the treasury department says j. p. morgan chase and bank of america are doing a poor job of helping people lower mortgage payments as part of the government's own foreclosure prevention program. the treasury department plans to withhold payments from that program to both banks for a third straight quarter. >> tom: with the markets waiting and watching for european leaders to come up with a big solution to their debt troubles, it's likely any fix will not end the volatility. so says tonight's street critique guest, he expects the big swing to continue. michael farback with us, author of the new book, entitled the arrogant cycle. always great to see you, happy holidays. >> thank you, tom, great to see you, happy holidays everyone. >> tom: plenty of anticipation ahead of friday for europe. you just stay on the sidelines until then? >> i don't think you stay on the sidelines, tom, but anticipation seems to be ruling the day. we all seem to be hanging on every ultimate rans from different governments and central banks. not

he said quote this man represents the treasury department brought he's. not hundreds of millions of dollars with him. you know kind of all in good fun and the vice president did get some laughs from this but a lot of people found this to be very insensitive is this just you know the u.s. trying to make light the vice president trying to make light or as maybe a little clueless here would simply go it does seem like a classic biden move so there's that but beyond that this is becoming a more more politically charged issue domestically and republicans have been pushing laws that would prevent the u.s. from taking part in any further i.m.f. action to be honest i figure it's almost no chance that u.s. taxpayers are going to be owning up more dollars for europe there's zero political appetite for that no obama would never stick his neck out for that perfect you know so we might see more stuff like the fed to swap lines to lower the cost of borrowing dollars but nothing you know we're not going to contribute more to the i.m.f. sophist but yet it's clearly you k

the treasury department announced it will stop making the coins because they are not popular. taking the claims of a rotational save taxpayers $50 million a year in a production and storage free the treasury has more than 1 billion of the clients sitting unused. >> people looking for a job. why there are not so many openings. >> we now they add up quickly. find out how much of us are paying to keep our utilities running. >> one candidate vows no negative ads and promises to keep campaign to clean. who is it and is it possible? one of the opponents says now. i will explain. >> a string of sunny december days is coming to an end. i will tell you what to expect next. the seven-day forecast minutes >> here is the latest in the republican battle. >> newt gingrich and mitt romney have waged a war of words over big bucks. it seems one of them may be calling for a cease-fire and a more civil race. we have the latest. >> money in politics always go hand in hand. they have been trading insults lely over how each of them got rich pretty one from personal to promising not to do it anymore.

jerome powell is a former treasury department official from the first bush administration. jeremy stein is an economics professor at harvard. moves like that are not particularly controversial, however many of the president's supporters are pushing for him to do something that could cause a major uproar. doug luzader explains from honolulu. >> nothing but taillights, what we see of the president as he shuttles around the island, but it's what he's planning from his vacation home here that has washington guessing. just how far is he willing to go to get his nominees past congress. >> at a time when things are overheated anyway in this country, partisan and ideological terms, i expect it's best not to play this particular game. >> these empty chairs at the national labor relations board may argue otherwise for the president. 2012 will start with just two of five chairs filled. not even a forum. so the board will have to shut down. labor unions have backed the president will be furious. for them a friendly nlrb will help expand union power. >> the best possible choice for dire

the investigation began after the treasury department alert the justice department for potential discrimination by countrywide. >>> this isn't the criminal prosecution but the settlement so no one goes to jail. victims can apply for the piece of the $35 million compensation, roughly $675 apiece. >> golden state warriors star guard montane os caught in any sexting scandal. former teen employee is suing him for sexual harassment and the lawyers for allegedly trying to cover it up. erica smith said that ellis reportedly repeatedly sent her sexual text messages for three months during last season. she said it ended after his wife contacted her after finding the text in january. then in august she said she was fired. >> i really don't want to ruin his career. we just hope it stops, that there is the apology and some compensation. >> the ceo denied the allegations against the team and openly questions the motives behind the lawsuits. >> we live in the litigious society in which lawsuits are to berkeley driven by money and not the pursuit of justice. we will vigorously defend the reputation of the law

