. >> rose: alan greenspan was chairman of the federal reserve board from 8 '78 202006. the decisions made him one of the most influential bankers in american history. the united states experience aid period of growth under his watch. at 85 years old he remains engaged in the conversation about global economics. his skuk seser at the fed ben bernanke has fac a range of challenges at the growth othe the u.s. economy ha slowed. i spoke with alan greenspan yesterday at the harvard club in new york city as part of a seri of conversations in collabation underwritten the royal bank of canada. here is that conversation. >> let me begin with the question of whether greece will have to default on its sovereign bt and what are the ramifications if it does. >> the chances of greece not defaulting are very small. >> you mean by that-- fame, portugal, ireland. >> the problem that you have is that it's extremely unlikely that the political system will work in such a manner as to create the type of finances which will solve this problem. what you are having to do is get a fiscal consol

pardon me alan greenspan the former federal reserve chairman today called american debt a horrifically dangerous issue i mean how do we pay for these conflicts if we're trying to reduce deficits and debt at the same time around and that printing money so the federal reserve is printing money to pay for for the wars now if that puts too much pressure on the dollar may face the dollar crisis the next thing they do they will grab people's private pensions. you know there's a lot of money in private pensions and that his goodness accumulated tax free and so they go it was say hey look. this is accumulating tax free and therefore we're going to put a tax on it we're going to confiscate some part of it or they will tell the pension manages you have to use it to buy treasury bonds so they'll make people's pensions being used to finance the government's deficit that's what they'll do if they get into real trouble with the dollar the you don't see lawmakers actually catching on to this whole issue of defense spending spending on a you know fancy planes and gadgets and then things that belong be

going to get all of this money for these wars whether there are acknowledged or not i mean even alan greenspan pardon me alan greenspan the former federal research and chairman today call it american debt and horrifically dangerous issue i mean how do we pay for these conflicts if we're trying to reduce deficits and that at the same time well right now they're pretty money so the fed reserve spring. money to pay for for the wars now and if that puts too much pressure lid on the face of dollar crisis the next thing they do they will grab people's private pensions. you know there's a lot of money in private pensions and yet here it is section relating tax free and so the government was saying hey look. this is accumulating tax free and therefore we're going to put a tax on it or we're going to confiscate some part of it or they will tell the pension managers you have to use it to back treasury bonds so they'll make people's pensions be used to finance the government's emphasis that's what they'll do if they get into real trouble with the dollar so you don't see the lawmakers actually catching on

going to get all of this money for these wars whether they're acknowledged or not i mean even alan greenspan of pardon me alan greenspan the former federal research chairman today called american debt and horrifically dangerous issue i mean how do we pay for these conflicts if we're trying to reduce deficits and debt at the same time well right now the current money so the fed reserves training money to pay for all the wars you know if that puts too much pressure on the dollar to face a dollar crisis the next thing they do they will grab people's private pensions. you know there's a lot of money in private pensions and it is really tax free and so they go it was say hey look. this is accumulated tax free and therefore we're going to put a tax on it we're going to complicate some part of it or they will tell the pension just you have to use it to buy treasury bonds so they'll make people's pensions be used to finance the government's deficit that's what they'll do if they get into real trouble with the dollar and that was dr paul craig roberts. the betting on a breakdown wars foreclosures une

. >> reporter: meanwhile, former fed chairman alan greenspan said it's time to raise the dent ceiling and the taxes. >> the fact i'm saying we should go back to the clinton tax structure shows how scared i am of how this has emerged and the magnitude. sglo there is good news, the europeans are dealing with their debt crisis, and japan is working through their crises. but it's going to take a while before all of this is behind us and we with work our way out of the hole. >> tom costello in washington on friday night. president obama was talking about his administration's political policies on a trip to ohio today, but said nothing about the job numbers. ory chief white house correspondent chuck todd is here with us tonight. at some point, folks are going to want to hear a reaction to it. >> the president alluded to it during the trip to ohio. >> this economy took a big hit. you know, just like if you had a bad illness, if you got hit by a truck. you know, it's going to take a while for you to mend. there are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery. >> now, look, he was in tole

we also saw a alan greenspan in the room. those are the names we expect permissibly think the panel will start very shortly. live coverage on c-span 2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> all right, hello, everyone. hello? hello, everyone. hello, good afternoon and welcome to the aspen institute. and jamie miller, vice president for public programs than it did great, good fortune to be involved with this project over the course of a couple years. we've been talking about the issues around the innovation economy and we've been lucky to have this work underwritten by intel and to do it in partnership with the pbs news hour, both of which are great privilege is. kirk and welcome margaret warner and also thank our underwriter intel who has demonstrated a real intellectual interest around these issues over the past couple years and we really appreciate it and hope everyone else does too. i'll pass it over to d

