us bank. lou: a new report shows our economy has lost the competitive edge sliding down the most competitive list and mr. lire joins us how we can get that back also to tell us if we are better off now than four years ago. today the stocks ended mixed s&p down one point* five and nasdaq down six. investors are concerned the global economy is slowing sightseeing a slowdown in economic news tonight productivity rises 2.2% of from initial estimate of 1.6%. rising productivity mickey and slow job creation of they choose not to add good news for facebook. hang on. the stock is up almost 5% mark zuckerberg is doing great fouling not to sell your shares from least one year. new report says the united states is losing its competitive edge according to a new study the misstates ranks seventh with the fourth consecutive drop for america. with more on how they can regain its competitive edge we have author of the book the true gold standard. when the issue is complex we turned to mr. levin. how best do we ju

us bank lou: check this out.gun owners b >> i also believe that ak-47s are not wanting hands ofnot in n criminals. >> we are not discussing peoples rights to have weapons. what were the key point is that lou: that as president obama and jesse jackson, to tons of chicago calling for more gunjaks control.on the two sonso of chicago, which, of course, is theof murder capil of the country, seemingly moreog impressed about what is going on in aurora, colorado, then whatd. is happening in their hometown.e the president also went on to talk about the dozens of people gunned down in chicago with murder rate in atlanta, milwaukee, and cleveland. you can imagine what the ima president didn't tell everybody is that chicago has theheerybod strictest gun laws in this country. the number of murders nowhere near those other cities, far, far greater. example.for atlanta with 42 murders this year. that is down, by the way, 9%.n % new orleans, has had nearly 90 murders. new orleans, 90. milwaukee, -- milwaukee is, for a town and c

us bank lou: president obama started with a much weaker economy than either. listen to me, now. no president, no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully prepared all the damage that he found in just four years. lou: wow. now, listen to me, mr. president, you are just being modest come on you? clinton being his modest self. but he forgot a president who did it in quick order and didn't need a second term to do it, but he did do it. and he did it so well that he got that second term. you see, when ronald reagan took office, he inherited what became a severe recession. the unemployment rate, ronald reagan, if i may do that, the unemployment rate was 7.5%. now, that is pretty tough. that was in october of 1980 as he went to the polls of the elected president. that would climb into the double digits if you can imagine us. rising to 10.4%. 10.4%, january of 1984, the year where the country had to decide whether or not to give him a second term. the drop that year. from 10.4% back to 7%. it is amazing. by the end of the first term. not only that, the infl

us bank. lori: joining me again, the "lou dobbs tonight" "a-team." i could not resist. so fun being here.lican pollster, former presidential adviser and fox is political analyst endorsing president obama. of course does. his predecessor. >> tell vladimir. in fairness, i think he also said that he could work with romney and that his rhetoric was just campaign rhetoric. that being said, i think the best thing that president prudent could do would be stay out of our elections. >> i am rising you would agree. >> the president wracks the popularity ratings and even endorsements from people who can't vote for him in this country. he was not able to fill the 70,000 seat stadium near his own speech at bank of america and charlotte, and yet four years ago he had over 100,000 germans listening to him, terrific that they have all that time on their hands. he seems to be much more popular lori: speaking of endorsements, the speech. did she hurt or help? >> i think she heard. this is the howard dean moment of this campaign. entirely scripted, off the cuff, bazaar. president obama runs the risk of peop

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. lou the justice department inspector general releasing a report that lasts more than a dozen officials in their roles and "operation fast and furious." the scathing report finds the serious failures in strategy, judgment and management at the obama justice department and the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. citing 14 officials for disciplinary action. the report finds no evidence that the u.s. attorney general knew about the program until last year. one of the leaders of the congressional investigation, congressman trey gowdy will be among our guest here tomorrow. president obama, giving himself a pat on the back on the david letterman show last night. >> one thing i've never tried to do and i think none of us can do in public office is suggested because someone doesn't agree with me, that they are victims or their unpatriotic or they don't have a sense of this. lou: well, in 2008, you didn't hesitate to call george w. bush unpatriotic. number 43 out of $4 trillion so that we now

