. >> it was simpson bowles. david: i'm sorry, simpson bowles. pported, democrats and republicans. bowles is a great guy, a good person and a democrat, and simpson did a great job on this. why not do it? it had broad bipartisan support. let's go at it. this president has to sit there and mingle and diddle and push things and do special deals all over the place, hopefully currying favors. it didn't work in the last election. david: if republicans and democrats can get together for simpson bowles, all the better for the nation. simpson bowles. thank you very much. >> david, good to see you. david: oil touching 63 earlier. took a hit when opec said it would not cut production. let's bring in larry levin in chicago. hearing all kinds of predictions on the price of oil going as low as $30 in some cases. what do you say? >> hearing all kinds of changing predictions. david, because everybody is talking about oil being $80, $100 and people lowering predictions quite a bit. it would have been interesting to see them cut production or cut some production. i

i would also say to people, read the simpson-bowles report. read but domenici-rivlin report. real work has been done in these about what the solutions are a blessing i would say to read is read the cbo report read the cbo report because they lay out the fact that the fiscal trajectory we are on is absolutely unsustainable. there's no question. and yet what you're hearing today is the deficit has come down so much. all of the focus is on the short term improvement in the budget deficit there's been the result of, some not very smart policies focusing on sequestered and some cap on the discretion part of our budget. improvement in the economy. but what hasn't improved is the fact that our debt levels are twice the historical average as a share of gdp. it's not just, but that always goes up and dollars. this is a share of economy. we are twice what we were we went into the huge 2008 crisis, and we're twice as our historical average. and it is projected to go up starting again in a couple of years at him as a symbol rate growing faster than the economy forever. so the situation i

we had assumed the president would do the same, that if he didn't like bowles-simpson, he would put his own plan out there meeting these benchmarks to stabilize our fiscal situation, and he chose not to do that either. bowles-simpson was set up by his executive order, and so we really did expect him -- once we decided not to support it, the house republicans and go do our thing, we thought that he would have triangulated like bill clinton did for the sake of 2012 and surround it and support it. instead he jettisoned it demagogued what we were doing and dud not offer a cred call -- did not offer a credible fiscal alternative. and meanwhile, we still have this same fiscal problem looming over us. why is that? look, you'll have to ask him -- [laughter] but my personal theory is ideology. and i write about this in the book at the particular moment where it was clear what decision was being made, and i just think it was more of an ideological enter that was -- interest that was front and center of his mind versus something that was more moderate or moderate-seeming. and i just believe at tha

. >> first and foremost i remember when the whole simpson-bowles recommendation came out, this was a commission that the president appointed. the president when they reported their record and it was bipartisan and there were some numbers that did not report it, it had a bipartisan vote supporting simpson-bowles and the president asked me should he supported and i said that he should. i said you should support those, mr. president. it is your commission, they have been working at it it is bipartisan and you may not like each of the pieces. but the fact that they came together is important and i said if you support this chances are the congress is going to have a hard time with this proposal, but you will be in the right place. you will be in the right place. and for whatever reason he didn't support it. and so we go to the budget negotiations and it was this kind of back-and-forth and joe biden was leading the charge to try to develop an approach. and i think there was a moment there where everyone kind of stood by what they thought they had agreed to that we could've had a budget. bu

>> guest: well, you know, look, first and form most -- foremost, i remember when the whole simpson-bowles recommend came out -- this was a commission that the president appointed. the president -- when they reported their report, and it was bipartisan, some members that didn't support it, but it had a bipartisan vote supporting simpson-bowles, and the president asked me, should he support it? i said, you should. you should support this, mr. president. it's your commission, they've been working at it, it's bipartisan, you may not like each of to the pieces but the fact they came together is important. and i said, look, if you support this, chances are the congress is going to have hard time with this proposal. but you will be in the right place. you'll be in the right place. well, for whatever reason, he didn't support it, and so we go to the budget negotiations, and there was this kind of back and forth, and joe biden was kind of leading the charge, trying to develop an approach. i think there was a moment there where everybody kind of stood by what they thought they had agreed to, that w

