will definitely loses aaa rating on its u.s. government bonds and probably default well you mentioned the aaa rating that's in the headlines today on t.v. we saw the one huge reason the u.s. should lose its aaa rating now this is a paper bug joeys and call from business insider and he's pointing out that lindsey graham spoke on meet the press and he was basically playing chicken with austin goolsbee on the president's council of economic advisors barack obama wants to raise the debt ceiling lindsey graham the senator the republican senator in the u.s. senate. doesn't want to raise the debt ceiling unless we cut social security payments and they believe that they have the power to maintain that simple a rating simply by just jawboning the market simply by stating on television that these these bonds are worth aaa therefore they are aaa they're not going to take into consideration at all that china's got something like two two and a half trillion of these bonds and my at one point this year decide to dump them as they move into pr

people that have had too much to drink, aaa will tow their cars home for free and given them a ride. oakland police say they'll be more visible in certain parents parts of the city. we -- in certain parts of the city. >> we spoke to them to see what they are doing do keep the streets safe. >> more patrolling. that is what they are doing as the count down to 2011 approaches. the spokes person talked about the oakland police's plan to keep the city safe as the new year rolls in. >> they will have added patrols in north and east oakland, that is where we have the most activity traditionally. so these officers will be moving units and they will respond to calls. >> due to budget cuts, keeping the city safe will have to do with 100 less officers than they had last year. >> we have decreased staffing, so, putting tonight's mobile units together has been a challenge. the way we did it was change people's days off and rea range officers hours. >>> well that rain we expected is starting to move in, in the north bay we are seeing more off shore showers. they will push in into the new year. a c

we lost the entire aaa operation. i did have the occasion to talk to people over the break, both employees and employers, about the things that most drive businesses away or keep businesses from coming here. some of these are beyond our scope. the obviously talked about cost factors and the extraordinary fees and policies that cost businesses a lot more to operate in san francisco than other counties. a lot of individual people talk about non-elective public school assignments outside of one neighborhood, and that could be dealt in other areas, but they are not land-use assignments. there could be changes of that coming up. one thing they did talk about was the general appearance of the city. i am glad to hear that the batter's street -- the better street policy is coming up.

he only recommends top quality, aaa-rated bonds-- preferably ones that are insured. >> in the case of g.o. bonds, you need to know the town. you need to know the default rates and the general lay of real estate in that area. with revenue bonds, you need to know the revenue source. you need to know how they do business and how the revenue stream comes in. and that should be the first factor in these trying times. >> reporter: so what would it take to convince muni bond bears that the waters are safe? they want to see a dramatic and sustained economic recovery with rising home prices and falling unemployment. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: once again earnings were the watch word on wall street, whether it was the number that came out before the bell or reports coming out after the bell, a lot to talk about on the earnings front. >> tom: absolutely. 24 hours ago we had block wus buster tech earnings from ibm and apple, but that didn't help out today's market activity, s you uzie. let's roll out tonight's market focus. >> tom: the major indices fell from thei

. >> reporter: tracy noble of mid-atlantic aaa says when prices dropped we fell back into old habits.'ve cut back a little bit but we could do more. i mean if you watched any tv over the holidays particularly football games, you saw ad after ad for big truck and suvs so there's some more we can do, but the people will probably say, look, we've made a sacrifice. we've downsized a little bit and we're still going to be facing the second highest prices on record. >> reporter: so how high will prices go? in san diego we found a station selling gas for 4.19 a gallon. >> i mean you still see people gassing up for some reason. >> reporter: speculation has been off the charts. >> prices at the pump could reach $4 a gallon by memorial day. >> gas prices is expected to hit $5 a gallon. >> reporter: the former head of shell oil sees $5 a gallon in our future. >> $4 in 2011 is probably a good number. $5 as we get close to the election in 2012 is probably also a good number. >> reporter: that's higher than anything we've ever seen before. >> i disagree with him. i think that we'll top out around 3

