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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Stimulus Struggle; Obama's Mixed Message; Where's the Stimulus?
Aired February 10, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Wolf, tonight President Obama launching an offensive, a final offensive to sell that stimulus legislation as lawmakers struggle to reconcile major differences.
And tonight Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner launching a sweeping new plan to help banks and raise lending, but Geithner fails to deliver on Wall Street and any promises to help homeowners.
Also tonight, a blunt warning about the future of our health care system, and rising concerns that the stimulus legislation will give bureaucrats veto power over your health care, your doctor, all of that, all the day's news, and much more straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Tuesday, February 10th. Live from New York, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening, everybody. President Obama today demanding Congress complete work on the huge borrowing and spending bill by the end of this week. The president's remarks coming after the Senate voted 61-37 to approve the version of the so-called stimulus legislation. House and Senate negotiators are now trying to resolve major differences.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today announced a $2 trillion plan to boost lending. But Geithner gave few details of the plan, and in fact, warned we will make mistakes. Candy Crowley has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Senate just passed our recovery and reinvestment plan. That's good.
(APPLAUSE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Senate passed its $838 billion stimulus plan, and the Treasury secretary talked about what may be a trillion-plus effort to stabilize housing and financial markets...
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: But I want to be candid. This strategy will cost money. It will involve risk. And it will take time.
CROWLEY: President Obama was in Fort Myers, putting real faces on those unimaginable numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need something more than a vehicle and parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you go from making $3,000 a year -- a month to $1,100 a month, how are you able to take care of your family?
OBAMA: Enormous bonuses...
CROWLEY: The truth is that the stimulus bill likely to be signed into law offers only marginal immediate help for people in dire straits, $25 more a week for unemployment, an increase in food stamps, a $500 tax rebate. All can be accomplished fairly quickly, within months. But building bridges and roads and clean water facilities takes time.
Some of those projects may take up to two years to produce jobs. And so the president, whose political capital is in his public support, uses these town hall meetings not just to tell Congress they are running out of time...
OBAMA: If we don't act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear.
CROWLEY: But to ask the American people for more time.
OBAMA: The American people understand that these are some really big, tough problems. And it's going to take some time for us to get ourselves out of it.
CROWLEY: With most administration officials now saying it may take a year before the country begins to feel the first effects of the stimulus bill, this president needs a longer honeymoon than most. So far, in Fort Myers, Florida, a fairly Republican area, the bloom is still on the rose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, this is such a blessing to see you, Mr. President. Thank you for taking time out of your day. Oh, gracious God! Thank you so much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: Equally important to the president is the ability to counterbalance his dire warnings about an economy in free-fall, with the confidence that things will get better. Because things can't get better unless Americans believe they will. Two-thirds of the U.S. economy is consumer spending. Lou?
DOBBS: Two-thirds of it indeed and you know it was striking today, Candy, that Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary, is basically saying they're going to make mistakes, not everything's going to work, and yet it was last -- it was only last night at his primetime news conference that President Obama was very clearly chiding his vice president over saying there's a 30 percent chance that none of this stuff is going to work. CROWLEY: I think the White House would argue and in fact President Obama said when he was in Elkhart, Indiana, I can't guarantee you that all of these things are going to work, but I can tell you if we do nothing, it will be a disaster. So they have put out there that some of these things will not work, but they believe that overall, there will be more jobs if something like the stimulus package now out there in conference committee gets passed.
DOBBS: Well now that that is done, and it was never -- it was never in doubt that it would get done, perhaps we won't hear the words depression, disaster, catastrophe again for awhile, and instead hear more about solutions. Thank you very much, Candy. Candy Crowley.
Well, rising concerns tonight that the president is trying to ram what some are calling a socialist agenda down the throats of the American people. In last night's news conference, the president strongly defended the role of government spending in this so-called stimulus package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You have some people, very sincere, who philosophically just think the government has no business interfering in the marketplace. And in fact, there are several who have suggested that FDR was wrong to intervene back in the new deal. They're fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Senate Republicans today blasting rising government spending. Senate minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell called it quote, "the Europeanization of America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Where are we going to leave the country? In two years if we take all of these steps, we will have made a dramatic move in the direction of indeed turning America into Western Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: You won't hear me trying to say Europeanization very often, I assure you, on this broadcast. Senator McConnell said the stimulus plan would double the federal government's share of the economy from 20 to 40 percent in just two years. The stock market today just plummeted after Treasury Secretary Geithner announced that new bailout plan.