treasury department. the agency says that by the end of the day, the nation's debt will, within $100 billion of its limit. the number is significant because it is the exact point at which the obama administration must stop the process of increasing the debt limit all over again. -- start the process of increasing the debt limit at all over again. a disturbing new report shows the economic recession may have reshuffled america's class system. new census numbers showed that half of all americans are earning less than $45,000 a year for a family of four. that pushes many into the lower class bracket, tricking the middle class. staff at food pantries and shoppers say they have never been busier -- and shelters say they have never been busier. >> people who thought they were on the giving side are suddenly finding themselves needing help. >> what we're seeing is that the middle class is going away. >> many of them are now taking advantage of shelters and food banks and attribute their needs to layoffs and furl

the investigation began after the federal reserve and the treasury department alerted the justice department of potential discrimination by countrywide. the case announced today isn't a prosecution. it's a settlement, so no one goes to jail. if it gets the court's approval, victims are apply for a piece of the $335 million compensation, roughly $1,675 apiece. >> pelley: countrywide is now owned by bank of america. sharyl, i wonder, why didn't the government bring criminal charges this case? >> reporter: we asked about that and the justice department told us their goal in this investigation was not to prosecute executives but to identify discriminatory practicepractices and recovery r victims. >> pelley: sharyl, thanks very much. elsewhere in washington, there is no progress to report tonight over an extension of the payroll tax cut, so in 10 days, nearly 200 million americans will find a tax increase in their paychecks. the two percentage point cut in social security taxes ends on december 31. you may remember that on saturday, the senate passed a two-month extension, but yesterday, the hous

after the chinese yuan hit an all-time high against the dollar, the treasury department refused to call them a manipulator, angering trade groups. they accuse beijing of holding the currency level down for trading advantages. >>> a federal judge dismissed charges of bp's subsidiary violated probation after an oil spill on alaska's north slope. and finally, a mexican anti-poverty official has been fired. he posted a facebook comment saying poor people smell bad. the boilermakers boil. the red wings beat the blues. which teams dominated nfl pro bowl selection? >>> the shamrocks wilt against miami's heat. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> the big storm that drenched the east coast is gone. now cold air tries to make its way in. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> and a very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, nba teams take note, the heat are coming out of the gate firing on all cylinders. here's nbc's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the nba season is jus

when the crisis begins immediately becomes involved with the treasury department to structure what would eventually become the public-private partnership by the treasury department and the diocese hank paulson them and timothy geithner becomes the treasury secretary he works as geithner and literally that public/private partnership resembles a five page letter that warren buffett had written saying how it should be structured. here is an individual that is interested in helping the american public but the problem is he is literally buying millions of shares of stock in the very banks that will benefit from that public private partnership buying shares then american express, m and t bank i could literally buy them cheap because nobody knows what will happen nobody knows what the bailout will look like a but warren buffett does because he is helping to design its himself and buy them for pennies on the dollar then the shares surged and he does very well. you have a circumstance where warren buffett may or may not have helped to design the effective bailout but it cannot be avoided the fact

treasury department says at the end of the day the nation's debt will come within $100 billion of the total limit. it's a big deal. president obama will need to alert congress to get to work again on increasing the debt limit. right now the debt ceiling, if you're keeping track, $15.194 trillion. >> hard to wrap your mind around that. today is the final day of trading for 2011. for a look at that, we turn to jackie deangeles. good morning, jackie. >> the futures are flat on the final trading day of the year. stock rallied. the dow rose 135 points to close at 12,287. and as for the year the s&p 500 is roughly flat in 2011. utilities were the top sec for. financials were the worst. they are reporting that apple is having two new ipad models for a january launch. the models would be aimed at the mid to high end market. they're going to feature dual l.e.d. light bars to increase brightness. apple hasn't appeared at mac world for years. over to you. >> thank you very much. 4:47. let's turn to the forecast. christina loren is tracking some mist. >> yeah, and it's so bizarre. you'll drive to

