shelby lynne. has all the details. >>reporter: angry protesters wanted reentry into the capital. 200 people were ordered out. those who got go willingly were forcibly removed. the building was on temporary lockdown with a highly controversial assembly vote. lawmakers were going to work on a budget plan with health, pension contributions and bargaining rights. >> we will see an end on this today. >>reporter: while they held their ground in madison scott was in milwaukee. >> i hope that from last night into the would not allowed people from outside of wisconsin creeping chaos >>reporter: reporter if with this deemed necessary to cut the deficit. this is perceived as an attack on the middle class. >> we're custodians of this economy and we are responsible to represent the people. >>reporter: was locked on and so for the showdown continues. shall the land from atlanta. >>catherine: if this continues, all right. shall be land--was reporting shelby whe rumolynn >> rob: if you're running- deficits? without a backlash. this wi

both oil rigs were calleand knocked out in the gulf and aid oral refinery in texas shelby? >> or a mac refinery-- >> with libyan troubles on going, and 13 st. the increases. the record high, consumers are wondering when with a pained at the pump give way? with some new problems. a fact that americans are experiencing a sharp rise in prices of the gas pump. the family budget and 1/2 and iii that for closely. >> some are looking for a strategic oil reserve from president obama to policpress te price down. >> we are in discussions with the oil producing companies about the various options that are available. on a global system to do with a major disruption if that occur. >>reporter: wind should we report wind? the price? >> and zz $4, is an easy prediction. and i would not even be surprised at $5. and then, impressive economic impact. >>reporter: already feeling that. >> hurting bad. >>reporter: lanshallshell the shelby. >>pam: airlines? >> southwest is increasing fares by $10. citing the need to offset higher fuel prices. delta started this price increase last week. raising t

senator shelby has his doubts about livable communities. if they are planned by the federal government but they work really well when they been planned at a local level. when they are are locally driven decision so bringing all of those pieces to the table helps maximize your dollars and helps bring economic development and all of the pieces and parts that you guys are used to doing and looking at so we encourage you to bring your ideas and ring your successes to us. how you have gone out and sought funding and how you have achieved the multimodal components, how you have gotten other participants and players to work with you so that we can try and form a program or a proposal that works so that we can figure out how to move ahead in the future with the limited resources that we have. i think that is generally it. hopefully we are going to move forward. >> i memorized all of that so i can tell the construction guys back home exactly how this is but that is very good and an interesting bipartisan discussion about how to handle this issue and

it says that san francisco rules shelby followed by san francisco officers. san francisco will help to supervise its own officers. the police department promised the police commission that those were still the rules being followed. the special agent in charge of the fbi told us in 2005 that was still the case and we had nothing to worry about. here we are now. suddenly they will not answer the question. the san francisco police department has refused to release their current memorandum of understanding dole answered definitively if they are an following local or fbi rules. the assessments being collected by the fbi, the reason it came out was because the judicial committee asked for the information from the fbi. when this resolution asks for more transparency, this is a starting point. this committee can endorse the good work of the human rights comparecommission. i asked them to look into this. i believe there is great risk but there may be a secret arrangement between the police department and the fbi to do and in iran -- an end run around the police depart

as i was trying to explain also to senator shelby, the criterion we'll be using will be first we want to be sure that price stability is maintained, that inflation remains low and stable, and in doing that we'll have to look ahe to where inflation is going, not just where it's been, but also to the extent that'consistent with that, we want to make sure that recovery is self-sustaining, that the private sector is -- is leading the recovery so that the artificial support from the fed and from fiscal authorities and so on can be withdrawn and that the private economy lead the recovery. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator warner. >> am i next? >> yes. >> thank you. let me see if i understand an answer that i believe you gave, senato merkley. you said the commercial mortgage-backed security market is coming back to a small extent. >> correct. >> and i assume that's a good thing. >> yes because that's an important source of finance for a commercial real estate. given the banks are not expanding their balance sheets, we need alternative sources o finance. >> right. and i got information f

as i was trying to explain als to senator shelby, the criterion we'll be using will be first we want to be sure that price stability is maintained, that inflation remains low and stable, and in doing that we'll have to look ahead to where inflation is going, not just where it's been, but also to the extent that's consistent with that, we want to make sure that recovery is self-sustaining, that the private sector is -- is leading the recovery so that the artificial support from the fed and from fiscaluthorities and so on can be withdrawn and that the private economy lead the recovery. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator warner. >> am next? >> yes. >> thank you. let me see if i understand an answer that i believe you gave, senator merkley. you said the commercial mortgage-backed security market is coming back to a small extent. >> correct. >> and i assume that's a good thing. >> yes because that's an important source of finance for a commercial real estate. given the banks are not expaing their balance sheets, we need alternative sources of finance. >> right. and i got information f

