and still to come, the halftime report from tv's andy levy. jerk. >> tonight's halftime report is sponsored by my cat, sir, jonathan tee ki kensington esquire. it is his ward today and he has been going through a rough patch. i thought this my cheer him up. thanks, sir, jonathan tea kensington, esquire. [ bottle #] oh hey, hey... there's that mr. clean magic eraser thing again. clean freak. [ bottle #2 ] whoa... is he better than us? uh, i mean, i mean i feel like it took you like three times longer to do whatever he did... dude, dude, he's got...these -- like -- microscrubbers... yeah, i guess... magic man. he's a magic man. what? i just want to be squeezed. [ male announcer ] remove three times more grime per swipe and get this unbeatable clean guaranteed or your money back with the mr. clean magic eraser. thank you dear, very much. thank you. ♪ you make me feel so young. >> greg: welcome back. let's find out if we have gotten anything wrong so far. for that we to to tv's andy levy. do your cats watch jersey shore? >> my cats watch nothing b

on. >> i would presume it will be levied on large financial institutions, banks, both commercial banks as well as investment banks. a big question is where would the line be drawn between large and small and that would be one of the controversial aspects of this proposal. who gets paid... who has to pay and who doesn't. >> woodruff: felix salmon, what's your understanding of what they're talking about? >> well, like bert, it's still very unclear. i haven't talked to anyone who knows what exactly is being planned. bert, i do think that this is essentially a bank... a tax on the biggest banks. it's a tax on being too big to pay. one of the key problems which led to the financial crisis. it's something which we want less of. if you are too big, you're going to have to pay now. >> woodruff: the purpose would be what? if most of these banks or all of the banks have repaid the tarp money, what would the purpose be? >> well, as you said, they got much more benefit from the government than just the tarp money. the federal reserve injected trillions of dollars into the economy. the federal gove

his pants in the pages of "playgirl." >> levi let it all hang out johnston.genius. >> worst bad girl, meghan mccain who posted a late-night photo of herself online, but she gets the best response to critics saying "i have always embraced my curves and will continue to do so." >> one of the things that is so curious in the way of today's connective culture is that people put pictures of themselves, you know, throwing around their arms in the air with a drink or whatever and then resent the reaction. >> the best family portrait. the obamas. michelle -- >> she's stunning. >> -- and the girls always looked cool no matter how much hot water dad was in. >> it's a great family. to see them experiencing things in that way was a very strong positive image for this country. that's something all of us can appreciate. >> well -- >> i can't get that excited about a woman's arms. i mean, i know the country was just in love with her arms, and she's a lovely person. i have met her. she's very nice. >> beyond the world of politics it seemed like a lot of people were asking, w

history, soviet style and under clinton, thanks to a republican congress we cut the capital gains levy from 28 to 20% and boomed the market and clinton said sensible things like welfare reform and signed that into law and no taxes on the internet and put that into law and reduced the capital gains levy on housing, a good, solid thing so those things work and raise taxes on capital you get less of it and less risk taking and lesser, long term growth and whether kennedy reducing tax rate, reagan, whenever it has been done it works. >> quentin we do desperately need more risk taking and banks to lend out more money and risk taking nationwide, don't we? we need honesty, and risk taking. these tax cuts were passed, set to expire. why was that? so it wouldn't show up is a long term cost and that was folly and we know that was folly. and i think you are under estimating the actual risk capability of the weather. this is night tax on people making $250,000. it's a tax at clinton era levels on income added to $250,000. i think most people making that amount of money will go out and try and earn

this is san effort to keep i say levi out of the picture.ct is that neither side is acting responsibly. court basically say if you've got two parents to care for a child, that's the best way to go. one party having custody, not wait to go. ultimately, the court's going to do the right thing and i don't think evening eer of these two people will be particularly happy. >> gentlemen, richard, the final word here, this battle, yes, it's a custody battle but so much more than that. is it not? >> much more. what happened to family values? in any event, he's petrified, levi, sarah palin's going to exert her political power and rick these proceedings, and that's why he wants them publicized. he wants 20 be protected. because he says she's vindictive and malicious. not bristol. but bristol's mom. afraid of that. he wants this publicized. >> he won. he won. >> yeah. one story we will all get to watch, i am sure. richard herman, avery friedman, gentlemen always a pleasure. happy new year. >> happy new year. >> take care. >>> many making new year's reso

levy? >> [inaudible] -- does the we have plans to use that with tv contracts or is it just -- or is this limited to apparel? >> the only thing we asked the court to do is for purposes of marketing products, for purposes of promoting the product the league is a single entity. there are no plans if you will to use it for any other purpose and the example like you mentioned in terms of tv sales there's already a statute that finds the nfl as a single entity for those purposes. >> what about fantasy football league's? what about to promote the league this is we will do better with uniform ticket prices for example? >> what about fantasy football leagues? the good of a product to deal with fantasy football leagues -- >> what a decision this is a single entity for purposes of promotion insulate a competing fantasy football operation? >> the whole point is the single entity ruling we are asking for here doesn't and wouldn't protect the league against agreements with other leagues, other producers

