it didn t work out that way, but the fact remains thisis not the way to go about solving our fiscal problems. gregg: does this raise the stakes on congress? i think so. um, beginning immediately there are some things that congress have to take care of business, and one would be the payroll tax holiday that is in place and which i would expect both parties would want to extend, the other would be long-term uninsurance, unemployment insurance which i think both parties are going to want to extend. we ve seen no particular ability for the parties to get together, extend these programs and not increase the deficit, but those stakes are very high. if congress doesn t do it, again, it s going to fall to state governments to take care of those out of work and unemployed. gregg: want to get your reaction to the remarks by newt gingrich who s now at the top of most national polls and, in fact, in individual state polls. he said if you re serious about real health care reform, abolish the cong
open to that. so do you believe it has a very strong mix? no, actually is this something that s going to jolt america? the economy? no, it can t have that kind of impact because the gop is just going to block anything that involves more taxes. and second, a lot of the things that geithner wants to do and this president want to do seem a little bit unworldly versus people actually in business. i started five businesses, i never started one, not one because i was trying to get a little bit of a break on a payroll tax. these kind of little tinkerings on payroll taxes, uninsurance, are same old, same old i hear that. so what would you do? what do you need? i offered a plan to geithner, bit of a canadian plan and it works, canada s economy really terrific. go where the jobs are. instead of trying to stimulate jobs in solar where there aren t any jobs, go to north dakota, go to texas, go to oklahoma, go to
and we would have a booming condition. $2 of stimulus, they said . neil: but, again, during the holidays no one wants to rob anyone of an extension of benefits and the 13 months is another whole issue, but i wonder how republicans counter the criticism in order to get the tax deal, they pass this. guest: this is the worst feature. i like the payroll tax thing because that means if you get a job, it helps make work pay, as the president would pay but the problem with uninsurance unemployment insurance, it makes not working paying. i think two years is a long time. neil: what is interesting because we have never done this in american history before, not
don t maintain the majority. the original report that pelosi would not run came from a north carolina congressman, a democrat, speaking in a radio interview. more than a dozen members of her party say they will not vote for her if the democrats retain control. it s become a campaign issue out there. troubling new details about the nation s unemployment insurance system. it is $40 billion in the red, this is the pain you get if you paymt you get if you go on unemployment, $40 billion in the red and analysts say it could top $65 billion, within the next three years, prompting many analysts and lawmakers to say this system is headed for a crash. so, what s the next step? eric bolling is anchor of follow the money , fox business network, 8:00 p.m. people depend on this unemployment. there are definitely people who abuse the system, right, take the uninsurance insurance and don t look for
time claims or unemployment have leveled off a bit. dropping 3,000 from the previous week to 450,000, the lowest level in two months. still, very high, though it is down from more than 500,000 new claims a month ago. the unemployment rate hangs stubbornly 9 1/2, 10%. new claims for uninsurance the same i think this. it s down from its worst, but it s stabilized at an unacceptbly high level. reporter: and the budget director agrees. we re seeing a recovery. none of us are satisfied with the rate of the recovery. none of us are satisfied with the sustained high levels of unemployment. reporter: the pain of the slow pace of recovery was made clear today in an annual report by the u.s. census, telling what many americans already now the loss of jobs for the last two years, driven the poverty levels for working age americans to the highest since 1960 s. 39.8 million people to 43.6