host: we will keep digging deeper in this jobs bill. our caller, democratic line. pany i get someone in india. and i wonder if the jobs bill will do anything to keep and bring those jobs back and give incentives to companies not to outsource to other countries. guest: the interesting thing, there are some things in the jobs bill that could help. and going back to the hiring tax credit that could convince companies to hire more workers. in the white house when obama talked, one thing that came out was the agreement to move forward on trade. there have been three trade agreements pending in congress that were initiated by the bush administration that have not moved at all. the republicans have demanded they move, and argue this would help create jobs in the united states. a lot of democrats don't think that's the case and would lead to outsourcing. we have seen signs of renewed emphasis from w3president obamad on exports.çokq they have iÑbeen ca+eful talki about qçt(the ymtrade çt(w3ag they areñrçñrt(ñrw3 controvers demo host: in the past our guest was a trade re

isn't a jobs bill.they're giving the businesses, the businesses say we can't use this. we need sales in order to hire people. >> the republicans voted against a bill that's entitled jobs bill? >> larry: the americans could disagree with it. thank you all. we'll have you back. >>> olympic gold medallist evan lysacek is warming up for his interview and he brought his gold medal with him. ask him a question on our facebook page or you can tweet him. >>> first, the "growing pains" star is missing. his sister is here, hoping he's alive. she's next. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. and launch your dreams. bull market or bear, traders are always hungry for ideas. they find them at td ameritrade. trading's all about strategy. and strategy... is all about information. so i start my trading

i know i would be. >>> and the senate has passed the jobs bill.go. >> that's a big win for democrats to really shift the narrative to jobs away from health care, showing that they're trying to get the american people back to work. you'll hear a lot of that today through press conferences. >> great to see you, luke. thank you. >> see you later. >>> the white house is challenging republicans to find consensus on one health reform plan to present at tomorrow's summit. is there consensus inside the president's own party? anita dunn joins us now. anita, as a member of the president's inner circle, this was an administration with an ambitious agenda starting out in incredibly circumstances. what lessons have been learned and will be implemented going forward now? >> well, i think the summit that you're going to see tomorrow is a very good example of what the president came to washington to do and what he will continue to do, which is to reach out to the republicans to say we'd like to see your ideas, too. we're willing to listen, we're willing to drop s

isn't a jobs bill. the credit they're giving the businesses, the businesses say we can't use this. we need sales in order to hire people. >> the republicans voted against a bill that's entitled jobs bill? >> larry: the americans could disagree with it. thank you all. we'll have you back. >>> olympic gold medallist evan lysacek is warming up for his interview and he brought his gold medal with him. ask him a question on our facebook page or you can tweet him. >>> first, the "growing pains" star is missing. his sister is here, hoping he's alive. she's next. sara's mom discovered neosporin® with patented technology that heals cuts two days faster than store brands. neosporin®. heals faster than store brands. what are you really buying? a shiny coat of paint? a list of features? what about the strength of the steel? the integrity of its design... or how it responds... in extreme situations? the deeper you look, the more you see the real differences. and the more you understand what it means to own a mercede

guest: the money from the jobs bill -- the jobs bill that is moving through congress right now, i don'tident announced a couple of weeks ago to spur lending by community banks. the caller is also right that lending is a problem, even though the banking industry, especially the big banks are doing a lot better right now than they were a year ago. credit still isn't moving through the economy the people would like to see it and the administration and congress would like to see it and this new effort is supposed to help people get loans for small businesses, supposed to help people get loans for homes. so, caller makes a good point. and ?;i]ççça writing çthat businesses grew >> the index that small business optimism released tuesday by the national federation of independent business rosexd 1.3 points to 89.3 in january. what does that mean to you? guest: it's a dep sign. the question is, when is hiring going to begin. last friday, the latest unemployment report. the good news it went from 10% to 9.7%. the bad news is the economy continued to lose jobs and it's not gaining jobs and peo

