News tonight on the cost of healthcare in america. First, the good news. According to the Obama Administration the rate of increase in healthcare spending went up 3. 9 in 2011. A mall amount. Its the same increase that we saw in 2009 and 2010. For the record those are the lowest up ticks in more than half a century. Pretty good. Now for the bad news. Anthem blue cross wants to hike their premiums by 26 . Insurers in florida and ohio have already increased patients rates by 20 . How is this happening and what can be done to stop it . Were going to put those questions to dave jones who is leading the charge against the wild rate hikes that the Insurance Companies are planning. Hes coming to us from sacramento. Dave welcome inside the war room. A pleasure to be with you jennifer. Jennifer tell us for people who have not been following this why are these rate hikes happening in some states and not in others . The problem in california and other states is that there is nothing in the Affordable Care act or in state law that gives the insurance regulator the authority to reject Excessive Health insurance or hmo rate hikes. Thats a glaring loophole in the Affordable Care act. The Affordable Care act has a lot of good things in n it. It will cover more americans and stop from insuring those with preexisting conditions. Now 37 states have adopted laws on their state laws to do exactly that. California is not one of those. And so today our conclusion we found unreasonable Anthem Blue Cross rate increase, this particular one was 10. 6 for 12month period on average on Small Businesses affecting about quarter of a million california residents. Theyre not alone. Weve seen rate increases 10, 20 40, times sometimes as high as 60 . And they have the Legal Authority to do it and i dont have the authority to stop it. Jennifer what good is it to have an insurance commissioner and why they not have given you the power. What is ironic, i have that power for Car Insurance and Homeowners Insurance and property insurance since 1988, Insurance Commissioners have had the authority to stop excessive rate hikes. But in california, that authority discuss does not extend to hmo products. For seven years i fought to pass the bill but they have blocked that legislation. On the 2014 ballot well give a fighting chance to give the commissioner the authority. Jennifer when this doubt go to the people. The Insurance Company is on their side. Theyll claim they have to raise the rates because their policy holders are older sicker and require more care. Is that a legitimate argument . No, what you pointed to in the open something that the average medical cost inplace rate in the United States is about 3 to 4 on average. But Health Insurance and hmo are going up 10, 40, sometimes as high as 50 . Between those two cost trends lies the enormous profits that the companies are making. In california, theyre going to make 21 return inequity inin 2012. Thats on the backs of Small Businesses and families. Families in california have to choose between paying for rent, buying food versus rising costs of Health Insurance. They cant afford it so they go without. Jennifer in states like california that has not given the insurance commissioner the teeth that is necessary to prevent these kinds of rate increases, people need to get state legislation. Should it be done at the federal level . Should that loophole be closed as an amendment to obamacare, or will that risk opening up the whole thing . That would be wonderful but i think its very unlikely give the republicans control of the house that that would core. Senator Dianne Feinstein tried to do exactly that in 2010. She fought very hard to include language allowing for the rejection of excess excessive rates but the hmos and insurances were successful in keeping that out of the bill. The best to approach this is to enact state legislation. States who have done this and use this authority are showing much lower rate increase than states in california where we dont have this authority. Jennifer more of a call to action. You leave the Insurance Companies on their own theyll jack up those rates. Dave jones we hope you get the power to block it. Were grateful to you for coming inside the war room. Thank you. Jennifer never let it be said that congress let the december trust of the American People stand in their way. The latest on their efforts to double down on their recordbreaking unpopularity next in the war room. Jennifer it is tuesday evening, and i bet brussels sprouts are not on your dinner plate. Lets see, would you rather be getting a root canal listen together rock band nickel back, or dealing with cockroaches or would you rather be talking to a member of congress . There was a survey released by Public Policy polling that found that those first four all received higher Favorability Ratings than congress. But dont feel too bad for congress because according to ppp, congress does have higher ratings than the kardashians, north korea and meth labs. So with us now is one person we like better the kardashian welcome back to the war room. We like you a lot more than the kardashians. You have a choice. Out of those things that are polled between a root canal congress, brussels sprouts nickel back, a meth lab, north korea, kardashians, what would you rather spend time in half. Cut them in half, drizzle