[laughter] the anniversary of simpson bowles, this month.othing has been done. , as bob said,ize that there have been six or seven other commission reports since ours. and nothing has been done. i think that the lesson of this is that commission reports, no matter how good they are, aren't very efficacious. they don't really do very much. and you can have the most persuasive case. i can remember after our report came out, we had these beautiful charts, just unbelievable graphs demonstrating where we are heading on social security, medicare, total spitting -- total spending, so on. -- iember presenting thought i did a good job of presenting the case -- to a group of people, older people mainly, and they just viewed it with total disbelief. they did not want to believe it. i think that is fair to say that neither politicians nor voters want to accept that something has to be done that's serious with regard to the entitlements and in some way we've got to increase revenue. the 2012n-up to presidential election, there was the famous debate in io

[laughter] >> this is also the anniversary of simpson bowles, this month. and nothing has been done. i did not realize, as bob said, that there have been six or seven other commission reports since ours. and nothing has been done. i think that the lesson of this is that commission reports, no matter how good they are, aren't very efficacious. they don't really do very much. and you can have the most persuasive case. i can remember after our report came out, we had these beautiful charts, just unbelievable graphs demonstrating where we are heading on social security, medicare, total spending, so on. i remember presenting -- i thought i did a good job of presenting the case -- to a group of people, older people mainly, and they just viewed it with total disbelief. they did not want to believe it. i think that is fair to say that neither politicians nor voters want to accept that something has to be done that's serious with regard to the entitlements and in some way we've got to increase revenue. in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, there was the f

simpson bowls was his commission that he put together. that is the problem he is sitting back like this, well, congress you do something. the idea for the president is to lead, be an executive. melissa: yeah. absolutely. all right, the president isn't only one throwing shade today. sarah palin stopping by "varney & company" earlier with harsh word for the president. >> when you hear president obama spew this bs about what he has done to increase domestic supplies of energy, remember, it is bs. because on federal land he still locks it up. he still wants it locked up. it is private land, and it is state land where state leadership that understand why domestic energy independence is so important, it is what we have done to produce domestically. it is not what president obama has done. melissa: no, that is actually true. i covered energy for a long time. we are talking about private land and local stuff. todd, it is disingenuous for him to take credit, no. >> that's right. keeping something in mind here, when you start looking at the keyston

>> guest: well, you know, look, first and form most -- foremost, i remember when the whole simpson-bowles recommend came out -- this was a commission that the president appointed. the president -- when they reported their report, and it was bipartisan, some members that didn't support it, but it had a bipartisan vote supporting simpson-bowles, and the president asked me, should he support it? i said, you should. you should support this, mr. president. it's your commission, they've been working at it, it's bipartisan, you may not like each of to the pieces but the fact they came together is important. and i said, look, if you support this, chances are the congress is going to have hard time with this proposal. but you will be in the right place. you'll be in the right place. well, for whatever reason, he didn't support it, and so we go to the budget negotiations, and there was this kind of back and forth, and joe biden was kind of leading the charge, trying to develop an approach. i think there was a moment there where everybody kind of stood by what they thought they had agreed to, that w

tom actually volunteered for simpson bowles. that is why he lobbied to actually take them off, believe it or not, of the finance committee, and you always know where tom stands. i am told he was overseas with a couple of other senators when a government minister launched into a finger wagging her rank about our country. harangue about our country. he said what he thought about him and caught the next flight home, so tom is literally one-of-a-kind. we are not likely to see another one like this guy. here is what former senator kyle had to say about him. he said tom is like your conscience. , tried try to ignore him to ignore him, but you know he is right, even when you wish he worked. so some people may think tom is a member of the establishment now, but the truth is tom never changed. washington changed, america changed. people recognized the wisdom of his ideas about leaving a better country to the next generation, about giving americans the freedom and the opportunity to achieve real meaning and lasting happiness in their live