what could conceivably be in a jobs bill, any sort of jobs bill?ome government spending that's zidesigned to put peopleo work. and since consumers aren't spending, it's -- the sprender f last resort is the government. well, that works counter to the other great imperative of the deficit and short-term and long-term. and that's a difficult political line to walk, because i think you could look at polls and say, well, these are two things that people want the government to do and it's really hard to do both of them at the same time. >> all right. eugene robinson, thank you very much. good to see you. >> thanks, gene. >> come out to l.a. with us next time. >>> up next, connecting with america's middle class. the president and congressional democrats are clashing publicly over economic proposals. who's going to get their way? the politico playbook is next. >>> we're also minutes away from the january jobs report that's keeping world markets on edge. we'll bring you those numbers live with cnbc's erin burnett. >>> and what about the demon sheep? should

letting the jobs bill go back to max baucus, who we saw took forever to mark up a health care bill isng to be successful i think for the democrats overall. obama is still their star, still the leader of the team, the -- to the degree he can take whatever shine he has and put it on what the senate and the house is doing, it can only help the house democrats and the senate democrats. so i think he missed an opportunity to do that with the health care bill a year ago, he has to do that with the jobs bill now, and they have to let him do that. >> i'm going to put you on the spot for filling in the details of something chris matthews said a week ago after the republican event. that the president's learning curve should be a frightening thing to republicans. how does it tangibly -- what is he doing differently as opposed to a year ago, with -- fill in the topic of which policy it is. but just materially, politically, strategically, what does he do when he says to them, do something, and they don't? how does he make it actually happen? >> well, far be it from me to add to what chris says, he

that the jobs bill is not doing to do a lot for jobs creation? >> ining i think it's going to do a lot for jobs. it's not as much as i would like. leader reid made it clear that there will be more coming forward. we have a jobs bill that we sent to the floor in december. not everything we proposed will get accepted. not everything the senate does will get accepted. but in this bill it also extends the authorization of highway bill. and so the surface transportation bill. and so that's about $40 billion in the expenditures to be made. i think in the state of california it's in excess of $5 billion, of programs that will go forward. so the $15 billion deals with one portion of the bill in terms of those jobs. but there's also the extension of the transportation which allows that spending to go forward. so it's not as lean as some people were led to believe because they didn't realize what that reauthorization meant. so that's about $40 billion. and -- in expenditures that can now go forward with when we passed that extension. >> there does seem to

gwen: the senate passes a jobs bill. and one of the world's most powerful businessmen receives a congressional scolding. >> if the camry and prius were airplanes, they would be grounded. gwen: trouble at toyota. covering the week, karen tumulty of "time" magazine. john dickerson of "slate" magazine. and cbs news. naftali bendavid of "the wall street journal." and david shepardson of "the detroit news." >>' ward winning reporting and -- award winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to geoff our war fighters every advantage -- to give our war fighters every advantage. >> to deliver technologies that anticipate the future today. >> and help protect america everywhere. from the battle space to cyberspace. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to give our best for america's best. >> that's why we're here. >> ♪ >> one tri

are you going to get the jobs bill? >> i think we'll get a jobs bill.jobs bill we can get is the combined energy climate effort because if you're not sending $100 billion, $200 billion a year to the mideast, begin to spend it here in america. if we begin to move on lechification of cars, use liquefied natural gas for heavy truck, we'll create a lot of jobs in america. >> larry: these things will be in it? >> yes, these things will be in it. >> larry: how much did your cancer cost you? >> i paid for some. but i have insurance. >> larry: how many people have what you have and don't have insurance? >> i don't know that. >> 47 million people don't have insurance. >> but one of the things they're trying to do with the women's portion of the health bill, which olympia wrote, is to cover all women for mammograms. >> larry: right now they're not covered. >> not all women, no. no, no. now, there are free clinics and even buses in places where you can go in and get it done. i mean, i liked the bernie saunders community health care, he wanted $10 million -- >> to

would that include an additional jobs skip bill? is that your thinking to drive this unemployment 10% down to 9.2? do we need a jobs stimulus bill? and how much? >> i think couple things. i think we need a jobs bill that cuts taxes on working people. cuts taxes on small business. and spends money building roads and bridges and sewer systems and whatnot. i do think that the amount of the jobs bill should be more than offset over the five year budget plan. in other words, if we put 100 million dollars into the jobs bill we ought to offset it by 120 or 130 billion dollars of spending cuts. >> greta: if we cut taxes on working people, now we've cut down again on the government income which creates a problem. i take it you intend to raise taxes on somebody else to offset that is that right? if so who gets taxes raised on and to examine extent? >> the plan says the bottom 95% of the american people families making less than a quarter million dollars a year get a tax cut. people making -- couples making more tan a quarter million dollars a

