properly january nineteenth marks the sunset of now their fourth continuing resolution but passing budgets on time isn't the only important responsibility congress has been ignoring now on a regular pretty regular basis. according to a recent survey by gov spend dot com congressional members and the u.s. voting public are incredibly far apart on spending priorities for example gov spend discover that when it comes to just the discretionary funding budget americans thought military spending should be cut in half and education science and energy and environment deserve to be roughly doubled or more but congress on the other hand decided that allocating six hundred thirty nine billion to the pentagon while giving just fifty nine billion for education was a was a much better use of taxpayer dollars. i guess to our illustrious elected officials a brand new gerald ford aircraft carriers far more important to our well being than

heating city schools and baltimore seems that congress is also ignoring the will of the citizenry they represent relegating us to a pretty low spot on the totem pole of congressional priorities which is why which is why it is time to break out the wood carver and start watching harks. you get the. real thing. as you get to the bottom. like you that i got. this. week so. rugland watching the harks i am a robot sort of out of the wall and so yeah goodness gracious little bit of

a divide between what congress makes a priority and what we what we what yeah i'm not allowed to just get so it seems like this administration over and over again sort of says we'll get to it next week willow later it's a little that all of us get are we got to it i see that in my taxes i don't consider that my light bill medical bills they don't take that. i'm just totally about where it is pretty amazing our congress can just keep going to kicking the can down the down the hill for one you had one job one job and your one job one really important job which is to make sure that money one goes the right place which is a whole nother conversation but i think it's that idea of how do people even understand those two do people do most americans have a concept of how much what i didn't really spend and on what i got is the i don't think yeah all right i know it's the illusion versus the. reality really i mean look when they surveyed the zero two thousand some taxpayers. the

average. they thought that the average for defense spending was about twenty six percent of the budget you know you look at it also you know about twenty cents or so compared to fifty four percent of what we actually spend so like they kind of assume of twenty six i think right you take a look at this graph they put up most taxpayers actually thought the militias military spending accounts for roughly twenty six percent of the discretionary budget spending now the the about fifty four percent it actually does most experts feel like a twenty six a good number that we should be spending on them we should have the spending of not a fifty four percent are they also you look at that they also thought that we spend about ten percent of our budget on health care right now you ten percent must go to health care when in fact only six percent actually so that's like this big disconnect and it's not like military health care of these are the only things you know i mean what's really disturbing is the idea of what people thought we spent on

veterans or for veterans they guess the veterans benefits would account for almost eleven percent. of mandatory federal mandatory spending many of these or it has to go to matter what actually they're only out about four percent of the actual have it and it was in agriculture and transportation that kind of amazed me because this mandatory spending they doubled the amount we spend on agriculture and transportation so from agriculture they thought it was you know it's from four percent to eight percent they thought it was a present only for transportation they thought it was at least six and it's actually only two per cent and just sit back and wonder what's happened this is where it's happened this is why but they'll tell you we're spending all this money on health care we're already spending how do you pay for that how would we pay our education how do we pay for heating and baltimore schools and you know how why don't you spend what america and the what the american people think you're supposed to. what we're supposed to do you know it's interesting we talked about that mandatory you know the mandatory spending side of the budget what's interesting

about this particular survey is that the men and women surveyed actually believe the we should the late they think less money should be spent on social security and medicare yeah and they actually put more into veterans food agriculture and transportation because they think they're important right you know which is interesting is this kind of like ok you know there's two things that we're paying for for the future so starting medicare but today we need this that's kind of what you get from those surveys from this particular survey it's like look it's great that we're saving but really i mean we spend a trillion dollars in federal measurement of social security that's just to take care of people that are out and they're coming forward now you can talk about republicans and others on the hill we need to dip into that we need to bring some of that back into the fold and cut into people's social security or laced was the excuse let other people use it you know let them decide what they want to use of which is the us. while there are laws in place to protect employees from harassment abuse of

a company doesn't actually hound someone on staff to ensure those laws are followed they could be in for a world of trouble in a reformation sparked by the me too movement foray into the news world the other stuff that a child has discovered that multiple publications the heart of harassment allegations have had no working human resources person or department one former employee of the new republic told the intercept that staffers quote had no power no leverage to get it to stop no one to tell what was happening to and no reason to believe that they could speak out and still keep their jobs a formation institute not a nation institute employee told having imposed that abuse their quote all took place against a backdrop where there was no personal handbook and no one to be in charge role finally sorry jaffe a former freelance reporter at alter net said she didn't remember quote ever giving a handbook or getting told where i should take complaints if i had any board members never. interacted with any of us in a capacity of actually overseeing alter net so could it truly be as simple as