the bonds have a aaa ranking and are backed by eurozone members.he british pound has fallen against the u.s. dollar andhe reau of their the release of data showing britain's economy unexpectedly contracted at the end of last year. british gdp lost 0.5% in the fourth quarter, despite previous government forecasts predicting growth, albeit week. part of the reason was the unusually severe early winter weather in the u.k., which paralyzed construction, retail, and public transportation sectors. economists are predicting that the british government will have to revise its full-year forecasts downward. that is your business update. back over to meggin leigh lee. >> whavead news for the gean hdball team. geany has lost its final game at the handball world championships in sweden. germany went down by 35 points to 25 against him bottom of the group norway. but it is another blow to germany's hopes of qualifying for the 2012 olympics. one of germany's most successful film producers has died following a heart attack in los angeles. he was 61 years old. he w

caltrain and moo are offering free service and aaa will give you a ride home and tow of your car for free. bart will extend services but trains will skip some stations the montgomery and embarcadero station depending on which roughen you are on. we have all the details at www.abc7.com. j,. >> new year's eve is not the only reason to party in san francisco. those who work so hard to bring the america's cup are celebrating victory. the world's most prestigious yacht race is coming to the bay but as lisa amin gulezian critics report it's always bad deal. >> the world's oldest trophy arrived in san francisco and the city that held the cup has learned that it will host the next race in 2013. >> fulfilling the commitments we made doing the work that needs to be done. >> here are the details. race organizers will pay the city $55 million for use of it appears. san francisco will spend $35 million half will come from the general fund to pay for services during the race. all permits and taxes and millions more will be spent for a viewing section on pier 27. conservative groups feel ripped off

the aaa fuel gauge reports the average price of regular gas in the u.s. today is $3.80 that's up 8-cents from one month ago. here in california gas is $3.36. specifically here in the bay area the average price of gas is coming in at $3.38. >>> in san francisco, googles outgoing ceo is getting $100 million in stock. >>> stocks made solid gains today with the dow nearing the 12,000 mark. the dow was up 108 points to close at 11,980. the last time it hit 12,000 was back in june of 2008. the nasdaq was up by 28 points to 2,818. wall street rally was headed by tech stocks. >>> new details tonight about that tucson shooting, the ominous tattoo the accused gunman wanted to get at this store and what he reportedly told employees there about his dreams. >>> the warm temperatures still topping the bay area headlines. we're going to cool down tomorrow morning. the neighbor that is will start the day in the upper 30s but we'll also highlight one neighborhood that will warm up to 70 degrees. >>> the san jose police officers association says its plans to give awards to

from 2000 to 2007, moody's rated 45,000 mortgage securities as aaa. at the beginning of this year, there were six u.s. companies with that rating. in 2006, it gave its stamp of approval to some 30 such securities every working day. the results were disastrous. none of what happened was an act of god. the greatest tragedy would be to accept the idea that no one could have seen this crisis coming and, thus, nothing could have been done. if we accept this notion, it will happen again. let me now turn to my colleague, the chairman of the board and forbes 500 firm0 symantec. >> one important conclusion from our kids that widespread failures proved -- from our investigation was that widespread failures proved to be critical. there was the widely accepted belief in the self-correcting nature of the markets and the belief of financial firms to police themselves. the dealer regulation of a highly competitive -- the deregulation of a highly competitive sector was encouraged by alan greenspan. our report describes how this laissez-faire approach opened wide gaps

. - aaa... - you're all right. ♪ 20 seconds, baby. - they need to play jingle bells if they're gonna. - ten seconds, lindsey. [audience counting down seconds] [air horn blows] - oh... [cheers and applause] [notes slightly out of order] ♪ [buzzer] - but not a bad tune. - oh, it's so frustrating. - it's all good. it's all good. female announcer: you have one life remaining. - you want that ten seconds? - no. - no? you don't want the ten seconds? - no. - all right, now, asking a very good question. so let's stop for a second. let's talk over here. this is your mom and dad right here. - yeah, that's my mom and dad. - ma'am, what do you say to this young lady? she's in--she's in a tough situation right now. - she loves music, she knows how to play instruments. and i think she should just go for it. you can do this. [cheers and applause] - should they use the extra ten seconds in this one? or should they pass and use the ten seconds later? - he's asking you. - use it. - use it now? okay. thank you, guys. i think the question that's kind of coming up now is do you want to use the extra ten