. ♪ host: formal federal chairman alan greenspan said -- former fed chairman alan greenspan made sometatements. the "question of post" spoke -- washington post said federal dollars are poorly being tracked. and there is a nonbinding resolution asking president obama to provide a rationale regarding current operations in libya. that will be the topic for our next 45 minutes or so. it will be on your thoughts on what president obama should be saying about it. as well as the vote yesterday, and if it is significant. the numbers to call or at the bottom of your screen. you can reach out to us by e- mail if you want. you can also reach us on twitter. the story comes from the hill this morning regarding house proceedings. the house friday approved a resolution that scolds the obama administration for failing to seek congressional authority on the military operations in libya. we will read more on this. we will have some sound on this as well in a few moments to give you a flavor of what happens on the house floor. in the meantime, here is how you can participate. we are looking at the boat

[laughter] >> no one told me that i would be getting in an academic debate with alan greenspan. [laughter] you know, not to be -- >> i'm sorry. >> no, i'm just completely intimidated. [laughter] i'm just trying to buy time to collect my thoughts. [laughter] you know, not to sound flippant, mr. greenspan, i was a mayor, not an economist. economic theory sounds great, but i don't want to be traps, but against the backdrop of the sort of economic uncertainty that still grips us and an unemployment rate that's too high, the only way to get americans engaged on further liberalization of trade for all the reasons that you articulated is if they believe it isn't just a proxy for the transfer of jobs somewhere else because there is job growth associated with trade even with the more noble goal of reducing poverty around the world and providing the maximum environment for the division of labor and efficiency, americans get that. we understand the consumption benefits of trade. we doesn't qualm with that, but when you look at the trade balance and you look at the reality, and i didn't rep

my guests next week, i hope you'll join us, former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan.ek keep it right here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody, and i'll see you again next week. never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles in 3 days-- i can do that. 60 miles compared to what a cancer patient goes through is a walk in the park. from the moment i registered, people started immediately supporting me. we had an outpouring of-- of support. i wanted to do something bigger than myself. the 60 miles-- it makes a statement. i know i'm stronger than i was before, both mentally and physically. i walk with my sister. our relationship has gone to a whole new level because of training together. you meet the most wonderful, inspiring people. i knew that there was something really special about this event. when you accomplish those 60 miles, it's truly life-changing. it was three days of hope. of love. of empowerment. it was three days the way the world should be. here i am, second year in a row, and i'm already signed up for

seeing in greece is directed to those sort of people we're talking about right now well look from alan greenspan through the united kingdom and most of western europe in the late one nine hundred ninety s. we tore up much of the banking regulation that we've had for the previous seventy years and traditional lending rate ceo's what out of the window when the whole thing went belly up in two thousand and eight the response from the european union and from other governments was we had to do whatever was necessary to prop up these banks and to keep them in business and we're now beginning i think to pay the price for that don't think the banking crisis is over i suspect that it's hardly begun and in many cases it might have been better to do what iceland did and say look these bags go bust these people lose their jobs these people lose their money that's unfortunate but that's life and i suspect we're going to regret keeping the banks afloat and imprisoning countries like greece inside a currency union which they're just not suited you are an m.e.p. in brussels many people be saying to you look it'

that's reality but i do you don't have to take my word for it on this tale of two economies take alan greenspan the former chairman of the federal reserve is what word for it when he appeared on meet the press last year. oh problem basically is that we have a very distorted economy in the sense that there has been a significant recovery in a limited area of the economy amongst high income individuals who have just had eight hundred billion dollars for one k.'s i'm spending it i don't care what consumption their lives large banks who are doing much better and you know it's corporations and. when it's going to you know. the rest of the economy small business small banks and a very significant amount of the labor force which is a project unemployment and long term unemployment how does pulling the economy apart and average of those two things what we're looking for but they don't fundamentally in terms of trying to see if you add in so what's behind this breaking up of the american economy tax cuts for the rich started by reagan carried out by george herbert walker bush than w. w. bush and now pre

