cincinnati and the realtors of cincinnati were praising the stimulus and the headline reads this, "realtors, builders laud tax credit." they're praising the tax credit. because often times when we talk about the stimulus, this $800 billion package, we forget that $300 billion of it was tax credits. it was tax credits and tax breaks for moderate income families. and an important credit was to stimulate first-time home buyers and to help people get back into the housing market. we have achieved that. realtors understand it, people around the country understand it because homes are starting it to sell and it's thanks to the efforts of this democratic caucus. and with that i'll yield back to my colleague from virginia. mr. perriello: let me yield to the gentleman from california. >> i thank you, madam speaker, it's a great honor to be here with the other freshmen. we are new to this system but we're not new to the problems in our district or in our nation. we often go home on weekends to spend time in our district and what i have found in the district that i represent in the east bay of califor

tuesday the national association of realtors will issue the pending home sales index.sday we get the minutes from the federal reserve open market committee's last meeting. that could give us a glimpse into the fed's thoughts for 2010. friday the closely watched monthly employment report will be released by the employment department. this tells us how many jobs were lost or gained in the month of december. >>> finally today, times square is trimming its electric bill. new year's revelers from around the world watch the famous ball drop in new york this week. the 12-f

tuesday the national association of realtors will issue the pending home sales index.ednesday we get the minutes from the federal reserve open market committee's last meeting. that could give us a glimpse into the fed's thoughts for 2010. friday the closely watch monthly employment report will b released by the employment department. >>> finally today, times square is trimming its electric bill. new year's revelers from around the world watch the famous ball drop in new york this week. the 12-football is powered by more than 32,000 l.e.d. lights. organizers say to light all 11,000 pounds consumes the same amount of energy per hour as two traditional home ovens. that'll do it for us today. thanks so much for being with us. next week i'll be reporting from the international consumer electronics show in las vegas. we'll check out what's new on the horizon in terms of electronics. it's the hottest developments in the consumer technology industry. be sure to keep it right here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody. i'll see you again next weekend

i know on the republican side we deal with voter at the realtors. i work republican and democratic candidates so we use the than system and i think it has 125 different ways to tag a voter file and it makes it a lot easier when we need to play group for a specific opportunity, specific event and we can pull the group by their affiliation. so whenever you guys start entering stuff into your vote for final always give them an affiliation id. just don't put bill generic. no, call him, find out his issues and put him in the voter file as a supporter of a specific issue or specific topic. or put him in as a lover of brooks or hater of brooks but we also put him in -- we always put people in the voter file with some type of tad and in the opportunity to improve, volunteers, colish and gives the opportunity to identify new volunteers and active supporters who care about specific issues as i said party id is getting smaller and smaller and smaller and so we have to spend more time recruiting issues specific volunteers than party volunteers as i said before

national association of realtors and national association of home builders say lately one in four salesre scuttled due to appraisals. >>> general motors may have had a tough year selling cars in america, but not in china. they say 2009 sales rose 67% to record 1.8 million vehicles. gm expects 2010 to be even stronger. beijing gave a boost to auto sales with tax breaks and things for them to move to more fuel efficient cars. >>> wall street journal reports a group of broadcasters plans to use this week's consumer electronic show to promote plans to deliver news, sports, weather and local content to users on the go. programming available not just on cell phones but laptops, portable dvd players and devices in cars. ten years before it is everywhere. >> i'll keep thinking. >> thank you. >>> some dedicated people, really dedicated to the game of golf. 78 of them braved the snow around the gulf in illinois. the 46th annual eskimo open. you get the option to play 9 holes or full 18. can't use white golf balls, need colored ones. forty-two-dollar greens fee includes a hot drink and hot bowl of

he was a realtor, larry, and basically i found a guy. he was starting to try to take apart what's left of his house and try to salvage a few things. i followed him home to where he's now living. this guy had a three-story house, he was renting out the bottom floors to help pay for his college kids tuition. now he's living in a sprawling refugee camp in a makeshift tent. it's filthy. he's embarrassed about it. his whole family is sleeping on the ground in this filthy place even if he gets aid, this guy's dignity is crushed. he's accustomed to working and making a good life for his kids and his family. now they're sleeping under a sheet. it's really, really tough to see this guy in this awful position. >> larry: ivan, wouldn't construction workers be in demand in haiti now? >> reporter: this man was actually a real estate agent, and i think he was making a lot of money renting out the ground floor of his building as renting it out basically to help pay for his family. that's gone now. i asked him, you know, everybody is alive and everybody

