my focus was different because i was inside the treasury department. i have access to all that information. so we are an executive branch agency. congress sort of did a broader policy type oversight. she broader economic potential's we did some projects together, and i got to know her. it was very delightful going to washington and having this relationship. some of the lunches ahead with elizabeth, as i would prepare notes about the different frustrations that i had. i found her to be one of the most admirable people that i got to meet in washington. i does have the highest respect for her. when the incidents i talk about in the book is while she is pitching and advocating the financial protection bureau, it was no secret in washington that she was essentially campaigning to be its first director. it was very clear that the treasury secretary tim geithner was going to have input into the decision. the beer was originally going to be within the treasury department for its first year. and i remember watching her do one of her hearings with the congressio

my focus was different because i was inside the treasury department. i have access to all that information. access, and all of their privileges and had a law enforcement function. we were in executive-branch agency. there were a creature of congress and did broader policy tight oversight. she brought her academic credentials, and that type of analysis. so we worked together. we did on joint projects together, and i get to know her. it was one of the most delightful things are going to washington the, i write about some of the lens is i had. we would compare notes about the different frustrations that we had. but i found her to be one of the most principled, admiral people and i get to meet in washington, and i just have nuys respect for her. one of the incidents to talk about in the book is that while she was pitching and advocating for the creation of a consumer financial protection bureau, no secret in washington that she was campaigning to be its first director. it was very clear that treasury secretary tim the gander was going to have input into de

one thousand nine hundred four to run what's called the exchange stabilization fund in the treasury department of the gold reserve act as amended allows the exchange stabilization fund to trade secretly in not only the gold market but in any market without any accountability to any other officer the government some to the exclusive control the president the treasury secretary nobody goes to the treasury department every day and says could you tell me if the u.s. was active directly or indirectly in the markets today but the law says you can look it up it's on the treasury department's internet site the law authorizes the united states exchange stabilization fund to trade secretly in the gold market and any other market that the treasury secretary secretary decides he wants to get into but because we don't know exactly what's going on and because we don't know exactly what central banks are doing with their gold in terms of leasing and whatnot because it's all on one line item from what i understand the way they account for it there is a resistance to this discussion and i want to skip a couple

positive that we still have a problem to big to fail because if it wasn't such a concern that the treasury department wouldn't have had to go to the department of justice and say don't indict them because we're afraid of the systemic risk the normal workings of the department of justice would it and the criminal justice system would have been in play instead we have this residual fear that if we destabilized one bank that it could bring down the entire system and i think realistically if we're in the midst of a financial crisis we're going to be back where we were in two thousand and eight the banks were big then they're twenty to twenty five percent bigger now and that proves that that tendency towards bail out the fear of what would happen otherwise i think is still in place and i think far more significantly that is still what the market believes yeah so much of the distortions that come with too big to fail are based on the presumption of bail out it almost becomes a tautology those presumptions are still there which still gives those financial institutions vantages and all the incentives to pile

now, if the stakes weren't high enough, the treasury department upped ante just a short time ago. it announced the u.s. will hit the debt ceiling on december 31st that is monday. treasury department is undertaking and this is a quote, extraordinary measures to postpone the country's date with the debt deadline, but will this bring a new sense of urgency and motivate politicians to reach a budget deal. joining us now, lindsey piegza, economist with ftn financial and james freeman, assistant editor of "the wall street journal"'s editorial page. james, i will art with you. does the treasury department's statement literally within the last hour we'll hit the debt ceiling deadline on monday, does that add any kind of motivation they need to get their act together in washington? >> i don't know. i think it might just add a little skepticism. you remember when we went through this at 2011. they had various dates, finally months into it in august they said this is the real deadline. knowing the treasury and president obama have been wanting to get a debt ceiling increase along with the fi

analyst in the reagan white house and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the treasury department during the george h.w. bush administration is a columnist for the fiscal times and the author of several books including the new york times bestseller imposture how george w. bush betrayed america and betrayed our bankrupt excuse me the american betrayed the reagan legacy his latest book is entitled the benefit and the burden tax reform why we need it and what it will take restraints we now in the studio welcome to be here pleased to have you with us in the american conservative view you recently wrote an article in which you suggested that the modern republican party is suffering suffering from epistemic closure which sounds like a latin for the what if well so i'm nicer than saying what i really think which is that they're all either crazy or stupid i mean it's the things have changed so dramatically since the days when i first got involved with the republican politics when the republican party was the party of ideas and now it's the party of crazy people ignorant tea party people p

