we're back with robert reich and tony fratto. if you agree it is not a recovery, that's your point of view, would it be fair for you to disagree with president obama taking credit for anything? maybe he shouldn't be taking credit? >> i think the stimulus package is having some effect. i just think t.a.r.p. is a mistake. i don't understand you. let me ask you a question, for week after week after week you and i agreed on one of the fewest things we ever agreed on, which was that t.a.r.p. was a mistake. i don't think it has been a great victory at all. goldman sachs has publicly stated it's doing exactly, using the same business model it used before, other wall street banks are back to the same practices they were using before the crisis, nothing has changed. why do you think t.a.r.p. was such a good thing. >> looking back on it, it's a fair question. i don't like t.a.r.p., don't like the government running things and sure didn't like the government taking over general motors. maybe guys like me are a bit too hard, tony, on the fre

steve moore, you first. >> it's the robert reich deficit. of a hole. >> robert reich. >> absolutely not. the proportion of gdp was much, much larger at the end of world war ii. we've had bigger deficits. >> you hated the reagan deficits. you used to hyper ventilate about the reagan deficits. these are five times bigger? the question is what are you using the deficit for? building the economy? trying to get back to full employment? >> hang on. a second round real fast. good question, robert reich. does this budget help grow the economy? yes or no, in one word. >> no. higher taxes don't grow the economy. >> i haven't heard anything about higher taxes. steve moore, you don't have an idea how to grow the economy. >> hang on, we'll come right back. we'll tease later in the prachlt our investors including the famed byron weem will tell us what it means for stocks. i can only get it out until next spring or next summer. i am worried about this tax, spend, inflate, my goodness, keep it right here, the "kudlow report." we have much more to cover. thi

. >> with us now is our dynamic you do woe, cbs contributor robert reich, whose book is called "super capitalism" and stev steven moore, "the end of prosperity." i have such a headache on this issue and i don't know who's going to pay for the aspirin. robert, i know you are in favor of the public option but should the president be pragmatic now that the polls are against him and saying it's not going to happen. should he give up. >> he should not give up because a public option is very critical. you have to have competition amongst the insurance companies, there is not enough competition. we saw monday insurance stock soared over rumors on the weekend the president is backing down from the public option. it's all about money and the more money they make, the more health insurance will cost. number two, the white house has to be very specific the president is not going to sign a bill that doesn't have this in it. all the waffling that's gone on over the last two or three days an waffling whether the president has a deal with big pharma over medicare bargaining over medicare prices, all

robert reich from ucal berkeley. and paul krugman from princeton. let's talk about where the health care debate stands, george. you heard john mccain say, it's time for a new start. let's start over again. the president should bring republicans and democrats in the oval office and redo the bill. >> one of the republicans, that the administration's counting on to give him a patina bipartisan coloration on this. said the other day, what we've learned in the august tumult, is that a lot of americans are happy with what they've got. a lot majority of americans have health insurance. and a large majority are satisfied with it. however, the president, therefore, is trying to get radical change, without the propellant of underlined, broad-based, and deep-seeded discontent. to combat that action, he has been ubiquitous and somewhat shrill. ubiquitous that he's like elevator music in american life. he's everywhere all of the time. shrill, as he's said i've been opposed by dishonest tactics and fear-mongering. but he says be afraid of your pediatrician becaus

robert reich says it's bad medicine for you. we'll debate.. >>> and the president wants to shorten drug patents. will that save money? or cost lives? "the kudlow report," coming right back. some people buy a car based on the deal they get. others by the car of their dreams. during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. special lease offers now available on the 2009 is 250. special lease offers now available we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> welcome back, everybody, to the kudlow report. we'll dive back into our bull-bear tusel. big, gary and ron are still with us.. bill, let me start with you. you t

and we'll talk with robert reich and casey mulligan. stay here. we are "the kudlow report." i don't know why i would turn bearish. i'm still riding the new bull market. it my surprise us for the duration of this month. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great p