is it time to work with the president on the kind of levy he is proposing and drop the prime minister's act on transaction which is rejected across the world and ridiculed yesterday by the governor of the bank of england himself. >> we never argued there should be a one size fits all solution with every single country taking the same action. what we have always agreed is all countries should work together whether it is the g 20 or the eu that we should all work together to tackle the global economic crisis and one thing we agree with president obama on and just about every other country in the world is we need a fiscal stimulus to support the economy out of recovery. the only people who seem to disagree with that is the official opposition. >> president obama just announced a freeze on spending in the united states and the government raised the rates which is how fiscal stimulus in the united kingdom -- the governor of the bank of england said president obama's proposal is much more serious than the prime minister's. he couldn't think of anyone internationally who was enthusiastic about

. -- levying a punitive 50% tax. host: does this solve theçó isse of too big to fail?tax will delivered -- levied not necessarily on the compensation but how much debt the banks have, it will come to punish the biggest banks because it is only charged for the big banks but it -- but the implicit guarantee cents a began that the government will law -- not let them fail. when you see big interest rates these banks pay when they go out it is exceptionally low when you look at how risky the situation is. a fee that amounts to 0.15% of their debt will not overcome that. we are not structured in such a way that it creates an incentive to shrink. if you are a big bang today, you are going to pay it even if you are not five years from now host: let us go to the headline of "the economist." what are you expecting to hear on the numbers of profits and bonuses? guest: there are a lot of estimates. "the wall street journal" estimate $140 billion in 2009 -- not only more than 2008 but 2007, the height of the boom, an astonishing performance. it is not money made by old- fashioned b

on wholesale lending, i think the proposals from september are for an international levy.the ones that made or controversial at the time are gaining currency around the world and i think you'll see further moves to get an international agreement to back an international levy to deal with the responsibility the banks go to society which is not met by the current arrangement. all issues -- getting the money back, making sure bonuses are fairly taxed, and removing the risk the expos to society, we are taking action and in most cases, it's similar to what is happening in america. -- removing the risk to banks pose to society. >> with the strategic defense review coming after the election, much of the debate is between services rather than the parties. for the record, how would you characterize differences between labor and conservative on national-security issues? >> on national security, we have made an enormous investment in the future of our security arrangements. we have tripled the budget since 2001 trade we have double the number of security officials. we have taken the

of the main provokes of shay's rebellion here in massachusetts because the state governments are levying taxes to redeem awards that. no longer in the hands of soldiers like daniels shays and joseph martin but in the hands of speculators, so from the soldier standpoint this is a real ripoff and that is why do you get rebellions like that in nearly every state. the most famous one was shay's rebellion but from the speculator standpoint this is a very profitable investment. one of the early securities that abigail plot, she bought it at $100 bond for $25, or $24 the interest is 6% a year but that 6% of 100. she is getting $6 a year and remember her initial investment was $24, so put that six on top of the 24. she is making a 25% annual return on her investment. john didn't like the idea when she first reported it to him. he didn't like speculator is. they were a narrow, self interested group who had both the means and the motivation to manipulate the government in their favor, so he was very cool to speculator, and he also had an alternative way to invest money and that is land. you rememb

result of the announcement by president obama and the financial secretary timothy geithner about the levy on the wholesale lending i think the proposals i made for an international what be the ones i made the were controversy let the time are now gaining the courtesy around the world and i think we would see further moves to get international agreement about some international levy to deal with the if you like the responsibility that the banks call to society which isn't met by the range and so on all three issues getting some money back making sure the bonuses are fairly taxed and moving where we can the risk to society we are taking action and in most cases that is similar to what is happening in america. >> with the strategic defence to review coming after the election much of the debate now is between the services rather than the parties, some just for the record how would you characterize differences between labor and the conservatives on the national security issues? >> on national security we have made an enormous investment in the future of our security arrangements. we have troub

american founders is actually a small story i stumbled across in my research about a young man named levi pressed in of danvers massachusetts who is in his twenties when he fought at the battle of concord. and he was asked years later when he grew older in an interview by a historian who then wrote it down why he went out and fought the battle of concord. what was it that got him, this young man to go out and take arms against the strongest military of the world? was of the intolerable oppressions of the british government, was the stamp act? i didn't play any stamps, he said. how about the tax on tea? was that it? he said i didn't drink tea. it must have been all of your reading of harrington, law, said he and philosophical treatises. i never heard of them, he said. i only read the bible. the catechism and songs. what was it asked the interview? was was it that got you to fight against the british? young man, he said, what we meant in going after those redcoats was this colin quote we had always govern ourselves, we always meant to. they didn't mean that we should. barry simple answer to