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. lou days until election day. in presidential politics one week could make the difference. the president is leading in the swing states but they are not always the best predictor. mike emanuel has our report. >> polls but up and down. >> history shows september the its kid evaporate. hubert humphrey was down 15 points to nixon. nixon won by less than 1%. carter had 33% bid over ford. after the debate he cut -- could data five points. carter seemed to have a consistent advantage although the final debate changed everything. no obama is showing a lead over romney the pollsters say finding the right sample can be tricky. >> we know from ex polls republican respond less from new or -- news organizations and democrat. >> gallop had michael dukakis leading by 17 points but lost by 17.5%. he was tied with clinton in october although he one. one pollster questions the assumption made from today's polls. >> they assume you have the same high level of african-american, latino, yo ung people from 200

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. ♪ loue biggest tax hike in american history looms. can we avoid the so-called fiscal cliff disaster? the former cbo director, douglas holtz-eakin joins us here later. and we will have much more on the deathly and that american violence and demonstrations in pakistan and across the muslim world. on wall street today, stocks capping off what was a slow week. the dow finished down 17. all three indexes, however, down on the week. apple stock up three tenths of a percent. tons of people lining up at stores around the world to buy the iphone5. flushing it forecast for this year and the next. unemployment rate rose -- meanwhile, crude oil prices changing. gold hit a new high for this year on speculation that spain is moving closer to requesting a bailout. gold ended up almost eight dollars. a report on the debt crisis in greece is being held up by the european commission. this is until after the presidential election. the eu apparently sensitive to an obama administration request to delay any bad

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. ♪ louey answering critics today to claimed he did not pay any income taxes. you know, senator harry reid has to be very upset. governor romney releasing his 2011 income tax returns with tax rates he paid over the past two decades as well. we have the report. >> after months of pressure mitt romney released his 2011 tax returns on a friday afternoon. documents showed that gross adjusted income totaled $13 million for the year. they paid almost 2 million for its effective tax rate of 14%. amounted to one-third of their income but on the klan direction of two and five. never less than 13% taking deductions for half of his charitable the -- donations. appositive a president obama released his tax return in april showing an adjusted gross income of 163,000 taxes. also released by the romney campaign today a notarized letter from the text prepared showing from 1990 his average tax rate was 22%. both also released medical records indicating they are in excellent health, all on a day in which the b

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. lou: the rift between israel and washington growing. president obama can't find time to meet with israeli prime minister netanyahu. ambassador john bolton and judith miller join us here in just moments. on wall street today stocks moved higher on expectation that is the federal reserve will launch another round of quantitative easing. the dow up 69 points. the s&p up 4 1/2. the nasdaq gaining a half-point. in economic news tonight, the u.s. trade deficit rose slightly to $42 billion in july. our manufacturing deficit hitting a record high of almost $64 billion. and it could worsen for american manufacturing. last friday, we learned the sector shed 15,000 manufacturing jobs in the month of august. >>> major defense contractors today confirm they will send out tens of thousands of employee layoffs and warnings shortly before election day because congress has not addressed so-called sequestration cuts set to take effect early next year. lou:. >>> as tensions between the united states and isr

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. louur comments, michael says, whatever believes

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. lou: turning from the obama administration and the u.s. government struggles on foreign policy in the middle east in particular, we turn to breaking news out of wisconsin on the domestic front. a wisconsin state judge had stopped on struck down a state law that ended collective bargaining powers for most public employees in wisconsin. circuit court judge ruling that the law violates both the state and u.s. constitution. that law was passed by the governor, scott walker. sing the people of wisconsin clearly spoke on june 5. now, they are ready to move on. a liberal activist judge wants to go backwards and take away the lawmaking responsibilities of the legislature and the government. we are confident that the government will prevail in the appeals process. governor jindal was a democrat to the white house finally releasing details on how they will implement $1.2 trillion and across-the-board spending cuts over the next 10 years. the white house warning of the sequestration cuts, which woul