the other interesting thing about the jobs bill, the jobs bill really deserves attention because what only five republicans would vote to send it to the floor for a vote and then you got 13 votes because once it was going to pass some people wanted their names on it. so there's a tension within the party, attack the stimulus but then ask for the money and brag about getting the money. there's a lot of hypocrisy but scott brown is in a lot of trouble because of serious -- >> i don't think he's in a lot of trouble. but let's get back to -- he's not in a lot of trouble. this is a very marginal bill. let's get back to mitt romney. 1966, chris, richard nixon at the request of nelson rockefeller went up and endorsed rockefeller, who had abandon goldwater, and we needed the goldwater people -- it was a very cold, calculated move on nixon's part. and this is what romney's doing. he's going out there and endorsed mccain, who is the at this time titular leader of the party. he had to do it because palin did it. if he had not done that, or endorsed j.d. hayworth, you would have seen palin get mc

jobs bill. it doesn't help anybody. st the most pathetic kind of window dressing. >> $5,000 credits to incentivize to hire. i doubt a credit does the job. that is neither here nor there, i guess. >> i think we are pursuing a half cup empty line of running here. i'm not great at math but $15 billion is smaller than $85 billion. what you are seeing is the president and democrats in congress taking what they could get. they took what they could get on this and got a lot of republicans to go along with them. the republicans wanted the tax credits so the president said all right let's do it. i think you will see something similar happen on healthcare at the end of the day and you saw it last week with the president and democrats talking more seriously about malpractice reform than they have since the one or two meants he made last year. >> come on. >> this is something that the republicans want. >> this is not about half cup. this is about half-ass and that is what concerns me and again and again and again we keep playing the

one more bit about the jobs bill.yesterday the senator did an interview with a local pollster and analyst in nevada. this was on his show. he talked about the jobs bill, specifically where he's looking for support. here's what he had to say. >> we're having real good luck with the new senator from massachusetts. >> scott brown is your new best friend? >> he has a difficult decision to make. understand, this bill doesn't raise tax one penny t. lowers tax for small business. it's paid for with some loopholes that are offshore scams, quite frankly. it's a good bill, and it will create jobs. i can't imagine why anyone would vote against it. it would be somewhat foolish, it would seem to me. and that's my conversation cans with scott brown. host: and what's the likelihood scott brown is going to come to the party on that? guest: this is going to be a big deal for scott brown whether he supports. this inalt sure he will or not. it has some of the elements he might like, but there are also some things in there, such as spend

the senate make take the jobs bill in the next couple of days. ow soon should they return to the health bill? >> quickly. we want to move quickly on that. the president feels as great a sense of urgency as ever about this, and his sense of urgency has been made more acute by figures released just last week that showed enormous increases as a proportion of the economy in health care spending just in the last year. in the last week in california, blue cross blue shield announced a 39% rate increase for people in the individual insurance market. these problems are just going to get worse. the burden that they place on families, businesses, and the budget overall are just going to get worse. the american people don't want us to walk away from this problem. the president isn't going to walk away from this problem. >> he said last week he wants democrats and republicans to come together. if it didn't work over the last months why sit going to work now? >> i think everybody has to recognize if they read the message of the american people that we should w

is a jobs bill. it will create four million jobs in the life of the bill. the clean energy jobs, i think that speaks for itself but that will take us into the future with a green revolution. industrial, technological and now a green evolution and of course innovation speaks for itself in terms of it. so i think that all goes together. so taking now health care as one piece of that because some say, are you doing those things instead of jobs? no, they are about being jobs, about being serious about major job creation so we're not up and down but solidly on a path to economic stability. on the health care front, many of the things that work when you're doing comprehensive health care reform go hand in glove. you have to have them together. for example, you can't have the reforms that say never again will you be discriminated against because up a preexisting condition. never again will your policy be canceled if you become sick even if you've paid your premiums on time that. doesn't work on its own. it has to be part of other leverage with the insurance compani

