lindsay graham and john cornyn. we'll hear from him shortly. why go ahead with this pick? >> well, by the way, it's also despite some warnings from some. >> exactly. >> democratic senators. not -- there's not a whole big constituency of supporters for chuck hagel among that crowd either. although he has some key prominent support from someone like jack reid that aren't respected rhode island senator. look, the thinking was this, andrea.

we have certainly heard from lindsey graham, and we'll hear from john cornyn coming up on this program who has been fiercely critical. >> i would say andrea two people to watch. you've got one. mccain absolutely because he was someone that was close to chuck hagel. kind of the reform-minded republicans. they clearly broke, parted ways on iraq. i do think that chuck hagel, politics does always matter. i think the fact that chuck hagel full throatedly endorsed bob kerry in nebraska in 2012 will not sit well with other republicans. i think the other senator we need to watch, which this is chuck schumer, the new york democrat, very powerful form heard of the senatorial campaign committee, you know, widely seen as probably the next leader of the democrats and the senate. who was skeptical about the idea of a hagel pick, in part, because of his past statements on israel. schumer, i assume, will get in line. though probably not in a thrilled way, but those are the two i'm at least paying attention to. >> when chuck schumer was asked on "meet the press" we were sitting there on the set watchin

if ted cruz made the decision to vote against john kerry, john cornyn decided he needed to make that decision also. >> the tea party rules again as they do at least in this one case. >> this will be super interesting if they bring an immigration bill for example. >> we will get to that in just a second. but tomorrow is the confirmation hearing on chuck hagle and john brennan. i would imagine, meredith, from your conversations on the hill that it's not going to be as easy sledding for hagle and brennan. >> no. this has been -- this hagel story has been fascinating. i have been covering it for a few weeks now. i wrote this story two weeks ago, i guess it was, three weeks ago, about a stamp sending teams democratic and republican aides alike forwarding anti-hagle articles before his boss came out one way or the other. he hasn't decided where he was falling on hagel. you see all of these back-channel interests trying to influence the vote but at the end of the day i asked senator durbin whether or not democrats were going to basically vote united for hagle. and he said when he whips the

some of your colleagues in the senate have raised the prospect, senator john cornyn and others, of what they call a partial government shutdown. here was senator cornyn in "the houston chronicle" just this week. he said "it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-material fiscal well-being of our country rather than plod along the path of greece, italy and spain." what exactly does that mean, a partial shutdown of the government, and do you endorse it? >> well, look, it only -- the only reason we're even having these discussions is because of the president and the democratic majority in the senate is unwilling to cut spending. we don't need to have these crises. we need to cut spending. it shouldn't require a crisis to get the president and the democratic majority and the senate to start focusing on the real problem, which is that we spend too much. >> i accept that that's your point of view, but the division still seems to be there, so i'll go back to my original question. how far are you willing to take this strategy? is it acceptable to you

already we are hearing discussions in this case initiated by senator john cornyn. he shutdown may already be in process? >> we have an administration that is addicted to spending. when you have an addiction, you do it incrementally. but we also have to do is teach the american people that we have a president that has misinformed online about the strength of this country finds itself in. >> congressman, i am as fiscally conservative as anyone in this country. but at what point do you all say that we are going to have to wait until the next round of elections? solvation does not lie with shutting down the federal government. it has been demonstrated time and time again in a well, the president did win in my district. think what the american public voted for was a stalemate. because they wanted to have some accountability and traparency. >> i agree with that. i'm talking about the power of the house of representatives himself. >> i think that's why we lost this last one. we were progressive. we weren't in front of the issues and we didn't have a discussion with the am

senator john cornyn saying that if the president intends the president intends to carry through with his no negotiation threat, but a government shutdown may be the only way to find resolution. the new senate majority leader is saying that it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the fiscal well-being of our country. the looming deadline for action has been obvious. and in every instance the white house has purposely blow up the process in a shameless attempt to score cheap political points. "the washington post" reported the top ally in the senate may not be fully on board with his approach his imperious stance, if you will. senator harry reid reportedly warned mr. obama is refusal to negotiate on the debt limit and the sequester could be a strategic bluner. nancy pelosi making it clear that the democratic priorities called for even higher tax hikes. >> i don't think that democrats are saying that we aren't having spending cuts. we have agreed to over a trillion dollars in cuts in the budget control act. so we all know how we proceed has to be in

