. >> >>> treasury secretary tim geithner is on capitol hill to explain the proposed budget for next year, he will be testifying before the senate finance committee, senators making their way into the room, senator grassly there, the administration is can asking for an increase of nearly 7%. senator hatch will be there. most of it goes to the irs, with additional resources to enforce the tax code, it estimated it can get $5 for every dollar spent, the president's budget calls for a fee of $61 billion on the biggest banks and firms to compensate the government for their actions during the crisis, and a percentage going to help refinance mortgages. this is one of several hearings that we are recovering today, under way already is the armed services committee. and and the deputy director of the office of management and budget is going on, that has just gotten under way, we are covering that and it's live now on cspan.org, this hearing should get under way shortly. >>> here on cspan 3, waiting for timothy geithner to testify for the proposed budget. the washington said that another measure in

secretary geithner, mr.uffett is advising investors to shy away from investments such as treasury securities and it will be interesting to know whether you agree with his advice. my hope is his recent musings don't become a new rule for investors not to buy treasuries. if investors heed that advice in large numbers, the spikes in interest rates that i worry about will materialize and the low cost financing of our $15.3 trillion debt that the u.s. temporary enjoys will evaporate in a hurry. we need to resist the siren song of cheap financing partly brought on by the federal reserve's massive purchases of treasury securities to help push rates down. unfortunately, the administration remains lulled in by the siren song and takes current low rates as a reason to spend more and pile up even more debt to finance a bloated europe-size government. secretary geithner, i look forward to your testimony on the president's budget which i only received late yesterday. after the deadline you were supposed to honor for subm

even geithner was agreeing with reps with the fiscal situation. that's about whether it comes down from via increase taxes or down by cutting more spending. >> peter schroeder is live on capitol hill tonight and writes for "the hill" newspaper. appreciate your time tonight. >> anytime. >> we'll continue our discussion on the budget, the debt and deficit and one area where there are spending cuts but also sparking debate on capitol hill. the defense budget. secretary leon panetta and army general martin dempsey testifying on capitol hill before the senate armed services committee and essentially defending the blueprint to slash the size of the army and marine corps and cut back on ship building and fighter jets as well as weapon systems. it would add up to $125 billion in spending for military operations and pentagon. another $88.5 billion for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. some more numbers for you. the total is $32 billion less than this year's budget, which is a reflection of the drawdown in the two conflicts as well as what we've seen in sep

i thought geithner's comments were very measured. what he's saying is the republicans without mentioning the republicans say that this is a drilling issue. it's obviously a -- it's got a mosaic of energy we need to do. i was dispinted, he did not embrace natural gas head on. the president made an offhand comment yesterday we've got so much of it we may have to export it. geithner did not offer solutions that are three or five years out. they are available. they're natural gas. >> listen to what geithner had to say about what may be pushing prices higher right now. >> you're seeing two things work to push prices higher. the first is that growth is gradually getting stronger. not just in the united states, but around the world. at least outside of europe. that's making people more confident in the expansion. that's helping push prices higher. also, you know, iran's doing some saber rattling. that's causing uncertainty in that context. >> people believe a lot of oil guys i speak to, a lot of oil ceos believe the last $20 are entirely ir

we'll bring you live koench of geithner's speech as soon as it begins. meanwhile, let's look at the day on wall street. the numbers, pretty close to where we ended. once again, you saw money move significantly into technology. nasdaq, down about 11 points. i'm sorry, the dow down about 11 points. the nasdaq up 11.5 points. bob pisani is watching the markets all day. he's with me with some of the commentary behind the numbers. >> mostly sideways trading, but we did get headlines particularly in retail. let's look at the headline here. january retail sales, that was the big number. let's call it what it was, mixed and choppy. halfway point earnings, choppy again. negotiation continuing in greece here. you probably heard that. a lot of breakouts, though. airlines, semiconductors, oil service companies, put them up here, they're all at five, six, seven, eight-month highs here. how about the retail stocks, a number of them pointing to the upguidance here. look at the retailers, raising guidance 4% to 5% moves on the up side. >> hello, bob. thank you so much.