it was seen a 10¢ a month increase right now the national averages $3.11 according to aaa.good luck finding that here in california especially here in the bay area. in fact, let's look at the gas prices in the bay area and give you a sense of where were at. in san francisco the average is $3.44, san jose 347 and oakland's the same at $3.37. it's all about the cost of oil the barrel oil is going for $88 right now. the we could probably see those even go up further. we talked about earlier darn dog, its 340 here right now and were not even at the height of gas prices. usual in the summer dry season they start talking about the special blend at that they have to have. gas prices will skyrocket did so for paying 340 now imagine what we could be paying come to your july. >> imagine, i remember was in a $4 a gallon? >> july 2008 the national average was $4.11. but that was an all-time high. we could quite possibly c $4 a gallon come summertime without any problem at all. >> what we were doing and jackie will have to start doing this again is finding the cheapest gas around and th

aaa reports the national average for a gallon of regular gas is now $3.11. that's 13-cents higher than one month ago and 37-cents higher than the time last year. here in california the average price is more at $3.36. >> is steve jobs required to disclose more details about his medical condition? that's what legal experts debating. he is taking a medical leave of absence but didn't say why or if he plans to return. the price of apple stock has fallen about 7% in reaction to the news. apple said jobs has a right to privacy but inaceves fors say they have a right to know his condition since is he considered the creative force behind apple. he has found to have cancer in 2004 and he had a liver transplant a year and a half ago. >> bad news from banking giant sent stocking downward today. goldman sach's, northern trust all reported lower profits. though prompted a selloff that brought the nasdaq and the sxp down. strong reports ibm helped on the dow jones, they shed 13 point, the nasdaq down more than 40. >> family members plan to move gabreille gifford giffords

you rated everything aaa and it turned out to be jump. now we are in the debacle that we are in now. guest: as i will explain in a second, i cannot really comment on the caller's remarks. that does not mean i agree or disagree. standard and poor's has many differing units. the area that i worked in is the index area, s&p indices. we are probably best known for the s&p 500, among other things. while i know personally some of the people that work in the credit rating agency, i have no direct connection with them. although i have been with s&p for 30 years, i have never worked in the ratings area of during those years. i do not have any detailed knowledge of the rating agency or how the decisions were made or what the analyses were. therefore, i cannot comment on the ratings for their impact or anything related to them. obviously, i have heard comments like yours before. because i do not have any detailed knowledge, i cannot express an opinion. but i do call -- thank you for calling in making those comments. host: let's bring it back to what

from 2000-2007, moody's rated 45,000 mortgage securities as aaa. the beginning of this year, there were six u.s. companies with debt rating. in 2006, it gave its stamp of approval to some 30 such securities, each and every working day. the results were disastrous. none of what happened was an act of god. the greatest tragedy would be to accept the idea that no one could have seen this crisis coming and thus, nothing could have been done. if we accept this notion, it will happen again. that me now turn to my colleague and good friend john thompson, the chairman of the board and former ceo of the fortune 500 firm semantac to describe another of our conclusions. >> good morning, everyone. one important conclusion from our commission's work is the widespread failures in financial regulation proved devastating to the stability of our nation's financial markets. it is clear that the sentries were not at their posts. this was in large part because of a widely accepted belief and the self correcting nature of the markets and the ability of the financial fi

you rated everything aaa and it turned out to be jump. now we are in the debacle that we are in now. guest: as i will explain in a second, i cannot really comment on the caller's remarks. that does not mean i agree or disagree. standard and poor's has many differing units. the area that i worked in is the index area, s&p indices. we are probably best known for the s&p 500, among other things. while i know personally some of the people that work in the credit rating agency, i have no direct connection with them. although i have been with s&p for 30 years, i have never worked in the ratings area of during those years. i do not have any detailed knowledge of the rating agency or how the decisions were made or what the analyses were. therefore, i cannot comment on the ratings for their impact or anything related to them. obviously, i have heard comments like yours before. because i do not have any detailed knowledge, i cannot express an opinion. but i do call -- thank you for calling in making those comments. host: let's bring it back to what