The Dow Jones industrials today ending down 380 points, losing just about four percent. And that 7900 level is the lowest level since November of last year. The Dow's plunge began as soon as Geithner started talking, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and the Dow never recovered.
Congressional Democrats tonight urgently trying to meet President Obama's deadline to complete work on the stimulus legislation by the weekend. Negotiators from the House and Senate trying to resolve what we're told are major differences between the House and the Senate. This, after the Senate approved the huge borrowing and spending plan 61-37 -- Dana Bash with our report from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): House Democrats are not happy that Democrats in the Senate cut some $100 billion in spending on priorities like education from their stimulus package. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now signaling they'll likely have to live with it, for the sake of compromise.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: As President Obama cautioned the nation that we cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the effective and of the necessary and we will not.
BASH: Pelosi may not have a choice. At the very moment she was speaking, the White House chief of staff was meeting in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office with centrist senators who told CNN they made clear to the White House that the spending cuts they demanded to vote for the Senate bill are non-negotiable.
SENATOR BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: This is a place we never say never, but this is probably as close as you get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... office. Can you hold please?
BASH: Republican Arlen Specter's experience tells you why he and other centrists are taking such a hard line against adding to the price tag.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The phones are overwhelming.
(CROSSTALK)
SPECTER: And I was -- it's a very unpopular vote.
BASH: Specter is up for re-election next year and is getting pummeled for supporting the 800-plus billion dollar stimulus bill. Conservative groups are vowing to spend millions to help any Republican who will run against him.
(on camera): How concerned are you that this could be the thing that costs you your seat?
SPECTER: Well, I am very concerned about it. I had a tough one percent primary last time. And I know the political peril. And in light of the very severe need to take action to avoid a depression, I thought my duty required that I do just what I did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, Republican Arlen Specter and other centrist senators just left Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office. Lou, they have been meeting all afternoon, and they were going to go -- they are going to go into the evening with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other White House officials and leaders in the House and Senate, they are urgently trying to find a compromise so that they can get some kind of stimulus bill to the president by the end of this week.
DOBBS: Well who are they trying to negotiate with? It's a Democratic leadership in the House, the Senate. The deal is cooked. It has to be resolved in conference. What's the deal?
BASH: Well, this is really the beginning of that conference. But it is being done on a very high level. And it's being done the way that they know they have to do it, is to talk to senators like Arlen Specter, because he and those other two Republicans who voted with the Democrats, they really hold the key. And House Democrats they are upset about some of the spending that was cut. They want to put some of it back in.
But as you heard from Nancy Pelosi, they know that they're probably going to have to give on that, and they're talking about just how much to give and what each of these sides, what their bottom line is. But you're right. It is for the most part Democrats negotiating with Democrats.
DOBBS: All right, Dana, thank you very much -- Dana Bash from Capitol Hill.
A stunning reversal by the Obama administration tonight on a plan that would have helped reduced this country's dependence on foreign crude oil. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar abandoning the Bush administration's plan to drill for oil and gas offshore. Secretary Salazar said the Bush administration did not take into consideration the views of states and coastal communities. He said quote, "we need to restore an orderly process to our offshore energy planning program."
Turning overseas now, political uncertainty in Israel after today's general election there, exit polls showing Foreign Minister Livni's Kadima party has a narrow lead over Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud block. Livni tonight has declared victory and if the results are confirmed, it would be, of course, a major setback for Netanyahu, whose conservative Likud block had a solid lead in opinion polls just before today's election. The Likud however insist it did win the election because it says it's now in a stronger position to form any new coalition.
Still ahead here, the death toll is rising after the worst fires in Australia's history. We'll have the very latest for you and some remarkable video.
Also, the so-called stimulus legislation authorizing $200 million for Filipino veterans of World War II, this is stimulus, our special coverage, "Lou's Line-Item Veto" straight ahead.
And will President Obama stop the export of American jobs, the chief overseas labor markets as he promised on the campaign trail? We'll have a special report. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The death toll is now expected to soar past 200 in those massive wildfires raging in southeastern Australia. Look at this, 181 people have been killed so far. More than 500 others injured in these fires. These blazes have destroyed 1,100 square miles, nearly the size of Rhode Island, that area. Officials say it appears to be incredibly the work of arsonists. The region is experiencing at the same time the worst drought in a century.