already we are aring discussions in this case initiated by senator john cornyn. he shutdown may already be in process? >> we have an administration that is addicted to spending. when you have an addiction, you do it incrementally. but we also have to do is teach the american people that we have a president that has misinformed online about the strength of this country finds itself in. >> congressman i am as fiscally conservative as anyone in this country. but at what point do you all say that we are going to have to wait until the next round of elections? solvation does not lie with shutting down the federal government. it has been demonstrated time and time again in a well the president did win in my district. i think what the american public voted for was a stalemate. because they wanted to have some accountability and transparency. >> i agreeith that. i'm talking about the power of the house of representatives himself. >> i think that's why we lost this last one. we were progressive. we weren't in front of the issues and we didn't have a discussion with the am

already we are hearing discussions in this case initiated by senator john cornyn. he shutdown may already be in process? >> we have an administration that is addicted to spending. when you have an addiction, you do it incrementally. but we also have to do is teach the american people that we have a president that has misinformed online about the strength of this country finds itself in. >> congressman, i am as fiscally conservative as anyone in this country. but at what point do you all say that we are going to have to wait until the next round of elections? solvation does not lie with shutting down the federal government. it has been demonstrated time and time again in a well, the president did win in my district. i think what the american public voted for was a stalemate. because they wanted to have some accountability and transparency. >> i agree with that. i'm talking about the power of the house of representatives himself. >> i think that's why we lost this last one. we were progressive. we weren't in front of the issues and we didn't have a discussion with th

already we are hearing discussions in this case initiated by senator john cornyn. he shuown may alady be in process? >> we have an administration that is addicted to spending. when yu have an addiction, you do it incrementally. but we also have to do is teach the american people that we have a president that has misinformed online about the strength of this country finds itself in. >> congressman, i am as fiscally conservative as anyone in this country. but at what point do you all say that we are going to have to wait until the next round of eltions? solvation does not lie with shutting down the federal government. it has been demonstrated time and time again in a well, the president did win in my district. i think what the american public voted for was a stalemate. because they wanted to have some accountabity and transparency. >> i agree with that. i'm talking about thepower of the house of representatives himself. >> i think that's why we lost this last one. we were progressive. we weren't in front of the issues and we didn't have a discussion with the american

already we are hearing discussions in this case initiated by senator john cornyn. he shutdown may already be in process? >> we have an administration that is addicted to spending. when you have an addiction, you do it incrementally. but we also have to d do is teah the american people that we have a president that has misinformed online about the streth of this country finds itself in. >> congressman, i am as fiscally conservative as anyone in this country. but at what point do you all say that we are ing to have to wait until the next round of elections? solvation does not lie with shutting down the federal government. it has been demonstrated time and time again in a well, the president did win in my district. i think what the americ public voted for was a stalemate. because they wanted to have some countability and transparency. >> i agree with that. i'm talking about the power of the house of representatives himself. >> i think that's why we lost this last one. we were progressive. we weren't in front of the issues and we didn't have a discussion with the ameri

cornyn said in the houston chronicle. the op-ed, it may be necessary to parnl partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country, rather than plow along the path of greece, italy, and spain. making a comparison to the beleaguered countries in europe. do you think we could see a shutdown? >> i don't think so. republicans want spending cuts to happen, but newt gingrich said yesterday and a lot of other republicans will say this eventually. called it a dead loser. no one wants to see the country default. they might be pushing on something that isn't quite fair and you will hear other republicans quietly saying this. and the president, of course, will take this. very convinced that the popular opinion is behind him. so you will see him like kristen said earlier take this on the road. spin this to people, this is on the heels of the fiscal cliff. the white house thinks the leverage is on their side. >> thank you, both. what do you think should be the top priority for the 113th

it seems to me john cornyn is not going to be for chuck hagel or john mccain. i doubt they're going to be for chuck hagel, but they don't have to be -- they just have to not filibuster chuck hagel, which i don't think they would do barring something new here. i think if we can do a respectable job with defending some of his more controversial past statements in these hearings they will ultimately not deny his second pick. sfoo gun control and the whole gun issue, it's the second anniversary of tucson. we have the hearing, preliminary hearing for james holmes out in aurora, colorado, and awful testimony coming out of that all week. if you are reporting this as well, that the nra has been invited to meet with the biden task force, so that joe biden and his group reaching out to try to at least touch base with, of course, the most vigorous and best organized opponents of any kind of gun lobby. >> it would be shock if anything they didn't. they're not going to have a chance if there isn't an effort to reach out the nra and see if there is any possibility of common

