s&p gave that junk the same value as the safest investment in the world, united states treasuries. s&p gave lehman brothers an a-rating, right up to the month that lehman brothers went bankrupt. s&p was as wrong about lehman brothers as it is wrong about the united states of america. congressional investigators looking into the causes of the financial collapse found this instant message exchange between s&p employees. "that deal is ridiculous. i know, the model doesn't capture half the risk. we shouldn't be rating it. we rate every deal. it could be structured by cows and we would rate it." one s&p senior manager put this in an e-mail to another senior manager. "lord help our -- scam. this has to be the stupidest place i have worked at." s&p is the stupidest place everyone at s&p has ever worked at, and these two, john chambers and david bearce have now taken their places as the worst political pundits in our midst. >>> joining me now, professor at berkly, robert reich, also the author of "after shock," which is in paperback, thanks so much for joining me tonight, robert. >> good ev

so because this is defacto not a change i think many people around the world perceive the united states treasury treasury bill is as a safe investment even know. and after the initial panic has has outlasted i think investors realize that emerging markets like india have strong fundamentals they have strong structural reasons going into the future such as a positive demographic trend high savings and investment grades and those things kind of get factored in after initial panic people begin to look at the medium term and see that what's happening in the rest of the world is not necessarily what's happening in terms of here domestically but the world's emerging developing economies the so-called brics nations have expressed a lot of optimism in battling the new wave of crises not just india. what do they know that washington doesn't know when it comes to the economy and how to deal with this crisis. well the british economy is have theirs in our big city our big saying is that every crisis presented presents itself with an opportunity the different bric economies have to respond differently to to

united states. my feeling is if we lose iter. >> losing it for 10 years. >> if the united states treasury securities are not triple aaa rated, what in the world is a triple aaa rating. >> my answer to that the world its change. we used to think companies could never have a higher rating than the sovereign. i wouldn't be surprised if some large american multi nationals if their securities start becoming the safe haven. they are the place to put your money. >> i still think if people are worried about their money, i don't think they will put their money in ge. i think they will continue to buy treasury securities. but this is a dark day for america if we lose our bond rating. >> this is serious, right, steven? >> no question about it. this would be the first president in american history to lose america's triple aaa credit rating. we have seen this coming. we went from 40% of our debt to 6gdp to 60%, now we are heading to 90%. that's greek territory. shannon: there had been a lot of speculation about what would happen with the markets. late sunday that a deal had come together. we did see a bit of a rally this morning. it don't loo

in treasury bills issued by the united states. u.s. ills, ten year treasuries are where so much of the money flowed and, today, that means solid financial ground at least in that area. other laces with enormous problem, the oil market has dipped in a big way this afternoon, oil is down at last check more than -- down to $87. the dow plunged. we thought we would be watching the final moments and c.e.o.'s from the big corporations who looked at their own stocks and said this is our earnings, this is our price, they are out of line, our stock is a value that they could buy up their stock and help us with a turn around this this market but, instead, we are sitting on what is an official correction in all of the markets across the united states of america. what does that mean? officially, we are thousand in - now in a bear mark. it means a lot down on wall street. for you and me and your neighbors and your children and your grandparents, that means the value of our 401(k)'s is way down. we have taken 11 percent beating this ten sessions day

deepest and most liquid markets in the united states with average daily trading volume in excess of $320 billion, a market second only to the markets the united states treasury securities. naming the market to be announced comes from the way the market functions. unlike a traditional marketplace, investors did not know the specific collateral or pools of loans they are agreeing to purchase until months later. accordingly, the collateral is designated to be announced at a date in the future. the ability to lock in an interest rate by the closing mortgage. eight securities in the market, guaranteed by fannie mae, freddie mac, the tva also services as the benchmark for privately issued securities, relative to the cda price. -- adjustable-rate loans and a jumbo loans. as we continue to explore different approaches, it is important that we understand how this market works and what impact reforms would have on this market. how will any changes affect the availability of the market by consumers. characteristics of this market, if any, should be preserved. a four to year in from any of our witnesses this morning. this is a very technical but very vitally important p