And the Chinese television station Hasa (ph) network has apologized for starting the deadly blaze that destroyed the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Beijing. The Chinese television saying it set off firecrackers during a New Year's celebration near the hotel. Apparently did so without government permission. One firefighter died in that massive blaze. Seven others were injured.
Congress tonight has issued a subpoena in the salmonella outbreak, the House Energy and Commerce Committee issuing that subpoena for the president of Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell. That subpoena comes as Peanut Corp, the source of the salmonella outbreak, suspended its operations at a second processing plant, this one in Plainview, Texas.
The investigation into the nationwide outbreak continues. FBI agents are now raiding Peanut Corp's Georgia plant and their headquarters in Virginia. The salmonella outbreak has left eight people dead, nearly 600 people sickened in the salmonella outbreak.
General Motors tonight saying it's slashing 10,000 jobs this year. More than 3,000 of those jobs will be in this country. General Motors also announcing pay cuts for the majority of its U.S. workers. Executives' pay will be cut by 10 percent. Pay for other salaried workers will be cut anywhere from three to seven percent.
Nike today also saying it plans to cut its work force by four percent. That means about 1,500 people will lose their jobs.
And "The New York Times" is reporting tonight that Sirius XM Satellite Radio is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing. XM Sirius reportedly could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the next few days.
And on the campaign trail, then Senator Obama talked about creating jobs in this country and ending the outsource of good paying American jobs to cheap foreign labor markets. But since being elected, President Obama has surrounded himself with advocates of proponents of outsourcing, including his nominee for commerce secretary. Bill Tucker has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a candidate, President Obama certainly sounded like a man opposed to the practice of outsourcing. OBAMA: I say let's end tax cuts for companies that ship jobs overseas. We'll stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, give them to companies that are creating good jobs right here in Virginia.
TUCKER: But since taking office, a number of his appointments have caused alarm to those who want action to stem outsourcing. On the president's National Economic Council, the deputy director is Diana Ferrell, former director of McKenzie Global Institute, author of a study that concluded outsourcing has potential to increase the world's wealth and can even benefit the country that loses jobs.
RON HIRA, ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECH.: It seems very odd that he would appoint somebody to his economic council, the National Economic Council whose expertise is in destroying American jobs by outsourcing them, by teaching corporations how to destroy American jobs by off-shoring.
TUCKER: On the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, part of GE's business plan is to increase outsourcing of its production in innovative capacity to low-cost countries. The Jack Welch Technological Center in Bangalore, India alone is larger than the company's research center in America. One group that represents small and medium-sized businesses says that's worrying.
ALAN TONELSON, U.S. BUSINESS & IND. COUNCIL: One of the most alarming aspects of GE's off-shoring strategy is the intent is not simply to offshore production, the intent is to offshore all of the innovation capacity. When you offshore innovation, you're literally off-shoring your country's economic and technological future.
TUCKER: There are two unions also represented on the advisory board from the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, but they did not respond to our calls for a statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Now, it is a cruel irony that we're talking about spending $1 trillion to create or save maybe two or three million jobs. Yet the research group Forester (ph) estimates that we will have off-shored more than three million jobs just within the next few years, Lou.
DOBBS: Against the three million that have already been outsourced. This is not particularly fair game, if you will, that is being played between the AFL-CIO and corporate America, whether it's the Jack Welch Technological Center in India, whether it's the AFL-CIO trying to play games as to whether or not they do or they do not support illegal immigration, the unionization of those workers, and at the same time the off-shoring of jobs.
Right now the only people who can say certainly without reservation that they absolutely are without representation are the American workers, American citizens, and what is happening to them as a result of corporate practices. There's no debate here about the impact. When corporate America, the multinationals and the Chamber of Commerce, when they talk about productivity, when they talk about efficiency and competitiveness, they're simply using code words, as I have said here for years, for cheaper, cheaper labor. And this president said he was going to do something about it. It appears that that is going to be an absolute reversal of policy on his part.
TUCKER: If you know people by their actions, you look at what he's done on trade and you look at what he's done so far in the area of outsourcing, Lou, he's contradictory to everything that he said on the campaign trail so far.
