. ♪ pass backhaul gerri: hello, everybody, i am gerri willis.t has been a tumultuous year for the markets. weak economic growth, and of course the election itself. some analysts picking games 2013 as much as 14% of the market and others lost as much as 14%. it is not working for me today. i think we should talk about else.i'g i will get to talk about a santa claus rally. ral is there a santa claus rally?ra will we have a true santa claus rally? >> listen, think it'll b it wile tough to get one this year. i think there will be a lot of repositioning in portfolios coming toward the end of the year. a people are getting very nervous about the fiscal cliff. i was on the show a couple of weeks ago whe and i was not a tn concerned because i thought we would get a deal done.al it is starting to hurt people.ut a good call by you. frankly, gerri, that is what will hurt stocks and investors spending or appetite as s well.e gerri: i love it when you tell me i am right. it often doesn't last very longy i have got to think when we get some real claritytt on

gerri: all right, you agree to disagree gerri: medicare.he largest expenditure in the federal budget, our country's debt problems deepening by the day but many democrats fail to acknowledge elephant in the room. our next guest says there's a lot of tough talk and little action on that front. i recently sat down with former republican senator of florida. >> you don't reform the way we pay out medicare, to be one of the things that breaks the bank and makes us unable to meet our obligations, so we absolutely have to reformat and the legislation i wrote back in 2010 that we passed with bipartisan support signed by the president went o after something everybody is against, and that is fraud. gerri: let's get to that in a second, but i want to spend one more second on this idea, democrats from illinois saying on tv he would like to see $400 billion in entitlement cuts. defense and interest. the ones grown the most are medicare and medicaid. we have to do something to stop the increase in the amount or it will swallow the rest of the budget. cont

welcome to "the willis report." ♪ gerri: hello, everybody. iim gerri willis. get ready.lood of obamacare rules are coming, and it will take a mountain of paperwork to get in all the fine print. fox businnss liz macdonald this year. let's break it down. >> you know what i love about congress? i don't really love it. they pass a law and then it's sort of like the irs has to do it. the irs has to enacted and oversee. and the joke is that the iris is operating on pneumatic tubes. the obamacare law is going to basically blow a lot of circuits and burn a band with. so the deal is made if you have investment income, capital gains or dividends, not only do you have to pay taxes when you cash out, you're going to have to pay an extra surtax on top of that. so what we're seeing is the ira saying, we have to a shoot possibly 1509 pages of rules. it becomes -- >> a little bit about this and then it disappeared. apparently it disappeared from the irs. all of a sudden out of the blue we have that already by april april 15th. >> nancy pelosi said we have to pass it to see what's in it.

gerri: let's be clear.vania, ohio, you look across the region are it a real renaissance for the first time for areas where people were just desperate for some kind of economic jolt. here they have it. they have it from their own soil, right from their backyard. epa is going to step in here. we will see what happens. thank you for coming on tonight. happy new year to you. >> thank you and happy new year to you as well. gerri: than you so much. welcome to the northeast is bracing for another winter storm. there could be as much as 6 inches of snow in northern new jersey and southern counties in new york. we haven't seen any of that, have we? is expected to hit late tonight and tomorrow morning. boston and philadelphia and parts of connecticut could see up to 4 inches of snow. the storm will move quickly and be gone by sunday. coming up next, a shiny new iphone-5 and what to do with your old smartphone if you he a new one that you got for christmas. coming up later in the show, if you thought luxury cars were

gerri: hello, everybody. i am gerri willis. ten days until we got the fiscal cliff. president obama speaking moments ago, saying that maybe some time off will give both parties perspective to drink some eggnog, sing some careless, maybe reached the fiscal cliff deal. how speaker john boehner is doing damage control on their plan b mess. before heading out for the holidays. even as americans are facing more than $500 billion in tax hikes coming on january 1. with more on this, we have peter barnes, fox business sr. washington correspondent. what did the president have to say moments ago? >> john boehner did say that this wld be a cooling off period. maybe they would have some time to reflect here. the president said that he did speak on the phone to speaker john boehner this afternoon. he also had majority leader harry reid to avoid the fiscal cliff and figure out a passport. he said he is ready and willing to try t to get a compromise package done. all at once or stuff like that. but we'll have to wait until after the holiday. the president planning to hold out for t

