and mitch mcconnell is the one who really wanted a deal because mitch mcconnell made the political calculation that the best leverage that the democrats and the white house had over them in this ongoing budget battle -- and let's remember, that's what we are in the middle of. and we haven't gotten rid of that. this ongoing battle of shaping the federal budget, who pays for deficit reduction, that the tax issue wasn't solved, that that would be a bigger sledgehammer against the republicans. so mcconnell was incentivized to do a deal, and so were all the senate republicans. that's why you saw such an effort in the last two day, particularly on mitch mcconnell to try and hammer out some sort of deal. the president wants a deal. he doesn't want to go over the cliff. now there are a bunch of other democrats that do. but the president didn't want to do it because he wants to be able to take this. he thinks that having a straight-up fight when debt ceiling expires in two months, and priorities about how to handle the deficit reduction and all these other things, that they will have a stronger leg to

one hundred seventy four thousand dollars to mitch mcconnell and they're underpaid patriot and repatriated offshore profits which mcconnell allowed them to keep by using the filibuster hundred two million dollars best one hundred seventy thousand make one hundred two million microsoft one hundred thousand dollars investment sixty million dollars return a parent you know my my words i mean these are not your words but this is the only this is i think not even a. less than charitable interpretation of exxon mobil seventy four thousand all investment mcconnell forty seven million dollars return and the list goes on i mean all the way down to down to you know a thousand dollar investment from a company that made a million dollars or so are we looking here at a corrupt politician in mitch mcconnell who's who's had his wealth explode now or are we looking at a corrupt system that's merely being use. it's hard to say exactly where his wealth has come from and how it's exploded in that way but if you do think about it as a return on investment so look at wall street they make those investments all

we're told republican leader mitch mcconnell is on board. the vice president is briefing democrats right now. you saw him walk past the cameras wishing everyone a happy new year. we'll see if there's a happy new year. much me of the breaking news right after this. you know that little 50-pound thingy at the doctor's office when they weigh you, and they have to move it over? my doctor does not have to do that anymore. [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. feels great. [ male announcer ] simple. effective. take that, 50 pound thingy. let's fight fat with alli. learn more, lose more at letsfightfat.com. learn more, lose more ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this comp

>> if you want to watch what happens in congress, watch mitch mcconnell. he's got a long-term friendship with joe biden. they've served together or did serve together for 20-some years in the senate and of course, biden served longer than senator mcconnell and these guys work together very well in the senate and they're working together very well now. it's absolutely the relationship to watch. we've seen the boehner-obama relationship fizzle. we've seen the reid-mcconnell relationship fizzle. there is no relationship to speak of between boehner and pelosi. so these are the two guys to watch and i've always told people, if you want a prediction of when a deal will be cut, wait for mitch mcconnell to release his prediction of what will be in the deal and you'll know the deal is within 24 hours of being made. >> i was waiting on you to recount the conversation that happened between speaker boehner and harry reid in the white house lobby. i'm glad you did not do that even though this is cable. >> it's a family show and now everybody goes to the internet to see

looks like mitch mcconnel has republicans on board. it needs to pass with large margin. the big question mark is the house. john ba john baoehner has had this marker. he said no to his own plan b bill that had the tax rates going up for those over a million dollars. there's no question will be republican defections in the house. can he keep together a ma jorjo of his caucus. the house republicans have been so unpredictable that i couldn't wager a guess on that. i would think they want to take this deal and live to fight another day but you just don't flow until you see the votes come through. >> i'm sure you just overhead my conversation. john boehner is in really tough spot. talk about your thoughts on what he's got to be doing as far as the dance to please members of his party and try to work out a compromise. >> he's probably the person having the worst new year's eve of anybody in washington. he's got to contend with the fact he's going to need some democrats on board. he's got a caucus that doesn't like to go along with him. they don't really trust him think think h

i'd like you to respond to that fundraising letter of mitch mcconnell. i mean, are things going to change? are we going to see the same old mitch? >> look, at the end of the day, what that legislation did is made it easier for some cabinet appointees to take their jobs. that's important. it's going to speed up the process in the senate. that's important. but at the end of the day, ed, this country faces enormous economic crises. we've got to deal with global warming. we've got to deal with education. we have to deal with deficit reduction. we are not going to be able to do what the american people want if we have to get 60 votes. and as a result of that agreement, we're going to continue to have to get 60 votes. and that's why i voted against it. >> isn't mr. mcconnell showing it's going to be the same attitude? he beat the liberals. >> no, i think it will. look, here is what has happened. historically, there was a gentleman's agreement in the senate, and that is that you will not use the filibuster requiring 60 votes unless it was something really you f

