compromise between the house, the senate, not between the senate and the senate. for two months, for the american people. that's outrageous. they deserve a year. a full year to have a payroll tax holiday. not two months. come on, ladies and gentlemen. let's send the senate a message. come back to washington, do your work, give the american people a year, not two months. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: how much time is there left, please? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has three minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 1 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. camp, are you going to close? i yield myself the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: you know, i remember when i was doing arguments before a court and a judge would ask me a very salient question that would get to the heart of the matter. and that's where we are today. there's this question to the

senate. it's my distinct honor and pleasure to introduce to each of you the 43rd president of the united states, george w. bush. [applause] >> thank you, all. [applause] please, be seated. thank you all, please, be seated. it takes a really good friend to get me to come back to washington. [laughter] i am thrilled to be here. laura sends her love. to karen and bill. bill, like me, was wise enough to marry a texan. [laughter] i'm proud to be here with senator reid and senator mcconnell. they represent the present. i represent the past. [laughter] i welcome those who have served in the past, mr. vice president, mr. secretary and others. i can assure you, bill, that we are delighted to be here to watch you hang. [laughter] well, not exactly. [laughter] i, um, i appreciate bill frist a lot. i appreciate the fact that he loves and respects his wife. and i love the fact that when i was with frist, he always talked about his sons. sometimes you probably tested his patience, but you never was able to

and senate? guest: well, the house came back from being away from a a couple of days. it is not clear that you would need to have all 100 or even 60 or 51 senators to do something. you might not need even more than a few senators simply to accept -- to respond to the house and perhaps to agree in -- they could do it by voice vote, to go to the conference committee. what i really believe what will happen -- what speaker boehner was looking for is to have informal discussions with senator reid, and that would not require any senators to appear on the floor until -- unless and until an agreement is reached and there would be final approval. the question, at this point, frankly, is not so much what the sent it would do -- what what happened on the senate floor -- but the question is whether senator reid or other senior democrats are willing to go along -- would go along with the plan by house expects to pass today, and then there would be an informal discussion between the two chambers. host: thank y

senator snowe from maine a republican; senator schumer from new york city a democrat; senator sessions of alabama -- i'm sorry -- a republican; senator stabenow of michigan, a democrat; senator casey of pennsylvania, a democrat; and several others. this bill was the largest bipartisan bill that passed the senate this year. it passed with 63 votes. joined, in fact, by the junior senator from my state, senator portman, former trade representative in the bush administration, voted for this bill. this bill would crack down on china currency manipulation. come together to put american jobs and american workers first. as i said, it represented the largest bipartisan jobs bill passed this session of congress. currency manipulation provides an unfair subsidy to chinese exports, of up to 40%, according to some economists. almost all economists agree it's at least 25%. fred berkston, a fairly conservative economist for the peterson institute, has asserted that china's intervention in currency markets and other subsidies they have provided makes up the most -- he said most protectionist policy of

we passed a bill, the senate, the senate passed a bill, sent it back to us. we're saying we agree on some points of it. we need to come back in and fix it for the american people. i -- this gets twisted and turned a lot of different ways but at the end of the day what's best for the american people? not what's best for republicans and not what's best for democrats, what's best for the american people. let the seniors now that in two months from now your doctor is going to see you because it's fixed in there for two kraers, not two months. we have to be practical and straight for ward. we are working as hard as we can. i will work through christmas. i've worked every christmas eve and new year's day. my family is used to me not being home on holidays because that's how i put food on the table and clothes on their back. i would make the same commitment from the people of pennsylvania who sent me. i'm not looking for a way out. i'm looking for a way to get it done. >> thanks. >>> from the very heated domestic policy, to foreign policy, in egypt are women are lea

boehner sat in senator mcconnell's office and senator reid's office, senator mcconnell will have his proxy. they are promising to live by whatever agreement he said it reached. i am committed to bringing the house back, and we can do it within 24 hours. it is from mcconnell unprepared by my staff in order for me to know -- a chronolog prepared by staff in order for me to know what is going on. on cnn, 12-18 in the washington post 12-17, the speaker reacted to reports that we may have to settle on a two-month extension. footnote right there. in january of 2009, house republicans will likely reject a two-month extension, citing a desire to avoid striking a short-term deal and what impact of such a deal would have. just under two years ago, house republicans including some of the more conservative members were arguing that a two-month payroll tax would effectively stimulate the economy and he offered the measure in response to that. captured in this video leaving the caucus giving a high 5 to the senator from wyoming. later, senator mcconnell says that he obviously keep the speaker info