DOBBS: In his appointments...
TUCKER: Right.
DOBBS: He certainly has some opportunities to, let's put it this way, put this nation on the correct course and live up to what the man said.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: We'll see. Thank you very much, Bill Tucker. He would be doing -- probably he would shock the AFL-CIO and the U.S. multinationals. They certainly don't want anyone to think straight and work for the common worker, the common man and woman in this country who simply pay dues to those unions.
Well, our gut check tonight comes from technology. In fact, Intel's CEO Paul Otellini, Intel CEO announcing that Intel is investing, are you ready, $7 billion in manufacturing facilities right here in the United States. Otellini issuing a challenge today as well. Here's what he said.
Quote, "What I am asking is that other companies join U.S. companies that are willing to step up now and place investments to lay the groundwork for our future." We'll be following up and reporting to you nightly on any company, any CEO with the guts to take up Otellini's challenge and we salute Mr. Otellini and Intel for treating their responsibilities as good, American corporate citizens as they should be treated with absolute imagination, with commitment. We're proud of you, Intel, Mr. Otellini. Thank you, sir.
We'd like to know what you think. Here's our poll question. Do you believe that all U.S. companies should follow Intel's lead and invest in American manufacturing and our workers? Yes or no. Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results later here in the broadcast.
Up next, the Obama administration announces the latest plan to help our banking system. So where's the help for homeowners, homeowners. We'll have that report.
And why is there $200 million for Filipino veterans in the -- from the first -- from the Second World War? We'll be taking a look at that in "Lou's Line-Item Veto" next here. Stay with us. We're coming right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: In "Lou's Line-Item Veto" tonight we're focusing on a nearly $200 million provision for Filipino veterans of World War II. Critics say it shouldn't be mentioned in this legislation, legislation that's meant to stimulate our economy and create jobs. But there's a lot to this provision. Lisa Sylvester has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Filipino veterans who served in World War II have been lobbying Congress for benefits promised to them but never received. They got that support in a 2009 resolution, but they didn't get the authorization to pay out. The stimulus package that passed in the Senate clears the way for that compensation.
FRANCO ARCEBAL, AMER. COAL. FILIPINO VETS: We appreciate that because it will finally recognize our services in the Armed Forces as active service in the Armed Forces of the United States.
SYLVESTER: But critics say that while the veterans may have served heroically during the war, the stimulus bill is not the place to authorize payment.
TOM SCHATZ, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVT. WASTE: The objective of the stimulus package is to create jobs in the United States. Most of the money in the legislation for Filipino American veterans would go overseas.
SYLVESTER: The stimulus bill allots the payments of $15,000 to Filipino vets who are U.S. citizens and $9,000 for non-citizens, including those who live in the Philippines. A spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Committee says that no money is appropriated for the veterans under the stimulus legislation. And that "the $198 million for the veterans was appropriated under the 2009 continuing resolution, but it was subject to authorization. The provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is the authorization to allow the funds to be expended." Still Republican senators cite this as a prime example of extraneous measures stuffed into a bloated stimulus package.
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: The point here is that there are a lot of earmarks and a lot of wasteful Washington spending in this bill.
SYLVESTER: Senator Daniel Inouye, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been leading the fight to include the compensation for Filipino veterans. But even on the Senate floor, he too, acknowledged, it doesn't quite fit the definition of stimulus.
SEN. DANIEL INOUYE (D), HAWAII: This is not a stimulus proposal. It doesn't create jobs. But the honor of the United States, that's what's involved.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SYLVESTER: Now, even one of Senator Inouye's home newspaper said the remedy has no place in the stimulus package. The "Honolulu Star Bulletin" in an editorial last week saying quote, "the inclusion of the Filipino veterans' benefits feeds criticism that the enormous stimulus package is turning into a Christmas tree with the veterans' provision among the ornaments." Lou?
DOBBS: Well Lisa, on this one, I have to say it's already a Christmas tree. It is -- and I know this may upset some folks, because, you know, I'm less than thrilled with this legislation in most -- just nearly every respect. But I've got to say, I think Senator Inouye is right, 63 years to honor a commitment made by the United States government to these brave men, you know, it's time that we met an honorable obligation.
I'd hate to see it wait even another day. It's I think an honest shame that it has taken so long for this country to meet this obligation. Lisa, thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester.
