"in an article criticizing those who showed concern over the stability of the derivatives michael lewiseferred to the derivatives naysayers as wimps and ninnies and then went on to dismiss their concerns. fast forward 36 months and lewis writes a book completely reversing his position. in 2010 he can boldly knowingly assert that derivatives caused the current american freefall. give me a bloody break, michael." >> they're upset because of the kindle version. >> no, no, but this guy is starfox 2020 whoever that is. >> yes, well, this is what i did do. this is what i did do. that i wrote -- every now and then i write a column for -- a little column for bloomberg news. and i wrote a column making fund of the people at davos three years ago. every year these self-important people go to davos for the economic summit and every year they say the sky is falling. and i just went back and i looked at the -- they say the same thing every year. so i made fun -- i poked fun at the self important people at davos every year coming together to explain how awful things were going to be and then going ba

on his latest book, "the big short," inside the doomsday machine. >> michael lewis author of thebig short i want to ask you a weird first question. >> why does that not surprise me? >> why is it that throughout this book almost on every page you have people that youre talking to using the f-word? because they do. and its the profanity of that environment. its just part of describing that environment. you cant write about people and take that out and have the flavor of the thing preserved. so theres a -- i think thats -- you listen to people on wall street, and you listen to the people on the streets of america the level of profanity is high but on wall street it is extremely high. wall street and sports both place. and so if thats the way people talk i just dont change it. i mean in a way it would be manipulating the environment if i changed it. >> have you thought about how often it happens? i mean its almost every page. >> i was -- its probably not almost every page. >> no, but i mean almost every time-- >> theres one character, in particular, who -- in fact, i did think of tha

michael lewis of course is on the news now with his interesting book the big short-term but we site at length and my favorite book is still a wonderful moment he captures in the 80's about the speculative side starting to find its feet and become bigger but 1. i would stress and we make this point in the book is the people you worked with at solomon brothers that speculating outfit by the modern standards was tiny. the legendary so-called king of wall street in the mid-1980s wouldn't even rank in the top 20 and the fact the largest hedge fund we have in the country which is believed is approaching the headcount the solomon brothers at the time michael lewis wrote his book. you've read michael lewis book and recoil from the attitude and the culture i think certainly now many of you would put the was just the beginning to read everything that came after scaled that up and the key thing about -- and they paid a lot more money. the compensation went back to what it was relative in the private sector what it was before the reforms of the 1930's but fdr ran been speaking with finance and end

michael lewis, at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. >> this weekend, on c-span2's " book tv," rebecca skloot. his book is "super power allusions." then, nell irvin painter. on the entire schedule at book tv.org. but president old, told workers at a manufacturing plant that the economy was beginning to turn the corner. the labor department shows that employers added 152,000 jobs. unemployment remains at 9.7%. the president spoke at a lithium ion battery parts manufacturer. >> mr. president, we're honored by your visit. on behalf of our company, we want to thank you for selecting our site to post your town hall meeting today. we are a global leader in technology and we are particularly proud of what we have accomplished. as a pioneer in leader in the development of high performance separators, we are one of the largest global suppliers in the lithium battery separator industry. we're the only supplier that develop products here in the united states. we established operations in charlotte with the emergence of the ind

michael lewis at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> this morning we'll talk with the editor in chief and daily the editor in chief and daily caller reporter jonathan strong

we'll talk to author michael lewis ahead.i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack. i watched what i ate. i worked out. personally, i thought i was invincible. once it happened, i realized it's a different story. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i was the guy who was doing everything right. i was wrong. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. [ male announcer ] learn moret at iamproheart.com. communities. industry. energy. her. this. lives. how ? by bringing together... information. ... people ... ... machines ... ... systems ... ideas... verizon helps businesses worldwide... including fortune 500 companies... find and achieve... better. better. better. better. >>> coming up tonight, a new development in the investigation of the ft. hood shootings. a senate committee subpoenaed the obama administration