. >> as much as i'm impressed i won't wait for them to take pat's advice and the united states treasury, washington, d.c. sure they'll be accepted. your thought about perry, is this guy really the perry on top of this cake right now? >> i think it's a formidable politician, he's got experience, he's off like gang busters. he immediately becomes a top tier candidate, and i think at the white house they are having to do some recalibration today and to think about gee, maybe we'll run against perry instead of romney. >> top editor at the post, you think the nation's big newspapers and big news organizations are now going to send every nickel they have to go investigate this guy? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> tremendous amount of investigation, this guy. he better be clean as a whistle, time's coming, he's arrived. the march of time has become. >> it's hot in here, you know? >> don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen, governor. >>> when we return, let me finish with a tea party cake with a perry on top. you're watching "hardball." ugh, my feet are killin' me. well, we're here to get yo

the united states treasury, washington, d.c.ure it'll be accepted. >>> your thought about perry, is this guy real ooelt the perry on top of the cake right now? >> i think he is a formidable politician. he has experience. he's off like gang busters. he immediately becomes a top tier candidate. and i think at the white house they are having to do recalibration today and to think about, gee, maybe we will run against perry instead of running against -- >> the top editor at the post, you think the nation's newspapers and big news organizations are now going to send every nickel they have, sending young people to investigate this guy. >> absolutely. >> i think there is a tremendous amount of investigation. >> time is coming. he has arrived. the time, march of time has begun. >> well, it's hot in here. >> you doipt like the heat, stay out of kitchen, governor. thank you, sir. when we return, let me fin wish a tea party cake, with a perry on top. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] want a better way to track wh

. >> from the united states treasury department, new sanctions against the largest mobile phone operatorbank and its subsidiary in lebanon. any sense that tightening the economic noose will have any impact on the regime's behavior? >> well, john, it seems that the tightening of that noose by the united states is not likely to have that great of an impact on syria. now, should that be followed by more sanctions by european countries especially those that have interests in syria's energy sector, that could perhaps have a greater impact. but what is really going to tighten the noose on this regime is going to be something that is going to have to be beyond words, beyond rhetoric, and beyond sanctions, because this is a regime that is fighting for its very existence. it's a regime that ever since it came into power with assad sr., the current president's father, 40 years ago, has worked to build up the institutions that two allow for it to stay into power. so, for those institutions to begin to crumble and for the regime to begin to fall, it is going to take much more drastic action by the i

they made such a mess of it in if 2008, how come we now allow them to downgrade the united states treasury? that is a valid criticism. another criticism is that standard & poor's employed subjective political criteria to make an objective judgment of our debt situation. standard & poor's said, look, you haven't got your political house in order. it doesn't appear that you have the political will to rein in entitlement programs. that is a subjective judgment. so the critics say you have no the right to employ subjective criteria in an otherwise objective situation. you see what i mean? is. megyn: yeah. but did they speak specifically to entitlements, or was it the overall financial picture? one of the guys who runs standard & poor's came out today on fox and said, look, it's both the debt situation and the political situation in washington. and so does that mean it's the entitlement -- the lack of willingness to tackle entitlements, or is it the lack of willingness to keep taxes low? >> reporter: it is primarily the entitlement situation. standard & poor's has said very clearly it is americ

the oath of office in 112th congress, received the request from the president of the united states through his treasury secretary, mr. geithner, that we increase the debt ceiling. mr. speaker said then that he will agree it's essential for us to increase the debt ceiling but we were not going to proceed with business as usual. we're not going to continue increasing the debt without getting to the root cause of the problem. and, mr. speaker, i've got to tell you that throgh all of the debate that's taken place, we have gotten to theoint where we have a measure, it's a bipartisan compromise, it's a bipartisan agreement that i believe wi, as i said, send a signal to those who are seeking to create jobs for our fellow americans, that we now are going to have the kind of fiscal restint and responsibility from washington, d.c., the likes of which we haven't seen in a long, long period of time. so, mr. speaker, i will tell you that i strongly support this measure, as everyone has said it's far from perfect, but i strongly support it. and i urge my colleagues, democrats and republicans alike, to join together