s, the maryland chamber of commerce, the maryland realtors associate, the gazette of politics and business and all of our guests for making the third annual first friday economic outlook forum a success. bundle up and drive carefully. [cheers and applause] >> i'm always concerned about the potential unforseen consequences of new regulations. new regulations of any kind act as a tax. and when you tax or regulate something, you tend to get less of it. >> this weekend on the commune tators, republican f.c.c. commissioner robert mcdowell on efforts to create a national broad band trade, in the wireless industry today on c-span. >> now, president obama calls for a program to help tens of thousands of new technology jobs. this comes following the announcement that the economy lost more jobs in december and the unemployment rate was changed. >> announce the significant new investment for making and clean energy. i want to give another update on a matter of concern to every american, that's our employment picture. the jobs numbers that were released by the labor department this morning are a remin

many other people who are involved in these activities are licensed professionals, realtors, in most dates, mortgage brokers are required to have a state license, etc. how effective have the professional regulatory agencies been ineffectively prosecuting cases of licensing removal or other form of sanction against these professionals? >> in florida, the statute was on the books to have these hearings. however, the personnel that is assigned to these regulatory agencies is a very minimal, at best. and they don't have the resources, or the personnel to do it. however, since the heightened awareness and the mortgage fraud crisis that we've had in the state of florida, the increase in the licensure of removals and suspensions has increased, because we are now constantly communicating with those agencies. and they're having these hearings now to pull folks licenses. and again, prevent them from victimizing other people. >> senator, we were one of the states that until recently did not licensed mortgage brokers. and interestingly enough, when the department upgraded or agencies looked arou

and let's take realtors, for instance. almost every realtor's business is a small business. they have six, eight, 10, 20 would be a lot in our area, let them all group together across this nation and then you have 500,000 or a million realtors that can spread their risks and you don't have any government involvement, you don't have any subsidies involved, you don't have any complications. you simply let the free market system work. and by doing that -- mr. akin: so, doctor, reclaiming my time. again, what you're saying is you're combining a couple of ideas but you're saying it fast. i want to make sure people understand it. the first thing you're saying is you can buy insurance across state lines. and particularly, if you live in a place like, for instance, kansas city, missouri, and there's a kansas city, kansas, right across the river, you could be buying insurance out of two markets instead of one. or even possibly from someplace like all the way up in massachusetts. so that's one idea. your other idea, it sounds like what you're saying, you're allowing individuals that w

tens of thousands of miles a month for their job and actually work out of their car fleet renewal realtorse to mind as a real example. there might be a practical use to having a computer in your car but it doesn't need to be built into it. all of these devices, even a simple radio can provide a distraction. we feel comfortable with all of these distractions because we get into them and we've become immune to the danger. we forget we are doing this incredibly complicated task that requires a lot of concentration and attention. we take it for granted and we try to do too many things and we in danger ourselves and others. >> the few things i am sure you are aware of are probably worth mentioning in the context, one is the length of miles traveled by americans. 26%, 40%, 80% of by car. another area is our rail infrastructure which had a decimation of rail in the last 80 years, i think it is down by two thirds. one third that remains, very little of it is used for commuter rail or frequent service. from new haven to new york we have the busiest flying in the country and carry twice as many peop

make sure that you instruct your realtor not to allow any bank to pull credit on you when you're justng for a home. i'm clark howard. for more ways to protect yourself, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> very interesting. and if you want a lot more ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off, stay with us for the clark howard show at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln. >>> blind mice are helping researchers see a bright future for humans with incurable eye diseases. what's working in the lab and how quickly it could come to market. >>> a u.s. embassy shuts its doors over concerns about terrorist threats. where it's happen and why the u.s. is focusing more attention on that country these days. >>> captured. the man accused of killing four members of his own family found in a florida motel. what the father of the 6-year-old victim is saying about that arrest. >>> and you regularly donate to your house of worship, but do you know where the money is going? and how confident are you that it's being spent wisely? we're taking your views on the topic. >>> hln "news and views," hel

tens of thousands of miles a month perhaps for their job and who actually work out of their car, realtorsome to mind is another example, there might be a practical use to have a computer in your car. i don't know that it needs to be built into it. and all of these devices -- the cell phones -- you know, even the simple radio can provide a distraction. you lookq0; down for a minute t turn the nobody. -- knob. we feel comfortable with these distractions in these cars because we year and year and day in and day out and become immune to their danger. we forget that we're doing this incredibly complicated task that requires a tremendous amount of concentration. and attention. and we take it for granted. and we try to do too many things at one time. and we endanger ourselves and others. one more here. >> hi, my name is richard. the few things that you might have -- i'm sure you're aware of that are probably worth mentioning in the context of your presentation. one is length of miles traveled by american. 26% of our trips are one mile or less. >> yes. >> 40% are 2 miles or less. 80% of those tri

