dave cote, ceo of honeywell on the fiscal commission and alice rivlin, former director cbo, omb, vice chair of the fat on the fiscal commission and cochair of the domenici rivlin. we have a group of people who are together putting together bipartisan deals that in fact did go big and could go big and in many ways will inform the work of the super committee. i'm going to be joined now by my co-moderator, peter cook from bloomberg tv. peter, if you are ready, alternate server two for the first question to our group. >> maya, thank you for the participation. and the all-star panel he have to talk to about the issue in washington these days. as a reporter covering the super committee and actions over the next few weeks, this is a list to say a fascinating and important topic for us and our audience have bloomberg and important for not only this unanswered, the audience at home and around the country to find out why you won't believe going big is the right move because certainly forgot their voices in

. >>> then recession worries with alice rivlin and douglas holtz-eakin. i'm candy crowley, and "state of the union." >>> the president unveils how he will pay for his $447 billion jobs plan tomorrow. public reaction to part one has been tepid. in the latest "new york times"/cbs poll, americans are split on whether the jobs plan will actually create jobs. as for the president's own employment, there is open democratic fear he's a one-termer. the vibe was bad enough this week that top obama campaign strategist sent a memo to reporters noting that the president's support from the democratic base is strong. the same cannot be said of independents. 54% disapprove of how he's doing his job. >>> things can change between now and november 2012. the more immediate question is whether president obama has the political capital to sell his jobs plan to the public and push it through congress. joining us now, the number two democrat in the senate, senator dick durbin. thank you so much for being here. and let's just start with that question. we do see a president who'

alice rivlin really needs no introduction before this committee. welcome, please proceed. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator sessions and members of the committee. i'm delighted to be back here and want to reinforce what has been said, that there is a chance for why partisan cooperation now. this is a critical moment for this committee to focus on employment and job creation and for the congress to take action. the future of the united states is a prosperous economy and is a world power depends on getting people back to work in productive jobs. unless employment accelerates sufficiently to keep up with a natural increase in the labor force and gradually absorbs the unemployed and the hidden labor force of discouraged and part-time workers, we are doomed to stagnation and standard of living. this fate is not necessary. we have jobs that need to be done in both the public and the private sectors and elliott to people who want to do them. it would be unbelievably stupid to allow capacity to sit idle. worker skills to atrophy and workplaces to become m

and on our companion network c- span 3, former white house budget officer alice rivlin testifies the for the senate budget committee at 9:30 a.m. eastern. to cut the deficit, president obama is calling for $1.5 trillion in new taxes as part of the $3 trillion deficit reduction package. speaking at the white house, he also said he would veto any plan that cut medicare benefits but did not raise taxes on the wealthy. this is 20 minutes. >> good morning, everybody. please have a seat. a week ago today, i sent congress the american jobs act. it is a plan that will lead to new jobs for teachers, for construction workers, for veterans, and for the unemployed. it will cut taxes for every small business owner and virtually every working man and woman in america. and the proposals in this jobs bill are the kinds that have been supported by democrats and republicans in the past. so there should not be any reason for congress to drag its feet. they should pass it right away. i am ready to sign a bill. i have got the pens all ready. now, as i said before, congress should pass this bill knowing t

alice rivlin really needs no introduction before this committee. welcome, please proceed. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator sessions and members of the committee. i'm delighted to be back here and want to reinforce what has been said, that there is a chance for why partisan cooperation now. this is a critical moment for this committee to focus on employment and job creation and for the congress to take action. the future of the united states is a prosperous economy and is a world power depends on getting people back to work in productive jobs. unless employment accelerates sufficiently to keep up with a natural increase in the labor force and gradually absorbs the unemployed and the hidden labor force of discouraged and part-time workers, we are doomed to stagnation and standard of living. this fate is not necessary. we have jobs that need to be done in both the public and the private sectors and elliott to people who want to do them. it would be unbelievably stupid to allow capacity to sit idle. worker skills to atrophy and workplaces to become m

alice rivlin really needs no introduction before this committee. welcome, please proceed. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator sessions and members of the committee. i'm delighted to be back here and want to reinforce what has been said, that there is a chance for why partisan cooperation now. this is a critical moment for this committee to focus on employment and job creation and for the congress to take action. the future of the united states is a prosperous economy and is a world power depends on getting people back to work in productive jobs. unless employment accelerates sufficiently to keep up with a natural increase in the labor force and gradually absorbs the unemployed and the hidden labor force of discouraged and part-time workers, we are doomed to stagnation and standard of living. this fate is not necessary. we have jobs that need to be done in both the public and the private sectors and elliott to people who want to do them. it would be unbelievably stupid to allow capacity to sit idle. worker skills to atrophy and workplaces to become m