government so apple is now more cash rich than you then united states government figures from the u.s. treasury department show the figures released by the u.s. treasury department show the country the united states currently has a total operating cash balance of seventy three point seven billion dollars this compares with apple's seventy six point four billion of cash reserves which has built up during a phenomenal half decade of strong sales. of course most of their goods are well they're designed and innovated. in the united states but they're all manufactured in china yes this brings up a number of interesting points stacy first of all fifty percent of all the apples manufacturing capacity could be in the united states so instead of having seventy or eighty billion in cash they might only have ten or twenty billion in cash by law under the sea a company is not even allowed to have that much cash without paying a dividend so they're actually breaking the law on that front second of all this is actual cash on apple's balance sheet it's not their money so call that's on the american government

deepest and most liquid market in the united states with average daily trading volume in excess of $320 billion. a market second onto the market of the united states treasury securities. the name of the market to be announced, comes from what the market functions, unlike a traditional marketplace, investors do not know the specific collateral or pools of loans they are going to purchase until much later. the collateral is designated to be announced at a date in the future. many argue the tba market is a vital, such as a 30 year fixed rate loan. freely pre-babel mortgages and the ability to login interest rate prior to closing the mortgage. although the only securities traded in the tba market our agency securities, defined as those securities issued or guaranteed by fannie mae, freddie mac and ginnie mae, the tva also serves as a benchmark for privately issued securities, privately issued security's are priced relatively to tba price. in addition, originated issues taking a market to purchase and sell positions to hedge the origination of loans that are not eligible for trading in tba. for example, a just all right loans and jumbo loans. as we continue to

but this certainly is a blow to the united states without question. in terms of the treasuryll, is how the united states borrows money. we issue bonds, notes, short-term bills to investors. they give the united states their money and the united states says -- we'll pay you back with interest. so will people run away from those? well, unlikely. the full fate and credit of the united states still means quite a bit and, indeed, some other major nations have seen their credit rating cut and it didn't have all that much impact on those countries, including japan. >> in a moment i want to talk to you about what it may mean for states and fannie mae and freddie mac. whether they may face downgrades as well. i want to bring in john king. you've been talking to your sources in washington. was this a surprise for the obama white house? did they have much advanced notice of this? >> around anderson this is what i'm told, at 1:30, s&p sent word they were planning to make this decision. i'm told treasury analysts quickly caught what they caught a glaring mistake and they say, and this is

. >> it was a positive buy kwas toward the united states of america, toward treasury bills.the current crisis is probably chipping into that very positive buyers, that very strong confidence that generally led to flight, equality, and investment in treasury bonds. it's slightly eroded at the moept. i mean it was unheard of only six months ago. to imagine that the united states could be under negative watch by the rating agencies. >> does that mean that the dollar's role is the reserve currency of the world, which provides the united states with ee nor mess worry, lowering the interest rate, is that also, you think, potentially in darjer? >> it has been one of the assets of the united states of america. what the former president of the european kunly called the skpor bant privilege of the u.s. dollar. that's what's at stake. i'm not suggestions that it's going to change overnight because the currency evolutions take time. if you look at the time that industrial revolution was over and europe had gone through massive wars, that took time. but gradually it's roaded. >> and in 1

the oath of office in 112th congress, received the request from the president of the united states through his treasury secretary, mr. geithner, that we increase the debt ceiling. mr. speaker said then that he will agree it's essential for us to increase the debt ceiling but we were not going to proceed with business as usual. we're not going to continue increasing the debt without getting to the root cause of the problem. and, mr. speaker, i've got to tell you that through all of the debate that's taken place, we have gotten to the point where we have a measure, it's a bipartisan compromise, it's a bipartisan agreement that i believe will, as i said, send a signal to those who are seeking to create jobs for our fellow americans, that we now are going to have the kind of fiscal restraint and responsibility from washington, d.c., the likes of which we haven't seen in a long, long period of time. so, mr. speaker, i will tell you that i strongly support this measure, as everyone has said it's far from perfect, but i strongly support it. and i urge my colleagues, democrats and republicans alike, to join to

