postal service. but the sad reality is that it's gone into what i fear will be a death spiral unless we do something together to rescue it. this year the budget of the u.s. postal service will be $65 billion, approximately. its expected losses this year are going to be about $10 billion. it's just not going to be able to continue operating in that way and be the postal service that this country has depended on, including the promise of universal service. $10 billion deficit. why has this happened? there are a lot of reasons. a lot of them may be internal about the management of the organization and the postmaster himself has asked for authority to make the operation more efficient. i think we have given him a lot of that authority in the bill we bring before you today, but the world has changed. and particularly with the advent of the internet and electronic mail, the volume of mail that the post office is asked to carry and deliver has diminished greatly. and obviously in recent years the post offic

postal service. but the sad reality is that it has gone into what i fear will be a death spiral unless we do something together to do something to rescue it. this year, the budget of the u.s. postal service will be $65 billion approximately. its expected losses this year are going to be about $10 billion. it is just not going to be able to continue operating in that way and be the postal service that this country has depended on, including the universal service. a $10 billion deficit -- why has this happened? a lot of reasons. a lot of it may be internal in the organization, and the post by esther has -- the postmaster has asked for the authority to make it more efficient. i think a lot of that is in the bill today. things have changed with the internet and electronic mail. the volume of mail that the post office is asked to carry and deliver has diminished greatly. and in recent years, the post office just like every other economic entity, has been affected by the economic recession that we have bee

postal service. the sad reality is that it has gone into what i fear will be a death spiral, unless we do something together to rescue it. this year the budget of the u.s. postal service will be $65 billion approximately. the expected losses this year will be about $10 billion. it is not going to continue operating and that way and be the postal service that this country has depended on, including the promise of universal service. $10 billion deficit. why has this happened? there are a lot of reasons. a lot of them may be internal about the management of the organization, and the postmaster has asked for authority to make the operation more efficient. but the world has changed, and particularly with the advent of the internet and electronic mail, the volume of mail the post office has asked to carry and deliver has diminished greatly. obviously in recent years the post office has been affected by a the economic recession that we have been in, and in some sense, are still fighting our way out of. the

postal service light it does not. you want to make sure that those retirement systems are properly funded and have a little bit of a surplus. the fact that we're trying to -- other than the fact that we're trying to spend the surplus. my amendment would allow the postal service to offer up to 1- year service for individuals in the civil service retirement system and, of the two years for encouraging retirement. i understand the rationale to use retirement to reduce the workforce. but we're spending a retirement surps, which would be a good buffer. i think we passed out a sheet. we went to the office of personnel management to receive what kinds of cases could potentially result in. the range is eye-popping. according to this sheet, it could be as low -- as low was a $6,000 benefit and as high as two hundred $80,000 benefit to an individual. i just do not think that, in the time that we are running $1 trillion deficits and the postal service is looking at a 10-year annual deficit that we should be offering something th

the of a great partnership with the postal service because the postal service goes to every door six days a week and the postal service in many cases carries the fedex and ups packages for them and it is a great partnership. and going forward as we move more, further away like in the society for the mortar shopping and the postal service is an agreed position to capitalize on that service and make money doing that. the postal service is also in a great opportunity to the state and local government how about putting some of those operations in the post office? how about doing that? the idea of media exploring and creating a virtual mailbox which we are going to hear more about in the days to come. these are all ideas the postal service needs to pursue to create more business going forward. on will close with this comment to reflect on what suzanne has said we need to be a demonstration this country that we can govern again. we need to demonstrate the democrats, republicans and an occasional republicans can govern. we can take on a big problem that we can solve a problem, and this is a

postal service if it is to survive. i want to again thank senator collins and senator carper for their leadership in this area and to say how pleased i am, and i know we all are, that in the tradition of our committee, we've achieved a bipartisan agreement here. we're going to be battered probably from all sides when we go forward with this but it is really a national problem. >> you will get used to it. [laughter] >> believe me, i am used to it. but, but, this is a national problem and we're not going to solve it by playing partisan politics or being rigid about a particular remedy that each one of us have and that's the spirit that has propelled our discussions to this point. so i want to thank my colleagues really for all that they have done, particularly want to thank all of the members of our respective staffs who, if you look at the them carefully are suffering from sleep deprivation and other ailments associated with being asked to do a lot of work in a short time. senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chair. first,