. >> sunday, michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. his latest is "the big short." he is also the author of "lyders cowger," and "the blindside" which was the basis for the movie starring sandra bullock. michael lewis sunday on c-span's q&a. >> this began on the tv, from the virginia festival of the book, rebecca usclute. and princeton university professor nell irvin painter on invented the idea of a white race in the history of white people. fine the entire weekend schedule at booktv.org and follow was on twitter. >> are content is available on television, radio and on-line and you can also connect with those on facebook, twitter and youtube, and sign up for our scheduled alert e-mails @ c- span.org. >> let's meet another winner in the c-span studentcam documentary competition. we asked students about one of our country's greatest strength or a challenge that the country is facing. today we are talking with third prize high school winner alex weltman from boulton -- patton rouge, louisiana. welcome to c-span. >> thanks. >> why did you decide to focus on the america

michael lewis at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. >> here's a discussion on the federal budget with house majority leader steny hoyer, david walker and others. we'll hear about how the new health care law may impact the deficit, from the university of maryland in college park. this is an hour and 45 minutes. >> could afternoon. >> good afternoon, on behalf of the maryland school of public well, steny hoyer is a man of his word. he is here. his passion and determination were key to making this event happened as they were key to a number of his programs on public policy issues of the day. it was his deep civic engagement and this event is now a tribute to saul stern. i ask that we share a short moment of silence in memory of his good and rich life. it is now my honor to pass the baton to my friend and colleague. [applause] >> thank you. i and the dean of the school of public policy here at the university of maryland. i want to welcome all of you to this discussion about something that kids and poured into

michael lewis, at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific, on c- span's q & a. >> now supreme court justice stephen breyer talks about whether it is ok to use foreign law interpreting the u.s. constitution. the johns hopkins school of advanced international studies posted the discussion in washington. this is about one hour, 20 minutes. [applause] >> that was a very nice introduction. i think it is only fair to point out a review are from the l.a. times got a hold of a book that i wrote. this was a review. he said and "alice in wonderland," alice emerges from a pool of tears, and they're sitting on iraq. -- sitting on a rock. he said this is before breyer wrote this book. your founders -- and they were always great diplomats who set the agenda for the next 100 years. there are always walking in the woods, were they not? it is beautiful outside. you pulled the curtains and you cannot see the woods where we really ought to be walking. but there we are. those pieces will -- those people also set an agenda, and it is extraord

. >> sunday, michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. his latest is "the big short." he is also the author of "wires poker." one was the basis for the center bullet movie. michael lewis on c-span "q&a." >> tomorrow on optical washington journal," clark kent ervin talks about the no fly less. donna edwards discusses midterm politics and the targeting of vulnerable gop members. and the president of the american association of homes and services for the aging books at the current need for long- term care. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> tomorrow, a preview of president obama trip to sign a new treaty with russia, hosted by the center for strategic and international studies. live coverage begins at 10:30 hear on c-span. >> now, president obama closing remarks at all white house workplace flexibility forum where he met with labor leaders, small business owners, and scholars. this portion is 10 minutes. >> thank you. thank you, at everybody. hello, hello. thank you, everybody. please, please, have a seat. good first, one caveat -- i will not be

michael lewis is very much in the news with his interesting book the big short but we site at length nd my favorite michael was book is still poker which is a mowing to become moment he captors as a more speculative side of finance starting to find its feet and become bigger but 1. i would stress and we make this point in the book is the people who worked with the brothers, that bond trading and speculating outfit by modern standards was tiny and john who was the legendary so-called king of wall street in the mid 1980's wouldn't even rank in the top 20. in fact the largest hedge fund we have in the country which i believe is approaching the headcount that the solomon brothers had at the time that michael solomon wrote his book. you've read michael lewis's book and recoil from the attitude and the culture i think, certainly now many of you would. but that was just the beginning. everything that came after scaled that up and the key thing -- and they pay a lot more money. the compensation went back to the private sector but it was before the reforms of the 1930's home. but fdr reined in

michael lewis, 8 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. >> this weekend, john dean is our guest on "in depth," author of 10 books. sunday, live at 12:00 eastern on cspan-2's "booktv." >> flexible policies make employees more productive. in stead of spending time about what is happening about home, employees have peace of mind to concentrate on work. >> on the new video library, you can click it, watch it, and share it. every c-span program since 1987. the c-span video library, cable's latest gift to america. >> now, a discussion on economic issues in the u.s. from today's "washington journal," this is about 45 minutes. for a long time at "newsweek" and "the washington post." what does a nation like greece with 11 million people, and once supported by the european common market, has to tell us about the perils of a financial market? guest: @ think the message is sort of a mixed political and financial message. that is, that if the government, if a society continues to overspend year after year, decade after de

