great show. that's it for this week. juliet will be in tomorrow. >> juliet: bright and early, kids. >> steve: merry christmas, everybody! >> fox news alert. bat bell over the payroll tax cut coming to a head in our nation's capitol today. we're expecting both the senate and house to meet and consent to a two-month extension. good morning, everyone. i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer here in "america's newsroom". >> i'm julie banderas julie: many hoist republicans angry over the extension. many democrats are celebrating. house minority leader nancy pelosi releasing a statement and i'm quoting. this is victory for the american people. they spoke out clearly.

as a result 160 million american workers will continue to receive a payroll tax cut, about $1,000 in the pockets of the average family. gregg: meanwhile house speaker john boehner is taking a lot of heat right now essentially giving in to democrats and president obama in this fight. speaker boehner still pushing for a one-year plan. >> it is not always easy to do the right thing but we believe that we came here to change the way this town does business and no more gimmicks. no more short term this, short term that. time to do solid policy and do it the right way. gregg: mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. should we expect any drama today in unanimous votes in the house and senate? >> reporter: definitely not in the senate. the had 89 votes in the senate to pass the payroll tax holiday. that should be easy. the wildcard is the house

floor. there we might see some problems. the house blew up the idea of two months extension last saturday. all it takes one member to show up and object. then you have big problems. the house floor was scene of drama wednesday when steny hoyer tried to reintroduce the senate bill in the house t was shut down pretty quickly. all eyes will be on the house floor. as for the way ahead, here is more from speaker boehner. >> we expect that there will, these members will work expeditiously to complete the one-year extension all of us want. we will ask the house and senate to the approve this agreement by unanimous consent before christmas. >> reporter: leaders are hoping to wrap it up this morning. i've asked republican leaders in the house, do you expect any drama? they say they don't anticipate any but we'll see. i have reached out to several tea party members who have been thought to possibly want to object to this deal.

they say they will fight harder in january but again we'll be watching. gregg? gregg: mike, what about the fallout from all of this? is there a political price to be paid? >> reporter: well, we have heard from some angry house republicans saying they don't think the speaker should have taken this deal. they were angry last night at 5:00 when the speaker laid out the deal for the house republican caucus he did not allow feedback, did not take any questions. you may remember a conference call last saturday blew up the deal the first time. so he didn't take any feedback this time. didn't allow it to become a feeding frenzy. there are others who say some of the other republican leaders should have had the speakers back. you saw in the news conference he was standing by himself. where were the other house republican leaders. some say the boehner loyalists may have pay back for those who left him hanging on this one. gregg: mike, in probably a fairly empty capitol. thanks so much. julie: why did it congress to take so long to include a

deal? chris van hollen says there is no reason why house republicans should turn down a deal passed by a majority of their senate colleagues. in fact the congressman told greta van susteren last night, the house's one year plan needed a lot of work. >> they included in that a lot of poison pills, things unrelated to payroll tax cut which is one of the reasons it is going to require a little more time to work out a one-year tax cut and which is why it is important to make sure that for the next two months we do not have an increase in the payroll tax. julie: coming up later, congressman van hollen will join us live to talk about today's house meeting and what exactly we can expect. we can expect to be talking to tea party backed congressman jeff landry of louisiana, who agrees with many of his colleagues they have been hung out to dry by house leadership. gregg: let's, julie, recap what we can expect today on capitol hill. 9:30 a.m. the u.s. senate meets. the house will meet at 10:00

a.m. eastern. both houses are supposed to pass the two-month payroll extension by unanimous consent. it is expected to pass easily in the u.s. senate as mike emanuel said. a single objection in the house of representatives could wipe the issue off the board today. then the house would have to come back for a full session next week and hold a formal roll call vote. julie: if the deal doesn't pass on january 1st, paychecks will shrink for about 160 million americans to be exact. the social security tax will actually increase from 4.2 to 6.2%. that is almost $20 a week for someone making $50,000 a year. two million americans would face losing their unemployment benefits. with medicare, doctors, could see big cuts in payments as well. we've got developing news for you on what could be a very big christmas gift for the economy. the "wall street journal" reporting that the federal reserve may signal it will keep interest rates near