treasury bond is you loaning the united states money in exchange for a promise from the united states the country will pay you back with interest. that's the only thing that got bought today, that and gold. our friends at newmont mining organization are one of the miners. other than gold, u.s. treasury bonds. everybody in the market fleeing to the security of the full faith and credit of the united states of america. the thing that happened in american finance and also in american politics over the last three days is that a ratings agency, standard & poor's, said don't buy u.s. treasury bonds. standard & poor's said if you loan money to the united states, we are less sure than we used to be the country will pay you back. the whole point of the downgrade was to say the u.s. treasury essentially can no longer be trusted. the market responded by giving the u.s. treasury all of their money. >> it's kind of hard to sell treasuries when you have a market meltdown here. the fight to quality is still the u.s. treasuries, it's the best thing out there. >> flight to quality. best thing out ther

treasury bonds. everybody in the market fleeing to the security of the full faith and credit of the united states of america. the tectonic thing that happened in american finance and also in american politics over the last three days is that a ratings agency, standard & poors, said don't buy u.s. treasury bonds. standard & poor's said if you loan money to the united states, we are less sure than we used to be the country will pay you back. the whole point of the downgrade was to say the u.s. treasury essentially can no longer be trusted. the market responded by giving the u.s. treasury all of their money. >> it's kind of hard to sell treasuries when you have a market meltdown here. the fight to quality is still the u.s. treasuries, it's the best thing out there. >> flight to quality. best thing out there. that was also what president obama was talking about today in his mid afternoon statement on the markets at the white house. >> on friday, we learned that the united states received a downgrade by one of the credit rating agencies. the markets, on the other hand, continue to believe our credit statu

would have paid its bills in terms of foreign countries that the united states owes money to as far as treasuriesrned. there would have been a lot of domestic bills, defense department related bills, vendors from various agencies that wouldn't have gotten paid in the month of august and that would have sent a shock to those credit rating agencies. they, no doubt, would have moved much more quickly. they would have moved more quickly if the deal had not been struck. the deal doesn't do anything directly to create jobs but it avoids a disaster and what could have been a armageddon as some have called it and that would been a disaster. why so many democrats and republicans hated this deal, but voted for it when all was said and done, because they fully understood the consequences of failure. the same is going to happen in a couple of hours in the united states senate. kyra, a lot of members are going to vote in favor of this legislation, probably get at least 70, maybe 70 votes in the united states senate, but -- but they recognize that if they were to reject it, it would be just be a disaster. >> t

treasury bonds. >> translator: although the united states is going through some economic heartship, i believe it will be able to overcome its difficulties and return to a robust track of development. the prosperity and stability of the united states is favorable for the whole world. >> vice president biden attempted to address china's concerns by pledging that the u.s. government will do whatever it can to pull itself out of its economic slump. >>> and here's now your extended weather forecast. >>> and that's >> but it's not only the appearance that puzzles us. >> translator: now, look how the compass needle moves. >> the needle, which is supposed to indicate north, continues to point to the center of the stone. but at the lower part of the stone, the wide part of the needle that's supposed to point south is always facing the center. how can such a thing happen? >> translator: well, anything can happen in a wonderful place like this. i don't know why it's here, but ancient people had a wisdom that made this possible. >> he works for the public works center of kumamoto city. he became interested in ro

in 1985 the president of the united states, ronald reagan, was asked the same question. his treasurytment said, the secretary of the treasury does have the authority to choose the order in which to pay obligations of the united states. this is an official document from the department of treasury. we are aware of no statute or other basis to conclude that treasury is required to pay outstanding obligations in order which they were presented for payment unless it chooses to do so. and this president has not been willing to tell the american people that medicare recipients and the military will be paid as long as we receive sufficient money in the treasury. we have to solve this problem. i want to solve this problem. but there has been a failure of leadership from this president and all he's doing is demagoguing and scaring the american people. >> we'll take a quick break, come back with more of our roundtable in jojust a moment. >>> final moments with the roundtable and a review. david plouffe senior adviser to the president on this program talking about the key sticking point. will th

and is one of the most liquid markets in the united states with average daily trading volume in excess of $320 billion second only to the united states treasury securities. the name of the market to be announced is from the way the market functions. unlike the traditional marketplace investors did not know the pools of loans they agreed to purchase until months later. the collateral is designated to be announced at a date in the future. many argue the tb a market is vital to preserving key markets consumers rely upon such as 30 year fixed rate loan. and ability to lock in an interest rate prior to closing a mortgage. the only securities traded in the tb a market are eight securities the find as those issued or guaranteed by fannie mae and freddie mac and jenny made it serves as a benchmark for privately issued securities which are priced relative to the tb a price. in addition original issues to purchase and sell positions to hedge the origination of loans that are not eligible for trading for example adjustable rate loans and jumble loans. as we continue to explore different approaches to reforming the housing finance system is critically im