The so-called stimulus legislation that the Senate passed today leaves out one key provision -- speaking of a total lack of honor on the part of that institution we call Congress -- E-Verify's been left out, the government's program that is 99 percent effective in checking an employee's identity and the strongest, strongest tool in the government's programs to fight illegal immigration.
Senator Jeff Sessions telling us he offered E-Verify as an amendment, but Finance Committee Chairman Senator Max Baucus said no. And there was no vote on the provision. Senator Sessions and Senator Ben Nelson are still working to include E-Verify in the final bill. E-Verify is in the House version of the legislation and let me be as candid as I may with Senator Baucus. You, sir, are not dealing honestly with the American people and you are not representing the American people's interests, nor those of the United States with your cowardly, cowardly refusal to support this legislation.
Well, let's ask right now, if I may, all of you at home to consider calling and e-mailing your senators and congressmen to tell them what you think about this spending legislation. Go to our Web site loudobbs.com. All of the necessary contact information is there. To get in touch with your senators and congressmen, who I assure you are so eager to hear from you.
They love to hear from their constituents. And it gives them an opportunity, of course, to ignore corporate interests and special interests, so please, make your voice heard. And please join us for "Lou's Line-Item Veto" here tomorrow when we focus on the $650 million allocated to help people make the very difficult switch to digital television. Our government has already spent $1 billion on the conversion. We'll be reporting on how all of this will stimulate the economy and just create lots of jobs. That's tomorrow here.
Time now for some of your thoughts; James in Arizona, "Lou, where is the 'us' in the stimulus package? I see banks, insurance companies, auto companies, et cetera, but no us." And us, well, we're not going to be there. Larry in Indiana, "Lou, you've been telling us where the jobs and the companies have been going for quite some time. How come we don't hear the politicians doing the same? I honestly don't know who they represent anymore, certainly not the average Joe and Jane on the street." And certainly not the majority in this country -- that's my addendum.
Amy in Georgia, "love your show. I watch you every single night. You're my hero, the only voice of reason anymore in this crazy world." Thank you for the kind words. We're doing our very best. We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts to loudobbs.com.
Up next, rising concerns that President Obama wants to give government bureaucrats the final word over your medical care. We'll examine what some say is part of the Obama administration's socialist agenda.
And treasury secretary Tim Geithner unveils a new bailout plan for banks, but not the detail that president Obama had suggested. Homeowners aren't getting any help. And Wall Street couldn't stand what they heard today. We'll have that report here next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today announced a sweeping plan to try to restore confidence in our banking system. But his proposal long on rhetoric, short of specifics, and nothing like what the president last night suggested he would deliver to Wall Street and the nation. Geithner failed to say how the Obama administration will help homeowners, even as the president was promising help. Ines Ferre with our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Fort Myers, Florida, President Obama said solving the housing crisis is a critical step to getting our economy back on track.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: Entire neighborhoods are littered with foreclosure signs. Families are losing the foot hold on their American dream.
FERRE: Treasury Secretary Geithner said details for a comprehensive housing program would be issued in a few weeks. He promised congress $50 billion of federal money to prevent foreclosures.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: To help get mortgage payments down, where it's appropriate to do that, to help people refinance, stay in their homes, and again, to try to get broader industries down.
FERRE: Barney Frank, the democrat who chairs the House Banking Committee, said he was concerned that $50 billion "Understates the amount that we will need." With nearly 5 million delinquent borrowers expected to lose their homes this year, some experts say $50 billion is a drop in the bucket. As many as one in six homeowners are currently what's known as underwater. Their mortgage is greater than the value of their house.
ROBERT MANNING, ROCHESTER INST. TECH.: We're not radically and aggressively approaching principal reductions that reflect fair market value. We're not going to be able to get out of this recession. And that requires an individual assessment of each home owner who can't afford their current mortgages.
FERRE: One consumer group scheduled to meet with the treasury secretary tomorrow says it wants more meat on the bone.
JOHN TAYLOR, NATL. COMM. REINVESTMENT COAL.: I think it's priorities. Where are the government's priorities? We've seen that under the previous administration. We saw that again today. The priority is stabilizing the financial services sector. And they do not see that ending the foreclosure crisis as part of that. And that's a big mistake.