one hundred seventy four thousand dollars to mitch mcconnell and they're underpaid patriot and repatriated offshore profits which mcconnell allowed them to keep by using the filibuster hundred two million dollars invested hundred seventy thousand make one hundred two million microsoft one hundred thousand dollars investment sixty million dollars return a parent you know my my words i mean these are not your words but this is the only this is i think not even a. less than charitable interpretation is exxon mobil seventy four thousand all investment mcconnell forty seven million dollars return and the list goes on i mean all the way down to down to you know of a thousand dollar investment from a company that made a million dollars or so are we looking here at a corrupt politician in mitch mcconnell who's who's had his wealth explode now or are we looking at a corrupt system that's merely being use. it's hard to say exactly where his wealth has come from and how it's exploded in that way but if you do think about it as a return on investment so look at wall street they make those investments

when that fell apart, though, mitch mcconnell did step in. these are old-time senate folks who have been together, as you said, for a long time. i think they pride themselves as deal-makers in the end. i think they stepped in, biden was happy to do so. he likes to be involved. going forward, though, it is interesting because we're going to have another fight within a couple months on both the debt ceiling and the sequestration, the sequester cuts are going to come forward. they're going to have to figure out what to do, because it's only a delay. and so, you're going to have this happen again. so you might look to see what cue the white house sends by how involved vice president biden is going forward. >> well, steve, let's talk about that. the one big issue that was not dealt with are the spending cuts, simply put on hold for two months that, by the way, seems to be the timeline for the debt ceiling debate to heat up again. for all the things this bill deals with, how big a failure was it not to address the sequester? >> well, it clearly was

>> well, joe biden and mitch mcconnell are older school politicians. they remember a time when compromise was how you close deals like this. and there are a lot of, i guess, mostly younger members up there who don't remember that time. they view their job is to go to washington and create conflict and have grid lock. that doesn't mean that their caucuses will certainly be with them. that is no surprise to me that vice president joe biden is talking with them. it is not a slam dunk, i suspect it will, especially if it passes the senate with a significantly bipartisan vote. you have some real deal makers. >> what do you think that this really means in your opinion, to the average american taxpayer? whether, you know, with the threat we may go over the cliff, and now we may really not. what difference did this really, really mean and if you could put it in plain words for us who are not economists, just explain what it means for all of us? >> well, first of all it means that if you're someone who is a beneficiary of long-term unemployment benefits, you're

under mitch mcconnell, there has been what was it? 139 just last year, alone. >> wow. >> by mitch mcconnell. 139 last year alone. it's just crazy, abusing it. and so non-controversial, that's not going to happen. the other thing if senated read says, okay, i will let you and the bill if it goes to the floor and he and mitch mcconnell agree again then that bill could go forward if they allow amendments, even amendments that are not related but the basic problem with the filibuster is still there. doesn't change. i think we lost a great opportunity. i think harry reid sold us out on the this issue. hate to say is. 866 -- >> you are not alone in thinking that. people are on fire about this online on twitter @bpshow is where we are treating. grace says did he get at big bag of catch? the g.o.p. claim everything is controversial. harry reid has an a rating with the nra. he loves mitch mcconnell and the seat of power more than had a the people want. the idea that maybe this might be some sort of back door for him avoiding the gun control is

>> well, mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell forced john waner's hand. >> we expect senators to do that. that's why -- republican senators have always, that's what they do. it's their hobby. >> in in round, the president got a ton. the president has said as recently as sunday with david gregory, we need to do medicaid reform and entitlement reform. when we deal with the sequester cut ifs two months, when we deal with raising the debt ceiling, even though the president wants to keep that out of the debate, republicans will have another chance with leaders like john boehner and paul ryan making the argument. and i think the president once again -- >> how many more trillion dollars do you think they're going to add to the national debt. what do you think, mika? because, listen, if you're paul ryan and you can put -- i had the tenth amendment on a little plaque outside of my door, you know? all powers not specifically given to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. sort of a guiding princi

