>> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abc 7 national correspondent rebecca cooper. >> thank you f joining us for a look at business a and finance. we take a look at the lest job numbers and what lawmakers say needs to be done. local employers decide to do damage control in case therere massive federal budget cuts. the automatic federal spending cuts are said tbegin in january. if congress n agree on deficit reduductio the automatic cuts could be a avoided. that would require negotiation

compromise and adult converersation. all seem t to be in short supply on capitol hill. this week, we sat down with maryla congressman roscoe barrett, known as a republican congressman willing to sit down with johohn boehner and nancy pelosi. he serves the sixth district for 19 years. that district has been redrawn. this year, he faces tough competition from a newcomomer who won a big upset. the democratic voters responded to his message of bringing new blood to washington with a proven business leader. delaney is the foundeder o of a successful finance company. we look forward to having him on the show. first we sat down with 10-term maryland congressman roscoe barrett and started on the topic of federal spending. it is thee largest employer in

frederick, double the department of education. are you in agreement with secretary panetta that the automatic cuts for defense spending would be disastrous? would they be disastrous for this area of maryland? >> you need to look at what you are doing and how it affects national security. until we know how we're going to use our military, we do not know what kind of a military we need. i think we need to have an adult dialogue on this. >> we are not having this. when we geto the point with automatic cuts, better to let them have read it happened or what the deficits grow? it is a tough choice. >> the chairman of the joint chiefs said the biggest security threat to our country was the debt. the last poll we did, i was so proud of our people. we asked about their major concern. in the previous polls, it had

been jobs and economy. in this one, it was the deficit and debt. >> do you agree with them? is allowing those cuts better for your constituents than trying to avoid them? >> we cannot continue with an increase in the deficit of $1 billion every six hours. that is where we are now. >we need to look at it. we're always going to have medical issues. i cannot see that it would have a meaningful threat to it. there is only one for dietrich in the country. there's nothing else like it. >> it was described as software like facebook but for those in

the intelligence and defense community that want to share information. how do you foster the growth of those who want to plant roots in this community? >> y you need a tax structure and regulations that are conducive to establishing businesses. maryland is very lucky. we are right next to washington, d.c. we're not the best place in the country to establish business. our proximity to washington still makes us popular. our geography overcomes some of our deficiencies in regulations and taxes. >> what do you see as some of the deficiencies? virginia says they have lower taxes. >> that is true. look at their taxes and regulations. that is why many businesses leave maryland and go t to virginia. since we are so close to washington, in spite of our deficiciencies, we do quite well

business-wise because there is so much federal contracting here. >> the governor says it's a administration is helping to create jobs. do you think they are an impediment by not reducing taxes more in line with virginia? >> when i first ran for congress 20 years ago money magazine had an article saying maryland was the least attractive state in the union for retirees and businesses. we have improved a little. i think we are now no. 47. we have made progress. we have a long way to go. our big problem is we have two major metropolitan areas. we have all of baltimore and the d.c. suburbs of washington. for a small state, this is a heavy burden. generally big cities have a disproportionate percentage of people of low income and low education levels. maryland has an over-abundance

of that because of the two major metropolitan areas. considering that, we're doing well. we could do even better with better taxes and regulatory structure. >> let's talk about the financial cliff being discussed. it would have beenn in january. it is a combination of the tax cuts expiring and the automatic cuts going into effect. some people say let's wait until after the election so we will know whether it is presidt obamaa or president romney. what do you think needs to happen to avoid going off the cliff? >> we need to start talking about how we cut $1.2 trillion. >> we agreed that is not happening. many of your fellow republicans will not sit down with nancy pelosi. they say she will not sit down with them. in the absence of the bipartisanship, what is a realisc way of avovoiding that cliff? >> i would like to see them set

up something like the non- partisan commission outside of government that makes a recommendation to us. before they make a recommendation, we commit we're either going to accept it or reject it but we will not change it. i do not think politics will let us get there. i was opposed to fort richie but opposed to brack. we have erskine bowles, but we ignored what they said who wants to vote f for something that will do away with the few jobs in their districts? we need to have something like it in the economic area where we agree beforehand we will either accepted or rejected, but we will not be able to change if at all. i do not see any other w to get there. we will not sit down and talk to

