. >> sean: here with reaction the host of varney & company stuart varney and dana perino. you supported the original deal. i was very suspicious, because of the spend -- >> if you are talking about the tax compromise deal, yes i support it. i still support it. it is a lousy deal from a republican standpoint but better than no deal. you do not want to see everybody's attacks go up january 1st. >> sean: if it goes up, january 5th, we have a new congress, bigger majority in the senate. mike pence and jim demint are saying straight up or done vote on whether obama gets to raise taxes. >>> they can do that. if you guarantee that will happen, i'm with you. but you can't. you don't know how long the higher taxes will stay in place. the wheels of government move slowly. >> sean: who gets the blame for the middle class having a tax increase? that would be democrats. >> i'm thinking american prosperity if anybody's attacks go up our prosperity goes done. >> sean: 200 plus billion more in spending? >> i would rather go for a lousy deal than no deal. because i do not know when you fix

christine varney was a partner in washington d.c. where she served in a dual capacity as member of the antitrust practice group and head of the internet practice group. from 1994 to 1997 she was federal trade commissioner of the federal trade commission and was leading official on a wide variety of issues. prior to her circus and the federal trade commission she served as assistant to the president and to the cabinet in the clinton administration. thank you for being here. now to the panelists and we thank each and every one of these individuals for taking time to be involved. i will do this in alphabetical order. ben burkett as a farmer in mississippi. his family has for 121 years. he now grows 16 varieties of vegetables and herbs from farmers' markets. and arm of the federation of southern cooperatives, and president of the national farm family coalition. next is barry carpenter, ceo of the national meat association. and following a 37 year career at usc and. during his tenure, represented the meat industry on a ray of key issues f

i also want to recognize the outstanding efforts of assistant attorney general christine varney and the justice department's antitrust division. each workshop i have been impressed with the diision's work in making the vision of these conversations a reality and now that we find oursees at the final workshop, it is clear that their contributions are paying off. we have learned a tremendous amount from farmers and producers -- and from industry executives and experts. and yet every expectation that the fruits of this workshop series will benefit the agriculture industry for years to come. over the last nine months, we have discussed everything as the secretary indicated from vertical integration and dairy prices to the implications of the packers and stockyards act and leading poultry industry challenges. psychiatry vilsack and i have had the chance to hear directly from the hard-working farmers and producers, business professionals, economists, and elected officials. and the impact that those conversations had on our thinking. and on the enforcement strategies we are developing has been

i also want to recognize the outstanding efforts of assistant attorney general christine varney and the justice department's antitrust division. each workshop i have been impressed with the division's work in making the vision of these conversations a reality. and now that we find ourselves at the final workshop, it is clear that their contributions are paying off. we have learned a tremendous amount from farmers and producers -- and from industry executives and experts. and yet every expectation that the fruits of this workshop series will benefit the agriculture industry for years to come. over the last nine months, we have discussed everything as the secretary indicated from vertical integration and dairy prices to the implications of the packers and stockyards act and leading poultry industry challenges. psychiatry vilsack and i have had the chance to hear directly from the hard-working farmers and producers, business professionals, economists, and elected officials. and the impact that those conversations had on our thinking. and on the enforcement strategies we are developing has

martha: fox business network's stuart varney joins me, anchor of varney & company. you got to wonder if this is a last ditch effort to sneak some of this stuff in that may help these folks get reelected. >> what you're talking about is the omnibus spending bill which will lock in government spendingum next year, in other words, the priorities of the outgoing congress are being locked in and imposed upon the incoming congress, and there's real outrage here on a number of fronts. first of all, the earmarks that you mentioned, we've been counting through these 1924 pages, so far, we have found over 6700 earmarks, and the list is full of literally mind numbing programs which are all getting money. that's issue number one. number two is the process. as you heard from mitch mcconnell there, the senate has not debated this thing, they've really just seen it, it's 1900 pages and there's only three days to look at it and vote on it. and if they vote it down the government shuts down. so the process is at fault here. there's lots of issues here which are causing outrage, not

stuart varney. martha: we've got a lot of new interesting numbers from our fox news opinion dynamics poll, tough numbers for president obama right now. take a look at these. 29 percent of the american public polled in this outcome show that president obama will be reelected by 2012. that is down 15 percentage points from a year ago, as you can see on that one. now take a look at this one. we also asked this, does the president deserve reelection, 35 percent say the president deserves reelection, down slightly from september, as you can see, and a majority, 53 percent, say the country is better off with, quote, some unnamed person who is yet to be announced on the republican side. bill bi-breaking news in the wickileaks founder julian assange, let out on bail yesterday. this morning he is talking, and says he's got more to worry about than two ungoing sexual assault investigations in sweden, a british court freed assange pending an extradition hearing next year. in an interview with our sister networ