them with oil. Jennifer you like brussels sprouts. They are in season. Jennifer are you telling me you would rather be with brussels sprouts than kim kardashian. Bruceelbrussels sprouts with kim kardashian. Jennifer the Congress Approval rating is in the dumps and its amazing. They have earned it. They didnt work for it. They sure havent been doing much in the last couple of years, they certainly did earn it. They have gotten completely out of touch with the American People. Both parties to some degree. Jennifer but the republicans have taken it on the chin significantly. There was a survey from the Pew Research Center that 48 approve of the way the president handled the fiscal cliff but 19 approve of the way the republicans handleed the fiscal cliff. Not even republicans like the way republicans handled the fiscal cliff. Jennifer what will it take to get congress to behave in a way that is responsive to what the people want . Out 435 districts only 10 faced the voters and had to make the case for their reelection. For the most part theyre protected by jerrymandering, redrawing of district lines to keep those guys this office. Jennifer the experiment that california has waged about the two top vote getters regardless of party, do you think thats a good thing that other states should model . Were going to find out if this top two primary works or not, like in california and a few others states, like louisiana. Jennifer you have a better answer . To let the nonparty commission draw district lines. Iowa has been doing it for decades. And five out of six or four out of five districts are competitive every year. There are districts drop by drawn by p by bipartisan commissioners. He will understands this. We dont know him outside of washington, d. C. But he is he is respected and smart. Jennifer one of the other nominees which is john brennan which seemed like he was going to be fine in getting through but Lindsey Graham from South Carolina is call forgive a delay for john brennan. He served under george bush jr. Jennifer hes saying that we want to learn more about bengahzi. Lendcy graham has raised his head to object to any and all these cabinets. They would call john mccain maverick because he would do whatever he thought. Lindsey graham is trying to be maverick jr. Jennifer he has good ratings in South Carolina. He has good ratings right now, but we dont know which Tea Party Candidate is going to run against him. Jim dement from South Carolina who just left, he was a True Tea Party right wing nut. A lot of South Carolinaens especially republicans, dont think Lindsey Graham is a right wing nut too. Jennifer he has been prior to these past couple of years he has been a voice a reasonable, rational voice. Sometimes he has sometimes he hasnt. Jennifer when he looks at climate change. Yes. Jennifer he seemed to be reasonable. But all of a sudden he has taken this far tact to the right. He has a primary in a year and a half. Jennifer his numbers are pretty good. Richard lugars numbers were pretty good. Jennifer quickly your take on the Virginia Governor race poll out. Former dnc Terry Mcauliffe is republicanning against ken cuccineu. The macversus the cuc. I went to college with ken cuccinelli. He was tea party before tea party was cool. Jennifer it sounds wrong. Already, democratic strategist donny fowler, thank you my dear, for joining us. Up next a proposition. Well tell you what insurance giant aig did today. If only you promise to remove all sharp objects from your reach. Yes, it is that bad. And later, brett erlich has the details on what one of the oddest defenses you are ever likely to see. Coming up, i guarantee you you will agree with pierce momomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomo before the sneeze, help protect with a spray. Before the tissue, help defend with a wipe. Before the cold flu season help prevent with lysol. Because when you have 10 times more protection with each hand wash. And kill 99. 9 of germs around the house with each spray. Those Healthy Habits start to add up. This season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because thats our mission for health. Jennifer okay, time now to see how things are faring at the tip of the progressive spear. For that we go down to l. A. And welcome the man who is holding the hot poker the host of the the young turks, cenk uygur. How are you . Cenk great, thank you, jennifer. We have a great show, and im going to talk to one of the kennedys and he talks first about how the republicans are nuts on gun control. I talked to him earlier today. He also said fidel castro is under appreciated. This is a really interesting conversation. He said if george bush was in charge rather than his uncle during the cuban missile crisis, we would have had new career war. He talked to castro and his perspective on it. We have congressman steve cohen on the show. Hes going to talk about gun control. And then you know now alex jones jones, he attacked the the young turks. Jennifer i hope you have invited him on. Cenk we have. Well see how that turns out. Jennifer i could not believe that a man who is allowed to have weapons if you saw that particular explosion. I felt sorry for poor pierce morgan. On your show, the issue of gun control, youre going to be talking about it, but do you think, cenk, you that we can actually stoke