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south carolina. he's running second in south carolina now. if romney wins south carolina he's going to be very close to wrapping this thing up because he'll probably then win florida and that could shut this thing down unless there's some mystery candidate who comes in a side door. >> hold on everybody. david, will, mark, stay where you are. as of this week, there is a new man in charge of protecting consumers. why are republicans so unhappy about that? i'll explain next on "your $$$$$."
-- with santorum? >> well, ali, the free market element which we embrace as the tea party movement pushes me certainly to a mitt romney. i think there's a lot of folks that disagree with me. i think quite honestly the challenge in the tea party is this idea do they trust romney. i think from a business point of view and his practical governance as a businessman i think he would do a terrific job. but the challenge, of course, is convincing the rest of the grassroots movement. i don't think santorum sort of populist manufacturing to taxation is appropriate. that's not a free market value. >> as will pointed out here. here's my question for you, mark. what happens? really michele bachmann was the head of the tea party movement in congress. she was a tea party darling. those candidates who have become tea party darling are not doing what you're talking about. mitt romney wasn't the tea party darling in this thing. >> if you look at what he does, he's about fiscal responsibility, smaller
s.e.c. has been a by and large a very, very helpful instrument. there's always a question of how far the regulations go. ali, in this case there's an additional question, which is serious. that is that the president is permitted to make recess appointments, that is appointments when the congress is in recess. republicans argue, and they have got a strong case here, that the congress is not officially in recess. so this appointment not only of cordray but national labor relations board members doesn't come during a recess and clearly was done with the political intent. the president wanted to stick it to republicans. he's running against the congress. i happen to think going into this last year of his presidency, running a whole year without getting much achieved there is a mistake for the country. it helps his campaign. i think we need -- we need to get some work done in washington and not just politics. >> mark, let's talk about where the tea party stands on this. the tea party does not pride
this is picking winners and losers in an economy, not economic liberty which says to me the economy may be important to voters but not free market conservative principles within the economy. >> economic populism can be handled in a few different ways. one is the way ron paul is handling it saying you're freer to make decisions with your money than the government can do for you. or rick santorum economic populism even liberal economic populism. let's go to the tea party and talk about what influence they are having. mark skoda, founder of the memphis tea party. mark, this is a bit of a redefinition of what the tea party has been doing for the republican party movement. at this point we're at a crossroads. where do guys like you fall on this one? do you go along the mitt romney road because he stands the best chance at this point of beating president obama and doing things with taxes that the tea party would like? do you go down ron paul, less government road or economic populist road with somebody like
versus regulation. we can do this throughout regulatory bodies. >> it may be semantics. >> not semantics, it's important. >> good to see you as always. thank you very much. david gergen, cnn political analyst. mark skoda, founder and chairman of the memphis tea party. does a better than expected jobs reports for december mean we can finally expect the big economic recovery we've been waiting for? it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums
ali, in this case there's an additional question, which is serious. that is that the president is permitted to make recess appointments, that is appointments when the congress is in recess. republicans argue, and they have got a strong case here, that the congress is not officially in recess. so this appointment not only of cordray but national labor relations board members doesn't come during a recess and clearly was done with the political intent. the president wanted to stick it to republicans. he's running against the congress. i happen to think going into this last year of his presidency, running a whole year without getting much achieved here is a mistake for the country. it helps his campaign. i think we need -- we need to get some work done in washington and not just politics. >> mark, let's talk about where the tea party stands on this. the tea party does this pride itself being comprised of the wealthiest 1% of all americans. we've been through a lot in this economy.
taxation doesn't define -- not a free market value. >> as will just pointed out. here is my question, mark. what happens? really michele bachmann was the head of the tea party movement in congress. she was a tea party darling. those candidates who have become tea party darling are not doing what you're talking about. mitt romney wasn't the tea party darling in this thing. >> if you look at what he does, he's about fiscal responsibility, smaller government and free markets. those are valleys of the tea party. the issue is can he kent to the trust issue. the idea which has been in the mainstream media being a liberal leaning governor. he had 800 vetos in his time there. he cleaned up the utah international governance of the olympics. certainly when we look at his platform and what he promises to do in terms of cutting overall tax rates and being able to reduce the size of government, the question is can he connect to the trust issue within the tea party. now for me i think it's very practical.
on rick santorum's policies. he has -- he rejected nafta, rejected free trade agreements. he embraced medicare part d and no child left behind. in the end, just like david gergen just said, he's embraced this economic populism that he is going to, in fact, specifically drop the corporate tax rate for just the manufacturing sector but leave it or reduce it to 17%. this is picking winners and losers in an economy, not economic liberty p, whiches says to me the economy may be important but not principles -- >> economic populism can be handled in a few different ways. one is the way ron paul is handling it saying you're freer to make decisions with your money than the government can do for you. or rick santorum economic populism even liberal economic populism. let's go to the tea party and talk about what influence they are having. mark skoda, founder of the memphis tea party. mark, this is a bit of a
>> mark, what about leasing our highways? is that a good idea? >> europe has done quite a bit of good with that with respect to provation of the highways, but, again, these are small miniscule dollar. we have a $14.5 trillion debt and a $1.6 trillion deficit. my problem is when you begin selling these assets, quite frankly, you're not investing, you're paying off the debt. whereas the government holds enormous mining assets which could be given out in leases which results in a recurring revenue and creates jobs therefore improving the tax base. i think these ideas are not a good idea. it's rather flip aunt and not a strong approach. >> these are strong opinions.
some question whether it's time to start holding its holdings of gold at ft. knox as well as other assets. republican candidate ron paul thinks it's a good move as well as the heritage foundation. an analyst at the heritage foundation says given the high price it is now and tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak. so the question for the stream team is should they lick question dade assets to pay off the debt. patty is the president of mmi public relations. mark skoda is the founder and chairman of the memphis tea party. mark, i want to start with you. is selling off the gold reserves a good thing, do you think? >> they suggested that even at current levels that would generate about $390 billion in 15 years. in the 1990s northern european countries did that and found their currency diminished.