poor john boehner meet poor mitch mcconnell, the club for republican leaders in need of a hug appears to have added a member. we'll be right back. jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard. before the sneeze, help protect with a spray. before the tissue, help defend with a wipe. before the cold & flu season help prevent with lysol. because when you have 10 times more protection with each hand wash... and kill 99.9% of germs around the house with each spray... those healthy habits start to add up. this season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because that's our mission for health. ♪ >> jennifer: you're back inside "the war room." i'm jennifer granholm. i know i'm not going out on a limb by saying that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is a very conservative republican. let's take a look at his voting record. he has repeatedly voted against a women's right to choose. he thinks there should be a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. he wants to overturn obamacare. he voted for banning affirmative action hiring and

he even said this is now for harry reid and mitch mcconnell to decide and they couldn't either the when they actually did vote on new year's eve it undermined what has been the governing rule of the republicans for the past decade, which is nothing should pass without a majority vote and they didn't have a majority vote, and then immediately turned around to re-elect him speaker. it was never really in doubt. but i think having 12 votes, essentially 12 votes on the floor against -- against his speakership being re-elected with only 220 votes does not send a message of strength going into these next rounds. gwen: and mike, when all is said and done -- nice pen drop there! -- when all is said and didn't you president was still able to wrangle his basics. he wanted to be able to raise taxes on the wealthy, however you define wealthy, and he got that. >> certainly the white house and other democrats look at this and say this is a water shed moment. we got the democrats to break the cardinal, visceral value they have, raising taxes. the only problem is on new year's day taxes were already hi

and once mitch mcconnell and john boehner stuck out their necks, of course president obama had to make a deal. he need to have a congress that he can work with. when one party steps out and asks you to the dance, you don't walk away unless you never ever want to dance with them again. that's what democracy is all about, compromise. even messy compromise. so we progressives we need to get real. anyone who demands purity is just never going to get a deal. if you really want a perfect deal, then get more house progressives elected and make nancy pelosi speaker again in 2014. until then this is a step in the right direction. joining me now is michael tomski nice to have you back notice "the war room." >> nice to be here. happy new year. >> jennifer: happy new year to you. do you think progressives should be upset with this deal? >> no i'm with you the whole way. i'll make two points on policy on substance, the one thing that stuck out to me which you mentioned but went over a little bit quickly, the unemployment insurance extend the republicans demanded no offset on that. ever since obama

the agreement from mitch mcconnell that republicans -- the agreement with mitch mcconnell that the republicans will even ask each other to consider doing that, that agreement is of course a handshake agreement. >> it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't work. >> yeah. it's a handshake. there's a handshake deal this time, which is the only progress toward getting anything done. it's a handshake deal. and a handshake deal did not work last time and that should have told you something. and that is the apex of senator harry reid's achievement today after those months, those years of promises that this time he was really going to do it. but hey, at least we'll be able to see them get nothing done 23569er now. the stuff that they can't do anything on is just going to fly by from here on out. so we have that speed to look forward to. you are a business p. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the

let's be clear about what mitch mcconnell is actually saying. mcconnell claims the president wants to raise the debt ceiling so he can spend whatever money he wants at any time he wants. i want to make sure we all understand who mitch mcconnell is. mcconnell is a law school graduate. he served as deputy assistant attorney general under gerald ford. he's been around washington a long time. he is the longest-serving u.s. senator from the state of kentucky. the republican leader in a johnny come lately to this game. he's no dummy when it comes to what the constitution says or how the congress works. so mcconnell is intentionally lying to the american people about the president and the debt ceiling. according to the united states constitution, congress is the only branch of government with the power to tax or spend. mitch mcconnell knows this. the debt limit is not part of the constitution. you know what it is? it's a statute from a 1917 law about liberty bonds. according to the statute, well, only congress can raise the debt limit. so if the debt l

the agreement from mitch mcconnell that republicans -- the agreement with mitch mcconnell that the republicans will even ask each other to consider doing that, that agreement is of course a handshake agreement. >> it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't work. >> yeah. it's a handshake. there's a handshake deal this time, which is the only progress toward getting anything done. it's a handshake deal. and a handshake deal did not work last time and that should have told you something. and that is the apex of senator harry reid's achievement today after those months, those years of promises that this time he was really going to do it. but hey, at least we'll be able to see them get nothing done faster now. the stuff that they can't do anything on is just going to fly by from here on out. so we have that speed to look forward to. t a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use. it's the ultimate combination of speed,

