests? >> oh yes. they have to. >> if you don't have the passion for it, i guess you need to find another job. >> who knew privatization would create better attitudes? privatizing seems so selfish. i bet you're making money. that's money coming out of my pocket p. >> i don't mind making a little profit. it's it's the capitalistic way, american way. >> profit it makes you try >> it >> it makes you do very well. we have to do well. >> that also means getting passengers through security wait wait times here are shorter because they move screeners >> th >> they move staff from piercy check point with two lanes up. >> if we show red there we're short staff there. we start to back up we find out how many people we can send to help them. >> the director of this airport wishes her screening company

tried as hard to keep lines >> we >> we get a high number of visitors in the g@( >> of course she does. her airport is right next to montana's glacier national park. people go to the park in summertime. traf traffic triples. but the tsa doesn't respond to >> >> screening levels remain constant year round. same number in the summer as in the winter. >> so, because of that and the delays it creates, and passenger complaints about rude screeners cindy wanted to switch to a private screening company. the law that created the tsa allows that. but airports have to ask for permission. cind cindi and other airport managers asked, but the tsa simply didn't respond for a year and a half. then they said no. what reason did they give you? >> they didn't give us a reason. >> we asked tsa officials to come on the show to complain their position, but they decl their their spokesman also lied to us when we asked for permission to film the competitions at san francisco airport. they told us the private

company is camera shy and wants to stay out of the limelight. but it wasn't true. >> i don't know why they did i i really don't. >> after the tsa refused for years to let more airports use private screeners, congress finally forced the tsa to allow a few. montana's glacier international airport now has them. >> i bet mcdonald's would like to tell burger king, you can't open here, there's no clear advantage to you coming here. >> they would love that, i'm >> >> tsa creator congressman mica says the bureaucrats are just protecting their turf. >> it's typical government. >> gives them more power. >> yeah. keep the power in washington. >> so what were you thinking? you did this! >> there's no question it's grown into a monster and they've become a huge personnel operation instead of a security operation. coming up -- people think the program head start gives poor kids a head

there is one government program that most everyone says is a big success and that's head start. >> head start has been such an extraordinary success over all these years. >> it's a program that's w >> ev >> everyone loves head start. it gives underprivileged kids

some early education to give them a head start before regular school. its l its lobby says it's a place -- >> where dreams are born and minds are nourished. talent can grow. curiosity flourish. >> head start is a great p >> and >> and it gets results? >> i think there's tons of >> eve >> everyone thinks that but it's not true. >> we've spent $180 billion on a program that has zero advantage for disadvantaged kids. >> what do you mean zero ad >> th >> there was a study in 2010 funded by the federal government. it it looked at 114 indicators. it did not find one positive ou >> so >> some poor kids got head start. other other kids didn't. >> they couldn't tell the difference between the kid that had the large head start investment and the similar poor disadvantaged kid. >> the government's own study found positive impacts while the kids were in head start but one year later all gone. >> by kindergarten and first grade they could find no difference in the kids that went

and kids that didn't. >> now, our president has taken a strong stance against ineffective programs. >> we've got to will eliminate programs that don't work. eliminate programs that don't work eliminate proom programs that no longer work. >> we've spent more than $100 billion and the government does this big study and finds, oops, no difference. >> right. >> so they say, okay we're going to stop? >> no. instead it gets a billion-dollar increase and then the next year it gets a 400 million-dollar i >> i h >> i had a chance to visit one of the classrooms here and i have to say it got me a little choked up. >> we should be choked up because government keeps spending more money on programs that even they admit don't work. i wanted toz%!r confront the administration, people from head start about this but they wouldn't talk to me. so i'm glad congressman al ellison did. >> you cannot tell me that the food that they get, the instruction that they get, the love that they get from the people who work there are not doing these kids tremendous

be >> i w >> i would like to believe that they get a lasting benefit but the government's own data finds none of that. >> well you know what? that's not the problem of head start. that's that's the problem of not adequate investment in our public education system. >> what would be enough? 50,000 a kid, 100,000 a kid? the line is always, we have to spend more money. and if we're just better funded, we'll eventually get better outcomes for kids. >> that's what the big spenders always say about most everything government does. >> yes, we can! >> more money and government power will fix everything. but no, they can't. okay, although government can't, when we return we'll see how ónóv

doug. you've been staring at that for a while, huh? listen, td ameritrade has former floor traders to help walk you through that complex trade. so you'll be confident enough to do what you want. i'll pull up their number.

