the parade in full swing. >> i like the weather there. looking at. >> and thank you! >> happy st. patrick's day! >> happy st. patrick's day, everybody, see you in the after the show show. thanks so much. >> it's official, consumers saying they're down and out over pump price that are out of sight, but it's not the gas, food, clothes, college, health care, all way up and someone here says, you think the sticker shock is bad now, just wait! >> hi, everyone, i'm brenda buttner, this is bulls and bears. the bulls and bears this week, gary b smith. tobin smith. jonas max ferris, along with todd and susan ott. >> todd, sticker shock is go to he bet worse. >> got that right. food costs are up. and some economists are

predicting 25% increases just this year alone. gas is up 6%, it continues to rise, and it's not going to stop soon. all of us need to be prepared and the economy, the global economy is at stake right now. because of the higher prices. >> gary b. you're seeing the same sticker shock, does it worry you as much? >> no, and no. to be dtsdz. >> what do you really think? >> well, look, look, if everything that we, you know, every dollar that he we made was spent on either food or gasoline, i'd be in todd's corner. but you know, we spend our basket of spending is on a lot of things, it's on electricity, it's on natural gas. it's on dining out, for example, and overall, inflation, even though we've been talking about it constantly is still under 3%. as far as gasoline, i'll acknowledge, todd's point it's up 7%, but inflation adjusted, we're back at is the 20 levels, plus, the percentage

of gdp that energy is is 50% of what it was years ago. could prices go higher? will it be harmful? programs. i think this people adjust and not that big after deal. >> not everybody had the model a and using it it to get to work. >> good point, good point. toby, take him on. because, it is actually, we are seeing inflation, aren't we in other things? >> yes, we are. remember, we have core inflation and everything else and maybe the core is lower, but of course, you're kicking out food and oil out of the core. and we're at the margin, at this point now where the idea of sticker shock, starts to change behavior. we obviously are consuming less gasoline today than we were years ago, but the price, the cumulative point and cumulative price point in a recession where we have 16% real unemployment. malarky, notice i used malarky, it's not working, and that's the point where people can't suspend spending because

they're spending everything they get. when he they hit that inflection point they start to spend less and we know 1% less gdp if we stay below the next six months for sure. >> where do you see inflation? are you worried about it. >> i'm in gary's camp. we're seeing modest increases, but overall moderate still. if you look at producer price index, which is the wholesale goods and cost, it's very moderate and in some areas it's coming down and some areas, food has actually come down the past three months in a row on the wholesale side. if you see too much of a break and wholesale prices going down and retail going up, that's price gouging. >> that's the point i'm sorry to make, we're at the point where the pass throughs are starting to hit and gasoline and small business prices are going to have to start raising prices and they have to keep the margins and exactly the point i'm trying to make. thank you for making it better. >> on the gas, gary says you're not seeing it across

the board that's not inflation that's one particular industry and commodity. >> brenda: but gas is used in transporting lots of different goods. >> well, oil, too. >> brenda: yeah, but jonas, i want to get to you. basically you think that the simple law of supply and demand may come into play here, and that will take care of things? >> right, because we don't have a supply disruption. in fact, no real disruption of any commodities, compared to a few years ago, when consumer stop complaining about the high gas prices and doing something about it. you'll see the price put off. and they'll find, they'll car pool or whatever and hasn't occurred in significant levels. our fuel growth-- >> you're kidding me, jonas, i can't believe this. you, susan and gary b are all completely wrong. >> higher gas prices and higher food costs and why do you think that we have-- >> you don't know our history. our 100 year inflation rate is higher than the current inflation rate and so you're saying that the rate that's lower the 100 year history of america is going to ruin

america, that's what you're saying. >> joe q public on main street. $6 for a gallon of milk $2 more than-- >> and only came out a year ago. >> that's a separate demographic, jonas, now that. look, you have people right now in this country that can't even feed their families. and 46 million americans on food stamps. >> you're going to things that other people with money buy other than a gallon of milk. home prices have not going up. >> there's a survival. you don't need an ipad. >> don't you think-- >> you don't need an ipad to live, jonases you need food, staples, these are the items that keep increases. >> but again, this idea that let's not get so obscure, how about real world. when your physical costs go up $50 or $70 a week, that comes

out of the economy. i'm not saying armageddon. it shows our economy to a point where we're weak. it brings another level of consumer anti-sentiments, the sentiments on buying and good that we've generated we're at that precipice where we can slip backwards and that's the scary part. >> brenda: go ahead, go ahead. >> i was going to say what would you propose as a solution then. ordinary northwest airline when you're starting to see inflation across the board you want to see fed raise interest rates, not something we can do. notway you can raise interest rates and not think it's a contractry affect. and what do you propose then, to bring the milk prices down? >> you can't start going back to this, to this petroleum reserve because you need that for national defense and so that issue is off the table and second though, you did have chairman ben bernanke just this week, actually he was talking about right now, about the not doing any type of further easing. so, therefore, he's actually trying to manipulate interest rights right now and strengthen the dollar and