so i think it's -- i think it's very real, and when you have a senator like john cornyn threatening to shut the government down, we're in for a pretty serious fight here. >> well, we know that congress had a year and a half, essentially, to agree on these spending cuts before the fiscal cliff and they couldn't do it. >> yeah. >> they've given themselves now two more months. is there any real hope of agreement? >> martin, i wish i was not so pessimistic. i think after the election i was much more optimistic that washington wld operate a little bit differently now that obama had been re-elected. and, you know, if you're a conservative republican you could argue that you wanted to beat obama at the ballot box, but if you could don't that, then it's time to cooperate with him. i think the last few weeks have showed us that that's not the lesson that most republicans took away from the election. and we're in for bitter, acrimonious debate for the rest of the year. very, very hard to see how much gets accomplished. and, you know, as you point out, they had months and months to deal with this

now, he voted against kerry most likely like his fellow texas senator john cornyn to appease the big donors down there in texas who have it in for john kerry. he's definitely been a real hotdog since he's arrived in the senate wanting to stir things up as much as possible. he's very careful though. so if he sees the winds beginning to blow another way from what we've seen in the past and i have known him for -- since a dozen years ago when he was a junior staffer on the bush campaign, what we know is that he'll go in that direction. and it seems that the tea party is receding a bit and you can bet that ted cruz will catch that wave. >> just as a follow-up to that, dana, in "the washington post" today there was an interesting story about the sort of fine line that cruz is actually trying to walk in terms of on the one hand the tea party but on the other hand sort of taking a vice chair position with the national republican senatorial campaign committee, which we know jim demint refused to do. so he seems like he's trying to play it very carefully here. >> it's huge ambition, and the i

in john cornyn's scenario where we shut down the government, how dire of an outcome is that? >> well, it's a terrible outcome, erin. it's not just shutting down the government. it is actually saying to the creditors of the united states we're not going to deliver on the full faith and credit of the united states. we're going to default on our debt. republicans played this card once before, remember, in december of 2011. it was -- it was very dangerous then. our debt was downgraded. it is very dangerous now. >> right. and, of course, the problem is, doug holtz-eakin, i know you're probably more sympathetic to the republican side, but the reality of it is is the money that the debt ceiling is being raised to pay is money that's already been borrowed and promised. i mean it is the full faith and credit of the u.s. government. >> yeah. i think that's right. let's put the rhetoric aside and recognize that there is no fight about raising the debt ceiling. that's not in question. and there isn't even really a fight about the need to control spending. anyone's who's in touch with the

>> with due respect to john cornyn, i spoke with chuck hagel at length. i've got written answers to my questions. i know his record on israel. and the fact is, he said a couple of thing s he shouldn't have said, and he has admitted that, good for him. and he is a strong supporter of israel. and he is strongly against what iran is trying to do. and i think, given his history, and given the fact that he will be a strong supporter of making sure that the worst possible sanctions are placed on iran, nothing is off the table when it comes to iran, he's going to be very strong. and i think it's very, very sad to see republicans lining up against a republican colleague who they served with, who is a hero, a war hero, twice woundeded wound eed in vietnam. i mean, he really cares about the troops. he has answered every question. there is definitely a right-wing effort to derail his nomination. and we don't know of any democrats at this point who are voting no. we have 55 democrats. so all i could say to my republican friends is, i hope you're not thinking of filib

number two, texas senator john cornyn took that fighting spirit even further threatening a partial government shutdown. he said in an op-ed, the coming deadlines will be the next flash points in our ongoing fight to bring fiscal sanity to washington. it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country rather than plod along the path of greece, italy, and spain. president obama needs to take note of this reality and put forward a plan to avoid it immediately. finally, pennsylvania republican senator pat toomey voiced the same sentiment earlier this week on "morning joe." >> our opportunity here is on the debt ceiling. the president has made it very clear, he doesn't even want to have a discussion about it because he knows this is where we have leverage. we republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary partial government shutdown, which is what that could mean, and insist that we get off the road to greece. >> governor, i don't doubt that 72% want to see the spending cuts. which way do you think the public sentimen

