rich edson is live from that republican retreat in williamsburg, virginia, with details. i guess are they retreating a little bit, rich? >> well, i'll tell you if their strategy passes congress, we're going to be doing this again in the next few months talking about the debt ceiling bill. this is bill the republicans plan to vote on next week. this is three-month increase in the debt ceiling contingent on both the senate and house passing a unbillion jet. republican line has been for some time, the senate failed to pass a budget in years, and they say without passing the budget they will not increase the debt ceiling nor, this bill says, will lawmakers get a paycheck. the reaction from the senate majority leader harry reid's office, good that republicans are backing off holding the economy hostage because there are no significant spending cuts in this proposal. just a three-month increase, contingent on the senate passing a budget. in a statement, they say, if the house can pass a clean debt ceiling increase to avoid default and allow the united states to meet its existin

dagen: ironically enough in williamsburg. connell: you know a lot of people inside the party and i would say you have some influence of writing in the journal's editorial page at least what people are thinking about. is this something that they are considering? >> i think it is something that they should consider. i, frankly, connell, and getting a tremendous e-mail response saying they just want someone to speak for them. a voice that is identifiable and articulate their ideas. they could speak -- the republicans have good policy, but they simply are not being articulated and publicize in a way that the public could be forced to come to grips with. dagen: again, with the use of twitter, how can the republicans take advantage of the kind of rapid fire way because connell and i both, the first thing we look at in the morning is twitter four hour news. republicans seem absent in many ways. are they really getting tutorial? >> i am sure that each one of them will do it individually. i am talking about something much more focus.

there's areas where the demographics of young people, whether it's in the chelsey area or williamsburg-brooklyn area, where people choose to live because the price point is more affordable, and all the sudden, the areas are booming. know the demographics, know who is buying in what areas. for instance, if you go to the suburbs in new york city or phoenix, the middle range homes have not recovered as have the commodity homes nor the luxuy homes. you have to know your spots. >> bruce, what's the biggest mistake made in the past year? >> i think the biggest mistake people made is they followed the news, and the news led, and the news lags reality. melissa: the media? >> it's not the media, but the fact of the matter is that three things are true. one, there's not much inventory. two, prices for rentals are at record highs, an, three, interest rates are at lows that they have never been before so the fact of the matter is if you qualify for credit, and, i mean, instead of being afraid of what zillow says or the schiller case says, be intelligent and thoughtful about it. this is probably as good an

anyw, urban outfitters urging customers at its williamsburg store to belly up to the bar and keep buying. just as tommy bahamas has also discovered, keeping customers buying. what do you think? >> you know, weding dresses come, when your mother went to buy wedding dreeses,you make a little champagne and then you try on dresses and you don't find what cost. >> it really doemake sense. very smart me into this area. >> i don't know. what do you think, they've? >> i tnk if you get under the hood, traditional retail, brick and mortar retail is suffering. you have to find what thing they can dbetter that you can do online. part of it strikes me as if your member a decade ago, the whole entertainment phenomenon. were they doing needing to do more than just give you food. here they are saying we are going to give you somethingyou can't get on amazon. on amazon, they can't do a marquee. here's one, we are goi to make the in-person experience meangful and differentiated. it is not a bad idea to be on the whole dying itheater thing, i thought it was great but then i decidedt wasn't. that's jt . mea

house republicans are enroute to williamsburg, virginia for their retreat. they will consider the options for the upcoming debt ceiling fight. short term increase with modest spending cuts to a 4-year increase including overhaul of the tax code and entitlement programs. back to you. tracy: sound ambitious. rich edson, glad you could stick around and talk to us. we're 29 days away from the debt ceiling d-day. ashley: we are. tracy: will be valentine's day actually. ashley: not pretty though. as you just said, tracy, less than a month away from hitting the debt ceiling. while several ideas have been floated to address it our next guest says it is time to skip the gimmicks to reach a long-term solution. wouldn't that be nice. tracy: imagine. ashley: maya mcginn necessary, committee for responsible budget and head of the campaign to fix the debt. maya, democrats came out with a new plan to eliminate the federal debt ceiling. tim geithner thinks we should eliminate it. ben bernanke thinks we should eliminate it. moody's a while ago why are we using a debt ceiling

lori: house republicans huddling in williamsburg at their annual retreat to squash internal fighting and hammer out a strategy to deal with the looming debt ceiling. melissa: chaos in algeria, the fate of dozens of hostages is unknown. some reportedly have escaped. fox news middle east analyst and lou dobbs will weigh in. first, time for stocks, let's check with the floor the new york stock exchange, nicole petallides is standing by. the dow just awful session highs, but not having a bad day. nicole: not bad at all. up about 90 points off of the highs of the day. was yesterday a fluke? we had five days of gains, gave back a little bit yesterday and back in the green again. look at the nasdaq up more than half a percent. the s&p 500, gains across the board. economic news for labour numbers and those were good, housing starts have been on the move as well, that was well above expectations. let's take a look at some of the homebuilders in particular, which have had a great run recently. tilden permits at multiyear highs. ben willis yesterday talking about optimism. there is a look at le

he and i got together this past sunday night we were at a congressional research service seminar at williamsburg virginia. we got together and addressed all the freshmen together and we said we stood there next week other at the microphone and said we understand this problem with the perception of congress. cheryl: entitlement reform, many investors say that is the biggest issue you have is entitlement and it has to be addressed. it is possible to cut that? >> everything is on the table. certainly some things are more important than others, but right now we are facing a crisis coming into a time we have to raise the debt ceiling is absolutely vital that we do not hold the debt ceiling hostage. in fact, a top republican said you cannot hold the debt ceiling hostage. cheryl: it will happen. as you are well aware, this debate is coming on the debt ceiling, you will be very involved in that, what do you think you can do to advance the debt ceiling debate in the right direction of the country? >> any discussion about the debt ceiling must include a spending cut, serious discussion and movement and ac

connell: that is a good start to the discussion, we will continue to cover it out of williamsburg. thank you guys. dagen: so, lance armstrong, what was the purpose of that interview last night? oprah dropped the ball, the wheels come off her bike and he just seemed like a jerk. is that what jim gray thinks? known fonone for some very contl interviews himself. we will hear from him shortly. connell: that was well put. and even if the state income tax, one governor who wants to help business. wayne rogers loves the idea. wayne is also coming up. as "markets now" continues. just about $95 oil today. we will be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like e