, and harry reid, who is more powerful in the senate? is mitch mcconnell in many ways more powerful than harry reid? >> given the cooperation that mitch mcconnell has been able to engineer a month republican colleagues in the senate they do have a veto with a majority party would like to do. this can lead to universal gridlocked meaning that not much is getting done. in fact, very little has emerged from the sand over the past year. but it's hard to say who is more powerful. most legislation that passes innocent has to clear both parties. clear the process by which they discover that there is sufficient support to move forward on the floor without running into problems spent mitch mcconnell got a lot of press when he said a couple years ago that his job was to make sure that barack obama was a one-term president. it isn't that his job? >> it is. the president opposition's job to do that. they see that as their roles just like the presidents fellow partisans, their job is to champion the president's agenda. these institutions do not work

madam president, this amendment is cosponsored by senators tester, senator enzi, senator blunt, senator vitter and also i would like to ask unanimous consent that my colleague from north dakota, senator conrad, be included as a cosponsor of the amendment, as well as senator baucus of montana. the amendment declares that the united states should maintain a triad of strategic nuclear delivery systems which includes missiles, bombers and submarines. it also declares that the the sense of the senate that the president should budget for the modernization of those systems and the weapons that they deliver. over the past couple of years, numerous statements have been made in support of the triad. the 2010 nuclear posture review concluded that the united states needs the nuclear triad. the senate in its resolution of ratification for the new start treaty declared that the united states needs the nuclear triad. and president obama last february certified that he intends to modernize the nuclear triad. however, the administration is now currently conducting a further review of the role of the nuc

compromise between the house, the senate, not between the senate and the senate. for two months, for the american people. that's outrageous. they deserve a year. a full year to have a payroll tax holiday. not two months. come on, ladies and gentlemen. let's send the senate a message. come back to washington, do your work, give the american people a year, not two months. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: how much time is there left, please? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has three minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 1 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. camp, are you going to close? i yield myself the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: you know, i remember when i was doing arguments before a court and a judge would ask me a very salient question that would get to the heart of the matter. and that's where we are today. there's this question to the

to take up the senate passed bill. 90% of the senate agreed to this. it's time for the house to take action now. >> david, may i -- >> sure, go ahead, of course. >> the frustration in terms of house republicans and in terms of where the country's going. what's better for the country? a two-month extension or a full-year extension -- >> i think everyone agrees the full-year extension is the way to go, but the republicans wouldn't allow us to do that, so the agreement that was made -- >> we voted for it. you have a bill in the senate ready to go. >> we have a bill in the senate -- >> david and john, i want to go to a clip. i think it's important, because, david, i want to ask you about the long-term impact this could have on the republican brand. i want to play you something that bob corker, not a moderate, a conservative senator from tennessee, a republican, had to say yesterday on cnbc about how this is impacting the republican brand. >> are republicans getting killed right now in public opinion? no question. are we on a bad path related to public poli

how close were you with the senate? or the house of representatives on how to pay for a 12-month deal? what's the hold-up? >> i think the majority leader, harry reid, who did a tremendous job in getting this compromise, was working together with the republican leader mitch mcconnell. my understanding is that they'd made a lot of progress, but understanding the importance of what the president said about nobody going home and not coming back until mid-january when taxes would have already gone up on 160 million americans when hundreds and hundreds of thousands of workers would have lost their ui was unacceptable. and i think they realized that if they could come together with an overwhelming bipartisan compromise to extend this for two months, it would, as the president suggested, make it a virtual certainty that we would all work together to extend this unemployment insurance and the tax relief for 160 million working americans, as you said, up to -- averaging $1,000 per family, that this would be extended for the full

i will make clear that i told the senate leaders, senator reed and senator mcconnell there would be no negotiations with the house until such time as the senate passed a bill. i meant whey said. when they were getting ready to pass this and somebody passed on to me what they thought it would look like, i made it clear to them at that point. i was uncomfortable with what where they were and i expressed displeasure. once again taking the convenient route and not doing the people's work. thanks, everybody. park are it's a very interesting 22 minutes here. we started out the hour listening to president obama's response to the house republicans standing in the way of extending the payroll tax cut and you heard from john boehner saying he needs the president's help. joining me now is nbc director mark murray. thanks for joining us and we have kristen welker in the briefing room. let me start with you, kristen. i will get analysis from mark. the tone of the president that was a surprise moment with him walking in expressing frustration. what are we hearing at the white house? >> that's right.