hopefully bring the costs down. you and i know that it's not going to keep the costs down, they're going to keep going up. >> bernanke is the chairman of the federal reserve bank that sets interest rates. gary b. a good point about housing, that housing prices are down even he though rent is going up. what do you say to that? >> exactly, that was the point that jonas was trying to make, there are a lot of things in the basket. look, the odds of jonas, me, and susan all being wrong at todd points out are zero. that must mean (laughter) >> todd is wrong, the only mathematical conclusion that we could possibly come to. but you know, the other thing is that i think todd is missing, is he, yes, look, what happens when gas prices go up, is people adapt. they didn't have choices, 30, 40 years ago, my father, when gas prices went up. i had to fill the car, the only way to do the job. there was no such thing as commuting. mass transit wasn't as big as

now. people have options, they adapt and that's-- >> gary, remember that the small business association has done this in a recent survey like a week, week and a half ago small businesses are supporting my point at the tipping point of raising prices because they can't absorb any more of the costs. remember, it's not just gasoline, it's the-- >> they're also talking about not-- about changing their hiring practices, too, that the gas is hitting them so hard they may not be hiring and if that happens, that starts a spiral, doesn't it? >> it does. gary's point is right. we use less gasoline in our economy than we did. right now with the other health care costs and employment cost, et cetera, et cetera, this is the one at the margin. another 5% and we will slow down. >> okay. last word, todd? >> yeah, he's absolutely right. look, you cannot take, you cannot hit discretionary income, especially when you have so many families in america, still continuing to struggle and this is the so-called economic recover

taking place and look, they are he' killing the discretionary income budget right now, jonas and-- >> part of the whole thing. >> you're trying to sell somebody radio shack stuff and should be putting food on the family's table and those costs are going up and the bottom line for the companies will hit stocks as well. >> brenda: all right, that's the final world p thanks, guys. >> playing chicken with our economy, china accusing mickey d's are serving bad birds. now, neil's gang saying we all could end up getting roasted, but up here, first, think d.c. is the biggest threat to tax hikes? think again. look right in your own back yard. other laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in needit to small businesses across the country last year.

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at johndeere.com/x310. >> live from america's news headquarters, i'm juliet huddy. new details on an american soldier suspected in a deadly shooting spree he in afghanistan. army staff sergeant robert bale is being held at fort leavenworth in kansas,

suspected of killing 16 afghans. he's a husband and father of two children, served three tours in iraq and this is the first deployment in afghanistan. new deadly attacks rocking syria's capital. state controlled media two car bombs hitting government bidding, 27 people killed, 100 more wounded and officials expect casualties to rise and the regime blaming opposition forces. an estimated 8,000 people have been killed in syria's year long uprising. i 'm juliet huddy. now back to bulls and bears u'watching the most powerful game in news. fox news channel. of course. . >> so, everyone' worrying about washington, hiking taxes to fill their budget hole, but should you be worrying about what is happening in your own back yard? connecticut is the latest state, pushing a tax on the stuff you download from the internet, from music to movie, to books and apps and todd,

you say this is a nationwide problem, that's getting out of hand? >> it really is, brenda, because if you look at the state budgets right now, these are, every state right now, every state legislature is trying to fill the gap and this is only because they continue to spend and spend and spend. connecticut's not the only one. maryland, the state i come from, they said this year was a millionaire's tax and figured look we'll tax an extra levee on everybody making over 7 digits and take care of ingredients that we put together before as far as the other payments that we're trying to do, but it kills the state. because people do move and you can move out of a state. >> brenda: jonas is this something you worry about in terms of the connecticut. >> and don't worry about it, hit by a lot of miscellaneous taxes and i will say you can't move to new york, new york has done the same thing. basically done the soak the rich thing that obama has talked about and hasn't put to action. on a federal level we haven't raised taxes and nothing

substantial and-- >> the taxes, you should know. . >> and they did a high income bracket in connecticut and new york in some cases lowered taxes. they did weird things in connecticut, for example, if you buy a used car, a higher tax now than two years ago, an expensive car, 50 or $60,000 car and now, they've cut a lot of staff and spending and why we didn't have a municipal bond crisis and the states have improved particularly new york and the federal government is going to have to do these things even though we hate them. cut spending and raise taxes one way or the other in the future. the huge deficit in the recession. a luxury states do not have. >> brenda: it makes sense though, if you can't print money either you cut spending or you hike taxes. >> well, your operative word was right. cut spending which they won't do. and states know we have balanced budgets, but a good point, i'm in maryland, too, they thought they were going to raise 175 million dollars

extra and they actually lost 60 million dollars. i mean, it went to a negative. so, you'll rich a tipping point and the income tax, it's more hidden. on tuition in california, state colleges, they're adding a 50 to $200 per unit raise there and there's price points you're not actually going to get and drop consumption, they can't raise on everything because they'll simply stop people consuming less. >> brenda: and gary b, you live in maryland, and you will of you hit by the millionaire's tax. you, todd, toby, you're all moving up here, is that the deal? >> and just todd and toby for the time being. >> no, because you can't sell your house, come on. >> look, you know, i tell you what, it gets even worse. the first millionaires tax saw about one third of the millionaires in maryland disappear from the payroll, some from the recession, but a lot of people claimed arizona or florida as primary resident and started spending more time