zero through 2014 and beyond. fox business network stuart varney joins me now. he is the anchor of fbn's "varney & company". low interest rates, varney? sounds like a christmas gift from the fed. >> it is a christmas gift that will stretch into next year and year after. the federal reserve according to "the wall street journal" keeps interest rates way down. that means mortgage rates close to record lows for some time to come. car loan rates also, very, very low. low interest rates. low loan rates for next couple years. how about that? julie: that's amazing is it all good news? >> no. it is not all good news, to do this means that the federal reserve is saying our economy stays sluggish for at least a couple of years. that means we're going to look more like europe, more like japan, slow growth, high unemployment, big debt. not all good news. julie: all right. i don't want you to sound like the grinch do you have any cheer on the financial front? >> yes i do. i really do. this is way out of my ballpark but i bring you the

real housewives of spain. i bring you sheer joy. this, these are the lottery winners in spain. this is sheer joy, ladies and gentlemen. this is the biggest lottery in the world. there's a little town in northeastern spain, called granon. there are only 2,000 people in the town. they just won $940 million. julie: oh, my goodness. >> it is el-gordo biggest lottery in the world. they just had the drawing. housewives, real winners. real housewives of spain. how about that. >> el-gordo. wasn't that your nickname at one point? >> that is the fat one in spanish. julie: see him prediet days. gregg: a little chubby back then. >> stuart varney, always great to see you. thank you. gregg: moving to el-gordo. it has been a brutal and nasty fight on television and the campaign trail for that matter for the republican candidates but they're getting a bit of a

breather now with the holidays and so does our own chief political correspondent carl cameron who has been covering the candidates out on the campaign trail for several weeks, months now. carl's back in washington today and carl, how are the holidays going to impact the races as we inch a lot closer to the iowa caucuses. >> reporter: good morning, gregg. everybody gets a little bit of time off t really impact the candidates rather dramatically. when you look at calendar, i think we have one we can show you on the screen. you realize with the january caucuses on the 3rd because of two upcoming holiday weekends this campaign goes into something of suspended animation and there are only five, six campaign days left for the candidates. means this weekend with christmas and next weekend with new year's there is bit of a respite particularly on the air. a lot of candidates take down negative attack ads and replace them with warm and fuzzy bio commercials.

in case of the pro-romney super pac doing tough attack ads on newt gingrich will come of the air this weekend as well. it makes it more tense for the candidates because they recognize the holidays cost them valuable campaign time in iowa. gregg: all the iowa voters have seen the negative ads about 1,000 times anyway. what do we see going into the final stretch, carl? >> reporter: because of how little time is left and because of the holidays basically things get frozen. you look at the polls, pretty clear, mitt mitt, newt gingrich and ron paul are in a battle three ways for iowa and gingrich has been slipping. the ex-speaker this week has been openlydown playing expectations and essentially for the last week and a half been suggesting that his slide in the polls is a consequence of the attack ads that will lighten up a little bit in the last couple weekends. gingrich is downplaying expectations saying he could come in third and fourth in iowa, perhaps first or second in new hampshire which follows by a week and then the speaker is saying in south carolina and

florida he can come back because he's a southern conservative and running against what he calls a massachusetts moderate in mitt romney when things get down to the palmetto state. so we're at crunch time now. the holidays are a real different piece of calculus for the candidates because their messages have to relax a little bit and be more festive and have to get out on the campaign trail to make up the time in the final sprint. gregg: carl cameron back in washington. i'm sure your neighbors don't know who you are. >> i fly back in christmas. julie: hardest working man here. mitt romney getting the backing of an elder statesman of the republican party. former president george h.w. bush, bush 41, telling "the houston chronicle" he thinks romney is the best person for president because of his stability and experience and he is not a quote, bomb thrower. romney thanked the former president for his support in a phone call. >> another endorsement today. president george herbert walker bush said he supported me today. [applause]

and he didn't use the word endorsement. he used the word support and he is supporting my effort and i appreciate that. actually more on a personal basis perhaps even than a political basis. i respect him enormously as an american hero. for his service and in the world war but losses as an american patriot. gregg: so what does the bush, sort of endorsement mean for the race? our political panel will weigh in on that. julie: just months after an either cake destroyed the city of christchurch, new zealand, another quake rattles the area and more nerves on that. gregg: major windstorm toppling trees, damaging homes just ahead of the holiday weekend. we'll tell you where these dramatic pictures and events occurred. >> the door got blown in and there's some glass flying around and, but, everybody was okay in there and nobody was hurt. [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose,