FERRE: Last October the government started Hope for Homeowners, a $300 million program to help 400,000 struggling homeowners. So far, just 507 have applied. 35 loans have been closed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FERRE: And Manning from the Rochester Institute notes that last quarter we had 240,000 foreclosures, and he says the numbers are increasing partly because the previous modification plans haven't worked. Lou?
DOBBS: The help now program is an embarrassment. It's what we've come to expect, I guess, of government, both parties. And that is public relations rather than results. That is one of the most embarrassing, disgusting aspects of an administration, the Bush administration that had much reason to suggest any accomplishment when it comes to the domestic policy. But that is horrible.
And to put it in context, ladies and gentlemen, just exactly what's going on here, we saw just about 1 million homes foreclosed over the course of the past year. The median price, just about $206,000 a house. We could have spent $200 billion, the federal government could have bought all of those mortgages and we wouldn't have had that impact. We could have spent another $200,000 on those foreclosed this year. That would be $400 billion total. For creation of 4 million jobs? $50,000 a job? Which is higher, of course, by about 15,000 of the national average for a job in this country. We could spend another $200 billion, and have accomplished everything. For $600 billion, that is affecting this country. And you don't have to be a mathematical genius to figure that out. What's happening in this country is -- it's upside down.
Ines, thank you very much. Terrific report.
Well, hidden deep within the stimulus package are provisions that could greatly limit the health care that we all receive. My next guest says those provisions in fact could give the federal government unprecedented control over our medical treatment. Betsy McCaughey is former governor of New York, she's the founder and the chair of the committee to reduce infection deaths. She's also senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Great to have you with us.
BETSY MCCAUGHEY, CMTE. TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS: Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity to call to the public's attention and actually encourage them to look in this bill which anybody can download now. It looks big. But if you have a computer, you can download it.
DOBBS: We're having warring legislation.
MCCAUGHEY: I've got my pink slips on mine. And this bill will affect every individual in the United States. The bill is emphatic about that. Every person in the United States, every individual, check out page 445, 454, 479. It says several things, Lou. First of all, it says that every single person in the U.S. must have their medical treatments entered into an electronic federal data base. Now, electronic medical records can be a good thing. It means if you have to go to the hospital, you can get your records instantly. That your doctor has more at his fingertips when he needs that information.
DOBBS: I think everyone would agree, absolutely beneficial.
MCCAUGHEY: Yes.
DOBBS: And something that we would look forward to. Your problem --
MCCAUGHEY: It's compulsory, however. In addition, it goes much farther than that. It promises several things. It promises that whatever the system is, it's going to eliminate inefficient care, excessive care, duplicate of care. It's going to eliminate disparities of care between one person and another.
DOBBS: The issue is, in whose opinion is it --
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Whatever the federal government deems unnecessary care. Take a look at page 442. And worse yet, and now I'm speaking really to the physicians, this bill gives the secretary of health and human services the power to determine which doctors are "meaningful users of this new system." That's against the rules not to be. And empowers the secretary to use "increasingly stringent measures to enforce compliance."
DOBBS: You know the proponents of this legislation are saying that it's only about the technology, only about the data. How do you respond?
MCCAUGHEY: First of all, I'd like to know why it's slipped in here, this is a stimulus bill. It's about taxing and spending. The spending --
DOBBS: I know you well enough to know when you ask a question, you've got the answer. MCCAUGHEY: I looked at page 196 of Tom Daschle's book. Remember, he was planning on being secretary of HHS, Health and Human Services. On page 196 he said he was going to advise the next president, this was written before President Obama was elected, that any health care legislation be slipped into a budget bill, so that it would avoid debate or delay. He said this issue is so important, that it should not be stalled by senate protocol. Well, senate protocol is his word for it. I call it democracy.
DOBBS: We wouldn't want to burden government with a little thing like a vote, and actual hearings. A little bit like the economic stimulus legislation, isn't it.
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Where is the transparency they promised?
DOBBS: And where are we headed with this legislation? We'll find out.
Senator John Ensign, by the way, challenged Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi to live up to the standards of transparency and accountability that the president promised. And asked them to please provide televised hearings of the conference meetings that will be taking place on this economic stimulus legislation. We can't wait to hear from the speaker, and from the majority leader. Betsy, great to see you. Thank you very much for being here.
MCCAUGHEY: Thank you.