the bonds have a aaa ranking and are backed by eurozone members.he british pound has fallen against the u.s. dollar and the bureau of their the release of data showing britain's economy unexpectedly contracted at the end of last year. british gdp lost 0.5% in the fourth quarter, despite previous government forecasts predicting growth, albeit week. part of the reason was the unusually severe early winter weather in the u.k., which paralyzed construction, retail, and public transportation sectors. economists are predicting that the british government will have to revise its full-year forecasts downward. that is your business update. back over to meggin leigh lee. >> we have bad news for the german handball team. germany has lost its final game at the handball world championships in sweden. germany went down by 35 points to 25 against him bottom of the group norway. but it is another blow to germany's hopes of qualifying for the 2012 olympics. one of germany's most successful film producers has died following a heart attack in los angeles. he was 61 y

nationwide aaa says 9 out of 10 people who traveled this holiday did so by car rather than by air or rail. that represents an estimated 87 million people on the roads off about 3% over last year. even with gas prices around $3 a gallon for the first time in a christmas holiday season, more people chose to drive than deal with the hassles of airports and weather delays you reported on earlier. speaking of weather there are concerns for drivers. rain along the northeast -- the eastern seaboard in the northeast and in north florida. snow in michigan and montana. he have rain in california headed into nevada. so safety experts are urging people to get on the road early, give themselves extra time given the potential traffic problems and with so many people on the road and so many troopers out there, by the way, they are just urging people to take it easy and get home safely. lester? >> mark potter in florida this morning. thanks. >>> no matter if you were driving or flying the holiday season has been full of dangerous weather. >> janice huff is here to tell us if there is anything to wat

from 2000 to 2007, moody's rated 45,000 mortgage securities as aaa. beginning this year, there were six u.s. companies with that rating. in 2006, it gave its stamp of approval to some 30-such securities each and every working day. the results were disastrous. none of what happened was an act of god. the greatest tragedy would be to accept the idea that no one could have seen this crisis coming, and that's, nothing could have been done in. if we accept this notion, it will happen again. let me now turn to my colleague and good friend john thompson, the chairman of the board and former ceo of the fortune 5 wandered from symantec -- fortune 500 firm symantec, to describe another of our conclusions. >> one of the conclusions of our work was that widespread failures of regulation proved devastating to the nation's financial markets. it is clear that center is were not at their posts. this was in large part because of the widely accepted belief in the self-correcting nature of the markets and the ability of the financial firms to police themselves. this is

aaa say beach raising more gas prices is because of demand.n francisco member the board of supervisors has been targeted by the deal showed job store. monday show featured a flustered supervisor marc. we caught up with a supervisor he said it's a big fan of the show and agreed to do it to get his message out. a stick a look at the video full here that on a daily show dhaka. it out over 40,000 use the most fertile part of the interview came when supervisor marc fast anymore after watching a documentary so precisely. the course of the past if it would be hard to pass all lot for the flux to send that will lead to every parent in san francisco. >> on one hand you're like we can't do that, on the other hand you are doing that. >> we don't have that kind of power. >> to said he did carried >> were looking at issues from an equity ability. >> the supervisors reaction to this he's laughing about it. >> i watched it with my tendril daughter we had a great laugh of a big fan of john stored in the daily show. we had no idea the way it would turn out but

in fact according to aaa the current rates here in the bay area.cisco's $3.44 on average, san jose, they boast top out at $3.37, it's all about oil. the cost of oil $88 a barrel right now. that continues to go up. #$%%# scary proposition is it's only january. you know you will pay more once the summer months come. analysts say we to be looking at $4 a gallon before the summer's over. >> i have a friend who spent so much and gas every month it would be cheaper to buy out pretest in addition to his regular car. he would save money. $500 a month for car forecast with him. >> irt bought a prius. right before the guests like in 2008. that was the last time we saw prices like this. we were paying $4.11 a i bought a pre a spirit >> sonat you laugh as you pass gas stations. (laughter) think you for feeling for us jackie. we will be back with more of a couple of minutes. taking a look get labeled using gas on san jose. we will be right back. time is 9:45 a.m., a beautiful bay area warning. area morning. e morning he's out there, it is burning off. this afte