>> well, richard shelby is not among them.ument of the republicans is that they don't need it, they can raise the money. but it's a beloved part of the culture. conservatives have always said n.p.r. is tilted, they don't like that and they don't want their people paying for it, meaning their voters and estimates so a lot of friction approximate, but bert and ernie -- chris: do you think it could be made more centrist? >> i think n.p.r. say great news organization. the problem is not that it's too liberal, it's too elitist. it's high-end. chris: the good part is it covers the world the >> ovechkin seen as elitist -- the value of npr is it does have correspondents around the world and that's very expensive when a lot of news organizations are cutting their coverage. there say security argument for the idea that we need more foreign coverage the i don't think most republicans actually object so much to the sums. as you point out they're very small. it is the idea that you are funding public broadcasting that they believe has a bi

shelby lynne.. ♪ have a good daisy ♪ eat well, live long ♪ have a good daisy, work out, get strong ♪ed a lift, just sing a song ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy with a natural treat ♪ ♪ have a good daisy, healthy foods to eat ♪ ♪ when you want some joy, dance to the beat ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy [ female announcer ] enjoy the fresh, 100% natural choice in cottage cheese. ♪ have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy >>catherine: new york times is starting to charge online. $1 buy-$30 you installed it article for free but there is a going to be some initial discounts. in an effort to get people used to the idea >> stella! she >> this was part of a shopping competition for the shouting-competition in honor of the play " a streetcar named desire " stay with us. kaufhof now at 6:30, our top stories. more news, more crews, right now our top stories. >>reporter: it's almost time for baseball, at&t park, the will break down the is further. right now, let us take a look as they come off the field. everybody wants to see what he is doing, with mark ellis and some of these gusy from th

coppy, who i knew to be a fan of my writing, and i said please, shelby, give me a position here and he did. and i covered entertainment. that was available at the me. i covered the entertainment industry, and then went to the subpoenaed magazine. -- sunday magazine that's when i was able to do the kind of work that resonated with me. >> how long were you and ron brown together at "the los angeles times"? >> well, he was at the national journal for many years. i started at "the los angeles times" two years before i did. he is still there and i'm not. i would have to ad up the years. >> and there's a couple kids in the middle of this? >> a couple kids. we have two sources of boundless energy and enthusiasm for life, one is taylor, who is 10 years old, and one is danny, who is 6. they are a lot of fun, and they were very patient with mom through this whole process. books are more overwhelming than people expect them them to be when they go into it, i think. going back to the five -- clint bullock, david macintosh, bill kristol, ralph reid, and grover norquest -- what other new things d

chairman, senator shelby, thank you for having me today. my name is ron phipps and i am the 2011 president of the national association of realtors. i am part of a four-generation realtor family. my dream is making, on a ship available for american families. i am proud to testify on behalf of the 1.1 million realtors who share that dream but also the 75 million americans who own homes in the 310 million americans who require shelter. most americans aspire toward home ownership. they measure their personal financial well less in large part in terms of -- well less in large part of home ownership and equity in the home. it is the first commandment of self-reliance for most families. what is the state of housing? in a word, when you have heard repeated, it is fragile. the housing climate continues to be erratic. mortgage rates have jumped from the exceptionally low rates of last year and risen slightly and we expect them to go a little further. the consumer malaise continues in the overall economy effectively retarding the housing recovery. we

in shelby county, indiana, outside of indianapolis, seven people were rescued from their house after it was flooded. in columbus, ohio icy roads made for treacherous driving, with reports of 60 traffic accidents in just 2 1/2 hours today. in buffalo, new york, roads were shut down because of heavy snow. all this with just two weeks before the official start of spring. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >>> we want to go now to the weather channel's mike seidel. he is in syracuse, new york where it is really coming down tonight. mike, good evening. >> reporter: hey, lester. if you think you've had a bad winter, here in syracuse, where they average 10 feet of snow a season, they're closing in on 14 feet of snow tonight. you can still see it coming down. look at the radar. that snow and rain with this storm is pulling out. it will be out to sea by tomorrow afternoon. then we turn our attention to the next storm on tuesday. a foot of snow, wind, maybe a blizzard in parts of the central plains, severe weather and isolated tornados south of vista there, and the warm air. we'll keep an eye o

