business as usual is unsustainable. creators note that higher debt today means higher taxes tomorrow. if the president's new budget freezes the last budget, he will stifle job growth by continuing to spend too much, tax to much, and borrowed too much. it is beyond irresponsible to saddle the next generation with the responsibility for paying back our debt. by itself, the president's takeover of the nation's health care system will cost $2.6 trillion. if the new entitlement is like everyone before it, the price tag will grow. our total debt is over $14 trillion. trillion.

breaks to wal-mart and a bunch of his other corporate cronies so to say that that this is simply unsustainable is simply untrue not only that because they're taking weekly departing rates you can lose seventy million dollars in federal money that's tied to some of these issues this is quite frankly a violation of international law and it just screams for america to scrape through the american dream i do find it interesting that scott walker hasn't mentioned even once and i have seen a statistic so also that there was going to be a budget surplus and then thanks to a few pieces of legislation that passed after you know it took office. that's why there is now a budget problem well there was also there were as there were several other problems were before scott walker did this tax thing one was that growth was abysmal in wisconsin the desire was to attract jobs from wisconsin so that you didn't have people leaving in droves you know attending the university of wisconsin and then leaving to go someplace else where they could actually get jobs and said is this going to fix that situation if you tel

they are unsustainable and left unaddressed, these deficits will hurt economic growth and make us weaker as a nation. we have to restore fiscal responsibility and go back to living within our means. the president's budget cuts the deficit he inherited in half as a share of the economy by the end of his first term. these cuts are phased over time so that we protect the recovery. in order to make it possible for us to invest in future growth and to restore fiscal sustainability, the president proposes to reduce nonsecurity discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy since dwight eisenhower was president. to achieve this, the budget proposes a 5-year freeze of annual nonsecurity discretionary spending at its 2010 level. and this will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next at the point years. the president also proposes to reduce a request for defense spending to freeze civil service salaries, to improve efficiency in government services through a range of program eliminations and reductions. these savings create the necessary room for us to make

it is clearly unsustainable and unmanageable problems we have been trying to address. >> state employee pension funds are bankrupting california and they have no voice to fight if. -- to fight it. the unions say they are being made scapegoats. >> the interest introduction of the bill come on a day when unions are rallying to head off just such a bill. >> a lot of people made a lot of money on selling sub prime mortgages and the whole debacle. and now after the bailout they are attacking unions and attacking the working people of this country. >> look at these greedy people. look around here. it is not the greed of the working class. >> union members rallied from oakland to the state capital. in napa, tea party activists supported a rally and wisconsin's governor. here in california, the bill would only limit bargaining power on retirement pension funds. >> we have needed to address this for a longtime. it is unsustainable and the taxpayers end up paying for these increasing benefits. >> well, i did about $931 a month. i understand that is a break in the state budget. i apologize for tha

we have $14 trillion national debt that is unsustainable. every branch of the federal government ought to look at how they can cut. it needs to be done in a prudent way. that is why i am concerned about the jobs and cutting back on investment in virginia. the recent announcement the secretary made about reducing the joint forces command presence in hampton roads and producing contractors 30% in virginia -- it was of great concern. i know general odierno will make an announcement this afternoon, so i will let him make that announcement. we will do better in virginia than we had hoped, but with the defense contractors' side the 30% was completely arbitrary. no analysis about whether it will create more value or whether those services could be done cheaper than a contractor. we have a work group at the table to look at that because i do think so much of the technological capacity that makes us a superior war fighter in america is because of the great technology our defense contractors provide. hopefully we will have a good presence at the table

we are proposing a because we have unsustainable obligations. that will hurt future growth if we don't fix them. we will have to do a bunch of things to spread the burden. our proposals would only affect 1/2 of 1% >> by appreciate that. -- >> i appreciate that. it would affect the narrowing of the tax base that fewer and fewer people would be paying taxes whether it is the federal income tax, how do think we can address that? >> if you look at our tax system today, there is lots of on fairness across the system. you referred to one piece of it which is lower income americans pay federal taxes but many don't have to pay the income tax as a whole. it is also true that as many of our most successful executives said, you can be a successful businessman today and pay much lower effective tax rate than people who work for you. that doesn't seem fair. we are trying to propose initial reforms to leave us with a more fair system. >> i can appreciate that. as well on the corporate tax rate, is there any concern that letting that go back up or pushing them