the stimulus and the jobs bill are trying to add jobs to compensate for the ones that we're losing.t because the overall number is still negative that doesn't -- he's a senator now. the "boston globe" this week noted in a six-day span just before election day scott brown collected nearly $450,000 just from donors who work at financial companies, including hundreds of financial executives. 450 grand in six days right before the election all from wall street. which means my new senator is going to fit right in with what is shaping up to be the republican party platform for 2010. amazingly, republicans seem to have decided to run on a we're with wall street platform. during his run against martha coakley, scott brown promised to oppose president obama's plan to impose a fee on wall street banks that haven't paid back bailout money yet. republicans are against that. they are in favor of wall street not having to pay back the bailout money to taxpayers. similarly this week government bailed out aig announced plans to shell out $100 million in employee bonuses. yesterday house democrats i

the house jobs bill is 170 million. sort of spending another trillion dollars, they can't create the kind of jobs that would make a huge dent in the unemployment rate. there's a question of whether even spending that much would do the trick. there are questions about policy, about whether doing tax cuts or tax credits for companies that hire workers, if that would really spur a company to hire somebody they otherwise wouldn't hire. those are the policy issues they grapple with. they know this unemployment problem is the number one economic indicator that every american feels. their own forecast in the budget they released on february 1st demonstrate they know this unemployment is not coming down anytime son or by the end of the year. there may be some increase in hiring for the census, but it will come back down in the summer. so this is the situation they're dealing with. as for health care, they still want to get it done. but notice we don't hear any deadlines about that. they're willing to put this on the back burner

boehner but the title says jobs bill cuts payroll tax on the new hires. t to hire new workers over the next year. i believe the dates go from february, assuming the bills pass february to january 1st, 2011, and that is why businesses would get a tax credit for hiring new workers does it have to be the high years that do not replace existing workers, and there are a couple of republican senators that have been working with us. the idea that emerges from a proposal that originally came from senators hatch, republican from utah and senator schumer from new york, democrat, senator grassley from iowa has also been involved but there's some republicans who have raised criticisms about this kind of a hiring tax credit in the past. it was used in the 70's by the carter at ministration and they sort of said it didn't work then, why are we doing it now. >> host: so the idea is a bipartisan one and initially does that tell you anything about the broad bill? to get back to the earlier comments about the two sides getting together? >> guest: again your going to need re

let's start with the jobs bill. people on the floor today were saying it will create a quarter of a million jobs. is that the best estimate and are there questions about how lasting these job will be? >> the numbers are all over the place. it's truly a guessing game with these kinds of giant bills. what's interesting about this one is it designed to encourage businesses to hire and hire right away. it's a tax break, if they hire people who have beeninoid for two months or more, but if you think about it , if you're base, you do better-- you get more tax savings if you hire somebody now than if you wait a cowl of months. if it becomes law and the house still has to figure out what they're going to do with it, it is something that should add some significant number of jobs. the question is whether those last and i think no one knows the answer to that for sure. >> warner: in other words, employers could make temporary hires. >> they could , and there are all kinds of ways to game the system. one issue is thousands and

you going to get a jobs bill? you are not sening $100 billion, $20 billion in the mideast, if we use the gas for the heavy trucks, we are going to create a lot of jobs here in america. >> larry: you didn't pay for it, right? >> paid some but i have insurance. and. >> larry: how many people who have what you have and don't have insurance? we don't know. >> i don't know that. >> about 50 million people don't have insurance. 47 million. >> one of things they tried to do the women's health bill, is to cover all women for mammograms and. >> larry: now they are not covered. >> not all women, no. there are free clinics and buss and places where you can go in and get it done. i mean, i like the bernie saners community health care. he wanted $10 billion for the community centers and i visited a lot of them in iowa and louisiana has amazing community health centers and they are very intimate, good personal plays where local people can go for. >> larry: a long way to go though. >> they pay for your drugs almost completely. >>

meanwhile, senate democrats, expected to move on a jobs bill on monday. >> senior aides say they're going to do jobs piece by piece, hoping they can get bipartisan support. let's get right to mike viqueira who has the early reaction to these jobs reports and bracing for what we like to call snowmageddon here in washington. >> reporter: or the snow-pocalyp snow-pocalypse. you remember back in early december, the president had visited allentown, pennsylvania, that same day, the numbers had come out for november. the numbers had ticked down 0.2%, and hugs all around in the white house. this time, down 0.3%. any minute, we can expect to see david axelrod do a tumbling run up the driveway at the white house, because as a political matter, that number is what everybody is focused on. the administration itself, and the budget that was released earlier this week on monday, had assumed the unemployment rate would stay up around 10% for the remainder of this year. that city may happen. there's no question about it, but from the short-term, this is good news for republicans, even as yesterday the de

