president to the chairman of the fed to the former leaders of the congressional budget office to peter orszag then everybody agreed. but paul ryan, congressman from wisconsin said it best. he said this is the most predictable economic crisis in history. and it is. the nation is on autopilot and if we don't make big changes we are going to face disaster. let me tell you how broad the consensus is. and the stern, recently retired president of the union agreed 100%. so all of us here are a problem but where i disagree with you is we've got a real education issue in america. we've got to make sure that the american people understand how big a problem that is. that is why what you're doing here is such a big service. this would educate a lot of people. what we've got to do is get a real set of numbers out there. numbers that everybody agrees to and we are going to use the actuarial numbers from social security and medicare. that is pretty hard to argue against and there is a ceo in the congressional budget office for everything else. we are not going to

there was a very good study out by peter orszag and joseph stiglets recently that covers that., put in three simple numbers from their tax return, their total taxable income, capital gains, dividends. it'll tell you how much you saved from the bush tax cuts in 2009. we're asking people to pledge to give that away, and if possible, give it to tax fairness organizing to make sure that we have more progressive taxes. it's actually kind of fun to play with. i encourage your listeners to go to responsiblewealth.org and check it out. but imagine that you had half a million dollars in income. >> yeah. >> 200,000 of that is capital gains, 50,000 is dividends. >> yeah zbloouf saved $25,000 last year. >> yeah i got it. >> just from the bush tax cuts. >> yeah it's much easier to make money than rigging the government and we all than and that's why it is so popular. i am dylan ratigan. "hardball" picks up right now. >>> confederacy of dunses. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening i'm chris math eyes. in washington leading off tonight the real republican leadership, mark your calendar tod

. >> i had long talks with peter orszag. the money is all accounted for. he cannot say you have to get down to zero before you get more money. you are negotiating contracts and figuring out what to do with it. that is stupidity. they know that is not good budgeting. they know they shall not let something go to zero and start over again. yet a program that takes several years to put together. >> i will be happy to read engage omb on this. there is another point to your question that i think is very important for the department as a whole. that is being able to get the grants are done in a way that is more than year to year to year. you really have to look at it structurally. this is something that i have asked our folks. the current methodology may not be the best. i will be happy to ring gauge t -- to reach engage them. >> in a positive way? >> in a positive way. >> i consider that good enough. thank you. >> what else do you needed? >> i have a few other items here. northern border strategy . my friend senator kyl was talking about the southern border. whe

after today, of course, opening statements from ben bernanke, chairman from federal reserve, peter orszag, director of the white office of management and budget, and then two former congressional budget office director, rudy penner and robert reixschauer, they will lay out why budgets are bad and a long- term threat to the economy and was something must be done. then statements from members of the commission. today is just laying down the markets. in future weeks and months they will start breaking it down issue by issue. first, they will look at taxes. a big question about a value added tax. the president specifically refused to rule without. of course, they refused to rule out anything -- the president's goal -- if you rule out something they cannot do the job. but there will be a lot of debate and drama about a value added tax. then a lot of tax increases -- such as social security, that will be discussed. and different meetings talking about different spending cuts. longer-term things like social security and medicare which are really the biggest problem in the budget. host: before we

president to the chairman of the fed to the two former leaders of the congressional budget office, to peter orszagthen everybody on our commission agreed. but paul ryan, a congressman from wisconsin, said it best. he said this is the most predictable economic crisis in history. and it is. this nation is on autopilot, and if we do not change and make big changes, we are going to face disaster. he was terrific. let me tell you how broad a consensus is. and the stern, who is recently -- andy stern agree with him 100%. all of us here realize the problem. where i disagree with you is, we have a real education issue in america. we have got to make sure that the american people understand how big a problem that is. that is why what you are doing here is such a big service. this will educate a lot of people. secondly, what we have got to do is get a real set of numbers out there that everybody agrees to. what allen and i have said is we are going to use the actuaries numbers from social security and medicare. that is pretty hard to argue against. then we will use the cbo for everything else. we are not go

. >> i have loan talks with peter orszag. the money is accounted for.e know what it will be drawn down for, but you cannot say you have to get it down to zero before you get more money as you are negotiating contracts and figuring out what to do with it. that is the stupidity -- that is what i would call it -- of what omb is saying. they know it is not good budgeting. they know that you should let something go to zero and start all over again when you have an ongoing program. >> senator, i will be happy to reengage with omb on this, but there is another point your question has in it that i think is very important for the department has a whole, and that is, being able to look at how grants are being done in a way that is more than your to your to your, but to look at them -- that is more than just a year to year to year. that is something that i have asked our folks to really look at. the current methodology may not be the best. but i will be happy to reengage omb. >> can you help us? >> i will be happy to reengage omb. >> in a positive way? >> in a pos

the one that i was drawn to was a fellow by the name of peter r. orszag, who is currently the director of the office of management and budget. i want to talk about small town company. franklin raines was fannie mae's vice chairman from 1991-1996. in 1996, he moved directly from fannie mae to be the director of the office of management and budget. from 96 to 98. when he left, the director of the office of management and the budget he became ceo at fannie mae. 1999-2004. in my more than 30 years, i don't recall, because in yesterday's panel, former comptroller of the currency, mr. hawke, talked about the advantage of going in and out of government and the cross-fertilization and the benefit. and i agree with that with certain limitations, but i have never seen the in and out of government revolving door quite so focused on a position of significant importance in and administration, from your quote unquote business back to your quote unquote business. i look at lobbying slightly differently than i think most people here. you said that you wanted to make sure

president to the chairman of the fed to the two former leaders of the congressional budget office, to peter orszagthen everybody on our commission agreed. but paul ryan, a congressman from wisconsin, said it best. he said this is the most predictable economic crisis in history. and it is. this nation is on autopilot, and if we do not change and make big changes, we are going to face disaster. he was terrific. let me tell you how broad a consensus is. and the stern, who is recently -- andy stern agree with him 100%. all of us here realize the problem. where i disagree with you is, we have a real education issue in america. we have got to make sure that the american people understand how big a problem that is. that is why what you are doing here is such a big service. this will educate a lot of people. secondly, what we have got to do is get a real set of numbers out there that everybody agrees to. what allen and i have said is we are going to use the actuaries numbers from social security and medicare. that is pretty hard to argue against. then we will use the cbo for everything else. we are not go