senator shelby has his doubts. if they are planned by the federal government. but they worked really well when they have been planned at a local level. when they are locally driven decisions. so bringing all of those pieces to the table helps maximize your dollars and helps bring economic development and all of the pieces and parts that you guys are used to doing and looking at. so we encourage you to bring your ideas and bring your successes to us. how you've gone out and sought funding and how you've achieved the multi-modele components. how you've gotten other players to work with you so that we can try and form a program or a proposal that works so that we can figure out how to move ahead in the future with the limited resource that is we have. i think that's generally it. i mean, hopefully we're going to move forward. >> i memorized all that so i can tell the construction guys back home. but that's very good and interesting bipartisan discussion about how to handle this issue and i think that's the one asset that we have in our part of the domestic budget

senator shelby has a couple additional questions. >> thank you for your indulgence, mr. chairman. in a recent article, dr. martin feldstein, who is well known former president of the national bureau of economic research, asked an important question about qe-2. he says does the artificial support for the bd market and equities from qe-2 mean that we're looking at asset price bubbles that may come to an end before the yeais over. chairman bernanke, what data do you examine to calculate the risk of creating asset bubbles within qe-2? is that a real concern? >> it is something, senator, that we pay a great deal of attention to. have created a new office called the office of financial stability which is providing regular reports and data to the fomc as well as to the supervisors. if you look at most indicators of equity markets, bond markets and the like, while of course nobody can know for sure, there seems little evidence of any significant bubbles. where there have been concerns, a few people have nted the increase in farmland prices, for example. we have been following that careful

suffering from a shorter injury which could overshadow his duty for to county two thousand and seven shelby in stormy races need seen but. the seasons are the biggest thing i'm looking forward to and you know i just consistent in week consistency was shiny nine pre-season testing is something that's been really giving us a lot of confidence and in this way can you know with my small steps but it is a track that we've done very well in the past so we're not holding too much on the second for sure but knowing the teams on a fantastic job day you know if they've done everything right which might small steps in every session and slowly get the bike to a place we really enjoy it. finally twenty twelve season london hosts the twenty seventh olympic games plenty of eyes then looking to the future but for two former gold medalists thirty one years in the past was in focus this week in moscow rather for dining explains. nine hundred eighty the olympic mascot says goodbye must kill in flies away the games are over although the big three is clean but their efforts forever three years later and jewels

they wept to shelby lane school yesterday afternoon on reports that a teacher was causing a disturbance math teacher are ralted the table to get attention of a students. an 8th grade student used a cellphone. the teacher was calmed when they arrived and no other students seemed bothered. >> the man convicted of assassinating kennedy. he is serving a life sentence. sir han is now 56-year-old. he was denied parole his last hearing in 2006. >> some countries including the u.s. and britain are already drawing up possible military plans involving libya. among things being considered, a possible no-fly zone to prevent libyan leader moammer gadhafi's air force from carrying out air strikes from protestors who want him to step down. forces loyal to qaddafi took control of a key oil installation in port today. and war planes bombed an ammunition depot on a rebel-held eastern town. >> let's get a check of the markets. bloomberg reporter jane king is joining us live from the new york stock exchange. how are things going? i know we're watching apple. >> yes, definitely are. we're gonna start talkin

good for stovall and the united way, bad for the taxpayers of shelby county.ys off after he donated $500. good for otis jackson and the united way. unfortunately, his donation is costing the taxpayers more than $2,000. jackson's clerk michelle smith was generous and donated $500 to the charity. her kindness resulted in an extra five bonus days off work. good for her but bad for the county taxpayers, who will pick up the tab to the tune of almost $1200. what did you do with your five bonus days? >> i'm unable to comment on any of this. >> reporter: smith, not talking, but county commissioners are. >> county taxpayers shouldn't have to pay a dime for these people to make a contribution. if these people don't to want make a contribution, that's fine. but they shouldn't be -- elected officials should not be using the county's tax resources. >> i think this is excessive and i think this is exactly why people are skeptical about government's constant request for more money. >> reporter: together, jackson's employees collected a total of 296 days off for their donati

