ben white us.ben, so the president is not the chief independent of spending cut, spending cuts spending cuts but he has cut a lot of spending and proposed more in this budget. >> right. >> at the same time, jack lew, our treasury secretary is over in europe saying this austerity thing, kick you are on is not good. you ought to focus more on outgrowing the economy than cutting. over here, the obama administration is on an austerity kick. don't we have a contradiction here? >> i noticed the same thing in reading lew's commentary in europe and his message to various european leaders about their insistens that these peripheral countries continue to cut budgets and implement austerity in order to, you know fix their long-term fiscal picture. it's saying don't do that. more growth, less cuts. obama is still -- that's what is vexing about this particular budget proposal. they seem to shift back and forth between giving up on the austerity argument and siding with those who say it's all about growth right

breakfast with morning money, which as probably most of you know is our morning newsletter written by ben white. we're very, very proud of ben at politico, because he was one of the first people to take us in a whole new direction after we launched in 2007. we were known pretty quickly as being a destination news organization for news of national politics, news of congress. ben was really the first person to help us broaden our ambitions to what it currently is, we want to be washington's dominant policy organization as well as a dominant political news organization. and ben, who lives up in new york city, has shown us how that can be done with his morning money. as be of you know, it's become must-read both in washington and in new york for news about the intersection of the federal government and the world of finance and wall street. so ben is going to lead us in a conversation this morning with senator rob portman who we're delighted has joined us, is joining us. a couple of things for those watching live, a couple orders of business. first, tweet your questions to hashtag morningmoney. ben

ben white, politico's chief economic correspondent, good morning, ben. >> good morning, andrew. is it? >> i think i owe you a happy birthday. >> yeah, one day. >> yesterday. and happy birthday to your mom. >> thank you. >> which was listed, i believe, in mike allen's politico. i don't think you listed in this morning's politico or on friday. am i wrong? >> i don't tout my own birthday. although i did say on friday i would say sunday night off. so thanks to dave clark for taking the reigns on sunday night so i could have a normal morning's sleep for once. >> i was going to ask you about one of the lead stories about the sequester and the lack of impact. are you in d.c. for the egg contest at the white house? >> yeah. i'm going to go roll eggs with tifrt if lady right after this. no. i head back to new york after this. i think that sequester story is interesting in that we've basically seen in the airline industry very little impact. the white house warned a lot about big, long lines at airports, airline delays. this is the stuff that people worried about the sequester would impac

ben carson says white liberals. did jay and jimmy make peace? some developments on the late night front. the gun debate is dominating news. in connecticut they agreed to the strictest gun laws in america. in georgia, a small town passes a lieu that requires all homes to have a gun. in washington, the nra rolled out there million dollar study recommending several ways to improve gun safety including their national school shield. america's appetite for guns is waning. a support for universal background checks, down, banning assault weapons, down. arming our schools, down! the question is -- is gun control legislation doa on capitol hill. >> bob: it's dead on arrival. >> you owe me a coke. >> bob: are you asking me. i still believe that the background checks with the exceptions of family members will be a part of this bill. there is certainly no way assault weapons will be in there. it will be a much weaker bill what obama wanted but reality set in with the democrats and senate. reelection is very tough in those states. nra have good lobbyists and

joining us from new york is director at hamilton place strategies and in washington, ben white and judith well, president of the rockefeller foundation. thanks for joining us. tony, let's kick off with you first of all. is there anything that will form the basis for wider agreement on the deficit or not? >> well, look, maybe the suspect getting credit for putting forward in a formal way the cpi and social security and trying to make a middle path here. it's sort of in this environment kind of middle path to nowhere given where both democrats and republicans are in congress and where they are from their own budgets. hard to see that. at least it gives for the president's purposes a rhetorical path going into the summer and those fiscal debates. >> what do you think, ben? >> i agree with tony. it's a nice phrase. middle path to nowhere. i don't think this is headed toward grand bargain or piece of budget legislation that actually gets passed on capitol hill. what he's done is made a move to put himself between democrats up in arms about cuts to medicare and social security and republicans w

obama joined by relatives of the victims has just spoken from the rose garden at the white house. benright joins me now in the studio. what did he say? said theesident minority of the members in the senate have let the american people down. he was livid. there was a presque -- press conference by harry read in the last few minutes, too. they know that's the chances of gun reform in the wake of that massacre, they have died. they had hoped it would shift to back projects for people wanting to buy guns on the internet. numbers.not have the forry to pass, they needed 60 votes. that is the threshold in the senate. for it, 46 against. >> i understand that the president was calling members of the senate last week trying to get them to come on board with this gun legislation. we know the families of the new town victims have also been making their case for these background checks. 90% of the american public wants these background checks. what happens in the senate? >> early on, the white house's hopes for much more radical than control like an ammunition cat and -- ammunition cap and a ban o

