Transcripts For FBC The Willis Report 20150317 : vimarsana.c

The willis report, where consumers are our business. Two breaking stories this hour. First another big hack at a Health Insurance company. This time blue crossblue shield, an affiliate of that company. Millions of folks are affected. Social security and bank records exposed. Well have all the details later this hour. We begin with a critical election in israel and the crisis in the middle east. World powers reportedly making headway with iran on Historic Nuclear Deal as israelis vote on the fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of obamas biggest critics in these negotiations. One exit polls, two exit polls, show Benjamin Netanyahu with a slight lead. We have security analyst, kt mcfarland and former u. N. Ambassador john bolton. They are tied in two, netanyahu ahead in one. He appears to doing well. He is tweeting what a great victory he has. Kt, to you tell us a little bit how the system works there. Its a parliamentary system. Are we headed towards a Coalition Government . Of some sort. The difference in our system the guys who gets the most votes win. In israel the guy who gets most votes doesnt necessarily win because he probably doesnt have 51 of the electorate. That will happen this time. They both do well might even tie. But what has to happen now, each of the two leading parties have to scramble around with other minority parties to see who can form a government. We may not know who the new Prime Minister of israel is for weeks. Gerri wow. Could go on for a while. Ambassador to you, what kind of consequences could this have for the u. S. . Well depending on what coalition emerges it could have a pretty important impact on israels foreign policy. And, there are really three possibilities that the israelis have been discussing. One is, netanyahu wins, and is able to put together a coalition. The other is the Labour Party Candidate herzog wins, and it is more of a centerleft coalition of the third possibility is a government of National Unity which is not something we have had experience with before. So it is very uncertain. This is obviously very close. And it is important to understand in israeli terms, a lot of this election turned on domestic economic issues, not on repudiation if it that what happens on netanyahus foreign policy. Gerri i hear there is a lot of concern about the economy which is stunning to me because their economy has done so much better than ours frankly but kt, to you im most interested in these Nuclear Negotiations with iran. What effects might this election tonight have on that . Well, i was in israel in december and talked to people of all the Political Parties and what seemed to be case they seemed to have pretty much agreement on iran. They may have a disagreement on how to deal with the palestinians and whether to negotiate with the palestinians or not but with regard to iran almost everybody agrees a nuclear iran is an existential threat to israel. Can not be allowed to happen. So, lets fast forward to the end of the month, with potentially secretary kerry has a nuclear deal with iran. The president , our president will say it is all great. Secretary kerry will say it will stop Irans Nuclear program but reality what do the countries in the region say . What do they think . How are they judging it . If countries in the region, egypt, saudi arabia gulf arabs turkey, if they this Nuclear Deal Iran doesnt dismantle anything but unplugs everything for a period of time they could get Nuclear Weapons of their own. Israel is in the middle of an Nuclear Arms Race in the most unstable part of the world. Gerri consequences could be tragic. Ambassador, youve been highly critical of these negotiations. What is your take tonight . Kt mentioned the end of march deadline theyre facing. What will happen . Can anything good come from this. No. If they sign the deal today, it would simply be an open path for iran to get Nuclear Weapons and it doesnt much matter how much longer they negotiate. I just think well be making more concessions which iranians get sort of more and more every day. The real issue though now, this is why the outcome of the elections in israel is critical, is if netanyahu wins and if this deal goes through, will israel strike Irans Nuclear Weapons Program as it has twice before in its history, struck Nuclear Weapons programs in the hands of hostile states . So there are a lot of ifs involved but that is the key decision that israel faces. We talked a lot on this show about the letter that the gop sent to iran about the agreement. People who are very upset at the president negotiating this. Kt to you, i want you to hear what josh earnest had to say in reaction to this. Get your comment. Here is josh earnest. There will be ample opportunity for members of congress to both evaluate the political agreement in the short term, to consider the technical agreement, that it is supposed to be reached by the end of june. Then, not over the course of weeks. Not over the course of months but over the long term evaluate irans commitment to complying with terms of the agreement. Gerri all the time in the world kt. What do you say . Well, that is exactly the opposite what secretary kerry just said last week. A year ago secretary kerry said congress has a role in this. Congress was the organization that put sanctions on the table. But now secretary kerry said last week, we dont have to go to congress. Congress does not have a role. Maybe we go to the United Nations instead of the u. S. Congress but at the end of the day the problem with the deal a deal is much worse than a bad deal. Why . If the United States lifts sanctions and iran is considered a Nuclear Weapons threshold state, iran rices to the table. They have a superior