Transcripts For CNN 20091205

then they have a wonderful record. they papered the record. i have done every single test on this patient that could be done. and something may have happened, it wasn't my fault. so, that means that we're paying thousands of dollars every time we go to the doctor for this defensive medicine. now, there are three -- well, there are 28 states that have capped punitive, noneconomic damages. there are two parts for malpractice case. one part is economic. if someone is injured and, in fact, someone's at fault, they should be recompensed for the care they need going forward. i support that. most people that i know of don't argue with that. the other part is the noneconomic damage, the pain and suffering. and that cannot be estimated actually, so what happens is it goes into the feelings of the jury. this poor person, look at them, there's a big insurance company, a wealthy doctor. we're going to punish them. we're going to teach them a lesson. so, you wind up with $10 million, and the estimate is that 54% of that goes to the lawyer, the expert witness, administrative costs. >> yes. >> we don't need that. >> good to talk to you you've laid out a lot of ideas simply in this book. great timing for it. thank you for coming in and giving us perspectives on it. alan miller. coming up, what the big business means for media. there's no way. i just c't swing a vacation. someone needs to lighten up. ( women sing ) ♪ priceline negotiator! ( coughs ) - no vacation? - ( laughing ) i can't afford it. you can if you name your own price. - i don't know how. - it's easy. priceline has insider deals-- empty hotel rooms, open plane seats. ( laughing ) you can save up to half off! that's a great deal! saving money is no laughing matter. ( laughs ) and i'm joni. we've been best friends since we were two. we've always been alike. we even both have osteoporosis. but we're active, especially when we vacation. so when i heard about reclast, the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment, i called joni. my doctor said reclast helps re-strengthen our bones to help make them resistant to fracture and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in more places: hips, spine, even other bones. (announcer) you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain or if you have dental problems, as rarely, jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu-like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain, headache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. nothing strengthens you like an old friendship. but when it comes to our bones, we both look to reclast. you've gotta ask your doctor! or call 866-51 reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. shipping's a hassle! weighing every box... actually, with flat rate boxes you don't need to weigh anything under 70 pounds. if it fits, it ships for a low flat rate. call or go online for a free flat rate box shipping kit that includes free boxes and our helpful shipping guide. do it today, and we'll ship it all right to your door for free. ok, but i ship all over the country. you can ship anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. ship international, too. and remember flat rate boxes come in four sizes and shipping starts at just $4.95. call or go online for a free shipping kit with a full supply of free boxes, plus the shipping guide. act now, and you'll get them all delivered right to your business free of charge. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go online now to get started. let's have a look behind some of the biggest business headlines of the week. joining me now is ryan mack, the president of optimum capital management and leigh gallagher is ed are of "fortune." ben bernanke faced a firing sqawrd on wednesday, fielding tough questions from the senate's banking committee which gets to decide if he gets another four-year term. some republicans question whether they could support him. vermont independent senator bernard sanders issue a statement wednesday night that he put a hold on bernanke's confirmation, that's a technical move that allows a single senator to withhold confirmation of bernanke. take a listen to what he said on wednesday. >> in my view, if an institution is too big to fail, it's too big to exist. we've got to start breaking them up, not allow them to get even larger. the fed has chosen not to do that. mr. president, we need transparency at the fed. >> all right, leigh, first of all, is bernanke going to get confirmed? >> he will get confirmed, yes. it would take an awful lot for him not to at this point. i think a lot of ire is directed at the fed. it's not ber manke, people like him in general, but there's this populous rage against everyone involved in the bailouts and i think that's what we're seeing here. i mean, what you forget about is everyone missed the warning signs, the fed included. they let the institutions take too much risk. bernanke is lobbying what bernie sanders said he didn't do, make sure there's a mechanism so the banks can be -- some bank who is too big to fail can be unwound, so there is a procedure, which there wasn't. >> i suppose it's not a bad thing when he i suppose it's no thing. we wantd our legislatures to be holding benefit bernanke's feet to the fire. >> we have to. we absolutely have to. i don't envy bernanke or barack obama for inheriting this. people