neil cavuto on business up next. neil, take it way. >> neil: growing scandal surrounding the white house. grillings of white house officials plastered across the news. sounds like what's going on today, but naturally they're not talking about what's going on four decades ago to the day. hi, everyone, and welcome. i'm neil cavuto. talk about a little bit of deja vu. it's the date of the watergate hearings beginnings, beaming into tvs across america, captivating a nation and crippling a market. walwall street saw a lot of red during that summer. with several hearings on tap for this summer, are we about to see another great 1970 show all over again? to ben stein, charles payne, dagen mcdowell along with adam and charlie. charles payne. >> you know what? i'm not sure. it depends. the hearings this week started off with fireworks. they're going to continue. no doubt about that.

if we look at some of these scandals, wate watergate, iran contra, monica lewinsky, the economies did well throughout all of those. >> neil: not watergate. >> well, the gdp a wa was up foe most part. toward the end, it was a complete meltdown. that's what happens when the president leaves in that kind of disgrace. you know, i will say that there's a good side to this, too. the idea of stopping the anti-business agenda of this administration, i don't think the market is unhappy with that. >> neil: charlie? >> i think it's -- listen. watergate, as you know, was in the middle of stagfliation. monica was in the middle of the tech boom. i don't think this matters that much. i don't think this scandal imperils the presidency. the market doesn't care about the president, only the head of the fed. they're printing money. that's what this market cares about. if obama resigned tomorrow, the market would probably do

nothing. >> neil: as long as bernanke stays. >> until joe biden steps up to the podium. >> i still think it will do nothing. >> neil: dagen? >> i worry what this irs scandal symbolizes about this unwieldy government, a government that's gotten so big. you're overweaning politicians, and that's how our taxpayer money is being spent. i don't know what will reverse that. that is not an environment where this country can prosper, where this country can continue to grow, and it foments the skierss of the american people to start new businesses. >> neil: i know you were around during that time, ben stein. what are the big differences? there are mumen multiple scandat only the irs, but the justice department targeting the ap, hitting companies to promote the health care law. i could go on and on and on. i think there are a lot of these

that could differentiate from watergate. what do you think? >> watergate was a totally different situation. first of all, the media was against the president. in this case, the media, except for fox news, is for the president and is laying down their lives to defend him despite a slight showing of rebellion in the white house press room. the main thing as charlie said, in watergate we were facing very big inflation and stagflation because of the oil embargo. demand was falling rapidly. earnings per share were falling rapidly. that's what the market cares about. it doesn't care about humiliating mr. obama. it wouldn't care one bit if mr. obama left and mr. biden took over and chuckles the clown took over after him. it cares about earnings per share, adjusted for inflation compared with other investments. these earnings have nothing to do with that. >> neil: by the way, chuckles the clown, no offense to you in

the joe biden comparison. here's what i want to know, adam. i always think the president can skate by crises if the backdrop is a good economy. i think that saved bill clinton. in large part it helped get ronald reagan through iran contra. night and day differences, i grant you, but because the economy was as bad as it was and we're dealing with inflation and oil embargoes and the rest as 1973 ensued, it was the wind facing richard nixon, not his back. i'm wondering if this relatively improving economy, not gangbusters economy, could help this president no matter how these hearings evolve. >> well, i don't disagree with anything you said. i'd make a stronger statement. >> neil: i thought mine was pretty strong, but that's okay. [ laughter ] >> nixon even probably could have survived if it didn't turn out that his fingerprints were on the problem, and i think that's the critical difference, you know. president reagan was never flas

terred directly -- plastered directly with iran contra. clearly president obama is not directly involved in any of the quote, unquote scandals yet. >> we don't know that yet. >> neil: we don't know that yet. >> benghazi is not a scandal. it's inat the a incompetence anl mallfeasance. the irs has low level people that acted badly. >> don't blow off the political ramifications of this. let's face it. we have mid term elections coming up. i don't think this has a big impact on the economy or the markets for the reasons i laid out, but this is a political problem. the incompetence of the obama administration where one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing, where the president appoints people that are idiotic, make idiotic mistakes. when benghazi is clearly just a horrendous example of incompetence. that will reflect on the president and that will hurt him politically. >> sir, with great respect --

