kroll is probably the most popular. it is similar to in kitchen appliances, stainless steel. is good. it goes with all color schemes. >> there was a recent change to san francisco's codes that said you could not have more than one sitting turned on at any more than one time. so you cannot have multiple salaries and more for water savings. >> right. a lot of people like showers for two, and now, you are saying one valve for one shower. >> i think you could probably sit flow rates could be adjusted, and you could probably make it happen, but it is beginning to be very tightly regulated. tell us, when people come in to buy, what is it that they like? what are they actually buying? >> a lot of it has to do with style. first is for the lab faucet's. you have the widespread, the two handles, hot and cold. very modern design. >> people like modern. >> people like modern, but we are in san francisco, so we get a wide range. then the one hand, very popular, ada-approved. saves water. very easy to use >> > one of the standards for commercial, not residential, is that you have to be abl

but one of its main critics, jules kroll, who started his own rating service, said s&p is not big enough to judge 100 countries because it has only 100 actual analysts. >> doing an analysis of the economy of the united states is something that requires enormous resources that go far beyond the resources of s&p. >> reporter: s&p missed the enron crisisisgiving the failed company high ratings until the day it went bankrupt. in 2008, its best-known gaffe was the aaa rating it gave to toxic waste mortgages. than an "a" rating for lehman brothers just before the investment bank went under. while failing to sound warning about serious troubles in ireland, spain and greece. >> i wish s&p were just another voice among the multitude of voices rather than this specially enhanced voice. >> reporter: a voice these desperate homeowners wish would have sounded a mortgage alarm years ago. jim avila, abc news, new york. >>> and we move on to the cost of war. tonight, those 30 american servicemen who lost their lives when t tir helicopter was shot down in afghanistan are headed home. it was the worst bat

kroll, would your answer be the same or different? >> as an nrsro, we do have access to most of the information. for example, we have just in the last 30 days rated 3, and in two weeks, it will be five commercial mortgage-back deals. we are privy to the same information that the oligopoly gets if they are on those deals. >> were you disappointed or pleased with the provisions of dodd-frank related to credit- rating agencies? >> by and large, i was disappointed with them. the idea behind it, in my understanding, with regard to rating agencies, was increased transparency, accountability, increase competition. in fact, what i think happened was a lot of punitive, directed initiatives towards the big three with unintended consequences that hurt the variety of us who would consider firmsnrsro's for those that are. ultimately, innovation and competition in the space is what will evolve it, and i do not think as a whole it helps contribute to that mission. >> as a non-sro player in an entrenched field, what is the biggest challenge your firm

we need to move toward of kroll al accounting. on the other side of the ledger, we pay cash for a building that will last a long time and we do not get the credit for capital expenditures that would even out some of the accrual responsibilities that we have. we need to balance it out better and use more general accounting principles and the way that we present our budget. the other side of that argument is that the government is the government and we have such a large impact on the economy that every dollar is the same. that is an economic argument that i disagree with. i agree with your point and i think we should change our budget system. i tried to do this when i was in the house. i worked with a republican from iowa who is the budget director under the first bush. we brought out by recommendations that move us toward accrual accounting and i think that is what we need to get back to. >> senator cardin, i thank you for coming. everything you say seems reasonable to me. but i have one area of concern, and that is what medicare a

they are going on a tour to poor communities across the u.s., and then, jules kroll on rating agencies. after that, martin regalia about creating job growth.

we worked in a very non-partisan way and brought out budget recommendations that move us towards a kroll accounting -- accrual accounting. i think that is what we need to get back to. >> senator cardin, thanks for coming. everything you have said today seems reasonable to me. i have one area of concern, and that is without medicare advantage -- with medicare advantage. i'm concerned that congress has departed from the simple concept of justice, fairness, having reimbursement rates for all seniors that are fair. is there anything in the current law, the law that senator obama signed into law, a double address that problem -- that will address that problem? how many years will it take to get back to a fair system? >> let me try to answer it, because it is complicated. medicare advantages the private option under medicare. most seniors are in traditional medicare, and you are subject to a fee-for-service system where you get reimbursed for the hospital visits that you have. your other option is to go -- you have the choice to go into medicare part b, pay a separate premium for that, and you

we will focus on the role of the credit rating agencies with jason stein, head of -- and jules kroll.gton journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> and a few moments, john koskinen on standard and poors downgraded the u.s. credit rating. and of little more than an hour, an event depicting a simulated disruption of the global oil supply. after that, from "washington journal," a discussion of the downgraded u.s. credit and we will be aired a forum on what can be learned about the debt reduction from the french and american revolutions. >> freddie mac chairman john koskinen says that standard and poor's met in "sound decision" to downgrade the credit ratings of the u.s. and the krajina and freddie mac. he was informed before making a speech pretty also talked but the overall economy and housing market. it is a little more than an hour. minutes. >> thank you very much. i've often thought with that checkered employment career that i thought she was going to introduce me as a guy that has a lot of different jobs, but somehow manages to always get another one. [laughter]