to govern. this is what we call governs, also the first time that speaker boehner demanded and received real sacrifice from his fellow republicans, even though it's telling the fringes no, and telling tea party members to back off. i for one would like to congratulate the speaker for finally getting some backappoint. >> oh. >> well, maybe it was at the expense of nancy pelosi's backbone in the crossfish tonight. paul begala, who is no stranger to crossfire. i'm confused, and here's why. listen to nancy pelosi last week. >> we are making a very clear statement that we cannot --

cannot support a budget agreement that does not include unemployment insurance. >> okay. and this was nancy pelosi today on cnn. so this morning you told your members, embrace the suck? that's a quote? >> yes. it's a quote, yes, but at the end of the day, we need to have a budget. >> so what happened? why did she cave so fast? >> because reality sucks, reality bites, reality intrude. i do love what you've done with the, and seriously i like what you're doing with the show. it's a lot better than when i was running things. i like it more than paul. but that's called leadership. frankly john boehner showed it as well. everybody likes to attack washington for good reason. both parties' leaders stepped up today. they don't love this deal. they probably don't like it, but

we have to fund the government. we don't want to put the country what we went through. 6s. >> i don't understand why she gave it up so quickly. >> i think because we have to fund the government. i think it was the right thing to do. it will start in the senate, a separate stand-alone bill to extend unemployment benefits if republicans at christmastime want to tell 1.3 million americans that they're also out of luck, i think that would be a catastrophe. >> speaker boehner had harsh words for people like you, tea party groups, criticizing -- you came out quickly to criticize the budget deal. let's take a listen at what he said earlier today. >> groups come out and criticize an agreement that they've never seen. you begin to wonder just how credible those actions are.

>> i think he has a point. i think -- >> word began leaking out days before to what it was going to include. it was going to blow through the sequestration numbers. and have whatever word of the day for a tax increase. it was easy to know what was coming here. >> but you used to be able to tell speaker boehner what to do. >> well, remember, remember, we did not support the defund strategy back in the fall. we thought that was not the right way to go. we does not port the effort that led to a shutdown. i don't think he's talking about us in that regard, but this is the typically gamesmanship. the speaker, whether it's pelosi at a certain time, it's not a big choice. >> i've never seen speaker boehner like this. >> oh, common, he gets emotional a lot. >> he does -- >> and that's not a criticism. >> but usually that's sentimental. >> okay let's take boehner off

the couch. paul, i want to go back to unemployment insurance. for weeks, months, years, i've been told by democrats that extending it is a moral imperative. in fact especially at christmastime. last week the president said that it's the difference between hardship and catastrophe for some families. so why is the president going to sign a bill that he thinks is immoral, is guess the values of your party, and why is he declaring it a victory? >> because, i may not like it, but the american people decided to put republicans in charge of the house of representatives. okay. they won fair and square, then they got reelected fair and square. i don't like it, but my guess tim and his friends don't like our president was elected fair and square and reelected fair and square. >> agreed. >> but the point behind compromise, it literally means both sides made a promise to support something from a neutral arbiter. we don't have an arbiter now, but both sides have to accept things they really hate. that's the essence of

self-government here. >> back when the budget control act was put together, that 967 number for this fiscal year was a compromise. the republicans didn't get all they wanted and the president and his allies did not get what they wanted. it was a compromise then, a bipartisan agreement. that's why it's frustrating for a lot of americans to suddenly hear that it's extreme, to somehow simply say keep your word, congress, stick to this number and don't continue increasing government spending. remember when the budget control act passed, the sequester was supposed to be a last resort, a trigger if we couldn't come to a balanced definite at this time reduction deal, so democrats never liked these cuts. >> a lot of republicans don't, either. >> absolutely, they were misplaced, and preventing some pre-core investments and things we needed to grow. so it was a last resort. it was a trigger. it wasn't supposed to happen. we were supposed to come to -- >> about you they still agreed to it, though. >> they agreed to it, and it's been a drag on.

>> it's supposed to be a doomsday. this is where my fellow democrats got it wrong. this worked in the past. where he set up -- set up these doomsday machines that worked. this time it didn't. i think it's because republicans have changed. republicans used to be so strong on national defense that we democrats believed they would never, never cuts -- i'm not exactly a big hawk, but these cuts have to be restored. >> in washington would they call it doomsday to cut three cents on the dollar. that's doomsday? that's why america has such low regarding for america's political system and this congress right now. >> let's talk about the low regard for this current congress. i'm assuming that americans for prosperity, your group has pretty low regard for -- 169 republicans voted for this budget deal irmgts you bet. >> which you were very much against. what's the price for voting for this budget deal?