sir, with great respect to my colleagues, benghazi is not incompetence. benghazi is outright malfeasance, criminal cover up. >> i agree with you. >> that is so true. >> neil: go ahead, adam. >> what we're u all agreed on is there's a thin connection between these scandals across time and the economy, and there's a thin connection between the actions of the president and the economy. >> no way. >> having said that -- well, having said that, there is no suggestion of criminal behavior with this benghazi situation, and charlie -- >> neil: there was no criminal behavior associated with watergate at the outset. >> there's perjury and that's a crime. >> neil: charles payne, if we can forward this a bit. my big thing is we've gone from an administration that was very hands on, detail oriented to

hands off and saying i know nothing, and so after one crisis after another, the only defense is ignorance. the only defense is i was out of the loop. that alone raises questions on so many different scandals that the best defense you have is that you didn't know what was going on? i think that falls into this idea of competence in the white house and competence in our leadership, and that will get to be an exacting problem. >> investors should be happy in the sense, and i do think, charlie, this impedes the president's agenda if not for now. >> neil: you would welcome that. >> the market welcomes it, too. it's certainly a speed bump. to your point, steven miller could tell you it was poor planning, it was nonpartisan, and by the way, we were trying to be more efficient making it a heroic action. he couldn't remember anything else. >> why isn't anybody scared to death about the fact that this scandal is in the irs? we're increasingly at the mercy of this police force.

it has greater and greater power. >> the system works, dagen. >> we've got a whole i new set f tax brackets. >> this isn't about the tax code. >> by the way. >> it's going to have to police the health program. >> do you really think those tax-exempt groups that they targeted, i know they're right wing, do you think they should be tax-exempt? the problem is they're focusing on one type. those groups are political action committees. >> hold on one second. >> wait a minute. >> that's not the argument here. >> i agree. i know all that. >> let's be honest before we start casting aspersions. they went after groups that chanticleeshould not be tax-exe. >> said who? >> why shouldn't they be tax-exempt? >> they were looking to find out who was on the political action committees. >> they're non-profit groups.

they're non-profit groups. why shouldn't they be t tax-exempt? >> neil: that is wor knee o worf another show, but unfortunately we're out of time. in the meantime, irs officials at the heart of this mess are getting big bonuses. the forbes gang is on top of that at the next hour. meanwhile, she needs money to implement the health care law. now she's hitting up health care companies for it. we report ... you decide. this is a huge conflict of interest? ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow. here's to good decisions. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your family's future? we'll help you get there.

well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work.

hi, everyone. we're live from america's news headquarters. i'm jamie colby. there was a frightening scene at new york international -- newark international airport when plane forced to make an emergency landing overnight had its landing gear malfunction mid air. it happened just after the u.s. airways flight took off from philadelphia. the pilot had to perform a belly landing. crews quickly doused the plane with foam.

none of the 31 passengers were hurt. the feds are working to determine the cause of the crash. a potential break in a case of little madeline mckahn. british police say they're investigating new leads and they've actually identified several persons of interest who they plan to question. mccann vanished six years ago from her family's vacation home in portugal. the parents left her and her twin brothers home alone while they were at a nearby restaurant. i'm jamie colby. i'll send you back to neil cavuto on business and all your headlines always available on foxnews.com. >> neil: all right. kind of ancillariry, getting serious about selling the health care law. the head of the health and human services department is hitting up private businesses with money to promote the law, some of the very same firms her agency oversees. some companies are happily paying up. were they really freely giving a hand or getting strongarmed. charlie? >> obviously getting strong armed. it's a huge conflict of

interest. it almost seems political, that it should be along with campaign finance. listen. this is a whole political thing. you're essentially forcing businesses to turn over contributions to promote a political agenda which is health care. >> it's also financial, though, neil. we have no idea how much this thing is going to cost ultimately, and health and human services doesn't have enough money to implement the exchanges. congress has said no. they've been dipping into other parts of the health care law like the prevention fund. health and human services have taken a half a billion dollars out this year for that purpose. they have no control and no idea what the ultimate costs will be. >> neil: i wondered charles, how the phone call will be. are you able to maybe wor fork r a few bucks? just wondering. >> should we send someone over? listen. it's so wrong on both levels. there's absolutely no doubt. people are sort of seeing this kind of stuff coming.

lobbyists wrote this. we saw waivers for certain corporations, certain unions. insurance stocks blew up a month ago because all of a sudden things weren't so bad for them. believe me, there's a wink and a nod here. the people that should be really upset about this are the people watching the show. ultimately we'll bear the brunt of this. to day dagen's point, it will ct more than any of us can believe. >> neil: one of the arguments for doing this is the repulicans have stymied us on funding this and slow boating a lot of funds we need to implement this, so this is what we had to do. what do you think about that? >> it's a straight chicago style machine politics shakedown. it is nothing but a protection racket. they come into your store, they threaten that they're going to burn down your store. they say we'll sell you protection. the owner of the store says protection from whom? they say protection from us. it's just a straight machine politics-style shakedown. it's a disgrace.