[laughter] melissa: here comes gerri will. ♪ ♪ gerri: tonight a warm and likable a.t they say could damage your car and the triple a agency. welcome to "the willis report." senator kay bailey hutchison and sarah gerri: hello, everyone. speaker john boehner and nancy pelosi threatened over the president had to go over the president had her go. we have two guests. welcome to you both. last night, we covered the details of the president's opening gambit in the fiscal cliff talk. he wants a $1. trillion tax increase, 50 billion and stimulus spending. and the white house has the ability to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval. a very big deal for folks there. today, the president is out there, trying to drum up support among the public. not in washington or with congress or the senate. here is what he had to say. >> it is noacceptable to me, and i do not think it is acceptable to you for a handful of republicans in congress will middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don't want tax rates on upper income folks go up. gerri: it sounds like the sa

gerri: i like it.529 plan, and that's a great way to s aside money tax free for the education. it grows over time. hopefully junior gets good enough parade so that they can actually go to colege. thank you for coming on. i hope it goes well. >> have a good night. gerri: thank you. wow. well, here is something you're going to want to hear abut. nothing puts you in a better mood tn a great christmas movie. with holiday season in full swing, these types of movies a being watched all around the world, which brings us to tonight's top five from the highest grossing holiday movies of all time. the list is a little surprising. number five,anta claus, the santa cluse released in 2002. number two, all confused, the santa clause numbertwo. released in 2002. romantic comees starring tim allen. made more than 1,309,000,000. the original the santa clause, the prequel to nmber five also starring tim allen. more than $144 million. number three, alf. love it. two dozen three american christmas comedy starring will fer

gerri: youtube.g with the world, mama ♪ ♪ people livin' like they ain't got no mamas ♪ ♪ i think the whole world's addicted to the drama ♪ ♪ only attracted to the things that'll bring the trauma ♪ ♪ yeah, madness is what you demonstrate ♪ ♪ and that's exactly how anger works and operates ♪ ♪ man, you gotta have love just to set it straight ♪ ♪ take control of your mind and meditate ♪ ♪ let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all ♪ ♪ children hurt and you hear them cryin' ♪ ♪ can you practice what you preach ♪ ♪ wou you turn the other cheek ♪ - ma'am. - [gasps] - you forgot your purse. - oh. you don't know how worried i was. thank you. thank you very much. - hey. nice move, kid. doughnut? - a message from the foundation for a better life. mortgage. married. two great kids. he wants to protect his family with a $500,000 term life insurance policy. what do you think it'll cost him? a hundred dollars a month? sixty? forty? actually none of the above. john can get a $500,000 policy -from a highly ra

i'm gerri willis.e running out for washington to get its act together to keep us from falling out the fiscal clef. president obama and the speaker sitting down at the white house today after the speaker offered his latest proposal which sources say includes tax hikes on millionaires, anchoring several conservative organizations. it turns out his concessions are not good enough for the president. the white house making it clear the only balanced plan on the table is the presidents. where do we stand? with more on this, president of the american action forum and former ceo director. welcome to this show. always great to see you. what do you make of this idea that this is not balanced enough rest? >> look, the only thing the president has put out publicly was the initial request that there be over one half trillion and higher taxes, and that would have net deficit reduction which means there was nothing in the spending side, and that is not balanced by any measure. since then, most of the talks have gone

gerri: hello, everybody, i'm gerri willis. one of the big issues congress is promising to tackle is immigration. congress passed the jobs act replaces green card lottery to permanent visas to those with doctorates in science, technology, engineering and math. two outgoing republican senators introducing legislation granting residence to those bought in the country illegally. though call it the achieve act, similar to the d.r.e.a.m. act. i spoke to one. bill's cosponsors, senator kay bailey hutchison. welcome to you here. how is your legislation different than the d.r.e.a.m. act? >> our legislation gives legal status to the young people in conundrum. they have grown up here. this is the country they know yet they are illegal because their parents brought them here before they were 14 years old. but we don't go into a citizenship track. we allow them to get in line behind the people who have been lawful and waited in line. so we don't give them a preference in line but we do give them a legal status and we don't prohibit them fr

gerri: what?ulous. >> they mail them to you for free but can take up to 10 to 14 days. you can be pretty anxious waiting to see if you go to the concert or not. gerri: other one, bmw on here. everybody is surprised. they have no spare tire? >> right. a number of automakers are doing this now. if you open the trunk the car doesn't come to with a car anymore. they are equipped with run flat tires that can run with minor puncture or sometimes they give you a kit where you can sort of a repair a minor puncture itself. if you have a blow out or major tire problem you could be stranded by the side of the row waiting for a tow truck to many could. gerri: if i'm paying for bmw i want a full tire. nice list, home depot, honda, kohl's, pnc bank and nordstrom. kudos to those guys. they make the nice list. always great to see you. great list. good stuff. >> thank you, gerri. gerri: we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the bter you trade. so we have ongoing webina