michael lewis at 8 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span q&a. flexible policies actually make employees more, not less productive. because as you all know, instead of spending time worrying about what's happening at home, your employees have the support and the peace of mind that they desperately need to concentrate on their work. >> watch something on c-span that you would like to share with friends. at the new c-span the library. you can search it, watch it, clip and share it. over 160,000 hours of video from yesterday, or last year. every c-span program since 1987. the c-span video library, cable's latest gift to america >> there's a lot of misunderstanding about what true free markets are, how they were, how they don't wear, what rules are needed and what rules are not necessary. we have a system that people don't understand how the system works. a disaster came along in the summer of 2007, and so we had to focus on the fact that the whole idea of free markets and capitalism have taken a real hit. >> from the industrial revolution to the gre

michael lewis at 8 p.m. asian and pacific on c-span's q&a. >> all this month see the winners of the c-span student cam video of documentary competition. >> next the british defense and home secretaries testify before the newly established joint committee on national security strategy. the committee was established to help monitor th develop an of national security strategy, which was published in marc march 2008. this two-hour session covers terrorism, organized crime, and natural disasters. >> order, order. this is the first public meeting of the joint committee on the national security. since the committee's creation nearly two years ago when the first strategy was published but it has taken of all time to get established and we are very pleased, finally, to be in operation and to welcome our first group of witnesses. who we very much welcome. i am conscious of the home secretary is in the chamber answer questions and will be with us very shortly. i think as everyone will be conscious, dissolution is likel

michael lewis of course is very much in the news now with this interesting new book, the big short. but we cited my favorite michael lewis book is the liar's poker which is a wonderful moment he captured in the 1980s as the more spectrum side of side finding its feet and becoming bigger. but one point i would stress, and we make this point in the book, is the people he worked with, the solomon brothers, that brought trading inspectors of, in modern standard was done. the legendary so-called king of all street in the mid 1980s wouldn't even rank in the top 20, 20 now. in fact, the largest hedge fund we have in the country which i believe is approaching the head can the solomon brothers had at the time when michael lewis wrote his book. you read michael lewis' book and you recoil from the attitude and from the culture, i think that serving i think many of you would. but that was just the beginning. everything that came afterwards scaled that up. and the key thing about, and they paid a lot more money. the compensation went back to what was relative to the private sector what it was be

i begin with michael lewis. tell me the significance of what the earnings report and what else goldman sachs said today. michael? >> well, the earnings report sr.... it's not that surprising. they've been doing very, very well ever since the crisis. and most of wall street has been doing very well. the story that we should all be talking about is this s.e.c. lawsuit because it is really pointing to how goldman sachs is making its money. and it's not a pleasant story. if i had to guess what's going on inside goldman sachs today, it's not a celebration of their earnings but full crisis mode because the world is ganging up on them. >> rose: tell me what it is that you think is at issue here. >> this lawsuit for first t first time in my lifetime the s.e.c. has filed a lawsuit that is at the core of what goes on on wall street. i have felt over the years it was an agency designed to do nothing but sue kind of trivial people for insider trading and here they have for the first time sfwld a big way into the bond markets

officer michael lewis created that garden on north maryland ave. he is a domestic violence coordinator. the precinct also has materials available to assist victims if needed. >> a relay across america pass through baltimore this afternoon. they will carry a torch more than 45,000 miles over 100 countries. it symbolizes their goal of harmony through sports. >> we are just trying to let people know and remind them that harmony and aspiration and peace are all found within their own hearts. if they cultivate and develop that and share it with the next person, then the harmony begins to spread. >> the world harmony run was founded in 1987. >> now, your insta-weather forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> >> up in harford and cecil county come some moderate to heavy rain. tracking just to the south and east of bellaire, heading toward i-95, that will be the area that picks up the most rain in the next hour or so. even farther north from there, in parts of southern pennsylvania. off to the west of us, dry weather is moving in. it looks like

after that, another chance to see "q&a" with all the michael lewis. >> tomorrow, on "washington journal clark kent ervin talks about the no-fly list. representative don edwards talks about democratic efforts to target open house seats in 2010. william minnix looks at the correct need for long-term care.

