>> neil: he's targeting these sectors. >> you've done -- the sectors -- individually managed funds do not out perform. >> that's true. >> with just 17 days left until election day, gas prices are at an all-time high. more than double where they were when president obama took office. when the president took office, the price of gasoline in nausea county was $1.86 a gallon. now it's 4 bucks a gallon. >> he said when i took office the price was $1.80. $1.86? why is that? the economy was on the verge of collapse. because we were about to go through the worst recession since the great depression. >> the president went on to say the gas prices are going back up because demand is back up. governor romney says prices are spiking because of the president's green energy push. i'm david asman, welcome to

forbes on fox. >> full house today. mike, is the president right? >> no, he's absolutely wrong. he showed how clueless he was about our energy policy. blaming the stronger economy on higher gasoline prices misses the point of the reagan recovery where the economy boomed and gasoline prices fell and the clinton recovery where gas prices fell. the president blocked the pipeline from canada which is cost us a tremendous amount of jobs. he confiscates taxpayer dollars. >> rick unger a lot of conservative critics of romney are concerned we didn't hear about solyndra. >> it's interesting because mike made compelling arguments. the problem is absolutely none of them have anything to do with the price of gasoline. look, you can argue if you like that the president's energy

policies could have an impact down the road. i would tell you you're wrong but that's an argument we can have. the reality is that we see production up. there's no disputing it. you can give president bush credit if you like. none of that impacts on the current price of gasoline. talk to me in four years. if you don't like the prices, that would be the time to say if you hadn't focused on green energy, maybe. >> the fact is president obama is taking credited for the fact we're pumping more oil even though people say he doesn't deserve t on federal lands, oil production is down. >> it's down on federal lands. production is up in the private sector and -- the argument has been made the market sets prices. yes, the markets set prices but they tend to forget the middle east opec cartel controls 40% of the oil supply. the president needs to focus on supply issues and during the

great recession, gas was still $3 and $4 a gallon. until george w. bush lifted the moratorium on drilling in the gulf, gas plunged by 30 cents and the -- now president obama said i agree with that. he said it is about supply. >> bill, is gas going up because of the president's policies or not? >> maybe because of the president's policies but the real question is is it because of his green policies. focus on one cause of driver anguish. the ethanol mandate. they're black jobs. ethanol destroys the environment. i'm looking for a president candidate who opposes the boon doogal. >> john, i know rick disputes this and the president disputes this but according to a totally

nonpartisan group, u.s. energy information administration, total oil, gas and coal production in public areas plunged from 18 quad drillen btu -- excuse me, 21 billion btu to 18. that's a big drop, a 15% drop. we've seen less oil, coal, and gas production on public lands. >> maybe so but i would also say that's irrelevant. the problem with this discussion is we're talking about a national energy policy. we don't have a national shoe policy or national computer policy or national policy for breakfast cereal but we get all three with ease. we're awash in oil around the world. oil is expensive because the dollar is cheap. even if every oil producer in the world embargoed us, let's get out of national policy and let markets work. >> if we let markets work will

gas prices come down? >> the problem is we're dependented on the middle east for oil. and president obama is a president of the united states, not the the of opec. in that case, he doesn't have much control over oil prices. and i have to agree with rick on this one. his green policy -- >> you happily agree with rick. >> so uncomfortable. his green policies may affect oil five or ten years from now but right now, they're not. it's supply and demand and gas prices go up and down accordingly. we should reduce or depend dense on the middle east. >> it's not only the price. victoria is on the mark, it's about foreign oil. in north dakota, huge deposits of gas and oil they're finding, you see the way we're able to get oil from shale through production methods we didn't know existed 20 years ago, we

could become energy sufficient. >> more from canada than any other country and they're not an enemy of hours. there is a huge difference between what president obama is doing and what governor romney proposes. president obama wants to dictate energy policy from the white house, which he's been a huge failure at doing. romney wants to put control back into the private marketplace and that's where it belongs. >> rick? >> it would be a more interesting to discussion to talk about the national breakfast cereal. >> we are not. >> i like that. >> as moderator, we're not going to talk about breakfast scroll. >> look, it is what it is and i don't know why we have to change the message. discussing reality is not satisfying in an election year to certain sides. the reality is the green policy of the obama administration, maybe you like it, maybe you

