candy crowley is cnn's chief political correspondent and anchor of "state of the union." political theater aside, you think congress will eventually get this done? >> i absolutely think congress will eventually get this done. particularly because we have seen republicans now saying we even the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said even if you don't believe that this actually helps the economy, it certainly will help the people that get the break from their payroll taxes. this is just not -- you don't want to go home at christmas and having raised everybody's taxes. >> especially when it is your point of view that you are never going to raise taxes on anyone for any reason. that's a little hard to square that. also with us this morning, former "new york times" columnist, distinguished senior fellow. stephen moore, editorial writer at "the wall street journal." candy dealt with, you know, whether congress will extend the payroll tax holiday and it will be ugly. she thinks it will get done. what about the idea of whether they should? does a payroll tax holiday -- does it make sense when there is a growing concern about the solvency of social security and medicare? >> political point of view which i agree with candy it will get done. i don't think that it makes a great deal of sense in terms of what's going on fiscally in the country. i think it is potentially harmful to social security, poe ten. >> i why? >> very powerful because you don't have guarantees that this money going to be made up. i mean, when you look at your fica taxes, that money is supposed to go into a social security trust fund, obviously, that money gets shifted around. but -- what's going to happen here is that you are going to get a gross decline in the amount of money. i think that the conservatives will look at it a year from now, two years from now and say -- oh, my goodness. there is an even bigger hole in social security than we thought. we need to do some cut. >> explain to me, isn't that why it costs $200 billion? because isn't basically the taxpayer stepping in for those fica taxes. >> well, that's right. by the way, i think, candy, as usual, got it exactly right, christine, this is going to get extended. there's of this -- last-minute gymnastics that always goes on capitol hill. >> gymnastics is something that's fun to watch. >> exact reply. >> this is not gymnastics. >> maybe mud fight or something like that. it is going to happen. real question is should it happen. and you know, believe it or not, i agree with bob. i'm not so sure this should happen. i think that -- if you look at the results of this, over the last year, it is really hard to point to the evidence that this actually created jobs. we had some job growth. we had a pretty gri number last week. but it's still not the kind of robust job growth we expect. what republicans are saying, by the way, is i think their message over the next year will be look, let's stop tinkering ask blow up the tax system and start over. >> you would think they could agree on $200 billion on tax holiday, you think they can agree on how to blow it up and start over? >> first they have to decide on a candidate. >> you talk about thekerring around the edges and payroll tax holiday and economic impact would be. you are right. there is a lot of division about just how important -- some say that it is men a thousand -- hundreds of thousands of jobs. others say maybe it is hard to measure a negative what would have happened without it. we do know people would feel it, bob. people would feel it in their paychecks if they didn't have this money. >> people would feel it. it is more important to extend unemployment benefits than the fica tax cut. because the unemployment benefits would go directly to assist people. i don't think that tax cuts do much in terms of job creation. i don't think that it does a great deal to stimulate the economy and maybe, you know, maybe very modestly. but given the deficits we have and given the investment deficits we have in this country, i just don't think it is a wise move. i actual will you think we need to be raising taxes on people and not just on the rich. and then making investments that would, in fact, help develop a self-sustaining economy. >> now you have disagreement between the two of us. let's go to the issue whether we should cut the payroll tax or raise unemployment benefits. here is the reason i think bob is absolutely wrong on this. when you raise unemployment benefits you are actually giving someone a payment for not working. at least with the payroll tax cut, bob, you are giving a tax cut for people who do work. the incentive under the one system is not to work and at least under a payroll tax cut you are giving people more -- >> i don't think it is much of an incentive not to work. >> you might be surprised. >> might be very mild incentive but the people out work are in deep, deep trouble economically. many are facing destitution. the point of giving them exte extendexten extended unemployment benefits it is -- >> candy, just -- >> this agreement you see here is -- polar opposites just like the body of congress. >> let me tell you something. they are going to pass an extension of the unemployment benefits. you know, it is crumb. it is an election year. what more do you need? both those things are going to pass. >> washington is always santa claus. >> isn't that what led us to this in the first place? every time you turn around it is like you candace appointment your constituencies and you can't -- i mean, this is where -- that's why we are where we are today because no one can give a temporary tax break and then take it