stu varney says all bets are off if the president's tax deal doesn't go deal.'re the host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. >> forget the gloom and doom. for three years, the outlook has been gloom and doom, negative economic news. all the analysts, big money men of wall street have changed their opinion. >> why? >> well, they're looking for 3 1/2%, maybe 4% growth next year. why? because of the election in november which may restore confidence to the private sector and b, this tax deal which everybody thinks will go through which will give some stimulus, private sector stimulus to the economy. >> but. >> but if it doesn't go through, all bets are off. >> all bets are off because if it doesn't go through, everybody's taxes go up january 1st. the economy takes a hit. >> that's one of the main reasons that the president's advisors have been out there saying what they've been saying in the last week which is exactly what you're saying, if you do not pass this tax compromise, it will have a huge effect on the economy. >> no one wants to take the bl

megyn: well, stu varney is with host of "varney & company" and, stu, are they just an easy target? >> no, no. governor pawlenty is right. he is describing what may be the next financial crisis to hit the united states. namely, states are insolvent. in many cases largely because of the extraordinary pensions and health benefits which we have guaranteed to retired state workers. the municipal unions have won the most lavish pension and health benefits for retirement of any group in our society. the bill is due now, we don't have the money. they won't do givebacks, crisis is upon us. megyn: pawlenty is saying these have to be changed, these benefits packages have to be changed, and you're saying that the unions are saying, no. i've got to tell you, if i'm hired to represent the unions, i say you struck the deal, state government. if you don't like it now, you can't have buyer's remorse. too bad. that's what contracts are for. my union people shouldn't have to pay for it now. >> correct on all counts. you sign the contract, contract law says you live up to the terms of that contract, s

. >> stuart varney coming up with "varney & company." coming up straight ahead, wikileaks founder julian assange breaks his silence he and used his first public statements to threaten the united states. >> thanks, julie. then caught on camera tripping a player, the jets now coming down hard on that coach. >> and that coach is from massapequa. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil®. >> couple of quick headlines for you. rahm emanuel testifies under oath today to determine if he's a resident of chicago. opponents say he does not meet the residency requirements because he lived in washington last year. nancy reagan unveiling the new ronald reagan stamp in simi valley, california, the third one honoring the 40th president. the stamp to honor what would have been his 100th birthday. steve? >> thanks, gretch. breaking news. in just a few hours, wikileaks founder julian assange will be back in court but

. >> next on the rundown, we have stuart varney who says that list of earmarks we've been talking aboutthief's grab bag. >> so optimistic all week. check out this video. a robber makes a run for it after stealing millions of dollars in chips from a vegas casino but the casino gets the last laugh plus -- >> our show continues with a big guest list. we have larry gatlin, nancy o'dell, kelsey grammer and archie manning. i can't believe i used to swing ov those rocks... took some foolish risks as a teenager. but i was still taking a foolish risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more... and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol...stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39% to 60%. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in paents who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ fele announcer ] lipitor is not for

bill: that last night from "hannity", stuart varney with me now from the fox business network. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: what you're starting to see are people like orrin hatch, republican from utah, saying take my earmarks out of my bill, i'll lose them now. you see the pressure starting to build and perhaps the message for some is settling in. >> yes. there is earmark rage. some republican senators are responding to that rage by withdrawing their vote for this bill, even though their own earmarks are contained in it. roger wicker from mississippi, he's got 223 earmark necessary this bill, worth $400 million. he's not going to vote for it. mitch mcconnell, we have john cornyn, republican of texas, he's got $50 million both of earmarks in it, he's going to vote against it, john thune of south dakota, $38 million worth in there, he will vote against it. so you've got a rising tide of republican senators saying we don't want this, we're not going to vote for it. bill: if they truly wanted to put their money where their mouth is they would pull the earmarks out o

bill: stuart varney is with fox business network. for 2 1/2 years, he has been mr. gloom and doom himself. are you that way today, sir? >> no, i'm not. i bring you three items of why it's called very good news for the outlook, number one, the "wall street journal" has a survey of all these economists, all are saying the pace of economic growth is going to be picking up from now, way into next year, but the real drama is the big money people like pimco, for example, that's a bond trading firm with 1 1/2 trillion dollars up there, they say we're going to have 3 1/2% growth next year, morgan stanley says the same thing, goldman sachs, the same thing. they're all looking at a stronger economy in 20 # one. a complete reversal of what we've seen for the last three years. bill: let's get to yt in all this. is this the natural flow of the cycle, or has something fundamentally changed? >> well, it you read the tea leaves, retail sales, that kind of indicator, they are beginning to pick up. then you've got the results of november's election, which suggested a change in econom