we agree with secretary geithner. the increase has been a function of increased economic activity and greater confidence around the economic activity globally and the tension in iran. and it's the tension with iran that we think is going to come out of the market. we think it's unlikely that's going to result in a supply chain disruption. therefore, we think some of that pressure's coming out and we'll drop below 120 again. >> what are you telling clients about where to put their money, money,money, erik. >> we've been concerned about oil, the europe situation continues to be a threat, but within the market we've been positioned on the pro-growth sectors. consumer discretionary, financials, technology. those have done extraordinarily well this year in a stunning reversal of what we saw last year. >> which emerging markets do you like? >> we like emerging markets in general and in total. we tend to underweight china for oftentimes structural issues. we're very heavily playing the china growth rate though through other

i want to thank secretary geithner for joining us. this is your second hearing today and fourth this week. so you're half way there. so you are a glutton, i tell that you. we know that defending this budget is no easy task. so we really do appreciate your time. >> not as hard as your job. your budget. >> it's going to be a fun day. >> you have my sympathy, you do. >> you're about to get mine but in a different way. it's known that one of your favorite sayings is plan beats no plan. it's a phrase you use often during the financial crisis to describe the need for policymakers to plan for every contingency in order sto stay ahead of events. you're in the middle of a firestorm, the crash as a fed new york chair, you people know this. i remember your president sesor and chairman of the federal reserve coming here talking about crisis, deflation airy spirals, all about the impending collapse of the economy. it was a very, very ugly moment. and what came out of that is ugly legislation. the whole thing caught us by surprise, all of us. and t

we had -- i think we had geithner. >> jam packed show there. huntsman and geithner. lin.oster. geithner interview just fabulous. what can i say? he answered everything about energy that i thought shows you that they're doing their best. they're doing their best. there's no quick fix. he elaborated on what obama said yesterday. i thought it was very coherent. you just can't drill. it's just not going to help. it's not going to help to expand drilling. we don't have enough. >> interesting he opens the door once again to the tapping of the strategic petroleum reserve. >> at the same time, isn't it for when middle east erupts into a -- and they cut us off. i remember when it was first started. the idea that iran could take themselves off the market. >> yeah. >> he's obviously deeply involved with iran. weren't you guys amazed at that? he's the point man in the administration on iran, i think. >> so much of it is financial and the sanctions involved go right through treasury in terms of continuing to cut off iran from any of the payment systems and things of that nature. >> i

>> thank you secretary geithner for joining us today. i want to continue the conversation that my colleague reed ribble started. i came from a perfectly good job in the private sector, but things were happening that i thought would damage the futures of my children. every decision i make, not only affects next year, the next five years, the next ten years, it affects her when she's 75. so let's put figure 12 up now if we can. now it's 265. -- 2065. and i know you think that these projections are no good. if you want to, we can go to figure 3, directionally, is it -- >> after two or three -- >> even what omb says that after 2022 we have got a problem. that things begin to deterior e deteriorate. >> i'm in violent agreement with you, just because it doesn't start to grow in the second or third decade-- >> that's where i'm going. >> why would a budget be prepared that would kick the can down the road. let's say it's 2065 and your granddaughter has just been elected to be secretary of the treasury? how are you going to tell her to finance th

treasury secretary tim gooet ne geithner facing a subpoena.the full story after the break. >>> welcome back to wo"worldwid exchange." treasury secretary tim geithner facing a subpoena from bankruptcy lawyers at lehman brothe brothers. they want to question him about transactions made just before the collapse in 2008 that suggested jpmorgan chase used inside information to illegally siphon billions of dollars during the final days. treasury secretary geithner was head of the new york fed at the time and brokered meetings between bank executives, lawyers in the civil suit want to force geithner to give a deposition by the march 16th deadline. >>> let's get back to our guest host jim rogers. jim, we have a slew of questions here. what's your forecast for the renminbi and other currencies but specifically the chinese. >> well, i own the renminbi. every time i can i buy more. you can't just pick up the phone, ross, and buy a lot, although it is becoming more and more of an open currency is. i expect the rin minimum by to double or triple over the n