Up next, what Dolly Parton has to say about a possible run for the white house? We'll have that story. We're all about politics here.
And Treasury Secretary Geithner outlining a bank bailout that, well, Wall Street doesn't stomach. We'll be continuing in one moment with three of the country's best radio talk show hosts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Three of my favorite radio talk show hosts. From Austin, Texas, Dan Patrick. Good to have you with us. And the host of the morning show on the New York Daily News columnist, Errol Louis. How are you?
ERROL LOUIS, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Just fine, thanks.
DOBBS: And from New York, my buddy and colleague, John Gambling.
Let me turn to, first of all, we have watched a president, John, with two town hall meetings, a primetime press conference, his first, and he had the vote sewed up. What's going on?
JOHN GAMBLING, WOR IN NEW YORK: Well, I think what's going on is the American people are finally paying attention and looking at some of the specifics of this stimulus package and you had a clarion call to get in touch with your representatives. I think America's doing that. And I think they're hearing some of this. And he's running into road blocks. A lot of people don't want this.
DOBBS: We heard Arlen Specter say it was a tough vote for him, one of three republicans joining Olympia Snow and Susan Collins of Maine, to provide the republican voice in all of this. I mean, it's tough for him. What do you think is going to happen?
LOUIS: It would have been tougher if he hadn't, frankly. He's in a state that went for democrats in the last three presidential cycles. It's not as if he can simply buck the will of the people who are going to --
DOBBS: You mean he's not a candidate for profiles in courage?
LOUIS: I would say, look, unlike the republicans who have been driven completely out of New England altogether op the house side, both of the senators from Maine and Senator Specter, they're looking out for -- you know, self-preservation. They want to make sure that they've got some kind of alignment of where the people in that region are.
DOBBS: How are the folks in Texas feeling, Dan?
DAN PATRICK, KVCE IN DALLAS: We don't like it. And I think what was just said is -- really underscores the problem. They're looking out for themselves. Lou, it is time we find leadership in both parties that puts the next generation ahead of the next election. It's time for courage, as you just said. These three republicans, who wouldn't even qualify for the Democratic Party they're so moderate in Texas, these three republicans have the future of our country potentially in their hands. Because they're the three crucial votes. And these three people are selling Americans down the drain. This is a terrible plan. Not well thought, Lou.
DOBBS: Let me ask you this. Because right now, half of the state government deficits in this country are held in one state, California. $42 billion and let's be real honest. If the federal government doesn't bail them out, John Gambling, they're in a world of trouble.
GAMBLING: They're in a world of trouble. You're absolutely right. But for the government to bail them out, New York has their own problems as well. This is just rewarding legislators for bad behavior. And where do you get them to change their ways if you just keep shifting money to them every time they come up short.
LOUIS: Proposition 13 may have something to do with this, by the way. A generation of tax cutting, and property taxes --
GAMBLING: Oh, wait, wait.
LOUIS: I don't know --
GAMBLING: No, no.
LOUIS: The deficit is just like a pop-up like a Jack in the box. DOBBS: One thing I do insist on is the facts. And here it is. The government of California has doubled in the last nine years, man. Doubled in nine years.
LOUIS: And by initiative, they get all kinds of unfunded mandates, don't they.
DOBBS: The point is --
LOUIS: So if you cut the property taxes, and then by initiative you increase the mandates, what do you think is going to happen?
DOBBS: You tell me. Because why in the world should taxpayers of the United States subsidize that kind of prolific spending and irresponsible state government?
LOUIS: California has got a huge problem, no question about it.
DOBBS: No, we do. This nation does. California's going to get taken care of. Dan Patrick?
PATRICK: Lou, I'm proud in Texas that we come into this budget session with a $6 billion rainy day fund that republicans, who were disciplined, at least held back the spending last session, in the event there could be a downturn in the economy, and I'm glad we're in this position. And that is better than the ludicrous policies just as your last guest just talked about in California.
LOUIS: How long is that surplus going to last? Is that going to get you through one additional year?
PATRICK: We should, with the proper planning, we should end this budget session with about $3 billion to $5 billion for 2011, and still meet our obligations and still cut spending.
GAMBLING: I want to talk about what happens, okay, California gets their $42 billion. New York gets their $15 billion. All the states gets their billions of dollars from the federal government. We get bailed out for one year, maybe two years. What happens after that?