. >> i'll with shelby and -- look at this. what does that say?tney spears changed my life. >> and my life, too, jim. >> jimmy: how did she change your life? >> well, i was sick and when i saw her i got better. >> jimmy: yeah. she changed your diapers, is what she changed. >> more or less, that too. i feel great. what a night. >> jimmy: we'll check backn with uncle frank later. he's finally among his people. these are -- [ applause ] you know? last night on nbc they had a concert called "all together now, a celebration of service." to honor former president george h.w. bush. it got beat in the ratings by univision, but all the former presidents were there, the living presidents, the dead ones weren't invited. and they had quite a list of performers. one of the performers was kid rock. a bush sr. favorite, i'm sure. don't know who booked this show but the performers were really able to connect with their audience. ♪ deep like the granldest canyon ♪ ♪ wild ♪ if you can't see >> jimmy: the carters are really going wild. seeing things like that make m

senator shelby. >> thank you mr. chairman for calling this hearing. i hope this will mr. chairman be the first of many hearings by the committee on the housing market and the housing policy. the well-known problems in the housing market deserve the committee's full attention. over the past three years national home prices have declined sharply from the unprecedented levels reached at the height of the housing bubble not since the great depression has their housing market experience such is the fear correction. today, we hope to learn the present state of the housing market and what the future may hold. how close is the market to bottoming out for example? what will it take her home sales to reach normal levels? how does the housing market very by region and what factors account for the differences? what is the appropriate level of homeownership and why? in addition, it is my hope that today's hearing will set the stage for a discussion of the future of housing finance. without question our housing finance system is broken. the federal government now backs approximately 97

. >> the female student at shelby lane school was apparently frightened when her teacher john hain rattledable to get the attention of students. when officers arrived at the school they found hain calmly teaching his class. >> when you have a situation where a student makes an allegation that they feel threatened, then we feel a strong obligation to investigate what are the actual facts of that case. >> investigators said none of the students or the other students appeared to be bothered by the teacher's actions. the redwood city school district said hain was placed on paid leave while it investigates the incident. [ music ] >>> and live stormtracker 2 picking out light showers around the area. really light for the most part. some activity up in the mountains. activity south down towards the santa cruz mountain and just east of livermore. but this is really light shower activity. widely scattered and just news an showers at best. these are the highs today. look how much it warmed up. this is kind of a mild weather system. certainly compared to the last one. that was an arctic system that r

chairman, for the opportunity. >> senator, shelby. >> mr. mccool, if you could, walk us back to what happened at aig, what we did to get into it, where we are today. you alluded to it earlier in your testimony. we hear reports everything's over with, it's great, but i don't believe that's true. ped >> what i eluded to was at least in the recent past with the recapitalization program announced, there's a chance of us exiting aig, and we'll see -- >> how much money have we put into aig? directly and indirectly. >> high as $150 billion at one point. >> paid that back yet? a fair amount. >> what's a fair amount? >> i think we're down to $96 billion, so paid $50 billion. >> well over a third they paid back. they owe two-thirds more or less. >> more or less. >> they still owe a substantial amount of money. >> if you include the assets and maiden lanes as well as money -- >> okay, tell us where we are today. >> the key is going to be since the treasury was 92% of common stock is the price they get from the stock over time. >> that's a lot of money.

. >> senator shelby. >> secretary donovan, quoting your words, the administration is fully committed to exploring other measures to make sure that secondary market participants are providing capital to all communities. then secretary geithner said, government-supported incentives for housing to distort the markets. on the one in use in the administration is fully committed to exploring government and sentenced to distort the market. what are some of the ways that the administration is considering meeting the seemingly contradictory goals? are you supporting quotas are an expansion of the cra? how'd you achieve some of these goals without politicizing lending decisions? >> i think that we've talked about the risks of the politicization of any of these issues. >> and there are big risks there. >> no question. going back to something you said earlier in the hearing that transparency can be at powerful tool to ensure markets are working effectively. one of the things we have seen is that as we have provided transparency in the primary market through mechanisms like the disclosure act, we

