, and he trust jack lew.hese cabinet appointments that we've seen and some to come, it is about the president's comfort level in the second term. >> he was just re-elected, he's the president of the united states. he deserves to be comfortable. if you can hold on, we still haven't received that famous two-minute warning. we'll take a quick two-minute break and be right back. where is flo? anybody know where flo is? are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive. >>> we waiting for the president of the united states to walk into the east room of the white house. we'll show you a picture now. he's going to nominate jack lew as white house chief of staff to be the next treas

i cannot think of a better person to continue tim's work at treasury than jack lew. ow, this is bittersweet not only because tim is leaving, but also because jack has been my chief of staff for the last year. he was my budget director before that. i trust his jomt judgment. i value his friendship. i know very few people with greater integrity than the man to my left. i don't want to see him go because it's working out really well for me to have him in the white house. my loss will be the nation's gain. jack has the distinction of having worked and succeeded in some of the toughest jobs in washington and the private sector. as a congressional staffer in the 1908s he helped negotiate the deal between president reagan and tip o'neil to save social security. under president clinton he prided over three budget surpluses in a row. so for all the talk out there about deficit reduction, making sure our books are balanced, this is the guy who did it. three times. he helped oversee one of the our finest universities and one of our largest investment banks. in my administration

on power lunch we are waiting for president obama to set to name the white house chief of staff jack lews new treasury chief. but there are a number of people, including some on the floor, who are afraid of mr. lew, heading up treasury. we will talk about that when we come back as you look at this live picture from the white house. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the opt

>> president obama nominated jack lew as a presidentry secretary. >> jack lew who? >> jack lew. who is jack lew? who is that? >> stephen: yeah, who is that? jack lew. 'cuz i don't know who jack lew is-- and neither do you. that's not a picture of jack lew. this is, and you didn't notice. you racist. [cheers and applause] folks, there's big problems with this guy. >> heard the discussion that republicans really just don't get along with this guy, they don't agree with his philosophy, they think he's really hard to deal with in negotiation. >> stephen: no no, jimmy-- -- no, no, the big problem. >> there's jack lew's signature. >> stephen: folks, once lew's treasury secretary, this pubic hair masquerading as an autograph will appear on all our money, okay? making our currency a laughingstock. our money should have nothing ridiculous on it, just old men in wigs and pyramids with eyes. is this even a signature or did he start drawing charlie brown and give up after the hair? [ laughter ] good grief. and it got no better when lew explained his fiscal philosophy, saying quote "i descri

and i would say this with respect to jack lew. i am much more concerned by the fact that he presided over the facts of a budget proposal from this president. my friends on the other side of the i love to go back to the president. you know how many votes as budget proposal got the united states house and senate? the same number that my daughter's budget proposal. so i am concerned over the fact that he cannot draft a budget. if he is willing to unveil the most closely guarded national secret that we have, which is president obama's and i will be happy to give him a listen. i am more troubled about mr. mr. lew's ability to garner a single vote on capitol hill of. lou: already reminding us of lew's new seat. >> it didn't take long. lou: congressman, we appreciate you being here. congressman trey gowdy. we will have much more on the gun-control debate throughout this broadcast. president obama was against them before he was for them and now he has made the bush tax cuts permanent. or at least 90% of us. but the white house has gone si

jack lew is not that man.ages that we're now getting from a number of republican senators who will have to consider this nomination, many are saying that they will go through the vetting process. see what jack lew has to say from confirmation hearings as the information comes out. they want a plan to address spending. many are skeptical they're getting it from the treasury nominee or from the administration. back to you. tracy: rich edson, thanks for all that. ashley: jack lew then must face the senate before he takes the helm at treasury department. with the top republican on budget committee already speaking out against lew are we in for a bumpy confirmation process on capitol hill? joining us bob cusack, managing editor of "the hill." it could be interesting, bob. we mentioned senator jeff sessions, top ranking republican on the senate budget committee and he said, quote, in a statement that is now at, out, jack lew must never be treasury secretary. he has critics but do you think he will get through the co