after the chinese yuan hit an all-time high against the dollar, the treasury department refused to labelna a currency manipulator, angering trade groups which accuse beijing of holding its currency down for trade advantage. >>> a federal judge dismissed charges of bp's subsidiary violated probation after an oil spill on alaska's north slope. and finally, a mexican anti-poverty official has been fired. he posted a facebook comment saying poor people smell bad. >>> the boilermakers boil. the red wings beat the blues. which teams dominated nfl pro bowl straight leg raising shuns? the shamrocks wilt against miami's heat. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. >>> welcome back to "first look." in sports, nba teams take note, the miami heat are coming out of the gate of the start season firing on all seasons. here is mario solis. >> good morning. the nba season is just three days old but the miami heat are in midseason form. south beach. celtics paul pierce sitting out his second straight game and boston could have used him. miami hits the ground running. lebron hits it into another year and f

some of the economic reports we're watching this week, the treasury department is releasing the federal budget statement. tomorrow, the government releases retail sales and business inventories and then on thursday, jobless claims. >>darya: online holiday sales are up 15 percent over last year. 24.6 billion has been spent on line this far. this week could be the heaviest week of the season. they call today green monday. it is the second monday of december and consistently ranked among the top spending days of the season. six will a.m.. we're taking a live look in the midst of the protesters who are on the move. this used dream shot is being provided to us by someone in the crowd. we are also live at the port of oakland. we will see what happens when we get there in a few minutes. cuff, >>mark: the march is on. occupy protestors are leaving the west oakland bart station. right now they're marching down we are seeing protests headed toward san diego and l.a.. the protesters will be a writing shortly. in seattle, vancouver and all the way to gain for its alaska. >>darya: a diesel fuel tank

tobin smith, jonas max ferris, and small business owner amelia a, and a senior advisor at the treasury department. amelia, which will get more americans working, payroll tax cuts, or that pipeline? >> this shouldn't be hard for anyone to figure out. the pipeline. the tax cuts are temporary and not going to change the uncertainty for small businesses and not going to put that much money in the the bottom line for us to go out and actually spur unemployment, so, the pipeline absolutely hands down, short and long-term is better and for the future growth let alone changing the power to bring us as an alternative back to the u.s. for oil. >> brenda: you like those payroll tax cuts, huh? >> i do like the payroll tax cuts. the tax cuts pay for themselves. look, this pipeline, it's a pipe dream. it's not going to create the jobs that everybody says it's going to create. the g.o.p. is trying to mange it out to be that this is an environmental argument, that they're going to actually be able to pump in all of this oil, the oil sands to the gulf of mexico and a lot of people digging ditches for the pipe, bu

why the treasury department says they are going to stop making the money and how much they are claiming. plus, the vermont man has a divine idea and in time for the holidays. as we go to break, we go to the gateway city. a live look courtesy of earth guam, in st. louis, missouri. @póo and even though you do what you can to take care of it, sometimes you want to give your immune system some support. try new airborne chewable tablets. each serving contains 14 vitamins, minerals and herbs... including zinc, echinacea, ginger, and a blast of vitamin c. it's the easy, great-tasting way to help support your immune system. airborne. in fast-acting effervescent formula, and new super-convenient chewable tablets! >>> that good morning coming to you from the kids at the y in central maryland. 2-year-olds. good morning to you, thank you for beingum with us. changes in store on the money front. it will save the federal government $50 million a year. production has been stopped on some of the dollar coins. back in 2005 you may recall congress mandated the treasury mint dollar coins with the likeness