he empowers panels like simpson-bowles to look attacks reform without any intention of passing meaningful tax reform. now we have the honest obama. tracy: we have his true colors where we will say no to everything. >> not no to everything but not looking like honeymoon for the republican senate of the it is odd tone. will he ever respond to the results of the election. the american people spoke pretty clearly. they want ad change in course. he doesn't want to seem to go along but i think there are things he will have to accept. yes he could veto repeal of obamacare but he is probably not going to keep all of obamacare even with his veto pen. tracy: kmele he said he would work with them on free trade jobs infrastructure, you see any of that happening? >> absolutely. the free trade stuff i think there ask opportunity to get some things done. the democrats are not excited about. that the president talked about something being done there. we'll see how serious he is about it. as for obamacare piecemeal deconstruction of obamacare republicans had their eye on a while. i think they might be for

because most people don't have sympathy with corporations, bring down all the tax rates like simpson-bowlesould, a bipartisan panel. bring down the whole thing so everybody benefits from this. cheryl: let's not forget we still have a president who is a democrat. his name is barack obama. he will absolutely fire up the democrats even though they're not in control of congress. it will be a big fight in the front of the cameras. it will be a lot of rhetoric and nothing will be done. we'll potentially have gridlock for another couple years. i think corporate tax rate will be a big piece of that gridlock. david: wall street doesn't seem to mind gridlock that much so maybe that is best. coming up next with the panel, real estate prices in some areas at record highs but with big areas of the country having unrest could we see tumbling role estate prices. >> the camera program sunday fire believe it or not it is increasing car crashes. we'll have details for you coming up. >>> several major retailers are now allow louing customers to pick up online orders in stores. does it cut down on shopping tim

as simpson-bowles, domenici-rivlin and gang of six agreed, it will take a combination of spending reduction, entitlement reform and tax reform to stimulate more revenue. hard and tough votes will have to be taken, but that's why we get elected to the united states senate. the world is waiting for america to lead on this issue, and if we do, the u.s. economy will respond in a very robust way. the gang of six laid the foundation for this problem to be solved, and it is my hope that we do not leave the solution for the next generation. i close with what i've enjoyed most about congress, and this is the opportunity i have had to spend with the men and women in uniform and those in the intelligence world, all of whom are willing to put their life in harm's way for the sake of our freedom. whether it was robbins air force base, kabul, jalalabad, or due by, i always get emotional telling the men and women how proud of them i am and how blessed we americans are to have them protecting us. they are special people who sacrifice much for the sake of all 300 million millions americans. let us remember

as simpson-bowles, domenici-rivlin and gang of six agreed, it will take a combination of spending reduction, entitlement reform and tax reform to stimulate more revenue. hard and tough votes will have to be taken, but that's why we get elected to the united states senate. the world is waiting for america to lead on this issue, and if we do, the u.s. economy will respond in a very robust way. the gang of six laid the foundation for this problem to be solved, and it is my hope that we do not leave the solution for the next generation. i close with what i've enjoyed most about congress, and this is the opportunity i have had to spend with the men and women in uniform and those in the intelligence world, all of whom are willing to put their life in harm's way for the sake of our freedom. whether it was robbins air force base, kabul, jalalabad, or due by, i always get emotional telling the men and women how proud of them i am and how blessed we americans are to have them protecting us. they are special people who sacrifice much for the sake of all 300 million millions americans. let us remember

you've got to have a combination of those three items the bowles simpson as well as gang of six saidd to be done and we are increase revenues without raising taxes through major reforms of the tax code. i really hope that the next majority in congress is going to take this serious and they're going to move forward with it. the foundation frankly that the gang of six laid. >> woodruff: but we know that member of the congress in both parties have been resistant. democrats resistant to go along with some of the spending cuts. republicans reluctant to go along with some of the tax changes you talk billion. i just want to ask you senator, you said in your final farewell remarks on the floor of the senate, you spoke in a very moving way about your friendships with other senators both democrats and republicans. and you mentioned for example i mean i was struck by what you said about senator mark warner. you said you spent hundreds of hours together working on this debt issue. what is it about the rest of the senate members of the senate that makes it so hard for them to work across party li