aaa says the average is 3.40. with oakland at 3.35. tori, salt lake city has the cheapest gasoline in the c ountry. it's still under $3 a gallon. >> sounds like a bargain now. >> it does. >> yay, really cheap. >>> let's see how people are burning up the flumes since they are trying to burn up the roads and bridges. >> northbound or southbound 808 at the connector ramp to 280 north there is a traffic -- w ell, there is an accident t here. traffic is -- that's a really bad spot for a crash. traffic is going to be slow at that 280 inter-- intersection with 880. northbound 17 from campbell, g etting into the act there. i want to show you some slow traffic on the roads. 880 northbound. the traffic is going to be busy there getting up to the high street area. but when you get to the been, it's not bad. we just got some breaking traffic news here. the antioch bridge has just reopened. it was closed because of ice and they said it was gonna open at 9:00. well, now it's open at 8:30. they finally got the ice to melt and bridge is open. >>> let'

according to the aaa fuel gauge report, it was 3.04 a week ago, 2.92 last month.he experts say it's because of rising crude oil prices and various international refinery shut downs -- shutdowns. some say the highses -- the prices could go higher because there is a higher demand in this economic recovery. >>> it is gonna be slow on 880. it has been. this is the first day of 2011 where we've seen very slow traffic. yesterday, it was light. today all of a sudden, we have this traffic. traffic is very slow on fremont boulevard heading south, especially but northbound's g etting into the act. this morning's commute is going to be -- this newschopper2 looking at the fog, we were just looking at highway 92. newschopper2 is on the way out to the coast. we're looking at the fog that has not been a major issue, as you can see, newschopper2 is looking down on highway 101 at 92. highway 29 looks pretty good out to the coast. let's go to steve. >>> we do have areas of fog, also cold this morning, kind of a damp cold, it's just not something that we're used to here but i notice

think congo is very much in the fishing and emphasize on it and pointing out that when you scan it and aaa scan and moreover congo doesn't for the known cinders to the recipients. talking about the legal issues i have to say for those lawyers to litigate the administrative cases which in the required agencies to respond to publications he just hit a home run and reminding us of at least god answered job so why doesn't the tsa respond to the american public? i wish i had that in a brief last night. in going to go next to chip and i wanted to ask this question i'm sure people who are following this conference the are listening that maybe they are agreeing with the panel was saying that the same time sure there are some people who say listen it's really not that big a deal to go through one of these devices and i'm tough, i can to get and that is what the government asks us to do. i will do it. i'm sure people feel that way but then they look and see the children or their wife or somebody else been subjected to this and they may have to start second thoughts and when we think about certain gr

eight months, we've seen our credit rating which was on the brink of being downgraded affirmed at the aaa level. we saw market interest rates in danger of spiraling upwards actually fall. all this happened not because of the plans. allies to this fiscal discipline has to be the reform and disciplining of europe's banks. last year's round of stress tests didn't go far enough. they said we were 3.5 million euros short. the banks needed ten times that. this year's tests have to be tougher stroaching over -- stretching over a three year period covering independent bodies like the ims, but above all, more than anything else what we urgently need in europe is an aggressive transcontinental drive to unleash enterprise. at home, we cut corporation tax, funded new enterprise allowance, and got a grip on regulation. we sent huge trade regulations all over the world accepting the message that britain is open for business. in the essential work of sorting out the deficit, we made the decision to prioritize growth. we are making cuts to the welfare budget which is # hugely difficult. we can transport

now i switched over to aaa and i have no problem.ould never buy insurance, especially health insurance, across state lines. host: congressman? guest: the caller raises a very important point about consumer protection. some of these easy-sounding solutions put forward by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and can jeopardize patient and consumer protection preview did not want to buy insurance from a fly by night operation. as part of the health reform bill, we did say that the federal office of personnel management will be able to put together national structures that will allow consumers to be able to purchase insurance in a way that they know will safeguard their interest. in some ways, it's modeled after the federal employees health benefit plan. it allows that purchasing power, but with the protections that you would have in the state system. for example, the protections that members of congress have as part of their plan. host: rich on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: he has had two years to create jobs