michael lewis at 8:00 on c-span. >> a discussion on how the media can support whistle-blowers.s include 60 minutes producer and former nbc news investigative producer. the national whistle-blowers legal defense and education fund hosted the event brit -- hosted the event. >> he is a distinguished french investigative journalist with the post brith he is a former executive director of the washington times. he worked extensively with sources and whistle-blowers. will have more extensive introduction to recall upon them. i have represented whistle blowers since 1984 and i have been working with the press ever sense -- ever since. the whistleblower can get a sense of vindication by having their issues resolved. whistle-blowers have worked with the news media from the beginning of the republic and i hope that they will continue to work with the news media. our first speaker is the producer for "60 minutes." he has been a producer for 22 years. that show needs no introduction. he has won awards for journalism, including five any awards. he has covered a wide range of stories on terro

michael lewis talks about his latest book, "the big short." after that, a speech by former prime minister tony blair to labour party supporters. . >> because they do. it is the profanity of that environment that is part of describing that environment. you cannot write about people and take that out and have the flavor preserved. if you listen to people on wall street, it is extremely high. that is the way people talk. i just do not change it. it is the way of manipulating the environment if i changed it. >> have you thought about how often it happens? it is almost on every page. >> probably not every page. >> -- there is one character in particular. i thought about how they spoke when i was wide and the character. there are characters that use no profanity at all. the doctor does not use profanity, but another character exists in the story and in the real world and runs around and insults people on wall street. but that is how the sounds. i could not remove it. -- that is how he sounds. when he talks, that is what comes out of his mouth. >> in

. >> sunday michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. his latest is "the big short."also the author of "liar's poker" and "the blind side" which was the basis for the movie. >> this morning we'll talk with christian weller from the center of progress and drue biggs. thenha

his latest is the -- michael lewis.is latest is "the big short." >> this weekend on book tv, from the virginia festival of the book, rebecca on the best- selling -- on her best seller. afterward, jack matlock i'on " super power illusions." find the entire weekend schedule at booktv.org. >> flexible policies actually make employees more productive. as you all know, instead of spending time worrying about what is happening at home, your employees have the support and the peace of mind that they desperately need to concentrate on their work. >> watch something on c-span that you'd like to share with friends? at the new video library, you can search it, watched it, and share it. over 160,000 hours of video from yesterday or last year. every season jam program since 1987. the c-span video library, cables latest gift to america. >> all this month, see the winners of c-span student competition. middle and high school students from 45 states submitted videos on one of the country's biggest strengths or the challenge the country

he read michael lewis' book in a recoil from the attitude and from the culture thing. certainly now i think maybe would. but that was just the beginning. everything that came afterwards scale that up. and the key thing is they got to pay a lot for money to the compensation went back to what it was relative to the private sector, relative to the reform of the 1930's. when fdr reined in speculative finance, he ended up cutting their pay. he didn't target their pay, but that's what happens when you make thinking boring. now, the nature of democracy, as you know, and such that if you have money coming you can be heard. you can certainly make campaign contributions. i think you know all about that. you can also impress people. you can become really compelling and fascinating and central to the culture and that's exactly what happened to finance. this idea that greed is good, which all of us i think don't intend in its original movie wall street as a caption or a tail end of the statement of access actually. that became the motto of the 1990's. in the huge irony, i think it'

. >> sunday, michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. his latest is "the big short." he is also the author of several other books. 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> tomorrow, clark ervin talks about airline security and good do not fly list. representative don edwards discusses midterm politics. and william minnix president of the american association of homes and services for the aging. live it 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. >> up next, a discussion about the future of american culture and the impact of president reagan on contemporary things. this is two hours, 30 minutes. [no audio] >> speakers this morning. each year i leave thinking no way can we talk that one. each year they get better. so, your presence here signifies among charles kessler's distinctions are two of extraordinary significance. editor of america's best-selling addition of the federalist papers and co-editor with the late william f. buckley of "keeping the tablets." but how did charles get there from the coal fields of west virginia? in 1973 as a 16 year-old reporter for his high school newspaper, he sent a le

