let's bring in john sylvia, wells fargo. rick santelli is there. and that was the answer to rick's question. so rick, you are right. what there is, is a transition from one program to the next program to the third program. 26 weeks, 33 weeks and then you get another 13 to 20 weeks. no data, rick, about the falling off of the claims list all together. so you're right. it is worse than it appears. >> well, i find that fascinating, but i think the winning story of the day on cnbc today has to be diane olick's story about the foreclosures. this is what i've been hearing from friends who have friends that are in real estate in california. that the banks in many ways are actually becoming the valve, because of the backlog of so many of these defaults that are coming do you think the pike, foreclosures. but also her guests talking about the correlation to unemployment by state, and watching how it correlates directly in the foreclosures. this is huge. >> it is huge. and john sylvia, something else that surprised me this morning is when we got this data ou

you want to get help, sylvia. john, you and i have done this many times on the show. sylvia, if you can find, taking a second job, cutting further your budget, if you can find another 100, $200 a month, it could mean a world of difference. you could shave years off this payment plan and also to save so much in interest. >> i'm already working two jobs and actually we could afford another 100 or $200 a month more but what we were wanting to do is double up on the payments, which is going to be really difficult because we'd like to be completely out of credit card debt in three years. >> you don't have to necessarily double up because john, as we've seen before, when it comes down to math, even if you put 200 bucks toward the highest interest rate, i know one of your cards is really high, 29%, even if you do that, you can probably be out in three years. john, she'll get some help from the credit counselor. it sounds like sylvia can do this on her own. >> doing it on your own is always a viable option, carmen. more of the money goes to the creditor. however, they're not l

you have john sylvia here now? >> yeah, i think he's the right guy to start with.ssed with the number. >> very good. i'd like to thank my team for the 245 number. >> how did you miss by two? >> i don't know. >> who messed up at the shop? >> well, we'll name names later. but i think three things are key. broad based gain in terms of smaller decline in a lot of sector. second, not driven by the federal government numbers. >> only seven from the federal government. >> the third point i'd like to make, the work week, the average work week was the leading economic indicator improved. i think we are in economic recovery. >> i want to make a quick point which is it's not just one part of the number that is behind the optimism here. four things went in the right direction. the number was better than expected. the revisions were in the right direction. the work week was up. and earnings were better than expected. so i think there's reason to be optimistic. just to state the obvious for everybody on this entire panel in maine and everywhere else, nobody is happy with losing

this is from john sylvia, jr.as chairman of the banking committee, if the banks charge 6.5%, why can't banks live off 2.5% and use the remaining 4% as interest on cds and general savings accounts? >> because we have essentially a free enterprise system and we don't control prices. i am disappointed that the banks -- >> quiet! >> somebody sent in a question -- what can disturb you? the answer is essentially that banks are free to do as they wish in terms of the prices they set. i do believe there have been problems with consumer abuses. one of the things that i will be working on most when we return is the establishment of a consumer financial protection administration to protect consumers against overcharges and abuses by banks. i think with regard to credit cards and overdraft fees -- [inaudible] >> what, sir? [inaudible] >> i'm sorry. you're yelling -- what? >> don't acknowledge it. >> you're right. >> answer the question. >> we are trying to pass a bill that will provide much better protection. right now if you