there is a criticism of his economic policies, that have been said to create unsustainable deficits. >> this week, we were told that we were moving in the right direction but we need to get there more quickly. the bipartisan tax cuts that we passed in december will add to job creation and economic growth. this is making the paychecks of americans will larger, and helping to invest. but the true measure of progress is that every american who wants to have a job can find a job. people in this country can still achieve the american dream. this is the process. in the global economy, the newest industries will take root and the strongest commitment to research and technology, this will help with -- we have to innovate more than the rest of the world. students and researchers are leading the way on innovation and they are taking up the challenge all across the country. if you focus on tackling the biggest obstacles, with clean, affordable energy, we will get behind your work. the people in pennsylvania are trying to save more energy, with more efficient lighting, and better heating and coo

that's what makes them unsustainable. they are down to three, you will stabilize them at a level that's more acceptable. >> does it take into consideration if the economy beginning recovery like it proposes, don't interest rates typically go up as well? >> you are right. the economic assumptions that matter most, how fast does the economy grow, what happened to interest rates, what happened to inflation. there's no certainty. it's an amount of judgment. ultimately, this is the strength of our system, cbo's judgment will govern the choices that you made. when cbo estimates the impact of the proposed policy, they are going to show slightly higher deficits than we show in the budget. >> just changing gears, do you know what percent of mortgages held by fannie mae and freddie mac? 80%? >> no, it's not that high. look at the mortgages financed today in the market, a substantial fraction are by a combination of fannie, freddie, fha. it's well north of 80%. >> okay. well north. what assurances can we give the american people tha

this place because of political power being concentrated in public sector unions and pushing for unsustainable benefits in health care and in their pensions and so it can't be just about the short term focus of fixing the budget today needs to be looking at what's best for wisconsin long term what is what's best for wisconsin long term taking away collective bargaining rights isn't that you know just a basic symbol of american rights in america we're talking not about private sector unions who are talking about public sector workers these are state so these are state workers which is a different ballgame so it's not this is not. taking away the rights of any businesses with their unions and their right to unionize these are state workers are to outsiders not but on workers in america years ago there was a two important points to recognize first off it's easy to dismiss this idea that they've been breaking the bank because we could look at the data we have there been any number of studies state employees this is true what's going on since true in most states are actually paid compensation kind

and making sure that this is not a program that is unsustainable. and that is a principle upon which we believe very strongly. that is currently part of our plan, yes, sir. >> how about there's been some discussion, in fact, there was a study done by center for retirement research at boston college that highlighted the need to broaden the solvency. >> i can't tell you about the mandate. but i know that the modelling, if you're at the 2% o to 3% participation rate, you have a barely sustainable program. if you move closer to 5% or 6%, you have a more sustainable program. that is being very carefully looked at as far as the framework, can you have a flexible benefit package? what are the ways? i think increasing the work requirement to five full years, having anti-gaming provisions so people can opt in and out of the system which was possible under the original strategy, raising dramatically the threshold from a 1200 a year work requirement to a $12,000 a year work requirement. >> now as it's written today, the class act must provide an average benefi

. >> we are taking the first step in tackling our unsustainable debt. >> the silly, the dangerous and the hip critical. >> coming up, a bay area congress woman taking lawmakers to task. >>> plus, a u.s. senator >>> republicans are pushing forward with a sweeping plan to cut $61 billion from this year's budget. yesterday, the president threatened a veto. the deadline for passing some sort of funding measure is march 4. after that, as abc 7's political reporter mark matthews explains, the government will shut down. >> reporter: it is not just that republicans don't think the president's 2012 budget cuts are enough. they want to start slashing government spending now starting with $61 million this year. >> we are taking the first step in tackling our unsustainable debt and in preserving our economic strength for future generations. >> reporter: but bay area representative jackie spear described it a bit differently. >> the silly, the dangerous and the hypocritical. >> instead of passing a budget for fiscal 2011 congress has been passing temporary spending measures. the president s

that is an unsustainable situation.e need spending under control and we should focus our attention on getting spending under control, but at some point we're going to have to look at more revenues. and not to be done in the most economically friendly way that we possibly can. we need to raise more revenues now if we're going to maintain the programs and defense that we seem to have voted for. host: a final question that sums up vestar discussion. on twitter, "mr. bixby, the debt is the $15 trillion. have we reached the tipping point? if not, what is the number?" guest: i do not think we have come and the scary thing is we did not know what the number is. we could have a crisis and not know it. the debt to gdp ratio is high, around 65% or so. it is it really whether we take the steps now to prevent this from going up even further. we will reach the tipping point sometime very soon. it could be perhaps in the current budget window of 10 years. you can look at the interest costs, the debt to gdp ratio would go up around 10