blammo. let's get those guys on the horn. oooo. looks like it is time to upgrade your phone, douglas. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. yes, we can. >> yes, we can. >> yes, we can. >> no, they can't. that's a nasty title for my new book, but politicians can't do what private individuals can. over the years, politicians have promised us energy independence, world peace, an end to poverty. if we just give them more money they will solve those problems. but, no they can't. their plans go bad. head start doesn't work. college tuition pays for spas. the tsa is awful. >> she actually felt my --

touched my vagina. >> there are hundreds of other examples of how government can't in here. you can read more of that on my website john stossel.com. but wait you say, if government can't, what about cutting-edge science like nasa? america did send a man to the >> we'v >> we've got the flag up now. >> we all like this. >> beautiful. just beautiful. >> but think about it. it cost billions. and what did we get? promos for a breakfast drink. >> tang instant breakfast drink went with them. >> nasa technology brought us the cat scan, but our billions haven't gotten us much. we get lats of delayed projects. government science is clumsy. for a fraction of the cost a private group called the x prize does better. >> offer a prize, and they will >> they >> they promised 10$10 million to anyone who could launch three men into outer space. 25 teams competed for the prize. >> i have never been myself as

creative as i have eyeballing this [ bleep ] prize. >> burt ruetan's spaceship one won the prize. billionaire investors said, i want a piece of that. >> richard branson came in and bought the rights and commercialized it. >> a company that plans to run a tour bus in space. already, tom hainkz, ashton kutcher, katy perry and brangelina bought tickets. the fare is $200,000 now but branson says someday it will be as cheap as normal airfare. >> this is richard branson, and he's here. >> i'm told private companies won't want to do this. there's no money to be made in going to the moon so this has to be done by government. >> you know, all innovation really comes out of the private it com it comes out of entrepreneurs. >> how are they going to make >> by >> by charging for the ride. >> politicians say -- >> government support is critical in helping businesses get new understand ideas off the >> we' >> we're programmed to believe that if it's for real high-tech, feweristic

innovation, it's got to come from the government. and it's just the opposite. >> the feds have already thrown billions at failures like solyndra, and that was tiny compared to the clinch river breeder reactor, solar one, the triad ethanol plant and the hundreds of billions wasted on sin fuel. >> some things work out, some >> so >> some say boondoggles are worth the risk. >> i like the idea of government taking my tax dollars and investing in the tech follows of tomo >> >> progressives also like government forcing private companies to do it. >> fuel efficiency stbdzs have forced detroit to innovate in ways it might not have without them. >> if >> if government didn't dictate 35 miles per gallon we wouldn't get there? >> we need government to force >> i >> i think we do need government to force it. >> but no we don't. while government spents billions, x prize offered a $10 million prize for a car that gets 100 miles per gallon. >> the announcement parks an immediate and powerful worldwide

res >> we >> we're in. we've got to do this. we're going to go for this in a big way. >> to meet the challenge, some teams use gasoline, electricity, even compressed air. >> 130 teams around the world e it's it's proving what's possible. >> the design phase was first. car hz to pass a looks test. then came the safety and performance tests. most teams were eliminated. >> oh, well. we had the range. we had the mileage. but zero to 60, our transmission just didn't hold up. >> this team won the prize with a car that got 102 miles per >> >> i can't buy these cars. >> not yet. but these cars are slowly going to production, components of them are going into the large auto manufacturers. >> one more example. >> thousands of gallons of crude oil are oozing. >> government took charge after the bp oil spill. >> make no mistake we'll continue to do whatever is ne >> >> have we brought in the best and the brightest of all the minds that could deal with this? >> no. government hadn't. >> we start looking at this and

said, you know, reinventing how to clean up oil on the surface hasn't changed since the exxon valdez 21 years aerldearlier. >> how would you improve it? >> i don't know. but the competition will bring the best ideas to the top. >> it's odd to hear you say i don't know. the government assumption is that someone in government does know and can pick. but you're giving away all this money, and you say "i don't >> we >> we don't pick the winner in advance like the government does in research. the research funding agency says, you're a good researcher, here's money. we flip it and say, i don't know which of you hundred teams are the best one, but the one who achieves this, we'll pay you. we only pay for success. >> and i'm waiting for that great big check. >> so wendy schmidt offered a $1.5 million prize for a faster way to clean up oil. >> 350 teams around the world registered to enter the comp >> we >> we gave it our best shot. we'll see what hatches. >> some teams had no prior experience with oil spills. >> we get asked all the time,

how long have you been in the oil industry? well, counting today? >> the top ten teams went head-to-head at the world's largest oil spill cleanup facility in new jersey, and seven of the ten teams doubled the preexisting standards that had been used to clean up oil for the last 20 years. >> if we get this pump working we will win. >> one of the teams that doubled it was a team that met in a las vegas tattoo parlor. i kid you not. you can't make up this stuff. and they built a scale model in one of the guys' pools and it still doubled the ability to clean up oil spills from the last 21 years. >> so for 20 years they tried and tried and they can clean up oil spills but only at a certain with with a prize, you double it. >> actually, the winning team for the prize quadrupled it. >> why can't the environmental protection agency lead stuff like this? >> well, they could, but they didn't didn't they? >> no, they can't! >> just because government can't, that doesn't mean we can't.

we we can! indivi individuals succeed while government fails. that's our show. i'm john stossel. thanks for watching. lemonade for sale. stossel lemonade for sale. is everything illegal in america >> >> wait wait wait wait. i can't give it to you. i could get in trouble. >> we were just selling le >> i >> i go to the front door. there's about six or seven black vans, all with guns. enough to scare the crap out of >> the >> the police came after this grocery store. >> it seemed like they thought we had cocaine in the papayas or so >> how >> how are you going to tell me what i should and shouldn't eat? >> most americans support laws against prostitution. but what if it were legal? >> here it's safe. >> what if drugs were legal? one country has tried that. >> i th