. >> the ft had a story that was highlighted by morning money ben white. the u.s.on clerical jobs since 2007 as technologies replace office workers. that kind of points out how some of the wealthier people have done okay. when you lose 2 million clerical jobs like that, i don't know how you start to make up for some of those things. >> why aren't we training the right workers for the right jobs in this country. >> i like the apprenticeship program. >> business stepping up to the plate. in part, government has been doing this. the question is whether or not business is relying more on government to do this. should government do more of this. it's up to business. >> when you get out of college with a liberal arts degree you aren't trained to do anything. >> we had it being the goal, target or the the idea for education. i'm not sure that's true for everybody. that for at least some portion of the population, a more apprenticeship program could lead to higher earnings over a lifetime, which is what we're talking about. >> rick? >> i agree, steve, yeah. i totally agree

come to where, you know, putting was always his problem and he has the long putter now, so -- >> ben white tweeted something funny. he said thankfully adam scott won to make up for the fact that he's such an ugly fwie. >> yeah, i happeknow. out of all the golfers -- justin thompson isn't the handsomest guy and is he's dating -- i don't know. golfers are suddenly kind of cool. ian, we talked about the pollen count was 5,000 down there on thursday and friday. i guess he has -- >> allergies. >> yeah. and you know what? start using that. i'm going to start using that. >>> did you see goals? >> yes. we're going to take a look at the u.s. equities this morning, but gold is under incredible pressure. it fell below 1500 this morning, though. >> it was below 1400. it was below 1400 this morning, 1390 something, down $106. >> 1408 is barely hanging on ott this point. >> it's following $80 a day. i saw some tweets they saw that they were putting on "worldwide exchange." people finally figured out it's a worthless, shiny metal. i noticed two things that happened. >> why, yeah? >> when you get a guy li

. >> ohio senator rob portman subdominant politicos been ben white"politico"'s to talk about same-sex marriage. later, the top military official for the u.s. pacific command testify at the senate armed services committee. topics include the korean peninsula and defense budget cuts. we will join the hearing and progress live at 10:00 eastern on c-span. x deputy defense secretary ashton cut her talks about u.s. interest in asia and gives an update on the korean peninsula. he also discusses automatic spending cuts. from the center for strategic and international studies, this is an hour. >> good afternoon. thank you for coming. i am surprised to see so many people wanting to hear about the future of of industrial financing in the defense department. [laughter] had no idea it was such a popular topic. no, seriously. thank you for coming. i am the president here at csi s. of ashong admirer carter. he is the first guy that refused to hire me. , heterviewed for a job decided i was not up for it. it led to a lifelong friendship. our paths have intertwined through the years. i am so grateful,

ben carson says white liberals are racist and targetsing him for his views. did his comments cross the line? >>> plus, a convicted felon was released from prison four years early because of an error. an error that had deadly consequences. >>> and two men convicted of attempted murder today, swords, a body bag and their plan to attack a grammy winning singer. [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equ

i have a scene in the book president obama called ben bernanke over to the white house in august 2009 the wednesday evening right before bernanke flew out to jackson hole. but it was secret for several dates. bernanke, it was only announced when the president was on vacation the next week in massachusetts. the question this year is how quickly does the president move on finding a new nomination, whether it's ben bernanke or someone else. it will clearly be somewhere around that time, late august, september you. don't want to wait too long because you have to get the person confirmed before bernanke's term ends in january of 2014. i think it's really the biggest decision barack obama has to make this year. >> neil irwin, thank you very much. writer of "the alchemist." tomorrow we'll speak with randy kroszner about the fed, the statement and the health of the economy. >>> still ahead on the program, banking budgets and badges. why the girl scouts is no longer just about selling cookies. >>> but first, a look at how commodities fared today, including gold,hich had its worst monthly perfo