don't. i happen to think it's necessary but it's -- >> it's not working. >> it's too early to know if it's working. >> hold on. you want reality? here's reality. the president spent $4 billion on 36 wind farms. the government claimed to have 7,200 jobs that resulted from this. the "wall street journal" went to the wind farms and found 300 farms. the government is overstating the amount of jobs. >> wait, wait. we're talking about -- we've been trying green energy since before the carter administration and it's not delivering the energy power this country needs to live and thrive and basically grow. what we're talking about is again and again, it's supply issues. the fact is when we signal to the markets that we're going to increase oil supply time and again, you see gasoline prices dropping. that's the issue. >> yeah, supply and demand. thank you, gang.

>> i have a lot of similar political freedoms that we started discussing. he has a lot of great ideas. it was really good. >> lindsay's right. neil has great ideas when it comes to covering politics. it's not about red or blue with neil, it's about green. you can see this monday on "fox business," neil's covering the final presidential debate from boca raton, florida, 8:00 p.m. eastern to midnight. next, from the record high gas prices we talked about to sticker shock at the supermarket. sure feels like inflation, doesn't it? but did the government just deny we have any inflation problem at all in america? we report, you decide. when we g. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball.

those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule.

[ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. live from america's election headquarters, i'm kelly wright. president obama governor mitt

romney are taking a break to prep on foreign policy. vice president joe biden is in from. republican congressman paul ryan in pennsylvania and later ohio. the presidential debate is monday night. remarkable update on malala, the 14-year-old pakistani girl shot in the head by the taliban. doctors today say she's slowly trying to stand and write. malala, and outspoken advocate for girl's education was shot after defying taliban orders. she's being treated in england. i'm kelly wright, i'll see you at 1:00 p.m. eastern. for the latest headlines, log on to forecasts foxnews.com. >> you know better than anybody. consumer prices seeing the biggest two month jump in four

years. prices on just about everything going up but the government says inflation is so tame, it's actually giving seniors one of the smallest increases to their social security checks since the automatic hikes started in 1975. you say this is proof washington is denying we have an inplaying problem. >> the irony is 1975 is when the government started touting inflation that knocks out food and energy prices though the government has loads of inflation measures but trumpetedded this one. food costs across the country were rising at the highest rate since 1984. the average americans are feeling it when median household north carolina -- income is down and savings is nominal. >> the government adds everything, the apple computers and everything and some prices coming down and it equals out to small inflation but gasoline is

up 93%, peanut butter up 36%, college textbooks up 24%. hospital services up 24%, uncooked ground beef up 18%. i mean these things add up. these are things we can't avoid buying. >> sure. you can't avoid buying those and meanwhile we're not seeing inflation in wages. you're talking about all these inputs and we're trying to assess how the average household spends money. the answer is in some sectors like food, we are seeing rising prices. is it inflation? complexity in commodities? we'll see it erode, especially food, because of the slowdown in europe and china. i'm not concerned about inflation now. you have some smart economists saying we could be looking at deflation. it's not clear we have solid inflation. >> it's not complicated to a lot of people who look at things --

not just food, hospital services up 25%, airfare 16, auto insurance up 16%, prescription drugs up about 15 -- it feels like inflation to me. >> yeah. it's not complicated at all. what is complicated is cpi, an artificial number you can make low or high. >> consumer price index. >> consumer price index. if we measured cpi the way we did in the 70s we would have high inflation. they used to measure the dollar in terms of gold. the dollar has fallen, 250th of an ounce in 2001. that is inflation, it's not if, it is now. >> shepard: what. >> garbage in, garbage out. >> they're not playing with the stats. since the 70s we've used this index. you can complain about the index

but i don't think you can make a case there's a government conspiracy unless you're jack welch. it's not conspiracy, it is what it is. >> don't beat up on jack. >> i will in a heartbeat. the -- look, there are prices that are going up. prices going down. what i would love to do, rather than focus on it, take a look at the impact that the drought had on food prices and maybe even look at what might be behind that. >> you can say that, we're not excluding it but stick to the is subject. some prices have nothing to do with the drought at all. you add it up and it adds up to inflation. >> i go by the wife budget index. the budget for shopping in my household is going up every single week so we can do the same amount of food shopping. i would imagine that i'm probably not that different from

