i think david walker is right. most economists will tell you that the -- exactly what ali said in his report earlier, the stimulus program has helped some. the credit program, the housing program this administration, the obama administration has put forward, they have helped some. but probably what the federal reserve did before they took office and all the money that was thrown at the economy before they took office probably did more. listen, when you're in the white house, you're going to get blamed for what goes wrong. it is totally understandable you try to take credit for as much as you can when it goes right. >> victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan. >> great to have you both with us tonight. >>> what do you think about this? how is the new president doing as the second 100 days of the obama administration winds down? we want to know. cast your vote at cnn.com/reportcard. give your grade. on thursday night, 8:00 p.m., you will see the results. >>> former president clinton heading to north korea.

david gergen and david walker, former comptroller general of the united states. good to have both davids with us tonight. david walker, i want to start with you. basically what we heard from ali, a tax increase is all but inevitable. is this an increase in income tax for those making under $250,000 or a value added tax that would apply across the board because it is goods and services? >> i think it is going to be a combination. a broadening of the tax base to keep rates as low as possible. income tax increases for better off people. increase in the taxable wage base cap for social security and a vat probably dedicated to health care expansion. >> none of those are going to go over very well. david gergen, the president saying i'm not going to raise taxes one dime on 95% of americans. how does he sell a new tax which sounds like he has to do? >> he is not going to do it quickly, in any event. he is going to wait until the recession is over and unemployment comes down. that may be a year and a half, two years. inevitably the taxes are going to go up and go up on th

former chairman david walker said the real picture is worse worse worse, closer to 56 trillion. will that crush the dollar? adam boyton will join us to drill down on this key topic. going from the decade of debt to doubting the dollar. collateral damage. we must cover this f. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox. (announcer) we understand. you need to save money. are working from the road using a mifi-- a mobile hotspot that provides up to five shared wi-fi connections. two are downloading the final final revised final presentation. - one just got an email. - woman: what?! hmph. it's being revised again. the copilot is on mapquest. and tom is streaming meeting psych-up music - from meltedmetal.com. - ( heavy metal music playing ) that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint-- the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network.

are you familiar with david walker, the former comptroller of the office of government accountabilityho has been talking about the unfunded liabilities of social security, medicare, medicaid and the federal pensions? are you familiar with him? guest: i'm familiar but not -- caller: there are approximately $50 trillion to $60 trillion offen funded liability of those and i don't understand how you can expect to put another burden on the federal government if you want to see it in action. look at the post office. it is in dire straits and that is your government. now, one other thing i want to ask about moveon.org. it was very prominent in the anti-war protest when george bush was in office. now obama is in office and we don't hear a peep out of them. tell us about your anti-war position. guest: we are a member driven and our members' concerns are with healthcare, energy and the economic situation. we are obviously watching foreign policy to the extent that we are removing troops from iraq. we support the president on that and we will continue to respond to what our members heed in the p

there's an interesting" sure i would like you to elaborate on, from david walker.t fund has no financial significance. if you did bookkeeping like that in the private sector you would go to jail. what is he talking about? what are youwriting about? guest: ok, i talked to him about this for years. the way that this works is buying law social security which now for 25 years took in more money than it spent. it took the extra cash and give it to the government. the government gave its treasury securities. so, this came down reported budget deficit for reasons i don't want to get into. it made social security look very healthy, but the problem this that in order to turn these trust fund securities back into cash, the government must go out and borrow the money to buy the securities so that you and i can be paid. so, in the real world or corporate america if you did bookkeeper it would never be allowed. he is exaggerating some for dramatic effect, but in corporate america a company with publicly-traded stock or debt, if it did anything like that there be in trouble and

there's an interesting" sure i would like you to elaborate on, from david walker. the trust fund has no financial significance. if you did bookkeeping like that in the private sector you would go to jail. what is he talking about? what are youwriting about? guest: ok, i talked to him about this for years. the way that this works is buying law social security which now for 25 years took in more money than it spent. it took the extra cash and give it to the government. the government gave its treasury securities. so, this came down reported budget deficit for reasons i don't want to get into. it made social security look very healthy, but the problem this that in order to turn these trust fund securities back into cash, the government must go out and borrow the money to buy the securities so that you and i can be paid. so, in the real world or corporate america if you did bookkeeper it would never be allowed. he is exaggerating some for dramatic effect, but in corporate america a company with publicly-traded stock or debt, if it did anything like that there be in tro