chairman held up about moody's and standard time -- moody's and standard and poor's, talking about the aaa rating of the united states. japan was just downgraded to aa. what would a downgrade from triple a to double a of the united states credit rating due to the interest rates and your budget projections? your budget projections in my opinion, i know you try to be conservative, but as we have seen, i think this year you projected a $1.1 trillion deficit. for this year, it turned out to be a $1.5 trillion. some of that was because of the tax policy, but the bottom line is these things can change radically very quickly. the full faith and credit idea, this idea of of the bond traders downgrade our bonds, if the fed is successful, and a lot of people think they're going to be successful in raising inflation because that's what they're trying to do with the monetary supply, those all lead to higher interest rates, higher than you are projecting. that is the question -- if it goes out to double a, what does that do your projections? for the steps? >> if the federal government's credit rating o

chairman held up about moody's and standard time -- moody's and standard and poor's, talking about the aaa rating of the united states. japan was just downgraded to aa. what would a downgrade from triple a to double a of the united states credit rating due to the interest rates and your budget projections? your budget projections in my opinion, i know you try to be conservative, but as we have seen, i think this year you projected a $1.1 trillion deficit. for this year, it turned out to be a $1.5 trillion. some of that was because of the tax policy, but the bottom line is these things can change radically very quickly. the full faith and credit idea, this idea of of the bond traders downgrade our bonds, if the fed is successful, and a lot of people think they're going to be successful in raising inflation because that's what they're trying to do with the monetary supply, those all lead to higher interest rates, higher than you are projecting. that is the question -- if it goes out to double a, what does that do your projections? for the steps? >> if the federal government's credit rating o

u.s., the financial markets where lack of transparency, lack of monitoring, fraudulent allocation of aaa bonds, in reality toxic bonds, corrupt practices were at the core of the freefall of the u.s. ended the world economy. it shows the lack of the necessary governance structures or even more so the capture of our democratic structures by very strong special interests that it also highlighted the deep injustice, the privatization of profit and the socialization of losses and debt. ireland is a case in point that although with its own intrinsic problems, it is in essence paying for the people of ireland, the people violate a pay for the toxic practices of the international financial system. and this is a politically unsustainable practice in our democracies. again, one that challenges us to look at our governance structures and could make sure that they are transparent democratic responsible and just. so yes, we have had to make sacrifices in greece, to deal with the symptom of debt and deficit, cutting wages in the public sector, rebounding our pension system, hiking taxes, putting an ex

debt could loot -- lead to america losing its aaa credit rating. if such a thing were to happen, it would be extremely serious for the united states and could set off more global financial tensions. in his recent testimony before the budget committee, chairman bernanke call for red demonstration of political will to address the long-term fiscal imbalance. he stated, nobody doubts the united states has the economic capacity to pay its bills. it is really a question of having the political will to do that. demonstration of political will -- is the congress and the public and the administration able to demonstrate that they are serious and have enough willingness to work together to make progress? at the point where confidence is lost, that is where you can see a relatively quick deterioration in financial conditions. i very much hope that the people of our country and the people of the congress and the administration are listening to chairman bernanke. i believe he has got it just right. we cannot afford to wait until the markets lose confidence in u

debt could loot -- lead to america losing its aaa credit rating. if such a thing were to happen, it would be extremely serious for the united states and could set off more global financial tensions. in his recent testimony before the budget committee, chairman bernanke call for red demonstration of political will to address the long-term fiscal imbalance. he stated, nobody doubts the united states has the economic capacity to pay its bills. it is really a question of having the political will to do that. demonstration of political will -- is the congress and the public and the administration able to demonstrate that they are serious and have enough willingness to work together to make progress? at the point where confidence is lost, that is where you can see a relatively quick deterioration in financial conditions. i very much hope that the people of our country and the people of the congress and the administration are listening to chairman bernanke. i believe he has got it just right. we cannot afford to wait until the markets lose confidence in u