treasury department sold over 200 million shares to general motors at 2.50 a share. 8% premium comparedo yesterday. they'll be gone by mid 2014. treasury will not be recovering. as you take a look at who owns general motors, it'll be dropped and goes from 31% down to 22% so treasury department still holds 22% after the sale to gm. again eliminated over the next 12 to 15 months. cup he other things to keep m mind, hasn't closed since july of 2011. right now just under that mark but it has been a long time since it's been at this level. by the way, gm's market share dropped 1.8% since the company went into bankruptcy back in june of 2009. tyler, a lot of people sit there and say, is gm better off? financially it's better off but its market share continues to erode. . >> at what point, phil, would the taxpayer actually break even on its gm stake? >> after selling these 200 million shares at 27.50, treasury would need to sell the remaining shares at approximately $70 a share. i don't think anyone believes we will see gm stock get up to $70 a share between now and 15 months from now. the tre

. >> they said there is breathing room and the treasury department will take extraordinary measures authorized by law. that will create head room under the debt limit. under normal circumstances circs that amount head room would last two months. but it's difficult to predict how long the money will last. where does the money come from? they will raise retirement fund and there is a slush fund from the exchange raid. >> the bigger problem is getting borrowing under control. it puts the nation at risk immediately for a crit downgrade but it means higher taxes and lower standard of living for future generations. doug? >> doug: the stocks fell. the dow lost 18. s&p 500 gave back two. nasdaq down four. >> doug: president george h.w. bush is at a hospital after having a stubborn fever. >> joe biden on hand to swear in brian shot as the hawaii newest senator. he was selected to fill the vacancy. >>> after the attack on benghazi there was widespread speculation some would lose their job after the security failure but it has nod happened. and john kerry's nomination as secretary of state could hang in

the debt ceiling is a control imposed on the treasury department by congress in order to, you know, ishere just some well informed and respected authority that can explain what the debt ceiling is >> it gives the government permission to pay back the money we already borrowed >> jon: totally right. i didn't understand it because he was talking too fast but i think he's [bleep] right. and i like that lady too. i don't know her. even if senator mcconnell doesn't understand the debt ceiling he does understand how to play senate chess. he knows while obama wants the debt ceiling debate removed, senate majority leader harry reid, he don't have the 51 votes he needs to get that passed so mcconnell is going to trap reed in a corner. >> an unlimited authority to borrow whenever he wants to for whatever amount he wants to? if the majority leader supports that proposal i would hope we can get a vote on it to give his members a chance to express themselves as to whether or not they think that's a good way forward for our country. >> jon: [bleep]. it is a classic opening. he's proposing a bill tha

in addition, since the treasury department already has called permanent and indefinite port authority to provide funding for the f.h. rae, bailout of the f.h.a. could occur without, as you know, mr. president

treasury department will begin selling its stakes in almost all of the remaining banks that received bailouts during the financial crisis. four years after the implementation of the troubled asset relief program the government still owns a part of 218 banks. those banks owe taxpayers nearly $8 billion. the government says tarp was always intended to be a temporary measure. key players from wall street may be heading to the whitehouse. according to bloomberg news.. the obama administration is said to be considering kenneth chenault -- the ceo of american express-- for a cabinet post... possibly treasury secretary. also, the adminstration is said to be batting around the name ursala burns- who runs xerox as a possible candidate for commerce secretary. president obama said earlier he is interested in having top business leaders in his cabinet. coal consumption is climbing around the world. the international energy agency-- better known as as the i-e-a predicts demand for coal could come close to outpacing oil in the next few years. global demand for coal is expected to bump up by 2.6% p

but a lot of people in the white house and treasury department don't want that to happen because they think the markets may freak out. already the markets are reacting to the news within the last hour. yesterday the markets dipped a little bit on reid's comments in the senate. so they are worried about the economy. i think purely politically, obama will be strengthened once we go over. >> ryan lizza, thank very much. it's going to be an interesting couple of days. >> yeah, it sure is. >> thanks, ryan. >>> weapons of war on the streets of los angeles. details of a shocking find in a gun buyback program. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! let's say you want to get ahead how do you get from here... to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring th