everytime you turn around, another tax is levied on you.ight go bankrupt because of the entitlements, the pensions, the disabilities, and on and on. is that unfair to you, dennis miller? >> it is on terror up to the point that i stay here. i have a contingency plan. there is a part i will not go beyond and it is not about greed. it is about some crazy thing in my head that i would like to keep a dollar for every dollar giveaway to strangers. if it gets beyond that, i will split the state. i have heard trump will quit new york. you know, i think it is getting to that point. i love to help the helpless. we are helping to many of the clueless nowadays. bill: that is a good line. >> you do not get credit for it. we have john -- janet napolitano talking about the right-wing conspiracy. if you are going to hover over me like this, at least ditch the frank lutz hair cut. i need something a little more together. bill: ok. i am trying to picture frank and napolitano and it is not working. >> i love it when you lose control. bill: president obama did

happening inside people's heads and with the berlin film festival at that time and as for me it is like levying for the west i have the picture of the men flying and i remember was an amazing experience because i went to west berlin i remember nablus dictation there was a soldier with a machine gun. but the corruption in prague if i wanted to get a passport the woman said are you going to west berlin? can you give me a yellow umbrella that you cannot get in eastern europe? then the second woman said i have little yorkie terrier i cannot find this scissors. so i was going to berlin for monday on the festival i was close to find a yellow umbrella and a scissors which would be hard and anyplace. [laughter] i did find a blood missed seeing my film so i go back to prague i open it is paper and they said i won the gold but i was not even there to win it. but it was one of the good things. because all of a sudden everybody knew we in innovation and i was invited to make films in london and switzerland and the animation film director but the people and prague could add travel and at -- at all and those

this new proposal to levy a fee on banks to pay back the money they borrowed i think is the way to recapturehas to be more populist and fired up and a little more unified in what he says. all of the proposals have to come together to give people a sense of direction. i don't think he's done that well in the last few months on domestic powerful. the republican party without a message saying we're not the democrats and thrive like they did tonight in massachusetts. >> what about the night that sprided you. >> one of the things most surprising was it it was unlike the candidates, there was not as gaet a gap for michelle obama and the property reality. one of the great stories of the campaign is told over and over again after they conduct it had and won was the race was not a big factor in their campaign. bk gets in through the prime contest with hillary clinton, and we'll be shoveling the buck it's the top of the mine from the very beginning. a strong motivating factor from the beginning. through the nomination and the general election, he was constantly obsessioned with the question, how it mi

we expect our partners to practice sound economic policies, including levying taxes on those who can afford them, just as we do -- or in countries rich in natural resources, managing those resources sustainably and devoting some of the profits to people's development. the american taxpayer cannot pick that -- pick up the tab for those who are able but unwilling to help themselves. some might say it is risky to share control with countries that have not had much success developing on their own. but we know that many countries have the will to develop, but not the capacity. and that is something we can help them build. of the millennium challenge corp. focuses on countries that have met rigorous criteria, from upholding political rights and the rule of law to controlling inflation and investing in girls education. we provide funding and technical support and the country provides the plan and leads the way toward achieving it. there is a lot of work ahead, but early indications of mcc programs are promising. we're using our resources to help countries that are committed to building thei

and you can also put on this list levi's jeans for instance have only gone up by about 19%.hat means they're cheaper and you can thank china for that. anything made in china is less expensive now. and it's likely to stay that way. electronics, there's a macintosh computer in here which is actually down 33%. again all electronics getting cheaper. and you know, there's a lot of disinflation here. things getting cheaper, which is obviously good news for a lot of people. >> all right. well i like ending on a positive note, rick newman, thanks so much. >> see you. >> getting enough sleep could be see to the mental health of your teenager. a new study finds that adolescents who have bedtimes much midnight or later are 24% more likely to be depressed. and 20% more likely to think about committing suicide. that's compared to teens whose parents set bedtimes of 10:00 p.m. or earlier. the research from columbia university included more than 15,000 teens and their parents. >>> let's talk box office, shall we? "avatar" continuing to break box office records. it's expected to be the firs

. >> warner: as the president said, it's going to be levied on the largest banks, brokerage firms, insuranceolding companies but not the smaller banks, not the community banks, not even the big auto companies which got tarp funds. why? >> they don't want a tax that would fall on everyone who received government aid, rather they want to collect the cost of that aid from the firms that they say caused the crisis. these the largest financial firms, the ones that played on wall street, the ones that, you know, took advantage of the laxity in rules to make huge profits and then to take huge losses. and those are the firms that the administration believes ought to cover the money that the government has spent rescuing the financial industry . >> warner: now the administration said in briefings, and actually president said it as well, in the end, it's supposed to raise between, what, $90 and $117 billion, which is the outstanding tarp funds, is that right? >> that's the amount the administration projects it will lose from the $700 billion that congress allocated for the financial rescue. >> warner:

