the house financial services committee heard testimony on a bill today that would stop lawmakers from trading based on non-public information they learn on capitol hill. the bill would also impose new disclosure requirements on lawmakers and their staff members. but the securities and exchange commission enforcement director warns if lawmakers go too far with the new rules, it could have unintended consequences outside of washington. >> in light of existing insider trading legal precedent, any statutory changes in this area should be carefully calibrated so that they do not narrow current law and therefore make it more difficult to bring federal trading actions against individuals outside of congress. >> susie: right now, lawmakers are subject to the same rules on insider trading as the general public. still ahead-- tonight's word on the street: "technology." thestreet.com's james rogers weighs in with three tech stocks for 2012. >> tom: the owner of the west virginia mine where 29 men died in an explosion last year will pay $209 million in civil fines and penalties. it's the largest

but now congressman bachus who happens to chair the house financial services committee is postponing action on it reportedly on orders from eric cantor. >> there were issues raised again by members on both sides of the aisle about this bill not being brought up in a vetted way. there are many other chairmen who have jurisdiction in this matter who need to be involved in this with the full vetting, and we intend to do that. >> congressman bachus issued a statement saying almost the same thing. but keeping them honest, as recent as last tuesday he seemed eager to move the stock act forward. he scheduled a markup on the bill for this week which is the last step before committee vote on it. then on wednesday, cantor smacked him down and bachus postponed it indefinitely. cantor saying that a large group of bipartisan members believe the legislation is flawed and being recklessly moved solely in response to media pressure. the co-sponsor and longtime reform advocate, democrat luis slaughter isn't buying it, telling wgrz, "oh, for goodness sake, last week we passed a bill worth hundreds of

mx global testifies before another committee, the house financial services committee, we'll hear histimony on friday. finally, the search for happy cubicle dwellers released its annual ranking of the 50 happiest workplaces in america. looking at 10,000 offices and compiling a bliss index that takes into account pay, worklife balance, job security and other factors. workers are happiest at chemical company basf, nordstrom, johnson & johnson, construction company floor and hilton hotels. they were helped to the top of the list by a 4.6 bliss score by people you work with. making all hours happy hours, i suppose. that's all for us tonight. join me next week, it's the end of the year as we know it. tips to boost your bottom line in 2011. have a great week, everybody. see you next weekend.

but now congressman baucus who happens to chair the house financial services committee, is postponing action on it, reportedly on orders from majority leader eric cantor. >> there were issues raised by members on both sides of the aisle about this bill not being brought up in a vetted way. there are many other chairmen who have jurisdiction in this matter who need to be involved in this with the full vetting. and we intend to do that. >> congressman baucus issued a statement saying almost exactly the same thing. but keeping them honest, as recently as last tuesday, he actually seemed eager to move the stock act forward. in fact, he scheduled a markup on the bill which is the last step before a committee vote on it. then on wednesday according to politico, cantor smacked it down. telling a large gup of bipartisan members believe the legislation is flawed and being moved solely in response to media pressure. a co-sponsor and longtime reform democrat louise slaughter saying, quote, oh, for goodness sakes. last week we passed a bill worth hundreds of billions of dollars with less than a t

in the witness chair to answer more questions tomorrow at another hearing before the house financial services committee >>authorities investigating the death of a florida a&m university drum major say they have uncovered possible employee fraud and misconduct at the school the florida department of law enforcement said that investigators uncovered potential violations of law as part of the probe into the apparent hazing death of marching band member robert champion. the department has not said what those violations might be but they say the investigation into those allegations will be handled with separately from the death investigation >> santa monica california is trying to avoid controversy this holiday season when it comes to religions and faith the santa monica nativity scenes committee held a lottery system this year to determine which groups get spots in palisades park this year atheist's 118 of those 21 display spock's there are two areas to display jesus mary and the three wise men and one to celebrate hanukkah coming up next advice on getting your spending under control and later do you have

can see an example where he warned of the housing bubble and crisis he said in the house financial services committee despite the long term damage to the economy inflicted by the government's interference in the housing market the government's policy of diverting capital to other uses creates a short term boom in housing like all artificially created bubbles the boom in housing prices cannot last forever when housing prices fall homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out furthermore the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss these losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over investment in housing the more people invested in the market the greater the effects across the economy when the bubble burst that was back in two thousand and three and listen to joe scarborough asking him why he saw it coming. how could it be that you knew this well the banking committee in two thousand and three and nobody else did until after the collapse why would i would think the easiest explanation is is that washington d.