. >> i want to ask you about a comment made by the number two republican senator john cornyn of texas. he faulted the president for the brinksmanship as he called it but he also suggested it may be necessary to shut down the government in fact in order to secure this long-term fiscal well being. what are your thoughts on that? >> i think that would be a disaster particularly for our state of texas where our economy continues to do a little bit better than maybe the rest of the country. and i don't think -- i think it would be terrible for the country so i hope mr. cornyn or senator cornyn would definitely rethink that. but i think that is the sort of thing we need to get away from in washington, d.c. >> yeah. certainly this new congress has more diversity than we've ever seen before. >> yes. >> record number of latinos in the house, record number of women in the senate. what does this tell you about where we are in the country and do you think it'll make a difference in whether the president will be able to get his agenda done? >> yeah. absolutely. the new congress is absolutely amazi

. >> reporter: texas senator john cornyn laid out the case on wednesday saying hagel is tough on israel and soft on iran. >> he simply does not understand the true basis of the u.s./israel alliance and he's the same person who suggested the united states might be able to live with a nuclear iran. >> some well funded groups have taken to the tv and websites with ads to oppose his confirmation. >> president obama says he supports sanction, hagel voted against them. >> but hagel has been aggressive in fighting the accusations. he made the rounds here on capitol hill to talk with former colleagues and clarify his position. >> senator hagel and i had a very good meeting to talk about the department of defense and its future as well as his role. >> hagel picked up a big endorsement on the democratic side when he won over new york senator chuck schumer. >> i can now say i will support his nomination and urge my colleagues, many of whom who have had similar doubts to me, to do the same. >> if confirmed he'll be the first former enlisted man and first viet nam vet to become secretary of defense.

. >> let me ask you about a comment made by republican senator john cornyn. he says the next step for republicans may be partially shutting down the government. is that really the way that republicans are thinking? >> we not want to do that, but i can tell you from the perspective of this republican, if that's what we have to do in order to get the savings that we need to save this country from the debt crisis that absolutely will come in the future, then this republican is willing to do that. i'm willing to go over that limit and suffer that consequence which will be of a time of our choosing and totally controllable by us, then let this situation go on for a much worse and greater crisis sometime down the road at a time not of our choosing when we have no ability to stop it. >> finally let me ask you about "business week's" label of congress calling all of you babies. would you like to respond to tha that? >> unfortunately i guess i didn't read that article so i'm not sure why we're babies. if they're saying because of some of the -- as you when you got int

senate, there's a photo of john cornyn handing tom holman that a worker and i will say the new times i think was really responsible in undoing that narrative and really telling a different story about what happened in the small town. and bob herbert kind of worked off of some tremendous work that had been done by local investigative reporter down in texas. and really started covering the cases. and atom who still writes for the times was down there for a series of hearings. we had a lot of national media. not only "people" magazine wanted to write about one of my clients, matthew white to afford kids have been arrested as part of this sting. bill o'reilly was suddenly claiming credit for turning the situation around after covering the cases for three times on issue. you can imagine ldf was a frequent on the same side as bill o'reilly, especially on criminal justice. and suddenly people around the country were talking about, sort of understand the flaws in the criminal justice system in a way that i don't think it ever been very real to folks. that was a critically important piece, ki

john cornyn from, senator imhave, and senator marco rubio. another likely no is john mccain who tried to talk to hagel about the troop surge in iraq. >> please an the question. were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam? were you correct or incorrect? yes or no. >> my reference to the -- >> are you going to answer the question, senator? the question is, were you right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. >> the hearings started at 90:00 this morning. they're in a break now but more questioning ahead. >> shepard: to important matters now. the super bowl is almost here. vegas odds shut it could be a close game, and we all know it will make history, with two brothers going head-to-head, coaching opposing teams. a look ahead at the big game. the niners and ravens. what else for you to watch for on sunday. and guess what? we have breaking news from lip synching beyoncÉ. oh! progress-oh! -oh! -oh! oh! oh! ♪ wh do you know? oh! ♪ baco

one top republican in the senate, john cornyn. says in an op-ed in the houston chronicle: "it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country." a preview of that brinkmanship came in the house. where 67 republicans. including house budget chair paul ryan. voted against 9.7 billion dollars in aid for victims of super-storm sandy. despite the tongue lashing they got from new jersey governor chris christie. >> "shame on you. shame on congress." >> reporter: the fact that the rest of the storm relief is now up in the air until a vote later this month. was a let down for new york and new jersey lawmakers. even the freshmen. >> "i am new here. i don't know all the rules of washington but it sure seems like the rule here is to put off till tomorrow what should be done today." >> reporter: it was a return to the reality of broken government in washington. >> "come on mom take a chance. ruin your reputation here" >> reporter: after all of that good-will on display. wh