each other. >> what happens? you say because of politics that approach will not happen. u say because of where we are now, it is the only approach that will work. what happens? >> maybe we could sit down and write a bill that says we will have a non-partisan commission outside of government make a recommendation of how we deal with the deficit and debt. they come back to us with the recommendation. we either voted up or down. there would be a big incentive to vote it up unless you think the sky is falling if you vote it down. that is the law. it will happen. the president has said he will veto any bill that tries to get around the sequester without making the necessary cuts of $1.2 billion. >> he says he would like to o see a flat tax on consumption exempting things people of lower

income need. >> if you have the flat tax on consumption, that automatically raises the taxes on millionaires. >> you know the reality of a flat tax passing any time soon. would you vote with john boehner in opposing any kind of increased taxes on millionaires? with your vote be somewhere else? >> we already have a lot of taxes on millionaires. warren buffett knows well he is not paying 15% in tax. he paid 35% on the money when he first earned it. he invested it and is now paying 15%. that is 50%. he knows well he is paying 15 -- 50% on the money. i do not know why he is posturing himsmself this way. if you tax the wealthy too much, they will not use their money to create jobs. there is nothing a wlthy person can do with his money unless he buries it in the backyard that does s not create jobs.

>> congressman roscoe bartlett always a pasure to talk to you. weould like to wish him a happy birthday today. the congressman turns 86. up next, an innovativerogr helping veterans and the economy. we will tell you how a after the break. this country was built by working people. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ ♪

>> when i sat down with congressman bartlett, one big economic issue he wanted to highlight was finding jobs for

the men and women who have served our country through military service. in 2011, the average unemployment rate for veterans was 12%, well above the national average. that number is expected to be higher this year. he talked t us about new legislation in congress to encourage the hiring of veterans. he also introduced us to an innovative program in montgomery county where veterans are taught how to get and create jobs by landing federal contracts and bringing those jobs to our region. we met with some of the companies trying to help veterans and one veteran benefiting from the program. >>the founder and ceo says his company benefits from hiring veterans. >> they have a long history of working for the team. a lot of the core values we hold, a focus on excellence, integrity all the values we hold dear. >> wanting more companies to hire veterans, he helped to p pass

federal legislation called hire our heroeses. he says the program helps veterans and not just land jobs but create jobs by winning federal contracts. >> the veterans institute for procurement, it is veteran-owned businesses that come together to learn how to do a better job of interfacing with the federal government primarily the department of defense. >> the u.s. government was not meeting its own goals for rewarding federal contracts to veteran-boned companies. >> we ask why it was so difficult to meet the very impoant goal to help veteran the service. they both said they did not have enough capable businesses to work with. we asked what they had done address the concern. we learned there were not any programs to help veteran-owned businesses. >> they started vipip.

corporate sponsors pay for the program so veterans can attend for free. >> veterans were neglected for years. we picked it up. that is how it started. >> what do you get out of it? what are some of the benefits of the program? it does not help your bottom line, but it helps you? >> you would be surprised. it helps a lot of large businesses. they are set aside for veteteran- owned businesses. they could not find enough qualified veteran-owned businesses to bidid jobs. it does help big small, medium. >> the navy veteran now has four federal contracts and 20 employees. >> as veterans, we have great leadership training. we're great team players. we love challenges. we can overcome and adapt to any challenge as long as you give us the opportunity. >> chamber officials say it is a win-win, helelping veterans while

bringing feder mononey and jobs to montgomery county. if you are interested in more information about the program or the montgomery county chamber of commerce, go to our f facebook ge. next economic and employment issues of the day with our roundtable.