having an h.r. department well in a lot of ways it is managers can't simply interpret an official handbook any way they want which is where h.r. becomes important for arbitration in the event of an issue arising and in the event of a complaint conflicts of interest can be avoided because i'm reality who do you complain to when your manager or boss acts in appropriately when the person everyone answers to is the perpetrator of that abuse which is why especially in the news business the value of having proper human resources people or departments can't possibly o. be overlooked as people finally refuse to be abused harassed or discriminated against in the workplace. you know. there's it's great we're you know people are sort of asked these questions and bringing these things up from people who have all of the entertainment business but this should be across the board not just of. the whatever you should have someone there. you know you have to have somebody who's

outside of it and this is to protect companies and c.e.o.'s as much as it is to protect your you know the guy in the mail you need that already you need an honest broker for everyone because what happens when you try to sort of this is what's happened in these multiple organizations and we've seen it with like you said with harvey and everybody else it's like is there or is there any of our department and is that is your department substantial enough substance have enough that they will take these complaints and actually deal with them having you know having worked at miramax back in the day i don't know that that you know there's this is where some of the issues are just because there's an h.r. department doesn't mean that they're doing their job correctly if you don't get me wrong just having one is a great you have to have somebody who is willing to say this is how this goes now one of the things you know even if someone is acting as an h.r. person all along and this was the problem number of places at the new republic this is where they ran into an issue is they had somebody who was working another job as the h.r. person and the problem was there was

a number of those it's an issue of trust so what happens here is you have a manager assigned to handle h.r. complaints then most times the managers in this new republic just swept them under the rug made refused to take a formal complaint or would often retaliate against an employer you really didn't make complaints so with everyone in a bad position because. it's something as a manager that seems totally fine isn't ok when you're in that job a major personal voice right so this is what i've known tribe or an scheiber and julie cresswell had talked about this a little bit in new york times had a piece in december and what they said which is quote a lack of trust manic. that's itself it is a self perpetuating quandary women are hesitant to approach human resources departments and those departments cite the absence of complaints as proof of a respectful and for my entire career many times have i gone to an h.r. department complain about something they sort of do sleep it often happens and even a full on h.r.

departments we sit under the rug says it's going to be harder for you and then you don't have any backup and eventually what you learned in this business as a woman as a. woman. i years old that i am that honest i don't my first reaction is not to go to h.r. it's not to go to the authorities when something bad happens because they're not going to believe. that i'm that's the truth the truth that i always feel every day think about all that culture. how purpose of the culture. of what is and isn't acceptable or. even from a male side looking at a work entertainment industry almost my whole adult life and i can think off the top of my head of h.r. in a production company but i don't know how you know we're like what that exam how can you know i don't sure does but like no one ever says this is where it is this is where you talk to you know infidelity is unnecessary you know you know how do you look if you think. there's this idea that business is a very different world that it's you know the idea of even saying like this makes

me uncomfortable if you're told to just suck it up right there's a certain amount of balance that has to be had in that and i think that we're seeing now that we're seeing the me to movement really take root it's good that suddenly companies are asking you know how beefed up is our h.r. department you know how independent are they how well you know where do we stand on that and how do we move forward in a way that's not traditional because we clearly need something that's a little and what we are not happy about the conversation started i like the conversation continues all right as we go to break watchers don't forget to let us know what you think of the topics to cover the facebook and twitter sphere both shows are coming up. collins cook updates us on the f.c.c. chairman hyde sudden cancellation from the consumer electronics show and i get why that artie's latasha suite raises some important questions about the future of trade and travel united states state to.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. when lawmakers manufacture come sentenced him to the public well. when the ruling classes to protect themselves. with the financial merry go round listen to the one percent. that's nothing to do ignore middle of the room signal. real news.

shows seem wrong but all roles just don't hold. any longer to get to shape out these days comes to the ticket and in games from an equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. thank. you where in the world is. yeah you heard that right the chairman of the absolute see fan of the harlem shake and beloved savior of internet service providers nationwide the controversial

occupant of a usually non-controversial government post is missing in action at the consumer electronics show in las vegas where pi was supposed to speak before a panel before withdrawing at the very last minute but no not because verizon forgot to dispatch their corporate jet for another obamacare regulation needed scrapping in d.c. the actual reason may unfortunately be much more sinister for some answers we were joined earlier from las vegas by collin cook host of the big picture. column thank you for joining watching dogs from the consumer electronics show and all the big moves going in to this week's you know c.e.o.'s was on the f.c.c. commissioner rajiv paes mysterious sudden interesting decision to back out of his planned appearance there what are you hearing why did he back out what are they saying on the ground there. well he is a fan fave here and arrived extra early last year and i still got shut out it was