are you going to fund primaries or going to hold them accountable? what's the price? >> we have not made decisions on primaries for next year, but i will say this. since about august 1, or our zag has spent about roughly $15 million holding republicans accountable on obama care. and thanking some republican house members for doing the right thing, working to eliminate obama care over the long term. we'll be equally aggressive for holding people accountable. and back this summer, the farm bill was up and it was hot, we were aggressive. we spent a lot of activism, almost all focused on republicans? >> specifically boehner just announced his reelection, are you going to -- >> you can't run address in 435 districts i'm happy to take your help, by the way. we just finished ad buys on natural gas subsidies, which we oppose in republican districts.

they don't get as much attention or coverage, but we absolutely do that. >> what about on the left? i know the left seems to coalesce and forgives these transgressions witness the party a lot easier than the right. do you think there will be in consequences for seeming to cave? >> the democrats did compromise, and no, i don't think. right now -- this is almost unprecedented in my lifetime, the democrats are more mainstream. generally that's not been the case frankly, but the democrats are not -- >> it's democrats horrified over the embarrassing roll-out of obama carom. that's what's going on. that's why they're suddenly uneeded. they now how bad things are. they're terrified paul, avoiding every fight they can illustrates in the '70s they would not have allowed a democratic president to walk away from a single payer and take a republican idea, which is obama care, which was romney care, before that it was

gingrich care. >> the current system -- >> obama care was conceived by the heritage foundation, midwifed by newt gingrich and reared by mitt romney. >> okay. okay. >> ask. we're going to get into obama care, but first, nobody looks back at bill clinton and says, man that guy compromised too much. next i'll ask paul begala whether the key to president obama's success is caving more often. ♪ [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see? ♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastics

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welcome back in the "crossfire" tonight paul begala and tim phillips. breaking news, the house presumed a budget deal where both leaders are inviting the

wrath of our now divideded government is nothing new. paul begala, you know that you know that, because you worked in the clinton white house. he left office popular and with a surplus, so paul, you could make the argument that democrats aren't going to punish obama for compromising more. why doesn't he do this more often? >> i think he's got no one to dance with. newt was no -- i wish he were to defend himself, but he was no great avatar of bipartisanship. >> it seems like democrats love him -- >> i do love him, though, as a fellow cnn employeesee. they impeached him for no good reason, but still though, here's the difference. one of newt and president clinton's seminal success was

they doubled -- why? because republicans get sick, too. i will say this about them, he as bend clinton even as they are cutting some things, even as they were balancing the budget, they found common ground. i would love to see speaker boehner -- and did you. >> but there's another way to see this. >> we had a republican congressman who said this deal, this budget deal got done in spite of president obama, because he wasn't involved. is he relevant? >> i think he's highly relevant. >> how so? where does it end? >> actually this addresses tim, too. this is the problem for president obama that president clinton did not have -- the tea party. . and they really hate president obama. so the more he engages president obama, the more impossible it is for tea party republicans to come on to smp.

>> no, that is not -- they hated bush. they said vicious things. >> terrible. >> think back to the reagan years. i was scarred for life. i think that's overstated. the truth is president clinton moved right. it was a conservative play. >> that was not something that -- >> it was don't ask/don't tell. >> he was always-he compared in 1974 for congress. he didn't move, but he moved his party. this is what the republicans need. you all don't need a second reagan, but a second clinton. someone to bring into the mainstream. >> we'll hold off. the generic balance -- the democrat party is losing to a party you're calling -- what does it make the democrat at that point? part of it is because obama care is such a disaster.

we all know that. the american people now know it. >> only thing worse than obama is obama care. >> and the only thing worse is republicans. >> have you looked at that recently? >> the generic ballot test, where they're basically equally matched. what you guys have done is closed the gap. you know, following up on what paul said, i've been doing campaigns for a long time. i've seen you strike fear in some republicans in 2010. but let's take a look at what's happening right now. you've spend millions. >> what are you spending your money on? >> make sure between now and next year. >> you've lost some big races in the last election cycle, now suffered a major loss in the house of representatives, and ultimately hopefully in the senate. let's look at your poll numbers, because your favorable ratings are at 30%, which is a record low. >> but she doesn't mean you

personally. >> the tea party. >> well, first if these numb -- >> that's a good point. >> if he's been around for a decade. >> that's a good point. they're not polls on you, tim. you are part of the tea party movement? is that not true. >> we're a free market operation. we've been around for a decade. >> then you ought to love president obama. >> we do. we do. we love what he's doing for our movement, absolutely. >> so, i mean, my question is, you are considered part of the tea party movement, more broadly, and you've lost the speak of the house. it seems like you're losing the country. where is your relevance here? >> first of all, this is a temporary policy setback, and it is. it is a defeat. it's a loss, federal spending says it's gone through the roof. that's disappointing to see. at the same time we're exactly where we want to be on the biggest issue in the country, where is obama care. we're there, we're going to stay there. we're going to keep pointing out