>> when it comes to budget cututs and pat sheridan's, all politics is local especially in a town where the federal governmt resigns and spends a lot of money. howikely are the automatic cuts? what will happen tto jobs?

wewe hav our routablfor perspective. joining us, jonathan allllen fm politi andill aitoro, a senior reporter at "washington business journrnal"covering federaral contracting. jonathan, i nt to start with you. congressman bartlett says we need gwn-up conversation. he suggested the idea of a commission. neither is going to happen. ststartingng with the dismal job numbers and lookingg beyond, do you see any real legislation coming out of congress that can help? >> i d not think it will be anything in thehort term. there willll be a window between the election and inauration where you will see a lot of things come to a head. weave the exration of the tax cuts. ththe annual appropriations bills will have to be done. depending sequester of $one. to trillllion in cuts are coming up if congress doess nothing. -- t then y you have the sequester

of $1.2 trillion in cuts better coming if congress does nothing. that is for th pentagon and domestic spepending. that means less money for contractors. >> robert rubin wrote this s week he thinks t they will beorced to do somhing fairly dramatic in the e lame-duck seson. he says they should -- rather than bicker over how much to spend on lower income americans -- that wewe really neeeed topend on education research investment. that iss not going to happen in this campaign yeyear. >> it is easy to say we should spend here and here. ththe problem is there is nmoney left. we are bumping up against the debt ceiling again. john boehner is ting to skirt that fight now. they're not sure when we will hit the debt limit but we're $50 trillion in debt with $1 trillion deficits every year. the party is over.

there is going to be some reckoning. will throw one curve ball at you. if the supreme court sikes down parts of the health care law but not all of it, we could see a rise in the baseline. we could see some easing of the budget tension. some of the benefits that it cut out, there is a big cost associated with that. >> jill, any way you slice it, it lks like they're goingo have to make cuts in federal spending. that is going to have an impact on our area ecoconomy. the friday job numbers, there is still a growth in private-sector jobs. the cuts are coming on federal spending on jobs. they need t to do a big summer bonanza of hiring for all of the federal contracts they get. not so this year. >> i do not think theyy are alone. i think this is a trend we will see across major contractors. they typically hired to prepare

for bidding and proposaseason. around thehe summer, a government is trying to spend money. they bring i in extra peoeople to do business developmement and respond. they are not going to do that this yeaear. they said they wilill rely on inteternal resources ad not do the big increase of hihiring they usually do. >> they want to brace themselves. >> they want to brace themselves.. they want toaintain some of the resources ty have. they want to keep costs down. they had layoffs recently, quite significant onon the management side they are taking that money and rather than reinvesting it in the market, they're looking internationally and commercially. they a growing that side of the business. theyey realize the federal side is not bringing oppoportunities like it used to. >> ivery good reporting. if there's anying the busins

community hates more, it is certainty. some people are saying let's wait until we havave a new president or the same president. then that person can hope to steer the ship. do you think the lame-duck session will get anything done in an election year? >> there will have to be some decision makining. congress and president are very good at kicking the can down the road. it appeaears to be at a dead end. mething will have to happen. my guess is they will get somemething done. the last time we had a situation like this we saw some legislion happen. i will be an optimist for the moment especiall becse it is about seven months away. >> i think it could lead to ineased lobbying has both sides try to get new people i in offi in their corner. >> i have to talk about another article part of the preum

content from the wall street journal. it was talking about spacex and their successful launch. it was imagini if spspacex were part of the federal government. theyay nasa could have never pulled off what they did when they fixed d a broken valve quickly. when you talk to peoplple, including the f founder, they say it never would have happened. >> it t was only three days. they saw there was a proem. they changed out the doll. --alve. yo only have a small window to launch on a given day. it automatically had to be pumped out three days. multiple pple s said it is a systematic problemem. in the federal governmt, he uld have to have to do checks and balances,s, go back to the supplier. >> it would not have happened. thank you so much. we will be back.

>> if yoare selling a home in the district, our number of the we is for you. 67, that is the average number of days things stay on the market. it is an impressive drop compared t to the 83-day average in 2011. the number comes fromm the association of realtors. we hope you have had a good week. thank you for joining us on “washington business report."

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