By ,
Published January 23, 2017
DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
Al Qaeda Calling for Attacks on U.S. Business Leaders
Hitha Herzog: Without fail terrorists are targeting the economy. Look what happened after 911. We have a $3.3 trillion impact to the economy post these attacks. And i don't think it is just these business leaders they are trying to target. We are also looking at the small business leaders that are happening. And if you look at the home grown terrorists you are seeing kind of come up through in different areas, whether big cities or small towns, they are having impact on small businesses. They infiltrate the small businesses. They sell things on the black market and take those proceeds to fund bigger terrorist cells here in the United States or abroad.
John Layfield: Yeah, it is targeting business but it is also just targeting what they can target. Look, most of these cities that have been attacked. These have been horrific. This is not to diminish that whatsoever. If you look at New York, Boston, London, Madrid, Paris they have all rebounded pretty quickly and I think ISIS and al Qaeda know that. So they are shifting their strategy like they did in Baghdad. And what they are trying to do in Iraq because they have lost 45 percent of their territory. Oil prices going from a hundred dollars at least cut in half. They are losing money so much that they are trying to create a civil war between the Shias and the Sunnis and overseas they are simply trying to disrupt and keep the image out there because they have lost the ability to do big things now because of what's happened to them financially.
Jonas Max Ferris: But I don't think they really know what they are doing at all. I think it is basically a cult trying to recruit member likes a chain letter where the people of the top die and don't get rich. That's base what’s going on. This list doesn't make any sense if you were. First of all bill gates mostly does philanthropic work that helps countries fight malaria and all kinds of stuff. He's the worst target. So I think they are just trying to grow, get press. Do stunts. They want to attack the economy. Counterfeit dollars. Tap into banks and do other stuff directly.
Gary B. Smith: Shockingly I agree with Jonas in this case. If they are targeting the economy they are doing a horrible job. I disagree with the premise they are even targeting the economy. If they were you would target something like the electrical grid or some sort of transportation. Major airports like what they did at 9/11 is horrific but the GDP growth rate as coming out of recession. It is hurricanes when they hit the Gulf Coast and oil refineries can't derail the economy. What CEO could you take out with assassination that would be horrific? These corporations especially the Fortune 500 I have so many people in the queue now, I can't think of one person that it would hurt. If they were going to do something they would do it a lot smarter. But even if they could short out the electrical grid, I'm not sure the U.S. economy can be derailed.
Mark Hannah: Terrorists would like nothing more than to destroy the American economy and political system but they don't have the tools at their disposal. Apple is doing just fine without Steve Jobs. The nature of the complex, interconnected networked economy is much more resilient then you can do damage to with a couple bombs in downtown New York City or a gunfight in Paris cafe. We have nothing to be afraid of. I want that message across to people. There is nothing to be afraid of. They are going target the economy. They also tried to target when we captured and killed Usama bin Laden. We had targeted Air Force One. But they have nothing on the American military. The American companies are resilient and aren't going to be harmed by this.
White House Expands Overtime Pay Eligibility to Millions of Workers
John Layfield: This is naive on the administration's part. You are going to have more workers going to an hourly wage instead of being salaried. We lost 8 million jobs in a decade in manufacturing because of efficiencies in automation. You are going to see that trend continue. If you want wage increases, what you need is good jobs out there. We have 5 percent unemployment but only 5 percent of GDP growth. And the reason is because the jobs we have are not better than the jobs they replace. You want big jobs and good things done in Congress that is where you get wage increase. Average wage is down $4,000 for a family since 1999.
Hitha Herzog: And they are targeting lower wage jobs too. When we were looking at the study, these jobs that are going to benefit from the wage increase are really retail jobs, managerial jobs. Not to say they shouldn't be getting paid more. But to your point we need to start concentrating on jobs that are better and that pay more and that are actually going to be able to really decrease that wage gap. Also having a skills gap as well. So we need to fill that. And I think once we do that we're going to see that wage gap also decrease.
Mark Hannah: And leaders of businesses making money off the backs of those workers are writing those letters. Frankly I don't care. I care about the worker. And there are workers out there working long, long hours aren't getting the pay they deserve. I think a lot of your viewers might be among them. And this is going to benefit more than 4 million people who basically have not been getting. We can talk Barack Obama has ruling by fiat. But this is a rule that was rolled back by President Bush so he's just rolling it forward. I can see how yes some businesses are going to have to pay their workers more.
Gary B. Smith: Exactly. I don't know had the right word, naive. I sometimes think there is no one in government, especially in this administration that has ever actually had a job outside of politics, or outside of administration. They have never had a payroll. They have no concept how business works. For all I know they never even worked in McDonald's. Because here is what happened when you have your own business. Say you are a franchise owner. Own maybe one McDonald's. Making a 100,000 a year. Now you have this board of workers and you start moving people around to save your own salary, save your profits. That is what they are going to do. I don't know if that is right or wrong but that is what happens in business. So if you are the guy. If you are the manager, the owner of that store and you can move a couple of people around so you can avoid the harmful effects of this bill you are going to do it. And guess who suffers? The worker suffers. That is just life. And it tells me that no one in this current administration has any concept how business works.
Jonas Max Ferris : There are a lot of ways to help fix the equality situation. Tax policy, minimum wage. I'm open so some mix of some of those but this is the least appealing and I don't know where we do it at all. First it is very hard to implement. You can have a minimum wage. When you have to start tracking everybody's hours to know if they crossed this 40 level so they get time and a half that is just a huge bureaucracy that reflects in higher prices and less demand for labor. It is also gamble at the end of the day. You know what your base wage just went down because I’m factoring in the time and a half I have to give to you now. So I don't know if it is going to lead to higher wage because it doesn't ultimately change the…
Hefty Commencement Speaker Fees for Celebrities Sparking Debate
Gary B. Smith: Absolutely, I think this is the dumbest thing, you know, that these speakers come and make these large -- I can understand from the speaker's perspective. I would want to get the large sum. But I remember I had in graduate school Henry Kissinger speak. Here is what I took away from it. It was so stinking' hot I wanted him to shut up so we could go away. And at Duke we sat in the football stadium in 90 degrees temperature. The students don't care who the speaker is. They want to get out of there, go eat dinner with their parents have a drink and move on.
Mark Hannah: Good for Ryan. There are people who college students love. Guess who's one of them? Bernie Sanders. Who's really up upset about people making six figures on their speaking arrangement here? Bernie Sanders. I see a solution here. Maybe he would bow out and make that much on the college circuit.
John Layfield: Yes it is poorly spent. I left college early to go play pro football so I didn't have to listen to one of these boring speakers. I don't like college. Four years. Most people should go two. They learn about Shakespeare and not how to ambulance a balance a checkbook. But if they want to pay people and also a recruiting tool that is their business.
Hitha Herzog: I agree to. To hear someone like Matthew McConaughey speak for $110,000? Sorry, I don't think it's worth it.
Jonas Max Ferris: All right all right all right. Second this is what's so wrong with this school. Even wants to be Harvard. Everybody can't have sports teams and famous speakers and all this. This is why schools got so expensive. They don't just folks on teaching students things at a good price. They have to focus on all the other stuff to pretend to be something they are not.
Stock Picks
Gary B. Smith: (EBAY) EBAY up 30 percent by father’s day 2017
John Layfield: (CVS) Gains 20 percent in 1 year
Jonas Max Ferris: (VZ)Verizon a 15 percent gain in 1 year
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/are-terrorists-targeting-the-us-economy