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julie: the city of christchurch, new zealand, rocked by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake. [screaming] julie: you can hear the people screaming in that video. no reports, miraculously of serious injuries and widespread damage but did shake things off store shelves here and sent people running from buildings. the epicenter was about 16 miles offshore but did not trigger a tsunami warning. in february, 6.3 magnitude quake destroyed much of christchurch and killed more than 180 people. gregg: well, house lawmakers are set to meet in less than an hour from now. we're awaiting an end to the bitter battle over the payroll tax extension bill. house republicans wanted a year-long fix but will have to settle for a two-month extension for now at least. louisiana congressman jeff landry is on the republican study committee.

he joins us live and congressman, thanks for taking a few minutes. you're a freshman republican. you're a member of the tea party caucus. you voted on tuesday against the two-month extension, the senate bill. i assume you're reversing course right now because you're not in washington to be ob project in 45 minutes. why are you reversing yourself? >> well, i'm not reversing i'm not able to get back to washington in time to make that objection. this is bad policy and good politics. of course we've had a lot of bad policy and good politics. that's why we're $15 trillion in debt. that is why we have scandals like solyndra and to inject the kind of uncertainty --. gregg: congressman, i got to stop you there. if you felt so strongly about it, why didn't you stick around in washington? i mean we've been talking about this possibility all week. surely you had to know? >> well, no, one of the reasons i didn't stick

around base he had the trust in the leadership that we were going to take this fight all the way to the end. it was our understanding that when we left town that we may be coming back for some votes, hoping that we would have a deal reached between the senate and the house which extended this payroll tax for one year. so it was our trust in the deal when we left town that this would not happen. gregg: yeah. >> but you're right, it --. gregg: i read the statement that you issued. i got it here in front of me. you rip into the senate and the president for rushing deals, quote, to go on vacation. but you're on vacation aren't you? you're back in louisiana. you left washington. >> no. if i was on vacation i wouldn't be here in front. camera. i can tell you we had an opportunity to come back into the district where we could visit with our constituents and hear from them. i wanted to come back into louisiana and talk to the people who i represent and find out if what i was

believing they're believing. that this is a bad deal. gregg: your party has already won a couple of victories in this thing. your vote against it, notwithstanding. after all you got rid of the millionaires tax and president and democrats wanted. you inserted the keystone provision, which forces the president's hand on the oil pipeline. wasn't, why wasn't that good enough? >> well, i mean think about it. we're basically, there are a lot of things that are not in here. the bonus depreciation for business, for businesses is not in this. we're going to pay for this by increasing the fees on homeowners. and then we're going to come in, have this exact same fight again in two months. and it's ridiculous. we're injecting uncertainty into the american families budget. how do they know, so basically going to get this holiday for two months. we don't know what will happen after that. gregg: congressman, ever since your vote on tuesday against the two months

extension your party, especially conservatives and tea party caucus, you're a member of that, you've been getting hammered in columns and editorials all over the country especially in the "wall street journal", the conservative editorial page. i want to quote them. here is what they said. they called your vote of a fiasco. a after a year of tea party house, obama and senate democrats had to make no major policy extensions, of extending tax rates for two years. mr. obama was in stronger reelection position than he was a year ago and chances of mr. mcconnell becoming majority leader are declining. given the politics of this thing, wasn't your vote damaging? >> i don't believe that because you know, our vote was the right vote. when is this going to end? again, this is good politics, sure. i will admit that but good politics has gotten into the condition we're in country. at end of the day i didn't

come to washington to worry about elections. i came out here to worry about generations right. >> i mean when is this madness going to stop. we have to take a stand at some point. gregg: i took time to watch your remarks on the floor of the house of representatives. you were demanding a one-year extension to provide, in your words, certainty. you kept using that word over and over again, certainty and certainty. how does 10 more months provide any greater certainty? >> well, 10 more months at least, why? because normally people develop their budgets based on 12 months. and so at least they know going into the new year, that for the next 12 months their paychecks are not going to shrink. gregg: do you really think employers are going to make employment decisions to hire somebody based on such a small and temporary decrease as another ten months on top of the two months? >> no, absolutely not. this was never designed to have employers increase