DOBBS: You're talking about, in Texas where they're being responsible as if they're a bunch of fools.
LOUIS: No, I don't know they're a bunch of fools. I do know. You know as well. State governments have a way of deferring maintenance, deferring obligation, putting off things in order to make the books look real nice and tidy.
DOBBS: We're going to be right back. We're going to solve this thing right here tonight. We'll continue with our panel in one moment.
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DOBBS: We're back with our panel now. I want to read to you from a Wells Fargo ad today. The CEO of the -- of Wells Fargo, John Stomp said the media has been misleading deliberately, "The funds for recognition events, junkets such as these do not come from the government, they come from our profits." Dan Patrick -- I mean -- have they? Has -- I will just leave it -- the Wells Fargo CEO has he lost his mind?
PATRICK: Isn't Wells Fargo used to be a stage line? He needs to get on it and take it out of town. The elite in the banking industry in government particularly the democrats and on Wall Street are so out of touch with Main Street. It is, it is unbelievable.
We just had a hearing in finance last week here, Lou, where we discovered some executive director got $1 million bonus. He quit in the middle of the hearing. We put so much pressure on him.
DOBBS: Don't mess with Texas.
PATRICK: We don't put up with it in Texas.
LOUIS: They have an even worse public relations problem than auto executives had a couple months ago. They're going to find out there is an unquenchable rage spreading throughout the line.
DOBBS: This guy, his company wouldn't talk about a woman who lost a 30% down payment, pushed into a subprime mortgage that we reported on here, Drew Griffith. This guy wants his junket.
GAMBLING: I'm going to take a little bit different twist on this however because these companies that the American taxpayers have invested trillions of dollars in, have to make a profit. They have to stay in business. I'm not saying junkets are the way to go but when people call for Citibank and he Citi Corporation to pull their name off the Mets Stadium.
DOBBS: You are pro junket.
GAMBLING: No, I am not pro junket. I am pro profit.
DOBBS: If you are pro profit why in the world would you want a CEO that is that arrogant, that shortsighted, that tone deaf and that irresponsible?
GAMBLING: I'll go with Dan, we can ride shotgun and ride the stagecoach.
DOBBS: We have got to wrap it up, guys. Thank you very much. John Gambling, Errol Louis, Dan Patrick. Thank you.
Coming up at the top of the hour, Campbell Brown, "NO BIAS NO BULL."
What are you working on?
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Lou. Coming up, success and reality check for President Obama as he tries to untangle the crisis that is paralyzing the economy right now. His big stimulus bill closer to becoming reality, but the latest rescue plan for the nation's banks as you know didn't win any cheers on Wall Street. We'll take the latest bailout plan apart.
And also look at whether all the billions being pumped into the economy will end up helping struggling Americans.
Also ahead, the Obamas charm, a sense of how the first couple is using invitations to the white house to set a new tone in Washington. We have a rare inside look into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, also at the top of the hour, Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much.
Well, country music star, Dolly Parton in the nation's capitol where she had a unique take on women and the presidency.
DOLLY PARTON, ENTERTAINER: I was out on tour, when they everybody was campaigning, when Hillary was running. I thought it would be great to have a woman in the white house. I thought, well I don't know if it is such a good idea, every 28 days those terrorists better run deeper into them woods is all I can say if we get a woman in there. But -- but somebody said to me, you know what, you just got such a big mouth and you know how to talk to people. Did you ever think about running for president? I said I think we have had enough boobs in the white house.
DOBBS: Ha-ha. Dolly Parton was in Washington to promote the 75th anniversary of Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I personally think she did just one great job.
Reminder to join me on the radio Monday through Friday, for the Lou Dobbs Show. Please go to Loudobbsradio.com and get the latest listings for the radio. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern on WOR here in New York.
Still ahead our poll results. More of your thoughts. We'll be right back.
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DOBBS: Tonight's poll results, 97 percent of you say all U.S. companies should follow Intel's lead and invest in American manufacturing and our workers.
Time now for one final e-mail. Joe in New Mexico said, "Hey, Lou, just a thought are we going to have to start using the word comrade when we greet people. Please tell me it ain't so." It ain't so. Send us your thoughts to loudobbs.com. Thank you for being with us here tonight.
Campbell Brown, "NO BIAS, NO BULL" starts right now.
Campbell?