. >> reporter: the senate's version of the jobs bill is expected to include incentives for infrastructure projects and tack breaks for small businesses to hire unemployed works. the senator majority leader says the first vote is planned on monday. the house has already passed its version. in washington, craig boswell, fox news. >> it is official, scott brown has been sworn in. he took the oat h moments ago and a week earlier than originally planned. he was going to be sworn in on february 11ut but he asked to be swop in earlier so he could vote on some upcoming issues. >> the michaejackson death investigation is moving forward but why hasn't charges been filed. tmz is working the story we have a live report coming up. plus take a look at this sculpture, it is going down in the record books wait until you hear how many millions someone paid for it at auction, that is coming up next. >>> talk about a surprise, check out this video, an underwater volcanic eruption caught on tape. water and smoke shot up almost 100 feet in the air. the eruption happened near the japanese island of iwo jima ea

led by scott brown. >> reporter: it did, tamron. 13 republicans signed on on final passage to the jobs bill. it really is truly a bipartisan bill right now. it's amazing. only a few yesterday voted for it to be cloture, to go to final vote. 13 came out at the end. what is in the bill within the $15 billion? one is the president's jobs tax credit plan he's been actively, actively, actively promoting around the country. also within this is his emergency funding for state municipalities for schools, cops, firefighters and teachers as well as highway bonds. this $15 billion that will immediately most likely pass through the house later this week which will immediately go help states pay their workers and it really does help democrats shift the narrative of their time in congress right now to being about jobs, jobs, jobs. >> right. >> reporter: no one, i don't think anyone saw this many republicans coming on at the end. it's interesting to see when republicans had to be counted, a lot of them want to side on the favor of jobs and not being caught in the mess that is washington, d.c. >> absolutel

hopefully we can get a jobs bill that creates more infrastructure but it is greatly needed. . . we need to work together. i guess both of us need to quit looking at the next re-election and look to the nextçó generati as i heard it in the state of the union. we're willing to do that. and i want to thank or the emphasis on the budget on safety. i have to tell you that sometimes we overlook it. the whole taxing issue, the dis-- texting issue, the distraction for drivers is very important. adds people are driving and wanting to text and not text, but the whole issue of how people are not paying attention to their driving, it's very important. the issue i have -- it's not an issue, it's just a question, with next-gen. with next-gen. i have to tell t three years ago i was greatly disappointed because i saw a lot of disarray and confusion in how to get it going and it seemed like things weren't happening because some agencies weren't involved and probable the priority was not there. today you're telling me that there is a project over the gulf of mexico and it's becoming a reality. i

coming up, an update on the senate's job bills with ian swanson.

they're going to be a series of bills coming forward for jobs. e sent in december and we're looking at other proposals. not everything we proposed was accepted and not everything that the senate does is accepted in this particular bill. it also has the authorization of the highway bill, a transportation bill. that is about $40 billion in expenditures to be made, and the state of california has $5 billion of programs that will move forward. that is just one portion of the bill for jobs. there's also the extension of transportation which allows that money to go forward. it is not as lean as some people were led to believe. that is about $40 billion. those expenditures can now go forward when we pass the extension. >> i sense a lot of frustration from house members that i talk to. last year you had a $787 billion package, robust, some wanted it even larger, and now we're attacking on $15 billion, $40 billion -- they think it should be more like the house package. if seems that the senate is playing the small balkan. is this election year maneuvering?