i have raised that with as secretary geithner as well.. quick question. when i'm home this weekend and s i'm in costco -- i know mr. cot simpson says people don't care r about this, but if i'm walking through costcoci or kroger or se place, and a citizen says, why should i care whether this is ai deaf set, debt or percentages on gdp, as opposed to nominal numbers. whether it's the $11 trillion here in this calculations or in the republican budget that was t passed last year, the $6 trillion, why does that matter to the average citizen? b >> i think it matters because we need to make sure the sandwich s citizen understands that we're doing what we need to do right g now to bring down the sure unemployment rate and make sure that people are employed and there are plenty of jobs that k we're making the investments to make this a more competitive country. time we're doing it at the same time as we're bringing our deficits down and creating a sustainablea level of debt to gdp so this ons maintains our standing in the world as the place to invest.in you see it

one of those economists was secretary geithner. and i'd like to read you a quote from his testimony. he said over the next five to ten years, we have an unsustainable fiscal position. we have to get that down to a level where the debt is not growing as a share of the economy. without that, nothing else is possible and will do a lot of damage to future growth and confidence. that's very important. now listen very carefully to this next line, mr. zients because i'm going to need your guidance on it. that's why you need to bring the deficits down over the next three to five years to something that achieves primary balance. that is a minimum necessary. does this budget bring us down to minimum balance? >> i'll answer your question -- >> it was not a question. it was a statement. i would like you to answer the question. does the budget bring us to primary balance? >> yes. >> in what period of time? >> five years. >> from now? >> yes. >> okay. so it's -- it is not the minimum that secretary geithner said last year of three to five years

in 2006, as america verged on a massive housing melt down, secretary geithner told his colleagues that, quote, we do not see troubling signs of collateral damage yet and we are not expecting much, close quote. he was announcing two months later that the expansion going forward still looks good. janet yelling, president of the san francisco reserve bank was more enthusiastic saying it fitting for green span to leave office with the economy in such solid shape. so, i also recall in 2001, then chairman greenspan testifying before this committee that we were looking at more than a decade with surpluses and he wrestled with what we would do with the surplus still coming into the treasury a as being pron projected at that time. i'm just saying that we are not always as good at predicting the future as we like to do. they were wrong. and the minutes show that you were wrong during some of these periods also. common sense tells us, at least me, more borrowing and more debt will make us weaker, not stronger. as the last financial crisis the puf future hard to predict but while we cannot predict

for example the secretary of the treasury geithner's comments at the federal reserve meeting in 2006 seemed to indicate that we cannot always be sure that those in position of leadership see the problem clearly. in 2006, as america verged on a massive housing melt down, secretary geithner told his colleagues that quote, we just do not see troubling signs yet of collateral damage and we are not expecting much, close quote. two months later he was saying that the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good. janet jellin of the san francisco bank was more enthusiastic left, she said that it's fitting greenspan to leave with the economy in such good shape, what you are handing off to the successor is like a huge tennis rack with a huge sweet spot. i recall in 2001, then chairman greenspan testifying before this committee that we were looking at more than a decade of surpluses and he wrestled with the question of what we would do after we had completely paid down the debt. what we would do with the surplus coming into the treasury, i'm just saying we are not always as good

what i want to hear from you and steve is that the part where secretary geithner says we're going to cut dozens and dozens and dozens of tax preferences because you're on board with that. there's $160 billion of tax expenditures every year in the corporate tax code. you've got to be ready to put those on the table if you're serious about this. >> the true flat tax does away with all of them and slashes the rate. my proposal from 35% down to 17%. and none of this territoriality we have. we're one of the few countries that punish companies for having a worldwide presence. >> okay, steve, i take that but -- >> get rid of all of them. >> steve, i take that point but here's the thing. on deck, i'm talking about in the batter's sirk certainly corporate tax reform ala larry kudlow and a lot of different people. i want to heart two of you stand up and applaud when geithner takes this tax rate down to 28% and cuts all those loopholes. >> if you cut all the loopholes, you can get this thing down to 15 or 20%. this is a disguised tax increase and punishes companies for having that global presen