double-dip recession and a number of other things, former congressional budget office director's alice rivlintwo-day meet something very important. >> the fed has a big problem right now as to whether there's anything else they can do to help the economy along. >> they said there wasn't. >> bernanke himself has said we did a lot, we lowered interest rates, we bought a lot of government eurobonds. the one thing they're talking about now is can they rebalance their portfolio as it were to roll off the short term eurobonds as they come due and invest in long-term eurobonds. that's called "the twist." and all it would mean is they use the powers that they have because they have a very big portfolio to put a little downward pressure on long-term interest rates. >> i think what alice is saying, had is going to be a boring two-day meeting. >> first of all, aren't long-term interest rates really already down? >> so this is more evidence that there's really not much the fed can do to push the economy along faster. it is still well positioned if something bad happens. you worry about europe. it can ste

they have a friend in democratic budget tier alice rivlin. >> i'm find fond of warren buffett. the way to fix the tax code is to fix the tax code. >> reporter: the gop says there are plenty of places that the rich can pony up, particularly when it comes to the pet project like medicare reform. >> with regard to the tax rate, if he's feeling guilty about it i think he should send in a check. but we don't want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes. >> reporter: given the republican house speaker's consistent opposition to tax hike, the buffett rule looks like a no go, republicans suspect that's what the president had in mind. >> i wonder if john boehner knows what it sounds like when he continues to say the position of the republican party in america is you can't impose one more penny on the wealthiest people. i wonder if he understands how that sounds in ohio to working familying who are struggling paycheck to paycheck. >> reporter: what looks doa on capitol hill may have many lives on the campaign trail. >>> what's behind the president's proposal to tax millionaires and wil

alice rivlin, vice chair of the fed, on the fiscal commission, and co-chair of the commission.have a remarkably experienced group of people that work together on putting together a bipartisan deals that could go big. hopefully they will inform the work of the super committee. i will be joined by peter cook from bloomberg tv. i will turn this over to you for the first question. >> i appreciate the invitation to participate in this all-star panel to talk about the super committee. this is an important topic for our audience at bloomberg. it is important for audiences around the country to find out why you believe going big is the right thing. we have heard from other voices that perhaps going small is better. erskine bowles, you had the benefit of being the chairman of the deficit commission along with alan simpson. you came up with a package that did exceed the $4 trillion figure. give us a sense of why going big makes sense for the country and is feasible. it was a great honor to serve on the commission and do some of the biggest work in my life. this super committee has to go

and alice rivlin, former director of cbo, vice chair of the fed on the fiscal commission and co-chaire rivlin commission. we are putting together a bipartisan deal that did go bigger and could go big and hopefully will inform the work of the supercommittee. i will be joined by my co moderator, peter cook. i will turn it over to you for the first question. >> appreciate the invitation to participate in this all-star panel to talk about the issue. as a reporter covering the supercommittee, this is an important topic for our audience and not only for this audience but the audience at home and audiences around the country why going big is the right move. we heard other voices in washington and elsewhere going small is better. so let's hear about that. erkine bowles, you had the benefit of being the chairman of the deficit commission along with alan simpson. you came up with a package that did exceed that $4 trillion figure. give us a sense why going big makes sense for the country and is feasible. >> let's see if it works. >> it was a great honor to serve on that commission and work on a

christie todd whitman and bob rubin, christie roemer, george shultz, pete peterson, david cody, alice rivlinimportantly, the two former co-chairman of the fiscal commission from erskin bowles and alan simpson. i want to quickly mention that right now there's an awful lot of focus both on the need for an economic recovery plan and a deficit and debt plan. and really putting in place a multi-year plan to gradually brings down the debt so it stabilizes the share of economy is one of the most important things we can do as an economic growth and recovery plan. without more stability to the business environment, it would lead fiscal space up front for there to be more effort to create jobs and grow the economy and would tackle the long-term drivers of the debt in a way that i don't think will be able to be addressed until we go big and put together a full plan. so if you look at what's happened over the past month, we've had numerous deadlines we almost had a government shutdown. we almost had a government default and each time the kind of squeeze out with the plan that moved the ball forward but

number one, like alice rivlin it's important to use this as a mechanism to raise revenue. given the crisis and the debt we all agree on to having the revenue neutral tax reform efforts makes no sense at all. it's an opportunity to raise more revenue they need to to get advantage of that opportunity. and second i think it is possible to make the tax system even more progressive than it is right now by an employee does mechanisms. tens of billions of dollars currently go in the tax expenditures to the very high income americans that provide no positive benefit to the economy and exacerbate the jury and come inequality. we have incredible levels of income inequality that this country hasn't seen since the gilded age that's unmatched anywhere in the industrial world. a lot of it is grown within the last few decades in a way that is not reflective of any productive activity in the economy. this kind of tax reform i think would be yet another possible mechanism of addressing that. so i say for that kind of broad based comprehensive tax reform but those provisions used to raise r

alice rivlin is still there, right there in the front row, and the gang of sacks' plans. we must tackle the deficit and public spending. we must take bipartisan measures to promote growth, including streamlining the tax code, something that i am heartened to hear is again under discussion. while lowering rates across the board, and we should seriously consider, among other things, a national infrastructure bank which makes sense from every angle in terms of quickly building american jobs. we must do so quickly in a bipartisan manner that gives the country and the markets renewed confidence in our stewardship. next week, the i.m.f. will meet here in washington for its annual meeting. this is yet another chance to address these problems head on and with urgency. true global leadership, balanced with deep insight into and understanding of individual national problems will be critically important next week. and in christine lagarde, we are seeing that true global leadership, clear, positive, and responsible, and obviously this morning we are all anxious to hear more. so pleas