economy. They have an economic boom. Liker the California Gold rush. International companies rush to do business with iran. Iran will be a threshold Nuclear Weapons state. Gerri ambassador quick thoughts before we go. I think the outcome of the israeli election is the most important issue before us. I think obama will do almost anything to sign this deal. I think if he does it is singsly a guaranty that iran will have Nuclear Weapons and many other states in the region saudis turks, many others. If netanyahu wins he has a very hard decision to make whether or not to attack the iranian program. If he does not, iran will get Nuclear Weapons. Gerri disturbing thought. Kt ambassador bolton, thank you very much for your thoughts. If we get any news on the election well bring it to you straight away. Nuclear deal with iran set to have impact on your bottom line over here. Easing sanctions could unleash millions of barrels of oil from iran into already flooded marketplace. In fact our next guest says the price of oil could drop to 20 bucks a barrel. Joining us now Patrick Dehaan Senior Petroleum analyst for gasbuddy. Com. Good to see you, patrick. How much oil would be unleashed on the markets if this deal goes through . You know iran is really having trouble finding any customers that want to deal with them right now because of the complexities of the black market and currencies. Iran is smuggling in dollars on planes. This is all you know, very hard for them, very illicit to do. Hard for them . You know they earned those sanctions. Theyre not, they are not under sank schuss there are the nicest people in the world that treated everybody good, lets be honest here. Absolutely. If you see any sort of deal that relieves the sanctions it will be a gamechanger for oil. Suddenly youre amidst the highest levels of production in the u. S. Youve seen since the 80s. Brimming inventories already. And suddenly youre throwing another several Million Barrels a day into the market, it is going to really depress crude oil prices even more. Certainly to the joy of motorists who are going to be planning road trips this summer. Let me ask. Were at 2 heroin 42 right now. I see different estimates 2. 42. Theyre really way offline. A lot of their fields are not pumping oil at all. Some is going to the black market. Largely this a country that has stopped producing. How long would it take to get back in the marketplace . What does it do to gas prices in this country . It could take months to fully restore things. You know weve seen libya take its time with the struggles they have there. So im not expecting those to show up on the market tomorrow. I think the psyche of any sort of agreement would start to show up in the market much quicker than the barrels would. What will it mean for consumers . Right now youre obviously having issues across the country with not crude oil access but refining crude oil. Look at the west coast. Look at the great lakes. Disconnect right now even if crude prices dropped overnight to 20 customers will not notice to the summer months. That is when the crude oil gasoline direct connection happens. If anything happens with iron motorists wont notice until may or june. If Something Like that happens we could test the 2 a gallon mark. Gerri were at 2. 42 right now. Oil prices down 59 since last june. This has Major Economic ripples throughout our economy everybody elses economy. What happens if we do have this glut . We dont have enough places to put the oil we have right now . What are unintended consequences . What could happen . Well, you know, you run out of places to store it. You look at china and low trying prices you know havent really gotten things going yet. Although looking at department of transportation numbers, motorists are driving more. Will they drive more enough during the summer to absorb some of those barrels . Contingent on refineries processing enough of it. You could run into a wall where there is not enough very large crude carries to store it at sea. There are not enough storage tanks at cushing. That will be an interesting situation if it plays out. Gerri lots to watch for, thats for sure. Patrick, thanks for coming on the show. Still a lot more to come this hour including details on the hacking of a blue crossblue shield affiliate. We have the secrets to maxing out your Social Security. In another segment we have the ultimate guide you can not afford to miss. The federal government keeps handing out money to people dont need it. But this time they set a new record. Details after the break. Its more than the cloud. Its security and flexibility. Its where great ideas and vital data are stored. With centurylink you get advanced Technology Solutions from a trusted it partner. Including cloud and hosting services all backed by an industry leading Broadband Network and people committed to helping you grow your business. You get a company thats more than just the sum of its parts. Centurylink. Your link to whats next. No pictures of trucks pulling boats. No photos of men working on ranches. Just a ram 1500 ecodiesel that gets the best fuel economy of any halfton pickup. Get more facts at ramtrucks. Com in new york state, were reinventing how we do business so businesses can reinvent the world. From pharmaceuticals to 3d prototyping, biotech to clean energy. Whether your business is moving, expanding or just getting started. Only new york offers you zero taxes for 10 years with startup ny business incubators that Partner Companies with universities, and Venture Capital funding for high growth industries. See how new york can grow your business and create jobs. Visit ny. Gov business gerri a new federal audit shows the shocking waste across dozens of government agencies. Congressional Budget Office says federal agencies paid