my replaces look at martin feldstein i think he has a very smart plan it's called catastrophic insurance i think that's a pretty good plan but i think that you have to do one step at a time you have to repeal it and it has not yet been repealed could. but there is but there there is a proposal to repeal it that has been passed by congress by the house of representatives by the house of representatives paul ryan plan and and there has been no i know of paul ryan plan isn't just to repeal the paul ryan does not save expensive reforms to certain elements of the health care for health care system so that's a that's the replay no i'm saying it's a step i'm saying but they need to do more things and it's only has any purpose to replace me yeah we knew we were going to go hearings on replacement at this point when this can't even possibly happen until republicans have a majority a super majority in the senate and a president who will sign into law so let's say they did have a supermajority in the in the sun and and the house and they could pass it but with . martin feldstein as i said i think h

martin feldstein, a former senior economist to the reagan administration, says the economy is worse thanou think. what is your assessment? guest: martin has been one of the first to say -- to bring the ball on the housing bubble, and he got angry at the fed for not doing something sooner. this is something he has been talking about for many years, and was one of the first to warn about it. i agree that the u.s. economy remains fragile. although we have technically convert -- crossed our previous high water mark in overall g.d. growth, -- gdp growth, but the recovery is so uneven, but almost no americans feel that. there is a small upper-echelon of wealthy americans who of recouped their wealth, and are spending, but the rest of america is still struggling to recruit many losses. host: martin feldstein who was a former harvard professor is on the board of the wall street journal editorial board. let me read to you part of what he says in his conclusion this morning in "the wall street journal." host: can elaborate on that point? guest: i agree. he is not necessarily say not raising tax re

martin feldstein, a former senior economist to the reagan administration, says the economy is worse than you think. what is your assessment? guest: martin has been one of the first to say -- to bring the ball on the housing bubble, and he got angry at the fed for not doing something sooner. this is something he has been talking about for many years, and was one of the first to warn about it. i agree that the u.s. economy remains fragile. although we have technically convert -- crossed our previous high w

president, martin feldstein, the distinguished conservative economist, said this -- "cutting tax expenditures is really the best way to reduce government spending. eliminating tax expenditures does not increase marginal tax rates or reduce the reward for saving, investment or risk-taking. it would also increase overall economic efficiency by removing incentives that distort private spending decisions. and eliminating or consolidating the large number of overlapping tax-based subsidies would also greatly simplify tax filing. in short, cutting tax expenditures is not at all like other ways of raising revenue." mr. president, mr. bernanke, the chairman of the federal reserve, has said this, and i will conclude on this point. "acting now to develop a credible program to reduce future deficits would not only enhance economic growth and stability in the long run, but could also yield substantial near-term benefits in terms of lower long-term interest rates and increased consumer and business confidence." mr. president, this is a defining moment for our country, a defining moment. we can either cont

harvard university professor martin feldstein entitled the economy is worse than you think omans the final sales grew an anemic rate of 6% during the first quarter of 2011. in the month of we witnessed on the employment rate rising above 9% again with the collapse of payroll games fell is another wake-up call. president bohm's economic policies that failed to launch a vigorous expansion. the policy has increased the cost of doing business, heightened uncertainty and deterred job-creating investment. moreover, as policies have occurred in the hour children with the enormous federal debt, it continues to grow as a share of the economy. one of our witnesses stanford university professor john taylor holds the grass that predicts the last proposals. his budget and to be wary of his informal from work in april in comparison with the house budget resolution. it's clear president of on and congressional democrats want to make federal spending a permanently larger share of our economy. whereas congressional republicans want merely to return federal spending to its previous session share of ou

the recent public by harvard university professor martin feldstein entitled economy is worse than you think what the final sales grew an anemic annual rate to .6% when during the first quarter of 2011. the unemployment rate was rising above 9% in and and the collapse of payroll employment gains offers another wake-up call. president obama's ekimov policies failed to launch a vigorous expansion. the policies increase the cost of doing business, heightened the uncertainty and detour job-creating investment. moreover, his policies have burdened our children with an enormous federal debt that continues to grow vision of the economy. one of our witnesses at stanford university professor depicts president obama's lost to spending proposals come his budget in february and his informal for in march and april with the house budget resolution. from this crafted as clear% to one and congressional democrats want to make federal spending a larger share of our economy whereas congressional republicans want merely to return federal spending to its pre-recession share of the economy. return in federa

host: martin feldstein who was a former harvard professor is on the board of the wall street journal editorial board. let me read to you part of what he says in his conclusion this morning in "the wall street journal." host: can elaborate on that point? guest: i agree. he is not necessarily say not raising tax revenues. he says we need certainty out of washington, a long-term plan. this is something ben bernanke and many economists are unified on. if we need a long-term, deficit reduction plan that convinces financial markets will bring our fiscal house in order, which means dealing with promises for the bulk of america. on the other side, we need to deal with the cumbersome tax code we have. it is ridiculous we have such high marginal rates in both the corporate and personal arena, yet we have all of these loopholes that distort behavior. we can lower those rates and get rid of those deductions, which are actually tax expenditures. we are paying for that. why are we subsidizing million dollar-plus mortgages at this stage? if we could eliminate that. it is controversial. i think it i