>> welcome everybody. i'm neil cavuto. hardie and hanse, listen and learn. while you're going for broke, honey boob's mom is playing it safe, socking away all of her kids' cash in the trust found that cannot be touched until they turn 21. and in the meantime, clipping coupons and living off sugar bear's salary. sugar bear is honey boo-boo's dad in case you're wondering. she said, want my kids to lock back and say, mama played it mart. not like all those other reality tv people. >> not like all those reality tv people indeed. not about to risk her kid's future. that is what got star parker asking washington, why the heck are you risking ours? you know, i think this is the mayan moment we missed. it had nothing to do with the world blowing up, but boo-boo's mom figuring out the way. what say you? >> i say, isn't it interesting when it's your own money, when it's your children's future, you absolutely get a little bit of insight into what reality looks like. i believe that why congress can't get a handle on this is because they're not spending their own money. >> neil: you know, leaving aside what this mom has done with this child, and the fame of this child, if this isn't a great country, i don't know. if that alone doesn't prove it. everyone can succeed, trust me. everyone's 15 minutes will pop up. i cannot guarantee when. >> hers is more than 15 minutes. she has a second season. >> neil: the mom is actually doing this, and she is banking all of this dough, kids can't touch it until they're 21, and she is taking nothing for granted. we don't have any dough and they're still spending it like crazy in washington. what's going on? >> well, a couple of things. in the world there are restriction officers the parents to save for the children, so it's not totally that the mother's making this decision on her own. but that said, she does have available to her much more of the money than she seems to be penning. what i believe she knows, like most americans -- believe it or not most actors know -- they themselves are personally responsible for their future. what has happened in congress is not only are they pending our money but they dent want to be honest enough to say there are places they absolutely could cut back but don't want to hurt peoples' feelings so they won't let us know where the plays are, nor allow us to actually sit down like many american families do and say, we can't do this anymore. let's cut back a little bit right there. it's a party town here in washington. unfortunately. for the american people. i don't think we're going to see much get done. >> neil: all right. thank you very much. we just learned you were speaking that honey boo-boo has just replaced jack lew as the newly named treasury secretary. key you posted on that insight. mint a trillion dollar coin so congress can keep spending? i wasn't take this seriously nil heard this. >> a position on this trim dollar coin business? >> there is no plan b, there's no backup plan. >> a little evasive in your answer. are you -- trying to leave room or not? >> there's no substitute for congress extending the borrowing authority of the united states. >> this is an option, a viable -- >> i think the only option here, there is no backup plan. the only action is for congress to died job. >> will you rule it out. >> you can speculate about a lot of things. >> just rule it out. it's stupid. when the white house not ruling it out. add that to nancy pelosi who says the president could use a 14th amendment to hike the debt limit. >> i would do it in a second. but i'm not the president of the united states. >> neil: and your know honey boo-boo either. former colorado state treasurer says it's time to stop the schemes to start addressing the underlying spending that is the reason for these schemes. but we're not doing that. so what the heck is the deal here? >> well, neil, it feels more and more like these voices, these chorus of voices in washington are shouting into the wind. they rail on and on about spending. that's all people hear about. and all we're hearing about from the national media and from the folks in washington is, what the american taxpayer owes. what is owed to washington. and washington in turn owes money to this massive entitlement system that is growing faster than the taxpayer base. we're actually running out of people to tax, quite literally. and yet the conversation needs to be shifted, what is actually owed to the taxpayer? what is owed in terms of return on investment? to the american taxpayer? and i'll tell you what i think i owed. we're od transparency, owed accountability, and i think we're owed an ultimate sense of fairness as to how money is spent in washington, dc, that we're not getting right now. it's no wonder that americans feel so disenfranchised from the sometime. >> neil: what bothers me about the system is we're going through these elaborate and extensive hoops to avoid just cutting the spending. wouldn't have to come up with a trillion dollar coin or come up with using the 1st amendment to raise the debt limit if you would just address the underlying spending that creates the crisis in the first place. >> absolutely. we have a president in office, let's not forget, that turned down the recommendation of his own committee how to actually do that, and make the tough decisions on spending, and we just got a debt deal thathave a time of any sort of entitlement reform, and without attacking medicaid or attacking social security, you're not going to get the spending reductions we need to correct this. >> neil: would you among those considered to be sort of bomb throwers by advocating we risk shutting the government down? if we have not come up with a smart way to get spending under control? rather than increasing the debt ceiling, what would be for the 50th some odd time since world war ii? >> i think we have to do something drastic. just extending the credit card of the united states, past all reasonable levels, is not working. >> that's what i asked, doing something as drastic -- >> might take something drastic. >> neil: would youd advocate that? >> shut down the government to get people to stop spending, that dire, i say we have to stop pending. >> neil: thank you very much. maybe things are not this bad and we're not fixing things because the media says there's nothing to fix. just look at this. first time jobless claims higher, and this from the "associated press." more evidence of an economy that has grown increasingly stable. comes on the heels of this. obama scores another victory. hiring continues. 