standing room only so this was going to be a big deal and the chairman cancelled on fairly short notice after a reported death threats that are assumed to be because of him nixing net neutrality and i wish i could say we didn't see this comment but we saw the anger the overwhelming public opposition to this change when he scotched net neutrality and i winced when i saw some of the p.r. that he put out you might have seen on you tube f.c.c. chairman. answers mean tweets and it was snarky and you may have seen around the time of the vote which was just before christmas of video he put out he was dressed up as a hip hop saddle hop an all around and frankly the decorum that you would expect from somebody whose first name is honorable when you're

a presidential appointee seem to odds with the personality he's projecting and a little of that goes a long way this guy is the darling of the broadcast industry because he's deregulating right and left within the last several weeks alone they have undone what was called the main studio rule which required local broadcasters to wait for it broadcast locally now it's going to be easier for radio stations to just pipe something in from the mothership in another time zone and then they on did the newspaper across ownership rule which seems tailor made for the mega merger of two corporate media baby minutes right wing sinclair t.v. and tribune broadcasting company since when was it the f.c.c. . yes business to ensure the health of newspapers and now comes this net neutrality thing so this is classic question more stuff and we saw the aheer of the protesters

around net neutrality and this is why the chairman is under federal protection and we pray for the safety of his family but frankly mr chairman at your age great point great point it's interesting you know when you see government doing something so wildly unpopular as not to you know rescinding net neutrality in taking that away and then you know tragically you see death threats you see this kind of you know scariness after words were you know it is a divisive issue but i think i really it's likely i think more people are on the side of keeping net neutrality the not one of the thing i want to ask you is you know there on the ground in laws vagas one of the other potential big headlines coming out of c.e.o.'s this week. it's everything here and curiously we are we the media are under strict instructions from the consumer electronics show not

to utter the phrase consumer electronics show because they're trying to shake the image of this as a gadget bazaar and that it is the exhibit hall is the size of fifty football fields several thousand companies are going to introduce tens of thousands of new products but think about life today you wouldn't dare leave the house without your smartphone we go christmas shopping on amazon we get our ride from ober presidential tweets and bitcoin are grabbing headlines every day so there's lots more to life and to what we're seeing here in vegas this week then just gadgets although a product called pet q. will allow your dog to face time you. can't wait for that i really care where. that is where i call it artificial intelligence eggs are glad to have this law galant thank you so much for coming out and shared all that's going on out there and c.e.o.'s you bet.

i understand ok. but i guess for us every day and i still come to love part of the thing with my mother because i understand that you're worried about yourself or your family and go play any place where. you can still do it remote. think about it. like hey i'm going to be here in d.c. but i will transmit my miami to the interview that way people can hear going around so we could have timed with everyone. exactly good so i think it's one of those things if you want to be the big man on campus if you want to be the one with the videos in the viral and everybody think you're cool then don't go running the minute someone you know i'm sorry but there are many people in this business and in your job that get death. threats. like everyone here

and every news station or if you're a woman on the internet and the fact that his whole thing is i'm too scared to go but to not speak at all means it wasn't about safety because like you said he could have and he needs they he he needs to go out there that's a responsibility everyone there is why we. depend on the f.c.c. and what happens there if you cannot face the consumer electronics show if you cannot face the business that's part of the i'd be able making hard decisions when you make a decision or wildly unpopular you have to stand up and account for that decision you know and that's the problem most politicians none of them want to you always see the come out like sidestep well i made this decision but i'll blame somebody else for making me do it or i won't ever talk about that or i'll answer the question i'll give you an answer to a question that you didn't actually ask me ridiculous. in many countries around the world the train system is a source of national pride and somehow not a source of tragic monthly headlines but alas we are not so fortunate here in the

united states leaving many americans to question why we can't have the luxury of europe's cheap reliable train service with a lightning fast but trains of japan because our american viewers are likely to know we are much more likely to experience a two hour delay or an inexplicable to rail and before we actually experience getting to work on time artie's natasha's suite takes an in-depth look at just how significantly this lack of development of facts our nation's larger economy. now in larger urban areas of life we all come across access to passenger rail systems and some cities column metros others call it a subway and even a trolley and while it does have its benefits like bypassing bumper to bumper traffic it seems as though the vast majority of people still enjoy getting around in their own cars. busy highways and intersections are a trademark for some major metropolitan areas if you're living in new york los

angeles san francisco congestion on the roads is something you've likely already come to terms with. but it doesn't make it any easier and ideas to fix the problem like the high speed rail in california or the much oh connecting baltimore to d.c. are entice enough for many commuters if you were called back in prior to world war two the us had a fairly robust passenger rail system across the country. but postwar to this when things really changed jamie finch former director of government public and family affairs for the national transportation safety board remembers that world war two devastated europe's infrastructure to rebuild they hardly invested in rail but that wasn't the case for the u.s. even though the u.s. had a fairly robust passenger rail system prior twelve were to. president eisenhower took notice of the autobahn the german government built it benefited the country both economically and defensively it brought so many people into middle class it