judge you not according to what could have happened, they judge you on what they see. we are still in a recession. we have folks that need a job, they still feel the pinch and wonder how it's helping me. we saved ourself from the destruction of the economy. it's going well now. i don't envy them now. >> do you think he will be reappointed? >> i do. i look at him like the cousin you don't trust around christmas time and you want to pat him down to make sure he didn't steal anything. we have to look at the assets. we need ultimate full transparency to pat his pockets down. >> that's what congress is doing. call it 30rocked. giving comcast the biggest cable operator in creating the largest entertainment company in the united states. it's going to make comcast a major player in television, networks, nbc networks, telemundo, oxygen, msnbc and cnbc. what does it mean for media and your money? any effect? >> i think it does. consumers -- this is what consumers want. they want diversification. they want to go on the right and see a little bill o'reilly. on the right, keith olbermann. this looks as if it's a lot of control, a lot of individuals trying to change the channel and seeing maybe hopefully not a slanted viewpoint. >> all though, it's a theme we have been seeing for a long time. it's been going on for a long time. >> i think it's a bigger deal for comcast than the viewer. they have wanted this for a long time. it's note the nbc part that's so val valuable to them, it's the cable business. they are dependent on ad revenues. cable gets the revenue from carrier chains. the cable nbc owns is very, very on fire now. >> for those people in the country who don't pay a monthly bill, they become a bigger player in your life. it's probably more transparent than not. dwid you know 9 million households do not use a bank. i chose the boys & girls clubs. it's an investment for the future. i chose the national wildlife federation. our pets are our kids. we chose the aspca. we're sharing the love again this year. because giving back feels good. on the subaru outback, motor trend's 2010 and two hundred fifty dollars gets donated to your choice of five charities. i thought i was in great shape. so i was surprised when my doctor told me i still had high cholesterol. that really hit me, and got me thinking about my health. i knew i had to get my cholesterol under control. but exercise and eating healthy weren't enough for me. now i @%ust my heart to lipitor. (announcer) when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60%. lipitor is backed by over 17 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. i thought i was doing enough to lower my cholesterol. but i needed more help. what are you doing about yours? (announcer) have a heart to heart with your doctor about your cholesterol. d about lipitor. immune plus shot. this little shot is more like a big shot of-- (dog barking) ...for your immune system. feel the-- (dog barking) feel the good back with me, ryan mac and lee gallagher. 7.7% of households do not use a bank. 20 million households are underbanked. they use cash checking services or pawnbrokers. most acute among minorities. 21.7% of black households and 19.3% of hispanic households. the numbers are staggering. i don't understand it. >> every time you turn on the television, you have prepaid cards trying to get people to spend their money. you see magic johnson pushing rent a centers, to rent their own furniture. now, you have to rent your furniture. it's as if they are exploiting a lot of individuals who don't have access or are aware saving money spending between 1% and 4% of their check over the entire year. they spend another check to get their own money. >> lee, probably doesn't help that we have gone through a year where weekly, you hear complaints about increased bank fees and those things. people are not feeling warm and fuzzy. >> one of the studies was the major reason why is because they distrust the bank. if they distrusted the banks two years ago, what could they think now. >> right. >> this has to be bad for people. >> it's bad for a few reasons. they are not building credit. when you keep cash in your house, the fdic insures money. >> we need to strive for free. there's a way to use banks for free. you can have a debit card to use for free. if you are into telechecks and you have been using too much. >> it's an important point, you need a little responsibility. you can do searches on the internet about free banking. you might not have access to checks, but you can use bank accounts. credit unions that don't have to answer to credit holders. >> we've known this experience in immigrant communities because of the experience they have had in latin american countries. we have two problems going on here. there has to be a logical fix to this. >> one of the suggestions is to encourage banks to offer no fee checking accounts, accounts without automatic overdraft. >> this might happen a little more next year after the rules the federal government is putting in. at the moment, this is the year of windfall for banks. >> there's talk about giving to the act. that's what led us to subprime mortgages. >> no more putting your money under the mattress. >> it's a bad plan however you look at it. thank you for joining me for "your $$$$$." you can follow us on facebook and twitter. join us every week for "your $$$$$" saturdays at