in fact, one person who might be happy about the high gas prices is dan ackerman.ices would help his industry, not hurt, it he prefers a $1 a gallon gas plan hike. i have saidov over and over aga high gas prices cause people to conserve, it causes people to look for alternatives. i didn't really think i would have the ceo of gm on my side in this situation. does it make sense he thinks there should be higher gas prices? >> it's clear he means in terms of higher standards. a lot of these automakers are doing whatever they can to find the new reality, or the new normal, for the kinds of cars they're making. are american consumers ready for that new normal? that's what i mean that you've got to start thinking that higher gas prices and roaring markets are going to be here to stay. even in your families, you have to make these kinds of choices because you don't want to spend $80 to fill up the van. >> people are saying, do you understand what i pay to fill up my tank and we've got way more unemployed people than we can handle in this country? it's tough to suggest an i

ackerman, of the committee for five minutes. i thank the chairman. today's hearing is indeed a very important one. at a hearing on the same subject last november i suggested that most americans and most members of congress think that we're basically done in iraq. our combat troops have left iraq last year and the rest of our 50,000 troops are coming home at the end of this year. as a political matter, iraq is yesterday's problem and yesterday's news. the only problem with this view is that it is completely at odds with both reality in iraq, and the administration's plans for it. as this committee heard last year from assistant secretary of state jeffrey feldman, america's assistance is intended to, quote, help iraq meet its needs, stand up its economy, and cement its democracy -- its democratic system over the next five-seven years, unquote. i will repeat what he said. five to seven years. to do all this assisting and stand up being in cementing, the u.s. mission in iraq will be spending billions of dollars, operating five major diplomatic facilities

that's joe ackerman of deutsche bank.e german and french banks are on the hook for $100 billion in greece alone. that's why we've seen the difficult negotiating which is have come to the brink now. the cabinet reshuffle probably won't do a whole lot on its own. the unity government was a good idea but they didn't get the result they were, looking for. nina. >> john defterios, thank you for that. >>> this global situation weep be talking about something else in the world, the inflation rate in india, just keeps on ridesing. after the break, we'll be talking about hout central bank is spongd responds by raising i rates again. the cream disappears but your wrinkles don't. ♪ introducing neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. in fact, it's clinically proven to smooth wrinkles in just one week. so all you have to do is sit back and watch your wrinkles go away. new rapid wrinkle repair. from neutrogena®. >>> india's ranking among biggest economies is number ten. that's almost what its inc

ranking member ackerman, honorable members of the committee. thank you for holding this hearing and inviting me to appear before you today to discuss the international developments role in the transition from a military l.e.d. to a civilian l.e.d. presence. the situation in iraq has dramatically improved but iraq is still very much a post-conflict developing country facing considerable development, human rain showers -- resource and fiscal challenges. restoring public institutions and creating conditions for private sector-led group. but continued support is required to further neuroture iraq's pledging democracies and improve is to -- manage its own wealth. the primary objective then was to restore essential structure and services. beginning in 2007, u.s. u.s.a. shifted is resources to complement the civilian surge which began at that time. this program focused on community ability at administering quick respond funds for the reconstructive teams. support is aligned with the regionic framework agreement which look out lines the security cooper

ackerman. >> thank you very much. thank you all for your testimony. is there somebody in the administration who is in charge of selling this to the american people? >> well, in my building, it is the secretary of state. >> i need somebody specifically who has meet ability of explaining to the american people why we are doing this, but the american people think we have already done? >> it only thing i would add, both our secretaries are heavily involved. it is a top priority of both secretary gates and secretary clinton, president obama was tasked right away to lead our efforts. >> what you are both indicating is that there is none, and i am suggesting there is a key problem. the american people think that we're finished with this, we are done with it, and we do not have to make any further investment, and that is not the case. these kinds of things are going to be very difficult to do in the ensuing months if not years, given all of the givens, both realities and the political things that we have to vote deal with. and that is not necessarily a good t

>> reporter: i think you've got to look at what ackerman was saying.reece in itself is so big or important that it would cause the effect. what he is suggesting if greece goes then the question becomes who is next? who else is weak? where is the counterpart you risk throughout the financial system? yes, we had a year to work out who has the greek debt. we know it's french banks. we know it's german banks. they issued paper in the u.s. market. so we've got a pretty good idea the depth and integrity of the greek debt. what we don't know are the derivatives, credit default swaps, what happens if portugal goes or ireland or spain. when lehman went, it was the shock and surprise that caused the damage. people were looking over their shoulder saying who is next and who is good on their debts? >> on the campaign trail here in the u.s., you hear candidates say greece is in trouble because of its debt. we could soon follow greece's footsteps. what lessons, if any, does the greek crisis hold for the u.s.? >> it's not just the level of debt that's important. let'