spending guarantee by unsustainable bailouts is an unsustainable course. with that, i now recognize the ranking member, mr. quigley of illinois. >> thank you for holding this extraordinarily important and timely hearing. congratulations on your new post as chairman. the record should reflect that you and your staff have been extraordinarily accommodating and cordial to myself and my staff. obviously, the issues are too important to divide us. i also thank you -- any time i pay a compliment to you should not take from my time. [laughter] i want to thank the witnesses for testify today. -- for testifying today. i agree. this is not about bailouts or bankruptcies. i do not think either of those options can work or are optimal. i am from illinois. you do not need to tell me about how bad its finances are or how bad the situation is. illinois with three decades of bad financial decision making bows by democrats and republicans. they have a backlog in payments and a gaping $136 billion hole in the pension system leaving its pensions less than 50% funded. the rat

orszag, said that the current fiscal projection of the country was unsustainable.do you share that view? >> i think this budget stands for the principle that we have to get our fiscal house in order and we have to take seriously stopping the practice of treating deficits like they don't matter and we have put a plan for that would eliminate and get us a primary balance by the middle of the decade. that was the challenge he was describing ahead of us at the time. >> do you agree that the current trajectory is unsustainable? >> if you look at what is driving the deficit down, part of it is getting the economy moving again. >> i understand you are a lawyer, but is it unsustainable? that word is used by many people >> hi was going to answer your question. i need to break into the pieces. we need to keep the economy growing in order to not have an unsustainable deficits. the kind of financial crisis within the recession create enormous problems in our fiscal policy. we've got policies in place to do that. we cannot stay at deficits that are 5% of gdp which is roughly wh

this is unsustainable. the demand for access to platforms of expression cannot be satisfied when using them lance you in prison. we believe that governments to have erected barriers to internet freedom, whether they are technical filters or censorship regimes or attacks on those who exercise their right to expression and assembly online, will eventually find themselves boxed in. they will face a dictator's dilemma and will have to choose between letting the wall's fall or paying the price to keep them standing. that means both doubling down on a losing hand by resorting to greater oppression and enduring the escalating opportunity cost of missing out on the ideas that have been blocked and people who have been disappeared. i urge countries everywhere to join us in the best we have made. it is a bet that an open internet will lead to stronger and more prosperous countries. at its core, it is an extension of the bet that the united states has made for more than 200 years, that open societies give rise to the

vice president marshall: what about "unsustained"? director hicks: we are not able to prove or disprove the allegations by a preponderance of the evidence.

and making sure that this is not a program that is unsustainable. and that is a principle upon which we believe very strongly. that is currently part of our plan, yes, sir. >> how about there's been some discussion, in fact, there was a study done by center for retirement research at boston college that highlighted the need to broaden the solvency. >> i can't tell you about the mandate. but i know that the modelling, if you're at the 2% o to 3% participation rate, you have a barely sustainable program. if you move closer to 5% or 6%, you have a more sustainable program. that is being very carefully looked at as far as the framework, can you have a flexible benefit package? what are the ways? i think increasing the work requirement to five full years, having anti-gaming provisions so people can opt in and out of the system which was possible under the original strategy, raising dramatically the threshold from a 1200 a year work requirement to a $12,000 a year work requirement. >> now as it's written today, the class act must provide an average benefi

a spokesperson says the filling of shark fins is an unsustainable slaughter of some of the motion's most magnificent animals and enacting this ab 376 would be an important step to protect." >>> a baby boy abducted from his home in fresno is back home. he was found late last night. and was miles away at the suspect's parents home outside of bakersfield. that suspect is the baby's fire, 19-year-old edward ramos, who was arrested last tight. anniversaries say he -- anniversaries say he kidnapped the -- investigators say he kidnapped the boy and that triggered an amber alert. >>> president obama bunched the -- launched the 2012 budget battle. he says this involves tough budget cuts. craig boswell say the republicans say this is just a road map for more spending. >> reporter: staffers on capitol hill began this valentine's day morning unpacking and unwrapping budget books. president obama '$3.73 trillion blueprint. the president says his proposal trims more than 200 federal programs while making key investments in transportation, research and education. >> the only way we can make these inves