back. no one can give expanded unemployment benefits and take it back because people rely on. >> it after a while it doesn't make any sense at all to talk about deficits because if you are not going to raise taxes and 23 you are going to take people who are really hurting on safety net issues and that sort of thing, there's no way to reasonably bring down the deficits in any sustained way. >> we can't cut spending? look, we have a $4 trillion budget grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. and, you know, christine, i think you made the key point that what has been happening over the last stop, three, four years, democrats and republicans, we keep providing these short-term pieces of candy that taxpayers, we never have way to pay for it even -- whether talking about now, one-year tax cut, paid for in the future and we never -- never do any of the stuff in the future. why can't we cut the deficit now? >> candy, it is interesting. talk about that piece of candy. some worry that having a piece of candy tied in any way, shape or form to social security is dangerous. that's what some progressives worry about. they want the -- they want the -- extension of the unemployment benefits and certainly want the payroll tax holiday to continue but they -- they are nervous about tying it to social security. >> well, they are worried about long-term solvency of social security saying look, not that we don't spend social security funds anyway on other things. but this is just something that sort of adds to it and social security, what's inning to me about democrats, some democrats saying i don't know, i'm uneasy with taking out some of the revenue or -- giving back revenue, payroll tax, is that the democrats have really been the one saying, you know, social security right now isn't adding to the deficit. this isn't what we should be looking at right now. i think more and more you are seeing social security is cominging into play. i think that when you are talking about the sorts of things we have been talking about, this really ends up being small stuff. i know $10 15 00 over the course is big but in order -- anybody i have talked to and including both these guys know it is going to take something big. it is the structure, not these little things we keep doing. >> i hope it is not something big that hurts, that's bad. >> bring the troops home from afghanistan. >> there you go. >> that would be something big. >> get rid of the department of edge zblags geez, here we go. >> do you remember how many -- candy, bob, stephen, stay right where you are. president obama and potential opponent say they are committed to helping the middle clasp. why are both talking about class warfare. 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it is an issue that promises to be central to a presidential election now less an year away. >> this isn't about class warfare. this is about the nation's welfare. it is about making choices that benefit not just the people who have done fantastically well over the last few decades but that benefits the middle class. and those fighting to get into the middle class. and the economy as a whole. >> you know, this was an important speech for this president. a lot of these at the same time policies, same sort of, you know, we can't wait policies, we have seen before, candy. the materials s not new but the way it is framed is new. it is almost like a reset and a definition of what this election is going to be about for him. is that correct? >> yes. it is almost like campaign speech. yeah. absolutely. i mean, listen, the -- i think that -- let me say the one big fallacy driving me crazy about this is this idea that somehow the election is going to settle these questions. you know. like how much more should the wealthy give? what exactly is wealthy? and do you believe in what -- republicans see as a redistribution of wealth to a certain extent. i mean, the idea that somehow that's what this election is going to be about and it is p that's true. anybody who thinks that come -- you know, the end of next november, this will all be settled and american people have spoken, are -- are smoking something. because it is not going to be settled. it is never settled. ongoing struggle about the rise of the government and the role of the electorate. >> what's the fair share? the rich people don't pay their fair share. there is a lot of discussion this week after that speech, bob, that -- not paying their fair share. people say is it not fair if you are 58-year-old person who made a lot of money over the course of your career, you are putting your money in muni bonds and parking them there and getting tax breaks of because of 40u you are investing your money or putting money to charity because you are trying to lower your tax bill and that starts to become a question of -- class warfare question that people in the middle start to struggle with because success, is, after all, what the american dream is about. >> i disagree with the president in the sense i think this is about class warfare. i think there has been a class warfare for the past 30 years or so. and it has been a war against the working classes and the poor. i don't think that the wealthy have paid their fair share. i think that clearly it is documented there has been a sustained war, successful war, against labor unions. workers have not been paid for an increase they haven't shared in the benefits of increased productivity and the tax system is out of whack. that being said, i think we are in such a state now that taxes probably do have to go up across the board, not just for the wealthy. >> has the president helped or hurt that situation