the house financial services committee will focus on whether agencies knew of any information on potentialems at the company ahead of its collapse. investors taking a closer look at the facebook game. they are offering 100 million shares and will begin trading on friday. this is expected to be the biggest internet company to go public since google. we did have a down day yesterday on concern europe is still struggling to contain its debt crisis. techies flying out of bwi aren lock. the top-10 list for tech travelers. they have good wifi service with a relatively quick download speeds. cell phone service was not too bad. dallas-fort worth took the top spot. i'm jane king reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. back to you. >> that time of year for at office parties. workers are being warned to be on their best behavior. >> we have heard is our entire careers. but now with facebook, it is even more important. tics ando some crazy and si the holiday parties and details on some big sales this weekend at giant retailer's. >> no street at the company party -- no streaking. >> 5:22. 45 degrees on tv hill.

tomorrow he's subpoenaed to appear before the house financial services committee. >> shepard: james, thanks. the legal panel, arthur aidala is with us and randy zellen. where is the money? i don't know. why would i know? ettes only $1.2 billion, where's -- i don't know. i have no idea where the money is. >> who are they asking? not the guy that works in the mailroom or the coffee room. the c.e.o., cfo, corzine and i'm soy, you know, he says, be hablo, the president, said the night of october 30 and 31st when they knew they were from trouble, someone took the money. they're the head of the ship, the skipper and two first mates and they don't know where the money is. >> skipper and the two first mates? >> absolutely. >> millionaire and his wife. >> this isn't exactly a five-person firm, this is a huge firm. the reason people at the top are at the top is they delegate. >> you're blaming the professor and marry ann. >> ginger i -- i stay away from her. the reality is to prove a crime you have to prove knowledge. sometimes people don't know. and is a guy running a multibillion dollar comp

>>reporter: lawmakers on the house financial services committee grilled jon corzine tomorrow afternoonird turn not congressional witness chair in a week they will zero in on a statement that corzine issued october 25th less than a week before it collapsed. here the mf global c.e.o. painted an optimistic portrait the firm "we remain confident that we have the resources and expertise to continue to successfully manager our european sovereign debt exposures to what we believe will be a positive conclusion in december 2012." but by 11:30 the next among phone records obtained by fox show he was reaching out to top officials at the new york fed including the president, they had ten calls over the next five days, until mf global went bankrupt and sources with knowledge of the conversations tell fox that despite the optimism he projected the day before, corzine knew mf global was going down and was seeking dudley's help to find a buyer. tomorrow, investigators want to know if the statement intentional misled investigators and regulators. congressman who chairs that hearing, spoke to peter barn

former senator and governor jon corzine testified before the house financial services committee todayens of highly regarded and highly trained professionals in the area of risk, compliance legal, interim audit and the back office operation. we retain prominent outside auditors, consult tant and attorneys -- consultant and attorneys. >> president obama and young people were a perfect match in 2008. could things be changing? details in the grapevine. up next, is the president changing his mind about the millionaire's surtax? cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. where they grow america's favorite wpotoes. idaho, everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they'reood for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart

two house democrats sent a letter to cantor asking him to explain why he asked the house financial services committees set for next wednesday. cantor's issued a response say, quote, in this instance a large group of bipartisan member ws o the committee thought it was flawed and being recklessly moved solely in response to need ya pressure. the media pressure cantor is referring to came after the 60 minutes exposy where people on both sizes of the aisle benefitted financially. we don't know if they were using information they received behind closed doors, but there's a case to be made to question the actions. >> yeah, the issue is there's really no clear rules that ban members of congress from trading on insider information. we don't know for sure that they are, but if they are, it's legal to do so. this legislation would say very clearly, members of congress cannot do this. >> cantor's under fire today for the decision to block this, and there was bipartisan support to do go about this. obviously, this leaves you wondering why. >> there's lots of twists and turns in any legislative battle. this is on

to appear before the senate agriculture committee and two weeks from today on thursday he will appear back on the house side before the house financial services committee. >> is apology enough? former governor jon corzine said he's devastated, devastated what the bankruptcy has done to the customers but he insists he doesn't know where the missing money is. so is the house committee at all satisfied? congresswoman reneealbers joins us. >> you questioned him today. are you satisfied he tells you everything he knows and did you think that he was candid? >> i thought he was very contrite, he was very humble, but his answers really weren't satisfactory i don't believe to the entire committee. you know, he answered to a certain point. he did submit a 21-page statement. and he didn't plead the fifth, we we all appreciated very much because we want answers and we want answers for our constituents. we all have farmers, producers back home, ranchers, who have invested their money and their money is gone. >> he said i take full responsibility. >> yeah. >> what does that mean? i mean, the fact is he's the ceo. there's anywhere from $600 million to 1 .$2