. >> sunday, michael lewis. his latest is "the big short." also, is moan ball -- also, "liar's poker." >> president obama told workers at a north carolina manufacturing plant that the economy is, in his worts, beginning to turn the corner. labor department employers show 152,000 jobs added last month. the president was in shardt, north carolina, -- was in charlotte, north carolina. >> today the charlotte region remains an important part of our future. as you can see, we are currently expanding operations with our investments supported by the $49 million matching grant that we received from the department of energy last year. the expansion includes this facility in charlotte as well as construction of a new facility in concord, north carolina. both of which are aimed at enhancing our position in the market leader for electric drive vehicle applications. when completed, these expansions in north carolina will more than double our global capacity for lithium battery separateors. the opportunities we have in the market are developing quickly. i w

. >> sunday, michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. that is at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on cspan's q&a. >> this weekend, john dean is our guest. the former white house counsel to president nixon and author of 10 books will take your phone calls, e-mails and tweets sunday law that noon eastern. -- live at noon eastern. >> flexible policies actually make employees more, not less, productive. as you well know, instead of spending time or read about what is happening at home, your employees have the support and the peace of mind that they desperately need to concentrate on their work. >> watch something on c-span you like to share with friends at the new cspan video library. you can search it, watch it, and share it. over 160,000 hours of video from yesterday or last year. every cspan program since 1987. the cspan video library, cables latest gift to america. >> the labor department reported that the unemployment rate stayed the same for the third straight month, 9.7%. we talked about this morning on "washington journal." the president will begin speaking

topping the business best-seller list is "the big short" by michael lewis. he also tops the best-seller list in the non-fiction for "the new york times" book reviewed this morning, and is our guest this week at 8:00 p.m. this evening. florida, karen, on the republican line. caller: hi, good morning. i'm calling from pembroke pines. host: are you making political donations? caller: this year i might be. i donated and supported a certain person when he was running for governor -- crist. i am an independent. the only problem is, i'm not sure he would be able to get anything done if he gets into congress because we have moved from a moderate congress to the republican party becoming very far right and vitriolic. i do not like the hate that i feel there. i do not like the reversal of our country back to the hate and vitriol of the 1950's and 1960's. i was not a big a obama supporter, but i do like with the guy is doing in office. he is really tried to get things done. this idea to get out all moderates could do not support him is bringing the country to a standst

. >> next, "q&a" with michael lewis. then tony blair speaks to labour party members. and another chance to hear about senate history from senate historian richard baker. a discussion on conservatism and the new capitalism, and a look at what free market systems must do to survive in today's global economy. that is today at 5:30 on c-span.

. >> sunday, michael lewis on the subprime mortgage crisis. his latest is "the big short." also the author of "the blindside," it which was the basis for the movie starring sandra bullock. >> this weekend, john dean is our guest on book tv's "in- depth." former white house counsel to president nixon and author of 10 books, including an updated edition of "blind ambition." will take your phone calls, e- mails -- sunday on book tv. >> "washington journal" continues. >> greg robb, here is your headline story. apparel's what -- rise 162,000, best gain in three years. including census workers, you put this payrolls rise by 114,000 in march. analyze that, please. guest: march unemployment numbers came out this morning and they were about in line with expectations. it is good news, relatively speaking, for the economy. it looks like the economy is on the mend, rebounding, and it is a real recovery. but at the same time, with economics there always two hands and it is not very strong. the economy still looks to be pretty weak. there are a lot of people unemployed. a lot of people w

in fact in michael lewis' best-selling books, he quotes goldman sachs people saying paulson was a third-rate hedge fund manager. so given the fact that he wasn't paulson, what do you think goldman sachs was afraid of? why didn't they -- as they structured this portfolio in what are they hiding? >> that's what i'd like to know. why not reveal all this information? don't you think investors have a right to know that paulson is taking a short position and had he a role in selecting they products? it's a real serious question of materiality here. >> ron, what's your question? >> i think he raised a good question in his own statement -- >> you mean brad sherman? >> correct. the s.e.c.'s complaint is a story. it represents the strongest kay the s.e.c. has. whether it's a balanced story, we don't know yet. we have to wait for the facts to unfold. i'm curious to see what notes it has in the research. yes, paulson had an influence, but i don't know yet. i'd like to understand the research that aca conducted. >> aca, who went long about a billion. >> yes, they were the largest. >> of this product. the