tens of thousands of miles a month perhaps for their job and who actually work out of their car, realtors come to mind is another example, there might be a practical use to have a computer in your car. i don't know if needs to be built into its. and all of these devices, the cellphones and even a simple radio can provide this -- and when you look down to turn the knob. we feel comfortable with all these distractions in the car because year in and year out begin to them and become immune to their danger. we forget that we're doing is incredibly complicated task that requires a tremendous amount of concentration and attention. we take for granted and we try to do too many things out on time and in danger ourselves and others. >> my name is richard. the few things that i am sure you are aware of the that are probably worth mentioning in the context of representation, one is the length of miles traveled by americans. 26 percent of our trips are 1 mile or less, 40 percent are to mauser less than 80 percent of those are by car. another area is our rail of the structure. we have had a defamation

in a sign that the housing market remains weak, a national association of realtors monthly index, whichover 1 percent in november. that comes a day after news that factory activity in december rose to its highest level since april 2006. recent jobs numbers have also been mixed. while the unemployment rate remains in the double digits, new jobless claims dropped last week. so what does it all mean? is the economy on track for a strong recovery? or will we remain stuck in a slump? we get two takes: robert barbera is chief economist for i.t.g., a research and trading firm; and dean baker is co-director of the center for economic and policy research. gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. i want to start with you robertçó barera, you believe that the country is on the cuss-of a real recovery. what do you base that on? >> i think the giant challenge for the obamaç add m.was to rescue the banks and to get the financial system back in order. it was a giant challenge.ç but i think they succeeded. that panic that really took hold throughout the country,¿d5é recess. as a consequence, i th

one from a wisconsin realtor should be no lawful contribution could be the sole basis for

in a sign thathe housing marketemains weak, a national assoction of realtors monthly index, ich tracksrcent in novber. that comes a day after news at factory activity in cember rose to ithighest level since april 2006. recent jobs numbers havelso been mixed. while e unemployment rate remains in the doue digits, new jobless claimsropped last week. so what does it l mean? is the enomy on track for a rong recovery? or wl we remain stuck in a slump? we get t takes: robert barbera is chief econost for i.t.g., a research a trading firm; and dean baker ico-director of the center for economic and poli rearch. gentlemen, thank you both r being with us. i want to start wi you robertçó barera,ou believe that the count is on the cuss-of a realecovery. what do you basehat on? >> ihink the giant challenge for the obamaç adm.was to rescue the banks and to t e financial system back in order. it was a giant chaenge.ç but i thinthey succeeded. that panic that really took hold throughout e country,¿d5"é recess. as a consequence, i ink th's the back drop that you need to get aç genuine covery. >> wdruf

panelists, many of the people who were involved in these activities are licensed professionals, realtors. in those states mortgage brokers are required to have a state license its etc. how effective have the professional regulatory agencies ben and effectively prosecuting cases of license removal or other forms of sanction against these professionals? >> in florida, the statute was on the books to have these hearings however the personnel that is assigned to these regulatory agencies is very minimal at best and they don't have the resources for the personnel to do it. however, since the heightened awareness and the mortgage fraud crisis we have had in the state of florida the increase in the licensure removals' and suspensions has increased because we are now constantly communicating with those agencies and they are having these hearings now to pull folks licenses and again prevent them from victimizing other people. >> senator we were one of the states that until recently did not licensed mortgage brokers and interestingly enough when the department of regulatory agencies looked around

childbearing all come home to you when you read about thomas jefferson and his real life -- for realtors and delete the -- frail daughters three with all of the children with martha he ended up with one. there were what, six or something? >> guest: they all died when they were very young and the daughter, the second daughter, she died giving birth so he really did have a tremendous amount of heartbreak the didn't have anything to do with a revolutionary war activity you did, your heart windel to the man. >> host: that might have affected some of the things he was doing as a founding father. he was limited by his wife,'s health and certain roles in government. >> guest: yes, i have this point, he was about -- he didn't know what he was about to be asked to write the declaration of independence and he hadn't heard from martha back in virginia and he became frantic. he was writing letters is shiel, please tell me i will come home. he almost packed up everything and headed home to virginia only a few days before john adams came and said we want you to write this declaration which was his ren