he's also the top democrat on the financial -- the house financial services committee. mr. chairman, thanks for joining me this evening. >> thank you, reverend. this is an important moment. i'm glad to have this opportunity to discuss it. >> why do you think the republicans continue to attack reforms that help american consumers? >> well, for some of them it's ideological blind there's. they believe the free enterprise system, which we believe in, did you which we think needs regulation to work well, is best left totally unregulated. how they can look at what disasters we have from the past years, i don't know, but they still do that. and then some of them frankly have decided politically for fund-raising and other purposes, they're better off with the financial institutions who want reform. that's not true of all of them, but some of them, rather than the consumer. in this case -- >> now, mr. chairman, explain to the people what exactly this consumer person would do that would head this agency. exactly in layman's terms, exactly what he would do for consumers. >> until we

he has been subpoenaed to testify before the house financial services committee this coming thursday and mf global faces seven investigations and then there are the lawsuits, shep? >> shepard: james rosen in d.c. the presidential candidates are looking to get in some last licks before the first presidential contest in iowa. the republic caucus there is now just three weeks away. thursday, candidates will face off here on fox news channel in their last debate before the caucuses. and even as they get set for the showdown, they are very well aware that if they keep trading punches, everybody is going to walk away with bruises. and that could put the eventual republic nominee at a disadvantage when it comes to facing off against the current president. carl cameron with the news live in des moines, iowa. one of the front unrunners who is known historically to ratchet up the rhetoric now wants to tone down the rhetoric, he says. >> yeah, you are talking about newt gingrich, of course, shep. the frontrunner nationally here in iowa. everywhere but new hampshire has made it very clear that h

was going on was gop congressmen like spencer back us of alabama and fellows of the house financial services committee were getting dire top secret briefings on the crisis from treasury secretary hank paulson. at the same time, according to "60 minutes", congressman backus started making stock bets that the market would go down. his office says he never trades on nonpublic information but the timing is suspicious. it's a bipartisan story here. take democrat nancy pelosi, the former house speaker. in 2008 she took part in visa credit card company's invitation only, stock offering buying 5,000 shares just as legislation that would have hurt credit card companies like visa began its trip through the house. legislation that incidentally failed that time. ultimately, it passed through the senate. steve croft asked her about that. >> i wanted to ask you why you and your husband back in march of 2008 accepted and participated in a very large ipo deal from visa in a time that was major legislation affecting the credit card companies making its way through the house. did you consider that to be a conflict of i

the senate agriculture committee and the house financial services committee also intend to spp corzine as getting money back to customers, the trustee hopes to get about 70% of the money restored to the customers in the coming weeks. >> 70% is better than zero. still not 100%. >> and they're going to still have to haggle it out in the courts what happens to the other 30% if, people will be made whole there. >> what a fall from grace. thanks very much, lisa. >>> u.s. troops making the long journey home from iraq. that and more coming up in our "hot shots." let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b

. >> michael grim is a member of the house financial services committee.poses the short-term payroll tax extension. it's good to have you here this morning. why do you oppose it? >> i think everyone across this country knows that two months is not enough. it's not enough to be effective. and just for the record, it's amazing to hear this democratic rhetoric. it was the president of the united states, last time i checked he was a democrat is the one that said it will be unconsciousable not to do a one-year extension. the president set the marker on this. we passed a bipartisan bill in the house that said one year. why couldn't the senate accept that. that would be my question. most people in business, i think everyone you ask they're going to tell you one of the biggest problems we have in america is a lack of certainty. one year brings a little certainty to the marketplace. why are we punting the ball again because it's politics as usual for the senate. >> why not take what the upper house has done and look at that is two month extension that it has passed

he served as chairman of the house financial services committee from 2007 to early is year, where herough the $700 billion bailout of u.s. financial institutions. he also co-wrote last year's law to impose new regulations on wall street, along with former democratic senator christopher dodd. and representative barney frank joins us now. >> i'm glad to be here. >> woodruff: you said in making your announcement that part of the decision was because of the reapportionment of your boston district and you also talked about the political atmosphere being such that you think it's hard, if not impossible, for congress to get anything done. can congress be productive any more? >> i hope so. but actually and that's an accurate quote. but let me say what i meant by it. i think the ability to affect public policy from inside the congress is now constrained by the political atmosphere. i don't intend to walk away from my add vos -- ad advocacy. i do think at this point where i can be more useful is in trying to change the political atmosphere. trying to help mobilize the kind of political pressur