ak ackerman said he'd prefer a $1 a gallon gas hike as opposed to tighter regulations.'ve said it over and over again. the answer to high gas prices is high gas prices because it causes people to conserve and look for alternatives. i didn't really think i'd have the ceo of gm on my side in this situation. does this makes sense? >> it's clear he means instead of higher fuel economy standards. automakers, ford, for example, a lot of these automakers are doing whatever they can to try to find the new normal for the kind of cars they're making. are american consumers ready for that new normal? you have to start thinking like high gas prices and roaring emerging markets are going to be here with us to stay, even in your family, you have to make these kinds of choices because you don't want to be paying 70 bucks to fill up a van. >> people who are listening to this are saying, do you understand what i pay to fill up my tank? times are tough and we have way more unemployed people than we can handle in this country. it's tough to suggest that an increase in gas prices might be

philadelphia school superintendent arlene ackerman will be joining me to discuss all of this tomorrow we take education nation on the road. if you're in the area, do come by to the constitution center by 12:30 to be part of our live audience. if not, always watch us right here at 1:00 eastern. >>> and up next, weiner's downfall with "the new york times" columnist charles blow. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. this past year alone there was a 93% increase in cyber attacks. in financial transactions... on devices... in social interactions... and applications in the cloud. some companies are worried. some, not so much. thanks to a network that secures it all and knows what to keep in, and what to keep out. outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco. >>>

talking about joseph ackerman, ceo of deutsch bank. he said if it's greece alone, that's already big but if other countries are drawn in, it could be bigger than lehman. we all remember what happened to lehman, referring to the 2008 collapse of lehman brothers, it sparked the global financial crisis. lehman went down, aig got a bailout. bank of america took over merrill lynch. it shows how interconnected the financial system is globally. critics say these calls are alarmist because the u.s. can deal with a greece default because these critics say u.s. banks have investments in europe but they have been boosting reserves and can withstand europe's problems better than before the financial crisis. it looks like the markets today are weathering all of the volatility going on in greece right now. the dow up 118 points. investors at this point are optimistic that a deal can be worked out. >> a little bit on the lighter side, we have somebody we think is really upset about all the cuts in greece. the stray dog. take a look at him. he might b

. >> spencer ackerman with wide. i was hoping you could talk about some of the prospect of conflict in this region, what's realistic, what's not particularly where sea lanes open for competition. thank you. >> would anyone like to take that went? >> again, one of the reasons for the u.s. convention -- [inaudible] >> less arbitrary decision-making on some of these contentious items. so again, we think the kind of treaty is a better way to go than the conflict model. for us specifically, obviously we are working on, all the countries in the arctic council, the mapping of the continental shelf and how far it extends. i think that is working in a cooperative way until we get it all mapped and then start disagreeing. but at this point we're doing the fact-based work, and for is also the northwest passage is an internal waterway through canada in our view and we retain our sovereignty in that regard. the narrow issue, lasher secretary clinton and foreign minister, agreed to have again experts provide the research, the quic

ackerman: for several years, the department of veterans afairs has pursued a stubbornly wrong headedlan for the st.al bans community. i'm -- st. albans community. for 4 years, property has been dead cailted for veterans, what are veterans supposed to do without this facility when there's a rising demand among veterans for this service. the justification stems from an absurd, outdated report that relied on data from 2003, eight years ago, when we're only at the beginning of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. we have unfortunately seen tremendous increases in veterans' homelessness, foreclosures, ptsd's, and suicides. yet the v.a. reports from all those years ago projected at that time, almost a decade ago that mental health services for our veterans was going to decrease over the next 20 years. it's been eight years since that report and what are we seeing in the eight years alone? and there's 2 more to go. we're seeing increases in these problems among our veterans yet they cling stubbornly to the data in that report thinking these things will go down among our veterans and everyone k

it's been ackerman is before as a matter of fact when president ford came to office he not only had around his neck a bitter debate about vietnam, but also the first resignation of a president. so, he really understood that sort of thing. but his personality was such that a little over two years later we have what we forgotten what he did for us in the short term he was president to heal the wound of the country. what one other thing president ford was i would call him an apostle of cooperation and compromise, and those two words, i think some in washington now refused even to use as being denigrating from what they are supposed to do. president ford would have been shocked by that. he knew that those characteristics, cooperation and compromise is what made this country work. indeed, what was based on, our constitution is not a modern for efficient government. it's a model to protect the individual against a government that tries to overstep itself, and it does that by setting up checks and balances everywhere. so it's easy to keep something from happening. to make it happen, you have to c

i'd also like to welcome ranking member ackerman of new york, mr. cyrus of new jersey will be sitting in for the ranking member engel today. i thank you for being here. we are examining the administration's policies through the use of sanctions. for the past decade, the united states has focused much of its attention on the middle east. since the 9/11 attacks, americans have invested over a trillion dollars fighting the wars in iraq and afghanistan. since 2001, 6072 americans have died in operations enduring freedom, iraqi freedom and new dawn. another 44,266 have been injured. in afghanistan alone these numbers have risen dramatically since our current president took office in 2009. wednesday evening president obama announced the intent to withdraw 33,000 troops from afghanistan by the fall of 2012. this will leave approximately 67,000 troops behind which is twice as many as when president obama entered office. while i support withdrawal, it must be prudent because it is the right thing to do based on facts and not because it is convenient. while w