new growth industries and today, democratic leaders called on republicans to help them pass a new jobs bill, proposing waving the social security payroll tax for new hires. >> this is a good faith offering on the democratic side. we are inviting our friends and the republican side to join us. bring your best ideas forward. let's put these on the floor and move on them with a sense of urgency. >> businesses we spoke to said they welcome to help in the search -- in tax a set -- how in the form of tax incentives. >> [unintelligible] >> businesses say they need concrete action from the white house, and not any sugar coating. >> new factory orders were up and sales were up over a year ago. but until consumers become more confident, businesses remain more reluctant to ramp up hiring. >> coming up, one of the national zoo's most popular attraction is on its way to its new home. tai shan has company on a trip. >> why are we aren't talking about 2012 westmark potential candidates are. we will tell you who they are and how much many embraced coming up. >> virginia is the last state to ban them on the

>> there are going to be a whole lot of provisions in the jobs bill. sort of a highway bill included in the jobs package. so that's infrastructure spending which is something the democrats have talked a lot about. they're talking about tax incentives for small businesses, things like higher expensing limits, allowing them to write off the cost of equipment more quickly. reid said potentially there is going to be a so-called cash for caulkers incentive which would be similarÑi to the cash for clunkers bill. instead of paying for people to buy new cars or giving a credit for buying new cars, people would insulate their home better with the idea that would save energy and get some money out in the economy. there is a whole lot of other provisions that may or may not be included. >> what is the leadership's timetable for getting the bill to the senate floor? >> they're hoping to start action next week. they are hoping probably, although not guaranteeing, because it seems like an uphill fight to get it passed before the recess for presidents' day, that is co

we do not yet have a jobs bill, we have a jobs agenda.ge is so watered down, we have to finish that. technically there could be a roll call vote, but we a people that cannot get here. roads are treacherous. many offices in the senate are still closed and it is difficult for the staff to get here. some people that live on some of the main arteries, that's fine. but there are places where the subway is not running and in many places the bosses are not running. yet massive amounts of staff that give you a public transportation and they could i get here. >> [inaudible] >> the question -- and i changing the bill because of the caucus? i want to make sure they are supportive. >> [inaudible] >> republicans are going to have to make a choice. we have a bipartisan bill that will create jobs according to the cbo immediately. not when the design is done, not in the planning is done, but immediately. the three provisions to create jobs -- the provision dealing with high waves saves 1 million jobs. the republicans, i do not know, logically call what t

president, by saying there was a glimmer of bipartisanship in the senate, with the passage of the jobs bill. i want you to know, there was a blaze of bipartisanship in the house yesterday with, what, 406-19, we passed, with the leadership, the lifting repealing of the exemption that insurance companies have on health insurance. and the antitrust laws for health insurance. 406-19. a very strong message that, yes, the insurance companies need to be reined in. so put us down on that side of the ledger. the -- that day, march 5th, we all remember the bipartisan spirit, the hope that was in the room. and also, when senator kennedy came into the room and declared himself a foot soldier in the fight for health care for all americans. and then later he wrote to you and said, this is not just about the details of policy, it is about the character of our country. the character of our country has formed the backbone of our country, our working middle class families in america. as we sit around this table, i think we should be mindful of what they do when they sit around their kitchen table. at what we

earlier in your statement, john, usec @ to live with this jobs bill -- you said that with this jobs billcerted effort from both parties to get something passed unlike the health care bill. i just wanted to point out the fact that we are not talking about the senate push it with a service, excellent talking about these politicians getting earmarks and money for the states to put through jobs in the next 10 months and look back and tell their constituents, look what i brought to you. it is a little bit different from what we have had -- we are excellent talking about something rather than a service, but talking about real cash money to bring home. guest: actually a good point. one of the big pieces of the bill that a lot of members would like would be the highway extension, which is sort of specific projects in the state they can point to to say these are dollars i brought home, an election year for a lot of these guys. some of them are still service related. cobra, unemployment insurance. but the caller is right, these are the kinds of projects everyone likes except for some of the budget