if you join us today on the after show, i'll be talking to robe robert reich and saving it and bringing it to the newscast tomorrow. he's very critical of the president's supposed deal with big pharma. for now, up to date on a story that's been developing over the course of the last 48 hours. a georgia congressman, david scott, who woke up yesterday and there was a swastika on his congressional sign. the same david scott who had an angry exchange with one of his own constituents, a doctor, and the story's developed since. now his side of the story, perhaps a side that you haven't heard before, as he joins me here this morning. joining us is congressman david scott. you've had an incident which the whole country seems to be looking at right now. something you found when you went to work. take us through that. >> well, first of all, i woke up, my staff called me up and said as i was getting ready for the day around 7:30 and said, congressman, congressman, there's a swaus ka on the sign, on the official congressional sign outside the office. i said, what? i couldn't believe it. and so, i g

they will be debating robert reich and paul krugman. >> looking forward to all that. that has to be the best backdrop for an interview in a long time. george, thanks so much. we look forward to the show this morning. bill? >> okay, kate. >>> we turn, now, to the end of the road for the controversial but popular cash for clunkers program. the government estimates it will generate 750,000 new car sales before it hits the scrap heap tomorrow night. if and when the dealers get reimbursed from the government, it will be much of a boost for those who make and sell cars. there's another sector enjoying the effects. and abc's john hendren is at a dealership in silver spring, maryland, to explain it. john? >> reporter: good morning, bill. that's right. by all accounts, the cash for clunkers program has stimulated the auto industry. but there's also an unexpected ripple effect. you might call it a second stimulus. it starts here, at the dealership. gas-guzzling clunkers roll in. gleaming, new models roll out. then, the clunkers are often auctioned off. that's where the secondar

let me bring in former secretary of labor of public policy of the university of berkeley robert reichy on labor. i have had a number of labor leaders say we have lost our best friend and no one in the history of this country did more for labor than ted kennedy. >> undoubtedly nobody in the history of this country did more for people who needed health care and a higher minimum wage and payment protection. ted kennedy was in the sen tf of that. we would be talking about family medical leave act, i would say senator, do you think it's possible, can we actually get it done? and i remember his sparkling blue eyes and his smile and he would say, yes, at least we should try. it's going to be a heavy lift, but we should try, he was a fighter, he reached across the aisle, he knew he could do it and he was also a brilliant legislative tactician, i don't think most americans have any idea how many good things he

. >> with me to talk about all of this right now, former labor secretary, robert reich. democratic strategist paul begala joining us and cnn political analyst roland martin. let me get one thing out of the way. both secretary reich and paul begala support a public option. so we are not debating whether the democrats think that's a good idea but whether that's essential. secretary reich, are you or a lot of democrats out there ready to risk anything for -- any sort of reform for this one principle? >> look, i -- i think that the health care -- the principle here is moving the ball forward. the public option is critically important. i mean, i started out in favor of a single payer and convinced that was a political non-starter and public option was a kind of way of at least keeping the private insurers on their toes and cutting their costs and controlling long-term costs. if you give up the public option you are giving up almost everything, campbell. but i think it is critically important that the administration understands both economic and policy terms but also in policy

former clinton cabinet member robert reich said he's appall by the deal twine the white house and thermaceutical industry. i asked an an alliance will mean for your drug costs. >> christine, we don't know the details of the deal. in fact, the white house has been living a little around whether there was a deal or what the term was. according to the pharmaceutical industry, there was a deal, there is a deal and a big part of the deal is that medicare will not be allowed in the future. just as it hasn't been under george w. bush, to negotiate lower drug prices using a huge bargaining leverage it oishz otherwise would have. this means if in fact this was the deal that drug prices would stay quite high and it would put a crimp in overall long-term reductions in health c.a.r.are spending. >> your column, your piece on this issue was scathing. very outspoken about what you see as an alliance between these two. we spoke to the pharmaceutical president, representing the drug companies and asked about this deal and the reports it's going to save about $80 billion in health care costs in exchan

robert reich says we need a march on washington for health care reform. i'm okay with that. i proposed that some time ago as well, but i thought we had a march on washington. it was called inauguration day. these are just some of the millions of people who got the president elected. after being kicked in the teeth for eight years by the bush administration and the republicans on health care, are you through allow that happen again? i don't think liberals are going to have any stomach for sup supporting democrats in the next election if they can't show some spine and stand up to the very people that put them in office or in power, if you want to call it that. now, there's a lot of numbers that are being tossed around out there when it comes to health care. let me give you a couple of numbers. let's see, 10, 12 and 14. as in mid-term, presidential election and then another mid-term. it's a generational fight. if the democrats fail to get health care reform, voters will see them as weak and ineffective leaders. the republicans want to rush. they want to push, and they want to p