employment. this was designed to give americans more of their hard-earned money. we've had saying two months is unworkable. even media, the times said this two-month extension is unworkable for businesses. businesses pay their payroll taxes on a quarterly basis. so what we're voting on, doesn't even work for the american, for the american business out there. it is hard for them to calculate it. that's why if we're going to do it, we need to do it for one year. gregg: the vote is in 40 minutes. clearly you're not going to be there to object. so we'll wait and see if anybody else will. thanks very much, congressman jeff landry, of louisiana. julie: we'll be hearing from the democrats next. the congressman chris van hollen of maryland, who has been very vocal in this fight will join us live to talk about today's house meeting and what we can expect. we'll stay tuned to that. gregg: john edwards asking a judge to delay his trial on

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gregg: and developing right now in "america's newsroom", former presidential candidate john edwards asking a judge to delay his trial for using donor money to hide his affair with a campaign worker. edwards claims to have a medical condition that would make attending the proceedings difficult. he is not disclosing the nature of that problem. well the famous santa anna winds sweeping through southern california. they are pulling down trees, causing tower outages even toppling over trucks. someone in arizona got into the christmas spirit. take a look at this. the question is who.

a fully decorated christmas tree appearing at the top of camelback mountain near phoenix. julie: car bombings rocking syria's capitol. more than 30 people killed, more than 100 people hurt. leland vittert from jerusalem joins us live. leland, do we know really who was responsible for these attacks? >> reporter: hi, julie. we know who the syrian government has blapd and that is quote, al qaeda but in this kind of situation you really have to look beyond what the syrian government propaganda machine is putting out here. there are three possibilities and keep in mind as we go through these for eight months now the syrian government has been massacring its own people and blaming violence on quote terrorists. just the day the arab league observation team shows up there inside damascus to work to end the violence there are two car bombs.

it is a coincidence we might say if you spend a lot of time in the middle east and tracking these things, you tend not to believe in coincidences that much, julie? julie: what does it mean for the revolution there? >> reporter: well you've got about three possibilities here. number one it was indeed al qaeda that did this that would mean that you have the possibility of a terrorist group trying to exploit the situation. number two, you have something like the free syrian army there which obviously now to hit president assad and his capitol in his base of power would change the game. number three the syrian government has done this to themselves to take the attention off them so they can go kill as many people as they want in an attempt to put down this quote, unquote, terrorist group. julie? julie: leland vittert, thank you very much. gregg? gregg: some new concerns over medicare. coming up a fox medical a-teamer why this program is putting a brick wall between this their patients and their doctor.

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gregg: a fox news alert, just seconds ago, the majority leader in the u.s. senate, harry reid introducing the new senate version of the payroll tax cut extension for unanimous consent. let's listen in. >> without objection, so ordered. under the previous order the senate will now stand adjourned until 12 noon, on tuesday december, 27th,

2001. happy holidays. gregg: that's how it happened. it took about a minute. and i would imagine that there are not a great many people on the senate floor other than the majority leader. the rules dictate we don't really show entire floor. and so he simply introduced it and it is unanimous consent. if nobody objecting it goes through. same thing will happen in half an hour on house of representatives but somebody there may well object. we'll carry that one live as well. in the meantime a powerful storm sweeping through the state of georgia injuring seven people. high winds toppling dozens of trees, damaging homes and pulling down power lines. it left some people with little time to get to safety. >> the door got blown in and there was some glass flying around and but everybody was okay in there and nobody was hurt. >> that happened so fast i didn't have time to get off

the bobcat. took tin off my garage roof. it blew three trees down at my hoist. it just blew them down. gregg: what does all this mean for holiday travelers? rick reichmuth is standing by live in the fox news extreme weather center. >> that storm is gone pretty much that is good news. things are calming down. strange things going on here. look at this map, 42 degrees in los angeles. 46 grease in new york city. this is upside down map and been this way for a lot of the winter so far. this is the part of that storm that after affects southeast to bring the severe weather. now it is exiting. we had snow across interior sections but it was light, a us dusting up to an inch or two. rain into parts of florida, north florida. places like texas, and new mexico getting snow. we saw winter storm warnings. some places have soon a whole foot of snow already