bill: and the u.s. jobsront a january "gallup poll" finding 20% of our workforce say they are under employed and that means 30 million americans, are either jobless or only able to find part-time work. as a result, many folks are having trouble making ends meet, you know that, and gallup's numbers are higher than the official number and 16.5% of american workers are under employed as of last month, the month of january. martha: spiking about how much money everybody is making there is a new report that says that some wall street bonuses are up about 17%, over last year. that is according to the new york state controller and he says the bailed out financial sector paid out more than $20 billion in bonuses in 2009. and that overall compensation of the largest security firms, grew far beyond that figure. and that growth rate, is slightly skewed, though, because of the record losses from the year before. and this is a huge comparison over the tough year before and analysts say the bonuses, bring in a tremendous

in terms of where we go now, we're looking towards a jobs bill. the president has laid out his priority, which is help for small businesses in terms of a tax credit, and also, additional lending, so that is one piece i am hopeful will move quickly. we want to see additional investments in infrastructure and rebuilding roads and bridges, railways and the physical plant of this country. finally, we are committed to energy, investments from clean energy projects and conservation and things that will make us stronger, but also put people to work and help with energy independence and help with environmental challenges we have. these remain our fundamental commitments, and i think there is recent activity in congress. i expect the senate will move this week on a jobs package. i am hoping that will be on a bipartisan basis. >> let me ask you about another idea on the table -- a bipartisan idea. senators proposed a payroll tax holiday that would put money in people's pockets and in the cash register right away potentially. is the administration in favor o

somebody like khalid sheikh mohammed. >> a follow-up please. >> let me go back to major. >> on the jobs bill setting aside the political question what is large enough to have a legitimate economic effect to create jobs? >> again, major, i don't think that what has the umbrella of a jobs bill is coming to be the only components the house and the senate deal with in creating jobs. i think extending unemployment benefits is something important for those that don't have work and in sustaining their effort to help find work that isn't what the senate will deal with at the end of its recess, but as a component of a series of measures the president outlined either of the brookings speech he gave for the state of the union or the it's in his budget, so i don't look at what this -- i don't look at what an ad the nasturtium doesn't look at what is going to happen at the end of february when the senate considers these four provisions to be the end of that consideration of measures dealing with economic stability. >> they continue to prioritize whatever follow-up legislation comes from the house on hotj

they want to talk about the jobs bill. t create. it was the president promised the unemployment rate wouldn't go up that much. if the president had simply said this is going to help get the country back to work and stabilize the economy, it would not have been as much of a problem. but it gave the republicans and everyday voters a way to measure it and a way to measure that it failed. guest: what i think it really did is it gave the perception that that voters are very willing to accept of democrat spending too much, democrats come in and make government bigger and spend way too much money. that's the stereo type of democrats that they've tried to avoid for years and years. with one stroke of president obama's pen, he -- dwsh >> reclaim an issue that they had lost. >> reinvented that stereo type. one thing they are going to find very troubling and that republicans are going to pounce on it every single point, that when you have $787 billion being spebt, there is going to be wasteful spent. there will be something. and the r

christina, do we have any insight as to how it is that the jobs bill, it's hard to say without a snickerll work? >> well, no, we don't know if it's going to work. there's a couple things here, though. it's funny that the senate can move very quickly if it wants to move quickly. a procedural vote as soon as monday that no one's read yet. this demonstrates leadership can do what it wants to when it wants to. i think leadership is maybe wise not to put a number on this, as how many jobs will be saved or created. this is something the administration has faced the challenge since the stimulus bill passed last february. >> matt, did i tell you i got t. boone pickens on the show today? >> you did not. >> i'm excited about that. you get to say t. boone. he's the man. it's enjoyable. china in its hunger for america's most precious commodity has bought up our debt, they are buying up as we discussed yesterday the world's resources from brazil to canada. now apparently they want our pandas, too. technically the pandas are theirs. since tai-shan and mai de lan was on loan from china. matt, should we

the other signal that we were able to get is they would like to put a jobs bill through. they have some money, depending on how you count it, left over from some of the money they got back in tarp. it's borrowed, too, but it's coming back in. they want to spend some of that on construction and unemployment. there are some republicans that are trying to work out with democrats perhaps a payroll tax freeze for new workers. that isn't done yet. a couple of weeks perhaps. they are very mindful that jobs are their number one problem. gwen: is it me or is it a circular firing squad, the democrats are yelling at the president saying tell us what to do. he is saying you democrats ought to be taking the lead and everybody is frozen in place. >> a lot are up for re-election and probably don't see a lot of percentage in signing on to some of the things that the president would want to do, particularly in states where the races are close and the voters are more restive. gwen: let's move on to another big moment on the hill this week. a few of us around the table here remember the ear