leahy: i know senator durbin durbin -- i understand from senator durbin the distinguished senator from missouri is going next, and in any event, i yield the floor and i thank my colleagues for their courtesy. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri is recognized. mr. blunt: by like unanimous consent to address the senate for 10 minutes under morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. blunt: i appreciate my good friend from illinois allowing me to go ahead and talk about the defense bill at this time but doing it in the context of where we are in the floor right now. defending the country is the congress' most important constitutional responsibility. abraham lincoln said that government should do for people only those things that people cannot better do for themselves, and if there's anything at the top of that list, this is at the top of that list. so it's critical, mr. president, that we have this discussion, that we pass this bill as soon as possible in order to give our men and women in uniform the tools they need to do their job and the cer

senate on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god, who has blessed us abundantly with inner joy and an outer supply of all good things, we're grateful for your helping us in our poor attempts to do your will. lord, forgive everything that keeps us divided, the false pride that leads from unity. give us a yearning for a life shaped and supported by a will better than our own. guide our senators during today's labors. help them know the strengthening joys of your spirit. keep them from being intimidated by the world's problems and threats, because you have overcome the world. we pray in your great name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washingto

leave as senator reid gets scared. more of his senators are in danger if they don't come back and do something about this. the only thing i can think of. >> bret: we talked about the disconnect between the house republicans and senator mcconnell on this. what happened in all of that back and forth when republicans voted for senate version. when the house republicans make the case this is what the president wanted, a one-year extension and we are willing to do it now. december pilot the fact that house republicans have problem with a one-year payroll tax cut extension. does that not resonate somewhere? >> it doesn't make sense. people who follow us, do they know when they had a one-year proposal approved by the house it had extraneous measures attached to it that made it somewhat toxic for others, especially democrats and the white house. they were threaten the veto of such a bill. so basically, you have to buy into the idea that except the house republican on what they want, buy in to their extras, the extraneous item

a senator: senator johanns, would you like to take this? mr. johanns: i've worked on this issue now for a number of months, actually a couple of years. here's the situation. the unions are ready to go to work. i talk to the locals in nebraska on a regular basis and they talk about unemployment numbers that are staggering, in the double digits, which in our state is remarkable because we have an unemployment rate of 4.2%. the unions are ready to go to work, bring their skills and their talents to bear. the leader's observation is absolutely right. the environmentalists, on the other hand, it isn't the pipeline, it isn't the location, it's that they don't want the tar sands development to occur. and so the president is on the horns of a dilemma. part of his base, the unions, are saying, create the jobs. there's already a pipeline. let us go out there and do this in the most environmentally sensitive way we possibly can. on the other hand, the environmentalists are saying, no, mr. president. they circle the white house, they've done all of these t

sent to it the senate. we too have done the responsible thing. but we did it for a year, as per the president's request. >> ifill: republican senators, brown, heller, lugar and collins came out and said this is irresponsible. there are people who are going to see their taxes go up on new year's day as a result of inaction by the house in particular. what do you say to them? >> well, the house is trying to do the responsible thing. a, get it passed before the end of the year and b, pass it for a year. if you were to talk to most employers and most people they would agree that a year would be better than two months. i think the president would actually agree with that. we're taking a very responsible position here. the senate wants to go have bingo night and go on vacation. we're saying, no, let's stay and get this done and get it done for a year. >> ifill: it sounds like your argument is more with senate republicans since this was a pretty overwhelming vote on the senate side not senate democrats and not the

by both senate democrats as well as senate republicans. it was overwhelmingly approved by 89 senators including 39 republican senators. as members of congress, it is absurd, i believe, that we are being deprived the opportunity, denied the opportunity to vote for a bill that would add certainty to the economy and to the people that we represent. it is unacceptable that some of my colleagues in the house, the republican colleagues in the house, have once again refused to compromise. our constituents elected us here to make their lives better, not worse. this latest republican grandstand will cost the american public dealer. as a result, 160 million middle class americans will see a payroll tax increase and over two million americans, including almost 25,000 alabamans, will begin losing their unemployment benefits. while i had hoped for a one-year extension like many here, this two-month compromise is better than the alternative which is to let millions of americans suffer economic hardship. you know, it was martin luther king who said that