participating in these hearings and i appreciate the fact that he has traveled and not christian varney has traveled to his to the folks who are farming the land and you are responsible for the food supply we take sometimes for granted, a food supply that is abundant. if that's what it does provide us greater flexibility their paychecks and most of the folks around the world have any food supply that comes from folks who really do believe that the basic fundamentals of this country and you simply want a fair shake in return. so mr. attorney general, for his stories. >> loafers, i think i saw the other panel that i participated in conversations that we've had this one for me but has been extremely enlightening. i think were talking about, you know, a segment -- a fact or of our economy that's really more than that. it is defined, i think, what the country has been over the years, who we are as a people, who we are as a nation. and i think it's an important thing for us to focus on because they think we will find who we will become in the 21st century and even beyond. our concern that the

stuart varney knows the history. stuart, good morning to you, fox business network. good number there? >> very good. much better than expected. hey, in november, we were out there shopping. you just showed a number there, retail sales, up .8%. okay, you sweep away cars, forget car sales for a minute, and retail sales went up 1.2%. that's a strong gain. and if you look at online sales, up 12 percent from last year in the latest period. what this means, bill, is that the economy is recovering, pointing towards a strong economy for next year. remember yesterday, we talked about 3 1/2% growth next year, looks like we're on target for that, bill. bill: all right. .8% doesn't sound like much on the surface, stuart. >> compared to the gains in previous months, in previous years, and you look at those -- >> bill: were those numbers negative, do you recall? >> on occasion, yes, they were, yes. some months in the last three months have been negative. we're not quite, but we're almost back to the spending levels of the good old days of 2007. bill: wow. where were we then? >> wh

he was then foreign minister, he was brought up in the united states, worked, i think, for smith varneyif i'm not mistaken before becoming ambassador, and he was a major figure at the talks. c-span: who other, who else did you meet that you found to be interesting as human beings in this whole process? >> guest: as human beings? gosh, you know, you really see people under tension. you see how they perform. i think that the most interesting -- i think president chirac was one of the most interesting people that i dealt with. c-span: and you do say at one point over at blair house, he shed a tear -- >> guest: he at his own initiative gave medals to the fallen three americans. he pinned them on his, on the widows, and i saw the tear running down his cheek. i was very impressed with president chirac. i know that he takes a lot of criticism in france, but he kept pushing us and pushing us to come to terms. c-span: what about these two men? who are they? >> guest: the man on the left is carl built, the former swedish prime minister who was the co-chairman of the negotiating team at dayton. an

. >> stuart varney says this is an outrage. >> not an outrage. >> you think this is so weird.iness and now he's going come on in here. >> yes. >> i'm not outraged by this. it is a rebranding effort, isn't it? this is an attempt by the president to say ok, i may have said some nasty things in the past, fat cats, i may have been down on you policy wise but really, everything is going to change now. we're going to be nice. it was a p.r. effort. an outreach. basically, those 20 executives were all allies and friends and supporters of his. this was a p.r. exercise, p.r. campaign. it was actually a bit more than that. i think this was also an attempt by the president to get a handle on this growing economic recovery so he can say somewhere down the road. >> take credit. >> this recovery has started. i jaw bone business. i got them to spend that money. i'm going to take -- >> then it's an expansion. >> he invited only people that supported him initially so they all accepted the invitation. >> they were largely supporters and they were basically in support of their positions in the pa

. >> stuart varney joins us live.tory not only for the republicans but you say for democracy. >> it's a huge double win for taxpayers. not only did the house pass the extension of the tax extension which means nobody gets a tax increase come january 1st but that spending bill has been withdrawn. all those pork laden and earmarks, the $8 billion worth of crazy spending is gone, not going to happen. double win for taxpayers this morning. >> what do you think happened? do you think capitol hill actually heard us, us the people of america? >> i think so. i think so. there was real outrage about those earmarks and i think there was also outrage that the outgoing discredited 111th congress was going to set the spending pattern for the incoming year. now, everybody thought -- a lot of people thought that was really a wrong and bad thing that you could try. the votes weren't there. the votes -- >> keep in mind that the budget was going to be even bigger than the massive budget of 2010. >> yes. look, i do want to point out one

lumberjack this morning charles payne, the ceo of wall street strategies and also hosting the stuart varney. that stinks. >> that does stink. let me tell you, initially the commissioner said he would assume, you know, he sent a letter to congress and said listen, i'm going to assume you guys will get your acts together and not just an amt, by the way, that will affect 21 million people but regular deductions, you know, there's tuition deduction, teachers have deductions, just standard deductions, that will impact 25 million other people so they have a real serious dilemma. do they assume this is going to get done at some point and send refunds and let's say it doesn't and ask for the money back. i don't think so. if it's done on new year's eve, this is still a daunting task to reprogram all of those systems. so if you're the kind of person that really wanted your refund, you know, every year, more and more people file earlier and earlier. if you really were counting on that money to jump-start your year, more than likely if they don't get their act together very soon, they're not going to g