lack of speed could killed of postal service. -- killed the postal service. these losses will ultimately burden the american taxpayer. volume will decline quickly for the rest of this decade. and we simply do not have the ability to cut our costs quickly enough. those are the facts. with the rights legislation that enable swift action, the postal service can quickly return to profitability and stay profitable, and continue to fund the universal service that we provide today. we need provisions of the legislation that provide us with the speed to reduce our costs by $20 billion by 2015. businesses do not solve issues for years on end. they make decisions quickly and act quickly. off off unfortunately, the legislation -- unfortunately, the legislation does not provide us with the speed we need. those elements have impose greater constraints on our business model. they do not come close to unraveling the cost reductions of $20 billion by 2015, which they must do in order for us to return to profitability. if passed today, either bill would provide at best a coup

the postal service can do it.ral and his team have a good idea how to get out of this situation. our responsibility is to help. one way we help the most is by choosing not to be a 535-member board directors of the postal service. they have their own board of governors and they don't need our board of directors and part of what we need to do is to get out of the way and let them do what they need to do while invoking the golden rule -- treat other people the way they want to be treated, customer's car residential customers, business customers, it includes employees, and it includes tax payers. how did we get into this? not long ago, my mom and dad had passed away and my sister was in our home looking at all kinds of stuff. we found a treasure trove of letters they send back and forth during world war two. they rose to like every other day to each other from heather and beyond and save those -- and save those letters. we could not wait for male. sometimes the joe and susan and scott and i go to afghanistan and their

stop stealing postal resources. stop closing off postal offices. stop ripping off the postal workers. the post office should not be based on human greed. hey, hey! ho, ho! [boos] >> the good thing is that they have definitely been paying attention to this situation. [laughter] [applause] at any rate, -- [laughter] if we could only get that $11.4 billion back we could keep a couple of post office. -- post offices. these mandated obligations, this has been an enormous drop on our financials -- a financial stability. it is something we have had no control over. consider the worst volume of delivery was in 2008-09. our billion dollar losses were due to raise $7 billion mandated retiree health benefit payment that no other business would have made. given the volume of declines we have experience, that statistics says to me that we do a very good job of controlling costs, but we are working with insurmountable constraint. over the past four years, we have reduced the size of the work force by over 128,000 employees and reduce annual operating costs by $1

stop spending postal resources. stop breaking the postal unions. and destroying our communities. stop laying off the postal workers. the post office is based on human need. hey, hey, ho, ho, donahoe has got to go. booing]ce >> the good thing is they have definitely been paying attention to the situation. [laughter] [applause] at any rate -- [laughter] if we could only get that $11.40 billion back, we could keep a few post offices. there are obligations over which we have had no control. there was the worst downturn in mail volume in 2009. the operations were profitable. our $6.60 billion losses were due to a $7 billion mandatory health benefit payment that no other business would have made. given the decline we have experienced, that statistics says we do a good job of controlling costs. we are working with insurmountable constraints. we have reduced the size of the work force by 128,000 employees and reduced operating costs. we did so while maintaining a record level service. that is a testament to the tremendous job our employees do on a daily basis. we are accelerating product

one of walsh's constituents, postal worker melissa rakestraw, called him out on it. >> if the postal am tired of propping it up. i'm tired of -- >> the government hasn't propped it up at all. >> you know what? >> the government is what's dragging it down with this ridiculous pre -- >> i'll take every little restriction government puts on you, i'll get rid of it tomorrow. go out there and compete. why wouldn't you like that? why? >> as i said before, there's -- >> go compete. >> there's a universal delivery -- >> no, no, no, no. don't talk -- >> that has to be provided, a service that has to be provided to people across our country to help stimulate economies in rural areas. independent business people. okay? ups and fedex is not servicing these people. >> melissa is right on the money. but congressman walsh refused to listen to her. later in an interview walsh revealed that he doesn't care about the postal service. >> when we talk about creating jobs in this country, sarah, we're not talking about government jobs. we're talking about private sector jobs. that's the point i was trying