mccon telein thenate -- senator mcconnell in the senate moving through the senate side? >> the senate, they look to harry reid to bring up what he wants the senate to vote on as the leader. the house consistently take an position we believe we can do better. we believe what is best is provide certainty to make sure that the payroll tax holiday is extented for a year. the president is in favor of that. the house democrats said. that there is no reason we can't do that. >> bret: you know a vote with 89 can include 39 republicans. somebody didn't get the message it was a bad idea. >> senate republicans were only given one option to vote on. that was harry reid's choice to bring it up. >> bret: the original deal, was that false? >> john boehner and i are on the same pay. for a year's extension of payroll tax holiday. we believe it's the right thing. we owe it to the american people we can demonstrate the results. people are tired of excuses and things we can't do. if you go to congress is keystone provision jettyson to get a one-year payroll tax cut? >> that issue has been r

that senator corker and senator shelby and senator dodd and others were in the midst of negotiation to work at legislation. that's what we do around here. that many, many elements of the consumer part of the bill, and title ii especially i know. senator corker, you worked on, were done with major concessions on both sides. there were some things in the bill senator shelby support an amendment i had, largest banks were in fact too large and we should find a way to do something about those six largest banks. he and i tried on the senate floor. we lost. and so that's what happened here. you win some you lose some, but i guess i'm puzzled by senator corker's comments about excessive partisanship you because we wrote this bill. it pass with some number of republican votes but it got over 60 votes but they were certainly consistent and frequent republican input, much of which was accepted in this bill. i understand any and you didn't didn't vote for legislation that passed by both houses. it was signed by the president. i go back to what the senate historian told me that never have we see

senate. there were not divided. you had 80% of the republican senators' support this payroll tax cut, so the real question is, why is it the house republicans are so divided from the senate republicans and the senate democrats and house democrats in terms of getting something done? that is the question facing the house of representatives. any answer is any clear from the past couple of days, which is you have an extreme right-wing element that has hijacked the process, and that is why they refuse to even bring up the bipartisan senate bill for an up or down vote, because they were afraid they would get the same bipartisan result of the house as they got in the senate. they are afraid of bipartisanship, and the reason is they have this very right- wing elements. let's also remember the house republican leadership was supposed to apparel tax cut. two months, three months, one year. the record is full of statements where they were opposed to it. their action the other day by refusing to take up

i am going to make it clear -- i have told the senate leaders, senator reid and senator mcconnell, that there would be no negotiations with the house until the senate passed a bill. i meant what i said harry -- i meant what i said. when there were getting ready to pass this and someone passed it on to me what it would look like, i made it clear to them that i was uncomfortable with where they were going. i express my displeasure. once again, taking the convenient route and not doing the people's work. thank you, everybody. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> and next, we hear from house democratic leader nancy pelosi, who said if there is no extension, it is because of the tea party and republicans. her remarks are about 20 minutes. >> it is just me, guys. >> good afternoon. just when we think we have seen the last of the tether, here we are again. we are prepared to stay here until they drop does get done. the american people -- the job does get done. the american people will have a tax cut. demo

just to let the members know, we will hear -- turn to senator klobuchar now, and senator chambliss, and then break until 2:15. >> thank you very much, chairman stabenow. thank you all for being here. thank you to mr. tofteland. i was not hear for your testimony. mr. corzine, it's been widely speculated in the days before mf global declared bankruptcy your firm shifted funds from the segregated accounts to the broker-dealer side of business. in testimony before the house last week and in written testimony for today's hearing, mr. terrence duffy, aasserts at 2:00 a.m. monday, october 31st , mf global informed the cftc and cme that customer money had in fact been transferred to the firm's broker dealer account. did these details match your recollection of what was conveyed to the cftc and cme that monday morning? >> senator, the general description that mr. duffy talked about on the issues of october 31st are consistent. >> okay. to your knowledge, did mf global shift any funds out of the segregated accounts to the broker-dealer side of your business or to pay any outstanding obligations?

it was dead before it got to the senate. the senate will not pass it. the sooner we demonstrate that, the sooner we can begin serious discussions how to keep taxes from going up on middle class americans. >> reporter: now senator reid said very much the same thing today as he was speaking on the senate floor even going as far to call it a useless partisan charade, kyra. there is likely to be a vote on this house-passed measure in the senate today.