the three republicans who voted against kerry's nomination were republican texas senators john cornyn and ted cruz and senator james inhofe of oklahoma. transportation secretary ray lahood announced today he's planning to resign. his departure is the latest of several changes in president obama's cabinet since winning re-election. the former republican congressman from illinois brought a bi-partisan element to the obama administration. the president issued a statement thanking lahood for his dedication, hard work, and years of service to the american people. secretary lahood said he'll stay on the job until his replacement is confirmed. it took 16 doctors an 13 hours of surgery but an iraq war vet who lost both his arms in combat has a new lease on life. brendan marrocco is just the 7th person in the united states to undergo a rare double arm transplant surgery. he lost his arms and legs in 2009 when an armored vehicle he was driving was hit by a roadside explosion in iraq. marrocco says the surgery is like a new beginning for his life. it has given me a lot of hope for the future. i

i haven't read or played john cornyn in a while. it seems like we have to go back to the same old well to find the opposition. am i wrong or is there growing opposition? >> i think you're right it is singular. i want to pick up on a point dan was making and noting, asking, i don't know if it was a question of harold or rhetorical question about why are there a handful of democrats, i don't know if we want to measure yet so many, why are there some significant democrats, chuck schumer, ben cardin, i heard about others, maybe barbara boxer, others, why are they not effusive in saying they're rallying around, they will definitely support chuck hagel, they don't want to take a tough vote, don't want to take a vote on hagel if it turned into a tough vote on israel, bottom line. israel is a subject areas in foreign policy that can get turned into domestic politics and can get turned into something a politician or elected official hears about at home or somebody who's a donor or supporter. that's why you'd see the hand wringing, why i brin

but wolf, if we're getting back to that pattern of brinkmanship, even senate republican whip john cornyn said there may need to be a government shutdown to force the president's hand on spending cuts. we may be stuck in this pattern of brinkmanship and that could get in the way of other times like immigration reform. >>> thank you so much. >>> just days after the house of representatives caused a furor by refusing to vote on the aid package for thousands of victims of superstorm sandy, both chambers of the new congress approved a measure. the remaining $51 billion will be considered later this month. joining us now is ken fineberg, the managing partner of the law firm. also somebody who worked on these issues for years. you have given away what? $29 billion to victims of 9/11, katrina and several others, bp, and virginia tech, and some of the others, so what is your role as far as superstorm sandy is concerned? >> liberty mutual, private insurers, with claims all over the atlantic region has decided to set up a program to accelerate the processes of insurance claims rising out of sandy.

and john cornyn and ted cruz, he has a petition on the website that says washington politicians shouldn't be taking advantage of the recent tragedy to push an aggressive gun control agenda, trying to kind of turn it on everyone. i guess to nick's point, joanne, do you think that this is really more for show or can a hearing like this mean anything? >> this is all legs live theater. we are in the age of viral video. if somebody were to have an exchange that was viral, that could get out there. the other issue is the balance of positiwer has changed. it used to be the nra was the big voice and no one had equivalent power and you have things like michael bloomberg saying i will spend money, the same money the nra is spending. the pressure is different and i think the democrats and republicans who sort of have been in the nra camp are feeling pressure they never felt before. the nra doesn't have the power they used to. by the way, they didn't do that well. the candidates they supported during the election, their margin wasn't very good. >> and reading lapierre's comments, they weren't necessa

ted cruz and john cornyn against him. the official resignation coming on friday. this is really interesting now, elizabeth warren just sworn in this month becomes the senior senator for massachusetts. has her profile been upped more than it already was? because that was an election we watched nationally. >> clearly her profile has been pretty strong especially with progressives coming in, whether or not she would get that banking seat. but the fact she is now the senior senator for massachusetts, that is a remarkable shift considering where just a few years ago you had john kerry and ted kennedy both very senior members, now massachusetts has dropped down the list. it doesn't up her standing at all in the senate necessarily, but she is now the senior senator for massachusetts. >> yeah. it's a fast rise for her, 2013 starting off really well. thanks so much, i appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> one republican senator says he is backing former nebraska senator chuck hagel for secretary of defense. according to roll call,

