. >> neil island i'll ask you to understand the head can only comprehend what the hand whether endureughter). >> good afternoon you've heard much of this before this is an update. >> there will be that is my cue to be extremely succinct a wlat afternoon commissioners i'm here to update you from january 8, 2015, the impact of the excise tax for i'll briefly describe wear we're talking about the expertise don't describe what we're talking about does anyone need a brief education what an excise tax is. >> we've had that. >> what's the bottom line we have on pages one, 2, 3, 4, 4, we go through all of this and since we did the assessment used the premiums and went through the cycles some of the premiums went through a rigorous experience to lower that that was generating a tremendous amount of expertise so we went through a subsidy presentation and subsequent agreement at the board and so those premiums and what is projected are lower so let's go to page 4 and see where we are actually page 6 for 2018 one number went up this grid is blue shield early retirees as you may know we increased

. >> neil island i'll ask you to understand the head can only comprehend what the hand whether enduremuch of this before this is an update. >> there will be that is my cue to be extremely succinct a wlat afternoon commissioners i'm here to update you from january 8, 2015, the impact of the excise tax for i'll briefly describe wear we're talking about the expertise don't describe what we're talking about does anyone need a brief education what an excise tax is. >> we've had that. >> what's the bottom line we have on pages one, 2, 3, 4, 4, we go through all of this and since we did the assessment used the premiums and went through the cycles some of the premiums went through a rigorous experience to lower that that was generating a tremendous amount of expertise so we went through a subsidy presentation and subsequent agreement at the board and so those premiums and what is projected are lower so let's go to page 4 and see where we are actually page 6 for 2018 one number went up this grid is blue shield early retirees as you may know we increased the rates for 2016, 11 and a half percen

neil: why? what are they telling people in staten island? ey told their employees not to say merry christmas. has to be happy holidays. neil: for god's sakes. >> that's wrong. christmas has been celebrated over 5, 600 years and it has been that way since we were all kids. you know what? just look at little kids face, ask him what christmas is? it's santa claus. they don't care what legend it. it is not offensive you tell me happy hanukkah, happy kwanzaa, merry christmas. you know what? more people enjoy when you actually acknowledge what their beliefs can be. so if you go to jewish man and say happy hanukkah, he is going to respond to you. neil: what does he do when you say happy kwanzaa to him? i guess he is a little jarred. >> whoever it is. neil: i see your point. i don't know why all of sudden it became a big issue, but shove it outside almost says shove the whole practice outside. >> liberals in the city of new york. the same mall owners own new jersey. neil: short hills mall. >> wood bridge mall, the same owners. they have christmas stu

neil: around the same time, by the way. must have been a party at ellis island. but i understand when i researched this many years ago that they had to be spoken for. in other words, there had to be family and/or friends or both to greet them, account for them, to provide support for them that they would not be going into a vacuum. now i don't know if that was standard policy for all immigrants coming at time, but couldn't get a paper trail the way they were coming, you certainly had one to where they were going to. >> that was it. that was the only requirement. laws have been radically changed. neil: made it much more dangerous. >> correct, but significantly different after 9/11. tightened up after 9/11 and loosened up at the discretion of the president. the president was george w. bush then, barack obama now, he has that power. much to congressman zinke's chagrin, and i share the chagrin, it's in the president's hands and his discretion up and to his people to decide what is a thorough background investigation or not. the governors may sue as they did with the

neil: didn't hear it was. >> was climate change responsible for the chinese turning wreaths in the south china sea into islands and then arming them? i don't see that. and i don't see anybody making the argument. neil: while i have you here and sort of from your perspective of former under secretary of state of the navy the big fear seems to be all of these refugees, millions of them stuck not going anywhere, that's breeding anger among group and angerrer males could turn them to attacking. what do you think some of that. >> well, i think the one thing that's turning young men and their senior fathers toward isis is that our policy is aligned with the rulers in iraq. and they are on the opposite side of the fence politically, religiously, ethnically from isis. so isis and the sunnis, and the sunnis including -- including saddam's former political intelligence they look for the wind and they look for somebody to protect them. they look for some sort of -- they see the militias that we've been supporting, and they because to isis. so we're connected with that. we're doing -- it has an affect. it has consequences