in 1985, the president of the united states, ronald reagan, was asked the same question, and his treasury the secretary of the treasury does authority to choose the order in which to pay obligations of the united states. this is an official document from the department of treasury. "we are aware of no statute or any other basis for concluding that treasury is required to pay outstanding obligations in order in which they are presented for payment unless it chooses to do so." and this president has not been willing to tell the american medicare recipients and the military will be paid as long as we receive sufficient money in the treasury. we have to solve this problem. i want to solve this problem.cc been a failure of leadership from this prerksiden and all he's doing is we know why we're here. to build a new generation of airplanes to connect the world. ♪ airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. and make nonstop travel possible to more places. ♪ [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working together -- to bring us together. that's why we're here. ♪ w

we've already had a horrific week, but this is a blow to the united states without question. in terms of the treasury it should hit. that, after all, is how the united states borrows money. we issue bonds and notes and short-term bills to investors. they give the united states their money. the united states says they will pay them back with interest. will people run away from those? unlikely. the full faith and credit of the united states still means quite a bit and, indeed, some other major nations have seen their credit rating cut and it didn't have all that much impact on those countries. including japan. this is an embarrassment for the u.s. in the financial markets. the united states now have a lower credit rating than luxomberg and sweden. >>> a quick check of our top stories now. a nato helicopter has crashed in eastern afghanistan. afghan president hamid karzai says 31 u.s. service members were killed. all were members of the u.s. special forces. a recovery operation is under way. the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> today, a texas jury will be back in court to hear more

now, michele bachmann said that the president has destroyed the credit rating of the united states and says the treasuryry needs to resign. and said mr. obama needs to balance the budget to do and turn the economy around. rick santorum, another presidential candidate, calls the downgrade another epic failure in leadership and says it was a blow to our national image. and mitt romney issued a statement saying, america's credit worthiness just became the latest casualty in president obama's failed record of leadership on the economy. standard & poor's rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country's decline under president obama. john huntsman echoed some of the same sentiments as the others, that for too long we have let reckless spending going unchecked and the cancer has spread. we need new leadership in washington and job friendly policies to get america working again. so, wolf, it's not all that surprising, of course, because these are people that are running for the republican nomination and they don't necessarily need to get brownie points when it comes to being nice to the preside

beginning with the treasury secretary of the united states. it's only starting. and it's still relatively early august. i know you're worried about making your savis last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here -- to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there every step of the way. call or come in and talk with us today. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. >> neil: something has got to change on m

united states is still a safe haven country in the world. there is no question about that. i question the wisdom of saying the united states is not a triple a country anymore. if treasury securities are not triplated. is? >> i will say this to people owning bonds. the probability that the united states will default on the bonds in 10-20 years is about zero it is not going to happen. >> harris: uncertainty created in washington didn't help. >> that did not help at all . they got to get together and cut more spending. >> harris: ste moore, thank you. group much hackers getting revenge. the f.b.i. investigating a sevees of attacks and who was targeted and why. london is burning. local taking to the streets and protest. breaking news as fox reports tonight. u.s.a.a. autonsurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ben your lega. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. in one place. the winning horse you could have picked. ♪ that "old flame" you should have called. ♪ that leap o

and families across the united states will increase at exactly the wrong time, in the midst of recession. if we fail to pass this legislation, tomorrow the secretary of treasury would sit down with the president of the united states and decide in the month of august which americans who were expecting a check will actually receive one. will we pay social security recipients? will we pay the members of our military? will we pay the central intelligence agency? it is an impossible choice that the president would face if we fail. but there's another side to this story. if this bill passes, we will reduce spending on critical programs. we have to be honest about it. fewer children from poor families will be enrolled in early childhood education. working families and their children will face even more debt to pay for college education. medical research will likely be cut and the list goes on. so from where i stand, it is not the clearest moral choice. i spoke to our chaplain before we started the session about a line in shakespeare that i have always struggled to understand. it is from hamlet, and it's the line in his famous sol little kweu when he said -- soliliqu