. > > ben, always a pleasure. thank you. the white house says president obama's budget out this week -- will blow your mind. white house spokesman jay carney is promising the budget proposal is full of details. officials admit the budget is "not our ideal policy" as democrats attempt to compromise with republican lawmakers. with that in mind, here's what its got: more cuts to medicare and social security along with fewer tax increases. house speaker john boehner criticized the budget proposal in a statement friday. he says the plan would not balance the budget, and accused the president of holding entitlement cuts hostage. the budget will be released on wednesday. congress is back in session today. and aside from the nation's budget, two other issues are looming large: immigration and gun control. democratic senatof chuck schumer and republican senator john mccain -- memebers of the so-called gang of 8 appeared on sunday morning news shows to talk about progess and pitfalls on bi-partisan immigration legislation. as for gun control la

francine wheeler, whose six-year-old son, ben, was killed in newtown, was invited by the white house to give the president's weekly address. wheeler made an emotional plea. >> we have to convince the senate to come together and pass commonsense gun responsibility reforms that will make our communities safer and prevent more tragedies like the one we never thought would happen to us. >> reporter: mayors ast illegal guns, financed by billionaire new york mayor, michael bloomberg, is also targeting lawmakers with a new ad. >> grief wasggering, and now more than 100 days after the massacre at newtown. >> reporter: the bill to be debated next week would require background checks for almost all gun buyers. increased prison time for those who buy guns legally but pass them on to criminals. and new safety measures in schools. a large number of amendments will be offered, some to strengthen the bill, such as a ban on assault weapons, considered unlikely to pass, and some to weaken it, such as allowing those with concealed weapon permits to carry weapons in anytate.if the senate does na bill--

ben, age 6, was murdered in his first grade classroom on december 14th. exactly four months ago this weekend. >> reporter: to keep momentum alive for its gun bill, the white house asked wheeler and her husband to share ben's story. >> ben's love of fun and his excitement at the wonders of life were unmatched. >> reporter: when we caught up with the piano teacher and her husband earlier this week going door to door on capitol hill they feared the senate would not act. but this morning both sides are bracing for the biggest congressional gun control debate in two decades. >> please help us do something. >> reporter: even critics who are still pushing hard against the legislation say the efforts of the wheelers and other families are making a difference. >> i think there's been some impact. it's a very emotional issue. there are also parents of some of those victims who don't agree with a call for more gun control. >> reporter: francine wheeler knows the road ahead is long. next week in the senate and beyond. >> i haven't yet passed any bills that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. and a lot of people are fighting to make sure they nev

people on the ground who are doing business not academics who are cranking out white papers who have never had a real job in life ben bernanke has never had an actual job in his life paul krugman has not actually ever had an actual job in his life they're just put out insane documents and if it doesn't work out they'll do just blame some god of insanity well let's look at this you know you bring up these academics the old lady's staff gamers and gold bugs the old lady of course is the late old lady of threadneedle street and that's the bank of england and the bank of england employees spend their work time playing. online games planning trips to expensive shops and working out how to buy gold according to data obtained by the capitalist newspaper here and what they found is of the top five hundred sites one of the most frequented is the s.p.d. our gold shares company a company that promises an innovative relatively cost efficient and secure way to access the gold markets at the time of going to press they say max the capitalist could not confirm whether this pointed towards future monetary policy well a lot of peopl

. >> are you saying the white house has nothing to do with anybody's problems. >> i am shower ben gfilreee j. beyonce and jay-z had no idea ho armuch they would ignite. many crecan americans spee. congressman paste twhat's the b when so many beat the travel band they attach themselves to this economic group or that professional group? what's the big deal with beyonce and jay-z. this can test mott a good idea of rodman meeting with the dick state tore. there's lou and we have to follow you are we are a country. the reason why that law exists it is a regime that murderings his own people. harbo f terrorists huge tives from american law. and there's a reason why we do not want to do things in that me. did they follow the law? did they get a license? if they did did they fol and requirements of a law of that license. and if they didn't why not? we wrote a letter asking for information. we got a letter back that explained what the lplan is. remember my brother lincoln was the one wasn't wrote the law. it is very strange you that you now from the white house spokesman they are dancing all over

ben carson taking aim at the left. calling white liberals racist.hin his own party? our political panel will weigh in. carfirmation. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. >>> good morning to you. i'm carol costello. thank you for being with me. story we're watching in the newsroom, 32 past the hour. the dow begins the day at all-time high. that could change. the u.s. private sector added 158,000 jobs last month that number, below prediction. >>> on to politics now. dr. ben carson.