and then the ratings agencies looked at this and blessed wit a aaa rating, so that is what michael lewis talks about in his book, and certainly how a lot of the guys made a lot of money, so that hit the rating agencies in 2008 and 2009, and they were recovering from it, but today's action says that if goldman sachs went to, for instance, moody's s&p and this is alleged the complaint that goldman allegedly said a third party, a neutral third party put this security together and then these guys blessed it not knowing that it was john paulson, obviously, that is bad for goldman, but also bad for those guys, because they really didn't research it very far. >> and how would they have known if it was an active effort to conceal this that paulson was in fact the person who put this together? how would they have understood that? >> right. >> moody's i mean. >> well, the answer is that moody's should have at least asked the question. who was this neutral third party who put this together for you? that is an obvious question if you say, we didn't put this thing together and we didn't structure jus

s, a topic also discussed at length in michael lewis's book, "the big short." the s.e.c. should pursue other instances of conflict of interest in the c.d.o. market that led to a failure to disclose material information. madam president, last year, senators leahy, gras grassley ai along with many others in the congress worked to pass the bipartisan fraud enforcement recovery act so that our law enforcement officials would have additional resources to target and uncover any financial fraud that was a cause of the great financial crisis. however long it takes, whatever resources the s.e.c. needs, congress will continue to back the s.e.c. and the justice department in the efforts to uncover and prosecute wrongdoi wrongdoing. i applaud s.e.c. chairman mary shapiro and especially rob kazami and the team he has reshaped at the enforcement division. they deserve our steadfast support. as the leadership of the s.e.c. continues its historic mission of revitalizing that institution and making it clear to all on wall street there's a new cop on the beat. also last week, our colleag

and so would you agree with michael lewis that those loans are certain to default? >> i would agree that they had much higher credit losses the in a bar where that has a 750 fico. sprick in order for the 552 servile if you would have a hands-on management day-to-day with the borrower. does that go on to either of your knowledge is it wamu? >> yes, senator. for the sub prime servicing we put them in a high risk servicing protocol which meant we call them earlier and more often and worked closely with those borrowers. >> what is this concept of the file? you're familiar with the term steny file. >> i'm not, senator. >> that is the policy the file is a good file in fact there's a quote from the article wamu employees said the skinny file as a good file. this can e-file but you didn't have an indication of that mr. schneider and mr. beck. you have no knowledge of that? okay. >> did you feel pressure from wall street in terms of generating more mortgage-backed securities in addition to the effect was profitable but did to get a feeling this was something that is competit

ai mentioned earlier that many f us have been reading this book, "the big short" by michael lewis, and he tells the story of how we got into this mess, how these people dreamed up ways to create these financial instruments which almost defy description, where they would take thousands of mortgages from all around the united states and package them into a little bundle and put some code name on them that only the insiders could understand and then decide to sell them in pieces, tranches, they called them, and they were betting that the value of real estate would continue to go up and the default rate would not. and they guessed wrong on both counts. the default rate on these rotten mortgages increased and the value of the homes and businesses and other entities underlying value began to decline and the bottom fell out. lewis tells the story about those who saw it coming and ended up making a lot of money because they shorted the market, as we say, they guessed that the real estate bubble was going to burst. how many more times do we need to go through that as a nation before we change t

. >> i just finished michael lewis's book, and it is really an eye opener of what is really going on. one of the areas that i had heard about many times that he made reference to was the work of credit rating agencies, the fact that some of the credit ratings given were misleading, to say the least. since the beginning of the credit crunch, these agencies have come under fire for inflated ratings that did not reflect the financial stability of the borrowers. i asked you questions last june about what the sec was doing to restore confidence. and what improvements were needed. in your material submitted in february, you indicated that the fiscal year 2011 budget will enable the sec to carry out more robust oversight function for credit rating agencies and conduct examinations. half of the recognized statistical organizations next year. you explain that in 2006, the sec took on a major responsibility with the agency reform act that gave the agency the authority to regulate internal processes of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. you contend, and i quote, "to carry ou

if you go back and you have time and read this latest book out by michael lewis, "the big short," healks about how people didn't know exactly what was going on on the valuation of this because it was being hidden from them. and so they had no way of understanding exactly what the value of these products were. that's why this scheme was able to be perpetrated on people because they didn't know what the true valuation is. if you have exchange trading, you actually have speculation limits and you have public transparency. so when we're out here debating this -- and i hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will support exchange trading. i heard one of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle say i don't think that's the solution. well, by my book, it's absolutely the solution. it's absolutely the solution. just as it is for the stock market, who would buy stock on the stock market if you didn't have oversight of the exchange, if you didn't have these kinds of things: transparency, realtime monitoring, speculation limits? who would go buy stock on the stock market if that