some piece of those entities should be directed in a separate account within the united states treasury with earnings up that account supporting a long-term gulf ecosystem monitoring observation research program. and with that said, mr. chairman, let me say that science-based approach i'm suggesting would work in the arctic as well. and as you can see, it's science that is missing in both applications, both in the preparedness and response, and also in the restoration. congress should act now to establish a long-term scientific monitoring observation research program, and ensure response to those are in place before offshore environment is exposed to widespread industrial activity in the arctic and the intended risk bearing. finally, a broader level, mr. chairman, although senator snowe is not here let me mention that congress should ensure that the united states has the financial resources necessary to be an effective steward of its ocean and coastal ecosystems. the national endowment for oceans act cosponsored by ranking member snowe and other members of this committee would do just t

we've already had a horrific week, but this is a blow to the united states without question. in terms to the treasuryrket, that's really where it should hit, because that, after all, is how the united states borrow money. we issue bonds, notes, short-term bills to investors. they give the united states their money, the united states says, we'll pay you back with interest. so will people run away from those? well, unlike ly. the full faith and credit of the united states still means quite a bit and indeed, some other major nations have seen their credit rating cut and it didn't have all that much impact on those countries, including japan. this is certainly an embarrassment for the u.s. in financial markets and the united states now has a lower credit rating than luxembourluxembourg, denmark, and sweden. deb? >> allen cher novembnoff, thank much. >>> we'll find out where tiger woods stands right now at the bridgestone invitational. introducing purifying[ fe] facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. developed with dermatologists... it's clinically proven to remove 99% of dirt and toxins and purify po

treasury bonds. >> translator: although the united states is going through some economic hardship, i believe it wille able to overcome its difficulties and return to a robust track of development. the prosperity and stability of the united states is favorable for the whole world. >> vice president biden attempted to address china's concerns by pledging that the u.s. government will do whatever it can to pull itself out of its economic slump. >>> a popular anti-corruption activist in india left jail on friday. the government ordered anna hazare's release because of fear of government wide protests. he's demanding that the government act immediately against indemic corruption in the country. his jailing prompted mass protest across india. the government tried to ease tensions by making concessions and allowing hazare to begin a 15-day hunger strike in the capital. hazare told thousands of flag-waving supporters who greeted him after his release that the protests will continue. he demanded the government enact tougher anti-corruption laws. there are fears the government's standoff with the activist is

treasuries this week. people rushing to what s&p jumped the gun on this by a long shot and gold standards here in the united states, the treasuries are backed by the full faith and government of the united states. >> and printing press: i am sorry to interrupt. i apologize. viewers also write to fox business. and they are struggling with this. why do we care? because their mortgage rates, their car rates, their credit card rates can be pegged to the tenure. 401(k) could get rocked. >> will not going up? >> with the action in the bond market it doesn't look like the yield is going up for now. >> we keep hearing that on monday -- the markets have been bracing for this. you have other people charlie gasparino coming up later, this sun precedented, we don't real little know, can't say definitively that everything is going to be okay, that the markets are braced for this. what do you think about that. >> rumors were flying around in the market on friday. we have been seeing a real downdraft. we lost 1.8 trillion in market stock value, you know, since this plunge started. so, you know, will it rock the markets more? we

treasury bonds. guest: people still look to the united states dollar and treasuries as a safe haven. host: given that, the federal reserve meets today. there are a lotf headlines in here that the fed might have to dig deeper to do something. what can the fed do at this point? guest: the fed could institute a new buying program, buying up securities and providing more liquidity. would allay any fears that the turmoil in the markets would transle to the credit markets. the other part is the fed could announce that it will do whatever is necessary if the economy weakens further to help the economy. that would be contrary to statements bernanke has made so far. i think to some degree that is what we are looking for from the administration and federal reserve, to have some reassurance that poles makers are -- policy makers are ready to step in if necessary. that is one thing i would look for. but let me address the corporate tax issue. statutory highest tax rate in the world but we have so many loopholes and exemptions and deductions that the effective rate is fairly low, in the middle of