that just laid out? that's what he will be judged on. >> i think he's helping but i agree with candy, i don't think that the president with the policies is really going to follow through with the rhetoric that was in that kansas speech and i don't expect however the presidential election goes in 2012, i don't expect to get a real change in the class dynamics in this country over the next couple of years. >> i want to you listen for second. gop presidential contender mitt romney says when the going gets tough that president obama, watch out for class warfare. >> many think that because of the staggering failures, president obama will be easily defeated. but as you know, incumbent is rarely turned out of the white house and he will resort to anything. as you know, class warfare and demagoguery are powerful political weapons. >> did president obama make valid points this week? or do you also see this as straight from the class warfare playbook? >> i thought that speech the president gave on tuesday was a very important speech. i doubt it was one of the pessimistic speeches since jimmy carter's saying the middle class can't get ahead any longer. and he did -- it was -- bob is right. it was class warfare. it was a call to arms for liberal democrat kratz saying look, we are going to pit the middle class versus the rich. we will see whether that campaign theme works. throughout history it hasn't worked very well and it is a real question of whether americans go for the theme of envy or the theme of aspiration. i'm a big believer that americans don't hate rich people. they want to become rich. they don't hate people like steve jobs and bill gates but we will see about that. i will disagree with candy about something. candy, this election is going to be a rough run and on exactly what barack obama talked about on tuesday. and whichever party wins there is a big ideological difference between if two parties. whoever wins the party will determine which direction this country goes. by the way, if you look at -- >> 60 votes in the senate, i would agree with you. >> you know, look, candy, look, we have h a big election in 2008. barack obama moved the country dramatically to the left. we had a massive increase in government spending and government takeover the health care system. that was because of what happened in the election. elections do have consequence. >> i think it is important, though, to take issue with the word "envy." i do not believe the poor and middle classes are envious of the rich. i would substitute for the word envy the word fairness. i think that this is going to be an issue about fairness going forward. >> marine mind us how that speech turned out again. >> look, here we had this whole discussion for the last ten minutes or so about the deficit. nobody in washington, even republicans, are talking about cutting spending. the thing that's so amazing to me is we just had an election a year ago. remember that? the electorate said overwhelmingly stop the spending and stop the bailouts and get the department under control. all we are talking about now is raising taxes before a dime of spending has been cut. >> many people say nothing has been done, nothing has been done since america lost the aaa credit rating. nothing. >> in the real world taxes are not being raised. people may be talking about raising taxes. we are talking about extending tax cuts. >> we have to leave it there. nice to see all of you. >> good to see you. >> 30 day ace go polls thoed the republicans had a candidate defeating president obama. so why is there now correct another front-runner in the race for the gop nomination? one the white house may even be rooting for. we will tell you all about it next. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! 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[ electronic beeping ] [ male announcer ] still getting dandruff? neutrogena® t/gel shampoo defeats dandruff after just one use. t/gel shampoo. it works. neutrogena®. welcome back to "your money." cnn poll showed mitt romney defeating president obama for first time, one month ago. a republican with a business background beats an incumbent in bad economy. now it is newt gingrich, not romney wearing the hat. double digit margins in three of the first four states that will hold gop presidential contests next year. cnn contributor will cain is with us now as is pete dominick, host of "sirius xm's stand-up." the same poll that showed romney beating obama a month ago showed gingrich trailing the president by eight points. the romney is the candidate with the best shot to beat obama do these latest polls show republican voters now more concerned with beating mitt romney than president obama? >> yeah. it is a decent analysis. more concern with beating mitt romney than -- i would add a caveat. what they want is they want to be president obama in a debate and want to be president oba s steelisticly. the critiques you have of romney exist for gingrich. it is not about character. the reason you fled from herman cain to newt gingrich can't be an increase in character. it is about style. >> democrats want it because that style comes with distractions and -- there's this phrase, every rise of newt gingrich is followed by the fall of newt gingrich. >> reminds me of the villain in scoobie do where he's mean and scare it is heck out of scoobie but in the end he loses when they take the mask off. that happened to him. what will has talked about, what is that style? something mitt romney is missing p i'm speaking generally here but tea party extremists, primary voters love that newt gingrich goes after president obama. a lot of people hate