senate. however, president obama today got involved. chief white house correspondent ed henry has that part of the story. >> the white house aides are taunting speaker boehner. they think he is on the defensive. charging that the only reason we didn't bring the senate bill up for a vote he knows it would have passed. >> after attending a ceremony marking return home of the u.s. troops and u.s. forces iraq flag, president obama used the sacrifice of the troops when he rushed in the daily white house press briefing unannounced. to rip in john boehner over the payroll tax cut. >> when they fight together and sometimes die together they don't know and they certainly don't care who is a democrat and who is a republican. they do their job. they do it for something bigger than themselves. the people need to learn something from them. >> perhaps for the first time in the debate, the president has the upper hand on issue that republicans usually own. asked who they trust more on taxes, 46% said the pr

i mean, gwen, you had 89 senators, nearly 90% of the united states senate decide that they were going to meet the president's basic principle that with a two-month extension to ensure that congress did not go home while letting taxes go up to 160 million americans or letting 2.5 million americans who are still looking for work get cut off unemployment benefits in the first two months. this was a compromise that would give the congress the time to work with the president to do a full-year extension and hopefully more to help get jobs going. sure, when 90% of the united states senate agree on something and my view is that about the only things these days 90% of the united states senate agree on are probably mom, apple pie and chocolate ice cream. if they supported with this compromise with the speaker of the house knowing it, everybody expected this to pass. it's a very sad moment if a small contingency of republicans in the house of representatives are now willing and able to hold back this national consensus and do something that could lead taxes go up 160 million americans as we go i

senator. and he was a contender, making five presidential bids, including 1832 against andrew jackson and 1844, when he ran against james capel. tonight we are zero vacation in ashland, henry clay's home in lexington, ky. for the next 90 minutes, we will explore the life and legacy of this man, unsuccessful in his long quest for the white house, get having an outside influence on american history. if we're in henry clay's parlor right now. let me introduce you to jim klotter, for 25 years now, the kentucky state historian. why is henry clay relevant to americans living in our time? >> first of all, his famous comment, i would rather be right than be president, still speaks to us across whatever we are doing, whether we are in politics or something else, to do more -- to do the right thing. he also said the politicians need to remember their country and sacrifice for their country. that is still something we need to remember as well. the man known as the great compromiser, the man that forge th

senator brown, senator mccain, "the wall street journal" have all said -- senator snowe, senator lugar, one of the senior republican members, have all said pass this bill and do what we do all the time, what families do all the time. when you can't get agreement on something you need to get agreement on, but you want to continue in place of the existing situation, you make a short-term agreement and say we will do this for a little while. but let's decide what we will do on a long -- in the long term. that is what the senate did because they cannot reach agreement. the house republican leadership knows they could not get agreement. so, they walked out yesterday with all of us here ready to do our work without giving us the opportunity to vote on the senate product that has overwhelming bipartisan support. >> situations where there are pro-forma sessions before, and whether there are democrats or bad republicans in charge -- getting up and try to make motions -- i have been here a long time and i had never seen anybody get recognized. did you genuinely think you would get recognized? >>

in 2012, the republicans need to pick up just four senate seats to win back control of the senate if they can hold on to all ten of their incumbent republican senate seats. the democrats now have eight difficult seats to defend. including nebraska. the republicans only need to win half of those seats. mitch mcconnell's road to majority leader just got a little bit easier today, and the prospects of president obama being able to govern in a second term got a little bit harder today. joining me now richard wolffe, author of revival, the struggle for survival inside the obama white house and msnbc analyst karen finney, former dnc communications director. karen, speak to this question of the complexity of the politics of governing versus the politics of campaigning. in campaigning, you can just leave the opponent dead by the side of the road, but the complexity in the politics of governing is the person who is in your way today may be your ally tomorrow, which is something that harry reid always knew about ben nelson. he's not with me on this vote today but he's with me most of the time.

>> well, there is not a senate bill, but a house bill. they passed a bill and the senate amended it. at this point in time is when they don't agree. the regular order is to go to conference. i know it looks strange out here in washington, d.c., it's not often you get to see somebody trying to do things through the right process, but when i came out and ran for congress, we said we would restore the institution of government to try to do things correctly. i have seen senator schumer trying to spin this and put all different things on it. this is not for spin. the time is to fix it and do it through regular order where the person people can see we are trying to do what's best for them. >> yesterday it did seem that speaker boehner said he would go ahead and have an up or down vote. what changed? >> he talked to the conference and a lot of times you have leaders who are doing the best thing they know how to do to represent members. we had a two-hour conference last night and came to a resolution on the best path forward. that's what's great