postal service has more employees than they need. the postal service has more post offices than they need. they have more processing centers around the country than they need. and what they would like to be able to do is not to fire employees, not to abrogate labor contracts. what they have asked to do is to be able to do what the auto industry did working with their workers, and that's to incentivize people at the postal service that are eligible to retire to go ahead and retire. there is about 125,000 of them, and we have seen the postal service head count drop from 800,000 employees a decade ago to about 600,000, a little under 600,000 today, and the postal service needs -- because they need to be able to reduce that head count by another 100,000 or so over the next couple of years, by incentivizing the retirees -- people eligible to retire, to go ahead and retire, and by doing that, the postal service, they think they can do that for about $2 billion, $2 billion. and by doing so, if 100,000 postal employees will retire, they are

postal service.f i can take classes year round on campus, online, or both and earn my bachelor's degree in 3 years you can, too. [ male announcer ] at devry university, whether you study at one of our 4 bay area locations, online or both, you can prepare for a career in a growing field... and with year round class offerings, you can even do it in as few as three years. if i can let nothing nothing...stand in my way you can too. [ male announcer ] classes start january 3. learn more at devry.edu >>> stocks are down significantly in afternoon traiking. the provides of oil is the reason, rising above $100 a barrel for the first time since july. the jump could weaken the already fragile u.s. economy by raising costs for gas, heating oil and airline fuel. right now the dow currently down 93, hovering around that 12,000 mark. nasdaq down 23, and the s&p down 10. >>> google is expected to announce details of its new music service this afternoon. google has already cut deals with sony, emi and universal and

and my conversations with people in the postal service, with the men and women who work there, postal supervisors, letter carriers, clerks, the postmasters, they all have ideas. they all are interested in being part of a solution and i hope that congress approaches this in the same fashion. last but not least, part of this infrastructure that ties us together needs to be looked at in a broad context. we've all been deeply concerned about national security in the aftermath of 9/11. the anthrax situation we've had here, potential pandemics that -- where there are health crises. how are we going to deal with people quickly in times of need, to get them information? to check on people? to distribute potential medicines? you know, the postal service, with 2/3 of a million employees, a nationwide network of over 0 facilities, people who have equipment, who have no-how, knowledge of the community, the same way they help people with the right tax forms for immigration -- or immigration could also be a resource in time of natural disaster, epidemic or terrorism. let's think big, let's think fa

second of all, the postal service can never be competitive if when you drop a letter into a postal box, it takes five days for that letter to get to its destination. and one of the ideas that the postal service is talking about is making very significant cuts in what they call processing centers. that's where the mail is gathered and forwarded. and if you cut those centers -- in my state we have two that are on the line. one in essex junction and one in white river junction. if you cut those and cut other processing centers across the country, what will happen is that when you drop that letter into a mailbox, it could take up to five days for that letter to reach its destination. and when you have that poor service, people simply are going to stop using the post office, and that continues the death spiral. people are not going to want to use the service. thirdly, and in the same vein, the postal service is now talking about cutting saturday delivery. and, again, that means that there are a whole lot of folks who get prescription drugs on saturday. there are a whole lot of people who ge

the clerk: h.r. 298, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 500 east whitestone boulevard in cedar park, texas, as the army specialist matthew troy morris post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. farenthold, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. farenthold: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. farenthold: madam speaker, with the observance of veterans day this past friday, it is timely and fitting that we name this post office in cedar park for army specialist matthew troy morris, a texan and true american hero who died defending freedom. i'd like to yield as much time as he may consume to my colleague and friend from the great state of texas, the sponsor of this legislation, mr. carter. the speaker pro tempore: the g