president obama. newt gingrich calls him names and -- >> from the beginning, would other -- >> good guy. >> he was the one that was constantly refocussing the fire on the president and away from the other people on the stage and he was sort of looking like, you know, he was going to stand up and be the grownup who was going to bring it all back to the president. >> also disdain for the media and experts. >> right. right. i mean, played it wonderfully. played the whole thing wonderfully. >> can you believe six months ago, seven months ago, we were talking about how his campaign staff left him because he was on a cruise with his wife. no one thought -- no one -- >> it happened because rick pairy and herman cain imploded. they why. >> all of this talk about this -- ever changing republican field or the front-runner in the republican field, it takes some of the focus away from the economy. maybe for president, maybe the white house likes this searching and trying to find the leader in the republican party. >> yeah. that's a good -- that's another good point and question then becomes how long will it last. traditional political analysis is by mid january, early february, you will have what they call bandwagon effect. one guy win two, three states. voters coalesce behind him. the thought is that if newt can hang on for that long, six weeks, eight weeks, he can be the guy that has the bandwagon effect. i'm not sure. there is no cohesive candidate that can pull everyone together in this field. what if you have a fractured electorate for months into the summer? late spring. we a . >> another republican presidential candidate, jon huntsman, says it is too late for president obama to fix this economy. >> the president had two years to get this economy right. to infuse a little bit of confidence in our direction. he has failed. that door has closed and it doesn't matter whether he goes to illinois, ohio, california, or new hampshire. nobody cares. nobody is paying attention. >> pete, president obama's campaign seems to be heavily focus order the idea don't blame me, blame congress. blame the fact it was the worst economic downturn since the great depression. john huntsman saying you had two years to fix it. it is not better. >> there is a lot of truth to that. what -- obama campaign saying. nobody wants to make this argument. it is not a great political argument. obama campaign section set. arab spring, what's happened in japan, you have talked about these issues a lot because you are not focused as much on politics as economics. these things affect the world economy. what happened in europe affects all of that affects our economy and does not have as much to do with politics as politician was like to make. >> things are getting bet mother in the economy. they are getting better. 8.6% for unemployment. you are seeing companies start to hire again. we had very low interest rates. but this president really can't try to say oh, things aren't less bad. vote for me. >> that can't be the election strategy. i think you are right it was at some point going to be let's blame everything on congress, not on me which has historical president. harry truman's election strategy in 1948. it worked but barely. remember we had -- held up the newspaper. we know this week after obama's speech he may have another strategy. that's to invoke roosevelt as we all know by now and said this economy is failing most of you. it is failing the middle class. he will point to inequality. i personally disagree with that wholeheartedly and i think that's not just the opposition but single great thing in the economy, concept of it, capitalism, that seems to be his new strategy. >> i have this huge disagreement. we both agree -- >> steam coming out of your ears. >> we agree there is a tremendous economic inequality there is large gap between rich and poor. will thinks so what. i think where it has happened in any society in government, you are seeing social breakdown. that's a huge, huge problem for any civilized society. >> let's -- >> can i say -- i should add one caveat. i don't think you can find one historical example of a country that economy based on system fulfills his cliche. >> yi would say we might have been at one point can i ask you about -- i want to ask quickly about jon huntsman. there are people who are -- republicans, wall street republicans in particular, who will say to you, you know what, if gingrich can rise like this, why can't huntsman? >> wall street republicans -- >> i don't know if that's -- >> no, i would say -- wait. washington wall street republicans that are democrats but are republicans. >> there are so many loaded things there. let me say i'm glad we are talking about huntsman. we should be talking about huntsman in the same breath we talk about the economy. he has the best tax plan on the table. >> he's too smart! they don't care about expertise. they don't care about content. >> who is they? >> republicans. tea party extremists. they don't care about expertise. jon huntsman is a brilliant guy. i don't agree with most of his economic policies but these voters reject experts. they reject people that understand tissues best. >> you kind of like him. >> i have to say this. one other substantive thing. why challenge you on wall street, he's the only one. republican or democrat to address too big to fail. if the bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. break up the banks. he is the only one to say that. >> he doesn't believe president obama was than born here, socialist marxist, some anti- -- >> he has taken tight far. >> no, it doesn't. that's newt's rise. that's what newt's rise is. >> i said style. you