but clearly others like senator kirk think it will. >> so it's not just on the senate side. there's difficulty on the house side, too. >> absolutely. and we did see a lot of shift when speaker boehner unveiled his latest proposal that has all these extra policy provisions that republican lawmakers support like the keystone pipeline project that was mentioned. and so you are seeing the house republicans begin to coal yes, sir and will have their vote tuesday. >> i think the bottom line is that if you are going to do this payroll tax cut you're going to see a reduction into money going into social security or you're going to see debt increase because there's got to be something to pay for it. and i think that's the point that he is making and you have people in washington who like to talk about the rising debt but like to give benefits to people back home. and this pits two things against each other that tax and social security benefits potentially. so we're no different a place now than we were ten years ago, 20 years ago. there's a limited set of budget options. you've got t

the senate will be in order. the senate will -- a senator: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you, mr. president. the senate today has an opportunity to put aside some of the partisan differences and come together to do something that will benefit all americans. the legislation i've proposed is a solution and i support solutions that republicans, democrats, and independents can all support. by supporting my legislation and opposing tax increases on employers, congress can also preserve opportunity for job growth in the future. increasing taxes on small businesses will not help my state overcome the highest unemployment rate in the nation. by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay higher premiums for government health care, my proposal asks the richest americans to do more. just like my colleagues on the other side of the aisle ask that they should. lastly, this proposal is the only one that has a chance of passing the house of representatives and be signed into law. mr. president, i urge all my colleagues

merlino began his senate career in 1994 as a senate doorkeeper. he then joined the secretary's legislative staff and has performed many of its functions, including the constitutional task, the constitutional task of maintaining the senate journal. another of mr. merliino's main responsibilities is to call the roll during votes and quorum calls. more importantly he is also one of those special works on the dais who have been known at times to actually keep new members, as they preside over the senate, awake during long stretches in the chair. he's always ready with a good sports quip, known as a person who goes above and beyond the call of duty. as a matter of fact i know it was his birthday yesterday and i've been planning this speech for some time. i wanted to make sure it was -- coincided with that important date for him. the secretary of the senate, nancy ericksen noted it is his great sense of humor that keeps many of -- that helps many of us keep smiling especially during the senate's late-night legislative sessions. a small cog in the greate

senate republicans, senate and house democrats, the white house are all on the same page. is the decision by house republicans not to vote on this compromise going to come back to bite them in the butt later on? >> it's a problem. it's a bad decision. house republicans should have stood behind their leader and said, listen, what we want to do is this for the whole year. let's pass the two months stopgap. maybe we disagree with the senate about walking out and going on vacation, but something has to be done. also let's remember before this point they outmaneuvered president obama putting that pipeline in there. >> on keystone. >> right now house republicans are are looking weak. speaker boehner is looking weak it is a problem. is it a problem for the 2012 election? it's not. >> karen, we have speaker boehner saying we can't keep kicking the can down the road. all i get is this mental image of lucy with the football and charlie brown trying to come forward. this is a football kicked with money that we need to kick to middle class americans. but boehner keeps moving this ball

a senate showdown >> woodruff: a senate showdown is looming tomorrow over who will lead the new consumer financial protection bureau. the agency was created under the financial reform law-- the so- called "dodd-frank act"-- to oversee mortgages, credit cards and other forms of consumer lending. and last july... >> i look forward to working with richard cordray as this bureau stands up on behalf of consumers all across the country. >> woodruff: ...president obama nominated a former ohio state attorney general to be the agency's first director. consumer advocates had favored elizabeth warren, who helped assemble the agency. but the harvard professor-- now running for the u.s. senate in massachusetts-- was fiercely opposed by the financial industry. and back in may, 44 of the 47 senate republicans wrote to the president, with several requests, including for the bureau to have a board of directors instead of a single administrator. alabama senator richard shelby raised the issue at a hearing, tuesday. >> this massive new bureaucracy was designed by the drafters of dodd-frank to be virtually

>> the senate bill, we've already taken up the senate bill. we rejected the senate bill and we moved to go to conference. under the rules of the conference, that means that it's on the way back to the united states senate. >> the senate passed a two-month bill. is the timing -- is the length of compromise in question? >> the senate voted oh to give out a $166 tax cut. we voted to give the american people a $1,000 tax cut. we're going to insist on doing this the right way. >> what makes you feel that you can actually do that from now until new year's? >> we have not been working on this for weeks. i want to make it clear, i told both leaders, senator reid and senator mcconnell, there would be no negotiations with the house until such time the senate passed a bill. i meant what i said. and when they were getting ready to pass this and somebody passed on to me what they thought it would look like, i made it clear to them at that point that i was uncomfortable with where they were going. i expressed my displeasure and once again taking the conveni