and other places will likely see another six to 12 inches. along i-25 and along i-10 seeing some snow along the el paso area. if you want a white christmas looks like you might have to go to places like texas. that is where the snow is. you might expect to see places like fargo with snow? none at all. that is all we have in the northeast. not happening across the northeast. bad news for the ski areas. gregg, people plan ski trips between christmas and new year's, no-go around the east. gregg: kind of missing that one substance you really need. rick reichmuth. thanks very much. julie: well new poll out over the "fast and furious" scandal, the botched gun tracking operation linked to the death of a border agent. in a telephone town hall presidential candidate newt gingrich telling iowa voters he called for attorney general eric holder to step down a year ago. gingrich saying "fast and furious" began as an effort to quote discredit honest americans in order to quote,

justify gun control. it was a quote trap that brew up on them. pretty strong words. gingrich also slamming holder for saying his race was inspiring some of the heart harsher criticism. juan williams, fox news political analyst. he joins me now. what do you make of gingrich's comments refering to the "fast and furious" program to track guns through mexico being a trap essentially. >> that blew up on them. julie: in fact hurt americans, not mexicans? >> so odd to me, as a matter of fact, julie the program was started under the bush administration. i don't quite grasp why he would think it was continued under the obama administration then that means it was intended to justify some gun control measures the administration didn't want to actually put through the congress. the facts just don't support his statement. julie: the "fast and furious" program first of all blew in their faces. >> certainly did. julie: an american border patrol agent was killed.

>> right. julie: this was supposed to track guns in mexico. in fact some were lost. they were found in a drinking cartel's house in a basement behind a wall of mirrors. essentially an american died. we want to hear from eric holder. we expect some sort of accountability. he claimed he didn't know about the program. now he does. he may support it but now he is pulling the race crowd on harshest critics. he said extreme conservatives are going after him and criticize him for race. some say the race card is the only card he has left. >> what he said he said this to "the new york times" he thinks race is factor here because it is easy politically to identify him with the president. of course the attorney general, no matter who the attorney general --. >> if the never brings up the word race? >> sure he does. holder famously said comment america is cowardly come to race. president obama found himself involved in some racial controversies. i think here if you think about it, holder has said by the way that most of the

opposition is political and that that's the basis. but he says race is a factor. you have to think race is a factor when you think about some of the cases that are the most controversial for conservatives. one, it would be the voter suppression business. he already, just cast his lot there saying we have to make sure people have right to vote which is in opposition there. secondly about immigration. in terms of places like arizona and alabama, he has been involved there. again that is it racial to some. julie: as an calf man american man how is it tracking down illegal immigrants or being tracking down gun lords in mexico and his authority over that program, how does that, what does that have to do with him being african-american? >> racial profiling is the key point of objection people have to the arizona, alabama, south carolina plans that police will stop people based on their skin color. they look mexican or say, hey, let me see your papers. so people would say that is unnecessary harrassment and also leads to larger issue

which is, is this something that is being taken over by local governments when it is a federal issue, immigration control? julie: all right, juan williams, thank you very much. >> julie, my pleasure. merry christmas. julie: thanks to have you here in person in new york city. rare opportunity. >> i love the green. i think you and gregg have a new thing going. julie: i have to say i'm wearing this because gregg made me. green is not my favorite color but i do try to coordinate with him. it is hard because his color of tie choices are off the charts. >> i don't know that there is a color that would go badly with you. julie: thank you. wasn't talking to you, gregg. gregg: he looks like a christmas tree, doesn't she. julie: or the grinch. gregg: this, i knew that one was coming. this christmas is a tough time for pakistan's three million christians. the country's muslim majority often accuse them of siding with the united states as tensions between american and pakistan continue to grow. so do the discrimination and alienation. coner powell is live in

islamabad with more. conner in? >> reporter: gregg, pakistan is increasing becoming a difficult place to live for all of its citizens but particularly the christian community. in one of pakistan's poorest neighborhoods christmas lights are going up. decorations are being hung. santa is coming to town. this is the season to celebrate. >> it is about the kids and a way to show love. >> reporter: but this christmas comes at the end of a very difficult year for the nearly three million christians living in pakistan. >> mostly the fear because there are so many jobless people. >> reporter: christians have long been one of pakistan's most marginalized communities, living in poverty, without running water or electricity. discrimination long kept them out of the best jobs, making christians second class citizens. >> they are facing more challenges as compared to