exactly the disaster to this legislation this law is, as it actually takes effect next year. i think that we'll be able to pivot to other issues. >> but you're going to pivot to this budget deal against republicans? >> we absolutely are. you lieu incredulous, but you didn't follow the debate back in the summer -- >> i'm not incredulous. i follow this very closely. you seem to have struck fear. >> we have. we have. >> let's talk about another disaster, entitlements. nothing in this budget touches entitlement reform, which anyone can add knows -- however in your party, you have elizabeth warren and third way on opposite ends of this battle. are you worried that entitlement reform over the next year or two or three will drive a wedge in your party? >> a little, but not nearly the same. put it this way. am i concerned that when i spend christmas with my republican

brother, you would love him, total republican, that we'll have a debate over dinner? we will, of course, but the republicans are very little the battle with thousands of people slaughtering them in the fields. it's not the same. there's a civil war on tim's side. >> that's grossly we hold both sides accountable. that's totally different. >> look at the left. we're going to get food stamp reform. that's going on happen next year. it needs to happen. >> did george or well you to say that? you want to take away food stamps from homeless veterans who fought for their country. describe it that way because that's what you're doing. >> there is 80 billion for food stamps. the same people running that program are the ones who brought us the obama care rollout. the same people. let's find a way to save 5 cents on the dollar. 5 cents on the dollar. if you want to roll out

individual horror stories, we'll final a safety net. to say you can't find 5 cents on the dollar on a program that big and that bloated? by the same people who have destroyed obama care in the first months of the rollout? >> protecting corporate welfare. >> let's do it. let's kill it. >> here's one for you. we've run ads in iowa and nebraska in republican districts saying get rid of corporate welfare. if you're going to get rid of social welfare, you have to get rid of the corporate welfare. we believe in that. >> any of the corporate that say, pick a random company, koch gets? >> we want to get rid of -- how about those energy subsidies. >> you're welcome to support us but they're not. we want to get rid of them. >> we want a level playing

field. that includes ag subsidies. >> can we work with you on that in. >> yes. and wind subsidies and solar. >> stay here. this is a great debate. next, the final question for both our guests and we'll continue the discussion we've been having. we want you at home to weigh in on the fire baghdad question. does the budget deal represent a new era of bipartisanship in washington? i certainly hope so. people don't have to think about where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions-- it matters.

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we're back. now it's time for the final question. tim, i'll going to give my final question to you. shocker. and i know you're going to be shocked by what my question will be about. about obama care. we probably have not spend enough time in this show talking about it for you. your group has spent millions, and you just said your group will spend millions trying to defeat it. we're getting news that more and more people are signing up. more than a million people have signed up. there is momentum and it is only going to grow. by election day, 2014. i believe you're putting republicans in a box because they're going to be running against a program that millions of people are going to be benefiting. on not in terms of bans on preexisting conditions, discrimination, on putting their

health care on until they're 26 or no lifetime limits. you don't have to worry about hitting your limit and getting your care but people will be getting their private insurance through the exchanges. so republicans will be running against that. they'll want to take that away. so that's a terrible box to be in. >> it is a box of emotion, perhaps. maybe that's it. >> nice job. >> let's remember, the number right now. 5 million americans have lost health insurance that they were happy about. less than a million. about 400,000 have signed up. and most of those haven't even paid yet. they can't because the back end doesn't work on the website that was built to actually process the payments so that number is the starting point. wait until january kicks in and the deductible is through the roof. and wait until you can't see the doctor you want see the and you have to drive an hour past three

hospitals to get there. >> i have to get in here. others have insist that had democrats will run on obama care. we hope they do. are they serious? >> oh, yeah. i would advise the same thing. >> oh, yes. >> the politics of this are shifting. 85% of us, we don't have to go on a webb so that my mama gets mammograms under medicare. she doesn't have to go on to get it. my daddy gets that doughnut hole closer. he doesn't have to go on a website to get it. >> your mama and your daddy aren't the people that obama care needs to make it profitable and successful. they need people in my generation and younger. >> we need the young invincibles. these guys don't understand it. >> not anymore. he is losing them in droves. >> if you want to go back, insurance company deng you because of a preexisting condition. >> thanks to paul and tim. what a great show. to go google and twitter to weigh in. does budget deal recommend a new

era of bipartisanship in washington? right now 18% say yes. and 82% say no. that's sad. the debate continues online at cnn.com/crossfire. erin burnett "outfront" starts erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com next, breaking news. the budget put to a vote. nancy pelosi doesn't seem very happy about it. >> so this morning you told your members, embrace the suck. >> then a north korean purge. a member of kim jong-un's own family executed for treason. and a man known as the fake sign