7.8%, a victory, increasingly stable? the media says we don't have a problem at all. tucker, i mean, can't make this stuff up. >> to put it in some perspective, the president was elected the first time in 2008 because we were in a major economic crisis. of course headed into the recession, no end in sight. everyone felt we were in freefall, the unemployment rate in january 2009,, 7.8%. four years later after a trillion spent trying to boost the economy into vigor, 7.8%. and that's the official unemployment raid, which is a fraction of the actual unemployment rate. brake down even further, take the african-american unemployment rate? it's twice the white unemployment rate. this under a president who is -- has set a renewed commitment to civil rights, the justice department civil rights commission, and still this unemployment rate is a disastrous highs. imagine a republican in office staying down the barrel of a -- >> neil: we know that 7.8% isn't great and a jobless claims report like the one we got is hardly anything to whoop about. but i think it's a double ininto itment when the media glosses over that. and i don't kerr it's a democrat or republican in os. office. we didn't gloss over bad numbers or foolhardy -- when president bush was in office. what is good for the goose better be good for the began depth depressant see it from media's portrayal of what is at best a bumpy recovery. >> there are plenty of outrages that get ignored by the press in every administration because the press, above all, is shallow and dumb. so they just miss certain things. the effect of certain programs. but the unemployment rate is pretty easy extra track and we know what it was 50 years ago, and we can look through the continuum and know that by historyical standards it's high. you would have thought during the election, the last time when an incumbent president ran with unemployment this high was 1936. you didn't hear about this. i don't think the networks during the charlotte democratic convention used the word up employment one time. so i think the president is the beneficiary of every benefit of every doubt, and specifically on the unemployment rate, which would hurt any other president as far as i can tell. >> neil: tucker karlson, thank you very much. in the meantime, is this. [coughing] >> neil: is that a far cry from this? >> keep it going. come on, people, come on now. don't push. this is a containment area. >> incredibly important they keep protected. i need to get them out of here immediately. >> sir no appears ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. make it worth watcng. introducing the 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. introducing the 2013 lexus ls. living with moderate to semeans living with pain.is it could also mean living with joint damage. help relieve the pain and stop the damage withumira, adalimumab. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. so you can treat more than just the pain. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage before they stop you. [shouting] [shouting] >> neil: the flu has not reached a panic stage yet. but that doesn't meet the states aren't starting to worry that it might. massachusetts is now reporting at least 18 flu-related deaths this winter, and boston, already declaring a public health emergency. fox 2 has the latest from the boston medical center. hey, mol molly. >> there have been 700 people with the flu diagnosed here in boston. up a great deal over last year at this time when there were just 70 people diagnosed. so the authorities have gotten together in boston's mayor and the health officials and declared this a public health emergency and urging people to get flu shots and take precautions and they're hoping to kind of stop this in its tracks because it is an overloaded area hospitals. 18 deaths statewide, four deaths in boston. that compared to just one death here in the city last year. officials with the boston health commission also say this is a particularly tough strain of the flu. >> the type a h3 viruses are associated with more severe illness with influenza seasons that start earlier and they go on a little bit longer and involve more people. reporter: going to be tougher for folks who come down with the strain of the flu. the cdc saying the flu shot out and available right now here in the city of boston does cover that strain so they're encouraging people here in the city to go out and get that. it is a tough situation, particularly in some neighborhoods. roxbury, dorchester, areas that are predominantly minority populations and folks that are lower on the poverty line, which means they can less likely to take a day off work to get better and more likely to spread to coworkers. >> neil: so, why is this particular flu spreading so quickly? maybe it's not just one strain of flu. it could be your colleagues. they're still coming into work even when they're sick. employees are hesitant to call into work sick for fear of losing their job. dr. manning says, do not be an idiot. if you're sick, stay home. >> that's exactly what i say. how does the flu spread? through people. if you have people that do not take the flu shots you're basically becoming a -- it's not that the flu is -- it's around the air and everybody is breathing the same air. right now we have perhaps 50% compliance. and at the beginning of the show, showing the panic, you know where the panic is? hospitals. we have had emergency meetings in my hospital because we have to encourage everybody to take more flu shots. >> neil: not everyone takes the flu shot. >> 60 to 70% efficacy rate. there are -- >> that means that 30 to 40 temperature -- >> well, the argument is statistically is very good to take, this year is a perfect match -- >> what happens to the 30 or 40% for whom it