>>arner: as the president id, it's going to be levied the largt banks, brokerage fis, insurance holdingoanies but not the smaller banks, not t community banks not even t big auto companies which got tarp fds. why? >> ty don't want a tax that would fa on everyone who received gernment aid, rather ey want to collect the cost that aid from the firms that they say caused the isis. these the largest nancial firms, thenes that played on wall street, the os that, you ow, took advantage of the xity in rules to make huge profits anthen to take huge losses. anthose are the firms that the administration believes oughto cover the monethat the governmentas spent rescuing thfinancial industry . >> warner: nowhe administrationaid in briefing and actually president said it asell, in the end, it's supposedo raise between, what,90 and $117 billion, which ithe outsnding tarp funds, is that right? >> that's the amount t administration projectit will lose from the $700 billion tt congress aocated for the financial rescue. warner: so the question is, it'sver ten years. t's say it's $100 billion ov ten year t

frank levy. >> i think part. ason that many people didn't know is that the people who werissuing all the derivatives had big incentiv to deep what they were doing secret. sa thing with the banks. if the banksut on their bookall the risky loans they were caying, all the risky loans theyere making, the federal reserve uld step in and say well you have to increase your capital requiremenand that uld mean the bank kos make fewer loans. theyidn't want that. ey wanted to make all the loans theyould to generate all thfees they could. so everybo in this game had big incentives to ke hidden an awful lot ofhe activity they were doi. >> reporr: but the conventions st liberal onomist had another planation for the lack of warning. the eology of the era. rbel laureate joe stiglitz. >> people wanted to lieve thatarkets were lf-regulating. anif that was the case, you couldn't have a bble. because there was a bule, you needed to have somebody do something about it. anso this ideology which drove the noon that gornment always got

levying the tax and the payroll.t would either be a fine of $750 per worker or $3,000 per worker depending on how many went into the ex-change or system there are talk among the employer group seeing the penalty stiffened a bit. the bottom line is that we don't expect a lot of employers to dump coverage. they have designed a way to prevent that. >> who determines what plans are put into the exchanges and the kind of options those plans can offer. the low care cost and the higher one. >> this is one of the areas where they are seeing details worked out. exchanges would have to have in order for an insurancer to participate, they have to offer plans that had a minimum level of benefits. benefits are structured in a way that they would be relatively depenrouse there will be restrictions on which insurers can run with the plan. host: going to the line. caller: i appreciate you bringing on somebody from the wall street journal to discuss this. it wouldn't allow those across the board for people above 60 but would have all

instead of conservatives affirming face have god and country it was filled with eccentrics levying the black dollar sign flag. enthusiastic libertarians accretive proposals for offshore tax havens and argued over the finer points of objective is to doctors and the " when they drifted into a debate whether or not you was a true hero of atlas shrugged it i left. [laughter] he concluded "i think it is safe to say that yaf is drifting. drifting it was. and it was drifting in the direction of it rand objectivism and the anarchist a blend of both of those. and in this combustible mixture of traditionalist conservative is of and liberalism will be rough dan fury of the 1969 st. louis convention of young americans for freedom which is a great way to date in the emergence of modern libertarian is some. a lot of my research and the later stages of the book is drawn from records of the movement from the hoover institution library in california and when i went into the i felt that rand was important and i was right she was so important i take a serious challenge of what you put into the book becau

"more than 50 top line differences need to be resolved, from the amount of taxes levied to the minimumenefits offered in exchange. today speaker pelosi will start setting the parameters for negotiations with the senate. then steny hoyer will go to the white house to meet with vice president joe biden and dick durbin. white house aides have sought to downplay this challenge of reconciling the two bills, but it is an unambiguous reminder that a bill signing is a ways off and a series of politically unforgiving and party straining decisions await the democrats'." so, that is what we're going to be talking about for about the first 45 minutes. going to the phones, our first call comes from new york city. good morning, daisy. daisy, are you there? all right, let's try fort smith, arkansas. independent line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: you are looking chipper this morning. host: thank you very much, jeanne. what you think of this democratic plan to bypass the republicans to get this bill to the president's desk? caller: two words -- i don't. i will explain further. host