created jobs at several levels not just manufacturing but also car parts make notes and selling which of course impacted the economy a great deal the auto industry exploded and changed the culture of driving in the u.s. our economy travels all that bill and the americans love for their cars and their own sense of independence well americans do love their independence solutions to the endless traffic jams are on the minds of many. californians high speed rail was approved by voters in two thousand and eight sixty four million dollar plan will bring in hundred miles of track stepping down the golden state if bans don't dry up in construction remains on schedule the trains first phase will be completed by twenty twenty nine but finch questions if this master plan is in california's best interest financially i would hate to see. this

huge amount of investment going toward something that is just going to prove to be a i. x social experiment. it's billions and billions of dollars that it will take to build but on the east coast offense questions why there aren't more connections for places like pittsburgh philadelphia to d.c. maryland lawmakers just oppose a high speed rail route which would make the trek from baltimore to d.c. only fifteen minutes lawmakers cited the amtrak as being too disruptive to communities but finch isn't convinced they do bring their own economic benefit to that community with the gas stations and other services and the restaurants and so on you know when someone takes an exit but if more passenger rails are going to be built safety and proper maintenance have to be a top priority according to finch that medically what are you reporting i am going . investigators concluded that the real meant in washington state last month

was a result of the train speeding nearly fifty miles over the speed limit as technology continually advances investigators are looking into the options of controlling the speed of trains remotely regardless of advancement since those without proper investment safety cannot be guaranteed with more joy or through a more cynical to fix it for those shortfalls would now some question the need for these passenger rail systems as the right sharing programs like uber left are also cost effective however the issue of traffic still remains in los angeles untouched suites our team. when corporate plunder and brazen lawlessness are sadly nothing to even bat an eye at it takes a lot for a simple heist to make worldwide headlines but it did and that's exactly what an ambitious burglar accomplished in denmark infiltrating a chic cocktail bar at night and taking off with a single bottle of vodka its price tag and popping one point three million dollars was justified by the bottles thirteen pounds of gold and silver diamond

a winding and an original one nine hundred twelve race ribbon commemorating a monte carlo grand prix victory but fear not because in just days the thief lost his mojo leaving the bottle less alcoholic content dented and bruised but it is a way final in the midst of a pause copenhagen neighborhood and as with everything miss these days the quick resolution to this alcoholic caper did not come without a little russian collusion with this reckoning with they've got cold feet after hearing that big bottles russian owner famous for outfitting the world's rich and paranoid with gold plated armored trucks was apparently about to dispatch a search party of its own gold plated armored trucks but how was the vodka that i'm sure i want to go home with and just only in matters i'm going out a little over one point three million dollars annual. if you drag it by all i'll have you just slammed up bottle by yourself that let you know you woke up a little sore i can do that for thirty bucks at home but i got what they did i go

with their million dollar over that you didn't even have to pay for don't steal people's dogs. that's not right that is are so for you today remember everyone in the world we are not told that real love so i tell you all of you i am i robot and on top of the wall that's key fob watch rolls hawks have a great. piece everybody i'm stephen baldwin got to ask hollywood guy you'll suspect every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and r.v.'s to say this is my buddy max famous financial guru and we're just a little bit different i'm not a broom lincoln or no no no no god with all the drama happening in our country i'm shooting the brood have some fun meet everyday americans. and hopefully start to

bridge the gap this is the great american people. the two thousand and eight economic crisis turned some countries into paix these are the countries with weaker economies that needed austerity policies if you are in a situational flow gloats even the recession austerity is a very bad idea it doesn't work and it makes millions of people very unhappy those who are unemployed see data which is declining almost a decade how good are the results she's almost at the new year and he's welcome by the people gathered in which to watch her obit be able to see what i joined. it sure. did beautiful blue she still claim it was i mean to for legal. challenge

must be more than this she did not know it was always think you think she somehow they cannot get him about. why at the same missions still in place who one of the consequences to blue bird flu dispute who will first. of this is the truth the consider is the consequences are actually quite acceptable to the decision making. power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and they fell of the measured over their heads up saudi arabia these days is as corrupt as the day is long and he's just stealing money from folks and with us right to be had it but americans like that free for a while ok already there actually are in the process of reform but that somehow evil.

headlines. north korea and south korea hold high level talks for the time. it's raising hopes of a possible diplomatic breakthrough over the crisis. hundreds of people have been protesting in the spanish capital against the government's decision to refugees in a regional jail. and their. child in a hoodie with the. monkey. in the program. the issue. of racial tension you know it's going to tell.