>> bill: he did okay job of keeping the things civil. >> who did he persuade? bill: nobody. >> did he persuade bun person with his performance today? >> bill: no. he did a good job as moderator in this forum. >> he is the president of the united states. he is not a moderator. >> bill: he was here. he was a moderator. he set himself up as a moderator. >> he is a president with the majority in control. he is the president of the united states with the majority in control of the congress. >> bill: moderator of the dog and pony show and did he a decent job. >> bill. >> bill: he hasn't been able to persuade the american people. >> the people are against this. >> bill: they don't understand it. they don't get it. >> i think people do understand it. i think the people do understand it. i think they have understood this from the beginning about what's going on. this has never been about patients. it's always been about power. i think the people get this more than they have gotten probably any complex legislative issue in the last 25 years. i disagree. i think the peopl

crack about the stimulus bill came in answer to a question about what are you going to do about the jobs bill? and so his predicate there was, you know, i don't believe these kinds of bills work. they don't work at all. so if the stimulus package didn't work at all, i'm assuming that's what he thinks about the jobs bill that the president is trying to put forward, which is kind of stimulus junior. so, yeah. i think he couldn't wait to get down there. i got the sense of a real, as i said, combative guy, couldn't wait to get down here and mix it up as part of the republican bossy minority. >> here's a question, though, about, the box that he is, unique among senate republicans. the others can usually when it is time for election point to something they accomplished. if it is indeed the republican agenda for the next two years, you know, just say no, what is he going to run on in 2012? the premise of, look, i managed to say no 68 times? >> well, it worked for him so far. it worked to get him here. i think people may under estimate the depths of the anger and the antagonism, the fear about govern

we have to ask ourselves, what is the white house doing about a jobs bill? this was the president moments ago. >> next week, congress will start debating many of the jobs proposals. if there are additional ideas from either party, i'm happy to consider them as well. but what i hope, what a strongly urge, is that we work quickly and we work together to get this done. america's small businesses are counting on us. >> chuck, do you see any sign that the president and house democrats are senate democrats, who were in dispute with each other, are going to work quickly together to get this done? >> on the jobs bill, yes. in fact, it looks like on the senate side, at least, there are some republicans that i have heard of, three or four of them, that it looks like they are going to come together on something, this is something the white house is insisting upon. number one, we kind of have no choice now in this 59-vote environment when they feel like that he have to get that 60th vote, which the minority party will insist on. on that front, it looks like they may make

i want to try the jobs bill things again on chips point of tone. ator reid changed course, and then effectively challenged republicans to oppose the bill. that was a fairly significant change in tone and republicans feel that they are being set up politically here to some degree. can they trust the president and democratic leadership in congress when they talk about bipartisanship if this is the first kind of experience that they are having since the state of the union and a lot of this bipartisan talk? >> of course republicans can trust the president. they werer in a room not far from where we are sitting discussing many of the elements that will be voted on at the end of february on a jobs bill. again, i think that -- again, i think you'll see a strong bipartisan vote. i think you'll see -- and i think you'll see a strong bipartisan vote on aspect that is aren't in this legislation but are part of what democrats and republicans alike believe is important for stabilizing our economy. >> does the white house understand the republican frustration ove

what is the strategy to pass a jobs bill, or possibly several jobs bills there?was already thinking that with the centrists in the senate -- the centrist democrats, that is -- being leary and taxing something as large as a $154 billion bill, especially one that has a lot of spending for infrastructure and public service jobs that would be direct payments to the states for police officers and teachers and what not, the senate majority leader harry reid has decided instead to move a series of bills. the first bill that i outlined is mainly tax incentives, and will probably get a lot of bipartisan support. harry reid does plan to move some of these other bills have more direct spending in them. but as far as we know now, those probably get filibustered by republicans. host: there is a story in several papers that the house allows debt to rise to $1.90 trillion. what did they pass yesterday? guest: well, they passed an increase in debt limits. basically, interest on the debt continues to grow. we have a statutory debt limit saying that you cannot have more debt than