the other point i enjoyed this week, robert labor secretary robert reich says as you try to move thatloyment number back down, get it to 6, 5, in better territory, it may not be a classic second stimulus, or instead it may be a payroll tax holiday. an interesting idea he thought could generate bipartisan support and move the needle, although you heard columbia professoryn o'halloran say today, while it could work, it may not be that efficient. and next week, i've got several shows i love, "entourage" is back, but now "mad men" is back. if you haven't watched "mad men" yet, you've got to watch it. it's good stuff that's coming. harold ford, anything else you should we should be thinking about or looking forward? >> reich was a big supporter of obama. get money in the hands of employees and employers. could have an immediate impact. and john hughes, on another, "ferris bueller's day off" was the best movie of the '80s. >> you were a fan? >> a big fan and we're all in mourning. that does it for me this hour. don't miss us next week. a lot of good folks coming in. tiki barber, a whole ser

robert reich, there's some really good news in here i want to review. the private work week lengthened. we have not seen that in quite a while. aggregate work hours were flat. they have been falling sharply. manufacturing hours up 0.4% at an annual rate. and we may get a positive industrial production read when that number comes out in the next whatever week to ten days. those are pretty strong signals that the economy is healing, are they not? >> yeah. they're strong signals that, again, things are getting worse more slowly, and we're beginning to see the end of the worst of this. i wouldn't say we're close to your friend goldilocks. i would be very, very cautious about saying that we are actually at bottom or that we're going to see a vigorous recovery. i don't -- i kind of agree with steve and all of the people where he is, wherever he is. there is no reason to assume that there is adequate aggregate demand out there over the next year or even over the next two. i don't see consumers. i don't see businesses. i don't see exports. i want to be as joyfu

joining me now for more is robert reich, professor at uc berkeley. he's also author of the book "super capitalism" now available in paperback. you're secretary of labor, the new unemployment report comes in, you've gone down .01%. how does that feel? >> i would not break out the champagne. for one thing, we are continuing to lose jobs in this country. the good news is that we're worsening at a slower rate. that's not exactly good news. and it doesn't even include all the people who are too discouraged to look for work, it doesn't include all the people who are working part-time who would rather be working full-time. it doesn't include the millions of people who were lucky enough to get a new job when they lost the old one but are being paid less than the old job paid them. this is still a terrible situation for most people. >> how would you define recovery? >> i would define recovery as guessing unemployment down to 3% or 4% or 5%. and also getting the payrolls way, way up. and getting earnings up. those are the three issues. and we're nowhere near.

that prompted the economist robert reich to throw up his hands in disgust and say that is "guaranteed to keep prices sky high." obviously, to the pharmaceutical industry "free market" means a cartel protected against competition. now, in washington you don't get something for nothing. it cost the drug industry plenty to buy that protection. so take a look at alan fram's story for the associated press. he reports that the industry spent more money on lobbying in the second quarter of this year than any other health care organization. so far this year, phrma has spent $13.1 million lobbying. one drug company alone, pfizer inc., went almost that high-- $11.7 million. here's what some other health- related organizations put out for lobbying during the second quarter of the year: american medical association: $4 million. eli lilly & co.: $3.6 million. the american hospital association: $3.5 million. blue cross and blue shield: $2.8 million. i'd call this a health care bonanza for lobbyists. lobbyists, we can be sure, who are not working for those thousands of people who showed up at the wi

and a lot of people like robert reich, labor secretary of clinton, he smells a rat. and he says a lot of people are saying, look, they wouldn't do it if it wasn't good for their industry. >> why doesn't something like medicare do a system like the va does where they negotiate in bulk for the price of drugs? >> i was at the agency and that is just a nonnegotiable item. for some reason the pharmaceutical industry has managed to keep that at bay. and they have convinced them that they need the extra money to do research and create new drugs and say no one else is doing that. >> that is true. the pharmaceutical industry has to spend money on research to bring new drugs to market. that's very true. it's always been a question of how much do they need and how do you get a fair balance here? and the reason that a lot of people are so angry is they think the administration cut a bad deal with the pharmaceutical industry. if the pharmaceutical guys have $80 billion over ten years, what the administration in return said is we won't go to negotiate these other drugs down now or

