As a single cut. Everything you said was taxes, taxes you have not heard anything i said because you never stopped talking to listen. You havent heard anything i said. Neil tell me what you got. I just finished telling you theres a number of things of which we can look at. Neil you told me things to raise taxes. Thats what you told me. You got to tell me one thing, i beg you, ongressman, one thing you say im going to cut this. What would it be . You neil you dont know, do you . Well, yes, i know, but i have to have time to explain it. I cant tell you im going to walk in and cut this and cut that. Neil we got a lot of email on that one. Some said i was rude and the that the cogresswoman or clueless, but we didnt make progress, did we . As the weekends, where do i star a congressman who cant budge or went act, wont move, the republicans offering tax hikes with nothing in return, just walk away from the table. That could be a very real possibility, and hear former office ceo of home depot say a welcomed one. Abad deal is worse than no deal. Also with us, town halls elizabeth and roll call. Lets get a sense where you think this is going, steve. You dont like where its going . No. You know, look, we need a deal. Were sitting on a price missing here with the whole world watching, the markets are expecting a deal, the Credit Rating agencies expecting a deal, and if we dont have a balanced deal including spending cuts and a revenue race, even if its a small deal with a process for the future, youre going to see markets reac, not only in this country, but around the world, and youre going to see the Credit Rating agencies act, d if that happens, our Interest Rates are going to go up. The cost of our debts going to go up, and its going to exas effort exacerbate the problem spinning out of control. Its in a point in time, and were playing politics, when, in fact, the entire world, the business community, everybody aroundwashington is saying, look, guys, make some progress here. Neil what worries me now is when the next shoe drops. Democrats, largely 80 congressman d today, following the Congressional Black Caucus and ohers like schumer said theres no reason to go after entitlements right now. Whats to stop repuicans from saying, were outs of here, were done. There is not a lot to stop republicans from saying, nope, then this is not going to rk. We are not going to be able to come to a consensus before christmas or before we go off the cliff. A big he want of that was john boehner. He is headed home to ohio for the weekend. Obviously, the lines of commication remain open wit the white house, but that, to me, is very much a move, a political move, saying,hey, you need to come to the table a little bit more, white house and democrats, if we hav any chance of making progress and getting a deal. Neil elizabeth . Well, i think anyone in the situation would agree yo cant make the perfect the enemy of the good, but agree that no deal at this int is better than a bad deal just because bad deals create more problems than they solve. We saw that with obamacare, and, secondly, if you take the pressure off of congress doing a short term deal, youre never getting them to come back to the table to address reforms that need to happen. If theres one thing you learned, they do not work well under pressure. Neil not at all, period. What worries me about the developments as of late is that a goood example is dick durbin f illinois says we cant do things in a rush, cant make decisions in a matter of days, and building upon republicans for essentially creating this predictment. Well, it was a constanttpushing forward, the deadline that created this socalled rush. If not now, when . I wonner if not this opportunity is it really done next year or the debt going to overwhelm us . Well, you know, thers a lot of people pushing to say lets go off the cliff. Neil right. The problem is that if we do that, and the reason is because well get all of the tax hikes which, you know, one group wants, and well get certain spenting cuts which the other group wants civillg everything k dont t . It doesnt. Its the worst of both cases. I think all the rational people, the business community, the Global Markets are looking at this saying, look, a bad deal is bad. Lets not do a bad deal, but lets do some deal. Lets do some progress thats balanced, and then as part of that, lay out a process to do bigger tax reform and entitlement reform, which, clearly, is necessary. We cant keep going. Neil i love you, steve, but thats like a diet solution. Hopeprings eternal, but i look, and its eternally gotten bigger. Its got to happen. Neil i agree. Heres the next thing, who blames who when it blows up . If you want to play that game, wouldnt republicans be wise to say we went so far as even to offer not just a tax hike, but actually to go back to the clinton rates. We didnt like the idea, but we did it, offered it, and they put the ball in the president s court. Whats crazy about that . Well, polling showed that voters and citizens are split. If we go off the fiscal cliff, the blame will be divided between the white house, but does lean a ttle bit more towards congress and particularly Congressional Republicans neil wouldnt it be less, though, if boehner and colleagues come back and say, look, we agree to hiking taxes. We were on board. Let it be known we agree. Yeah, if boehner and the House Republican caw cause caved, yeah, i mean, they can say they did everything they could, on the other hand, you have to remember that the dynamics of the republican party; right . A lot of republicans and not just boehners caucus, but also in the senate, and particularly, in the senate. A lot of the guys are worried about primary challenges from their right. Neil sure. Look at the senate math in 2014, a lot of republicans up for reelection, a lot of the big states that tend to the right anyway, and they are worried about reelection here already, even though we just had one neil oh, no, no, youre right. Its a key opponent. They have to cater by holding the line as long as they can. Neil to that point, theres a number of republicans telli me, usually off the record when they say this, that they think democrats overplayed their hand, the