said -- different. >> that's style. that's the style. a choice. newt gingrich says these things and people get fired up. romney saying the president, he is a good guy, he just doesn't know what he is doing. that doesn't fly with primary tea party extremist voters. >> do you guys think huntsman could have a rise? do you think huntsman -- this is as far as he goes? >> it is too late because he's not taking the tactic that works. >> it is sad. >> hail mary pass through new hampshire. small sliver, small chance. >> it would be great for america if it was huntsman versus obama on their ideas. >> thank you. birtherism. >> was that sincere? >> that was. passion. they are hugging it out. they are hugging it out. no kissing. it is family show. euro zone crisis, a situation that's euro driven and euro driven nations need to fix. if they don't it will mean something to every american family next on "american money." [ indistinct talking on radio ] [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. europe's debt crisis threatens the global economy and could drag the united states back into a recession. richard is in brussels where european leaders met to keep this european family together. a majority of european leaders, though not all, agreed to create a new intergovernmental treaty to increase fiscal unity and help stabilize the euro zone. what's the feeling there? did european unions leader -- european leaders, did they do enough? is everybody at the dinner table happy? >> i think that they felt on the immediate crisis that -- put together enough money, couple of hundred billion, more euros for the imf to give to your open and they increased stability fund. i think that on the question of putting out the media fire they are quite happy. they are delighted they have so many of the european countries, the 17 plus 6 or so to come along on their fiscal combat. of course it is only the uk standing on the outside basically saying no. but the -- i don't think the uk will be able to derail this. fiscal unity or coming together is so crucial to the successful working of the euro, to improve the dysfunctionality if you are like this currency, that this is a train leaving the station. >> the u.s. managing editor for the financial times. i want to stay to that theme about the uk. david cameron, this is not a good deal for the uk. it is -- they are standing on the sidelines. the train has left. they are a very big and important player here. >> well, absolutely. and britain has had a very tortured, tangled relationship with continental europe now for decades. this just crystallizes attention building for a long time. there are many people in the city of london extremely unhappy with the direction of regulation and in the rest of the european union. saying clearly would do not want to be part of that. for david cameron to not have taken a stance would have been incredibly popular domestically. at the same time, i think the scars of this confrontation are going to last quite a long time. i mean, sarkozy did not even shake david cameron's hand. i think a lot of resentment now. >> it is amazing when you think over the past 60 years europe has been trying to come together. after a very painful period. and now some of these animosities and strains and rifts, i mean, this is money causes problems among friends and family. >> this is a crucial issue. one of the things americans and noneuropeans failed to understand is a single currency project was about politics, not economics. it was about healing the wounds of world war ii and trying to bring europe together. now the -- we have seen signs of actually the euro zone project which was supposed to heal the wounds has reopened the wounds in a dangerous way. maybe, just maybe, this latest deal will actually create stability and at the same time we are still seeing very big fishes between north and southure open and the uk and continent. >> then, richard, the americans come to them. treasury secretary, timothy geithner, toured europe this week, highlighting how important it is for the united states that europe succeed in all of this. does that tell you just how important europe is for the u.s. when instead of the -- treasury secretary here trying to sell the president's payroll tax holiday and working on that front, it affects every working family in america, he is in europe. >> the european union is the single largest economy in the world bar none. it's bigger than the united states. and it is -- the u.s. is single largest trading partner. statistics go on and on and on. totality of the union. anything that -- jeopardizes the economic growth on this side of the atlantic is going to be of serious concern. and that's why the fed came in with its cheap dollar swaps and that is why obama, the president, has said how serious it is. it is why tim geithner came over here. and i think ultimately it is why the u.s. wants the european union, the euro zone, to work as an efficient mechanism. but the truth is, christine, the truth is that they -- cannot get over because what they will not ask, they -- what they dare not ask the public of europe is do you be want to move to a -- united states of europe, a federal states of europe put inch witch, that is what they are moving towards. but it is the truth that dare not speak its game isn't that the whole -- there the very beginning, there were people in this whole experiment, detractors called it an experiment and people who support it will say this is an evolution for europe and eventually that is where it was going. slowly, very slowly, but eventually that has to happen. >> well, i -- the argument you have been making. it was vicinitying. the