and a lot of people like robert reich, labor secretary of clinton, he smells a rat.e says a lot of people are saying, look, they wouldn't do it if it wasn't good for their industry. >> why doesn't something like medicare do a system like the va does where they negotiate in bulk for the price of drugs? >> i was at the agency and that is just a nonnegotiable item. for some reason the pharmaceutical industry has managed to keep that at bay. and they have convinced them that they need the extra money to do research and create new drugs and say no one else is doing that. >> that is true. the pharmaceutical industry has to spend money on research to bring new drugs to market. that's very true. it's always been a question of how much do they need and how do you get a fair balance here? and the reason that a lot of people are so angry is they think the administration cut a bad deal with the pharmaceutical industry. if the pharmaceutical guys have $80 billion over ten years, what the administration in return said is we won't go to negotiate these other drugs down now or bring

robert reich had a great op-ed today in "the new york times," talking about evolution.'t even understand the complexities of that debate. it's just, we've chosen sides. and it's happened. you talked about bill clinton, it happened with bill clinton, it happened with george w. bush, it's happening with president obama. and it's really disgusting. the hate speech on both sides. you know, i still believe, i know you do too, tavis, most americans love their country, they salute their flag, and they respect their president. i can respect president obama, just like i respected president bush, and you respected president -- whether we vote for them or not. and it seems to me that leaders in both parties, democrats and republicans alike, have an affirmative responsibility to step forward and speak out against this hate speech and speak out against people carrying guns to rallies. as a guy with a 100% lifetime rating with with the nra, i can tell you that not only hurts those of us who believe in second amendment rights, it makes the job of the secret service so much harder. and

[applause] the one thing i always like milton friedman and robert reich is i could raise the microphone after they spoke. [laughter] it's not that funny, cool it. [laughter] if i can i want to remind you of a story i was the first chief economist when the omb was formed in 1970, george shultz right-hand person back then and these numbers work to the coup were big back then and i wrote my mom any number that's 49 million or less we around to see roe. [laughter] 100 million was .1 which gist gives you the flavor. now what is that? and bill safire back then had the greatest praise, he called them mego numbers which stood for my eyes glaze over. i want to do too quick things. i want to make sure, steve and peter mentioned this but let me mention it seriously it's not about personalities or people, it's not about any of that stuff, it's not partisan. it's very political but it is not partisan but we do. we all love bill clinton as president. i voted for him twice and want to to make sure you understand i felt he was a disgusting person but a great president and my view is if he hadn't any bu

that's a number that robert reich used to tell me every month. >> admit that it's working. >> bye. ed good discussion. play the music. >> takes them that long to get warmed up, and then they don't want to stop. >>> we are back on twitter patrol. we told you the other day how the nfl is discouraging players from twitering. get this. the new york jets are doing the exact opposite. they've even hired a social media intern to school the players, whatever that is. we're not making this up. darren rovell will explain in a moment. >> is that not the greatest job? teenager to teach football players how to use the computer. >>> and president obama speaking out on the economy and the jobs number in just about 45 minutes or so. we'll carry that live for you when it happens. announcer: some people buy a car based on the deal they get. others buy the car of their dreams. during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. it's an opportunity today. it's a lexus forever. special lease offers now available on the 2009 is 250. recently turned 65. glad he's now got medicare on his sid

robert reich smells a rat. they wouldn't do it if it wasn't good for their industry.icare do a system like the va where they negotiate for the price of drugs? >> i was at the agency that is a nonnegotiatable item. the pharmaceutical industry has managed to keep that at bay. they need the extra money to do research and create new drugs. >> it is true the pharmaceutical industry has to spend money on research to bring drugs to market. that is very true. it's always been a question of how much do they need and how do you get a fair balance here and the reason bob russia and the liberals are so angry is they think the administration cut a bad deal with the pharmaceutical guys. they kicked in $80 billion, but the administration said we won't negotiate these other drugs down now. we are going to tie our hands and agree voluntarily to do that. the left is off the wall. it is not clear the white house can keep the deal in the congress. >> another issue is generic drugs as well. they are so much cheaper than brand name drugs. seven out of ten prescription written are for gener

