cacaptioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> businesnews from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abcbc7 national correspondent rebecca cooperer. thank you for joinings at a look and business and finance issues here in the washington region. i am jennifer donelan. no factors rival thee influence of the federal government, but some see that protection getting thinnener. jim dinegar is president and ceo of the greater washington board of trade. the board is helping to preparare business leaders for the coming, it. thank you for being here. yoare going to beolding an event in december. the super committee i is supposed to release their

findings and recommendations for the 23rd of novembe then it goes up for a vote on dececember 23. happy holidays for everyone aroundthe region. if it passes,t will be bad for theegion. ift does not pass, the automatic cuts would be worse. >> a 12-member panel, six dedemocrats ansix republicans tryingng to come up with $20 trillilionn budget cut that wl affect uhere at home. now it is time to hunk down. >> this region has not been accustomed to no growth. $1.20 trillion are not across- the-board. than thexpectation is o of the cuts to government would t

here harder. defense spending, defense contraors, and we are very concerned about the se for homeland security. those are the types of ings that mightht come off ththe table. >> we have seen some things -- b exnsion this year, almost zero. we a are close to the bottom among the 15 biggest areas according to a george mason steady. >> were in a very good situion. that is because ofheir growth over the years. you are right it has become stagnanant around here not as mumuch as because of the economy b because of the uncertaiainty. look decrease in the open closer in thihis region closer than other regioions because o of how much foreign monecouldd come here. people are not looking to hire

or buy new equipmentr expand their office space until theyy get some degree certainty of what is next. the super committee is next. >> the private sector is going to be falling right along with what happens here. >> very c close. >> wt do youou advising business ners? >> on december 1, we willet people know what is inn this december or november 23 proposal. we want to wk them through what it wi name, e implications for greater washshington people n need to understand scenario planning. there are automatic cuts. no one kno what they are. ththey know them in the broadest strokes. leon panetta has spoke about it with mility spending. know w what some of the parameters would be. we want to h help people with a

scenario plann. >> what happens ithe super committee fails? it is not looking good right now. what happens if they fail? >> if they fail,l, tre were pre- reed cu but no specifics about reachining $1.20 trillion. if they do not agree it has to happenen almost half, from defense spending.g. >> tha is r region. >> that is our region. he would not be looki for defense cuts for the people in -- you would not be lolooking f defense e cuts for the people in ununiform. a large part off it becomes s the extrancomer the extra mons that are appropriated. that is where they can make some chchanges. a big part of f that is a a defenense ntractors, big in n this region, r biggest employers. >> you said you undersrstand

deficit reduction. >> america first underand debtbt reduction, but for the greater washington region, it is going to be bad or is going to be worse. it is for the region than people realize. it will rt our aport, the people working at the airport the coconvention a hotel industry in greaterashingngton, going out and coming in if you look at the retail prices, they are higher than most othther regions. if the spigot is turned off, that is a a very big issue for the real-estate economy and the economy. >> anyone who is in business in washington probably needs to at your event on the fifirst. it does not matter r what your business is. >> and just about jennifer. next year is coming out prettyty ickly.

now they are waiting until november or december to do their budget because othe impact of thisis super committee. we want them to get their hands are around this besest they can and d send them in the new year so they havade enough plants to get their own house in order. >> looki at things right nowow with the way things are going what are you thinking? " " the super mmittee is givingg themselvlves too much credit. it is not even aommittttee. they seem to be spsplitting up pretty quickly and going over theiown proposals. you are not e even looking at s and six anymorore. you arare looking at 3, 3, 3 3. i am not couldn't -- i am not getting a good signal at all that it will put out somhing by the deadline. >> gigiven everything that wewent

into thisand the formation of the per cmittee they would have a betteter idea so business owners and all o of us could plant a lilittle more. >> you have to make thehe decisions so there is a degree of certaininty, and then so we can all r respond appropriatetely. hanging over our heads on all of thisis is very uncomfortable. >> we will be w watching along with you. a december 1. >> it is coming together nicely.. we are lking a at the ronald reagan cenr. >>k. we wilill be there. good luck. we have more after the break. a look at the siness of marketing in a shaky economy. we are talking about real-

people in the top income brackets have got a lot of attention lately over tax increases. at least one sector of the washington region's economy has been impacted, luxury real tate. r guest tom anderson knows th sector veryell as the president of washington fine properties. welce, totom, to the "washington business reportt." >> nice to be here. >> what i dream about is being able touy one of those top-end properties. >> we all do. busisiness is actually very good.

there is a good amount of concern that people have relative to what is going on in the autonomy. but, nonetheless, owning a home is still part of the american way bank and people are always going to buy homes. business has been good for us. >> talk to me about whington fine properties. >> it t is a locallyly-owned firm of. real-tate is local d its all about the people. the people that are here living in the c community and being able to represent. >> ok. you have seen a t. >> i have. >> have you seen this before? >> i saw ilike this in the 19's. it was a pretty bumpyide. so i am somewhat familiarr with it. i ink it is a all about

maneneuvering through that and king people comfortable. >> we were just speaeaking with jim dinar of the greater washingtonon board of trade. what do you thinking the? i know threal-estate market is watching these lending budget cuts. how are you feeling? " right now, things are a littl quieter because people are waiting to see what will happen. but i think they are optptimistic and are waiting because they still want to s sell, by year's wantnt to buy, and i think theyey understand d what the impacts are going to be on their ability to both buy a and manage a purchasase of a home. >> it is going to affect the rereal-estate market either way. >> eher way. >> and this little headline - -- washington home prices up 5.7% since august.