>> neil: adam? >> look. i don't -- i don't love this. i'm not going to be a cheerleader for what she's doing here, but i hate to be forced into the position of being the reagan optimist as i so frequently am on this program and point out to you that we have a long history of cooperation. >> neil: you're drinking, aren't you? >> between the government and the private sector. the military works with private groups to support our armed forces. the faa works with airplane manufacturers. >> these are like taking campaign contributions from people you regulate. that's illegal. >> it's saying we need to help to make sure that people are working to get this going. >> i've got to tell you. adam, whenever you bring up the optimism thing, i always think you know what? walk up to someone who just got hit in the head with a brick at an atm.

you would say look at the bright side. you're still alive and they're always tomorrow. >> thank you for pointing that out. > >> neil: i'm wondering what if the companies had said no? what if they said no? >> you know what? i think probably in the past they might have said no and they might have paid some sort of price for it. it's one of those things where people don't say no. maybe down the road they'll be able to go back and say listen -- >> this is sticking their fingers in the dike, though, in the short run. >> maybe, maybe not. >> this is trying to keep the water at bay and move ahead with the implementation of this law before everything explodes in their face. >> you want a contract? give me $100,000. >> neil: i think it was more subtle than that if it can be. i think to ben's point at the outset here, i think when it comes to what they did with the irs, what the justice did by going up to the ap reporters, it's done with a wink and a nod and a veiled reference, just searching, just curious. >> isn't it like an illegal tax

as well? they're kind of like throwing an extra tax in here. pay us now, please, to implement this. >> neil: the entities that paid have a vested interest in getting something out of it. >> ultimately it's a quid pro quo. >> neil: i didn't understand the h&r block. what was the upside for them? >> how many government contracts did they get? >> neil: they get government contracts for the paperwork. got you. now i know. when we come back, a walking out to get a 100% pay hike. more workers are doing it, but many say the rage is not about that. it's about the unions. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone

who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ what is it that tomakes a husqvarna?e years. it's not all the brilliant engineering, no. it's this that makes a husqvarna!

they are demanding companies

♪ (chanting) >> all right, it is happen nothing milwaukee, folks working in burger joints. they don't want a little incrose. they want double the wages they are making now. is the unions cooking up more trouble? >> what do you think? >> i think what is going to happen, they will get replaced by other workers that will work for more normal pay. and they are asked to be thrown out in the streets. this is trouble making by people who don't understands economics.

>> it is a low margin business and american people want cheap fast-food. if they are unionized, it means fewer jobs for everybody. >> i don't eat the garbage. >> they have salads. >> they are horrible and a lot of sugar in the salad dressing. >> what about the mcrib? >> can i make my point. >> people -- it is the salad dressing. >> my only point is that people eat hamburgers with all of that grease and grime. >> if they overshoot, free market works. that's the point. detroit is a right to work state. >> it is already working.

nfree market? that is political black mail. >> they are led down the wrong path. the idea of paying twice as much for a free market wage. >> they understand. >> they don't understand it. >> and it is a top and that is that is not extortion. and this week also. it is not extortion. >> it is 300 million. >> let me have my point. >> let charles finish. >> 300 million. and the city went on heavy- handed unionization. not only pricing themselves out of the car market but the city is dying. >> be careful what you are wishing for. a dam? >> charles just changed the

subject. we don't know the right rate. >> but they are getting paid the right rate. they could fill those jobs tomorrow! >> why are we blaming the unions for recruiting more members. >> double. >> they are going to lose members, my friend. >> it will be losing and then they will get a lower increase. >> the strike is nothing like this. >> to charles's point in a state like michigan, people will have the option of paying union dues and right to work. >> and blessedly you two are leaving but they do have a good point. i is not out other anchor tapes. mull over that one. >> and the stocks are like so much, so much and they are buying them with their own

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>> eating your own cook asking charles has stocks he is cooking. >> i like the stocks and i love it a lot. >> what do you think of that adam? >> it is okay. if i were to go in machinery, i would take caterpillar. charles is a great stock picker. >> that is a put down, what do you think? >> walmart with things that are looking so about. walmart will be around a long time especially as the economy continues to recover. >> ben? >> i love walmart although they have to do something about their stores. they are a wreck. i like it just fine. i like the index sdy dividend part of the standards and po