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gerri: tons.u know, the federal reserve seems to uphold every trick in the book and made up more to get the economy going. they say they'll continue some of the strategies. is that going to have any impact at all? is that beyond the reach of the federal reserve at this point? >> i personally think that's beyond the reach of the federal reserve. of course; if they change policy, did something awful, that would be harmful. their ability to make a difference is incredibly limited at this point. i think it comes down much more to tax policy, spending policy, regulation. i think the fed did what it could do avoided, okay, a huge liquidity crisis in 2009 providing low interest rates plausibly helpful, okay, in the immediate aftermath of the crisis, but at this point, little impact. gerri: thanks for the preview, jeff. appreciate your time. have a great weekend. >> thank, you too. >> reporter: -- gerri: the michigan state house voted along party lines turning michigan into a right to work state. democrat

gerri: w longer. it is always a pleasure to have you on the show added to hear the show attitude here would have to say with so much experience with th topic. thank you so so much. >> thank you. gerri: coming up after the break, we ll talk about how the day has unfolded, plus how all businesses getting ready for the fiscal cliff and how that will impact you. and the big factor everybody missing over federal spending is the automatic spending increases. you will not believe how congress is spending your money. i will break it [ morgan ] what's better than epic offers from visa like 20% off ea srtmadden nfl 13? you should never go forth and fourteen, you can't do that. [ morgan ] getting a chance to hang out with madden in his game room. blue go. did you hear the pop? [ morgan ] and barbecue with madden. watch football with madden. learn from madden. was that good, coach? [ morgan ] and get coached by the ultimate coach dden. does all this make sense to you? um, yeah. [ morgan ] yup, pretty epic. join v

gerri: hello, everyone, i am gerri willis. retailers dealing with the fallout of shoppers not showing up this holiday season, dc starbucks store is urging lawmakers to come together tomorrow and friday. they will come back to work in a mighty more to to the point. the senate is back tomorrow morning. treasury secretary tim geithner is one congressional leaders about december 31. that's next monday, my friends, five short days from now. we have michael burgess of texas with us. i want to read you what the treasury secretary wrote to harry reid. he said i'm writing to inform you that the statutory debt limit will be reached on december 31. he went on to say that they have special gimmicks they are going to deploy to allow us to go past december 31. we have to tell you that here we are again. nothing is being done. we have no resolution of the fiscal cliff him and we are about to hit our heads on the debt ceiling. what you have to say? >> first off, let's remember that the debt limit is no surprise. the surprise is that he should

gerri: what do you make of that? >> if the president gets his way and tax increases go into effect for all the small businesses, according to the congressional budget office, we lose about 200,000 jobs. according to ernst & young, it could be close to 700,000 american families thrown into unemployment. so there has to be a resolution to this impasse, otherwise, i think we may be looking back on these times as the good old days gerri: i started the interview by asking about the telephone exchange between the president and the speaker of the house. and i ask you whether you thought it would make any difference. you didn't really answer the question. but it's interesting that eric cantor call on the president today for another sitdown meeting, face-to-face. here is eric cantor. >> we want to sit down with the president. we want to talk specifics. we put enough on the table now. nothing is going on, meanwhile come the people of the country are the ones that suffer. gerri: i think he makes a good point. when can we sit do

i'm gerri willis. tonight no progress on the fiscal cliff as democrats and republicans trade barbs over the issu. one group of americans is finding a way through this regardless of congress and the president. small-business owners in this countryare prepari to hire. join me now, chief .s. economist for i may just pull one side. heart of america group founder, and member of the jobs creation alliance and actual job creators in this country who say their voices not being heard in this office took with debate. also with us from the weekly standard, steven haze. welcome. great to have you here. i want to start with the conversation in washington and what the speaker had to say about the status of the fiscal here is mr. boehner. >> this is in the progress report because there is no progress to report. when it comes the fiscal cliff that is turning our economy and jobs, the white hhuse is wasted another week. gerri: what do you say? we wasted another week. we seem to be getting nowhere, and now folks are say

gerri: the beat goes on. incredible what we have seen with the changes in the tax law, you're very knowledgeable. i hope you come back sometimes doing and tell us what happened after the first of the year for these people. thank you so much. >> thanks a lot. gerri: coming up the not the real danger to our economy is in the automatic spending cuts or tax increases on the fiscal cliff, it is the automatic spending in the budget. i will explain. and the newest republican senator center promising to shake things up in washington. stay with us. gerri: when it comes to the fiscal cliff, getting, call out there. of letters pretty soon. the problem is capitol hill has grown so accustomed to expanding government spending even the republicans hardly know how to cut the flow of tax dollars. how bad is it? since 1974, nearly 40 years the baseline the federal budget automatically increases every year. that is before anybody even cast a vote. that makes it easier for politicians to look like they're cutting spending when i