to work every day, a cheese sandwich and apple to be precise, president obama will reportedly tap jack lew tomorrow to replace timothy geithner. lew would take over on the eve of another debt ceiling battle. in round one during the summer of 2011, boehner's top staffer called lew's debt ceiling negotiations disrespectful and dismissive. according to david plouffe, that is because jack knows the numbers and republicans couldn't pull a fast one. two names are being floated to replace lew, dennis mcdonagh, currently his deputy national security adviser and ron klain. but the latest cabinet nomination is, surprise, creating consternation among who else, congressional republicans. after calling chuck hagen an in-your-face nomination outside of the mainstream, the pugnacious gop has already made known its displeasure with jack lew, calling his nomination controversial, a mistake, and worst of all, irritating. according to senator mike johanns of nebraska, i just think there are economic policies in this administration that haven't been well received and jack lew is in the middle of that. you hea

jack lew is a budget guy being brought in to handle the government's fiscal disaster. on the hill, a handful of republicans oppose lew's confirmation but survived the process twice in four years at omb director and deputy secretary of state. we have jake sherman here. we're hearing yet another white man added to a cabinet with quite a few white men and dwindling number of females s. the president and the team feeling president to add some more diverse faces to the team? >> they released a photo showing that president obama does, in fact, have female advisers in the inner circle and more opportunities yesterday. solis said she was stepping down from the labor department which she ran since the beginning of the administration. transportation is a role that they've been wishy-washy on whether ray la hood would say and more opportunities. susan rice is still around but a pr disaster for the white house. on the front page of "new york times," not something you want to do as trying to get your second term rolling and get a head start in to a year full of budget fights. >> rig

and from all indications, obama will not do much about fiscal restraint. >> nina, your sense of jack lew and what lies ahead? >> i think i agree with evan, but lew really does know the budget numbers. he did this in the clinton administration when we had a surplus, as the white house points out over and over again. jeff sessions in the senate is saying no way, and one senator can make a lot of trouble, but i cannot tell whether it is a lot of bluster or not at this point. >> colby, aren't most of the battle's going to be between the white house and capitol hill? dozens, with deep congressional experience bring a certain strength -- doesn't somebody would seek congressional expense bring a certain strength? >> yeah. i worked for two treasury secretaries, and jack lew is the type of person you want at that job. there is work to be done on the hill and in the administration. i am not prepared to say that nothing is going to happen on the fiscal front. i think the president will have to do something on the fiscal front to deal with the deficit, and i don't think he can get around ed, i don't

one is that the president wants jack lew there for these upcoming fiscal deadlines.equestration the debt ceiling, things like that. he knows that jack is not just a tough negotiator and i think this next point has gotten mixed he's a successful negotiator. i know republicans are complaining because he took a tough line back in 2011 with a lot of tea party folks but in fact he's been closing deals for 30 years the second thing is jack understands what it means a very important part of the president's second term agenda. he understands what it means to get our debt on a sustainable trajectory. there's a lot that has to happen for that to occur. we've gotten a good chunk of the way there but in order to complete the deal so that our debt stabilizes over the budget window that's something jack lew knows how the do and i think the president wants the treasury secretary with that on his agenda. >> woodruff: juliana it's been pointed out by republicans and others that his experience on wall street and the business community is minimal. he only spent a few years -- most of h

one is that the president wants jack lew there for these upcoming fiscal deadlines. sequestration, the debt ceiling, things like that. he knows that jack is not just a tough negotiator and i think this next point has gotten mixed he's a successful negotiator. i know republicans are complaining because he took a tough line back in 2011 with a lot of tea party folks but in fact he's been closing deals for 30 years the second thing is jack understands what it means, a very important part of the president's second term agenda. he understands what it means to get our debt on a sustainable trajectory. there's a lot that has to happen for that to occur. we've gotten a good chunk of the way there but in order to complete the deal so that our debt stabilizes over the budget window that's something jack lew knows how the do and i think the president wants the treasury secretary with that on his agenda. >> woodruff: juliana, it's been pointed out by republicans and others that his experience on wall street and the business community is minimal. he only spent a few years -- most