they may have had, and plunged into the red, but our savings account remains strong, and our credit is aaa. what we did in 2008, and 2009, and 2010, we will do again this year. we will take the action necessary to limit state spending to the funds available. we will protect struggling taxpayers against the additional burden of higher taxes. we will continue improving our jobs climate by holding the line on taxes as our competitors take the easy way and let theirs rise. we say tonight, whatever course others may choose, here in indiana we live within our means. we put the private sector ahead of government, and the taxpayer ahead of everyone, and we will stay in the black, whatever it takes. in two days, i will send to this assembly a proposed budget for the next biennium. as always, i know that our final product will be a mutual one, and i welcome your amendments and improvements so long as they live up to the following principles: one, i just mentioned, no tax increases. can i get an "amen" to that? [applause] two, we must stay in the black at all times with positive reserves at a prudent

reserves they may have had and plunged into the red but our savings account remains strong and our credit aaa. what we did in 2008 and 2009 and 2010, we will do again this year. we will take the actions necessary to limit state spending to the funds available. we will protect struggling taxpayers against the additional burden of higher taxes. we will continue improving our jobs climate by holding the line on taxes as our competitors take the easy way and let theirs rise. we say tonight, whatever course others may choose, here in indiana, we live within our means, we put the private sector ahead of government, the taxpayer ahead of everyone and we will stay in the black whatever it takes. [applause] >> in two days i will send to this assembly a proposed budget for the next biennium. as always i know our final product will be a mutual one. and i welcome your amendments and improvements so long as they live up to the following principles. one i just mentioned no tax increases. can i get an amen to that? [applause] >> two, we must stay in the black at all times, with positive reserves at a pruden

debt could lead to america losing its aaa rating. if this happens, it would be a very serious blow and could set up continuing pensions in the global financial markets. in his recent testimony before the senate committee, federal reserve chairman bernanke called for political will to address the long term fiscal imbalances. he staids, and i quote, "nobody doubts the united states has the economic capacity to pay its bills. it's really a question. do we have the political will to do that? demonstration of political will, that's what the markets are watching. is the congress and the public and the administration, are they able to demonstrate that they are serious and that they have enough willingness to work together to make progress?" at the point where confidence is lost, you can see a quick deterioration in financial conditions. that again all from the chairman of the federal reserve. i hope people are listening. we can't afford to wait until the markets lose confidence in a conduct of our financial affairs. we need to agent, and we

eight months we've seen our credit rating, which was on the brink of being downgraded affirmed to the aaa level. we've seen market interest rates, which were in danger of spiraling upwards actually fall. all of this has happened not in spite of our plan to cut the deficit but because of it. that's why we must stick to the course that we have set out. allied to this fiscal discipline has got to be the reform and strengthening of europe's banks. last year's round of stress tests didn't go nearly far enough. they said we were 3.5 billion euros short than six months down the line the irish banks alone needed 10 times that. this year's tests have got to be tougher. stretching over a three-year period, covering liquidity as well as capital and involving independent bodies like the imf. but above all, more than anything else, what we urgently need in europe is an aggressive pan-continental drive to unleash enterprise. at home we've cuts corporation tax, cut the small business rate, funded a new enterprise alliance and had a grip on regulation. we sent huge delegations sending out the message tha

in other words, the rating on our debt, will it cease to be aaa? and if that happens, won't our interest rates that i have just been suggesting are threatening us, those interest rates will go up because of our -- if our ratings go down, people will demand a higher interest before they will loan us money. and the international monetary fund urged the united states to take much stronger action. this is the "washington post" business page just a few days ago." u.s. must reduce deficit, i.m.f. warns." must reduce deficit, i.m.f. warns. they claim to be -- they're not perfect, of course. they claim to be the conscience of the world and warn profligate nations to get their houses in order before it creates systemic problems for other nations and themselves. this article says -- quote -- "european countries have begun a pointed dialogue with their residents about what government can and cannot afford. moves to cut public salaries, trim services and curb public pensions have touched off strikes and protests but also put the deficits of those countries on

