captioned byhe national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abc 7 national correspondent rebecca cooper. >> thank you for joining us for a discussion of business and nance in the washington region. we will focus on the president's budget and promising economic figures. the question rememains, how will the numbers impact us? we will take it up with round- table favorites, peter morici and josh boak, but first we will talk business with who sets t the

pace -- with someone who sets the pace. in addition to the leadership of "business journal," he was named a siness person of the year by the cut chamber of commerce. you have met a number of his talented reporters on the scene, and alex and joins us today. you were on our first episode one year ago, and we thought it was time to have you back. it is the 30th year of the washington business journal. >> if yes, we are really honored and humbled that we are here for 30 years i joked that people left when they met me and said you are the publisher of the washington business journalal is that not an oxymoron? we approve there is business in washington. >> as someone whoho cered

politics for decades, i have to tellou i find there are so many more interesting people in the world of business than polilitics. where some of your favorites? >> the dow is a great question. >> did not war i would ask you that. >> i could remember sitting 15 years agot the aol headquarters with the head of communications. we were talking to khaki bush and --athy bushkin and whether aol could support a c corporate initiative. she walks to steve case's office. he said i would be happy to support that. >> that is interesting.

i think ted leois is one of my favorites. i did -- another one is a plan. >> beforee that, he was a great realistic person. >> he stayed in -- he saved downtown d.c.. >> people still say about the verizon center, and his ability to p put his money behind that, he was the linchpin for downtown washington. >> i covered h funeral and one mayor adrian said he did not come tthe funeral because of other things on his schedule, i thought this guy might not get reelected. there are a lot of things i want to talk about.. i want to talk about the year ahead. how do you look at the economy? do you think it will get better. >> i think the economy is

improving, but slowly. i think we are in turbulent times. the big issue is what will happen with the federal budt and federal procurement dollars. the last few weeks, we have written stories about changes in federal contracting. we have seen layoffs and cutbacks. >> concerns for defense companies. >> yes, and companies like booz allen have started to shave back buying to prepare themselelves. >> are there any stories that stand out from the past year? >> let's see. what would my reporters tell me? >> there was a l of real estate news that made headlines but we were talking about one of the e potential bigtories of this year, wanting to build a casino in prince george's county. >> a $1 billion project on the

shores of the potomac -- ihink there will be discussion about it. he has changed his opinion about it. he is supporting it now. i think it cld change the face of prince george's county and the region. the other big story we reported on was the w-mart's coming to the district o columbia. >> that will make it more difficult for me. i am devoted to target. one of the things you covered and broke the news on where the corporate decisns in terms of headquarters with northropp grumman. you covered that closely. why so important, when places only -- like northrop only brought 300 js tax >> there's something important of all washington been the headquarters location for businesses. we've seen a number of companies

that want to have a quarter -- headquarters here. whenhey think about washington, itays something differently about us rather than just being a center of government. having helton, the u.s. headquarters for siemens northrop it means a lot about our region. these are companies set relocated here recently. >> people who had to be smart about those had to follow your reporters. ie, our executive producer said one of your great talents is skillin hiring people. he says that one afterer another your reporters are the best. what do you look for? >> i humbly thank tm. i am only here because i have those reporters behind a. >> come on. you're also a taskmaster.

>> i love every single one of our reporters and they work really hard. they have to be competitive, and they have to of buness. loving business in the center of journalism is a tough thing to find. being a political reporter in washington -- that is what it is about. to love business that is what we really search for. is that passion that'm looking for. people that care about busins, and are not afraid abobout people king money. when w we report on people really successful the want to make money, many reporters say cynically, thahat is not a good thing. >> i have to with the as a person who covers finance news, i could be smarter than a person in politics, and if i was ever

smarter in business news, i should quit journalism and be in business. >> we will keep you around in the round table. stick around. >> alex orfinger with us after the break. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ 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 ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ]

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to your home. get america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality, and more hd. why keep paying so much for cable? switch to fios for just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. save $600 in your first two years. and don't forget your special bonus: $300 back. hurry, offer ends march 3rd. call 1.877.827.fios. call the verizon centefofor customers with disabilities that's 1.877.827.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead. >> welcome back. as a reporter, they routinely serve as some of our best guess and now the boss is here, alex orfinger, publisher of the "washington business journal,"

along with peter morici and josh boak, an enomics reporter for politico. gentleme welcome. peter, let me start with you. there were a lot of good numbers to look at this week. you say do not break out the champagne, buut in an unusual abt the optimism, he said it is ok to put a few bottles on ice. >> we are starting to see real bounce in the manufacturing sector improvement in residential housing multi-unit dwellings, things of that nature. unemployment claims are getting to a a healthy level off. overall, it seems as though the economy has more bounce than we

thought we would have. that is a good thing. >> you thought it would be a jobless recovery. it is hardly a job-filled, but it is more jobs than we thought. it will be tougher for republicans to say mr. obama should be given the exit door automatically because things are getting betr. >> we have not been talking about the economy onhe mpaign trail -- trail. i promised you we would not talk about aspirin and birth control. we try to mix things up. i wanted you back this week because you did a terrific reporting on manufacturing. not only has president obama been gloating, but the headlines in newspapers were about manufacturing in proving, and you say not so fast. >> that is right.