. >> alan greenspan? >> it's never been clear to me why jobs are the object of trade when historically all the con accept chewable frameworks with respect to trade had to do with the division of labor and the highest standards of living, and if you take intel, we have to think in terms of maximum division of labor throughout the world if we're thinking of the maximum level of the standard of living, and, indeed, the simpest case is the one in which there is a single currency and no tariff barrierings and competition that at least theoretically generates the highest level of material well-being distributed by market forces, but the issue i'm concerned about is jobs are a secondary consequence created by the process and in effect because of the relationship between productivity and the levels of standards of living, that is the denominator of that ratio, and one can argue that an endeavor to increase the denominator has you endeavoring on the one hand to increase trade for the purpose of increasing employme

engage in that behavior we had to be through the eighty's and ninety's and part championed by alan greenspan are much heralded than have the federal reserve and we believe as a nation i think for a while rather foolishly that higher payment better performance that people were only getting paid when they did better work and what we found out that often the hard way in two thousand and seven two thousand and eight and we still discover is that big fat paychecks just mean big fat paychecks i don't mean excellent results and the society getting the best and the brightest in the top positions they just mean the people the top positions are paying themselves more well how do you how does europe treat banks are paid differently than the united states and to what extent might that be influenced by the fact that in the united states you know the case of peter de fazio for example congressman to bankers on wall street decided to take him down and ran a literally a crazy guy against him and he almost won the election you know they're threatening politicians now because it's possible illegal here in the

base in large part to the actions of the federal reserve both underpinned he and his predecessor alan greenspan now he's been press lately on the issue of the gap between the rich and poor in america and how he how confident he is in his ability to control that we see that the rich get richer and i don't mean the people who do well off economically but the super rich the people that are connected to the pipeline of free money from the federal reserve and he says he is one hundred percent confident in his ability to control this do you think it's because there's something else going on here or that he's just so grazing about what he's doing that. he has to who are to have any idea that i'm i don't know how anybody with a track record as bad as his can say one hundred percent confident about it. you know i mean he he has a better chance if he was going to say look my instinct is this and the exact opposite of that and therefore i want to stay confident because i'm always wrong while i'm a better chance of believing you but the fact that he would even say something like that i mean i mean he's got

alan greenspan thinks a default by greece is, quote, almost certain. that that could help drive the u.s. economy back into recession. richard, why would greece defaulting on its debt potentially cause such a catastrophic outcome for the united states? >> firstly, if greece goes, goes ireland and portugal -- the contagion effect. and the lehman effect. who in your counterparty is good for their money and who is not? of course, a small country like greece has no direct effect on the united states. that is a given. but the ripple effects as they move out from the mediterranean, that's where you need to be -- >> we started with class wars. i want to move into gender war now, if we can. that is always not confrontational. are women less likely to get in on risky ipos? when it comes to investing, seems women and men have very different strategies. a new study show that is men have a higher risk tolerance than women. men feel better about trading frequently and trying to time the market and they tend to get less stressed about it. women, on the other hand, te

so wasn't that over -- that exuberance to use alan greenspan's phrase, wasn't everybody responsible forsector, the steel workers contributed to the return of steel to the united states by making significant capital contributions and wage concessions. >> they have done a wonderful job of the steel workers making that more cooperative with the mills and existing u.s. steel i will acknowledge. certainly the open door policy practiced in the steel industry in the '60s and '70s contributed to its decline. similarly, they're much like politicians, they're elected by boards. and basically look for short-term solutions, much like we're seeing with our budget deal. >> sandy, let me go back to you. the uaw was integral, many people would say and i think it's accurate, to the return of the auto sector to the united states. when the federal government helped to bail out the auto industry, not ford obviously, but chrysler and general motors, the uaw made significant concessions. was that the right thing to do? >> well, i think our focus is wrong. i think we should be looking at reducing the costs of

the question is, alan greenspan famously commented on this, can you trust the executives of these institutions to have the interests of the institutions as such at heart? because it would appear in these episodes that the interests of the institutions might have been sacrificed to those of the executives. and i think, again, going back to the question of the heads-on pikes, i think that phenomenon also deserves a lot of attention. >> agreed. >> hi. looking forward and thinking about the next election, um, and i'm assuming the answer to this question is no, but what do you think is the possibility of there being some kind of discussion of housing policy going forward in the next election? it would seem like the obama plan and, i guess, the plans that the republican are talking about are different. >> none of them are housing policy. >> none of them are housing policy. >> well, yeah. no one is talking about housing policy. housing policy is actually a broader discussion about what we need to do by way of housing our population. renting versus owning, do we need mobility because we've got a chang