former president of the european central bank came to new york a few weeks ago and he made a very powerful point to a group of bankers which is if you look at the differential between unemployment rates and growth across the u.s. today, the regions, is actually larger than in the eu area. astonishing fact. the key point is that if you had a much more coordinated system, federal states of europe, you would actually have good chance of creating a much more stable union and real single currency zone. problem, of course, is there isn't a single freshry. there isn't a single issue of bonds and that's april fundamental issue hangs over the talks. as richard says no one dared to ask the question. if they were to put that question to a vote, if there was actual lay referendum on the crucial question across the euro zone today, it would show just how incredibly divided the euro zone is on that fundamental -- >> different cultures, differ languages, different experiences. different allegiances over the past 100 years. >> different divisions where the u.s. treasury should be going and irony is if you ask the question now you would end up reopening the wounds, not healing them. and you dare not -- finland doesn't feel much affinity with greece. portugal feels angry with germany. you really would reopen so many intention it is euro zone would conceal. >> and -- i think that when you then look at what happened here, just in the last 24 hours, the way in which britain has stood up for a national interest, nearly derailed the project, which is going to be cobbled together because -- that's what they have to do now, make it up as they go along. they can't use the european union treaties to get physical compact up and running. it is going to be a dog breakfast of legal niceties as they try to make this thing work. >> dog's breakfast. richard, you always leave me with a wonderful little -- okay. you are staying. stay where you are. in less than a year, we will know if president obama has four more years or if a republican will take over the white house. any control the president has over the economy may be out hips hands. we are going to explain next on "your money." nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. welcome back. many european leaders agreed to create a new intergovernmental treaty this week in an effort to stabilize the euro zone. richard quest is will. you are in brussels where the meetings took place. is there a feeling there that this will actually help solve europe's debt crisis in a meaningful way, richard? >> if you look at what they decided on the core question, christine, of the financial crisis, as strengthening the stability fund, the bailout fund, lending money to the imf so they could lend it back again, doing all of those sort of things, then they may just have bought themselves time. the general view here is that it may not be the big bazooka of the ecb. european central bank coming in to do things. but it is the best they were able to get. the bigger, more serious, and difficult question, of course, longer term and reform of the euro. >> we have already established that it is a huge head wind to the united states. no question. treasury secretary is there right now. not here. is there anything president obama and congress can be doing at home right now to better position the u.s. to deal with the potential fallout from europe? >> i think there are three key things that they should be about. it is very important the u.s. gets behind the imf right now. and actually shows that the imk can play a very important role in helping sort out the euro zone mess. that's tough for a lot of congress members to agree but important. secondly, it is very important that they reopen discussion about fiscal stability and about measures to deal with american debt problems. otherwise, you can guarantee the next year that will be a lot of discussion about whether the u.s. had heading in the same direction and, say, greece, or something like that. thirdly, these issues to do with the payroll tax reforms, stimulus questions, i mean, if the u.s. economy is softening and the recent data mixed, then it is going to be very important that the folks in war wash show that they can actually take the initiative and provide some type of reassurance at a time so many consumers and businesses are feeling very zblard the word you use, initiative and reassurance, richard, it is so interesting because on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the atlantic, there's this sort of gridlock. i mean, when you look at the progress made in europe, this with a -- it took like five big summits in nine months and took credit rating agencies weighing in on all of this before you get action there. same thing here. what's this dearth of political leadership? >> christine, i hate to correct you. but the numbers are eight summits, five plans, and 19 months of negotiation. and still they have not succeeded. look, i -- i smiled a second ago. jillian touched the third rail as you may say of this issue. she compared potentially, phonily, the united states their problem with greece. but that is the unspoken. that is the unknown. that is the great fear that if the u.s. does not deal with its debt crisis, eventually, not now, not when it is the only game in town and safe haven much bonds and currency, eventually she's right. it comes to -- the waters lap upon the shores. >> that's a long way down the road. you know, you have seen the last few weeks how easily competence can disappear from financial markets. it is absolutely critical washington tookts make sure that does not happen here. >> thank you so much. also richard, have a wonderful weekends, you guys. ure zone crisis threatens the world back into another global recession. is this your last chance to get out of stocks before it is too late? ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! 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[ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ we've been talking about europe's debt crisis and the effect it could have on the united states. some are drawing comparison's between europe's potential collapse and the collapse of lehman brothers in 2008. here's what happened to the dow in the six months following lehman' collapse. it was a very, very rough time. pat mccall is here. there's been some good days and bad days. even now the dow has been above 12,000. is this your last chance to get out when you see history like this? >> i look at this chart and i have a couple of different views. one it makes me sick. then i also look that back in march, we were below 7,000 and a year and a half later you doubled your money. it's tough to time it. >> that market is right back up to 12,000. >> a lot of people were running for the exits in march. there's a good chance we could have a major pull back if something doesn't happen in europe. even here in the united states, political landscape right now is causing a lot of concern for investors. our confidence has been falling. the housing market is falling apart. last chance to get out? i don't know if you want to talk about that. but you have to be nimble. if you're concerned, start selling. >> let me clarify. if you need the use of your money in the next year should that money be sitting in an e*trade account? >> your money should be in a savings account. unfortunately you're not getting much interest on that, maybe half a percent if anything. in the next year you have to have cash. if you have a 20 year time horse stone you can be in that chart. you can bounce back several times. dollar cost average in on the way down. >> other things we've talked about before commodities. they were moving late as well. you got interest rates have been moving. the stock market doesn't move just by itself. it's a very interconnected kind of situation. what kind of ties do you see as we go into the end the year? do you see commodities down, the stocks may be up a little bit because they are relying on governments to keep things afloat? >> i think stocks will be up only because i believe something will happen in europe in the next couple of days if not the next couple of months. they will flood the market up with money. you want to be in the market but be ready to get out. in a few months i'm saying this, but i'm saying let's start selling and taking a bit of our gains. >> one thing that's interest is treacherous. market are treacherous. the european currency is only what 12 or 15 years old. to talk about how you'll fix it whether it's a two tier euro or one tier and the international trade treaty laura law ramific. they call it a headline risk. >> the headline risk, because a lot of vufrs out there right now that aren't in the markets, aren't their jobs they have 401(k)s they make their decisions based on these headlines that come out. >> what's the bottom line? >> don't make your long term decisions based on these short term headlines. it's tough enough for you and i to decipher it. >> we know a lot of people did that after lehman. a lot of people did that after lehman and lost a lot or got out and just thinking about getting back in again. >> it's tough for the individual investor. you have to weather this. i've been in this 12 years. this is the roughest year for me. it's tough to wake up and see the market down 300, the next day it's up 300. take a nap for a year, wake up and your portfolio will be higher. >> your beard is really long and you have more money maybe. nice to see you. both the u.s. and europe are trying to avert another financial crisis before it's too late. is the real problem not a budget deficit national debt is at it deficit of leadership? my x, y and z is next. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. nyqui tylenol: me, too. and cougnasal congestion.ers? trade commission free for 60 days nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. you're familiar with america's growing debt and deficit. the national debt now topping $15 trillion. the size of our debt is forecast to be bigger than our entire economy by the year 2021. there's another deficit we can't measure in numbers and dollars. it's the deficit of leadership in washington. more dangerous to america's standard of living and our growth prospects than anything else facing us right now. noted economist laments it's impossible to make economic forecasts because washington left us standing in quick sand. the very body that led to us a aaa downgrade has down nothing to fix it. their 12 person super committee was a super failure. the jury of 12 every day americans does better than that in courtrooms around the country every single day. consider the difficulty congress has in passing an extension of the payroll tax holiday. it affects every working american. both sides say yes we should extend it. but they are stuck in the quick sand of their own making. this week we saw a true rare moment of bipartisanship. two introduced a measure to pass the payroll tax holiday. unfortunately, i feel like a lump of congressional coal is coming our way and that's my x, y, z. ali will be back saturday 1:00 p.m. eastern sunday 3:00 p.m. and check out my new book with ali, it's how to speak money, a step to step guide with understanding this language of money. everything you need to know to speak fluently. head to