even more worrying is the example of greece. a sudden loss of confidence and a sharp increase in interest. that me be clear. we are not as bad as greece. our underlying position is much stronger than theirs. are week -- we now have a government, that are would argue, that has the ability to deal with the problem. let greece stand as a warning of what happens to countries that lose their credibility. thankfully, this is a warning to focus the into it -- the focus of the international community. we need to take immediate and decisive action. we have completed a spending review to save 6 billion pounds of public spending. we have a new independent office of budget responsibility. it will send out independent forecasts so that never again can this country slip into another massive debt crisis. our actions have already been noticed around the world. i am a glassg-de20 -- i am glad the g-20 endorsed this. this is the sober reality i have to set out for the country today. the legacy left by the last government is terrible. the private

they think because of the sovereign debt crisis from greece and spreading to other countries that governments across the region will cut fiscal expenditures and that is likely to weaken economic growth going forward. they are worried about a slow european recovery that could be slow for a number of years as many economies in the region try to get their fiscal house in order. host: the phone numbers are on the bottom of the screen. we are talking about china's economy and specifically the impact object u.s. trade. nicholas lardy has a ph.d. from university of michigan, talked in many places, currently senior fellow at the peterson institute for international economics. back to the u.s. an china, you said the chinese are not as concerned about the u.s. as they are with europe. they feel fairly confident. but explain in laymen's terms the connection between the chinese economy and our economy. why are the two so linked? guest: the main linkage is trade. china is the the biggest ex-porter in the world and we are one of the biggest markets so they are concerned about the pace of growth in the unit

to some extent you are seeing that in europe, portugal, italy, greece. they made promises that they could not afford to keep. to mix metaphors, the chickens have come home to roost. they have a huge problem the hands. we must make sure that as a society we find more intelligent, smarter ways to get more effective health care and retirement security of more effective costs. anyone who avoids dealing with that is condemning future generations to lower standard of living. frankly it is tantamount to generational theft in should not become susceptible in america. host: rocky mount, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to address what the congressman said. i notice that he said the government's cannot plug loopholes in he does not trust government because they cannot plug the hole with the oil coming out. you know, government is not in the oil drilling business. mainly because republicans do not want them in there. because they want the private sector. they want the government out. all of a sudden you are saying the government cannot p

so countries like greece were able to borrow at relatively low interest rates. interest rates not much higher than strong credit nations like germany. the result is that they over borrowed and they were not clear about what their debt situation was. recently it has become clear that they have in fact very large outstanding debt, which are difficult for them to service. this is a problem because even though they have a single currency, they do not have a single fiscal authority. there's no easy way to move tax money from country to country in the year rose on the way that we can move money from state to state in the united states. it proves to be a difficult proposition. nevertheless, the europeans are committed to avoiding default in greece and in other countries on the so-called periphery, because they fear that the default of briefs and the small economy itself might lead to defaults in other countries if investors got spooked by the first default, and that would put pressure on their banking system with lack of securities from those countries and banks and ot

providing help to greece has proved to be a difficult proposition. nevertheless, europeans are committed to avoiding default increase and in other countries on the so-called periphery because they fear that the default of agrees, even though it is a small economy, might lead to defaults and other countries if investors got spooked by the first default that in turn could put pressure on the banking system which holds lots of securities from those countries and the banks and other businesses in those countries. it has been a relatively slow process. the europeans have put together a program, a special purpose vehicle with 500 billion bureaus in which is being partially match by the international monetary fund. >> is that enough? >> it is quite a bit. 500 billion here and there and you are talking real money sent. oon. [laughter] >> not what we have been spending. >> it is a lot of money and covers the obligations of portugal and spain and greece for a couple of years. the imf is there and more european money might be necessary. there needs to be worked

look at california, breeze, the state workers that have lost their jobs already -- look at california,greece. when we do not act and the crisis hurts, it is not the elite, not the corporations, not the rich and powerful, or politicians to pay the price. it is us and the people whom we serve. my last point. change is not a spectator sport. to many americans seem to believe, and i want to use the sale but metaphor here -- the sailboat metaphor here, we believe that sometimes if we just let the regulator and put his hand on the pillar, as we did the president obama, then he will steer us in the right direction. i think we all know if you have a sailboat and have your hand on it and there is no wind, you can push the tiller back-and- forth as hard as you want and you will only go in circles. it is the wind. it is the wind that fills the sales and allows the capt. to steer the boat and go i happen to grow up when the winds of change were blowing rapidly. don lewis and people unknown to this day whose courage crated the winds of change, as we said, that blew up lyndon johnson to a place he never t

you can see it happen over in greece now, and it is coming. they are organizing, talking about taking to the streets. i think we should be very concerned about violence in the country. host: where are you reading that they are organizing and talking about coming to the streets? caller: recently, van jones said annette same political conference in washington where they were heckling nancy pelosi, that something changed last week. and there is more chatter on website about taking it to the streets and doing it like they were doing it with -- in greece. host: joe, your thoughts this morning. caller: i have been a union member for 30 years and i think just like any other large organization, its members have to be active and tell their leaders how they want to represent us -- not just elect somebody and said back and wait for the world to turn up the way they want to. if it wasn't for the unions in this country, everybody would be making about $6 an hour and have no pensions and have no health insurance. a just wanted to let you know, when rush lim

we talk about greece and their challenges, we are the next greece if we don't balance the budget and get serious about our national debt and our deficit. mr. by can nan -- mr. buchanan: last year $1.4 trillion in deficit. this year we are expected to exceed $1.5 trillion. we need to balance the budget now. my first year 3 1/2 years ago i introduced a balanced budget amendment that just says we don't spend more than we take in. we need to do that or we are going to be the next greece. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. in the last 50 days approximately 35 million gallons of oil have spewed into the gulf, resulting in the worst environmental disaster in american history. the oil spill has destroyed wildlife, wreaked havoc on our marine echo system, and debilitated thousands of families who depend on fishing and tourism for their way of life. and while b.p. has stated it