jenna: some new numbers right now on the economy, sheding a little light where we are and where we re going. according to one leading index small business optimism continues to drop. that is according to the national federation of independent businesses. we re joined bit chief economist of that group, bill dunkelberg. bill, we keep hearing about recovery. things are better than they have been over last couple years. why are small businesses not more optimistic? that s a good question. they re looking into the future and making decisions whether it is a good time to hire somebody and whether customers will show up. what we bound was, more owners think the economy will be worse six months from now than it will be better. more owners expect sales volume to fall over next three months than expect it to rise. consequently there is no reason to hire anybody. they don t expect customers to show up. that makes them pretty pessimistic. jenna: how do we change
megyn: if you get it done while they re checking your license and registration, different story. completely. and also if you re arrested. so you re going to be held anyway. then they absolutely can check your immigration status. that was a big principle for arizona that was at stake, and the supreme court made pretty clear that the law is completely fine in that respect. megyn: before i let you go, the argument also did not go well for that same solicitor general when he argued the health care law. so for those of us who believe we can read the tea leaves from the arguments and i happen to be one of them maybe, maybe not so much. we ll find out on thursday. maybe not. thanks so much. megyn: tom, always a pleasure. well, one of the organizations involved in the health care lawsuit is the national federation of independent businesses or nfib. and now this trade group that represents small businesses across this country is coming under attack from some on the left accused of bet
candidates aren t telling you about what is and what is not within their power to change. but first, i ll tell you about a storm that s raging in the distance. it s headed to our shores. it s an economic storm. it hasn t hit yet. we re starting to feel the outer bands of it. those who watch me every week know, i m generally an optimist. but i understand the u.s. economy. the u.s. economy is driven about it confidence of its citizens. the customer in this case is the american consumer and is always right. they think things are slowing down, it will welcome self-fulfilling because they ll stop spending. businesses stop hiring. and the economy could grind to a halt. let me tell what you i m talking about. here s the good news. we had 20 straight months of job growth in the united states. the pace of that growth is slowing. the last five months, there have been fewer jobs created each month than were created than in the month before. but jobs are being created, not lost. so that
right. they think things are slowing down, it will welcome self-fulfilling because they ll stop spending. businesses stop hiring. and the economy could grind to a halt. let me tell what you i m talking about. here s got news. we had 20 straight months of job growth in the united states. the pace of that growth is slowing. the last five months, there have been fewer jobs created each month than were created than in the month before. but jobs are being created, not lost. so that should make people feel better, not worse. let s talk about your homes. a lot of your equity is there. the home prices in the routes probably at or near their bottom. the so-called shadow inventory of homes is lower. foreclosures are up. but those are a new wave of foreclosures from the signing scandal. we re probably near the end of this thing. fewer homes, less inventory makes it a good time to buy. if you re buying a home, at 4% mortgage interest rate or lower on a 30-year fixed mortgage, the rate yo
impact of the extension of the tax holiday. so i saw the president out yesterday doing his christmas shopping. saw he brought his dog with him. you know, we re here. he could bring his dog up here. we are pet-friendly. and you know, again, it will not take a long time. we could probably resolve the differences within an hour. jon: resolve the differences within an hour. the wall street journal in an op-ed piece yesterday said you republicans in the house are winning a battle but losing the war. it is said you might have the better argument but you re losing the public relations battle. how do you respond? well, again, the american people know and they are smart and sensible and we have been getting a lot of calls saying that people understand what we re talking about and they re glad we re fighting for them. and there have been a number of organizations, particularly representing small businesses that have published statements in support of what we re doing including the national f