big headline. interest rates will ay low for some time. th could mean money for some businesses. these snow shovelers had no choice but to get to work for it there was no placeo get breakfast or snow essentials. >> it was miserable. >> there is no place to get coffee. >> he says he has to take advantage of a good d time to sell. >> we are en every day to bring fun to bethesda and the surrounding areas. >> and tracy is trging knee-deep through snow. she says her company made sure its employees came in. they were expecting a lot of insurance claims. >> a little cold for theecko. >> beyond losses, this snow meant a lot ofost busine. retailers, restaurants, and businesses had to shut down to it out the storm.

even some considered crucial. >> thehe starbucks was closed. it is the first me i have seen that. >> others went to great lengths to open the doors. includinthis family business. chevy chase supermarket. jason and ken run the family store. they cled in time for employees to sleep in the store. can you say cash on aisle nine? it is time to open. >> i have a good gup of employees. we bght 10 mattresses. we have beds and b blankets. they s spent the night in the store. unfortunately, we have these once-in-a-lifetime weather events every six months. we have done this several times. we did this during a hurricane. we're here to take care of thinings.

w're here when the trucks come in. they restock and we are ready for business. >> it costs more and it is not coortable, b they bond over the experience. they even had banana splits. it is necessary to prove their mmitment and stay in business spite the bad weather. >> it is devastating. we do not have the power behind us. every day,very dollar -- wee figure the more competition, it makes us better. we will take care of it. >> it was not comfortable, but customers are grateful. including this loyal shopper, who saw the cars parked outside. >> i said to the guys, oh my gosh, they are sleeping in the store. >> before the snow hit, the other headline came courtesy of one simple sentence from the woman holding the title of most powerful person in the monetary

world, janet yellen. >> i expect a great deal of couiinuity in the monetary policy. >> that did not take a translator to know that she will go slow in terms of winding down the stimulus program of buying bonds. then news ma the market happy. stocks soared during her six-hour testimony before congress. wall street waalsoleased when john boehner bit the llet and brbroke his own role. leading democrats pass a lifting of the debt ceiling deite republicans opposing move. joining us n to discuss s the business headlines, politico senior white house correspondent carrie budoff brown. welcome. kudoto you on getting into work. let't's talk about janet yellen. i do not want to get too deep here i it the audience getets bd

by fed speak. she did a really good job reassuring congress and the market that she was not the first pick -- that the obama administration must he pleased with her cornering the market. >> the big take away was that there was very littl between bernanke and her. continuity in policy, even the way they spoke. a lot ofhe same language that they used. the first wedos -- could understand. that was a a good line. she got good reviews. signal that there will not be any changes at this point, despite thbad unemploymenent report. the markrket is in flux when she spoke. the stock maet responded well. >> e said yes, ben bebernanke that, wence we hit

will start policy. she said forget about it. the long-term unempled are stilill a problem. they will not use that as a brbrahman or. >> yes. >> no complaints from the white house. >> absolutely not. anyone calling larry summers - >> let's get to the drama of the debt ceiling. there are some lessons here. anyone who has to man's -- manage an unruly bunch. john boehner but the -- that the bullet. they do not wantnt to see anothr fight. he did not have the votes from republicans. he said forget it, we will let the democrats take the hit. , i do notoff an said get anany applause? tell us what politico scovered. >> this and it wawas fascinatin. traditionalllly, whehen there ia and, they go to the chamber

they put their finger up and recordrded. everyone c can hear it. mr. cornman -- the republican senator on the republican side, they asked that it not be includuded. untwisted leaders to and d not have one certain senar be the deciding vote. -- they have used lost electctions because of tha. >> mitch mcconnell thought he had the votes. it w would take a simple majity. ted cruz saiaid no. this will l have to be one of those. they did not have the votes. they needed more republicans. -- shehad susan collins

said you always make me take the fall. she said you vote for it. >> i thought that was a brilliant move. they are alwaythe ones that can be relied on to give democrats what they need. there was an audible gasp in the chamber from those in the llery. mitch mcconnell test they did not want to do that.t. ted c cruz has solidified his will. people do not like that. the wall street journal went after him. >> called h him all kinds of names. i love the drama. you have covered this. there is another thing -- you will come back with more about that after the break. stay with us. when w return, the cost of criticizing amacare. when politics and business collide.

after the breaeak.