postal service. some senators now have a plan to keep the postal service from going broke. the postal service would receive a refund of nearly $7 billion. an over paid into the federal employment retirement system. some of that money would fund buyouts to cut 100,000 jobs. also six day mail service would continue for another two years. >>> here is encouraging economic news. most companies that suspended their 401k matches during the economic downturn have restored them. that's according to towers wattson. the survey found among companies that did suspend the matching funds, the suspensions lasted for about one full year. >>> and if you want to blow some of your money, there's always power ball. the current jackpot is now $245 million and the next drawing is tonight. now, i do need to tell you that your odds of winning are 1 in 195 million. but you never know until you try. >>> still to come, living the high life on the high seas. well, sort of. we'll explain why some local students are now calling this ship home. [ speaking french ] [ speaking french ] movie buffs! this fil

also the postal service is saddled with huge retiree health care costs causing the postal service toer in debt. it's cut its staff, but clearly not enough. it wants to cut some locations and cut retiree benefits and lay off more than 100,000 workers. the thing with the usps, it doesn't run itself. congress calls the shots. congress has to approve any structural changes that happen with the postal service, but making those dramatic changes, let's say benefits and laying off workers, it t.j., as you can imagine, the postal service is getting a lot of push back. t.j.? >> we'll have four minutes from the opening bell. what do we expect to see today? >> we'll open in the red. same concerns about greece, italy. one analyst puts it this way. it's like groundhog day and you wake up and it's the same thing over and over again. now, as bond yields spike not only in italy and spain. add france to that, too. the european debt crisis is moving to these countries and not to be immune. have you checked out oil prices lately, t.j.? they hit that $100 mark. just for the first time this morning. i can

the most recent attack happened just yesterday when a postal worker was pistol-whipped and had a and set of postal keys stolen. >>> at the university of virginia, students are being warned to lock their doors. an e-mail sent by police says the number of male students reporting their apartments were broken into and they awoke to find an intruder groping them. >>> a florida man who wanted to end his life is alive thanks to a quick-thinking police officer and facebook. corporal arthur morrison responded to a scene where a man barricaded himself in a shed and said he wanted police to take his life. corporal morrison reached out to him on facebook. corporal morrison says it's the first time he's ever saved a life using facebook. >>> have you started planning your black friday shopping trip? i have. why retailers are expecting even more shoppers than last year. >>> if you are worried about getting stuck in the airport over the holidays, there's an app for that. the travel apps you need to download before you head out of town. for a great vacation you can't beat mississippi. sure you can, i

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.resentative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. ♪ to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. like so many great pioneers before me, guided only by a dream. i'm embarking on a journey of epic proportion. i will travel, from sea to shining sea, through amber waves of grain, and i won't stop until i've helped every driver in america save hundreds on car insurance. well i'm out of the parking lot. that's a good start. geico, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent, or more on car insurance. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. >>> all right. so during the great depression, you could hear this song being played on the radio. the lyrics basically said, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, ain't we got fun. news this week that the wealth gap between the rich and poor americans is the widest on record and has worsened during

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed. tell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. >>> time to dig into our new msnbc wall street journal poll with peter hart and republican michael roberts. welcome to you both. there is sort of one dominatings a spegt of this poll that is getting overshadowed and that is sort of the anxiety the country has about the government. two questions. one is the economic structure being out of balance. 76% agree on that. the second is this idea that there is too much government regulation. 53% agree on that. the obama vegs, more agreeable but both have majority. >> they do. tells you what's behind this election. awful lot of disappointment. an off lot of fear out there. for the public to sense that the 1% are doing well and the 99% are struggling is clearly the other vision of you have to get govern