among regulators and politicians for an insurance levy. the best way to insure that collapsed would not fall on taxpayers. bankers have resisted the idea is. they said considering a global levee from the president't. any new levy would be likely to appear in a resolution fund which is in front of the senate. it creates a resolution fund for when the bell companies -- for big companies. what did you learn from the exchange yesterday between the president and the gop republican leaders? caller: good morning, pedro. i learned a lot. i learned we have a very, very intelligent and sharp president and everybody needs to start respecting this man. i am glad the two showed jeb henserling of texas. the president mentioned that he would love to see this after it was checked on the facts. i wish you would go to the trouble if it was find out -- to find out if it was fact-checked. i wish someone would show where he entered the chamber and a look on his face before anything started the men had a mind set that he hated to be there from the beginning. i

to his right is daniel levy senior fellow and co-director of the least taskforce that the new americanoundation, and he comes to us with a long experience of negotiating peace agreements. he was senior adviser to prime minister barak. he was part of the israeli delegation to the negotiations, some of the results of which mr. wolfensohn will just mentioned. to his right, amjad atallah is the co-director of the middle east task force the foundation and a specialist in negotiations in conflict and post conflict situations. he has a device to the palestinian negotiating teams in view of the person who advice is release and to advise the palestinians and as jim was saying earlier they're talking to each other and they are friends so there is hope. then to my immediate right we have andrew whitley from unrwa, the united nations works agency who has a and involvement with palestine and andrew is also an earlier life as a journalist with a financial times and other prestigious newspaper so, and he actually wrote 20 years ago a book about the future of the economic future of palestine. >> not a

it would levy a tax on insurance companies that offer very high cost plans. unions hate this because many of the members have this, especially those who have a worked to -- the work in dangerous professions or have sacrificed other pay court over the years. they are turned to find a compromise on dealing with these two revenue proposals. at the end result is probably a little of each. the tax on high-cost plans could be changed a little not having as many. i think it will borrow some of the money from taxing some of the richest americans. host: david lightman on friday you read that congress is working down under the pressures of a number of rapidly changing political dynamics. guest: i think it already has affected the bill to some degree. congress is changing as it always has, but this time because of technology. the internet, the 24/7 news cycle, the ability of members to communicate back come instantly. particularly the u.s. senate which was always called the world's most exclusive club, and kisses on club. members got things done by making deals. going i

it wastes -- it relies too much on property taxes and other levies that are not based on ability of paper i think there is a principle as old as the bible. taxes should be based on ability to pay. nobody likes paying taxes, nobody. but in a democracy, that is what all of us as citizens do. we have to come together and finance our government, we the people, so i look for to working with members of the general assembly this year on finding a fair way to raise revenue from a fair tax code, but in my opinion, if we work together in good faith, we can cut taxes on 5 million people, maybe more in illinois. if we can find ways using the personal exemption, using the earned income tax credit, using the property tax relief credit, to talk -- to cut taxes on people who need help the most, people of modest income and poor people. there is something wrong in illinois where our state is taxing poor people into further poverty. we is the state and as a general assembly and as a governor can come together and work together just as we did for the capital bill on the job recovery bill. we can do this year

you handle it yourself to handle the levy. a mandate to buy insurance to compel people to buy a product, first time in history that has ever been done is a new tax and on everybody who has to participate that wouldn't have otherwise been participating. that is one of the other bad things about this. it would institutionalize a massive, ever expanding federal bureaucracy that is impersonal and inpractical and would devise new ways to grow and get new ways to diminish the american people. that is the nature of burst burr. and we put people in white shirts and ties and set them off and then they set about building empire and they'll write rules that we never see and those rules will have the full force and effect of law because this congress has and difficult indicated a lot of our responsibility when it comes to rules. the bureaucracy grows and the administration grows and it also would have and i say have because i believe this bill is dead would empower bureaucrats to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and would un

something short of that is imposing levies. that is a useful approach.it could be useful going forward regardless of the issue of making up for the past actions of the taxpayers in terms of charging financial firms for the risk of larger liabilities. >> thank you. ms. minow? >> i agree. >> mr. stiglitz? >> it is important to affect the incentives. if you have the incentive for excessive risk-taking, you will do it. those are also at the organizational level. that is why it is so critical. even when we affect incentives, we will never do it perfectly. sweet constraints on leverage, behavior's, products, derivatives, and finally, for our system to work there has to be transparency. the way the system is set up, it is impossible for capital markets to exercise the discipline that is needed to make our system function well. >> thank you. >> the gentleman from california. >> thank you. i would like to throw out a few thoughts. i am going to suggest to you that the executive compensation issues on which we all agree, the excessive risks, the short- term focus,

we did that by capping levies and putting in place penalties and incentives to local governments andschool boards, to promote consolidation and shared services. we expanded school aid and distributed it more fairly, expanded the senior freeze and put billions more into rebates than any administration in new jersey's district. but as we have grabbled with in issue, i have learned that only so much trenton can do without structural reform. and by that i mean constitutional reform. if we truly want to tackle the age old problem of property taxes we have to embrace economies of scale and do away with our outmoded system for delivering local systems. all this i would have said if i were about to begin a new term. but in the months and years ahead, it will be up to you and the new governor to act. now, i'd like to do something a little unusual in politics. i'd like to focus on the positive. last friday i taped my final appearance on "on the record" at m.g.m. studios. our distinguished dean of the state house press corps listed a lengthy list of my accomplishments, my administration's accom