>>> there's jack lew's signature. we could have a pretty ugly signature on our dollar bill. >> i mean, is this even a signature? or did he start drawing charlie brown and give up after the hair? good grief. and it got no better when lew explained his fiscal philosophy saying, quote, i describe budgets as tapestry. nation.s woven together, it >> i tried. still doesn't even look good. good morning and welcome to "way too early," the show that's proudly ranked just ahead of doctors at our penmanship class. we have a lot to talk about, including a white house meeting on gun control between vice president biden and leaders of the national rifle association. i'll tell you why the nra leaders walked away disappointed. plus, the pentagon tightens its belts ahead of possible cuts. >>> first, our top story at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. amid a national debate about guns and violence, a california teacher and a campus supervisor are being credited for heroic actions yesterday during yet another school shooting. i

the official jack lew signature generator. if you type your name, you can generate your own jack lew. wow. >> what's mine look like? that's a fascinating "b" at the start. >> i like that. mine is going to be much more elegant. >> that's not bad, actually. at least everything is on the same line. >> that's a good one. >> as treasury of secretary, jack lew's signature will be on every official u.s. dollar. so why don't we see what it will look like? i take a little crack at it here. >> let's see what yours would look like. your scribbles are not good. >> king of the world. >> can anyone out there read that? what is that? >> this thing doesn't work. >> you don't even fit in the lines. >> this thing is garbage. let's move on. oh, he's throwing paper balls over here. >> spring training is only about a month away. he gets a little excited. >> can't take that guy anywhere. all right. now, it's just another day in new york city. this is my final story. a manhattan subway rider uploaded a video to youtube chronicling here subway ride.

what about now with jack lew? brian jacobson chief portfolio strategist at wells fargo joining us now from milwaukee wisconsin. at first look, what do you think? >> well, i think this is an example where we will probably see history not necessarily repeat but it will most likely rhyme with what happened when geithner made his first speech. i'm not all that confident that lew is going to be a good replacement for geithner. i think he's not a very unifying individual. he's more of a polarizing figure. and it makes it more likely that the next two years until the midterm elections that we could see more battles and skirmishes in washington, d.c. as opposed to fewer. dagen: what would you like to see as a stock investor? >> a treasury secretary who is more focused on building compromise. but think the lesson we learned in the debate last year when there was discussion about debt ceiling is that lew is one of these types of individuals who very politically savvy but that doesn't necessarily equate to being a statesman

if you see the swirl, that's jack lew. jack lew has a reputation as a tough negotiator.olitico reporting by tapping the former key aid for tip o'neal who has worked for two white house administrations, president obama is gearing up to play tough on the debt ceiling. and msnbc contributor, not a handwriting analysis expert, but we're going to ask you about it anyway. a really out john hancock for jack lew. but he's been in and out of washington for the '70s. he's been involved, jared, in balancing the budgets. as the gop is going to push for budget cuts to coincide with three more cliffs over the budget, how critical is jack lew going to be to the president in waging that fight? >> highly critical in precisely the ways you mentioned. by the way, i think it would be cool. we had that at the bottom of our currency. although i suspect he could change his signature for that. one of the things we know about jack lew is that he's been a tireless fighter to protect key areas of the budget, particularly where they affect economically vulnerable people. he's been a staunch defende

thursday, obama tapped his own chief of staff jack lew to replace timothy geithner air. was an executive at citigroup from 2006 to 2008 at the time of the financial crisis. he served as chief operating officer of citigroup's alternative investments unit -- a group that bet on the housing market to collapse. lew has long pushed for the deregulation of wall street. from 1998 to january 2001 he headed the office of management and budget under president clinton. during that time, clinton signed into law two key laws to deregulate wall street -- the financial services modernization act of 1999 and the commodity futures monitored his asian act of 2000. on thursday, independint senator of vermont bernie sanders criticized the nomination saying -- at a press conference at the white house thursday, president obama praised the record of jack lew. >> jack has the distinction of having worked and succeeded in some of the toughest jobs in washington and private-sector. as a congressional staffer in the 1980's, he helped negotiate the deal between president reagan and tip o'neill to s