. >> the female student at shelby lane school was apparently frightened when her teacher john hain rattledable to get the attention of students. when officers arrived at the school they found hain calmly teaching his class. >> when you have a situation where a student makes an allegation that they feel threatened, then we feel a strong obligation to investigate what are the actual facts of that case. >> investigators said none of the students or the other students appeared to be bothered by the teacher's actions. the redwood city school district said hain was placed on paid leave while it investigates the incident. [ music ] >>> and live stormtracker 2 picking out light showers around the area. really light for the most part. some activity up in the mountains. activity south down towards the santa cruz mountain and just east of livermore. but this is really light shower activity. widely scattered and just news an showers at best. these are the highs today. look how much it warmed up. this is kind of a mild weather system. certainly compared to the last one. that was an arctic system that r

this senator wants his replacement made in his home state, alabama, but richard shelby says the air forcetition is a sham. so in protest, he did something drastic. he blocked most of president obama as nominees through an array of federal agencies that has nothing to do with this issue. >> that is pretty extreme. why did you do that? >> i did it to get the attention of the administration. >> he made headlines and became a symbol of gridlock. but in his first tv interview on the subject, he makes no apologies. >> it sounds like what you are trying to do is put money, put jobs at in the state of alabama. >> ultimately i am a senator from alabama, but i wanted to make sure there is fairness. >> shelby eventually lifted his hold on all but three nominees for senior air force position. without these highly qualified professionals, we are not firing on all cylinders. >> the thing that nominees you have holds on are qualified? >> i do not have any idea. >> it is part of life here in the senate. it is not in the official rules, but by tradition, any senator can put a hold of any presidential nomi

but richard shelby says the air force competition is a sham. in protest, he did something drastic.e blocked most of president obama's nominees to an array of federal agencies that had nothing to do with the issue. you bought nearly 50 nominees. what did you do that? >> i did it to get the attention of the administration. >> did he ever. he made headlines in makemie symbol of gridlock. in his first tv interview on the subject, he makes no apology. >> what it sounds like you're trying to do is put money and put jobs back in the state of alabama. >> ultimately, i am etc. from alabama. but there is fairness, the jobs will go there. >> shelby eventually lifted all of this holds a separate three nominees. cnn was told that without the highly qualified professionals, they are not firing on all cylinders. >> de think the nominees are qualified? >> i have no idea. >> it is part of life here in the senate. it is not in the official rules, but by tradition, any senator can put a hold on any public -- on any presidential nominee for any reason. a democratic senator held up by george w. bush no

. >> reporter: to shelby county, indiana, where a dozen people, including this 3-month-old baby had toued from rising waters by boat. >> it came up 2 to 3 inches every hour. >> reporter: a possible tornado rip add part tree, and in louisiana, another band of high winds ripped the roof right off this church. in rayne, louisiana, a deadly tornado, winds racing at 135 miles per hour, displayed 150 people. and winds damaged 1500 homes and killed a mother who lost her life while shielding her new born baby girl after a storm ripped through her home. >> it happened so fast, it was a shock. >> reporter: after what has been an intense is winter. flooding is a major concern heading into spring. in big storm fashion, the air sweeping in behind this is cold and windy. right now, in times square, we're even seeing snow flurries. after what is about 2 inches of rain yesterday. let's get to the boards. here's a quick look at more than 25 states with flood warnings. one thing you'll notice, they're all kind of hugging the mississippi river, the ohio river basin, the tennessee river basin as well. the

in shelby county, just outside of indianapolis, seven people had to be rescued from their homes. >> it took some of my friends coming out here and getting in the water and stealing somebody else's boat to come get us. >> reporter: outside columbus, ohio, 60 weather-related wrecks reported in less than three hours on sunday, blamed on icy roads. in buffalo, sunday snowfall pushed the season total past 100 inches. people just want winter to end. >> i'm ready for spring to get here, baseball to start. >> reporter: the worst was in rayne, louisiana. 50 miles west of baton rouge. this security camera shows the tornado that touched down saturday with 135 miles per hour winds leaving shattered glass, broken trees, and mud-soaked debris in parts of town. one young mother was killed. authorities say she died sheltering her 1-year-old daughter as fierce winds brought down a tree on their house. 12 other people were hurt with 1,500 people forced from their homes by the twister. >> it was total chaos to be honest with you. >> reporter: it's going to be chaotic for the morning rush hour in syracuse