lid and fund levy equalization. hot [applause] haile affect his teachers in the classroom and principals who are leaders are the key to student success. i urge you this session to approve an overhaul of the way we evaluate teachers. the new evaluation system, must focus on what really counts. quality education, student achievement and growth. for the first time, i will ask you to provide assistance to evaluate the performance of principles based on student achievement as well. if we have schools, where dropout rates are high, student performance and achievement is low and were no progress is being made, we need to be able to step in and turn that school around for our children and their parents. [applause] our higher education system is a major economic engine for our recovery. we need to keep the doors to higher education open to students of all income level by restoring funding for our states made program. we over to all of those like janel who couldn't attend college without our help. i'm asking you to provide fu

there are strong indicators they are going to impose levies for those of us who refuse to pay. it is my clear understanding they can also take my home. my question to you is where does the government get off trying to impose such an unconstitutional tough when it is blatantly clear -- unconstitutional task when it is blatantly clear they cannot be a legal writ of habeas corpus presented to the american people? it deeply pained me to think officials and the government can ultimately amend the constitution so the american people would be turned and sent to prison and their stake, or do they plan to charge us with a federal crime? that is what concerns me about darkroom deals >> it is obviously one you are aware of. that is an issue that has not gotten much attention. one incentive is a mandate every american purchase health insurance, which is unprecedented in american history, and i believe it is an -- unconstitutional and would be immediately challenge dinh courts if the president were to sign this bill into law. why do i think that? it is because of the simple notion that this

how come they did not put levies on these companies to guarantee that they would be paid back? guest: that is a good question. i voted against t.a.r.p.. i think the government had good checks and balances in regard to the payback, the interest on the forced loans. over half of that money went to the big financial institutions. many of them were forced to take it. we ended up giving hundreds of billions to a.i.g., general motors, people who did not have anything to do with the banking industry. if you live in a county with under 100,000 people, you know what i am talking about. a couple buys some stock and puts it into a community bank opened that it will go up. and this current situation we had this $700 billion t.a.r.p. program and not one dime has gone to the community banks. there have been bank failures, and there are probably more to come. the president said that they would take $30 billion out of the repayment from the big banks, that it would go to the smaller community banks. that would be just enough to help them make loans. host: jim on the independent line. rochester

that would be levied specifically on insurance companies but the effect is it would trickle down to individuals either through having the company's lower their benefits or insurers have indicated they would pass those costs on. host: some plans to optical and dental, how will those get treated? guest: those would go toward the high income threshold. all of those things would be factored into the cost of whether you hit that high income tax. host: these are things found in cadillac plans? guest: it could be. the question is, what is a cadillac plan? union members have these plans and because the plans are not indexed toward medical inflation, they are at a slightly lower rate than medical benefits. people might get that capped quickly over the purse tenures of the bill. if you have a flexible spending account, those are the tax-free accounts where people can use tax-free money to pay for this -- prescription deductibles and copays. that factor into this. host: is there a worldcom to consider whether you have a cadillac plan are not? guest: what may not be a cadillac plan in two years with the ra

our guest is douglas shoe man and the question is whether or not taxes will be levied on cell-phone usersre's an exert. >> this past year you put out a proposal for employers to how to allocate as a fringe benefit for tax purposes and then later you called on congress to actually pass legislation to simplify this and remove, you know cell-phone as a fringe benefit so employers didn't have to know how to tax them. here we are in 2010. congress did not act on that last year. what are your plans? you going forward with your initial proposal or give congress more time to sort that out? >> this is an example of the fact that the tax laws effect everybody and as technology changes, they need to adopt to the times. this is - in the past having a cell-phone the laws were written in the late 90's. having a cell-phone was a fringe benefit but now everybody has one. we ask congress just to clarify this and treat them in a very commune form name so we don't have to come up with a set of rules. we're quite helpful that congress will act on this. congress had a busy year last year. our hope is tax writ

the levy time frame when you would do it, and is there any guarantee that these recommendations that you come up with, they will actually be acted on? thank you. >> yes, we have a timeframe. we want our report by the end of this year, sometime in that window. it is not clear what will happen to these various commissions that are being discussed. if an official commission moves ahead, we will be very happy to be the stalking horse, one group that illustrates that their work can be done. if it does not happen, we will do it anyway. that is where we are. >> i would like to say one other thing that i did not say. you know, i believe that we're going ask the american people to sacrifice. we do not ask them that very often. we do not ask our leaders to ask the american people to sacrifice. that is because if we do not, we are going to lose that which we love dearly. we're going to lose the strength of america, the future of america. so sacrifice will be built into this. it will not be an easy one. we will offer our budget to leaders of like mind and what purpose. if they are moving ahead w