when i sold my condo four years ago, i saved $25,000 by selling it myself instead of hiring a realtorll my closing paperwork and challenged $4,700 in junk fees. top cost number two, cars. americans spend about $5,637 a year on their car pamentds. while so many people race around buying brand-new cars and trading them in every few years, the way to save big is to buy used. my husband and i saved even bigger, $10,000, by buying this used vehicle at a wholesale auto auction. >> what does credit mean to you? >> buy now and pay later, i guess. >> reporter: credit, interest on loans. the old me had credit card debt. the new me dug out of debt dollar by dollar. the old me had a crumby credit score. now, i ferociously protect and promote my score. what's the big deal? well, my high score helps me qualify for a better interest rate on my mortgage and saved me $116,000. top cost number four, groceries. these days the average family of four spends $10,692 a year on food and personal items. there are ways to save bigger, and they're in the book. here at my house, we saved on groceries, simply by

partnership committee created a real estate best practice manuel to distribute to miami-dade county realtors. the committee sought and reprivate funding and from florida bankers and other professions involved in the mortgage business to assist it finance costs involved in investigating and practices cuting mortgage fraud. the education committee has created a public complaint form with web site access to report mortgage fraud and is is on the mayor's web site. there is also an established database of speakers available to appear at engagements and speak on behalf of the task force. additionally, an aggressive media campaign to educate the public and prevent victimization has been you know taken. in conclusion, mr. chairman the task force is committed to making a difference in the quality of life of citizens of miami-dade county by reducing number of incidents of mortgage fraud. all they is a tremendously large problem in the united states the steps have been taken in miami-dade can be duplicated elsewhere and in florida and throughout the country. the task force's comprehensive multidiscipli

roundtable is a trade association, led the american hospital association, national association of realtorsrtually everyone in america is part of a trade association whether they know it or not. it is part of the constitution. that is the way the system works. powertrain association is 100 companies, the larger companies operating in that country. we operate about 60% of all the financing done in america. you cannot finance the economy this size without the larger companies. our trade association is 100 of those of larger companies. if you live in it, work in it, one of my companies will finance it. my first job before college was working on a daily farm and picking cotton in texas, by the way. my first job of college, -- out of college, i was a real-estate agent. i make about $1.5 million a year as bessie ito -- the ceo. i have to say, it is a good job, a chance to be in politics. host: and you were the mayor of dallas? guest: yes, go cowboys. caller: i called to say that you said that you made some mistakes. the problem is, when they got the bonuses, they kept them. remember they said tha

the people that control the stimulus package money, the bailout for the realtors', the bankers wanted to put it in their pocket. money for the people will always be put in the pocket of bankers. right now there is no difference between democrat in republican -- democrat and republican, they are in the same boat. that is my opinion. host: naples, florida. kathy. caller: the system is not working. my son was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis one year ago. he was given a flimsy mortgage they did not qualify for relief. they sent to a package back then raised his principal by 30,000, he had closing costs and his second mortgage was still out there. now he has a high and the turning. the attorney is doing a short sale, taking about six months. now he is out of a home. it is not working. the other big problem in florida, as a real-estate agent, you cannot get jumbo mortgages, so people with large homes cannot sell. host: thank you for your comments this morning. this one is from twittered. "i do not think the federal mortgage aid is getting to the people that needed." republican caller, tex

encouraging the lending community and the mortgage bankers association, national association of realtorslly, as a policy development, promoting home ownership in poor communities. what is the government's role in this? guest: no question the policy of the u.s. for most of the 20th century was to incur ridge home ownership. we gave probably the largest single tax break in america. -- encourage home ownership. but i do not believe these banks were pressured into doing this. it was very much in their interest to the issue these high return mortgages, particularly, those institutions which felled in the back of their mind they were too big to fail and could take these high-level of risks without the chance that they would end up paying for it. at this point, the first day in one of the year-long series of hearings, i do not want to make any final conclusions. while government policy has been to encourage home ownership, and that is something that we will be looking at in february, but i think there are a lot of other factors beyond that that caused the crisis of the severity we are currently