. >> like i said, the structure shelby made by the political leadership of the nation's -- shall be madey the political leadership of the nation's. this is not difficult for us. largely, as a round of coalition, with a similar procedures that we operate together, exercise together, and speak a similar language. we have similar procedures. in that part, i do not think anyone should be too concerned about it. >> this is david cloud with "l.a. times." what is your understanding of the situation on the ground? are you aware of forces loyal to colonel gaddafi carrying out attacks on civilians? also, your coalition aircraft is performing strikes to prevent that? >> my intelligence tells me that there are gaddafi forces in mizrata in violation of the security council resolution construct. i will not talk about future operations. but i am aware of it. we are considering all options as we look across the entire country of libya. this country is just about the size of alaska. the forces of gaddafi are a fairly significant land force. the no-fly zone is in place. it is effective. we have diminished

. >> senator shelby? >> i want to than you for a great job that you have done as inspector general. i remember when you were up for confirmation and i told you that i hope that you would do something very good for the american people and that he would stand up for the american people, and you ve. i am glad that you are -- my reference was that yodid not need to be employed by some of the people you're going after. they would never hire you anyway, thank god. you will leave that post with a lot of thks from the american people for the job you have done and you will always do well. i know that. i would like to ask you a couple questions. in written testimony, you states, unfortunately, tarps most significant legacy may be the exacerbation of the problems posed by too big to fail. you go on to " secretary brightener -- you go onto " secretary dieter and which he states that in the future, the federal gornment may have to do exceptional things. if we face a large -- in your view, do financial markets still believe that the federal government will not allow big banks to fail? >> thank yo

. >> senator shelby. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. calabria, some housing interest groups have called for more regulations to govern the foreclosure process, which would lengthen the time to complete foreclosures. some have even called for a foreclosure moratorium. what would be the consequences, in your opinion, of these policies on the housing market and the economy? >> in the aggregate we would delay the adjustment of the housing market to reaching an equilibrium come of getting inventory out of there. so i'm very concerned that while we need to deal with those, the passenger of those who can be helped we need to move quicker practical support to keep in mind that somewhere between 30 to 40% of the foreclosures are on vacant properties. those properties don't do anybody any good sitting in those properties make it. so i would say what we need that is more a two track approach will refocused on those who can be helped, but those who will not be helped, that needs to be sped up in the process needs to be quicker. i also want to comme

. >> senator shelby? >> i want to thank you for a great job that you have done as inspector general. i remember when you were up for confirmation and i told you that i hope that you would do something very good for the american people and that he would stand up for the american people, and you have. i am glad that you are -- my reference was that you did not need to be employed by some of the people you're going after. they would never hire you anyway, thank god. you will leave that post with a lot of thanks from the american people for the job you have done and you will always do well. i know that. i would like to ask you a couple questions. in written testimony, you states, unfortunately, tarps most significant legacy may be the exacerbation of the problems posed by too big to fail. you go on to " secretary brightener -- you go onto " secretary dieter and which he states that in the future, the federal government may have to do exceptional things. if we face a large -- in your view, do financial markets

chairman johnson, ranking member shelby and other members of the committee, i'm pleased to present the federal reser's semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. i'll begin with a discussion of economic conditions and the outlook before turning to monetary policy. following the stabilization of economic activity amid 2009, the u.s. economy is now in its seventh quarter of growth. last quarter, for the first time in the expansion, our nation's gdp matched its precrisis peak. job growth remains relively weak. economic recovery was largely attributesable to the stainlessization of the financial system the effects of financial, monetary d fiscal policies and strong boost to production for businesses rebuilding their depleted inventories. economic growth slowed significantly in the spring and early summer of 2010 as the impetusor buding of fiscal stimulus diminished. more recently, however, we have seen increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold. notably, real consumer spending has grown at a solid pace since last fall. an

. >> senator shelby. >> secretary donovan, quoting your words, the administration is fully committed to exploring other measures to make sure that secondary market participants are providing capital to all communities. then secretary geithner said, government-supported incentives for housing to distort the markets. on the one in use in the administration is fully committed to exploring government and sentenced to distort the market. what are some of the ways that the administration is considering meeting the seemingly contradictory goals? are you supporting quotas are an expansion of the cra? how'd you achieve some of these goals without politicizing lending decisions? >> i think that we've talked about the risks of the politicization of any of these issues. >> and there are big risks there. >> no question. going back to something you said earlier in the hearing that transparency can be at powerful tool to ensure markets are working effectively. one of the things we have seen is that as we have provided transparency in the primary market through mechanisms like the disclosure act, we