with the transparent conversations we're having with levying groups rican up with a different scheme that accomplishes the same goal with a 14 million customers to use and many hours per day and does not have any of the problems associated with that. that said, the whole question of piracy, we will now be on both sides of that question. the content companies and i believe the distribution companies need to focus and realize that the future to be able to enjoy what we have today requires, a real focus on finding ways too not violate people's privacy and somehow not violate copyright. if we can play a constructive role, we will be more focused than ever to try to help. >> back to the first part of the answer do you believe in net to neutrality? >> of 70 stating principles publicly as an industry and as the company, we don't block websites, we don't try to do anything too not have it open and free internet. the question that i think that is implied is to why think there needs to be governmental laws about at and how far should that go? that is probably where we might have a difference o

levying the tax and the payroll. would either be a fine of $750 per worker or $3,000 per worker depending on how many went into the ex-change or system there are talk among the employer group seeing the penalty stiffened a bit. the bottom line is that we don't expect a lot of employers to dump coverage. they have designed a way to prevent that. >> who determines what plans are put into the exchanges and the kind of options those plans can offer. the low care cost and the higher one. >> this is one of the areas where they are seeing details worked out. exchanges would have to have in order for an insurancer to participate, they have to offer plans that had a minimum level of benefits. benefits are structured in a way that they would be relatively depenrouse there will be restrictions on which insurers can run with the plan. host: going to the line. caller: i appreciate you bringing on somebody from the wall street journal to discuss this. it wouldn't allow those across the board for people above 60 but would have allo

do not levy politician correct you. you can change our country.o not let a politician the corrupt you. you can change your country. individual people can change our country. [unintelligible] if we remember is that, whether you are on the hard left or the hard right, we will solve the problems that our children are going to face. if we do not embrace that, we will fall down the path of every other republican that has been in the history of man. to me, it is not about republicans or democrats anymore. both parties kind of sickened me. [applause] just think about it. think about what has happened in the last 72 hours and all of the political sniping over a comment in a book. how is that important to national security and the fact that al qaeda is trying from every corner to come in and hurt us? how does that relate? it does not. we are off base. we need real leadership to get us back on base. come back up here because we have some up front. who had their hands up? right here. >> i am jim reeves from chelsea. can you estimate how much we can reduce ou

something short of that is imposing levies. that is a useful approach.it could be useful going forward regardless of the issue of making up for the past actions of the taxpayers in terms of charging financial firms for the risk of larger liabilities. >> thank you. ms. minow? >> i agree. >> mr. stiglitz? >> it is important to affect the incentives. if you have the incentive for excessive risk-taking, you will do it. those are also at the organizational level. that is why it is so critical. even when we affect incentives, we will never do it perfectly. sweet constraints on leverage, behavior's, products, derivatives, and finally, for our system to work there has to be transparency. the way the system is set up, it is impossible for capital markets to exercise the discipline that is needed to make our system function well. >> thank you. >> the gentleman from california. >> thank you. i would like to throw out a few thoughts. i am going to suggest to you that the executive compensation issues on which we all agree, the excessive risks, the short- term focus,

there will be heavy levys for those that pre fuse to pay. my clear understanding that they can take my family's home. my question to you, mike, is where does the government get off trying impose such an unconstitutional task when it's blatantly clear there cannot be, sorry guys, cannot be legal, writ of habeas corpus to the american people that constitutionally has these holdings for them to answer us why? and it deeply pains me to think that officials in the government can ultimately amend the constitution so that the american people can be charged and sent to prison or do they plan to charge us with a federal crime. >> amber, thank you. thanks for calling me, mike, by the way. appreciate that. >> i appreciate you and we pray for you. >> thank you. we rely on that. let me also commend you. not a point i raised but you're aware of it's a citizen, and that is, an issue that hasn't gotten that much attention publically. one of the centerpieces of the bill moving through the senate is a mandate that every american purchase healthcare insurance

it would levy a tax on insurance companies that offer very high cost plans. unions hate this because many of the members have this, especially those who have a worked to -- the work in dangerous professions or have sacrificed other pay court over the years. they are turned to find a compromise on dealing with these two revenue proposals. at the end result is probably a little of each. the tax on high-cost plans could be changed a little not having as many. i think it will borrow some of the money from taxing some of the richest americans. host: david lightman on friday you read that congress is working down under the pressures of a number of rapidly changing political dynamics. guest: i think it already has affected the bill to some degree. congress is changing as it always has, but this time because of technology. the internet, the 24/7 news cycle, the ability of members to communicate back come instantly. particularly the u.s. senate which was always called the world's most exclusive club, and kisses on club. members got things done by making deals. going i