there. what maryland just did today, as a matter of fact. is raise taxes for those earning over $500,000. so, it's not just the millionaires tax anymore, and you know, what's going to happen those people are in the same kind of demographic that i am, at the point where the kids are gone, they might not need to be around that area, this'll pick up and they'll move to texas, florida, things that honestly, we're trying to do. >> brenda: and susan, let me bring you in here. what's your take on this? >> this is the world of balanced budget amendments. if you limit the options that the state has. you can't borrow money, cut spending and services which they've had. mass layoffs and slashed services and done with that. and 530 billion dollars, cumulatively on a budget gap. when you're looking at that. the only option is to raise taxes and todd, there's no place to go, two-thirds of the states have raised taxes. >> wrong, they could move to delaware, move to pennsylvania.

you could move anywhere and actually, when we lost in the state of maryland when those people left. now what you get when you're taxed zero? you get zero. >> everybody is raising taxes right now. everybody is doing it, they have no other options. >> i neither confirm or deny that i moved to arizona. >> and there's zero fiscal control right now. >> i'm sorry, guys, that's got to go, we are going to ask for your residentsy papers coming up, thanks, guys. so, did you catch this? >> innovative and as exciting. >> and right now-- >> well worth it. >> everybody just loves him. >> what's surprising how international it is. >> just love coming out and seeing everybody at fox business. . >>. >> brenda: no, they weren't talking about the new ipad, they were talking about neil cavuto's primary coverage on the fox business network. it's not too late to catch the latest craze, because neil is back at it tuesday for the illinois primary. and it kicks off right before 8 p.m. eastern and he is the

only one counting the votes and giving you immediate market reaction, here, there, everywhere, because your money is primary. up next here, forget about marching on a bank. how about moving into a bank literally, that's what some occupiers are doing, what is it time to stop blaming banks and start taking personal responsibility? ♪ our house in the middle of our street ♪ ♪ o ♪ [ kareem ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ mike ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before.

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>> a video going viral. sparking a new kind of movement. these occupiers, moving into a bank of america branch. protesting home foreclosures. but gary b says forget this move. make the move toward personal responsibility. >> absolutely, brenda. i like the one young lady's comment, bank of america took our home. 99% of those foreclosures came from people who took on too much home with too little income. as simple as that, and whether they did it unknowingly or fraudulently, someone has to step up and take personal responsibility. by occupying bank of america. what you're doing, you're saying, hey, i'm not responsible. someone else is. this is a pervasive tone in ever increasing america and i think it's horrible. >> brenda: susan, the banks

bear some of the responsibility, don't they. >> they do. the massive settlement with the government. robo signing. whether there was fraud or personal responsibility, but some of the responsibility lies with the bank and greg smith on from goldman, sachs. the trust is not back in the banks. >> brenda: todd? >> how did they take on too much debt without, without knowing about it, i'm confused about this. >> people don't understand the loans, todd. everywhere. >> you should know what you're getting into. you get the little check you know the amount that has to go back to the bank. nobody is telling the people they had to buy a home. nobody put a gun to their head and telling them to sign. you guys are talking about fraud. i get the fraud in robo signings, but people have to take personal accountability, not even responsibility and nobody is doing that. >> brenda: jonas, you see a little bit of gray in there, don't you? >> yeah the thing i don't understand, the ways of the

bank, jp morgan, makes money. the home lending department was the squarest deal to the consumer and the credit card lending department is total robbery, 30% default rate. nobody cares about those people or renters, home owners getting a lot of money low interest deductible rate and they get the crying. and the renters getting a job isn't getting the any support or the atm getting the fees. >> and the occupy barney frank department. the core, the legislators who pushed freddie mac, to make all of the loans, that was the criminal. >> brenda: that's got to be the last word. thanks, guys and thanks to susan for joining us. the you new ipad craze driving apple higher and someone here says that's about to change and one stock will soar as apple source. but you don't have to wait online to buy it.

>> predictions and gary b is up. >> i'm going against the headwinds and saying that apple is going to go down and the public is about to burst. the way etx, short nasdaq 100. >> brenda: todd, what do you think a bull or bear. >> i'm a bear, apple is going much higher from here. >> brenda: what do you like. your prediction. >> nike, so exclusive distributor of nfl jerseys the first time this fall and stock up 40% by super bowl. >> brenda: jonas bull or bear on nike. >> already expensive, my friend. >> brenda: okay, what do you like, jonas your pre he dix. >> sky high oil prices and airline stocks cheap and play with fidelity fund and represent in one year. >> brenda: okay, toby, bull or bear. >> what is he smoking, he's crazy, going down and-- >> okay, and your prediction, toby. >> three out of ten kids are li