talking about is obviously the collapse of oil prices but what that has meant is a huge fall in gas prices. we can show you that january 1st, 2014, 3.29 a gallon was the national average. today it is 2.24. some say it is going to go even lower. what does that mean for the larger economy in the sense that so many americans now feel like they basically got a pay raise? there is more money in their pocket. there is a lot happening here. the guests that came to my home in new year s eve filled up for a buck 77 yesterday and were thrilled about it. this increases consumer confidence. consumer confidence plays weird tricks. causes us to spend money. strange part it causes us to go into debt. when we feel the best about our financial lives we go and borrow money. so that will have an impact in 2015. but the flip side of that which i don t like, is that a large part of our indexes, our investment indexes are the oil
planes, can they really get them out of trouble can they break into the system to recover when it is such a dangerous situation, heather. heather: david piper following this story again for us from thailand. thank you. leland: here we go again. round two for obamacare. the employee mandate kicks in today as we begin the second year of the affordable care act. companies with 100 or more workers must now provide health insurance to at least 70% of their employees or they face hefty fines. in another headline just about now about exactly how much obamacare costs all of us. the number of americans qualifying for federal subsidies, that means the health department says a whopping 87% of obamacare users qualify for financial assistance from the government. daniel harper a on line editor for the weekly standard. seems
shinseki took the fall as well after his agency was shamed by reports that 40 veterans at phoenix va died while waiting for care. almost 100 va facilities are now under investigation. the strange story of army sergeant bowe bergdahl gripped the nation as he was turned over in exchange for five gitmo detainees. some in congress were outraged because they were not consulted. earlier report caught him a deserter and that is being investigated. he is now on desk duty. stupidity of the american voter. jonathan gruber, the architect of obamacare cereally accused americans being too dumb to understand that obamacare would cost them more. we caught up with the professor and he was done talking for the moment. i have no comment. don t bring back people and don t come. foul for donald sterling the former l.a. clippers owner. heard making racist remarks to
it was like booking a flight to miami beach. reporter: once on the front lines fighting against isis john says the kurds were so poorly equipped he had to stuff his vest with a bible because there was no body armor, and he wasn t the only westerner in the group. there were some heather: what does the law say about all of this? reporter: well, based on estimates, a thousand foreign fighters are joining the conflict every month with a relatively small but growing number of americans among them. and when it comes to the law, it s a confusing situation