one reader wrote to complain that the open-ended ability of women like realtor from the bronx and itder for men like him to find wives because they could get the government to support them instead. he wanted a 30 day time limit and then they should be forced to find a man. i have been struck by how often people themselves have raised the question of moral worthiness in my conversations recently. perhaps it is because there are so many people who are new to public assistance programs -- one out of eight americans are now on food stamps. many are quick to assure me they're not like the way they imagine other people on food stamps to be. as i was thinking about the palace morning, a person i thought of the most is in no way an emblem of the innocent for -- innocent for. i met him in the courtyard of the fort myers rescue mission. he was 8 -- it was a dusty, sad looking courtyard blurring christmas carols. there was a tall guy standing there, in his mid-50s and had no front teeth. he introduced himself as william and cities to pitch for the chicago cubs in the minor leagues. and i'm like

i would like to thank our speakers, the maryland chamber of commerce, and the maryland realtors' association, the politics of business, and all are gets for making the first freddie economic outlook forum a success. bundle up and read carefully. [applause] >> now the latest on the economic stimulus, the $787 million improve from last february. over 311 million has been committed to states by the federal government to spend on stimulus projects. that is of $4 billion from last week. over $160 billion has been paid out for this project. at c-span.org/stimulus you will find hearings and congressional debates. this is all at c-span.org /stimulus. >> next remarks by secretary of state clinton in the foreign minister of jordan. in a discussion on u.s. counter- terrorism efforts. after that, a foreign on the recent against an election prope. >> now secretary of state hillary clinton in the foreign minister of jordan calls for a resumption of middle east peace talks. they expressed concern over recent events in jerusalem where settlement activity by the israelis continues. satiric clinton also comme

i think realtor were one of the banes of my existence previously in a different job but the fact is thate customers are now telling the developers it doesn't matter whether you think it is a good idea or not, we are not going to lease -- and we are seeing history and this is in europe and the u.s., and china as well -- that when you have a vacancy, buildings that are greener lease back up again much more rapidly than buildings that are not. >> this is an interesting that you are seeing with greener buildings for even local pollution reasons they often use paints with compounds. children like buildings why don't have nasty chemicals, you may have a reason to do things that have a win-win on climate. you spent time thinking about development issues. one of the relatively ignored aspects of climate in my view is the link between climate and poverty. there are 1.6 billion people with no access to modern energy, no electricity, clean fuels. mostly in sub-saharan trick, parts of latin america and caribbean and mostly women and girls who watch walk miles apnd face indoor pollution. is there any

encouraging the lending community and the mortgage bankers association, national association of realtorslly, as a policy development, promoting home ownership in poor communities. what is the government's role in this? guest: no question the policy of the u.s. for most of the 20th century was to incur ridge home ownership. we gave probably the largest single tax break in america. -- encourage home ownership. but i do not believe these banks were pressured into doing this. it was very much in their interest to the issue these high return mortgages, particularly, those institutions which felled in the back of their mind they were too big to fail and could take these high-level of risks without the chance that they would end up paying for it. at this point, the first day in one of the year-long series of hearings, i do not want to make any final conclusions. while government policy has been to encourage home ownership, and that is something that we will be looking at in february, but i think there are a lot of other factors beyond that that caused the crisis of the severity we are currently

s, the maryland chamber of commerce, the maryland realtors associates, the gazette of politics and business, and all of our guests for making the third annual first friday economic outlook forum a success. bundle up and drive carefully. >> coming up -- a forum on long-term healthcare services. following that, a look at the current state of the healthcare industry. and later, discussion on health insurance exchanges. >> the house is back in session tuesday, january 12. live coverage on c-span. the senate returns january 20. they plan to consider a judicial nomination and an increase in the federal debt ceiling. watch live coverage of the senate on c-span2. off the floor, house and senate democratic leaders are negotiating with the white house on the healthcare bill. the senate passed its bill on christmas eve, but it does not include the public option, which is in the house bill. they have to agree on the same version before sending it to the president. the associated press reports the aim is to get a final bill to president obama's desk before the state of the union address sometime in earl

government support, one reader wrote me to complain that the open-ended ability of women like the realtorfrom the bronx had made it hard for men like him to find wives. because they can get the government to support him instead. he wanted a 30 day time limit. after that they should be forced to find a man. i've been instruct by how often poor people themselves have raised the question of moral worthiness in my conversations with them recently. perhaps, it's just there are so many people who are new to public assistance programs. one out of eight americans now on food stamps. but many are quick to reassure me that they are not like the way they imagine other people on food stamps to be. as i think about the panel this morning, the person that i thought of the most, kept pictureturing -- picturing no way of the innocent poor. i met him in the courtyard of the rescue mission. sad courtyard, right before christmas. there's a tall guy standing there with a flat cap and no front teeth. he introduced himself as william. he said he used to pitch for the chicago cubs in the mayor -- minor leagues.