and senate joint resolution 4 by senator shelby on the same topic. and senate joint resolution 5 by senator lee on the same topic. this is a long list but it's certainly not exhaustive, mr. president. i just read a partial list to make the point: we're coming up with ideas, proposals, solutions. we encourage every senator of every party to come up with ideas, proposals, solutions and let's actually talk about the greatest face -- threat we face as a country. let's talk about it now. let's debate it now. let's exchange ideas in a positive atmosphere now, well before we reach any crisis atmosphere over the debt limit. again, mr. president, i respectfully urge the distinguished majority leader, senator reid, to heed our call to take up our call to arms, to read our letter and react by creating identified time on the floor, well before we reach the statutory debt limit, to debate and pass solutions on this crucial topic. again, mr. president, i don't think there is debate that this isn't the greatest challenge we face as a country, that this isn't the gr

by senator hatch, the balanced joit budget amendment and senate joint resolution four by senator shelbyon the same topic andnate senate joint resolution by senator lee on the same topic. it's a long list but it's not exhaustive, mr. president.st rel i just read a partial list to make the point we are coming up with ideas, proposals, solutions. we encourage every senator of every party to come up with ideas, proposals come solutionse and let's actually talk aboutace the greatest threat we face as a country. let's talk about it now. let's debate it now and exchange ideas and a positive atmospherea now before we reach any crisis atmosphere over the debt limit. respectfully urge thesena distinguished majority leader senator reid to heat our call to take up the call to arms to read the letter and react by creatint identified time on the floor well before we reach the to statutory debt limit to debate and pass solutions on thissident crucial topic. again, mr. president, i would think there is the date that this isn't the greatest that challenge we face of the gre country, atthis isn't the gre

. >> senator shelby? >> secretary donovan, i am quoting your words. "the administration is fully committed to exploring other measures to make sure the secondary market participants are providing the capital to all communities." then secretary geithner said, "government-supported incentives for housing distorted the market." on one hand you say the administration is fully committed to exploring government's incentives. what are some of the ways that the administration is considering meeting these contradictory goals? are you considering government mandated lending quotas, and how do you achieve without facilitating lending decisions? >> senator, i believe we have talked about the risks of the political is asian of many things. >> there are big -- of the politicalization of these issues. i would go back to what you said earlier in the meeting. it could be a big tool in ensuring these markets work effectively. we have seen transparency through the home mortgage transparency active. we have seen that transparency be a powerful force to ensure that where

. >> this is worn by shelby. it's beautiful in the back. do you mind turning?n the back. it's adorable. we want to thank you all again for wearing the dresses. we are really starting to see the shape that we'll see over the next several months as we look for dresses. >> late spring into summer. these are the looks you will see. you can look like your favorite celebrity for under $500. they are over $1 million. >> jill martin, thanks for helping us do that. coming up, a baby who is a barrel of laughs and is all the rage on the internet. he was cracking us up in studio. you will meet him after these messages. couldn't wait to skate on that ice. what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce th

. >> senator shelby? >> i want to thank you for a great job that you have done as inspector general. i remember when you were up for confirmation and i told you that i hope that you would do something very good for the american people and that he would stand up for the american people, and you have. i am glad that you are -- my reference was that you did not need to be employed by some of the people you're going after. they would never hire you anyway, thank god. you will leave that post with a lot of thanks from the american people for the job you have done and you will always do well. i know that. i would like to ask you a couple questions. in written testimony, you states, unfortunately, tarps most significant legacy may be the exacerbation of the problems posed by too big to fail. you go on to " secretary brightener -- you go onto " secretary dieter and which he states that in the future, the federal government may have to do exceptional things. if we face a large -- in your view, do financial markets

chairman johnson, ranking member shelby andther members of the committee, i'm pleased to present the federal reserve's semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. i'll begin with a discussion of economic conditions and the outlook before turning to monetary policy. following the stabilization of economic activity amid 2009, the u.s. economy is now in its seventh quarter of growth. last quarter, for the first time in the expansion, our nation's gdp matched its precrisis peak. job growth remains relatively weak. economic recovery was largely attributesable to the stainlessization of the financial system the effects of financial, monetary and fiscal policies and strong boost to production for businesses rebuilding their depleted inventories. economic growth slowed significantly in the spring and early summer of 2010 as the impetus for building of fiscal stimulus diminished. more recently, however, we have seen increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold. notably, real consumer spending has grown at a solid pace since las