many other families in the country where incomes are falling or staying the same and the cost of buying groceries -- you're right, in my house, we can't live without apparent burt. that's happening across the country. >> there are other things like government services, going way up. >> buses, subways, tolls, extra taxes. there is inflation. it does take money out of people's pockets. >> the government is not manipulating the data. it doesn't need to. seniors, you're not key to peanut butter and medicine. throw in the kitchen sink and ipad. you seniors are getting too much out of your social security benefits. >> all right. that's got to be the last word. a new buyout plan of public workers is ramping up. is it going to bring the burden on taxpayers down? first, forget the fiscal cliff. why the healthcare law might

have you putting the cork back into that bubbly this new year. that's coming up next. bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs.

can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. [ male announcer ] fedex office. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go.

wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. coming up, forget the fiscal cliff. why the healthcare law could leave us with a financial hangover z the companies about to surprise

>> the fiscal cliff, it's not only thing ready to whack americans come january 1st. lots of faxes and -- taxes and fees will smack us as well. you say this could hold back a full recovery. how 0 so?

there. >> these taxes are real, scheduled to go in effect after the election. they really hit seniors most. you talk about who is dependent on medical devices, the tax on those companies will go up and they pass that along to consumers. you're going to see increased prices in medical devices. seniors are dependent on medical devices. we're putting a -- changing how much you can take -- deduct from taxes on medical expenses. you'll be able to deduct less. >> flexible spending accounts. >> it has to do with flexible spending and tax deductions. they get hit too. these are real sneaky taxes that we don't need to see right now. certainly not in this sort of fragile stage of semi recovery. >> rick, i talked to small business people a guy who owns 40 appleby's has three projects on hold because he's not going

to be able to pay for full-time employees. it's cutting back on the ability to expand business. >> i'm not sure owning 40 applebys counts as a small business. >> a lot of small business people say it prevent them from hiring and spending. >> small business people express concern but if you push and ask them the right questions, you find they still don't understand the law. look, i have to -- >> it's hard to understand. >> i understand it. i very much disagree with victoria. first of all if you want to take the tax on medical equipment, it's not hitting seniors, you might complain it's hitting you because medicare is going to pick up the bill for most of those equipment costs. .9% of medicare tax on people earning more than $250,000, you know what?

our economy has survived much more. >> small business owners -- yes, we're not hiring because of health reform. nine out of ten economists with the national business economist survey says health reform is slowing and hiring is slowing down in the country. mandate tax is big, why hire another worker if you have to pay a mandate tax, face i.r.s. probes and pay accounting fees which crowd out the capital needed to create jobs. >> now that we admit it is a tax, that's one of the biggest things hurting small businesses right now. >> i think all the knee jerk tax haters on this panel can think about something fundamental about government finance. if the government wrecks the economy by being big, it doesn't matter where it pays with a tax hike or your credit card. >> the fact is it matters a lot to small businesses, many of

whom are up at night trying to think how to pay for it. >> 2.3% tax on medical device makers is a jobs killer. ettes one of our highest paying industries and many companies are putting off opening new plants and hiring more people. the wages paid in this industry are about 15% higher than the average wages in the country and it's killing the r & d and it's very bad for the economy. >> not only bad for the economy but bad for people worried about invasions from that particular industry. they're going to have to pay for the new tax. >> well, yeah. what we'll see is that those jobs will go overseas. if you're interested in a medical device company, maybe the united states isn't the best place to do it. i agree. the jobs issue is real. it's just a tax on hiring. >> quick last word, rick. >> this is the kind you have stuff that gets people confused. no it's not going to send jobs overseas. tax is on sales taking place here. we need to understand this law better.

>> hold up that cup that you've got in front. proud to be a bleeding heart liberal. >> disappointing profits this earning season by google but yum and -- find out which other stocks are going to do the same. r cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times.

good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

we're back with a stocks ready to get a pop from a strong profit report. emack eco labs. >> they're selling like gang busters ways to make oil, food services, healthcare, water, cleaner and safer. stock is up, earnings power is behind this one. >> bill, do you like it? >> it has a clean balance sheet but i think 30 times earnings is a lot for dishwasher detergent industry. >> chart industries is full of gas. >> they make high pressure tanks and the asian energy market is