there also paid more for putting will pondered-- to wanders into one hedge% of the value levying with no equity. the percentage of non prime loans with 100% increase dramatically between 2000 and 2006. additional new mentors paid more for other risky features such as higher interest rates come up payment options that did not even cover principal or the interest accrued come and prepayment penalties that trapped far worse than their loans for all of thursday features were common and what we reviewed in our investigation. in addition, we have talked to thousands of homeowners struggling to pay mortgages. the stories we have heard add to the picture of the lending industry predatory practices. time and again we hear from farmers who did not understand the terms of their loan. for example, menu bar were sought they're being sold alone with a fixed-rate loan is to be presented at closing with an adjustable rate. some did that even know the mortgages had the adjustable rate until two or three years later when the interest rates preset trigger borrowers have told us the most complex financia

we expect our partners to practice sound economic policies, including levying taxes on those who canafford them, just as we do -- or in countries rich in natural resources, managing those resources sustainably and devoting some of the profits to people's development. the american taxpayer cannot pick that -- pick up the tab for those who are able but unwilling to help themselves. some might say it is risky to share control with countries that have not had much success developing on their own. but we know that many countries have the will to develop, but not the capacity. and that is something we can help them build. of the millennium challenge corp. focuses on countries that have met rigorous criteria, from upholding political rights and the rule of law to controlling inflation and investing in girls education. we provide funding and technical support and the country provides the plan and leads the way toward achieving it. there is a lot of work ahead, but early indications of mcc programs are promising. we're using our resources to help countries that are committed to building their

two his right is daniel levy to is the senior fellow and co director of the middle east task force at the new america foundation and he comes to us with a long experience of negotiating peace agreements. in u.s. the senior adviser to prime minister barack when -- and the minister of justice. he was part of the israeli delegation to the taliban negotiations, some of the results of which mr. wolfensohn just mentioned. it to his right amjad atallah is co-director of the middle east task force and in america foundation and a specialist in negotiations in conflict in post-conflict situations. he has advised the palestinian negotiating team so we have the person who advised the israelis and the person who invests the palestinians and as jim was saying earlier there are talking to each other and their friends so there is a hope. then into my immediate right we have a andrew whitley who is from the united nations relief and works agency. he has a long history of involvement with the palestine an answer is also in an earlier life as a journalist with financial times and other prestigious newsp

something short of that is imposing levies. that is a useful approach. it could be useful going forward regardless of the issue of making up for the past actions of the taxpayers in terms of charging financial firms for the risk of larger liabilities. >> thank you. ms. minow? >> i agree. >> mr. stiglitz? >> it is important to affect the incentives. if you have the incentive for excessive risk-taking, you will do it. those are also at the organizational level. that is why it is so critical. even when we affect incentives, we will never do it perfectly. sweet constraints on leverage, behavior's, products, derivatives, and finally, for our system to work there has to be transparency. the way the system is set up, it is impossible for capital markets to exercise the discipline that is needed to make our system function well. >> thank you. >> the gentleman from california. >> thank you. i would like to throw out a few thoughts. i am going to suggest to you that the executive compensation issues on which we all agree, the excessive risks, the short- term focus

but in the last six months some very unexpected commitments demerged from levying could trees brazil mexico china suffered that and finally india announced explicit concrete quantitative commitments to control emissions and many of them in terms of mission intensity not absolute levels but an extraordinary change from the form of a conversation before and lead to significant optimism going into copenhagen. and optimism that did not play out as the negotiations went forward for the first 10 days. those of you that revers know how sour the mood became by the second week it was hour outside where danish police were battling protesters and it was our inside where negotiators were not only failing to reach agreement the playback from agreements that seem to have been there. on the the second and two last day by the final friday of the negotiations, the major countries were represented an been absolutely unprecedented negotiations in began from heads of state who were not letting the negotiators take the lead by trying to resolve the issues themselves. that also appeared to fail. there was

are 8,500 banks in the country and a large majority of them would come in for a fee that would be leviedon banks. how would you square this -- >> i'm not going to get into the details and specifics on a budget that would be released at a net earlier date -- later date. >> is it at the printers? >> when it comes back from kinkos we will be able to talk about it. it's not really at kinkos though. [laughter] >> what is the assessment of the situation in yemen now, terrorist ha bet if you welcome a source of the kind of plots we saw on christmas especially country the comments that have come out of their the past couple of days, the president and the cleric they're talking about the foreign intervention and what it would bring? >> well, look, as you well know, this has been on the president and on a national security teams radar for quite some time to read the security situation there obviously remains quite perilous. there are vast areas of largely on government space that have attracted al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and other extremist allies and yemen and throughout the region. i thin