geithner for being here today. we of course had time together yesterday. >> we did. >> and spend a little time here today. i want to start out by making a comment about this division and devisiveness here on capitol hill. it has disappointed me in the last year i have been here. i came from a state legislature where i worked with bipartisan support on difficult issues and i know what that's like. it is hard work. it is hard to do. i have gone through the budget, and i haven't read the whole thing yet, but i did read the first pages of this budget very carefully, and it is the president's message. i want to read a couple of things here to remind people that this is not a way to start out a discussion of bipartisanship when you have in the very first pages of this document did i vice sifness. here says i presented another balanced plan to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction. unfortunately, republicans in congress block both our dech sit reduction measures and almost every part of the americans jobs act for the s

yes. >> in the briefing on the tax proposal, secretary geithner said that they're using this proposal to move the process along, which, as you know, can take time. and he said it's designed so corporate tax reform could be done alone, but it might have to be done with individual tax reform, which will come after the presidential election. given that, what is your timeframe for really getting this done? >> well, i would simply agree with secretary geithner that there is an opportunity here to do it alone or singularly with just corporate tax reform. the president has put forward a very specific framework of his approach -- that explains his approach to corporate reform. there is an opportunity, as i just said, because of apparent interest by both democrats and republicans to reform our corporate tax code, to take action now. there's no reason why congress couldn't take this up. it is also the case that if congress were to feel itself particularly bullish about the possibility of bipartisan cooperation that they could take up individual tax reform. and the president's principles on indi

eastern, treasury secretary tim geithner will return to capitol hill to testify about the president's 2013 budget. he's before the house budget committee. >> booktv is live saturday from the savannah book festival. coverage starts at 9:30 eastern with tom clavin on the last hours of the vietnam war followed by karl marlantes on what it's like to go to war and scotty smiley at noon. at 1:30 eastern, the changing israeli/palestinian conflict and irshad manji and toure on "who's afraid of blackness" and the rice and fall of the comanches on c-span 2's become tv. >> c-span radio's "washington today." over the next 90 minutes a look at today's top stories including the president's trip to milwaukee to talk about the economy. >> welcome back to "washington today" here on c-span radio. i'm steve scully. we're on the website with a photograph of the president as he toured the master lock plant in milwaukee. wisconsin, of course, with its ten electoral vote, a key battleground state in this 2012 election year but the president traveling there to talk about jobs and the economy. master lock fac

talk about tim geithner. it became very close. evidence. how much is tim geithner responsible for having sold out to the banks in the view of a lot of people on the left. >> the personal relationship is very interesting. if you talk the white house folks, they'll tell you in the darkest days for tim dpooiter in, when he was getting hammered on his taxes. he was seen as in over his head. he had a terrible speech on february 10th of 2009. the markets with plummeting. one of the biggest reasons is this, thyme geithner goes in a room with a president. tim geithner doesn't say anything unless the president asks for his opinion. thin he gives a very thought through response. he's a classic, no drama kind of guy. very effective. doesn't need a lot of hand holding. that from the very beginning. geithner and obama had this sensibility in common. on financial reform yonk tim geithner is corrupt. i think he's done heroic things for country. particularly in the fall of 2008 when the whole system came apart. i had a very interesting conversati

treasury secretary tim geithner testifying at a house budget committee.coming from president obama. >> that's leadership. so wait for other people to do something, then we'll react? >> you know, you guys just spent about six months threatening to default on obligations you gave us. >> mr. secretary -- >> now if you call that leadership, that's fine with me. >> so where is your tax reform plan? that's why we're here today is to learn where this administration -- >> if you want to bluj gone me to admitting me to admit we're not giving you one. i confess. we're not giving it to you. >> i confess. it's not in the budget. guess what, that wasn't the only battle. would he have' got more. wait, there's more. wait for it. two female senators walked out of a house oversight hearing on the contraception controversy and how it plays into the freedom of religion. they were angry because the first panel was all male. five men. democratic congressman jerry conolly was at the hearing. we spoke to him on "starting point." >> i just want to point out about religious freed