i had to check the dat it came out yterday -- i am sorrrry, thursday. >> amazing. i think that is only good news for those of us in the capital region to know that our market is one of the top markets in the nanation right now. activity here -- people are buying properties, and we are seeing good activity which builds confidence in buyers' willingness to step up. >> are you just in the districtk? >> no. there is a little bit of a difference. there is more activity in washington d.c. still, there is go activity -- we are in montgomery county as ll as northern virginia.a. >> that is doing well >> yes. but there is no question that a market like this does affectct what people are doing, and a lot

of people are e moving in. there is an old saying, " "they go in, they go out. right now, they are going in. for families particularly with chilildren who want to have a wonderful house with a yard, there is great value. >> that was one of myast questions. you a are saying pretty steady butut you are able t to buy more homes for your money. >> yes you are. you can buy a house today -- you will be snding probably 10% to 20% ss than you would have at the height of the market in 200808. >> interest rates e down but you have to have that 20% down, and that is affecting im su -- >> it is. but the good news is -- actually a large part of our business is under $1 million

also. those people are 50% of our business. those people are moving up io the bigger houses. they see thepportunity. they want to capturehe opportunit en they sell that house, they will havave the liquidity to put down down paymt. >> ll maybe one dayay. thank you so much for joining us. up next, the odds on the super committee and the daily coupon business. you will hear it from ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation every solution comes together for a single purpose -- to make the wod a safer place.

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>> we are looking for signs from

capitol hill to see which parts of the federal budget get clipped and by how much. all eyes are on the daily deals sector, watching e price off groupon's stock. wewe wl discuss those topics and more withur guests of a roundtable. bill flook foror the "washington business journal." and j josh boak with "politico." you just interviewed d this ceo of livingsocial. what is in the works for them? >> he makes an analogy to amazon when h he looks at the future of ththe company. day the deals has been what lilivingsocial has done since 2009. they do what is very similar to what g groupon does. he is thinking one day we want

to diversify. we do not want to be reliantt on a sisingle product. the same way amazon is you c can go on and find anything. it is the same sort of diversification that they want to do so they are no so reliant on a single product. >> what was his temperature? did he feel confident? what were yogetting from him? >> he is ceo, and c's are naturally optimistic people. >> especially when you are talklking to a a reporter. >> absosolutely. how do you d deal with e critics outhere of ily deals? there are critics and the press who say this is all unstainable. he says he does not listen to. he says we have a sustainable model. think really turns out a lot of the negativity

surrounding this space right now. >> jo u.s.s.sh,ard -- josh you have been hard at work covering the super committee. based on all the repororts i have read theare not doing so well. >> americans could buy a discount on the super committee they would. we are coming up into a danger zone area because they have to deliver the recomommendations the day before thanksgiving and have final deal by december 23. rit before christmas. so the height of the holiday shoppingeason is when our government is going to determine our future, a key te for retailers all around the u.s. theyace two really simple choices -- what we going to do with taxes? neither side has found common ground in n those areas.

unless they e lling to do that, we are not going t to see anything substanti. it is in isis mode. it is the 11th hour it seems. votersavee b been so frfrusated. >> one there is thehe chance that they could do a megadeal -- $3 trillionon, $4 trillioion, but the odds of that are so low. then there is the chance that there is a breakdown, that they do not get anything done. that is also aow possibility cause that would trigger $1.2020 trillion n in automatic cuts ovever a decade. then there is the chance that they kind deliver on part off their mandate, like maybe $700 billion in cuts. then there is the chanance that they neeeed t their mdate. >> whatat to the chances of that?

whwhat's ththe real problem we are seeings that none really knows why they are thinking. if you were to liste to corporate earnings calls for the third quarter over the past month, he would hear execives at defense companies, medical companies, all saying it i is tough for us to project in the futu because we do not know what is ing on which crereates a cyclcle of uncertainty. >> absolutely. its tricklklin down. a toh time for groupon to g go public. >> this is not a particularly od ipo environment. groupon is the big story of the day. they are right at the gate. they are doing quite well. they popped more than 30% this morng. they really engiered a lot of demand for their stock. > they popped 30% on friday

morning right out of the gate? i read anrtle somewhere that if you get hired at groupon you may look at being fired or get laid off. >> i thihink that is reflection in the long-term sustainability of the dailyeal model. i think there is a lot of skepticism aboutut whether thi will be around. >> daily deals work. most of my friends us them weekly aost at this point. >> we hear a lot about whats called deal fatigue. an e-mail a d day from countless sites. merchants on the other hand are probably losing money y on a lot of deals. groupon and livg soci take a big cut spending they are looking at the value proposition ofoingeals. > you just did an article about

foodod costs soaring on top of the cuts and the food stamp programs. >> the department of agriculture came o and said food inflation is going to be 4.5% this year that is giganticonsidering that inflation last year for food was less than 1%. we are seeg that growth for those peoplee buying groceries and brininging thehem home. in the past, a lot of inflation was at restaurants. the food stamp program -- the agricultural commitittees are looking at $2billion in cuts over the next decade.e. we are still trying to see what that means for food stamps which is now $70 billion plus program cause of the recession. >> i need to go somewhwhere to

get the stressut. >> there is a groupon for that. >> stay with us spending after the break we will e ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation every solution comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. o0 c1 the best place for a vacation

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>> 50. 50%, at the porti of americans who say they could not come up with $2,000 wiin 30 day