and once mitch mcconnell and john boehner stuck out their necks, of course president obama had to make a deal. he need to have a congress that he can work with. when one party steps out and asks you to the dance, you don't walk away unless you never ever want to dance with them again. that's what democracy is all about, compromise. even messy compromise. so we progressives, we need to get real. anyone who demands purity is just never going to get a deal. if you really want a perfect deal, then get more house progressives elected and make nancy pelosi speaker again in 2014. until then this is a step in the right direction. joining me now is michael tomski nice to have you back notice "the war room." >> nice to be here. happy new year. >> jennifer: happy new year to you. do you think progressives should be upset with this deal? >> no, i'm with you the whole way. i'll make two points on policy on substance the one thing that stuck out to me which you mentioned but went over a little bit quickly, the unemployment insurance extend the republicans demanded no offset on that. ever since obama

>> nice to hear the sound lights from lindsey graham and mitch mcconnell. you can see the holiday cheer has made it well into the beginning days 2013 right there. continued antagonism on both sides right now with tough talk as we go forward. remember this debt ceiling. we hit that. our nation's borrowing limit, money already owed and already been spent just a couple of months from now, so this is going to be a top priority in a very near future as we go ahead right now. as you heard from mitch mcconnell, he said that presidential leadership is desperately needed. he said specifically that the last-minute deals are not the way that the government should be run right now. the question is what the president and what the administration is willing to concede on. the republicans again in the house and senate are calling for entitlement reform. they want the medicare age to be raised. they want means testing, as we heard, again today, and it's important to note on "meet the press" when mitch mcconnell was speaking to our colleague david gregory he declined to answ

why did joe biden strike a compromise with mitch mcconnell? pat buchanan? >> the republicans voted against it, john, because they made a commitment not to vote for higher taxes and taxes went up as a result of this bill. mitch mcconnell, however, he was the one instigator who called biden because he said, look, far better that we cut a deal which raises taxes on folks making more than $400,000 than have a tax bill that eliminates bush's tax cuts, taxes go up on 80% of the entire country and then obama comes in on january 1 and says i propose a tax cut for everybody that is making less than $250,000. so they took what they feel was a bad deal to prevent a totally ruin ous one politically and economically and i don't fault boehner or mcconnell for doing it. and they may not have negotiated well getting to the edge of the cliff, but when they got there, i think they made the right call for the party and for the country and the 300-point rise in the dow jones the next day suggests they did the right thing. >> in preventing the greater damage that would occur ha

mitch mcconnell trusted joe biden. they trust. in washington, your word is something that's very important. they got a deal last night. for the country, i think that was a good thing. >> we do know the republicans say it's not a raise on taxes for those who make $250,000. at least it's up to $400,000. they can say the bush tax cuts which everyone knew were going to be sunsetted in ten years, 12 years later 90% of them are in place permanently. are republicans spinning it and saying those are good things? >> i think they are legitimately good things. the fact of the matter is raising taxes on people that hire folks my age and buying products that create jobs is going to do something for our economy. republicans say why didn't we have a plan earlier that defended those people, defended jobs for young americans, keeping the economy going. this does nothing for the debt, does nothing for spending. we're going to have another cliff in march but we have a greater cliff for our generation. there is a great piece in "the washington times"

i should point out i mentioned that don stewart, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell's spokesperson was talking to reporter there we saw a moment ago in the gaggle of reporters, he said we're waiting to see if the vice president can sell this to his party. stewart says biden and mcconnell will meet while they are up on capitol hill as you look live at ohio clock the area where senators and spokes people go. the senate republicans have not signed off on the deal. it is protocol. when asked how long until a vote, don stewart said "awhile everything always takes longer in the senate." and it does, ed. but we could be seeing a vote, you know, sometime past 11:00. it really doesn't matter as far as the clock goes before midnight east coast time because despite the fact that is the fiscal cliff deadline as we noted the house adjourned until tomorrow and essentially the u.s. is technically going over the cliff even though lawmakers can adjust and beat things back if they decide to pass whatever comes out of congress before wednesday. >> right. and the irs can sign -- give instructions to c