secretary tim geithner will have to discuss the plane which was broadly outlined in the state of the union address. the plan requires congressional action unlikely in an election year. a program note, of course, cnbc's steve liesman has an exclusive interview with timly geithner on friday during "squawk box," so make sure you tune in for that. dell sales have gone down. they're projecting first quarter revenues will decline slightly. dell fell 5% in the after hours. taking a look at dell shares in frankfurt right now, they're down 2.2%. john wheldon is also out. he plans to step down after a decade at the helm. he's being replaced by vice chairman gorski. it comes after a series of recalls in the past two years including motrin and children's tylenol. last year j & j took a $3 billion recall and last week it pulled a box of infant tylenol as well. let let's take a look at johnson & johnson. >>> and citigroup faces a multi-billion-dollar writedown. "the wall street journal" reports that morgan can start buying citi out of the venture this spring. price could be a big sticking point in

secretary geithner acknowledged the proposal changes will face political problems. who benefits here, and who pays more, rich? >>reporter: like the current tax system, there are going to be those who pay more, those who pay less. manufacturers are the big win if it goes into law. the manufacturing tax rate, the effective top tax rate of 25 percent increases clean energy credits, but oil and gas companies would have to pay more for their credits and corporate jet credits and taxes for carried insurance as ordinary income, in other words fund managers have to pay more, accomplishing the white house says, the goal that lawmakers and officials set. >> is it a fair amount of consensus to simplifying the code that broadening the base and lowering rate is a good idea. the president put for the a proposal that does that. >>reporter: and about $250 billion in 10 years would goes to deficit reduction. the corporate community would kick in $250 billion more over 10 years. >>shepard: and the reaction in congress? >>reporter: as you will, depends on the party. democrats are welc

treasury secretary tim geithner will be on at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. still to come, oil on the boil. will we see oil at $200 a barrel by the end of the year? we'll ask our panel of experts after the break. but why energy? we've got over 100 years worth. is it safe to get it? but what, so we should go broke with imports? look, i'm just saying. well, energy creates jobs. [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs, less emissions. a good answer for everyone. we gotta be careful. it's cleaner. it's affordable. look, if it's safe, i'm there. [announcer:] conocophillips. >>> at this hour if the u.s. markets were to open, we would see the s&p 500 up just 5 1/2 points, the dow 43 points into the green coming off a little bit from the morning highs in the futures market and the nasdaq would be up just about 12 points. let's head over to beccy meehan. >> the equity markets around europe, this is the picture. we are off the highs of the session but still dominated by gains on the stock mar

timothy geithner has developed this with the economic team. he is laying out why he believes this corporate tax reform that he and his administration is putting forward is so important. why it fits into his overall blueprint for an america built to last. where everyone gets a fair shot. and plays by the same rules. the president is very committed to corporate tax reform as he made clear in the state of the union address last year in 2011. he believes this is an area where an opportunity exists. an opportunity to disapprove the conventional wisdom that nothing can get done in an election year between a white house held by one party and a congress controlled by the other. after all, there is a fair amount of consensus that simplify the tax code is a good idea. a broadening the base and lowering the rate is a good idea. the president has put forward a proposal that does that. in doing that, i t eliminate unnecessary and expensive subsidies and carved out special provisions for corporations' like oil and gas companies that do not need them. it eli

>> treasury secretary geithner, his job is to articulate the president's world view on economics.was doing in that soundbite. he is saying, if you -- basically saying, look, tax increases do not hurt the economy as much as spending cuts. he says tax cuts create more poverty. i think the exact opposite. >> let me ask you this -- once you start this kind of spending in handing out more kinds of entitlements. >> you can't stop it. >> you can't stop it. >> you cannot stop it. look what's happening in europe. they've hit the wall. they've got cradle to grave security. they can't afford it. they've got to pull back on these entitlements and you have riots in the streets. you have bankruptcy. we're heading in that same direction. what happens when we in america say sorry, you can't have all that medicare. you can't do this on social security. you can't have a free cell phone and can't have free birth control. you can't have everything for free. you have to start paying for some of it. when that happens, you got a real problem. >> all right. hopefully we won't have a problem in watching y