walker is a guy still fighting for a spot. he had an awful game monday, getting burned for a touchdown early in the third quarter. david beat him right off the line walker, who loves to talk says he has heard about it in the meetings. >> i got roasted in the meetings today by the guys. that's definitely what wary going to do to each other. somebody makes a play on you, they definitely let you know. so, you know, it's kind of like holding us accountable in a way. we also do it in fun. but they got me pretty good in the meetings today. >>> well today walker was wearing a t-shirt that said "hey pittsburgh" and showed a raven giving the finger. that's a good t-shirt. >>> the orioles are back home tonight after salvaging their final game ever at the metro dome last night. david hernandez gets to start against the indians. jeremy guthrie pitch like an ace last night in minnesota, going seven strong, giving up just 1 run. he did not walk a batter, and he struck out 5. guthrie has actually won his last two starts, going 7 in both games. his rear has dropped 40 points, down to 5.26. it will be interesting to see how he bounces

walker a book. thanks. thank you anduch. >> here are some bestsellers from "the new york times." >> from freedomfest 2009 in las vegas, the presentation by david boaz, author of "the politics of freedom: taking on the left, the right and threats to our liberties." this is 30 minutes. >> thank you. thanks to all of you for being here so early, much earlier than i normally would be here if i were at the speaker. but i appreciate your being here. ever since i published libertarianism of primakov and then "the politics of freedom" a couple of years ago people been asking me if i have another book. so i'm here so i'm here to tell you today that i've come up with another book idea and i think it might actually sell better than my previous books. i got this idea early this year, my new book idea is called tax tips for democrats. and it will give democrats ide th they need to understand about the tax system. and i was really thrilled that when it went around washington asking prominent democrats to tell me things they think people should know about tax system, that i really got a lot of cooperation. i went to the chairman of the house ways and means c

walker was not hurt. embarrassed a little bit, but the mascot, i don't know. >> when you ride your mascot, alex, you're looking for trouble. >> again, not touching that either, davida friday afternoon rowdy mood. >> just ahead, the steady drip, drip, drip of bad news for mark sanford. more revelations about the governor's travel arrangements and what he failed to tell the public. >>> also, the very latest on the hunt for a reality tv star charged with brutally killing his model girlfriend. you're watching "the big picture" on msnbc. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. but ve still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurt, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate

walker. please stand up so we can acknowledge your effort. and the individual award winners, again, if you are here, please stand up. davidelectronic engineer in the portland, ore. field office, and second, franklin haynes, information technology specialist and system as analyst in the looseduluth. we applaud your efforts. [applause] thanks, again. i would be happy to continue to speak about the employee work -- the extraordinary work of our employees' everyday, the diversity of their backgrounds, brett of their work and commitment to public service is something that we all can learn from. on behalf of my colleagues on the commission and the american people who we all here represent, thanks to each of the award winners this year for your duties, your work above and beyond the call of duty. we appreciate them immensely. with that, if there are no further comments or announcements -- commissioner, please. >> [inaudible] summer internship recognition to broad watson in our office, -- brad watson in our office. if he would stand up, we appreciate it. [applause] z

david. from there, they will head to martha's vineyard beginning sunday. >> his readers -- his years as kennedy's secretary and the time when walkerter cronkite was considered for vice president. this sunday night on c-span. this fall, and to the home to america's highest court from the grand public places to those only accessible by the nine justices. the supreme court is coming the first sunday in october on c- span. our coverage of this week's conference hosted by the "health affairs journal" continues with the conversation on end of life costs. this conversation is about an hour-and-a-half. >> welcome session of fact versus fiction, making sense of healthcare reform issues. and we have left for our last session today one of the topics that has obviously become very, very emotionally fraught on the town hall and other electoral -- i guess it's not literally electoral but i guess everything in the end is the electoral trail, which is the issue of end of life. for all of us, we know we all have a 100% probability of death. it's something we prefer not to think about. however, most of us have had to think about it just in the last

david axelrod's former company is making millions off health care reform even though the bill may never get passed. we will explain the connection. brian: amazing video of the world's youngest wing walkerout this 8-year-old kid. steve: that's grandpa at the wheel. ♪ hang on sloopy ♪ sloopy hang on ♪ @ come on. [ kissing ] come on. good girl. mollie's never looked better. i really was amazed to see the change in her coat. people stop us when we're walking, and they'll say, "did you shine up her spots?" [ woman announcing ] just another way purina one... unlocks the brilliance of nature... to transform the life of your dog. for us to see the difference in mollie-- we were really excited about it. it just makes you feel wonderful. [ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. gretchen: with very good thursday morning to you. august 20, 2009. staying away froms polls. violence on voter turnout and what it means for the future of that country coming up. brian: auto dealers all over the country putting the brakes on cash for clunkers. pulling out of the program after getting certified by our government. if they can't run this program, how can they run the health care industry? steve? steve: b