two, we probably don't have time to go over it but we should look at the proposal that he would alice rivlin on the domenici rivlin put out on the health care because you do put forth what i think is one of the most cutting edge approaches to thinking about controlling the cost of health care in the long term so you made the case for why it is so important. i would direct people to the report to see some of the details that you fleshed out in great detail about how to get there. >> i made a mistake in not telling you that it is curved in the domenici-rivlin budget because we do have reform. it's been a very good reform. >> doesn't start for a number of years, but it starts and accomplishes. >> he wanted to weigh in. >> on the economic development we have made it clear that the committee for economic development we have made it clear that we support savings share from the committee of it least $4 trillion. the committee needs to look at entitlements and that social security. it needs to look at additional tax revenue and also take a look at the defense and the domestic portion of the budget.

and on our companion network c- span 3, former white house budget director alice rivlin testifies about job creation for the senate budget committee. that is at 9:30 a.m. eastern. more now about congressional republican plans for the economy and jobs. from "washington journal," this is about an hour. host: this morning, it is more about jobs, specifically what the congressional republicans put forth. this is a follow-up to our chat on the president's jobs plan we recently had dean baker is co- director of the center for economic and policy research. we are also joined by james sherk of the heritage foundation, a senior policy analyst in the area of labor economics. first broad question for each of you. dean baker, how would you describe what republicans are trying to put forth on jobs? guest: essentially a do-nothing position. we have been hit with this calamity. the housing bubble collapse, we lost an annual demand due to losses in construction -- lost $1.20 trillion in an old man due -- in annual demand to losses in construction. you have to find some way to counter that. republicans

by the way, i think alice rivlin is right here in the front row. we must tackle the deficit, future entitlements, and public spending to we must take bipartisan measures to promote growth, including streamlining the tax code, which i am heartened to hear is under discussion, while lowering rates across the board. we should seriously consider a national infrastructure bank, which makes sense from every angle in terms of quickly building american jobs. we must do so quickly in a bipartisan manner that gives the country and the markets in the world renewed confidence in our stewardship. next week, the imf will meet in washington for its annual meeting. this is yet another chance to address these problems head on and with urgency. true, global leadership, balanced with deep insight into an understanding of individual national problems will be critically important next week. in christine lagarde, we are seeing that true, gold leadership. clear, positive, and responsible, and, obviously, this morning, we are all anxious to hear more. please join me in we

we have simpson-bowles, and i believe alice rivlin is still here, in the front row. we must tackle the deficit, entitlements, and public spending. we must take measures to promote growth, including streamlining the tax code. we should seriously consider among other things a national infrastructure bank, which makes sense from every angle, in terms of quickly building american jobs. we must do so quickly in a bipartisan manner that is the country the markets and the world renewed confidence in our stewardship. next week the imf will meet here in imf will meet here for its annual meeting. this is another chance to address these problems head on and with urgency. true global leadership with the understanding of national problems will be critically important next week. in christine lagarde we're seeing that true global leadership, clear, positive, and irresponsible. -- and responsible. we're anxious to hear more. welcome me urging join me in welcoming the woman who shattered all sailings, christine lagarde to make her first public speech and washington, d.c.. [applause]

we have been joined by christie todd whitman and bob rubin, george shultz, alice rivlin, judd gregg, and most important, the two former chairmen, erskine bowles and alan simpson. right now there is focus on the need for economic recovery plans and the deficit and debt plan. and putting in place of a multi- year plan that gradually brings down the debt to stabilize is one of the most important things we can do as an economic growth and recovery plan. it would have more stability to the business environment. it would let there be more effort to create jobs and grow the economy. it would tackle the long-term drivers of the dead in a way that would not be addressed until we go big. if you look at what has happened over the past month, we've had numerous deadline. we almost had a government shutdown and a government default. each time we squeaked out with a plan that may be moved the ball forward but was not big enough to fix the problem. we keep going to the lowest denominator. we try to bring together a bipartisan, diverse group to urge the super committee to go big and put in a full fi

alice rivlin not only served recently as a member of the presidents' day commission but is the founding director of the congressional budget office. last but certainly not least is nancy taylor, who served in several positions in the u.s. senate, including health policy director for the senate committee on labor and human resources. these folks are here to help us work through some of the issues regarding entitlement spending. let's take profits just a few minutes to kind of set the stage. i will ask this question of all four of you. all of you are very astute observers of congress and the budget process. it is kind of a two or three part question. how difficult is the challenge that congress basis? i realize that there are many answers that have been put forth on the part of policy advisers, but how difficult is the challenge over these next three months? what would be the first principle that congress needs to consider, the super committee -- what would be the first principles you would advise them to consider as they take their position, and if it is possible for you to end it by ent