let's did douglas holtz-eakin, the former cbo director. doug, the house is gone.y are on vacation. how did the people leave? we have the biggest fiscal crisis of i don't know how long, something to do something about it? it's one thing to have a big recession. it's another thing when the problem is of your own creation, and you turn your back on it. what do you make of this? >> well, it's a very dangerous situation. if we go over the cliff, the taxes go up $39 # -- $395 billion, spending slashed, a plunging economy, a recipe for a recession, something no american needs to hear about now. getting past the fiscal cliff is an imperative. we are having a one-sided conversation. the republicans have put out a plan saying raise revenue from reach people, banseed, spending cuts, and that landed with a thud over in the white house, no response, and the president has yet to put out a balanced plan, and what we got is i want $1.6 trillion in tax revenue. give it to me. gerri: and rid of the debt ceiling. >> we've seen this movie before. no ceiling, give me the revenue, i'll

author of the book on supply side economics, "wealth and poverty," th former cbo directer, douglas holtz-eakinext tonight is the governor of michigan, is he going to be the nextcott walker? details on his pro-worker push in michigan straight ahead. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. tryast, long lasting gaviscon®. lou: michigan legislature approve right to work legislation as hundreds showed up in michigan's capital protesting the measure. at least eight protesters arrested when a crowd of several hundred tries to push their way into the locked capitol building. police said it was already filled to capacity. republican gernor rick snyder says he plans to sign the legislation calling it pro-worker. unions sharing a loss ofnion dues and other power attack governor snyderlaiming he's putting the future of the state in the hands of big business. well, president obama adding to the ever-expanding list of titles, t

author of the book on supply side economics, "wealth and poverty," the former cbo directer, douglas holtz-eakinext tonight is the governor of michigan, is he going to be the next scott walker? details on his pro-worker push in michigan straight ahead. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gavisco®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. is what drives us to broadcast the world'biggest events in 3d, or live to your seat high above the atlantic ocean. it's what drives us to create eco-friendly race tracks, batteries that power tomorrow's cars, nearlyndestructible laptop and the sustainable smart towns of the future. at panasonic, we're driven to make what matters most beer. just another way we're engineering a better world for you. lou: michigan legislature approve right to work legislation as hundreds showed up in michigan's capital protesting the measure. at least eight protesters arrested when a crowd of several hundred tries t

douglas holtz-eakin will be joining us next.day's winners and losers on nasdaq as we head to break. is netflix up top again, green mountain coffee doing okay as well and your losers, wind and resorts, we were just talking about those casinos. we will be right back. ashley: president obama digging deeper on its fiscal cliff stopped earlier today saying we won't cut our way out of this deficit and it starts with raising tax rates on the wealthy but my next guest says this rhetoric could drive us right over that cliff. joining me now is douglas holtz-eakin, former director of the congressional budget office. and it -- you know your numbers, we know the fiscal cliff is going to have a huge impact if we go over it on this economy. before we get into the details are we in real danger of doing that? >> absolutely. this is an enormous heights in taxes, big cuts in spending, a hit to gdp that is 4% when we're growing and one.5, all the makings of a real problem and of fallout on consumer confidence will be severe. i think going over the

and douglas holtz-eakin.go to the next caller who is joining us from ohio, on the independent line. . caller: good morning. do -- what are we paying congressman and senators salaries -- they are making a lot anyway this, they pay less taxes than i do -- why don't we just stop their salary and benefits until we get on -- until they get on the ball and take care of this situation before the end of the year? guest: i am a fan of this and i have written that unless they pass a budget, they should not get paid. this is their job and they are not doing it. allowt understand why we failure of the most basic sort to be rewarded. guest: because they got reelected and their constituents voted for them and that they did not want them there, they should have voted them out of office. they do more than just a budget. i am not trying to forgive them but they are voting on lots of different things and doing other things. guest: they are not doing enough. host: christmas eve is two weeks from tomorrow and people suspect cong

and douglas holtz-eakin.l go to the next caller who is joining us from ohio, on the independent line. . caller: good morning. why don't we do -- what are we paying congressman and senators salaries -- they are making a lot anyway this, they pay less taxes than i do -- why don't we just stop their salary and benefits until we get on -- until they get on the ball and take care of this situation before the end of the year? guest: i am a fan of this and i have written that unless they pass a budget, they should not get paid. this is their job and they are not doing it. i don't understand why we allow failure of the most basic sort to be rewarded. guest: because they got reelected and their constituents voted for them and that they did not want them there, they should have voted them out of office. they do more than just a budget. i am not trying to forgive them but they are voting on lots of different things and doing other things. guest: they are not doing enough. host: christmas eve is two weeks from tomorrow a

douglas holtz ee eakin is a former director of the nonpartisan budget direction office and is presidentf american action firearm. thapblgs for being with us. what happens if they don't raise the ceiling? >> ultimately congress has to raise the ceiling. it's simply naive to believe you could ever put the level of spending kick quickly become to the level of revenues and not have to borrow some more. it doesn't have to happen until february or march. ment soak of the treasury has a lot of tools available to push off when you actually hit the debt limit. waoes going the's going to do that and run the usual bag of tricks to avoid the debt ceiling. gregg: timothy geithner can move money around between now and february. we don't really need to panic, do we? >> no, you don't need to panic. essentially the he secretary of the treasury will raid retirement funds them appraiser raoerbgs the treasury also has a slush fund left over from when we had fixed exchange rates. it's called the exchange stabilization fund. there is about $20 billion he can raid. there are $200 billion to run the government