>> lcomome back. it is becoming a popular punching bag for businesses. the much-maligned affordable care a act. one leading company has learned that going too far in botching heth care costs can b backfire. especially wn you add into the bashing and complaints about specific employees and their babies. case in point, aol. the ceo is an emple of wh not to say. -- tim armstrong

announced on a a conference call with employees changes to the 401(k) plans. first, he blamed rising health care costs. he said they were caused by obamacare. >> we would have to actually increased payments per month on health care plans. that is where the balance of that and the obamacare act would happen. there were increases. >> that did not go well according to some employees. then, things got worse. website, to their armstrong went on to blame the cuts on to employees. ressedave birth to "dist babies" that cost the company $1 million each. the public was outraged. so was the staff. away, not apologize right but eventually did and reinstated or one k benefits.

employees take no. many businesses, including target and ups, are making big cuts and blami obamacare. who is t this website that broke the news? joining usgain, carrieudoff brnfrom politico. it is now that brbroke your sister news organanization. -- he allbritton sold us wanted to focus on new opportrtunitieand website. what is this? cover new york popolics and medias suessful as politico has covered washington and lobbying. they have taken that model and had go scoops, like this t armstrg oop. they ran with it. >> they were credited with raking this big ory. what not to do as a ceo. did the white house respond? this was a good opptuty.

>> not publicly.. if it would have dragged d on, u may have seen the president have to answer. he would have wanted to talk about this with some contacts. it goes against what he believed. is there a day when the whwhite house will notot have to defend? the careful what you say, not do it. thank you for joining us. when we return, you may be avoiding a. you may already be caught up in a circle. we will unravel the mystery of google plus and teach you how to use the network. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman,

we've always been at the fefront of advanced electronics. providing technology to get more detail... ♪ detect hidden threats... ♪ see the whole picture... ♪ process critical information, and put it in the hands of our defenders. reaching constantly evolving threats before they reach us. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

>> welcome back. time ttalk about google plus. i am a little nonplussed at the moment. the idea of another networking tool. i am not on instagram. i gave up some social media. i cannot even remember the name of the sites. i use facebook, linkedin, and twitter. other s sociaand mediaites, there is a ton of untapped pential in this gole tool. ceoeowelcome marissa levin, of a successful culture an cynthia dede lorenenzi, ceo of success in t city. welcome. you have so many different things you are juggling. >> i have two companies. i have successfuful culture that isis out there to help business thriveve. > let's t to cynthiaia.

you are a fan of ggle. you have the google glass on. you just lay the product. you ca read in there. explain why you have it d tell us about google plus. >> i am from the th sector. i have always been an early adopter d tester. i jump in on beta for a lot of things. when i saw what google was doing, i tught this was exciting. i am trying to see what wearable tenology is going to take. this is a first weep. th do look good on you. >> thank you. not ready for google plus. what is it and why can i benefi >> it does sound like ather social network did it is a social platform. if you think about google today, it is papart of the infrastructure. we think about highways and railroads.

those are part of our infrastrucucture. we do not talkbout google e that way. it iimportant that we do. >> they do not know what google plus is. what is it? >> it is the soal layer that has been added. people should think about findability. when we use technolo, you do not say i searched for you. you say i googled you. i did thatefore i came on the show. i found out that you have a lot of hits. gmailu have to have a address? >> you are automatically given the account. >> but you can geget on without one? >> you can. you can go to the website and set up your account. platforms, they can switch the layer. you do not g that with other platforms. i took the time to s share with