the support for undemocratic regimes in the middle east is an unsustainable. it might in -- end in disaster for american foreign policy. >> they are the key to a future without mubarak. >> you are watching bbc news. looking into outer space. there are thousands of new planets undiscovered in distant solar systems. poland's foreign minister has warned the president of belarus that he could be ousted by his own people if the decide to follow the example of protesters in tunisia and egypt. >> the smiling face of belarus' hard-line president, casting a ballot in an election that he won with almost 80% of the vote. the outside world said that it was seriously flawed. in minsk, days after the results, his opponents became involved in clashes with police. 700 were arrested. some of which are in detention now. that did not stop him from another inauguration. this time, the pomp and ceremony was boycotted by many e.u. countries, angry at the flawed elections. he risks being overthrown by his own people if they follow the example of tunisian and egyptian protestors. >>

an unsustainable option. about we want to continue to provide the basic safety net, we need to have the flexibility and tools to do that the best way we can for citizens in wisconsin. i know that i talked to you individually on the phone before this meeting, and this is a common concern amongst governors. my hope again is that today we will have a good, open discussion about what is happening with medicaid and what might potentially happen in the future. conference calls in the months to come, more on what came out of today's meeting. i am looking forward to hearing your on the phone. >> thank you, governor. we have got a full agenda here. we will be spending most of our time on the sustainability of the medicaid program. we have the consideration of six policies, which will find under f in your binder. this is about demanding and reaffirming policies. given the unprecedented turnover in this last election, with an incoming class of 29, the largest in u.s. history, i would like to reaffirm these policies unti

so when it's slightly off balance then you get what you've got in 30 or 40 states, fiscally unsustainable situations. so i'm not totally in agreement with what scott walker is trying to do, which i think is way too polarizing, but i do think the balance has to shift a little. >> lehrer: to both of you, regardless of your position, do you think this is a water shed moment on this issue, that, because of the debt, particularly at the state level, otherwise we wouldn't be talking about, nobody would be. >> this is a water shed issue in our social contract and what we expect from government and what we can forward and for the next 20 it can't afford it and we have to change that. one of my problems with scott walker is this is going to take decades to unwind. if you start with a hyper confrontational posture, then you're not going to get democrats helping you on day 47 when you're going to need their help to take other budget measures. so i would much rather see a much more collaborative process, where the unions didn't concede a few things, they can concede a few more, like the automatic wit

vice president marshall: what about "unsustained"? director hicks: we are not able to prove or disprove the allegations by a preponderance of the evidence. commissioner hammer: i want to say thank. your thorough report reflects the hard work of the o.c.c. this year despite du difficult circumstances with personnel matters, and i am glad to see complaints are down, sustained rate is up. that is obviously more time for your investigators to focus on the lower case number. i know in the past you were clearing prior quaste cases from years past. you should be commended, your entire staff here today, for your work. it has always been our belief, those of us here at the beginning, that a strong o.c.c. means a strong police department . you have created a level of accountability and respect between the two agencies and you have increased the public trust. thank you. i know you are doing it under difficult standards. i don't know how much longer you can pull this off, but we will try to support you in that regard. the mediation is my favorite

it's simply unsustainable. the second, i suppose, is given we've been in the argument a long time that china has profound economic problems at this point. it's grown in 0 years. it will continue to grow, but it's going to go through an adjustment. the most important thing to argue is the next 10 years is really about the relationship what i call empire of republic. it's between the vast global power of the united states, the difficulty in managing that and retaining republican forms of government. the military industrial complex, i'm going beyond that. i'm saying the requirements of managing an international system in which we are the only global power with the institutions that we have, you know, the complexity of our intelligence organizations create the situation where no one has a clear idea of what everyone is doing aside from creating unnecessary chaos in the world, it creates real challenges for the republic. i need to maintain a democratic society in the face of this both accumulating and nontransparent

government down if the democratic colleagues insist on keeping the federal government large and unsustainable. from 2008 to 2010 the federal government in nine defense discretionary spending group 24%. very few people in america had that increase in their budgets. >> reporter: now the senate is on recess and will likely push for a temporary funding extension. a republican filibuster could trigger a government shutdown. >> that is the worst outcome. if we shut down the government and calling into question whether we're going to meet our obligation for social security economics and paying our troops, that is an utter failure. >> reporter: the president has said government spending has to be tamed, but he's calling on lawmakers to use a scalp pell, not a machete. >>> coming up next 5k9, the break through in solar technology that stanford researchers say could send sales through the roof so to speak. if the think the bay area leads the way for electric cars in the u.s., you might want to think again. we'll show you what was unveiled in chicago's auto show. >>> how about did the grateful dead mara