white tees: those boys. those clay terrace boys. those benning park boys. those river terrace boys.hose drama city boys. >>> i'm wondering can poetry really make a difference when kids are going hungry or their friends are being shot at with guns or their parents are losing their homes? dos pory hd anhingout them? >> i think there's solace. i mean, i think some are moved to action, but i think there's unfair pressure put on poetry. like i'm glad that people expect so much of it, but you look at, i mean, honestly, like you look at congress right now, i mean, legislation isn't fixing those things. so, why would you expect poetry to? i mean, mayb pory can inspire people to get on their legislators to do something, to fix something in their lives. but i mean that's the place where poetry operates. it doesn't operate at the infrastructure level. it operates at the motivation level it gets people. and that's why i say it's important, you know, if poetry isn't speaking to people, if you can read a poem and it just washes over you, goes over your head, you don't feel any human connection. t

white house last night. it was a night of memphis soul, featuring artists like ben harper and justin timberlake who performede dock of the bay. the concert will be aired on pbs a week from tonight. >> i know some people are nitpicking the sequester. i love the little happy moment. it was very nice. the first couple loved it. the musicians loved it. they can have fun, can't they? >> next up, mark zuckerburg is going to make his mark in washington d.c. he is close to launching a new high powered lobbying group. we will have that developing story next up on "the kudlow report." [ woman ] i take one prevacid 24 hr for frequent heartburn and coffee is coffee, a quick bite is a quick bite, and play time is play time, because for 24 hours my heartburn is lights out. prevent acid for 24 hours with prevacid 24 hour. because for 24 hours my heartburn is lights out. welcnew york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save businesses more than two billion dollars to grow jobs, cut middle class income taxes to the lowest rate in sixty years, and we

president's chief of staff dennis mcdonoul, lisa monaco, tony blank and white house council kathy romler, deputy national security advisor ben rhodes and the vice president's national security advisor jake sullivan. as you know, tomorrow morning the president will travel to boston to speak at an interfaith service dedicated to those gravely wounded or killed in monday's bombing. i have a scheduling update for you on that. the first lady will be joining the president on the trip to boston. with that i will take your questions. >> obviously the public is already pretty nervous given the situation in boston. has the fbi told the white house about anything whether the letters that have been received are related to the boston incident? >> i would point you to the statement that the fbi put out. it is my understanding that they have not made that connection. but i would refer you to the fbi for that. >> do you know if they're not making that connection or if they've ruled out the connection? >> i would refer you to the fbi. >> so at this point there's nothing you can say to the public to reassure them? >> well, i can tell you in l

the white house saying it will host al green, ben harper, justin timberlake, and others for a concertelebrating memphis soul later this month. so much for those spending cuts. although i would like to be a fly on the wall for that show. >> ben harper rules, by the way. faded, fantastic songs. got a new bleus album. fantastic guy. married to laura linney. >> really? i didn't know that. >> yeah. brian harper married to laura linney. >> brian knows so much about things we know so little about. >> do you know why? because i watch cnbc. let's talk about some of these stories. got keith with us, kellyann. let's go. keith, one of those stories brian hit on really moved your markets. >> i want to see congress take a 5% pay cut. since especially the republicans in congress keep talking about we need to have more spending cuts -- >> why not pay congress more to get better people in there? we lose good people to the private sector sector. >> they're the ones who say -- >> every single kud lowe viewer just turned the channel. >> that would increase government spending. exactly. i think we should

. >> to the white house for a celebration of the soul of memphis music. live performances from sam moore, charlie musclelight and ben harper, justin timberlake and the president and first lady, well, they didn't exactly walk out to hail to the chief. ♪ >> i want everybody to know that it is not my second term so now rather than "hail to the chief," we're going with that. from here on out. well, change in tradition. tonight i'm speaking not just as president but as one of america's best known al green impersonators. >> of course, you recall he sang some al green last year at a donor event at the apollo theater in harlem. ♪ i so in love with you ♪ >> i always think, what would george w. bush look like if he tried to pull that off? al green was scheduled to perform last night but couldn't attend because of a back injury. still, the president got his groove on with the help of justin timberlake. ♪ ♪ sitting on the dock of the bay wasting time ♪ mr. president, everybody, come on. ♪ sitting on the dock of the bay watching the time roll away ♪ by yourself. >> cool stuff. also president jimmy carter, i don't know how to seg