the muslim in pakistan. >> reporter: with anti-americanism on the rise, pakistan's christians say they are being harassed and persecuted by religious extremists who associate them with america and blame them for the u.s. drone program that has killed thousands of pakistanis. earlier this year the taliban shot and killed bate, a prominent christian political leader, a sign of the growing tension. still despite the countless problems pakistan's christians refuse to allow their troubles to ruin christmas. >> there are lots of problems. there are other problems. but we forget all that when christmas comes. we forget all that. >> reporter: christian leaders here in pakistan say the government is making an effort to reach out to the christian community. this week there was a tree-lighting ceremony. for the first time ever the prime minister actually attended that event, and that was a small step but christian leaders say a lot more needs to be done, gregg. gregg: conner powell, live in islamabad.

merry christmas. thanks. >> breaking news just moments ago on capitol hill. the senate just moving the payroll tax bill to the house. the house set to take it up in just minutes. we're going to bring you the very latest develop developments as they happen. gregg: talk about a special package. a soldier's homecoming one family will not soon forget. >> hopefully it is a surprise. everyone have their new blackberry from at&t?

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gregg: folks news alert. by unanimous consent the senate has now passed a new version of the payroll tax cut extension. senator harry reid at a news conference just minutes ago. >> more protection for federal employees, senator cardin. when we were doing negotiations for long-term deal one of the places people were looking to do some real difficult things to federal employees. i know that ben will be fair but not punitive. nevada has had unemployment very, very high for a long time but a state that has been hit really hard by unemployment has also, is rhode island and no one in the senate has been more protective of the unemployed than jack reed. so he will be my third conferee. the fourth conferee will bob

casey. bob casey is the chairman of the joint economic committee. this is his bill, the payroll tax holiday extension is bob casey's legislation. i have talked to each of them. they're going to work expeditiously to come up with a long-term arrangement on the payroll tax, on unemployment of course and on the doc fix. i have great confidence in them. i also want to say that most everything we do around here is based on trust. that is how we get things done. i want everyone to understand how much i appreciate mitch mcconnell sticking by the arrangement, the agreement we made. i have told him that personally. i say that to all of you. when we come back next month we have a lot of important things to do. i've already talked about the payroll tax package. we have to do that. we can pay for it in many

different ways. we have to be somewhat inventive. during this past few days i've had many calls from my caucus members about ideas that they have would protect the people that need the extra few bucks each month but also save money in the long run. unemployment, we have to figure out a way to extend that. we, this is the first time that we paid for unemployment tax extension, which i did not favor but significant number of my own caucus did so something we had to do. we'll continue to fight for the long-term unemployed. i would hope that we can do something to do something final, to get rid of this sgr, this doc fix so that doctors who take care of senior citizens don't have to worry every few months whether or not they're going to get paid the following month. so those, those are some of the things we certainly have to do. couple of other things are

paramount in my mind. the faa reauthorization. we have to get this done. we've got a short-term extension. this involves the employment of a couple hundred,000 new people. a couple hundred thousand. we made many offers to the house and we have to get this done and forget about all the extraneous stuff and deal with faa. the same applies to the very good pill reported out of the environment and public works committee. very conservative. jim inhofe, quite progressive, barbara boxer come up with an arrangement to extendth for two years. a very, very good bill. i would hope my colleagues don't play any games with this bill. this it is important. the short-term extension saved the jobs of more than a million people doing our highway construction. the two-year bill will

create new jobs, not just save the jobs. those are a few things we have to do. i hope this congress has had a very good learning experience, especially those newer to this body. everything we do around here does not have to wind up in a fight. that isn't the way things need to be. people wonder why the approval rating of congress is so low. i don't wonder. it seems that everything we have done this last year has been a knock down, drag-out fight. there is no reason to do that. and if there were not, if there were message received from this last thing we've been through, i would hope, especially i repeat the new members of the house, will understand that legislation is the art of compromise. consensus-building. not trying to push your way through on issues that you don't have the support of the american people.