setting pa dangerous precedent to what we had in 2008, and-- >> look i worked on tarp at the treasury department. nobody likes a bailout and i can tell you from my personal experience and people who do the bailouts don't like doing bailouts. when you get to the point you're making that decision it's already too late. you've got to act and charlie is right, you can't let greece go down. it's going to affect every bank in the country and every-- >> you're propping them up and dragging out the agony, you know know that. >> no, we were able to stabilize our banks, and a portion of the bailout-- >> now what you set the stage for. >> you set the stage for gm. set the stage for chrysler, please. >> if you structure it the right way you can make your money back, the problem in europe. >> neil: well your he' annoying me and made your final visit here. i wish we had more time and unfortunately we do not. i want to thank you and thank charlie, i want to thank dagen. up next, we've got this. what would one ben stein do the title of 437th book and now, ben is telling you what he's doing with his own money an

but the treasury department says it will likely be another year before the funds are actually collected. this is the time of year that people make new year's resolutions. tonight's commentator says he's not among those wishing for a new spirit of bipartisanship in washington. he's todd buchholz, author of "rush: why you need and love the rat race." >> remember that book, "all i really need to know i learned in kindergarten"? shouldn't democrats and republicans learn to get along? stop the bickering? let moderates take charge? wouldn't it be nice? no. sometimes, a country must take a hard turn, follow a strong leader in a clear direction, not toward some muddled middle. the u.s. is careening towards bankruptcy precisely because politicians grew too comfortable and avoided hard decisions. ask republicans to name their favorite president, and they'll answer ronald reagan. sure, he had charm, but reagan also had controversial convictions. but after the mushy failures of jimmy carter, americans were ready to take a chance on slashing taxes and bankrupting the soviet union. ask democrats to n

david cohen is from the treasury department. they are both very confident, dedicated, and experienced public servants. we are happy to have them here to answer our questions today. obviously with the kuds force allegedly plotting to kill the saudi ambassador in the united states right here in washington, d.c., and we i.a.e.a. issuing a report about iran's activities relative to nuclear processing, these haleh the strategic challenge that we face. i not to say more i am. to listen carefully and look forward to the testimony of both of our witnesses. senator lugar. >> mr. chairman, i join you in welcoming our distinguished witnesses. we hope it will eliminate administrative strategy towards iran's nuclear program and other activities and the middle east. iran continues to be a direct threat to united states national security. the security of israel and other u.s. interest in the region. the october disruption of an alleged plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador in the united states implicated the iranian government. the regime a

for its controversial nuclear program alleging is geared towards creating atomic weapons the treasury department has added ten iranian shipping companies to blacklist freezing their assets in the u.s. this comes despite iran this month stating its desire to cooperate with the u.n. nuclear watchdog and inviting its official to visit for talks these that make republicans say it's enriching uranium for purely peaceful and nature purposes. this country's suspected of developing nuclear weapons track global concern perhaps the best person to turn to for expert analysis is the former chief of the un it's only going to be able to stop and our interview with hans blix the man or that the heart of the agency for over fifteen days is next on. well i'm joined by mr hans blix from stop calling mr blix chair of the international atomic agency for energy agency for sixteen years and was they had of the u.n. inspection team in iraq prior to the second iraq war mr blix it's great to have you with us sir now i'd like to start with i should latest news came young male who during who seventeen year old rule north

i have the department of tree's -- i have the department of treasuries donations page. would you be willing to donate $80,000? -- a few thousand dollars. >> if rates are raised. this is not charity. we are not doing charity to the taxes are not charity. they are not voluntary. they are something society commits to do. i think that is what we have to do for rich people. >> you are not willing to give to the department of treasury? >> it would be of no impact whatsoever. >> what is it would be of no impact whatsoever. >> is it not a step in the right direction? >> it would be puny and ineffective. >> we all have to hold hands and do it together. any one individual is just for show. >> you are not willing to donate any money? >> i want to pay my fair share. >> i am giving you an opportunity. >> i think that is a joke. i am not interested. >> did anybody take you up? >> nobody. they all said no. >> why you think that is the case? >> they think everybody else need to do it. i feel like, like i said, if you believe something, you do not need everybody else to be forced into d