when costs run higher than inflation, that is unsustainable. i think as san franciscans, we need to acknowledge we want good transit. but we need to figure out how we're going to pay for in a stable way, and not subject to economic cycles. commissioner borden: next time, it would be great to have mta here. whatever plan you guys put together has to work together. it does not make sense. we are struggling to meet infrastructure needs for existing plants we have already improved -- already approved. the thought of adding more infrastructure needs that are going to go unrealized is a difficult thing to consider. it pains me to hear that a lot of this is displacing people, and not the kind of affordable housing we were hoping for. >> to commend the commission, the parkmerced coming forth -- those plans help address transit needs by attaching to every household requirement of pain for a transit pass. that is tightly linked to the ability to fund transit and provide service with the growth, unit by unit. we need a transit pattern as we grow our city.

so by definition, the unsustainable trajectory of the deficit and debt is a cbo outlined cannot actually happened because creditors would never be willing to lend to a government whose debt relative to the national income is rising without limit. e economist herbert stein simply described the situation he said if something can't go on forever it will stop. [laughter] one way or the other fiscal adjustments, sufficient to stabilizethe federal budget must occur at some point. the qestion is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and deliberate of rocess that ways priorities and gives people adequate time to adjust to changes in the programs or tax policies or whether the needed fiscal adjustments will be a rapid and peaceful response to an elite or financial crisis. acting now to develop a credible program to reduce the future deficits would model the enhance economic growth and stability in the long run, but could also yield substantial near-term benefits in terms of lower long-term interest rates and increased consumer and business confidence. plants recently put for

and so one official said to me, egyptian, said clearly it was an unsustainable situation. what i don't know, judy, then is what was the secrets and events. had mubarak already left for share-- or was this all an unfolding coring yog fee. but i did ask was it pew barack who recognized it was unsustainable or was he essentially told that. and this egyptian official said it's very significant that the announcement was made by the vice president and he said it was the president handing over power to the military and then stepping down. and it is important for them to know this, that it was pew barack's decision. >> woodruff: so it sounds like they were doing looking out of the window just like everyone else. margaret, now everyone is asking, what happens next. the army has said very little about what it intends to do. what are you picking up? >> well, what i'm picking up from the opposition, judy is you can see in that bite wead fm brotherhood activist is that though most of the people are going to leave tahrir square sometime this week end, there is going to be a groups that'

the debt level reached the point that is probably an unsustainable. we are going to have to make fundamental changes in their foreign policy and i think that is going to unleash growth and social instability, but that being said, they have one advantage that china doesn't. they don't have 1 billion people in third world poverty to get china does and the chinese are bitterly aware of that. which is why they are increasing security crackdowns everywhere, moving the people's liberation army, have a crisis of the secession as we just saw, and also investing anywhere in the world outside of china. i had a joke when japan cannot if the japanese are doing so well why are the ebullient temple beach? if the chinese are doing so spectacularly why are they making massive investments outside of china? in the two previous asian crises money moving out of those markets and investing overseas. we are now in the middle of the chinese capital flight which the media is interpreting as the growing power of china. but the simple point is they are making a rational invest

trying to hold back their own team from getting too far out with a position that's politically unsustainable. >> no doubt as a political bottom line we ask our regulars including howard, kelly and me if, and that's a big if, there's a bipartisan debt deal, which side does it help next year in the presidential elections? barack obama or the republicans? well, it's unanimous. all 12 say a big deal would help the president in the election, not his opponent. kelly, why? >> it was a secret ballot, for all i know. because independents want to see cooperation and that is where the president really needs to make his biggest gains in 2012. those are the people who don't like fighting, who don't have those strong party ties and they like when people get along. so the president would certainly benefit if he's seen as being cooperative and working with republicans, where as republicans sometimes want to see more of the wearing the team colors than working with the other side. >> you agree, cynthia? >> no need to worry about it because there won't be. on entitlements because of what howard said earlierth

their debt level has reached the point that it is probably unsustainable. they're going to make some fundamental changes to policy. and i think that will unleash growth and socialism. but that being said, they have one advantage that china doesn't. they don't have 1 billion people living in third world poverty. china does. and the chinese are bitterly aware of that, which is why they are increasing security crackdowns everywhere, having crises and secession which we just saw. and also investing anywhere in the world outside of china. i had a joke, when japan came in, the japanese are doing so well, why are they buying pebble beach? if the chinese are doing so spectacular, why are they making massive investments outside of china? into previous asian crises, the japanese in 1997 to east asia crisis, the precursor event was capital flight. money moving out of those markets and investing overseas their we are now in the middle of chinese capital flight which the media is interpreting as the growing power of china. but the simple point is that they're making rat