up to including alan greenspan was telling them it was not a bubble so we need to redress some of the wreckage. >> i agree. and i think fannie and freddie are critical. remember fanni and freddie have originated about 90% of new mortgages over the past year. and they've been qui reluctant to do any prcipal write-downs so i actually think, and you don't necessarily need legislation for this. you need some regulator nudging. and i think putting some pressure on fannie and freddie to get into the principal write down business like many of the others are saying would really help a lot. >> rose: go ahead. >> we ouldn't let this conversation in without talk being monetary policy. >> rose: that is where i was going. you readmy mind. >> that is the last thing, ong other things. the fed has more freedom of action than-- it's hard. >> rose: so we need a q3. >> q e3 for sure and i would like to see the inflation target raised. not permanently but a five year inflation target that is 4 instead of 2 and a de facto target seems to be 2 or less which is not what we want. >> iean it may not be the ta

if you read the last chapter of alan greenspan's book, he warned what he thought the world would looke in 15 years when all the benefits of cheap chinese imports go away because china's prices are rising. today, china is not the low cost producer. if you look at a fender guitar or a musical instrument, they're not made in china anymore. it's made in indonesia. mexico lost jobs to china because it no longer is the low-cost producer. this is the first time in world history that we've had awe these countries doing well at the same time and not having plagues and scourges and wars and in fact, sadly, it's a curse of plenty. host: you mentioned alan greenspan, are you surprised he told cnbc yesterday looking for -- looking again. numbers as far as tax rates are concerned, he said he would support the idea of taxes going back to clinton area levels. did that surprise you? did that surprise you? guest: it surprise med a little bit, i guess, do i think he's right is an interesting question. we did a story that didn't win a lot of friends but it pointed out four different measures that america

. >> he had previously done democracies -- biographies of ralph nader and alan greenspan. he researched the life of frederick olmsted who we know as the designer of central park and was and if infamous landscape designer but he was more than that. was an abolitionist which i wasn't aware of and a journalist which also was not aware of. this chronicles all of the different places he designed for including mclean hospital in the boston area and he ended up at the mclean hospital at the end of his life. strange how his life came full circle. >> host: what is coppo? >> it is

if you look back to why we're in the dumpster economically, go back to the 1990's, read alan greenspan, a great advocate of rugged individuallism and ayn rand, right? make all of his friends rich. jpmorgan chase, wells fargo, morgan stanley, it's an interesting group of characters up there that took america to the cleaners. they took and outsourced our jobs. now they took our home equity. and now it's getting so bad we even have a bill that's going to take food away from about 350,000 women and children. now whose fault is that? here's a little note from somebody in my district. she says, she signed up this plate at the food bank, the local food bank, she said, without help from the food bank i would be on the streets. i struggle every day to make ends meet, so my kids have a place to lay their heads at night. i have a job but with two kids it's still very hard. i have a lot of trouble paying rent and bills, i just wish there were more help to parents like myself. that's from the rural part of my district. from the urban part of my district, a plate is signed at the food bank, my incom

alan greenspan told charlie rose if greece fails, goes into default, it could mean a recession, it couldssion here in this country. >> wow. well, that is definitely what we are most fearful of. we will watch it. kv christine romans, thanks so much. >>> the wall street looks to end another tumultuous week. >>> ankle lean yeah jolie travels to syria border today and meet with refugees who fled to turkey to escape the government's violent crackdown on anti-government protesters. arwa damon is from one of the refugee camps. angelina jolie traveling as u.n. ambassador, correct? what do we know about the visit? >> reporter: well, kyra, she is expected to arrive here at this refugee camp about any moment now. and she is going to be speaking with the refugees inside and this is a fairly unique opportunity for her. up until now, the turkish authorities have barred the media from entering the camp and even barring organizations like amnesty international to be able to get a firsthand look at the conditions the refugees are having to live in. this particular camp used to be a tobacco factory and on