signature it really is and here is what jack lew's signature would look like on a dollar bill new york magazine says it has been called the worst autograph in washington president obama ribbed lew about it this afternoon i considered rescinding. my offer to appoint him. jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible. in order not to debase our currency ha ha ha ha you have a court of the corporate media the biggest mr lewis is you the signature apparently the most interesting thing they can dredge up is that his handwriting sucks but of course this is all just one giant distraction from who he is really so who is jack lew well during the height of the financial crisis in america between two thousand and six and two thousand and eight jack lew was an executive for citigroup bank all right so he's a banker not surprising considering that wall street pretty much funded obama's entire presidency but that's not all for years he's been a vocal proponent of deregulating wall street as the night that deregulation had anything to do with the economic meltdown. but

where do you think jack lew stands on that? and, unfortunately, we just have half a minute left. what do you think? >> well, i think jack recognizes that if the sequester kicks in, it does two things. one, it makes deficit savings a lot more pronounced. that's $85 billion in one year. but, two thurts an economic recovery that's already too fragile. we certainly don't want to see that $85 billion extracted from the economy in 2013 all at once. >> susie: all right, jared, thanks a lot for your analysis, really appreciate it. thanks for coming on the program. jared bernstein for the center on budget and policy priorities. >> my pleasure. next week on n.b.r., we'll find out what the federal reserve policymakers are thinking. ben bernanke and the open market committee hold a two-day meeting, starting tuesday, bernanke meets the press wednesday to answer questions about fed policy. and monday, n.b.r.-u heads to philly. we talk stocks for the long run with wharton professor jeremy siegel. ahead of that, you can read professor siegel's latest market thoughts on nbr.com. just look for the

where do you think jack lew stands on that? and, unfortunately, we just have half a minute left. what do you think? >> well, i think jack recognizes that if the sequester kicks in, it does two things. one, it makes deficit savings a lot more pronounced. that's $85 billion in one year. but, two thurts an economic recovery that's already too fragile. we certainly don't want to see that $85 billion extracted from the economy in 2013 all at once. >> susie: all right, jared, thanks a lot for your analysis, really appreciate it. thanks for coming on the program. jared bernstein for the center on budget and policy priorities. >> my pleasure. next week on n.b.r., we'll find out what the federal reserve policymakers are thinking. ben bernanke and the open market committee hold a two-day meeting, starting tuesday, bernanke meets the press wednesday to answer questions about fed policy. and monday, n.b.r.-u heads to philly. we talk stocks for the long run with wharton professor jeremy siegel. ahead of that, you can read professor siegel's latest market thoughts on nbr.com. just look for the

first, new treasury secretary jack lew -- a veteran of the clinton and obama white houses - who will succeed timothy geithner. >> jack has my complete trust. i know i'm not alone in that. in the words of one former senator, "having lew on your team is the equivalent as a coach of having the luxury of putting somebody at almost any position and knowing he will do well." gwen: so what does lew's appointment tell the senators who must confirm him about what comes next in our epic budget fights? david? >> i think it tells us that the president anticipates that this year will be a year dealing with taxes and spending and deficits. it will be the fifth year in which we have a trillion dollar deficit and jack lew has been budget director in two administrations. unlike timothy geithner, he has very little experience in finance. that was geithner's strong point. he has very little experience in international. that was geithner's background. this is a guy who knows budget and knows congress. it sort of marks a punctuation point in the financial rescue. geithner was part of the rescue at the new

so, kim, tell us about jack lew, who is he? what does he believe?well, he's mostly, i think, this is important, a creature of washington. he had a brief interlude out at citigroup, but a lot of time working in a political capacity and does in fact make him a much different creature for a position like the treasury secretary than we have in the past, folks who have come from that often out of the business world, established economists, might come from the fed. this is a person viewed by congress and many, by many people here in washington a more of an ideologue. >> and with the clinton administration, i know republicans thought he was an honest liberal, anybody he's emerged under this president as much more implacable. and mr. lew makes a lot of appearances, almost always in the role, when you see mr. obama and boehner making progress. he throws the monkey wrench and pretty much tanking the negotiations and makes him poison for republicans and a problem in his capacity as treasury secretary which sometimes does need to work with congress. >> paul: ve