it is a big deal that mitch mcconnell is expected to be voting for in. will his rank and file go along. more importantly in the days ahead will the rank and file on the house republican caucus go along. finally tonight will we see the president -- we are not expecting to see him tonight since this is not done-done yet. more likely we will see him tomorrow, bret. >> bret: 20 seconds here, ed, before we take another break. but is it a loss for this white house that the debt ceiling part of this is not included? >> there is no doubt they wanted it included in here. they were fighting for are it. so it is is a loss in it that is sense but they will argue they won most of the other battles and they are willing to fight that one out in the days ahead although they believe that the republicans will pay a price if they turn it once again into a political football, bret. >> bret: and looks like it may just be heading right down that alley. ed henry live at the white house. we will be checking in again. vice president biden still meeting on capitol hill with senat

since when do you trust mitch mcconnell on anything? he will stab you in the back in a new york second, politically. let's turn to larry cohen, president of the coalition of american workers. coalition of organizations that support the reform. we appreciate your time. how important is this? is there a chance if this doesn't happen that the 113th will be just like the 112th? >> there's a serious chance. and it's up to us. i'm glad to say that there are over 1 million americans that have signed petitions into their except tors, over 100,000 phone calls, 50 groups working on this day and night. it's tied to everything we care about. the question is, are we going to have democracy in the u.s. senate, which we actually had for many generations? are we going to pretend there's a filibuster that doesn't even exist? one senator calls up from anywhere. you don't even know who it is. there are three or four parts to this that are all critical. you can't get a conference committee. the president can't get any of his nominations through. frankly th

mitch mcconnell has said something similar. so you have the president saying one thing, but those in the house and senate, the republican leaders, saying something completely different. >> shannon: yeah, they think this is going to be all about spending ab that's the comfort. house minority leader nancy pelosi saying hey, we're not done talking about revenue, there could be tax increases with part of this negotiation. >> and the president himself said in the midst of the fiscal cliff deal when it looked like a deal, that this does not end the tax debate, but the the republicans say, that you know, there's 80 trillion dollars in unemployment liabilities no matter what you do in taxes, that's not going to solve where the problem is, which is medicare, social security, and medicaid, entitlement reform and they gave in, they thought on raising taxes and revenue and want to focus pretty much exclusively on entitlement spending. >> jamie weinstein, it's going to be an interesting couple of months in washington. thank you. >> it will

the reason a deal happened between mitch mcconnell and the white house is mitch mcconnell believed in the long run it was more politically beneficial for republicans, at least in the senate, to get this issue of the taxes off the table and then have a straight spending fight, if you will, a spending cut fight when the budget issues of march arise. but that if taxes were part of this, and it looked like republicans were holding middle class taxes hostage, they had no leverage with the white house whatsoever. so mcconnell was viewing -- that's why a compromise happened, because he saw himself getting a potential victory out of this. i don't know if that's the way it's going to work out. but at least that's what he saw. >> chuck do, the republicans in the house now have cover we are passed, we're into the new year, over the cliff by the clock. therefore they're voting for not tax increase, which, again, was the concern here, number one. and then number two, when we take a look at the vote on the senate bill on the house, do they get that cover that they need? do they have the fig leaf th

mitch mcconnell threw down a marker saying the revenue piece is done. no new tax increases. all we are talking about is spending cuts. the president is looking for $600 billion in revenue, closing loopholes and limiting deductions on the richest americans. you can see, they are about to go like this and what are the consequences? >> the fiscalg issues may be sidetracked by the gun control debate. 10 bills were introduced in the house on thursday, none of which on the surface would have done anything to stop adam lanza from doing what he did in newtown. and then there is the white house study group led by vice-president biden, which looks like it's going to go for more legislation, reduce the assault weapons. but at the same time, look also at the issues of mental health and the societal impacts of violent video games and movies. charles krauthammer said recently, if you look at newtown, it's multi-factorial. so at least the white house will look at the other sides, too. >> "fox news sunday" coming up at 2:00 p.m. right here on the fox newschannel. >> again, you can catch the