tracy: until he is out we are talking to charles payne, general motors and the treasury department announcing and the government getting out of gm. you buy it, in the auto world? charles: stock is up huge, einhorn has taking the victory lap. i would not change it. i am really concerned about general motors. the only thing i would save from a valuation point of view is toyota is at 11 and honda at 10, look at the trends in this goes back to november. year over year they were up 3% and month over month down 5%, on the motors is probably the best stock to buy in that space. they're on fire. there year over year sales are up 35% and month over month 9%. fairly valued and has inauguration there and coming non nicely and i like toyota as well. toyota has little exposure to europe. general motors will lose billions of dollars of this year in europe alone. toyota of course, maybe a speed bump because of the fight over these ireland and sail doon significantly. ford is the one you want to love that take the bailout, they're not growing as fast as i like. last month their sales were up 6% and that less

expected to reach its $16.4- trillion debt ceiling before the end of the year, the treasury department will undertake acccounting manuvers to create $200 billion in what treasury secretary timothy giethner calls "headroom." call it, "in your facebook." an instagram user has filed what could become a class-action lawsuit over a policy change that would allow instagram to sell ads using a person's name or photo published on the website. instagram announced it would backtrack on the idea, but eventually wants to come back to users and explain its intentions. the u.s. government may expand its mortgage refinancing program to include borrowers not backed by fannie mae and freddie mac and also include borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth - about 22% of all homes with a mortgage. from department stores to bookshops to jewelry sellers, a lot of retail stocks are dragging around their empty boxes and gift wrap post- christmas. mark sebastian of option pit joins us. mark, welcome, and what happened to these retail stocks? > > it is just kind of a cacophony of bad things. we have got

but first, i sat down with secretary geithner at the treasury department late friday. mr. secretary, welcome back to "meet the press." thank you for having us at the treasury department. >> good to see you. >> you are the president's lead negotiator. you have been to capitol hill. you presented the president's offer. and it immediately was not received well. it was called by republican leaders unserious. they have accused the president and you are wasting precious time here to avert the fiscal cliff. was this the intended effect of the president's first offer? >> what we're trying to do is to make it more likely. we come together on a good agreement for the american people that extends tax cuts to the american people. brings our long-term deficits down. tough spending savings is part of that, and invest in things that matter to the american economy, like infrastructure, and getting americans back to work. we think we can do that. we have a good chance, and it's very important. and i think we'll get there, david. >> do you think we'll get a deal by the end of the year? >> i

treasury department officials have alerted congressional leaders about the debt ceiling. the government will reach this in about two months and the country could suffer a self-inflicted default. congress currently sets the borrowing limit at $16.4 trillion. the national debt rose because of a series of deficit-covering bonds were issued. the government and the republican party are at odds over the issue. the political stalemate in the summer of 2011 over raising the debt ceiling caused a plunge in stock prices. standard & poor's, the american credit rating agency, has downgraded u.s. government bonds from the top ratings for the first time. here are the latest market figures. >>> the chinese are trying to go head-to-head with the americans in the multibillion dollar sat nav business. their new navigation satellite system or bds is now offering service in the asia-pacific region. >> translator: bds will be used for both military and civilian purposes. it is useful in setting up china's national defense. >> chinese government representatives say the country has launched 16

the treasury department said this week it will sell its remaining shares of the insurance company. that consists of 234 million shares, or 15.9% of the company. it marks an end to the bailout the government gave to aig at the start of the financial crisis. thousands of supporters and opponents are expected at a public hearing on fracking today in albany, new york - and there could be friction. conservationists say hydraulic fracturing for gas is harmful to the environment, while supporters claim it creates jobs and more domestic oil. today in upstate new york marks the final opportunity for public comment before the the department of environmental conservation makes a final decision. in a speech today, former president bill clinton will use his star power to talk about the growth of wind power in the midwest. one study shows adding wind energy to the grid saves midwest consumers between $65 and $200 per year. bill clinton has become an increasingly strong proponent of renewable energy, and specifically wind power. the former president is using his global presence to push for privat