dangers derivatives that were dismissed by the treasury secretary larry summers and fed chairman alan greenspan. but by the time the gramm-leach-bliley act was passed in 1999, the regulatory architecture of the 1930's was long since dead ha, killed not by is the police about the markets of disciplines, but by innovation. innovation occurred for many reasons. the end of the brentonwood system of exchange rates created the need for the currency hedging instruments and swap arrangements, high inflation rates in the 1970's inspired the development of certificates of deposits now accounts there was ongoing constant regulatory arbitrage and the shuttle banking system is the heart of miami's about the dodd-frank act. of the rooms that occurred at the onset of the financial crisis occurred in the shadow banking sector, the runs on a wholesale funding markets, money market funds a around the dodd-frank act and implementation and michael speaks of this morning is acknowledged this. but they're seems to me a fundamental misconception about the nature of shadow banking and the fundamental role of regulatio

dangers derivatives that were dismissed by the treasury secretary larry summers and fed chairman alan greenspan. but by the time the gramm-leach-bliley act was passed in 1999, the regulatory architecture of the 1930's was long since dead ha, killed not by is the police about the markets of disciplines, but by innovation. innovation occurred for many reasons. the end of the brentonwood system of exchange rates created the need for the currency hedging instruments and swap arrangements, high inflation rates in the 1970's inspired the development of certificates of deposits now accounts there was ongoing constant regulatory arbitrage and the shuttle banking system is the heart of miami's about the dodd-frank act. of the rooms that occurred at the onset of the financial crisis occurred in the shadow banking sector, the runs on a wholesale funding markets, money market funds a around the dodd-frank act and implementation and michael speaks of this morning is acknowledged this. but they're seems to me a fundamental misconception about the nature of shadow banking and the fundamental role of regulatio

host: among them is the maestro, alan greenspan, and gramm himself. party atmosphere continued later when jim leach, the chairman of the house banking committee who is now at harvard, hosted an event that would help push through the legislation. greenspan and other luminaries shared champagne and cake with reporters. we're talking with gretchen about her book. the next call is from michigan. this call is from david, a republican. caller: to questions. the government started a program to help people called hope. this helps with mortgage extensions and stuff like that. chase big understand your working with this companies. -- banks understand you are working with this company, and they automatically disconnected any communication with you. i was on the line personally with the program hope. they put a block on your phone, which forces everyone into foreclosure, because you'r cannot find out anything on your loan. more importantly, arizona and all of these states are 4.5 million acres on fire. there is a solution, contain a control system that can help a

back in 2006, the chairman of the federal reserve alan greenspan warned lawmakers, saying that medicare spending is unsustainable and could one day drive government debt and interest rates substantially higher. madam president, i suggest that date is here and it's knocking on our door. michael canon, director of health policy studies at the cato institute said and i quote -- "nothing presents as great a threat to the federal budget and therefore to economic growth as the persistent and rapid growth of medicare." at a white house summit last year, president obama recognized the unsustainability of entitlement spending. this is a quote from our president -- "almost all of the long-term deficit and debt that we face relates to the exploding costs of medicare and medicaid. almost all of it. that is the single biggest driver of our federal debt, and if we don't get control over that, we can't get control over our federal budget." i am quoting the words of the president of the united states. who now has taken the position that we shouldn't address the medicare problem, and yet as president, h

alan greenspan and others said they could hardly sleep at night because they were worried we will pay down the debt to rapidly. the president, greenspan and others supported large tax cuts to give back the surpluses. fact is, the surplus and did not exist, not beyond those two years. we went to war, were attacked by terrorists. it seems to me tax cuts that were established to give back to surpluses that did not exist ought to be allowed to expire as one part to fix the fiscal issues in the country. but doing the real hard work saying we will cut spending as well. you've got to do both. host: "the wall street journal" goes on to criticize republicans who might be tempting to go along with this idea of eliminating tax deductions, saying they will deserve only scorn if they do. guest: this is a house organ for the u.s. chamber of commerce. i know it sounds potter -- partisan but it is not what i mean it. when you have the biggest companies making billions of dollars and paying zero in taxes, less than you pay, then it raises the question of, isn't there a need to close some of the loopho