control, the mom of a sandy hook shooting victim delivers this week's white house video and radio address. francine wheeler's 6-year-old son, ben, was killed four months ago along with 19 of his classmates and six educators. listen to some of what she said. >> i've heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded. not for us. to us it feels as if it happened just yesterday and in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other americans have died at the end of a gun. thousands of other families across the united states are also drowning in our grief. please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy. >> wheeler is the first person other than the president or vice president to deliver the weekly address since president obama took office. >>> gun control supporters across the country are outraged to see the nra sponsoring tonight's nascar sprint cup. it's called the nra 500. some people say it's just too soon after newtown and interf e interferes with the gun violence debate and one connecticut senator is asking fox sports not to broadcast it. cnn national co

tony blank and white house counsel kathy rum her, elisa master-mona master-monaco. ben rhodes, and the vice president's national security adviser jay sullivan. >>> as you know, tomorrow morning the president will travel to boston to speak as an interfaith service dedicated to those gravely wounded or killed in monday's bombing. i have a scheduling update for you on that. the first lady will be joining the president on the trip to boston. with that, i'll take your questions. >> reporter: already the public is already nervous in the situation in boston. has the fbi told the white house anything about whether the letters received are related to the boston -- >> i would point you to the statement that the fbi put out. it is my understanding that they have not made that connection, but i would refer you to that. >> reporter: do you know if they're not making that connection or ruled it out? >> i would refer you to the fbi. >> reporter: so there's nothing you can tell to the public to reassure them -- >> for a long time there have been long-established procedures and protocol

white house. time is short, let's hear from ben next, watcng in los an in pa iwas toce trade with europe and other countries, so rescinds perry to japan. .- so he sends perryo japan at the time, japan was completely closed to the outside world, and fillmore sends the united states naval vessels and says we are here, you are going to trade with us whether you like it or not. the japanese refer to it as the dark ships. i saw an exhibit in japan of japanese cartoons in which perry is portrayed as a monster. they thought this was horrible. he also negotiated treaty with switzerland to allow trade on equal terms for a swiss and american citizens, but the treaty has a clause that says this can only happen if people in america would be eligible to own land or have businesses in switzerland. many swiss cantons did not allow jews to own land. when fillmore was told about this, he said it should not really be a problem. he does not seem to be interested in issues that would involve minorities. he later becomes a know-nothing. >> last qurestion. >> thank you for this series on the first ladies. the fillmores

white house? that lies ahead. with we welcome the author of "america the beautiful," dr. ben carson. welcome. >> thank you. >> doctor, you have gone viral. maybe not something you predicted in your life? >> yeah. usually in medicine when we think of viruses it's not a good thing. but this one turned out to be very good because i have been just overwhelmed by the responses. so many people are just overjoyed to hear some common sense." and i don't think that i put forth anything that is that intellectual challenging, it's just it's so much better than what we are hearing from washington. but it seems like a great revelation. you know, the important thing i think is to begin the dialogue. you know, some people say, you know, you can't say something like that in front of the president. when did this become a monarchy? we are the people. president works for us. you know, we need to remember that. this is a country that is for of and by the people, not for of and by the government. that is the big battle that we are in right now. we need to make a decision with our eyes open which country

. ♪ nobody does it better ♪ makes me feel sad >> joining us now, ben smith and in washington, chief white hope he gets a shot at playing quarterback somewhere. the nets never gave him a chance. that is say fact. i never have been a believer that he can be a great quarterback. he will be a great tight end some day, but the jets never gave him a chance and they messed around. >> all right, thank you. >> i can feel it. >> unnecessary hostility. >> her love of the game. >> all right. we have something going on here. a little conplating of an issue. democrats are having trouble potentially because of obama care and yet they keep refineing it and came out with news today at the white house making it easier for people to get access. >> it gets to the core challenge the administration has with implementing the health care law. getting people to sign up and more importantly getting people under 35 to sign up. that demographic group will make or break this health care law. if you get healthy people to get insurance that keeps rates down. if they don't show up, they don't get 2 1/2, three, 3.5 milli