gerri: hello, everybody. i am gerri willis. it is a war of words over the fiscal cliff in washington. the president blasting republicans today for their refusal to take his latest offer, calling it puzzling. republicans are doubling down on the plan b. he called the veto threat bizarre and irrational. $500 billion in tax hikes closer to every american. >> there has to be a recognition on the part of my republican friends that take the deal. but they keep on finding ways to say no. i don't know how much of that just has to do with this. it is very hard for them to say yes to me. gerri: what he stated that? >> it is incredibly sad and frustrating, that's what that is. the president, through the entire campaign, says he wants a balanced approach. we have increased spending from 2007 to 2012. $1 trillion. year over year. a trillion dollars. revenues at record highs. >> let's talk for a second about the republican response. gerri: white house is opposition for the backup plan. it is growing more bizarre and irrational by today. is t

gerri: tonight get ready, folks. we arwe're going over the fiscal cliff and lawmakers are just picturing about it, they are not trying to fix it. we have some great ideas to fix the fiscal cliff blues. try flying first class and don't pay for it. welcome to "the willis report." hello, everybody. i am gerri willis. tonight congress is pushing america up a fiscal cliff of its own making. president obama and the senate back in washington today trying to get some kind of a deal done, that is what they say, but nothing will likely come in time. harry reid spent the day moaning about how bad of a speaker john boehner is good the house is set to return sunday afternoon just one day before the end of the year. nearly 90% of americans will be hit with $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts. as we head off a cliff, what can you and your family expect come january 2? president of the american action reform joins me now. so, windows narrowing, what can we expect from here? >> if we literally go on autopilot and they fail to

gerri: thanks. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at or 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. becau personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scotade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearb ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. >> earlier, we told you the worst gifts for women, and tomorrow, the worst for fellows. we wanted to know, who gives the best gifts? women or men? here's what you are posting on facebook. check it out. look at that. angie says not because i'm a woman, but i think women put more thought into it, plan more, d procrastinate. yes, they do. another, women, as a man, i'm cluesless for gift ideas, part of our dna makeup. nice dodge, right? 71% said women, and 29% said men. i don't know if that means men are honest or we have more women viewers. here's e-

. ♪ gerri: hello, everybody. i'm gerri willis.e begin with breaking news, democrats attempting to kill a measure sponsored by republicans that would shield the defense department from huge spending cuts. meanwhile in just 90 minutes, the house will start voting on at least one bill from republicans. that is the big one. their plan the it joining me now, peter barnes in a fox business senior washington correspondent with the very latest details. how close will this be? >> the vote on that tax bill, the one that would raise taxes on people making more than million dollars a year, they are still working on getting the republican leader, the speaker still working on getting enough votes to get that to pass later tonight. we expect that around 8:00. as one price for votes, right now than house republicans have also got a bill on the floor which would impose new spending cuts. what it would be technically is it would replace the sequester, get rid of those big cuts in defense spending. replace that with about $300 billion in new spendin

gerri: i don't see that exactly. [talking over each other] [talking over each other] >> can you imagine? can you imagine lyndon johnson sitting on the sidelines while something like this was going on? gerri: i cannot imagine lyndon johnson going anywhere but washington and sitting there, quite frankly. something that is new out this afternoon, senior administration officials in hawaii, saying that it up the gop. that gop leaders should not stand in way of coming to resolution of the fiscal debt crisis. what do you say to that? let me tell you, a lot of finger-pointing is continuing, and i'm not seeing any resolution. i don't think anyone else's either. >> speaker boehner had planned be on the floor last week. then he pulled it. he had 200 votes probably. had steny come to him and said we have democrats that would vote with you, the problem would have been over. do you think lyndon johnson would've been on the phone, had it been in the ring last week? of course he went. ronald reagan would've done the same thing. he r

gerri: is the writing on gerri: we are dangling over the fiscal cliff.ut washington is at a standstill. although the president is refusing to sit downwn with republicans, he did ta to speaker john boehner this afternoon, and the white house is talking to federal agencies, warning them to get ready to go over the cliff. with more on this, congressman tommcclintock of califnia. a member of the budget coittee. if you for joining us today. you know, we heard about this telephone call between speaker boehner and the president. you think anything will come of that? >> the president has been very clear. he is hell-bent to raise taxes massively on those very wealthy folks made making over $250,000. bearer 80% of small businesses, in and exactly the time when we are depending on them to create two thirds of the new jobs in our country desperately needs. gerri: the republicans are in the way of a settlement. i want to hear what he said today. here is the president. >> we can probably solve this in a week. it is not that tough. but we need that conceptual breakthro