. >>> former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan weighing in saying the country is almost certainview with charlie rose saying the financial crisis in greece could help drive the u.s. economy into recession. >>> and capital one bank winning the bid for ing's banking unit in a $9 billion deal. capital one known for its credit cards and the acquisition signals an aggressive move into the on-line banking business. >>> don't forget, for the latest news about your money check out the all new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" will be right back after this break. where do you go to find a super business? you know, the ones who do a super job? superpages.com®. for local maps, reviews and videos & it's the only local search site with the superguarantee®. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book, on your phone or at superpages.com®. it was in my sister's neighborhood. i told you it was perfect for you guys. literally across the street from her sister. [ banker ] but someone else bought it before they could get their offer togethe

he'll be joined by former federal reserve chair alan greenspan and former agriculture secretary dan glickman we'll have live coverage at noon eastern. >>> a half hour later c-span3 will be live with a discussion of the impact the war on drugs has had on the african-american community. community representatives will look at alternative solutions. >>> and on c-span this afternoon the republican leadership conference, a number of presidential candidates will address the group including herman cain, ron paul, michele bachmann and rick santorum. live coverage beginning at 12:40 eastern. >> the times sort of ordered the world when i was growing up. >> page one producer and director andrew rossi takes an inside look at "the new york times" through the eyes of the staff. >> i came into it without a grand sort of sense of what the solutions are, um, for traditional media. um, i came in with a desire really just to observe. >> he'll talk about his new documentary sunday night on c-span's q&a. >>> blackberry users, now you can access our programming anytime with the c-span radio app with four audio str

alan greenspan mentioned it. china's currency manipulation is one of the the most harmful policies out there preventing not only manufacturing growth and other industrialized and industrializing countries. not only affects the united states, it affects countries like brazil. it becomes a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of. i will say a year ago china valued what they want. it still remains grossly undervalued. somewhere between 0 pk and 40%. we have tools within our trade laws that we can deploy, that we've deployed on subsidies. that we've deployed against dumping with a couple of tweaks we could also apply to currency manipulation. and it could certainly produce results. but it would at least give our industries, our workers, a tool and trade laws that they don't have currently to deal with this unfair currency manipulation from china. a desired approach, and i'll be candid, would be for the administration to negotiate with china i haven't seen that willingness. we need to see congress step up to the plat

alan greenspan mentionedit.na's currency manipulation is one of the the most harmful policies out there preventing not only manufacturing growth and other industrialized and industrializing countries. not only affects the united states, it affects countries like brazil. it becomes a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of. i will say a year ago cha valu what they want. it still remains grossly undervalued. somewhere between 0 pk and 40%. we have tools within our trade laws that we can deploy, that we've deployed on subsidies. that we've deployed against dumping with a couple of tweaks we could als apply to currency manipulation. and it could certainly produce results. but it would at least give our industries, our workers, a too and trade laws that they don't have currently to deal with this unfair currency manipulation from china. a desired approach, and i'll be cand, would be for the administration to negotiate with china i haven't seen that willingness. we need to see congress step up to the plate. there's b

derivatives that were summarily dismissed by treasury secretary larry summers and fed chairman alan greenspan. but by the time gramm-leach-bliley act was passed in 1999, the regulatory architecture of the 1930s was long since dead. killed not by a set of beliefs about the ability of markets of disciplined, but by innovation. innovation occurred for many reasons. the end of the bretton woods system of exchange rates created the need for currency and swap arrangements. higher inflation rates in the 1970s inspired the development of certificates of deposit, and now i cannot i cannot. there was ongoing constant regulatory arbitrage. the drive to innovate and incredible resiliency of the shadow banking system is at the heart of my unease about the dodd-frank act. all the runs that occurred at the onset of financial crisis occurred in the shadow banking sector, runs on wholesale funding markets, money market funds and so on. and much of a dialogue around the dodd-frank act, and its implementation, and michel's speech this morning has acknowledged this, but there seems to me a fundamental misconcept

alan greenspan and others said they could hardly sleep because they were going to pay it down too rapidly. the president, greenspan, they said they supported tax cuts to give back the surpluses. the fact is the surpluses didn't exist. not beyond the first two years. we went to war, we were attacked by terrorists. a whole series of things. seems to me that tax cuts that were established for the purpose of giving back surplus that doesn't exist ought to be allowed to expire as one part of fixing what's wrong with the fiscal policy in the country. you can't do that without also pledging, not just pledging but doing the hard work saying we're going to cut spending as well. you got to do both. >> host: wall street journal goes on to criticize republicans that might be eliminating tax deductions -- >> guest: listens, this is the house organ for the chamber of merit. that's not the way i mean it. when you have companies, some of the biggest companies in the country making billions of dollars and paying zero in taxes, less that you pay, greta, it raises the question of isn't there a need to close