economics professor at harvard university and republican jerome powell would served in the treasury department under president george h. w. bush. the senate must confirm both of those nomination. >>> an unusual crime scene in a northern virginia home. >>> plus, investigators say they know what caused a deadly christmas morning fire in connecticut. we'll have more on that story coming up next. >>> and over the past few years, several medical related stories topped the news. we'll take a closer look at those stories coming up.  >>> making headlines, a bizarre investigation in virginia i'm fredericksburg family says someone broke into their home before christmas and opened awful their presents but not a single one was stolen. the unwrappers got into the college avenue home by breaking a window. the police have not released a motive for this one yet. >>> we now know what caused that christmas morning house fire in connecticut that killed a couple and three of their grandchildren. officials say the fire was an accident caused by a hot fireplace that was smoldering when the embers were thrown

harvard economics professor and jerome powell is a former undersecretary of finance at the treasury department. the senate will have to confirm those men. and your health insurance bill is about to go up. the government adds a new fee to most health insurance plans. the money will go to research toward finding out which drug medical procedures and treatments work the best. the $1 per person fee begins in 2012 but won't end up in your bill until a year from now. insurance giant met life says it will sell its retail retail to g.e. capital as the company moves away from its banking operations. met life announced in july it would explore the sale to focus on its core business including insurance and employee benefits programs. that's your money watch for all of your business headlines, log on to cbsmoneywatch.com. in new york, i'm alison harmelin. >> this is the last week you'll be able to get bargains atfy lean's basement because the discount clothing store is closing at the end of the week. we checked with the filene's in northern d.c., everything was just about gone there. the company that owne

government co-opted the treasury department the federal reserve functionality they're going to the obama administration barack obama you know dances to goldman sachs. and they're really crooked and abominable in what they've done they just remember hank paulson the congress hostage to go in the back room and said give a seven hundred billion dollars going to crash this market he's an arsonist he's he's an outlaw and yet he's given you're a strange researcher who was c.e.o. of. goldman sachs sure but if you go down the list they're all goldman sachs at that time that was considered kind of like a spear a c. theory and even france twenty four which is closely allied with sarkozy they were like this is crazy but i want to turn to a clip just very reese. sent in the last month or two where france twenty four is now saying this about goldman sachs the european freemasonry of goldman sachs and what they mean by freemasonry is the way in which the freemasons operation is it's a network and goldman sachs essentially according to the long correspondence i mean it's pretty difficult to refute what

the money and trillions that were thrown at these banks through the federal reserve and the treasury department was just after an election so this just shows you that really that is the game in washington and with respect to individuals that's what seems to get put on the table assumes the long term bargaining chip between everything else that both parties want to get done and gets thrown by the wayside and you get these ridiculous inane conversations we just have this conversation about are we going to start down the government can we extend the payroll tax cut in so for a few months ago and all that happened when it was punted down the road whereas yes when you look at a tarp bill you get agreement within a period of days and as you just pointed out it's no secret that congressmen spend a great deal of time raising money because that is where they get their campaign funds from these big donors so how does this system influence the priorities of our elected leaders and with this essentially who do they really represent. so those are they represent the money rather than the votes and the way th

we were talking with the cftc, treasury department during that week about, and leading into the weekend about what was going on. fsoc has been talking about, and i don't want to speak for fsoc, -- >> are you a board member? >> our chairman is, yes or. >> you're a member, right? >> chairman of the cftc is a member, yes. >> fsoc had included exposures to european sovereign debt. and after, after the bankruptcy filing there was a call to fsoc on that day to discuss what the implications might be of the bankruptcy. >> mr. ketchum, do you have any comment on that question are also a member pashtun your organization is a member of fsoc? >> no, we're not. to the best of my knowledge no self-regulatory agency is a member of fsoc. >> there were obvious problems with mf global. do any of you have an opinion whether not fsoc was doing its job here? >> my view is that, my understanding fsoc was really great primer as a way to help monitor systemic risk, to identify where there may be systemic risk and to deal with it. while the bankruptcy of mf global is a significant event and has caused enormous