steven moore is a senior economics writer and editorial board writer at "the wall street journal."re a deficit hawk. you must be ecstatic about the forced spending cuts in washington one week into this sequester, the sky hasn't fallen despite the president's warnings, the dow is flying high, we've got job creation continuing. do you think we're on the right track despite having a president many consider anti-business? >> not quite as jubilant as you are, ali, but it was a very positive jobs report, and these are the kind of numbers we need as you said correctly for the next three or four years and that we should expect give than we're in a kroefr. i do think that the sequester has really been a nonevent with respect to the financial markets. businesses are plowing ahead. and i think a lot of the dire forecasts that cutting government spending was going to hurt the economy, look, it just started so we've only had this for a week or two, but i was one of the people who said, look, this might be a positive thing for the economy in terms of giving business some assurance that at least

joining me around the table to discuss, mark zandi, chief common mist for moody's, steven moore, columniston't lack for finger pointing what we look for is any kind of solution to this. it does not sound to me as if the republicans or the democrats are eager to get together to do anything. is that the sense you're getting? >> yeah, i think the sequester is going to be the sequester. i give the president some flexibility on how to implement it, which will be a good thing. won't give that, particular resolution. the spending cuts is a done deal. we're going to face that. >> they stay. >> republicans are very frustrated. i heard your interview earlier with the president's chief economic adviser. what he left out is when they had the debt ceiling -- this is the result of failed debt ceiling cuts two years ago. republicans say let's reform this entitlement, that and others. the president rejected every entitlement reform the president put on the table. for now the president said we want to reform sbilentitlements. sure, let's do that. one thing they won't do is agree to any tax increases. >> it

steven moore "wall street journal" writer. francis, good morning.n eliminates it. the senate plan kaoeupts. on medicare the house republican plan goes to a voucher-like model, the senate democratic plan goes to modest cuts to providers over time. on social security calls on the president and congress to address the issue and the senate democratic plan offers few specifics. melissa, i sense a stall in the overall look at this. once that senate budget hits the floor, whether you agree witness or not it kind of changed the dynamic does it not? >> it seems the dynamic has definitely changed in washington and they are working towards a resolution of some type. although when you look at those two plans there are vast differences and things you see on the board that could never pass plea happen, lycra peeling care r-frplt the mos obama care. the sequester came and went and the dire circumstances and pre dicks that were put out there it feels like to the average person didn't happen. if you watch the market it hit record after record as the sequester was ha

steven moore a senior writer, and matt mccall. president of penn.an city that has fallen on incredible tough times, steve. >> you mentioned the population down a third in the last decade, it's down by more than half over the last 25, 30 years. this was once one of the five biggest seattles in america. i would make the case for you martha, remember this is what happened to new york city back in the 1970s when it couldn't pay its bills. this might be the right solution. what is really bang rupgt the city right now is those outrageous lee inflated pension and healthcare benefits to retired workers from the city that aren't even working any more, rant providing city services. martha: there's about 50 unions that have hold over various parts of the economy in detroit, and a lot of people are pointing at that as one of the biggest problems, matt, because they have promised way more than they can ever afford to pay. that is the basic math of it, isn't it? >> absolutely. you come up with one reason why detroit is in and, it's the unions. it's clear and simi

david moore is a writer for "the wall street journal." these are great friends of our show. steven, am i imagining it or is washington the impediment it's been to the american recovery? >> you're on to something here. i talked to businessmen and women all the time. recently they are saying we don't always like the policies out of washington, but right now there's a benign neglect going on. at least we don't feel like a lot of bad things are coming down the pike. a lot of businesses are moving forward. you're starting to see an expansion of hiring. you saw what happened with the stock market over the last three months. a lot of the businessmen and women and workers are stay saving maybe there's a calm. whether this is a calm before the storm, i don't know. >> john, steven called it benign neglect. there's a difference between benign neglect and doing something helpful. this government has lowered expectations about what it should be doing to help the economy. should it be doing anything at all or is this now the new normal? >> absolutely it should. benign neglect is not enough. the