RJ and Makay

For the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be able to do its job next year, it'll need all $1.4 billion of its proposed 2012 budget, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro told a House financial services subcommittee on Tuesday.

That $1.4 billion would cover the 780 new hires necessary for the SEC to perform its core functions and comply with Dodd-Frank, according to Schapiro. “Not only does the Dodd-Frank Act create significant additional work for the SEC, both in the short and long term, but the agency must also continue to carry out its longstanding core responsibilities,” she explains.

Repealing the new U.S. health care reform law enacted last year wouldn't save money. It would actually add $210 billion to the nation's deficit over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.

A major step in the repeal process, which may or may not be successful, was a House of Representatives measure last month aimed at eliminating a number of provisions designed to reduce federal health care costs and stripping out new revenue-creating taxes and fees. Neither the Senate nor the President Obama support the repeal of health care reform.