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. loutive advocacy group alleged freedom marine airing the hard-hitting new ad in swing states blasting president obama for his support of the muslim brotherhood. >> president obama, you invited the muslim brotherhood to the white house? legitimizing the group that wants to undermine america and destroy israel. ♪ you sent to them when a half billion of our taxpayer dollars. why, mr. president? why? lou: that at trying to connect the president to the muslim brotherhood was originally to air next month, but that group pushed the date up after the terrorist attack in libya. the group says the obama administration's handling of the attack and its aftermath shows the president is kowtowing to our enemies instead of confronting them. we showed you yesterday the obama campaign asking reporters to post pictures, there you see them come on line, of themselves pledging allegiance to the united states but to our presidents. it sparked a lot of backlash and a response from the governor of texas, rick p

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. ♪ louey differences emerging between the president and the governor, and i don't mean political differences, differences in terms of pummelling mr. dick responsibility. ss and psychoanalyze these two candidates, particularly through the lens of the cbs 60 minutes. these two. psychotherapists, psychologists, college of osteopathic medicine joining us now. let's start with you. who won the appearances? a wedding appearance? >> i don't think there were any winners. they were trying to look like winners. there were trying to get the sense of being honest that there were going to take responsibility for the accuracies and certainly not so much for the inaccuracies. so i think that was there. debate. here we go. romney versus president obama. >> romney was kind of polonized since he was made to look as an elitist as a result of the interview, so he walked away from that interview needing to do some explanations on this on behalf. >> and some energy. lou: are you talking about 47? >> oh, yes. yes.

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. louining me now "the a-team", former prosecutor and fox legal analyst, lis wiehl. fox news political an least, chris hahn. "wall street journal" assistant editorial page editor, james freeman. looks like the president had a bounce and today the bounce bounced. what is going on? >> depends on what poll you look at. i like to trust the gallup daily tracker has him up six points. another poll had him up only two or three points, you like the ones well in the lead and abc news, excuse me if i may. just for a second. i will allow me to utter a few words. you don't trust the "abc news/washington post poll" that show him a point a part. >> i trust all the polls. average them all together. clear average will have them neck and neck throughout. but only polls that matter are state polls. i have him up five points in ohio. >> dismissing everything? lou: you're happy -- >> even though the "gallup poll" -- >> if you guys want to pretend there is santa claus for couple more months. >> obama administra

joins us next lou: in tonight's technology connect, shares of research in motion are sharing on chen soaring 20%. the blackberry maker. it has the new blackberry tends my phone, they are banking on the device and its comeback. research in motion employees are, i have to say, working hard to convince people of just that. with a new music video. catch this. >> ♪ ♪ the video, receiving however mixed reviews at a developers' conference this week. you have to give those folks credit for putting a lot of passion toward their blackberry tan and doing so with weight and, i think, some talent, real talent. stocks today posting the first game of the week. the dow jones industrial up 72 points. the s&p up 14, breaking a 5-day losing streak. the nasdaq, well, it was up 43 points, which is not a bad day. in fact among the best day for the market since the 13th of september when fed chair ben bernanke announced qb three. overseas, spain announcing its budget for next year. you have to love that. a draft budget. the spaniards are not happy about it all. it took to the streets again today, third day in a row if you are counting the austerity watch. the country must convince europe and the wo

lou: all right, thank you very much. ew hank sheinkopf, thank you so much. we will have your comments coming up next. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bankre helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,0

bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. loubbs tonight the economy and unemployment rampant and the dollar depressed. can our presidential candidates fix this economy? we have the answers tonight at 7:00 eastern. stuart: the wall street journal, my attention yesterday. the writer has operated an employment agency for 15 years and has plenty of entry-level job openings that she cannot fill. why? so many youngsters after a decade of public education don't have what it takes. here is my take on basic job skills which are sadly lacking. show up for the interview on time. put on a clear and -- clean pair of hands and don't show your underwear. that goes for young women too. baseball caps come off in the wars. brooke your prospect of the employer in the eye. smile modestly and shake hands. you do not hug. use good grammar. demonstrate that you can hold a conversation. if you get the job, keep it. show up every day to work on time stone cold sober. no liquor on your breath and no rabbi from we did. get along with your co-workers. don'