of utility next era energy lew hay about higher taxes on dividends and stock gains. >> susie: that and more tonight on "n.b.r."! black friday comes early this year. all across the country americans are already lining up outside stores, camping out for the earlier-than-ever start to the holiday shopping season. scenes like this are popping up in shopping mall parking lots. these tents are pitched outside a best buy in tampa, florida, where shoppers are hoping to get the early-bird holiday specials. with big retail chains opening their doors for black friday, on thursday night, there are complaints about companies putting commerce ahead of family time. walmart has been threatened with protests by its employees. the company filed a complaint with the national labor relations board hoping to stop the demonstrations, but the board won't rule on it before tomorrow. diane eastabrook looks at the personal price of thanksgiving day store hours. >> reporter: this is the calm before the storm at a chicago toys r us. manager danny soro thinks up to 10,000 shoppers will descend on the store when it

and lew hay, c.e.o. of utility, next era energy on the dividend cliff and how tax hikes on dividends could impact his shareholders. >> tom: finally tonight, after all the billions of dollars spent on the election, those in office now have to work together to solve problems. and that's exactly what lou's been thinking this week. here's author and educator lou heckler. >> i used to tell people that when i ruled the world, everyone would have the same title on their business card: problem solver. isn't that why most of us get paid? a friend of mine asked recently, why is it that so many people just seems to want to argue rather than find an actual solution? good question! i think there might be at least three reasons. inertia: awful lot of people, even though they may argue this, like things just the way they are, even if things are broken. uncertainty: maybe they've been burned a few times or maybe they just hate not knowing the absolute right answer. maybe they have had bosses in the past who have not bee

we spoke with lew hay, executive chairman and c.e.o. of utility company next-era energy. you work in an industry known for paying dividends, the utility industry. has your company considered changing its dividend policy in reaction to what the dividend tax structure may be? >> first of all dividend policy is a matter for the board. so that's ultimately their decision, but i think it would be... even though we have not taken a firm stance on that at this point, i think it would be natural over a period of time to see companies do two things if tax rates on dividends are very high. one is they would... may not increase their dividends as much so the pay-out ratios may come down over time, but i think the other thing you'll see is companies use more debt financing than equity financing. you know, that just adds risk back into our economy. if there was anything we learned after the meltdown of '08 is that we want well capitalized companies not highly leveraged companies. would be an incentive to go back to the highly leveraged days. >> tom: is there a case to be made about ta