president overpled him, won the election, not a landslide, and may have won higher taxes for the wealthy, but didnt win a pass on avoiding entitlement cuts, and its hell to pay for him. What do you think . Yeah, neil, you know, that may be true in fact, but, unfortunately, for the g. O. P. , until they learn how to win a messaging war, they could win all the policy battles they want, but will not win politically until they communicate this in the right way to the american people. Neil all rght, so here we be; right, folks . Without a deal, further from a deal unless its happening behind the scene were missing, but if im missing something, its potentially an awful deal thats disproportioned to your fear at the outset, steve, with tax hikes, more than more than dominating the scenesand very few cuts, then what . Yeah, yeah, and, well, you know, that would be terrible because that wouldnt be the balance that the markets are looking for and so forth. Look, all of the concentration has been on the political side. Who wins, loses, and, you know, its the people in washington were talking about. They are forgetting who they are serving and why they are there. You know, businesses, main street, the markets are all says, look, guys, you dug a 16 trillion hole. The math doesnt work. You cannot tax your way to prosperity, and you cant tax your way out of it. The money is not there. Youd run the government for a matter of weeks if you seized all of the wealth of the wealthy it doesnt work. Yove got to have a balanced approach to this thing, and you got to have spending cuts, and in order to do that, you got to haveentitlement reform, and youd rather have some sort of balanced approach which then describes a longer term aproach now in order to forget about politics in order to settle the markets. Neil im beginning to wonldzer, i dont think the markets like it either way, but whats your prediction . How do you see it sorting out . I predict there might be a deal if there is a deal. I think its under 50 of any deal, but this deal, if it happens, i think will be a small deal. See some frame work, you know, raise tax rates a little bit, and then theyll basically say, okay, we promise to deal with the tax code and entitlement reform and form another supercommittee until march 1st or a deadline to get this done. What that would do is say democrats could go back to the race and say, okay, we claim victory, raise taxes on the highest income earners in america, and republicans all right, we have a promise and a process for entitlement reform in the coming year. The reality is that thats actually not a very good thing because congress cant do anything, and these committees have not been fruitful in the past. Its how we got ourselves in the spot in the first place through the supercommittee who couldnt avoid sequestering. Neil elizabeth . I agree much its chris brown and rihanna going back to the same sisks, and it doesnt work out. Bottom line, i dont know theres a deal, but if it is, the pattern is kicking the can down the road. I agree with that completely. You wont see change because thats not helped the economy at this point, and it probably will not help it in the future. Neil incredible, absolutely incredible. Thank you very much. In the meantime, sandy money to fix the smithsonians roof. This has you hitting the roof. Speaking of hitting, remember the union guys and the fists . Get lawyers. Neil dont say i didnt warn you with washington set to give 60 billion to sandy battered states. How is the smithsonian getting 2 million of that to fix a roof on one of its buildings. It was not damaged because of sandy. It was damaged before sandy. No wonder americans for tax reform is so upset. I guess this shouldnt surprise us, but more to come, i suspect . Right, neil, this is why as we talk about the fiscal cliff and debating what can be done, anyone whos not telling you spending needs to be on the table and need to cut spending as part of the deal and solution is not serious. As youve seen, as soon as theres money, even the whiff of money on the tail, every agency on the board bellying up to the federal trough saying they need money, the smithsonian, the fbi, everyone all the sudden has a sandystorm related cost they need paid for by the federal government. Neil you know whats weird . I was trying to think through the smithsonian, everyone is going to try to justify for why they need the money. They can have app exhibit later on to talk about dealiest storms to hit america, and we need the roof fixed, but it gets to stretch the imagination, and just credibility of the washington and how it gets money out, but big sums, 60 billionful, i imagine thats going to get common. More of a stretch is the sum in and of itself with the president saying we need 60 billion for storm recovery effort. What we doesnt tell you is 64 of the 60 billion is getting spent seven years from now, things that are going to be going out the door from 20152022. Now, how is this an emergency relief effort if we look ten years down the road to have funds going out the door . You look at the package, its a huge amount of money, but no effort to offset spending. If its necessary, we need lawmakers erious about reigning in the size of government saying, listen, we want to help the states in a fiscalically responsible manner, nd if we dull out 60 billion, we have to cut elsewhere. The stimulus projects still getting money, cut those and help the people in new york and new jersey instead. Neil even leaving that issue aside, make better accountability. If we had the Inspector General for t. A. R. P. Keeping track of how it was supposed to be a bank rescue pile of money that was a Solar Projects and what have you, who is keeping track of it . It gets back to the issue, we discussed it before, americans have big hearts, want to help people when they are in trouble, but we adopt want to see money pissed away in the process not getting to the people we reached out there. Its deeper than that; right . If money is flying around from the feral government, people assumeworks getting done distracting from Recovery Efforts if you throw money out the door to smithsonian and people claiming they need landscaping wherever. This