adam: i am watching the live scene, surprising me is that eitheneither mitch mcconnell nor harry reid have gone to the podium to address reporters. i believe the vice president talking to reporters but they wouldn't have had some sort of public statement. is that a sign of trouble or something we should not read into? rich: they're starting for a formal statement just to make sure that what they have got here is something they can believe will pass the senate and can pass the house and congress and get its way to the white house. it is caution right now while there are leadership giving the okay on this deal, still have to make sure you have the votes. that is often what so many people forget about these negotiations. we hear from the president and the speaker, the two leaders ultimately became the vice president and a ignore the leader of the senate, you'v youe got to get the vote. he never specifically know how your caucus is going to react to what you are offering. adam: is there an option to stall this to tie it up? rich: usually at 11:30 p.m. on new year's eve, your colleagues wi

that is what mitch mcconnell does, is go directly to the president. the "daily beast" pointed out joe biden laid groundwork for the repeal of the ban on gays in the military. and ratification of -- of arms control with russia. and in doing, he hastened the president endorsing the idea, bringing gay marriage to a wider political consensus, so go ahead and smile and laugh when you see joe biden being joe biden. >> but holy mackerel, this is the man that deserves more credit than anyone else save the president for getting the white house's legislative agenda done. >>> if someone asks me the question of who my favorite person in the white house is, and i go to kind of weird, boring talk, but it is pretty much somebody you never see, whose work you never see, pete souza, the photographer whose work you never see. i am a fan, he puts up his pictures from the white house, they're great pictures, fascinating. this week he put up his favorite photos of 2012. and with those photos he left his own thoughts and descriptions of the photos, what he was thinking, an

another guy who worked a lot on this, mitch mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell chose to be a quiet statesman. you didn't see him on camera. he didn't meet face to face with joe biden. but he's the reason we have this agreement. >> do you agree with that? >> here what's i'll say about mitch mcconnell. he's a very smart politician that understands that you sometimes need to lose the battle to win the war, at least in their perspective. they knew if the country had gone over the cliff and taxes had gone up on everyone, they would have gotten the blame. from his perspective, that was a bad political bet. so they're now focused on the big fights coming, the debt crisis, the continuing resolution. the problem with that is they think they have leverage and i'm not sure they do because, again, the consequences of making that again such a political battle -- >> jim, talk to that. why do you guys have leverage? a lot of republicans on capitol hill say, look, we should too much blood on this tax fight but we are more than happy to bring the president to his knees over these budget wars in the next 60 t

we spent this time, joe biden and mitch mcconnell spent all this time trying to get an agreement. what are we supposed to do with this? this leaves the question out there, could we go over the fiscal cliff entirely? we are teetering on the edge from where we stand now, it's a good possibility. i will say though, if john boehner wanted to take this bill and put it to the floor without amendments, essentially having a p profile in courage moment t would probably pass. from the republican i spoke to in the room, they said if there's an appetite for folks who have been around here for a while to get this over with, they can live to fight another day on the debt limit and on the government funding bill. but this would be a pr disaster for republicans. there is nowhere else for this bill to go. if the house gop tries to administration this with this short amount of time left, they feel, this member spoke to me and folks close to the speaker, they feel the claim woublame wo them. the sandy supplemental bill for the relief and the folks effected by the hurricane, that's tied up in this, t

i mean, you talk to john boehner and you talk to mitch mcconnell for six, seven weeks the president would simply not budge one inch on cutting spending and had no interest in doing that. the republicans believed and i think they're probably right if they'd gone into 2013 without the tax issue resolved they'd be pummelled day after

that is what mitch mcconnell does, is go directly to the president. the "daily beast" pointed out joe biden laid groundwork for the repeal of the ban on gays in the military. and ratification of -- of arms control with russia. and in doing, he hastened the president endorsing the idea, bringing gay marriage to a wider political consensus, so go ahead and smile and laugh when you see joe biden being joe biden. >> but holy mackerel, this is the man that deserves more credit than anyone else save the president for getting the white house's legislative agenda done. . with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about