chairman held up about moody's and standard time -- moody's and standard and poor's, talking about the aaa rating of the united states. japan was just downgraded to aa. what would a downgrade from triple a to double a of the united states credit rating due to the interest rates and your budget projections? your budget projections in my opinion, i know you try to be conservative, but as we have seen, i think this year you projected a $1.1 trillion deficit. for this year, it turned out to be a $1.5 trillion. some of that was because of the tax policy, but the bottom line is these things can change radically very quickly. the full faith and credit idea, this idea of of the bond traders downgrade our bonds, if the fed is successful, and a lot of people think they're going to be successful in raising inflation because that's what they're trying to do with the monetary supply, those all lead to higher interest rates, higher than you are projecting. that is the question -- if it goes out to double a, what does that do your projections? for the steps? >> if the federal government's credit rating o

we've had balanced budgets the last three years, we have aaa bond ratings, one of very few large citiestax climate. you know, there's a consistent, predictable tax climate. plus other cities try to do, very vibrant arts community. >> mayor, what are you doing for 2011? >> we're foxing on small business. we have a business loan fund we're using to not only support the businesses that are there, but help create existing new businesses through entrepreneurship as well. >> mayors around the room, what are you doing in your city to reduce the unemployment rate? what exciting activities, show of hands and i'll go to you, what are you planning in 2011 for your city? i will note that the lowest unemployment rate for a metropolitan statistical area, i've got it here some place if i don't lose it, was, i believe, bismarck, north dakota. and their unemployment rate was 3.3%. it sounds like what they're looking for are skilled workers which is another part of that element. who else, mayors? what are your plans for 2011? don't see any hands. we're going to go to question number three then. all right

they may have had, and plunged into the red, but our savings account remains strong, and our credit is aaa. what we did in 2008, and 2009, and 2010, we will do again this year. we will take the action necessary to limit state spending to the funds available. we will protect struggling taxpayers against the additional burden of higher taxes. we will continue improving our jobs climate by holding the line on taxes as our competitors take the easy way and let theirs rise. we say tonight, whatever course others may choose, here in indiana we live within our means. we put the private sector ahead of government, and the taxpayer ahead of everyone, and we will stay in the black, whatever it takes. in two days, i will send to this assembly a proposed budget for the next biennium. as always, i know that our final product will be a mutual one, and i welcome your amendments and improvements so long as they live up to the following principles: one, i just mentioned, no tax increases. can i get an "amen" to that? [applause] two, we must stay in the black at all times with positive reserves at a prudent

price of a regular gallon of gas has gone up 8 cents in the past month to $3.11 a gallon according to aaain california. he urged people to get off their couches and get moving. his workouts show three decades. jack lalanne was 96 years old. and no strings attached took the top spot at the box office this weekend. "the green hornet" flew into the second spot and "the dilemma" was third. it is now six minutes past the hour. back over to matt, ann, and tamron. a good time to go to the movies. get warm. >>> let's get a check of the weather from maria larosa. >>> good morning. we are here with a hearty crowd getting used to the cold temperatures. thankfully we won't have to get used to them too much longer. we are seeing the coldest morning right now across the northeast. if you look at current temperatures we're into the single digits. many areas started off below zero. plattsburgh is 14 below. there is an edge to the air. windchills well below zero in many areas including albany. and we take a look at what we're looking at over the next couple of days. this storm is impacting the south. it w

think congo is very much in the fishing and emphasize on it and pointing out that when you scan it and aaaing about the legal issues i have to say for those lawyers to litigate the administrative cases which in the required agencies to respond to publications he just hit a home run and reminding us of at least god answered job so why doesn't the tsa respond to the american public? i wish i had that in a brief last night. in going to go next to chip and i wanted to ask this question i'm sure people who are following this conference the are listening that maybe they are agreeing with the panel was saying that the same time sure there are some people who say listen it's really not that big a deal to go through one of these devices and i'm tough, i can to get and that is what the government asks us to do. i will do it. i'm sure people feel that way but then they look and see the children or their wife or somebody else been subjected to this and they may have to start second thoughts and when we think about certain groups, when you think about children and the elderly you think about rape survi