i'll speak live with the labor secretary, thomas perez. he's joining us when we come back. [ male announcer ] megan doesn't know that coffee breaks down tooth enamel. thankfully, she uses act restoring mouthwash. it rebuilds tooth enamel, making your teeth two times stronger. act. smile strong. >>> unemployment rolls for now, more heading in that direction. earlier the senate voted to move ahead with a debate on a bill to re-establish the benefits, at least for three months. democrats got six republicans to vote their way. president obama who had been pressing congress to get something done on the extended benefits spoke just a little while ago after the senate vote. >> with what i said should be the first order of business in 2014. and that is extending insurance for the unemployed. the good news is, this morning the senate took a very important step in that direction. >> but it was only a step. there's still a long way to go. let's bring in our capitol hill reporter, lisa de jardine. where do they go from here? they passed this initial h

thomas perez is the secretary of labor. he joined us from the white house earlier this evening. secretary perez, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> ifill: the unemployment insurance benefits have been extended now 11 times. what do you think is the risk of not extending them again? >> well, there are 1.3 million americans who were supposed to receive their check today but they didn't. because the program has not been renewed. and so immediately they've gone from situation of dire need to one of catastrophe. and that's not simply 1.3 million but that's also their family members. and so that's why it's so important for congress to act immediately to restore these programs. and i'm very heartened by the fact that there is a bipartisan bill in front of the senate, with senator reid from rhode island and senator hell frere nevada. because this program has always enjoyed bipartisan support. and i'm confident and hopeful that this time it will be no different. >> ifill: except that last nose count it didn't look like the democrats or mr. heller had the votes to get to that 60

thomas perez visited. a commercial kitchen with affordable rates where people can develop their food businesses and get help along the way. it's impossible not to spend time and not be inspired. this is what america is all about. people with an idea and work ethic and vision. it is helping to put that vision into action. >> secretary perez joined in a roundtable decision on mihm gracious. >>> edly is in washington d.c. to join the conference of mayors. how the government is working to improve the roll out of the affordable care act. mayor lee settled a bet between the 49ers and the panthers. lee tweeted this photo showing patrick cannon wearing a niners cap. >> the mayors mentored a big brothers and sisters program. >>> right place at the right time. a resident of vallejo pulls a resident out of a car two years after seeing a man in a big rig crash. at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optimizers. how? by building custom security solutions that integrate video, access control, fire a

we hear from the secretary of labor thomas perez and republican economist dou

labor secretary thomas perez how we can get those people back in the work force and looking for jobs.> labor force participation has been going down over the period of decades, and part of the reason we see a reduction in long-term -- in labor force participation is because the population is aging. trends. >> part of the reason is because we need to create more jobs, and you are correct that the reduction in the unemployment rate last month, you know, two-thirds of it was a function of reduced labor force participation, and that's why the extension of emergency unemployment compensation is so important because one of the requirements of the receipt of those benefits is that you have to keep looking for a job and the studies have pretty consistently shown that when you are removed from those benefits and you don't have that requirement, then you tend to become discouraged faster and you stop looking. so that's why these benefits are so critical. but really, the long -- the lock-term solution to the very good question you asked about labor force participation is we need to grow the econ

. >>> also, labor secretary thomas perez joins us ahead of tonight's big state of the union address.he futures right now. you'll see that things are looking better, at least for the dow and the s&p 500. dow futures up by 74 points, s&p 500 up by 6.5, nasdaq down by just over 10 points, largely because of what happened with apple. stick around, "squawk box" will be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] a car that is able to see, to calculate, to think -- and can respond to what it encounters. ♪ even if that means completely stopping itself. it's the stuff of science fiction... minus the fiction. the 2014 e-class. see your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. is your tv powered by coal? natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out. this is where america's electricity comes from. a diversity of energy sources helps ensure the electricity we need is reliable. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. >>> welcome back, everybody. let's get back to richard parsons. we've been talking a little bit this morning about what'

corporations and their lackey media is to grow the economy they all do it to us labor secretary thomas perez just said the best way to decrease long term unemployment is to grow the economy a recent paper from the intergovernmental panel on climate change concludes that the solution to climate change is to grow the economy really nancy pelosi has reason to want to extend unemployment benefits to grow the economy. the people profiting most from our current system use grow the economy as a prescription for as everything our media propagates it and we all end up brainwashed into thinking that by yes we do need to keep making buying and consuming crap to grow the economy otherwise the world will end it's like we're told some down to the god of economy view because it's the only thing that will save us from certain doom up and i for one think of this luckily people are starting to realize that the economy has gone beyond a means to secure an exchange of goods into the realm of the absurd gretchen daily at stanford is the head of an initiative called natural capital which seeks to quantify our nat