i've tried a lot of those people just finishing michael lewis's book, and it is an eye opener of whatwas going on at the time that this real estate bubble was created and one of the areas that i had heard about many times that he made reference to was the work of the credit rating agencies and the fact that some of the credit ratings that were given were misleading to say the least. since the beginning of the credit crunch and early 2007 these agencies have come under fire for inflated readings in the mortgage-backed securities that didn't reflect the financial stability to the borrowers. at the request june i ask you some questions about what the sec dustin to restore confidence in these credit rating agencies. what improvements were needed. in your budget justification materials submitted to the subcommittee in february you indicated on page four the fiscal year 2011 budget will enable the sec to carry all the more robust oversight function for credit rating agencies and conduct examinations at half of the registered nationally racket negative statistical rating organizations next y

michael lewis, "the big short." i recommend it if you can stand it. he tells the inside story of what happened on wall street. these so-called great, wise men didn't know what they were doing other than making a lot more money every single day. they were building this house of cards and eventually it fell. he tells the story about the folks that profited when it fell. they were completely out of favor for years. people said shorting the housing market, are you crazy? there is no way to go but up when it comes to housing. well, they made a lot of money, shorting the market, and the folks who came up with these crazy vehicles to package all these mortgages left us in america holding the bag. it took $16 trillion to $17 trillion out of the american economy, this recession we're in. i don't need to tell anybody about it. if you looked at your savings account before and after, you know what i'm talking about. savings, retirement, the business down the street that closed, the neighbor who lost his job. you know the story as we all do. $16 trillion to $17 tr

president, i would direct everyone to read the best-seller, "the big short" by michael lewis.f the casinos -- i'm sorry, mr. president. when you come to nevada to dam bell in one of the casinos, you're at least gambling with your own money. the people on wall street are guam discipliningambling with o. we don't wall street doesn't like this bill. of course it doesn't. it changes the system big bankers and hedge fund managers have taken advantage of for years. look at the rules of the road on wall street. traders get to gamble away someone else's money with little risk and large reward. they get to take home their wings and ask taxpayers to save them from their losses. that's how the system worked when they brought our economy to the brink of collapse. sadly, mr. president, the problem is today it's still the way the system works. that's what we're going to correct with this legislation, a bill that is the product of months of bipartisan discussion, a bill that embraces republicans' ideas and democrats' ideas. this afternoon's vote is a vote merely to begin debate. it's not the

. >> it's a lot better than, for instance, michael berry and those guys, mike lewis cites in his book, because those guys have no transparency whatsoever. they were dead right. it was being marked against them every single month. >> i want to bring back the graphics we were showing folks before. how many foreclosures thus far, houk delinquencies, et cetera. 27% are delinquent by more than 60 days. 19% in foreclosure. >> of the entire bond. >> we've already lost 2.6%? >> we haven't lost anything yet. second market did a great job, because the original offer to us was 94 cents. so there's bids and offers. they acted as an intermediary. >> one of our big concerns is we're going to have to mow lawns at some point when all of these mortgages go bad. we're protected, right? >> we won't have to. that's right. all we can lose is what we -- >> i'm awful at that. >> we did not sell a dmaked put, which is what goldman, aig when they sold mortgage insurance before they passed that hot potato around. they had the obligation of the default. we don't have that. >> can we also look at the states with

michael isikoff is senior investigative reporter with "newsweek" and msnbc contributor. matt lewis politics daily.com. matt, let me begin with you. do you see, for instance, health care reform as still being the primary issue that people want to talk about when they're going to the polls in november? >> i think it's going to be a big factor. in terms of motivating republicans to turn out, remember, this is a mid-term election so it's about turnout, about which base is the most motivated to show up. so health care will play a big role in terms of getting republicans to the polls. but i think in terms of persuading voters, sort of middle of the road voters it's going to be the economy, the economy, and the economy. >> what we saw in a couple recent appearances from president obama talking about health care even after it was passed is that he was getting up on his soap box and starting to sound either more like a politician campaigning or a revival preacher up in the podium. let me ask you, michael, today we saw him down in charlotte, north carolina, when he was asked about whether ta