doesn't help? >> they might get a milder case. they might still get a heavy case -- >> might be another strain over which this shot has no effect. >> could be another strain, and for the most part you have to go with the statistics and the statistics show this h3n2 influenza a is the perfect match that is seen more frequently in hospitals, been cultivated, and we know the flu vaccine, this particular season,ing very effective. the problem this is gigantic unexplainable myth for why people don't take the flu shot. they think they're going to get the flu, which is not true. this is a dead virus. they think they're going to -- i don't know -- stop walking, arms are going to blow up. >> neil: that is true. you get a shot, your eyes become popeyed. >> those are the -- >> neil: brush up on medical facts. >> there's no medical facts. i'm telling you. the affects are the facts -- >> neil: look, i saw the movie "outbreak." >> that's exactly my point. this is why we have to tell people, if you want to stop the flu season from happening, the way that it is developing, get the flu shot, still time. >> neil: a lot of folks are nervous, when we're not -- >> people do come into work, and when you look at the financial aspect of people, of companies, you're talking about billions of dollars most likely they're going to lose in productivity. it's a tremendous amount. i personally think that a lot of companies don't do a good job in bringing the flu vaccine to their workers or making -- >> neil: or put the fear of god in them. >> a lot of companies -- itch you start taking statistics -- i think this particular year -- if you're a company owner, take a statistic, find out how many of your employees took the flu shot and how many people call in sick for the flu and how much it calls you. >> neil: we have employees here. i say no matter what happens, get your butt into work. >> you're the spreader of flu. >> neil: i'm the spreader of many, many things. you might have a future in this whole medical thing. >> thank you, sir. >> neil: -- manny al -- alvarez. mr. president, look who your hollywood crowd is celebrating today. maybe time you start emulating? 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[ all ] i'm with scottrade. >> the fate of human dignity in our hands. >> now, now, now. >> neil: give that man an oscar while your at it, give him 12. that's how many dame award nominations stephen steel berg's "lincoln" movie managed today. a president who surrounded himself with rivals not yes-men. it's easy to say cabinets are full of yes men but rarely are they full of those who directly challenge a president or, worse in the case of lincoln's cabinet, ran against him for president. why is that beneficial to have folks like that in a cabinet? >> well, often times it gives a very diverse sense of opinion. lincoln could draw from very different points of view. and really, lincoln became president when the republicans were a startup party. so he needed rivals within his own party just to solidify his presidency. and so sometimes a tie verse opinion can give a president many things to consider and then hopefully make the best decision in the long run. >> neil: this president started off, regardless of your opinions with hillary clinton, on the right foot by reaching out to a challenger to be such a prominent cabinet secretary. after that it went by the way side, folks say some of these latest choices, jack lew, particularly, sort of reconfirms the business as usual crowd. does that longer run with folks who want to see big changes or could these folks surprise us? >> well, i guess, they can surprise you. george w. bush brought in paul o'neill. he was favored by wall street and capitol hill to be his treasury secretary, and then later bush said he did not share his enthusiasm for tax cuts. and it's one thing to disagree with the president, but in neil's case he belittled the president and it got back to bush. so you have to give your opinion directly to the president. >> neil: with lincoln -- this its historical lore. >> he would have his cabinet out, and in that case they're forcing this amendment of abolishing slavery, he would slam his fiveses thon table and he could be temper tantrum abe. and the buck stops with the president. but the cabinet itself has to inspire, does it not? they have to stand out for who they are themselves, don't they? >> that's right. a cabinet member is often positioning himself to maybe run for president. so sometimes that rivalry happens and emerges, but a president is really best served by someone like ted sorensen. he was the antiyes man for kennedy. kennedy trusted him and he would give him the unvarnished truth. and kennedy appreciated that. >> neil: i also think when you go outside the petri dish you can be richly rewarded. it needn't be is inly a businessman for treasurery or someone who fought in the trenches to be a defense secretary, as this designate has, but does help to have someone with practical knowledge of the field they're overseeing and what worries folks about jack lew, his academic credentials notwithstanding, he doesn't bring that experience to perhaps this most important of economic jobs. >> well, it certainly looks like jack lew is getting a promotion, and that may be part of the issue and the tension, and he has rubbed people the wrong way in washington. that's part of it, too. he is not the most easy going, likeable fellow so that's probably hurting him among those who are uncomfortable with his nomination. >> neil: do you think -- they would all say about john kennedy's cabinet, it was an ivy league crowd, novelty -- not that it prevented the bay of pigs, but that the more eclectic and different and high-browed you get, the more you try to aim for the cream of the crop, the better you'll be. do you agree with that? >> there's something to be said to that. kennedy brought in den rusk to be secretary of state. he thought would be bring diversity of potential but he didn't like rusk. he called him the lowest common denominate nor, and he was disappointed because it came out that rusk opposed the bay of pigs, and others within the cabinet didn't speak up against it. and what a differe