as many people said, we have to recognize that we face unsustainable long-term deficits. we'll have to do things that will be painful. the choice, we don't want to make those choices in an insensitive way. with this proposal, remember, this is just a proposal. congress has to reflect and consider. we are completely open to suggestions of how to better designed it. mary's short-term relief for states and employers with reforms that make the base of this assessment warfare across companies as a whole. again, there may be different ways to do this. open to suggestions. >> i appreciate the perspective. 2014 may be the ultimate year. the concern that i have is that we have so many issues that are hitting if not reform said the reform and health care dealing with things like this. i mean, i hear it constantly from employers back in my district that there is a lot of fear frankly at the small business to midsize level about hiring now that we added another issue with the proposed tax increase. i guess my final question would be this, if you were an employer trying to make decisi

the support for undemocratic regimes in the middle east is unsustainable and might end up in zazi for american foreign policy. >> the immediate concern is for an end to the violence. president obama's team will be talking to the egyptian army. they are a key to the future without mubarak. >> i'll have more from egypt a little later in the program. one of the biggest storms ever to hit australia has struck the coast of queensland. they have suffered months of flooding and now expected to be battered by winds of nearly 200 miles an hour. the cyclone yasi roars across the east coast of australia. the premiere has told people to prepare for devastation unprecedented in history. >> the kentucky clone hit the coast with 199-mile-an-hour winds of fatal force. cities and towns were in complete lockdown. the emergency services were unable to respond to calls from frightened residents asking to be evacuated because it was simply too dangerous to venture out on to the streets. >> we are now seeing winds across these areas of more than 120 kilometers per hour. we are seeing torrential rain and so

you say our deficits are too high and they're unsustainable. left unaddressed, these deficits will hurt economic growth and make us is weaker nation and we must go back to living within our means, which i couldn't agree with you more. but this budget predicts over the next 10 years that we're going to lower our deficit to 3%. and i'm just thinking about my 14-year-old grandson and 10 years from now what i can say to him, you know, dylan, i'm really sorry that we could only lower this to 3%. and because, you're going to have at least a $15 trillion deficit that you and your family know that you start about are going to have to pay back and i'm really sorry i just couldn't get it quite done for you. why is it our goal to be a deficit not a balanced budget and not growing our economy to the point where we can start paying down our debt? that just seems like not a very good goal to me? >> excellent question it's a great place to start but it's not enough. >> mr. pascrell is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. geithner, let's put to bed once

government down if it is our democratic colleagues insist on keeping the federal government large and unsustainable. >> reporter: new gop speaker vow there will be no new money coming from congress, even to fund the government in the short term, without big cuts. >> read my lips, we are going to cut spending. >> reporter: boehner led a wide-open house debate, ending in the wee hours saturday, resulting in a $61 billion cut to this year's budget. slashing everything from foreign aid to high-speed rail. but the senate, led by democrats, isn't likely to go along. >> are we gonna take a weed whacker to education funds in this country while we let millionaires continue to deduct interest on their second home? >> reporter: but the clock is ticking. funding for the government runs out on march 4th and with the senate in recess all next week, that leaves only five days to work out a compromise. >> the way it's always been done, the way to do this like adults is not to say it is my way or no way. that is what newt gingrich did with lots of severe consequences but rather silt down and negotiate. >> reporter:

that said, you know doubt have some sense of when we're getting close to unsustainable debt dynamics. when are we getting close to ask and what are the main indicators that we need to monitor? we as members of congress, you as a federal reserve to avoid a crisis. >> we already have considerable increase in a debt-to-gdp ratio and we are heading towards 90% by, i think it was 2020 i believe, i'm not sure. so as we move out beyond 90, 200 we are approaching the level to where some of the countries in europe are what you have a very serious problems. again, i don't know, there's not a magic number and the problem is that you can't tell in advance when the bond markets might begin to become worried. i think the bond markets are looking not only anyway at the debt to gdp never come they're looking at the plan. does the country have a plan? does have the political will and so on? i think if we demonstrate we have the political will i think the markets will be quite forgiving spirit i suspected you would say that. so the very fact that this congress doesn't have come has not implement a bipa