he may replace timothy geithner in treasury department. the amex executive is a long-time ally of the president and already serves on his jobs council. >>> to business news, after an extensive investigation by regulators, ubs will pay a $1.5 billion fine admitting to fraud. for more on that, we go to caroline ross. i like the name, it's good. congratulations. thank you very much. >> you talked about that ubs story. that's a massive, massive fine. one of the biggest banks here in europe. yes, there have been a lot of press speculation about the side of the fine, but it's three times bigger than the fine ba barclay's was fined. ubs also admitting to criminal wro wrongdoing in japan. >> how are global markets doing at this hour? >> well, actually global markets are up. they're cheering, you know, the fact that there could be a fiscal cliff deal between democrats and republicans. look, we've got european markets close to year highs, the cac and dax at 52-week highs. this is more related to the expected aggressive monetary easing by the boj, bu

. >>> the treasury department announces a plan to sell remaining shares to gm. that after bailing out the giant automaker. it will cost taxpayers $12 billion but saved more than a million jobs in the industry. >>> it's not much time left before the bush tax cuts expire and the automatic spending cuts kick in. the dreaded fiscal cliff that will likely have a powerful impact on the economy can washington actually come to an agreement and what's going on behind the scenes? don peebles, chair monday and ceo of the peebles corporation, don was a leading fund-raiser for president obama. good to see you. >> thank you. >> a lot of drama happening in washington. let's talk about the fiscal cliff. what's your take on how this plays out? now with just a few days left in the year to get this deal done. >> i don't think they're going to come back after christmas. i think that we will see them back in early january to make a compromise. i think that comp promise is gog be in between where the president is and where the speaker is. >> you say we go off the fiscal cliff then? >

the treasury department would have trouble paying its bills. many economists worry the financial woes would plunge the u.s. back into a recession. just one possible effect of the fiscal cliff. milk prices could spike $2 or $3 a gallon, because farm programs will expire at the end of the year. some are calling that dairy cliff. live in new york, wendy gillette. >> wendy gillette in new york. thank you. >>> the country has lost one of its great warriors. tributes are pouring in this morning for retired general norman schwarzkopf. the general died yesterday in tampa after a battle with pneumonia. schwarzkopf commanded "operation desert storm" that drove iraqi forces from kuwait. in retirement, he championed causes. norman schwarzkopf was 78. >>> now, to former president george h.w. bush's condition. his chief of staff says he will be in the hospital for a while. the 41st president is recovering from a terrible case of bronchitis with a series of complications. she says that mr. bush is getting excellent medical treatment in houston. and she would

treasury department has hated the municipal bond market at least since 1969. so they view themselves as providing a subsidy and that subsidy has an associated cost which currently they value at $30 billion. so it's one of the many items on the list that's a tax subsidy that many people would like to get rid of in washington without any regard, by the way, for the benefits the taxes of financing provide. so the mechanisms for limiting tax exemption are many and there's discussion of this in a variety of avenues. number one, you could make the entire market taxable, number two, you could build an america funds type program which we had around aara, where it was subsidized by the treasury department. there's been discussion of going to a full tax credit program which would make no sense whatsoever but it's been discussed. finally, the area of greatest concern because it has the highest probability comes from the president's 2013 budget document where there's a very specific reference to limitation on deductions and exclusions for a variety of items, including tax

late today, the treasury department announced it is looking to sell the remaining stock it got when it bailed out the insurance giant. the stock represents 16% of a.i.g. shares were down 2.3% during the regular session and lost another 1.5% in extended hours trading. selling these shares will mean the government made a profit with its bailout. after this stock sale, the government will continue to own warrants, allowing it to buy a.i.g. stock if it chooses. separately, a.i.g. announced it will sell almost all of its aircraft leasing business to a group of chinese companies for $4.8 billion. that's much less than what a.i.g. wanted. it is a different kind of deal for conglomerate ingersoll-rand. it will spin off its locks business, with names schlage and kryptonite, something active shareholders have been calling for. i-r shares fell 1.9%. four of the five most actively traded exchange traded products were up. the financial e.t.f. fell two tenths of a percent. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> tom: could wall street be turning on apple? not only is the stock one of the most widely