postal service. 0ñ >>> it was super chilly this morning with >> warming up nicely i hope? afternoons warmer overnights not as cool rain comes in and that keeps us warmer: beautiful picture we love to showcase this picture this time of the year the different colors with the golden gate bridge northbound from sutro tower here in san francisco. anywhere else? high clouds as we look east from south beach. high clouds are a sign that warmer weather is on the way. warm invection warm air invection clouds when warm air comes over cold like we had this morning and adds moisture you see those type of clouds. 50s to low 60s. 65 half moon bay how often is the coast the warmest spot? monterey bay inland mostly sunny low to mid 60s will continue the mostly sunny theme with that slow warming trend continuing today partly cloudy tonight extra clouds mean won't be as cool tomorrow morning rain friday changing over to showers less likely they will hang around for the duration of the weekend that's the big change in the forecast. today oakland 66 the same as yesterday, santa rosa 66. san jo

postal service.e, pulling the mold, ldntew, and grime from out of the porous caverns of grout takes the right tools, but it also takes a gentle, caring touch. before you can deep clean, you learn to get a feel for its trouble spots. and hey, if you can't listen to grout, you can't truly know its wants...its needs...its dreams. ♪call 1-800-steemer. >>> it was super chilly this morning with >> warming up nicely i hope? >> afternoons warmer overnights not as cool rain comes in and that keeps us warmer: beautiful picture we love to showcase this picture this time of the year the different colors with the golden gate bridge northbound from sutro tower here in san francisco. anywhere else? high clouds as we look east from south beach. high clouds are a sign that warmer weather is on the way. warm invection warm air invection clouds when warm air comes over cold like we had this morning and adds moisture you see those type of clouds. 50s to low 60s. 65 half moon bay how often is the coast the warmest spot?

postal service. many are already saying that plan is going to be controversial.l you about it. it's 34 minutes past the hour. s. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare. >>> 35 minutes past the hour. we're getting the actual details

last year, the postal service lost about $8 billion.l, the agency would get a big refund in money it overpaid the government. also, health care and works compensation would be overhauled. >> we know that many of these proposals are going to be controversial. but without taking controversial steps like these, the postal service is simply not going to make it. >> a senate committee is taking up the proposal next week f it passes, the postal service will keep a six-day mail delivery system for at least two more years. filene's basement is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. they are closing some stores for good after the holidays. sarah simmons has more. >> reporter: you look down any street and it is not hard to find the store closing signs. a special at this store may find it hard to survive these days but filene's basement? >> nobody is shopping. >> reporter: after more than a century in business, the days discount demeanor store's owner, syms corporation, is filing for chapper 11 bankruptcy. this time, the retailer could close for good a

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.resentative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! columnist george will made an announcement that leaked out, that his wife, mary, is going to work for the rick perry campaign. now, will has been ripping the romney campaign and calling rick -- romney the pretzel candidate. christiane amanpour didn't ask, does this cast any doubt, create a perception problem, on will as a commentator if his wife is working for one of the candidates in the campaign he's writing about. >> i think he's a commentator, and a lot of people would make a difference, howie. not everybody, but a lot of people would say he's a commentator. we know where he stands on this. however,

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.ur representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. >>> here's what the "news nation" is following. is it a major concession in the stalemate. the top republican is pushing democrats to respond to what he calls a major concession from them. what are the democrats saying? kidnapped in venezuela. one of the washington nationals's most promising stars is taken by gunmen, stormed into his family's home. overdue honor, the senate approves a congressional gold medal for the first african-american marines. a controversy of what was said to have some boycott his restaurants. big banks and vitale. >> wilson ramos. officials said they found the vehicle used by four armed men who abductioned the washington nationals catcher in venezuela. they vow to rescue him and prosecute his captors. the 24-year-old just finished his rookie season. i am joined by a spoerpts reporter for "the washington post." what else can you tell us at this point? >>