timothy geithner that they would end dozens of tax breaks. >>> air bus said they will meet $3.5 trillion worth of new airplanes between now and 2030 with 1/3 of that demand coming from asia. >>> bowing has locked in its biggest airplane order ever with 230 plains from lion air from indonesia. the deal is worth $22 billion. >>> yahoo has hit a snag in negotiations to sell most of its holdings to ali baba. a major share shoulder said he will lead a mutiny to seize four seats on the board. >>> apple's new ipad will have a smaller eight inch screen according to the wall street journal so it can compete with rivalries with seven inch screens. online game maker zynga reported a net loss for the last three months of 2011 in its first quarter as a public company. >>> finally after whitney houston's death prizes were raced on her albums. one was raised 60%. the other was 25%. sony music has apologized saying it was a mistake. >>> coming up, the linsanity continues, the red wings make history, and the rangers shut out the bruins. plus a new set of competitors in madison square garden. >> forget ab

with treasury secretary tim geithner and on the defense department's 2013 budget. it called for 54, a 1% do crease from last year. that gets under way at 9:30 eastern. >>> there's been honest contention, spirit and disagreements, and i believe considerable hot arguments. but don't let anybody be misled by that. you have given here in this hall a moving and dramatic proof of how americans who honestly differ, close ranks and move forward for the candidates shoulder to shoulder. >> we look back at 14 men who ran for office and lost. who had a lasting impact on american politics. >> what about you? are you now out of debt? do you have a comfortable lack b? do you really thinks can be better? they go to c-span.org/con terders. >>> the u.s. conference of mayors held their 80th winter meeting in january. coming up, we'll show you some of the highlights. pepping to house demonation. they also discussed the agenda for 2012. >>> first of all, let me share with all of that you mayor nutter and smith were with us at the press conference earlier that some of you attended. they

. >> tim geithner spoke on cnbc this morning about iran and the effect it could have on gas prices. let's take a listen to that. >> but obviously iran can do a lot of damage to the global economy and we're working very ca carefully to try to minimize that risk. if iran is successful in its nuclear ambitions, the world and oil markets and the global economy and stability in the region would be in jeopardy. >> ron, isn't it ironic that here you have obama and geithner, people have tried to do everything in their power to turn around the direction of the economy, but their electoral fate could be in the hands of things they have no control of such as iran and whether or not energy can go through the strait of hormuz. >> the thing that blind sides you is the thing that trips you up politically. nobody expects this, that the obama administration would be warning israel not to hit 100 potential nuclear sites in iran and the reality, at least according to some is that it could happen. it's a foreign policy problem that has huge implications for the domestic economy. now, if spring and summ

treasury secretary tim geithner facing a subpoena from lehman brothers. they want to question him about transactions made before the collapse of the firm in 2008. it's suggested that jpmorgan chase mate have used inside information to siphon billions during the final days. secretary geithner obviously was the head of the new york fed at the time and brokered a lot of meetings between bank executives. lawyers want to force a deposition by the march 16th deadline. yelp will be added to the new york stock exchange under yelp. the service plans to sell as much as $100 million of stock. it aims to sell 7 million shares priced between 12 and $14. so the ipo market we're all waiting for that big facebook one. but the market starting to heat up a little. back to you. >> we'll keep our eye on it. thank you. >> the california sea otter facing a growing threat. specifically, shark attacks. the reason still a mystery to scientists. the number of sea otters killed by sharks has soared in recent years. great whites are the main suspects and the mid 90s about 10% of dea

elsewhere, treasury secretary tim geithner sat down with steve liesman this morning.e pressed the need for congress to lighten the load of the middle class. listen. >> even when gas prices are caused by stronger growth, just part of what's happening, people really do feel it. so it's important for congress to continue to do things to make the economy stronger overall and help lighten the burden on middle class families. >> elsewhere, new home sales snapped four straight months of gains, dipping .9 of 1% in january. but keep in mind, the department also revised sales figures from october through december, with december showing the fastest sales pace in a year. all those were revised higher. so that was a little more encouraging. so how should you be investing right now that the dow has failed at least for the moment to reach that 13,000 level on the closing basis here? >> joining us here is david at morgan stanley smith barney, and patrick. great to have you with us. >> great to be here with you. want to give a shout out to the family of marie katherine colvin who lost