before i got stuck in this suit, i was on an assemblyine. >> really? >> it is important to have bet perspective. >> and not just talking about as a reporter? >> not just as a reporter. we could see a strong manufacturing base but not many jobs. that is what voters care about. jeff immelt said we would bring back some of the jobs, but not all the jobs, and obama is going to wisconsin and washington, saying we will build an econo based and manufacturing jobs but he is figing a 50-year trend. manufacturing has fallen as a share of the economy. >> here is what i liked about the reporting josh boak did. he looked sec filings. he talked about creating the 11,000 manufacturing jobs since

2009. he said if you look to the annual filing, g general electric trimmed 34,000 employees. intel was another example. president obama talked about 1000 new employees, the use city have lost 5000 jobs. it is a nett loss -- you say they have lost 5000 jobs. it is a net loss. >> b that is right. turn it around with speeches or tax breaks is a tough sell. >> that is why we need somhing wi -- that is much more fundamental. we have a trade deficit with china. if we turn that around, we did 3 million manufacturing jobs. that is not all the jobs we have lost. the problem is half of the jobs we have lost have been to better technology. the other half have beenee to lousy trade policies. fix that, in you get a lot of jobs back. go to a chinese factory.

they are using the sync technology and they are employing people. there are middle-range jobs that we could get back but we have not get -- gotten back because prident obama has not done the things he promised to do. that is what mitt romn should be hearing him about, and those guys are talking about contraception. >> where did that smile? alex orfinger? >> i am happy we did not depend on the manufacturing economy. >> thank you. >> there is a bible that many in the business community use that is published by alex and "the washington business journ." let's look at the fastest the growing companies. it is the manufacturing. most of the fastes car technology. >> technology, technology, technogy -- the number one

company is one i had never hear of. >> i have not either. >> they are a construction company building a lot of technology-related businesses. most of the march technology clean-related, thehe government -- mostst of them are technology- related and government-related companies. >> not manacturing in our area but they are generating manufacturing profits elsewhere -- companies like lockheed martin number 3 paul krugman and general dynamics. you have to get to -- northrop grumman, general dynamics. you have to get to number 4 before you get into capital one and finance. >> most of those comompanies have business consulting here. they are hiring people. they arere big sources of income.

when you drop to capitol one, it is a success story. it is one the top banks in the country. just recently, they seal the deal to buy ing direct. >> josh boak the ceo's you spoke to, they said we are telling president obama the jobs are not coming back, but the white house is painting a rosy picture. >> they are hedging.. the white house is making its pitch to voters, not business people or economists. his voters that will make that decision in 2012. when obama says he is bringing back manufacturing jobs, he is talking about his own job. >> peter, we will continue after the break, but i want to take a point of personal privilege. thursday, we learned the world lo a former washington post reporter who was considered

perhaps the greatest degeneration. anthony's deed fearlessly covered the middle east for the associated press. he rose to recognition. the kid that i grew up with in oklahoma city became a two-time pulitzer prize winner, known for a brilliantnalysis. he survived a gunshot wound and a kidnapping only to die thursday of an asthma attack brought on by the forces they used in syria. this week, especially to those who put their lives on the line to do their work. anthony shadid of "the new

welcome back for more with our roundtable -- alex orfinger josh boa, and peter morici." 1 list everyone likes to work get -- the highest paid public company ceo's. some sit down in salaries. you have some pretty well-paid executives appeared the scovery communicationsns ceo is number one on the list. northrop grumman lockheed martin, indebted therapeutics corp. -- -- united therapeutics corp-- we are talking into the hundreds of millions. >> the average salary it was about $25 million last year.

it was up 65% to the -- compared to the year before. >> you are looking at stock options and awards. what is your take during the year when so many people are just barely coming out of this recovery? >> i am a capitalist through and through. i am the publisher of "washington business journal." i think it is troubling that we have this growing disparity between the very, very highly- paid people, and the rest of the workforce. >> josh boak, do you think it will carry into the election year? >> this is something that is on thmiddle class that are not protesting. median incomes are down by 10%. we have two different economies. for the vast majorityf

americans, to some degree, they are in a recession. >> peter morici you save the obama administration is too opmistic. >> last august, the president told us the deficit would be less than $1 trillion. now what will be closer to $1.30 trillion or $1.40 trillion. surprise, surprise. >> they projected growth. >> in the last four years of their budget, they are projecting 4% growth. if we accomplish that, i will be playing point g guard for the detroit pistons in 2017, and in that year i will be 69 years old. >> lockout jeremy lin. after the break, the number of the week.

>> welcome back. some good news for our number of the year. -- week. the zero. that is what it will cost you to get into the home of an extremely well-known colonial

businessman in mount vernon, the estate of george washington. ththey are waiting the admission fee in observance of the presidents' day cost -- holiday. you might just learn a thihing or two on the farm. we hope they live a good weekend. before we go, we would like to remind you did you have plenty of options when it comes to connecting with us "washington buness report" -- twitter, facebook and a streamlineded version of the entire show ed -- actt wjla.cocom. we wilill see you next sunday.y. by rebecca cper.

[ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for an incredible price: j-st $89.99 a month for two years ye with a two-year agreement. it's an amazing deal, but it's for a limited time only. so don't wait. want to save even more? call right now owd we'll add a special bonus: $300 back. unlike cable, fios delivers a 100% fiber-optic network to your home. get america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet plus the best tv picture quality, and more hd. why keep paying so much for cable? switch o fios for just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. save $600 in your first two years. and don't forget your special bonus: $300 back. hurry, offer ends march 3rd. call 1.877.827.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.827.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v.