marissa --look it if you are on and ifif you're not for new people who are joining, which you not enhance the vivisibility? it is findability. >> i am not as tech savvy. you are a little bit of both. a lot of new information and from the tech world. how are yoputting it to use? know, part of my success ststrate is ing connected too asany quality peoplele as i can. early and go to every evenin town. a lot ofof people do not have tt energy. n you make room for those of us who do not go to every coffee? >> the great thing is that it has the technology component from the search standpoint. the more that you use any kind of technology, whether google plus or youtube, the higher

ranked you are. [audio deleted] give us an example? >> we are on google plus. i was so surprised at how many hits and things are out there. i was absolutely astonished. a lot of that has to do with the fact that i use youtube a lot. i use google plus a lot. we invest in optimization. when we are small businesses, it is proven that the way people find others that they want to wo with is that ey do google them. they go to websites. you can bebe as highly ranked as possible. that is the ticket. it really is about the search. >> obviouously, maybe they cocod hire a consultanlike you. if they do not he the budget, what is the best way? >> get on and look. it is totally free. sometimes the

first thing you do is put your about page up. what is exciting now is that you could only have a personal page, and i can have a cmunity page. you can have a business page or as my pages as you want. by those thinks. make it link rich. make it so people can find you. when people search you, you nt to be there. you want to take advantage of . you have to be on goog plus.s. youill pop right up there. >> so much more tolerant. we have a quick segment right after they break. more when we return.

>> we are back with our regar busine mentotor, marissa levin and from success in ththe city, cynthia a de lorenzi. you are usingng it and teaching other companies that you work witho use it. what d do you like about google plus? >> and coaching several e-commerce companies. search engine nking is critical to them. they are highly competititive industries. they are when prospects go to look for them. >>you think that google plus helps wiwith gting more hits? only social med platform that is connected to your rankings. all of the others might be fun, and it is good to be on linkedin.

bugoogle plus is the only one direrectly linked to rankings. >> let's be honest -- >> you absolutelyave to be on gole plus. > see what i have arned? cynthia, what is successss in te ci? what is it that you do? i have an organization thatt is a social networking website in. it is for businessss leaders inn waington. i love to bring a variance to cutting edgscience. it is a loof fun what i do i have a problem of sharing great deal pill -- detail. how did you get that way? i used to be ceo of a north texas technology council. i work for an i. company. i started successn the city purely by accident, trying find other women ceos to hang

out with. conversation is different from others. from there, we were launched. we canave an associationon of great people. men are also invited. we have great conversations about important things >> that is so good when companies do not discriminate against guys. they do not geenough of a break. what do you think about googlele class? >> think it is s cool. i am not sure. you do have to papay to be an explorer. i was not re. i had toubmimy name and they accepted me. i said i am talking the talk. i need to lock i it too.o. >> is it a distraction? >> i do not weaear when i drive. >> is it onon? >> it is not on right now. i just cap it. i can take a picture or make e a phone call. >> we will give it a try. itit is a hit. thats it for our show.

we will see you nenext wk fo more washingn busiss report.

twitter anymore. our social media guru. >> this week on "government matters" -- >> how can anyone say, that's ok? conley saysan jerry the way government buys tech is a process in need of repair. >> it's hard to tell when it is an open, publicly provided model. we have more adoption now than ever existed. >> what is in store for version 3.0? >> innovative technology, shouldlly social media, improve services and programs or reduce cost. >> it's not just facebook and twitter anymore.

our social media guru with a how-to for federal agencies. "government matters" starts right now. >> from abc 7 and news channel 8, this is "government matters." >> government is the engine that runs this city, that is why government matters. every week we ing you the top headlines itech, security and management. i am your hostmaurice jones. the white house wants to help american industries prevent cyber attacks. this week president obama launched a cyber security framework, a series of voluntary standards assigned to create critical computer systems. one year ago obama signed an executive order for their creation. he still wants congress pass copperheads of cyber legislation. edwards notegain access to some of the nsa documts he later disclosed by copying a coworker's password. now the nsa tells congress that coworker has