. >> and thomas perez noted hypocrisy in arguments that the extension be offset by spending cuts. it's limited to when democrats occupy the white house. >> historically, chris, when ronald reagan extended emergency benefits in the recession of '81, the republicans in congress weren't demanding an offset. when george bush in 2008, that wasn't the demand. >> republicans accuse democrats of throwing more money the a the unemployment problem. but where are the solutions on the right? the position of republicans in washington is rather strange. less a moral or economic argument than indifference. they are accused of regurgitating the same talking points regardless of it. they favor the same set of economic policies when it's weak and strong. unemployment high and low. conservatives believe there's nothing in particular the government should do about economic cycles. this is a big problem. they argue that the problem is not so much there are no ideas on the right, but republicans in congress are unwilling to embrace any of them. and as for monday's vote, senate majority leader harry rei

first, thomas perez. listen. >> this is actually efficient, making sure you pay someone $10.10. paying someone $7, you're going to lose them because they're going to go to employers who pay better. this executive order, i believe, is going to increase the efficiency of government. i think it's a smart way to run government. >> dana? >> you want to know why it will increase efficiency? because they will hire fewer people. that's what will happen. it's such a small number of people that actually get minimum wage on federal contracts. perhaps there is a way to, you know, tie the cpi to minimum wage and see if things rise and fall with whatever the market says. i think the problem with this is yes, once again, the president is showing himself to be a hypocrite on this particular issue. maybe it happens with every president, but his executive order, what he can do from the white house himself is actually probably not that powerful. executive actions, on the other hand, is very powerful. it's the labor department, epa, interior department, energy, transportation, the effect on busines

labor secretary thomas perez joining us next live.re going to not only delve into the numbers, because it was a weak number, but we're going to ask him this: why have nearly 350,000 people disappeared from the work force? it's called the participation rate, and it has just dropped. >>> and expelled from harvard. we've learned former sac capital advisers manager who's on trial right now matthew martoma cheated at harvard and so was booted. a judge has ruled it can be admissible. it began with the opening statements today. all that and much more straight ahead right here on "countdown." ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] who are we? we are thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nhts. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can s, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. over the piz place on chestnut street the

thomas perez says historically that hasn't always been the case. >> when ronald reagan extended emergencyloyment benefits in the recession of '81, you know, the republicans in congress weren't demanding an offset. when george bush did this in 2008, that wasn't the demand. the people who are getting this money, they're not investing in some offshore bank account, they're spending it on the basic necessities of life. >> i'm joined now by congressman chris van hollen from maryland, the top democrat on the house budget committee. sir, it's great to see you. as we start out with the words of harry reid calling the house a black hole of legislation, first he's got the uphill climb of getting it passed on the senate side but do you think there's the appetite in the house to get this done? >> well, happy new year, thomas. i hope 2014 will be a better year in congress than 2013, which was certainly in the house of representatives a black hole. look, if the senate can get this passed in the senate and harry reid has made this priority number one, that will create some momentum in the house and spea

i interviewed labor secretary thomas perez this morning and asked about the white house's plan about the argument, this money, would be about $25 billion a year, should be used to create jobs, rather than extend unemployment insurance. >> the best way to attack and investment in long term unemployment to continue to grow the economy. if you continue along the austerity path, we're going to end up having these challenges for the long-term unemployed that persist. that is what we're trying to avoid. so it is not an either or thing. it is all of the above and then some. dagen: here with reaction, "wall street journal" economics writer steve moore. he joins us now. when you say don't extend the benefits, you sound like an ogre and a scrooge. what say you? >> look, dagen, everyone wants to help people who lose their job or get laid off. everyone thinks there should be a safety net of people for several months until they get their feet back on the ground and get a new job. what we're talking about here is, people who have been unemployed sometimes 18 months, even up to two years who are se

his name is thomas perez. one of the most radical members of the obama administration.y in my view. he says this: the weather is partly to blame. watch. >> i think the weather is a factor. i spent the christmas holidays in northern wisconsin with my family, went out, you know, each morning the last day i was there, it was 15 below. it's hard to build a house or build an office building when it's 15 or 20 below. it's not just that your hands are cold, but you physically can't do it because the materials in that cold weather don't stick. so, weather is undeniably a factor. >> so we are also coming off of the holidays which a lot of times businesses do some seasonal hiring. >> because the labor secretary went to wisconsin for christmas. >> he went fishing. >> he has decided this is part of, you know, the economic problems? he goes on to say do you know what the solution is according to thomas perez? more immigration. so we have millions -- we have at least 13% of the country is unemployed but we need to bring in new workers because that will somehow help the unemployment r

perez con el reporte. take pkg blanca --- el adolescente acusado de prenderle fuego a un joven mientras dormia en un autobus en noviembre del aÑo pasado se declaro "no culpable" . take vo ---"richard thomasien sera juzgado como adulto, se encuentra recluido sin derecho a fianza tras el ataque contra "luke fleishman" de 18 aÑos quien se considera asexuado y que el dia del ataque vestia una falda. ---thomas... regresara a corte el 19 de febrero y se espera que los argumentos iniciales comiencen el 25 de febrero. ---el hecho se esta ventilando como un ataque de odio. stop open cesar -- el tiempo hoy llen de esperanza a los residentes de la bahia que sufren la rigurosa sequia que azota california... vo --pues ademas de la lluvia, la nieve que cayo al norte del estado se convertira en agua... --el problema es que despues de medir la cantidad de nieve, el departamento de agua de california indico que la reserva solamente aumentaria una pulgada y media, lo que hace insuficiente aun el nivel de las represas. blanca ---la situacion extrema de la sequa ya causa alarma no solo a nivel estatal, sino hasta en la casa blanca.. pitch - cesar ---el gobernador jerry brown, sostuvo hoy una rueda de prensa