is an idea were paying for what we get, and we are not. If we have to help people recovering from disaster, we have to be serious about going it rather than allowing it to be a slush fund which is what is set up to do. Neil up to eightsomething billion of this money allocated to for future projects to make them more weather resis tent, hurricane resitant. I dont think so. I dont ee that happening. Absolutely, right. Its whats more weather resistant . It could be sar panels or planting trees. In any way, does it help victims affected whose homes were wiped away trying to deal with the circumstances they find themselves or might be homeless . It doesnt. The idea that the federal government steps in, spreads the magical federalmoney around to mike it better distracts from efforts and we have to be circumspect about that. Neil we do. Timely advice. Thanks, neil. Neil you know what happened today in connecticut, another Massive School shooting in our nations history. The latest, but a question. How do we protect ourselves and our kids against whats become our kids against whats become an all too frequent proble [ thunder crashes ] [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. And that their Homeowners Insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesnt. Stop pretending. Only Flood Insurance covers floods. Visit floodsmart. Gov pretend to learn your risk. Neil it was big news when all screens outer floor of the New York Stock Exchange were on it, not on business channels, they were not on anything else but this. What happened in connecticut today, and what could lead to more than two dozen people, largely kids, getting killed . Security expert and former cia covert officer mike baker on how we get through this making ourselves more secure. So litle we know, and a lot were going to find out, but here we go again. What do we do . How do we make these schools safer or can we . Well, you learn from every tragic, unfortunate incident, and more details will be coming out, obviously, as we go forward and carry out the investigation, and well learn about the background and experience and the connections, but, you know, ultimately, the problem is you cant regulate, legislate, and control your society into a zero risk. We never get to the point where you can stop crazy. You cant do it. You have to find a line that people are willing to live with in terms of the way that we move through society and schools are no deferent, and, now, there are better now than even a few years ago at dealing with crisis like this. Up fortunately, because weve had them and try to study. Il not all schools have metal detectors or cameras in every room. Should they . What do you do . Ask yourself the uestion, how far do i want to go, you know, to have as close to a riskfree life as possible . You know, the problem is what would i like to do . Ive got a son whos just started kindergarten, you know, and your heart oes out to the people, cant imagine those feels, but what would i like to see a Police Officer from the local area assigned as a beat officer to each school . Sure, id like to see that. Can we pass a rule and find a budget for that . I nt know. I have no idea, but im willingg to see if you have an armed response in a school, whether its an Elementary School or university, youre improving your chances of reducing the fatalities and the cases if crazy desends on you. Are people willing to do that . Neil can you protect yourself from crazy whether its columbine or Virginia Tech . Crazy marchs through detectors on a rampage. Right. Neil it begs to issue, and its not just in america, but weve seen it in high guncontrolled countries, finland and scandinavian countries, they have the same shootings. What is it . Is there a collective thing we, as a society do, or what . Well, i think youre touching on a much bigger issue here, i think, and that is, you know, why are diseffect the youth, a young man, why are diseffected youth now seemingly, more, you know, psychotic and aggressive and violent, than they used to be . Is that the case . If so, you know, what within the society is doing that . Why are we creating, you know desensitized individuals wh see nothing, or is it just, ou know, crazys been there, and things like this happen . I dont know. Im not capable of answering that question that high up. Neil the gun control debate, broughup in these situations, people are going to ask where does it happen and where it happens, particularly in schools, the mall shooting a couple days back, we need armed guards in malls. Right. Neil do we need armed guards in schools . Do we need armed guards in every Public Center . All i know is i feel that in if you have the trained responsible personnel equipped to deal with situations like this on site, youre going to, i believe, this is my opinion, i believe youre going to reduce the potential for mass casualties because youll have a response available on site. Neil because the presence is known to be there . Right. Again, youre right. Usually one of the first thing that happens after a tragedy like this is it revisits the question of gun control, and one part about it im a proud gun owner. I think its an important aspect, and i would challenge anybody who takes away my rights, but there is an issue of, you know, how are they sold and waiting period, and ive wondered about that. I mean, people fight against the idea of a waiting period to buy a weapon. Ankly, you know,i run a company, and in part, that does Due Diligence, background work on people. If you have sufficient time to do Due Diligence on individuals, you know, you can do a thorough job and uncover issues that might not be uncovered in the short period. I woke up and said i got to get to the store and gt another weapon right away, i need it immediately. Put in a decent waiting period in there so you have the chance to do that. Dont say you cant buy a weapon. You know, say, you know, you shouldnt have to need that weaponhis afternoon, you know, put in a decent petered. Maybe thats one thing we can talk about that would, you know, go some ways towards dealing with all the people who cry about gun controlfter a tragedy lik this, but theres the other issue of how far are we willin