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed. tell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.ell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. >>> asia dominants president obama's agenda the next nine days. he also pays a visit to australia. it's the dominant focus, tensions on both economic and security issues. fareed zakaria here, fareed, when president obama is sitting from president hu jintao, what is the most important thing that the united states president wants to walk out of that meeting with? >> think more than anything else, president obama is trying to establish the kind of strategic dialogue with china where you can bring up things like the currency issue, you know the fact that the chinese use their currency to artificially keep their prices low. that doesn't get the chinese to stor

and they were determined even if the postal workers weren't there, they were determined to do that. still, that was on people's minds, nonetheless. it's a good question. yes. >> in 1978 president jimmy carter signed the civil service reform act. >> that's right. >> the result of that was to make federal sector collective bargaining statutory. >> with yes. >> and so my question is what, if any, impact that event had on the direction that patco was to go. >> that's a wonderful question, and i alluded earlier to the fact that collective bargaining rights first came to the federal government through an executive order by john kennedy. nixon then issued one that widened somewhat. but it wasn't until 1978 as the questioner says that this was written into a law passed by congress that federal workers had certain rights. i tell the story of the 1978 civil service reform act in my book, and i explain that it deeply disappointed air traffic controllers and some others in the federal government. the treasury employees' union, for example. and both patco and the treasury employees' unions were

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed. tell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. who needs internet? hotspot $5! [ indistinct conversations ] i can see who's on my network, people! ♪ you are next. dave, i'm in. yes. ♪ katie, what are you doing, sweetheart? starting a college fund. how long have we been gone? [ male announcer ] get low prices, every day, on the latest 4g phones, starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart. we are now printing on the back sides of used paper and we switched to fedex cause a lot of their packaging contains recycled materials. tell them what else fedex does. well we're now using more electric trucks and lower emission planes. we even offer a reusable envelope. now, can't we at least print on the back sides of used paper? what's the executive compensation list...? [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. isn't some optional pursuit. a privilege for the ultra-wealthy. it's a necess

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.e to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. "h wnk f would say atet anol coayoa l to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. "h wnk f would say actually... that way i could split my payments up into, like, little bite-size chunks. yeah, i mean you feel me right? i mean... yeah. uh, sir... ah... [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas in our electronics, toys, and jewelry departments. [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas [ thunder rumbles ] what is the sign of a good decision? in the world of personal finance, it's massmutual. find strength and stability in a company that's owned by its policyholders. ask your advisor, or visit massmutual.com. >>> the day of the firestorm of these accusation wes had the highest fund-raising day online in the history of this campaign, and it has not stopped. >> do you think the other candidates will follow suit and hire women to charge them with sexua

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed. tell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. we don't want anything to slow us down so it's surprising that most women aren't getting enough calcium. with over 25 flavors, yoplait original gives you 50% of the daily value of calcium in every cup. it's 4g, so you can do more faster. so, kathryn, post more youtube videos of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team. huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora. oh, no i'm an only child. and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. [ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ you know what else is early? medicare open enrollment. now through december 7th. can i stick with my old medicare plan? sure! or

the postal service also owes the government $5.5 billion. will not be able to pay the is due on friday. the postmaster general says the post office may have to shut year if congress does not give them some help. >>> congress has agreed on a bill.ng the $182 billion measure funds operations of the of agriculture, commerce, transportation, and urban development. it does include cuts, however, nasa and community development programs. keep thelation will running. government running through december 16. >> president obama is on his way australia to night. he took off from honolulu about 1:00 this afternoon. spend a day and a half in australia. after that, he is off to indonesia. economy is not -- keepingh economy is not from shopping. >> and new home for a discount bus line. >> his campaign was called dead by some. the new poll numbers show him surging. >> a few light showers across the area. lot more coming this way tomorrow. what's the one best thing about vacation on the gulf? the great outdoors in mississippi. our seafood in louisiana. s r be

drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed.ell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. with professional-grade research. and some of the most powerful, yet easy to use trading tools on the planet. it's investing with intelligence and cold hard conviction. e-trade. investing unleashed. >>> welcome back to "hardball." well, newt gingrich of all people has seen a recent uptick in most of the recent polls. in fact, real clear politics, they do an average of the latest poll, that has him running third among republicans with a wealthy 12.2%, which is moving upward. people are starting to wonder if it's not -- maybe now it's gingrich's turn to be the gop's new flavor of the month. just take a look at the following headlines. "why gingrich could win" from the "wall street journal." that's dorothy, very smart woman. it's gingrich's turn to