out, get this 125 billion last year by mistake the waste is equal to a quarter of the entire budget deficit. With us gop strategist brad blakeman. Thanks for coming in. The president is asking to raise the debt ceiling. We have 18 trillion in debt that you and i and our kids and grandkids will have to pay off. What is your reaction to the waste number . It is an outrage and the fact that is, remember what the president said in 2011 when he stood there were joe biden called him sheriff joe. He will be czar to root out waste corruption and czar. He is not a sheriff. More like barney fife. He couldnt catch a criminal if in front of him. The fact of matter democrats here in washington, this is really telling gerri, look it is cost of doing business. We have to accept there is a certain amount of fraud waste and abuse in a 4 trilliondollar budget. That is an outrage. Every agency is responsible for every dime they spend. And we shouldnt send the message that is certain amount of waste, fraud and abuse is tolerated. Crazy. The president himself has said that cutting waste is a priority. Really . Its a priority . Then why it is up 18 year to year. Up neverly 20 . Are you kidding me . 124point 000 million. Money just frittered away. Nowhere wasted more than earned income tax credits. 27 of that money fraud. As you know, how this works brad. Basically what happens is that people apply for it. Its a tax credit. This isnt a deduction. You get the money in your hot little hand. It gets abused mercilessly. What should we do with that. We shouldnt have a policy of catch me if you can. They shouldnt have the ability to get a tax credit or government entitlement theyre not entitled to. In the age of computers you would think this administration especially by genius use of their computers in their interest in a campaign would be able to develop a computer programs that would be able to tell us who is committing fraud, waste and abuse. Gerri wow. Were relying on technology to you know take pictures of dresses were wearing saturday night. Were not detecting fraud in the government. That would be too much. Medicaid fraud almost 60 billion. That is really the biggest number in the whole thing. Have we lost complete control of the nations finances here . Under this president , this administration, the answer sadly is yes. By having less transparency in government, by, admitting at least telling agencies, certain amount of fraud, waste and abuse will be tolerated, send as terrible message. We need a new sheriff in town. Hopefully that sheriff will arrive in 2017 and start doing the business of the people that should have been done in this administration. Gerri we have a long way to go. We could waste so much money, brad. Absolutely. Gerri this could go on and on. I have to ask you we had a story yesterday, frankly i think teed everybody off. The foia, freedom of information requests, the white houses Administrative Offices saying well not comply with that anymore. It is over. We were the presidency of clarity. Sharing information. Not anymore. What was your reaction . Totally unacceptable but the administration, remember, promised to be the most open and transparent in history. It has turned out to be the most clandestine. Their modus operandi, sue us. We do. Suing health care epa, irs. Gerri waist of time though. Waist of time of course. Money. Gerri should do things right the first time. You bet. Gerri pleasure to have you on the show tonight. Thanks for coming in. Thanks, gerri. Gerri now we want to know what you think. Here is our question tonight. Has the federal government lost its ability to control spending . Log on to gerriwillis. Com to vote. I will share the results at the end of tonights show. Coming up we have another big, big cyberattack. It exposed over 11 million folks personal information. Could you be one of them . The secrets the government doesnt want you to know about. A new book shows how you can max mize the Social Security benefits to earn up to thousands of dollars more every year legally. The coauthor of that book is here to explain coming up. Gerri Social Security is a major source of income for most seniors in america, no surprise there but my next guest says too many of them are leaving money on the table and dont even know about it. Here with how to get the most out of your Social Security is Boston University economist and author of the book, hot new book, get whats yours. Secrets to maxing out Social Security. Thanks for coming on the show, lawrence. Before we get to the book we were talking about the fraud in the system and people levering money out of entitlement programs but here were talking about not fraud, but getting what youre owed and what you paid into the system. Now you say the folks leave money on the table. How so . Well, people first of all paying 12point herstheir pay. That is the combined employeremployee tax paying our entire working lives. We should get back everything we paid for and a lot of people dont know about many of the benefits to which theyre eligible. They know about the retirement benefit but dont know about their spousal benefit or divorcee spousal benefit, married more than 10 years and divorced. Divorcee widow benefit and spousal benefits. Benefits for the parents and passing away were taking care of them. Child benefits for disabled children. Young children. Survive benefits. All the benefits that people dont know about are being left on the table. And so part of the book is helping people get those benefits but also were trying to get people to understand the real value of waiting to collect because, if you start your retirement benefit at 70, it is going to start at value, 76 higher than if you start taking it at 62. So Social Security has an enormous return from waiting to collect. A