this is an op-ed from senator john cornyn, quote, it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country rather than mrod along the path of greece, italy and spain. pat said the same thing on "morning joe." are we headed for a government shutdown in the next few months? >> if the republicans are crazy enough they'll want to do that it's possible they'll pull that off and it's a very divided party and divided between the far right wing and the, treatment right wing and the extreme right wing wants to shut down the government because they just don't like the government at all. they'd rather have no government than even good government. >> does the extreme right wing of the gop still yield that much power? >> well, sure. from what i can see, their caucus is divided almost equally between the corporate shales and the tea party. that's what passes for diversity on the other side of the aisle and the tea party represents a good hundred votes on the other side. republicans argue that we just passed this fiscal cliff deal and the

the republican that i look to right now is john cornyn. what a reversal. this guy writes an op-ed in the hometown newspaper in houston and turns around and tells the editorial board something totally different. what does that say about their leadership? >> it says they are all over the map. it says they are basically a rudderless ship and it says that they really don't get what is at stake for us economically. president obama clearly does. we've had 34 straight months of job growth, begun to get this economy turned around, unemployment rate is continuing to drop. the stock market is doing well. but the republicans could very easily throw all that into the trash can if they continue to leave the market uncertain and potentially continue to jeopardize the full faith and credit of the united states. >> congresswoman, does this now put some pressure on the democrats to deliver in the next 90 days? show the spending cuts you're willing to make? >> at the end of the day, when we deal with this sequester, we deal with deficit reduction, it has to be in a balanced

cornyn. the third vote came from james inhof from oklahoma, god bless him, so they lost, john kerry is leaving. there is already a date selection, massachusetts governor, deval patrick will hold a special election to replace john kerry on june 25th. so far the only person to announce his run for that seat is massachusetts congressman ed markkey, but tonight, steven lynch tells nbc news that congressman lynch is going to announce he is also running for the seat on the democratic side. and of course there is lots of speculation about the other side of the aisle. a certain senator who just lost to elizabeth warren, the associated press is reporting that scott brown is "leaning strongly towards running" likely to enter the race next week. they quoted an anonymous republican source close to the senator. that said, the named spokesperson for the senator later told the boston tv station wcbb that that reporting was incorrect. but the spokesperson would not elaborate. so yeah, there is that. want to

. >> reporter: republican senator john cornyn says march 1st is the day that the sequester will likely take effect but he hopes a deal to stop the harsh cuts can be made soon afterwards. martha. martha: peter thank you very much. peter doocy. bill: take a look at this. a woman absolutely losing it while in police custody. she is inside the car. officer says, what is going on there? there goes the window. tell you what this is all about. campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do. [ male announcer ] sounds good. hey, buddy? oh, hey, flo. you want to see something cool? snapshot, from progressive. my insurance company told me not to talk to people like you. you always do what they tell you? no... try it, and see what your good driving can save you. you don't even have to switch. unless you're scared. i'm not scared, it's... you know we can still see you. no, you can't. pretty sure we can... try snapshot today -- no pressure. bill: confirmation h

. >> all right, let's talk about republican senator john cornyn of texas who wrote this op-ed in the houston chronicle, who said it may be necessary to shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country rather than plod along the path of greece, italy, and spain. a couple of things here, is there a fair analogy to be made wish issues like greece and the financial troubles they have been having and do you think we really would see a government shutdown over this? >> as susan pointed out, it's always a possibility given the nation's financial situation and the upcoming deadline, i don't think it's that likely. i think this is more of a bargain chip, an opening foray from very conservative republicans and i'll make a note about senator cornyn as well, hoix t homes the number two senator among republicans but he's also up for re-election in 2014, texas is a very conservative state, there's probably a reason he placed it in "the houston chronicle," obviously that's a concern don his mind. >> some republicans oppose the sandy aid that passed yesterda

cornyn of texas. cornyn wrote an op-ed discussing the coming deadlines of the sequester, the continuing resolution to fund the government, and the debt limit. it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country, rather than plod along the path of greece, italy and spain. it caught the attention of a lot of folks. let's be clear. not raising the debt limit is not the same as a partial government shutdown. it would cause an immediate financial collapse with long-term national and global consequences. senator cornyn's office was asked if his government shutdown comments refer to the continuing resolution to fund the government or the debt ceiling or both. a spokeswoman said she didn't see a distinction between the two in terms of republicans using them as leverage. she says "i wouldn't look too much into it." she said," i think there are three big deadlines." you think? republicans want to use those three big deadlines as leverage, a