but robert reich, former labor secretary is very critical of what he says is too much drug industry interaction with the white house on this. he thinks it's kind of an unholy alliance and the people who will have to buy their drugs longer term and they'll agree to big cuts, $80 billion in drug cut costs and they'll get the access to a big and growing baby boomer market that will need more drugs in the future. but the pharmaceutical industry, kate, contrary to what you suggested there is at the table here in health care reform. they're in this. >> here's a question to ed. my insurance premiums for two adults has gone from just over $200 a month in 2003 to just under $900 a month in 2009. more of a statement. the quality and accessibility of care is not, in my experience, the problem, it's the cost. >> that's when we look through this bill, drew. don't you find the parts that we will make sure that people aren't paying a rent payment, essentially, for health coverage. in some cases you're paying money for health coverage that might not cover you for everything you think it's going to, too. there'

robert reich. he's going to be joining us to take us through the health care debate, his criticism of barack obama. here now, wolf blitzer. >>> rick, thank you. rage and revenge with a twist. health care protesters have new targets and a new scene. stand by. >>> they both were number two on a presidential ticket, but guess what else sarah palin and dan quayle have in common? not necessarily all that good for sarah palin, virtually what no politician would want. >>> hardened prisoners and convicted killers become enrage sod they riot, igniting fire, trashing rooms and causing stab wounds. the first glimpse of the prison riot. one official says it's like lie to have been among the worst ever. i'm wolf blitzer in cnn's command center for breaking news, politics, and extraordinary reports from around the world. you're in "the situation room." >>> show them the money and don't break the bank. that's the latest argument emerging in this make or break debate over health care reform. protesters are now tur

i will say, however, robert reich wrote in his blog this week.y. he says the only thing worth looking at in the concern about the deficits are running is the $1.6 trillion number this year, he says the only thing shocking about that is that it's too small. we need to be spending more. >> come on. >> that's what he said. >> that's why people are so angry in some of these town hall meetings is because they're afraid we're going to put ourselves so deeply in debt, we won't get out. >> have you got a romans' numeral? >> i do, it's 40%, and it's a way of putting this debt in perspective for next year in particular. >> about borrowing. >> i'm not good at pop quizzes. >> it is 40%. >> how much of every dollar goes to debt service? >> pretty close. next year of all of the government revenue, 40% of the money we take in, we've borrowed. >> oh. >> think about that 40% of our revenue next year is projected to be borrowed money. >> that's why people are worried. >> a lot of people can't get it why we have to borrow money because of a problem of being in too

he reminds me a little of secretary robert reich, although he is far more left-wing and secretary reich. he knew what he believed and went in government and loved roosevelt and roosevelt loved him. this is also about policy agony. it is about when you go in government and do your best and are not appreciated and the thing produced is not what you planned and nobody cares. he was a columbia professor and got leave to go in government. columbia waved him by a very ostentatiously, come back, we love you. he got there and worked in the agriculture department. he became the head of something called the resettlement administration where the move people around as in john steinbeck, a lot of poverty, dust bowl and so on and he saw that a lot of the projects were not really working. some worked, maybe fertilizer worked, farms wouldn't have to be sold and foreclosed upon. a lot of it didn't work and he had deep ambivalence. he planned communities, greenbelt maryland, he cozied up to eleanor who also appreciated them. they drank new york state champagne which roosevelt thought was awful and probab

we debate our friend robert reich eulace clinton's labor secretary, a good guy. we both enjoyed being with him but he keeps talking about what a great success the new deal was and we talk in the book about what really happened during the 1930's. in fact by 1940, this is the only statistic i will give you about the great depression but eight years after the new deal was launched, the unemployment rate in the united states was 51.1%. it is hard to believe that anyone can save this was a successful program when one out of it seven or one out of the americans were still unemployed after eight years of this program and get this is still held up as a model for the u.s. in 2009 and beyond. i am going to end by simply saying this, people's me what is going to happen with the economy? i think this program will fail, unfortunately. the whole premise of the book "the end of prosperity." the good news is that the americans have, people have a very short attention span. they abby gary, we live in an instant gratification society. of the year from now the economy is in substan