mitch mcconnell said today that he would have some tough questions for hagel, but back in 2007 mitch mcconnell called hagel . . . and said many of the predictions chuck hagel made about the iraq war came true. the next criticism of chuck hagel is that he won't support israel enough. he has referred to a jewish lobby in washington. but today the anti-defamation league said that it would support him. still the issue reportedly does have the white house concern, and according to cnn the white house has reached out to jewish groups for their support. and then on gay rights. hagel called james hormel aggressively gay. he has renounced those words, but now a future senator who is obviously a leading advocate he told the "boston globe," quote . . . >> jennifer: so joining me now to discuss all of the president's cabinet appoints is michael o'hanlon of the brookings institute. welcome back inside "the war room." really appreciate it. >> thank you governor nice to be with you. >> jennifer: great to be with you too. brookings institution is a very respected organization. do you think hague sel

what happens to mitch mcconnell? guest: those of us that follow congress know what a great deal maker mitch mcconnell is. he knows how to use power like few others do in the congress. during the debt crisis, it was his deal eventually was adopted with some changes. he has a few less members, but he knows how to use the parliamentary system and he is a force to be reckoned with. you need to do business with mitch mcconnell, particularly since indeed 60 days to overcome procedural hurdles. host: same question, but this one for speaker john boehner in the 113th congress. guest: that is an interesting question to watch closely. house speakers do best when the rule with an iron fist. nancy pelosi muscled through health care, the economic stimulus and evil -- even the global warning plan. speaker boehner says let the rank-and-file worker there will. if there are signs that he is going back to the nancy pelosi- style of leadership, when he had four members cost of various committees, that was a sign, you had better play bal

. >> harry reid and mitch mcconnell reach a worthless filibuster deal. larry cohen of the communication workers of america has the mechanics of more gridlock. >> what i do believe is that when we speak to the whistleblowers we have to make a determination whether what they say is really a criminal case. >> lenny brewer steps down from the justice department. i'll tell you what it says about wall street. and goldie taylor gives us a marine's view on the right-wing's disgraceful reaction to women in combat. [ dad ] find it? ya. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pass down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you. that's the sound of car insurance companies these days. here a cheap, there a cheap, everywhere a cheap... you get it. so, what if inst

but for all we know, his relationship with mitch mcconnell may not be that good, considering how close house republicans were in leaving senate republicans hanging out to dry a couple days ago. yesterday, the unsubstantiated rumors were rampant that boehner was in so much trouble he might not become speaker. though there may be enough dissenters today to keep the editors of the tabloids happy. boehner has no real challenger and therefore is likely to secure his spot as pespeaker. but only 17 conservatives have to vote against him for us to see the second ballot for speaker since 1923, a message in and of itself. yesterday congressman tom price who says he does not plan to challenge boehner now dismissed questions about whether he might challenge him in the future as, quote, intrigue is rampant. here's what price said. >> i think we need red state representation in both our leadership as well as the organizing committees that we have. >> it's interesting, if you look at the top three, what he's referring to. boehner from ohio, turned blue, two in a row. cantor from virginia. mccarthy fr

i don't know how he could get more right than mitch mcconnell. maybe somebody is thinking of running against him. >> the president did say we the people. right? he talked about working together again. that includes republicans. i keep coming back to how many times does this, you and i have talked about this, how many times has this president reached out? for example, theo john boehner. what did he get for it? those of us in the progressive caucus, where was the progressive? where was the liberal? what surprises me is that the republicans haven't realized that the country's governed much more conservatively than it has been in the past. even things bush was able to accomplish, this has notpresident hasn't been able to accomplish. >> the caucus, you and other members of the progressive caucus going up to baltimore for a little retreat. let's talk about what the caucus would like to see. we are here with congressman sam farr from california on the 23u8 court press, again you are welcome to join the conversation at 866-55-press. >> this is "the bill

>> this will be a high-profile race because it is mitch mcconnell and even republicans in kentucky are not really sold on him and that's who they have and he's been around for so long, but even republicans are americans and we all are really upset about the quagmire. you just had a piece on how polarized washington is. who led us to the polarization? who has been there for 25 years and mitch mcconnell has caused this, he almost single-handedly has done that in kentucky and he's been a big component of the polarization in washington. so whoever it is that runs against him is coming from a good position, except if you take a wrong position on the colt. in 2004 when i ran against an incumbent jim bunning i put $160 meals in my -- and how is she going to overcome the coal issue and you can't overcome coal in kentucky and quite frankly, the future of the country depends on where we move coal to. >> we'll have to leave it right there. former kentucky, lieutenant governor. i do appreciate you making the drive to the studio. thank you. >> thank you, craig. >>> switching gears here. the nation'