out power panel is still here to talk about what i think is a terrific idea by senator john cornyn, a government shutdown, in an op-ed the tex republican said it may be necessarily to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country. i think that is absolute genius. let's bring in our power panel back into see what they think. economist, peter morici and john kane, and sam wardell. peter, start with you, his basic point republicans were brought to the brink and threatened with a government shutdown in the last couple deals. we're coming to the point where that could happen again and bite the bullet and let a shutdown haen in order not to spend more money. what do you think? >> well, this time around the president went over the coress's head to the people and essentially ran up his public approval ratings and mr. boehner blinked. he rolled. if the gop is willinn to shut down the government and stick to its guns, until it gets its spending cuts and take unpopularity that goes with it, in the end, then i think they can win. the real pro

john cornyn wrote in a recent op-ed, quote, it may be necessary to partially shut down the government. here's what arizona congressman said just yesterday. >> i believe that that government shutdown gave us the impetus as we went forward to push toward some real serious compromise. i think it drove bill clinton in a different direction. a very bipartisan direction. i think it's about time. >> well, this pressure comes with several key deadlines just around the corner. the deadline to raise the debt ceiling late next month despite hitting the limit welcome. march 2nd, the sequester kicks in. march 27th, in spring when the rest of us are happy it's warming up, could be freezing in d.c. because funding for the government stops. let's bring in the political panel. molly ball and chris cofinis. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, tamron. >> we know how the year ended with the fiscal cliff. i cannot remember the comedian saying he hopes to never say the words fiscal cliff but there are many more problems ahead here. i'm intrigued by this notion of the government shutdown. i want to play

. >> reporter: if the president won't come to the bargaining table one top republican in the senate john cornyn says in an op-ed in the houston chronicle it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country. democrats warn, watch out. >> risking government shutdown, risking not raising the debt ceiling is playing with fire. >> on this vote the aye are 354 the nays are 67. >> reporter: a preview of the brinkmanship came in the house where 67 republicans including house budget chair paul ryan voted against $9.7 billion in aid for victims of superstorm sandy despite the tongue larshig from new jersey governor chris christie. >> shame on you. shame on congress. >> reporter: the fact that the rest of the relief is up in the air until later this month was a letdown for new york and new jersey lawmakers. even the freshmen. >> i'm new here. i don't know all the rules of washington but it sure seems like the rule here is to put off till tomorrow what should be done today. >> reporter: it was a return to the reality of broken g

. >> senator john cornyn of texas said on the filibuster fight, he said quote, the history of this has been that people get up to the edge of the abyss and they look into the abyss and they pull back because today' minority can become the majority. what's your reaction to that statement by senator cornyn? >> my reaction is anything i'm backing is something i'm completely comfortable with in the minority. in fact, they say if you're going to argue for more debate, you actually got to use your voice. so it's empowering. and if they don't have the courage of their convictions to make their case before their colleagues or the american people, then they should sit down and get out of the way. so that the process can go forward. so it's -- these are reforms that i'm comfortable with, that tom udall is comfortable with. if we're in the minority, we support these reforms because they facilitate debate. >> do you have the votes? do you think they will filibuster even on the filibuster reform? >> well, i think we can anticipate that. but under the constitution it says a simple majority can chang

john cornyn said you must shut the govlt down. that's not what he's proposing. there's a whole bunch of people that the u.s. owes money to. contractors we have to pay, the salaries of u.s. senators. and what they're saying is some small subset of those, on a certain day, you should stop paying. >> partial. >> what the heck does that even mien? and if you're worried about arbitrary government power, are you saying the executive should exercise the arbitrary power and authority to decide who gets paid and who doesn't? could they pay the salaries of democratic senators and not republican senators? >> and who decides that? >> exactly. it should be very clear to everyone watching and everyone following this debate, they don't seem to even understand what they are proposing. >> because they actively, under eric cantor's leadership, cantor basically said you know what, you're not going to teach us. you're not going to teach -- we've got all of these freshmen in, we're not going to learn from our elders here, initially, right? this is a kind of strategic point on eric c