treasury secretary tim geithner getting ready to report on the marks of financial reform. >> here's howhe s&p heat map is shaping up this thursday. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. back right after this. >>> welcome back in the final stretch here on wall street for the day. about 45 minutes left in the trading session. let's get a stat check on the dow, technology continuing leadership in this market today. the major averages drifting sideways ahead of the important january jobs report, which is out tomorrow morning first thing. industrials up as many as 25 points. down as many as 40 points. flat on the session as we speak. some of the big movers, winners and losers, you can see alcoa showing a gain of 2% here. b of a up about 1%. pfizer and disney, the laggards, bill. >> shares of electronic arts among the technology companies doing well today. up 7%, just under that right now, showing no signs of letup as we head to the close here. the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings last night beat expectations. but the bigger news was the 2 million units sold of the blockbu

the treasury exactly geithner will outline the details later this morning. look for our coverage on cspan.org. mitt romney is gaining on rick santorum in michigan showing a dead heat in recent poll heading into the primary. the candidates square off in arizona, the last time they met on the debate stage three weeks ago. protests erupt in afghanistan yesterday after word emerged that nato personnel burned an undisclosed number of crans. those are your morning headlines this morning. our question for all of you on today's "washington journal," is it the supreme court's decision to take on a case of affirmative action as a factor in college entry? if you're a ren, dial -- -- republican, dial -- host: joining us on the phone is adam liptack who covers the stories for the "new york times." front page this morning justices take up race as a factor in college entry. adam, give us some background on this case. let's begin there. guest: the best way to think about it is 10 years ago in a 5-4 decision, the supreme court drew a line that a lot of people have learned to

tim geithner went before the finance committee and ways and means committee and he was asked about thisort of none at the question for in the budget. there has been nothing on entitlements and what he said we think it's preferable to raise taxes on top 2% rather to make cuts in medicare and other programs. what they are doing, they are forcing the republicans to be the party that talks about reforming medicare by making cuts or making some people pay for it themselves. democrats are going to run out and demagogue the issue and medicare cuts and refusing, and party wants to raise taxes. >> paul: is this going to work politically? >> i don't think so. buffet rule is center part of the their argument. the buffet rule doesn't affect warren buffett and there won't be a lot of other people that won't be affected. >> paul: when we come back, as rick santorum continues to climb in the polls. mitt romney goes on the attack. painting his opponent as a washington insider. is he? we'll take a closer look at santorum's senate record, next. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn and then tre

the tar, bringing in a team of rivals as obama talked about, all you had was larry summers and tim geithner. both of them have their control over the policies that led to the crisis. in my mind, that opened the door to the tea party. it opened the door to right-wing populism. people saw in this white house favoritism towards goldman sachs and the banks. the problem was the left populism has not emerged until now. for too long, many felt with the bomb in the white house that things would be sorted out. that is where movements become important. every administration in modern times has had to deal with insurgency's or movements on its left and right. reagan in many ways was a movement president. i say that with contempt for what he did in damage to this country. you need to see the pendulum has now swung. the tea party in many ways has lost a lot of this mojo because of overreach. it is out of sync with the values of so many people. we could have seen that in the summer of 2009. one of tea party people stood up and said "government, take your hands off my medicare." you see how internalized th

. >> rose: when you come back to washington and you report back to secretary geithner and the president, do you say we got this firewall that was necessary for the united states and its economic recovery? >> it's certainly one of the key priorities. and yes, the piece of the european crises response that is still a work in progress, i would say, is that firewall. they've made a lot of progress on it. they are going to assess the size and strength of that firewall in early march. we're looking forward to that review and we think that will be extremely important signal to send international markets to help restore confidence. >> so we shoul >> rose: we should not worry as much about italy today as we did a week ago. >> the prime minister has really transformed investor reviews about italy. peace come in and he's built political support first for a fiscal path forward that strikes that balance. and secondly, very importantly in italy, the key is to restore the dynamism of the economy. he's put a set of reforms over time to really help restore growth in the italian economy. so that has been