congress to do something . Do you have confidence that we might be able to shame them . Cenk you know, its really interesting. We talked to congressman yarmouth on the show, and he thinks we can get it done. But congressman cohen is more skeptical. Every day that goes by we get further away from bogey able to do it. I have to give the Obama Administration credit, theyre considering really strong proposals. Im hopeful. Jennifer cheng uygur hopeful on gun Safety Measures im feeling good about it. Thats all i can say. Well be watching your show. Cenk thank you. Jennifer its a new year with a knew a new congress, and that means plenty of ideas on how to tackle the countrys problems. Not all of them are good ones and some come straight out of crazy town. The first really bad idea is the definition of hypocrisy, which is aig. The large insurer reckless investor that nearly sunk our financial system. Aig does not like their multi billion taxpayer bailout. They dont like the fact that it was, get this, too harsh. Yes. You heard me. The money you and i gave them to save them from their own stupidity wasnt nice enough. Aig is actually considering a lawsuit, a lawsuit against the u. S. Government. Against you because the terms of this bailout meant less profit for their shareholders. Even though thats profit their shareholders wouldnt have had without the bailout in the first place. Newly elected massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren responded with a statement saying in part, aig should thank american tax payers for their help, not bite the hand that fed them for helping them out in a crisis. We all should be very grateful that senator warren is serving on the banking committee. We also want to talk about this trillion dollar coin. For those who missed it, some including paul krugman some suggested that president obama can get around the debt ceiling by minting a trillion dollar coin and depositing it into the treasury. It does seem wacky by many people, but some are taking it seriously, including republicans who have introduced legislation to prevent this from happening. But i would like to bring perspective to the 1 trilliondollar debate. There was a similar idea tried a few years ago on the simpsons. It didnt go well. Take a look. The onetime printing of the largest denomination currency ever, 1 trilliondollar bill. May i see . See with your eyes, not with your hand. Please, were amigos here. Mr. Burns i think we can trust the president of cuba. Now give it back. Give what back. Oh. Jennifer if we do mint the 1 trilliondollar county lets make sure that our cartoon billionaires do not lose it. Well be right alright, in 15 minutes were going to do the young turks. I think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know that im going to be the first one to call them out. They can question whether im right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ voice of dennis ]. Safe driving bonus check . Every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. Ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. Are you in good hands . [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for 11. 99. I cant imagine anything better. Youre getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobsters 30 shrimp for just 11. 99 choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like mango jalapeno shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. Two delicious shrimp selections on one plate all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just 11. 99 for a limited time. Wow, thats a lot of shrimp. Im ryon stewart im the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently. But when joint pain and stiffness from Psoriatic Arthritis hit even the smallest things became difficult. I finally understood what serious joint pain is like. I talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. Enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. Because enbrel, etanercept suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal events including infections tuberculosis lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and Blood Disorders have occurred. Before starting enbrel your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether youve been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Tell your doctor if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. Ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. Jennifer as the nation continues to debate gun control as we were that just talking about, one conservative media personality did go on piers morgan and lost control of himself. Here to tell you about it is our own loose cannon, brett. Shh, bretts talking now. In the back of everyones mind is a little voice that says lets support piers morgan. Conservative pundit alex jones had gotten 100,000 people to back his plea to boot piers back to the motherland. He asked why he was singled out. We did it as a way to bring attention to the fact that we have all of these foreigners and the russian government, chinese ve mevemeaoao killed about 8 Million People he. Once that was cleared up, they had a civil evenheaded conversation about the issue. The tie rants did it. Hitler took the guns, stalin took the guns, fidell castro took the guns. Im here to tell you, 1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms. Doesnt matter how many