and jack lew is in the middle of it. because democratic economic policies have not been well received by republicans in congress, and because jack lew once irked mitch mcconnell, he is, we're supposed to believe, not going to get the top tier cabinet position. we scoff in your general direction. if those do not sound like reasons substantive enough to block a presidential cabinet nomination, that is because those are not reasons substantive enough to block a presidential cabinet nomination. at least historically speaking, those are not the kind of things that keep a person out of a top tier job like that. as "the new york times" calculated today, in the history of the u.s. senate, the senate has confirmed over 500 cabinet nominations. over 500. it has denied nine out of more than 500 in gnat senate history. the last time a cabinet nomination was denied was almost 25 years ago when the senate voted down poppy bush's nominee for defense john tower after what would later be described in his obituary of public allegations of

but jack lew is opposite of that. he thinks he las the set of skills he needs among candidates to replace jack lew as chous chief of staff. one source tells me set leading candidate. we will see if that announcement is made tomorrow as is jack lew for treasury. >> if jack lew is secretary treasury, it'll look something like this, whatever that is. accidentally, tim geithner had a different signature but changed it for the green back. ma maybe jack lew will do the same. >> the power the new treasury hassle have the power to shape. but is this is real risk? fresh off a multiyear run at tcw, first off, congratulations of being a self-employed business man. >> thank you, very much. >> now all of the bills fall to you. >> yes. >> but it is always ladies first. >> glad to hear it. first off, jack lew, no doubt his commitment to dc. my problem is his commitment to dc. he only served out of d.c. one year in the hedge fund department. is he the right man for the job? >> listen, i think you raise an important point. i think wha

but first the top republican in the senate budget committee vowing not to let jack lew become treasury secretary. senator jeff sessions accusing lew of lying before congress, lying about the national debt. he is referring to a bitter, 2011 senate hearing. >> you said in your interview, with-- our budgets would get us over the next several years to the point where we could look the american people in the eye and say we're not adding to the debt anymore. we're spending money that we have each year and then we can work on bringing down the national debt. was that an accurate or misleading statement to the american people? >> senator, i think it's an accurate statement that our current spending will not be increasing the debt. we do have interest payments, it will take a while to work down the interest payments. >> you didn't say that, you said we will be bringing down the debt during the period of this budget and that we can look them in the eye and say we're not adding to the debt anymore. >> and that's-- >> that's not accurate, is it. >> no, i believe it is accurate. our current program

let me say more about jack lew, we call this one, you don't know jack. >> of course you do. >> this is a financial education. beginning with harvard and georgetown. but that never disqualified anybody. tip o'neill 93 and '94, special to president clinton. and that's what john harwood was talking about. incredible expertise with the budget. moving on in 2006, new york university as executive advice president. then a stint at citigroup. first at global wealth management and next in a controversy by the way that comes up with a large bonus he got while citigroup was getting tart money. finally reenter the administration. i'm sure the administration will make a cot of, as secretary in charge of of resource management. and second stint of omb. then white house chief of staff to the present. let's look at positive. some private sector banking experience. that ends up being a negative. close to the president, you have treasury secretaries with more or less connections to the white house. . finally ton negatives, is this the guy you want in office during financial crisis like you had with geit

president pairs the announcement of the chief of staff with the appointment of treasury secretary jack lew today. back to you. >>> and for the first part of this half hour joining us is george from nomura. george, is the markets going to be happy with mr. lew if that is indeed the case? >> well, we're in the middle of a fiscal kind of discussion. we got through the fiscal cliff. we still have to deal with the debt ceiling. we've surpassed legally the debt ceiling. now we're operating on these extraordinary measures. but it could be a critical decision. our focus on the economic team is critical given there's concerns over the long-term fiscal health of the company. overall, the markets are going to be cautious in thinking about, you know, it's an awkward time to be doing this transition, but it has to be done. >> yeah. meanwhile, i mean, we haven't seen treasury yields getting up to 1.9%. they have started to come back down, george. with that is 1.9, is that sort of the top of the range? if so, what is the range that we're now in? >> well, look, i think, you know, the market started out th