i repeat what i said earlier. this institution relies on trust and goodwill to get work done. the american people need this institution to work effectively. we have enormous challenges facing our great country. i indicated earlier but it is certainly true, we have a new year coming very, very quickly. working families that we've helped for a couple of months, that is not enough. they sent us to washington to find ways to make their life a little easier, give them tools they need to try to get ahead. they didn't send us here to wage partisan battles or settle idealogical scores. i say to my colleagues. it is new year's. let's put the games aside and make it a, and make it our top priority, our top priority, is not for political advantage but to get things done.

if we are able to get things done there is lots of credit to go around to everybody, but, conversely, if we don't get things done, there is criticism that spills off on everyone. let's show the american people that despite our differences we can tackle the big challenges that stand before us. the stakes are really too high for us to do anything else. i will be happy to take questions. yes? gregg: there we have the senate majority leader harry reid, a bit of a verbal spanking at house freshmen republicans for essentially voting down his original proposal on tuesday and the majority leader announcing his conferees for the next attempt. that will be jack reed, bob casey, ben cardin and max baucus. i'm looking at, yeah, the clock right now, we're minutes away -- 10 minutes away what will happen in the house of representatives. it could be quite dramatic. if one member the house of

representatives rejects the unanimous consent we're back to the drawing board on the tax cut extension for social security payroll. we'll be right back. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. i'm forty eight years-old, i love to swim, and i love to walk outside. osteo bi-fl has really helped my kne. osteo bi-flex has been incredible for me, and i swear by it. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, the glucosamine chondroitin suppment with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex,

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julie: welcome back. we had you, brought you some breaking news just moments ago. in fact that the senate going ahead and approving that extension, that payroll tax cut extension at least for the next two months. now it is up to the house to take up the payroll tax cut. they will be addressing that in just six minutes. now remember, all it takes is one opposition and this thing is a dead deal. will we know whether or not this thing will at least go through for the next two months so they can come up with a more long-term decision? we'll be on top of this as the story unfolds in washington. gregg: doctors raising brand new concerns about medicare.

my next guest says the program put, quote, an unnecessary interface between doctors and their patients. dr. marc siegel, fox news medical a-teamer. dr. siegel. good to see you. >> good to see you. gregg: i read your column. excellent. you say the system is broken hurting both doctors and patients. how so? >> gregg, it is always cumbersome. we doctors always face potential 27% cuts. we can't practice. more and more elderly coming in with more and more complex problems. it is harder and harder for us to take care of them. though we love to take care of them. on the shelves there is less and less products you can buy. get to the cashier he is not there because he can't afford to work there anymore. that's what i'm really afraid of. it is becoming a bloated beast. it will cost a trillion dollars by 2020. out of control. gregg: you have identified three possible solutions. there may be more. what are they? >> well let's first of all not lie and say medicare

isn't changing. it is changing under your feet as it is getting more cumbersome. my solution. raise retirement age. reincrease deductibles and co-pays so people pay more out of their pocket so there is disincentive for overruse use. look at ryan plan where you privatize medicare as a choice. face it, insurance companies are looking for profit and they will streamline and have more efficiencies. gregg: doctors are perhaps ordering more tests than they need to. they're worried about legal liability. how about med mal tort reform? >> hugely important. i'm glad you brought that up. they should have it put in obamacare and they're afraid because the malpractice attorneys. if we don't have tort reform we will continue to practice defensively. that is the whole culture of medicine that has to change. gregg: good to see you. dr. siegel. >> thank you, gregg. julie: former president george h.w. bush throwing his support behind one of the presidential candidates. we'll tell you who got his backing and who got snubbed

and what it means for the race. gregg: the is senate in session for a minute today, passing the two-month extension on the payroll tax cut. the house is up next in about three minutes. their omise. their omise. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow.

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julie: fox news alert, the senate passing the two-month extension of a payroll tax. house lawmakers meeting as we speak. this could be far from over in fact. senate majority reid just speaking on capitol hill.

take a listen. >> i hope this congress has had a very good learning experience, especially those who are newer to this body. everything we do around here does not have to wind up in a fight, that isn't the way things need to be. julie: a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." good morning i'm julie banderas in for martha maccallum. gregg: i'm greg gerratt in for bill hemmer. julie: president obama hopes a year-long extension will follow . i urge them to keep working to reach an agreement that will extend the tax cut and

unemployment insurance for all of 2012 without drama or delay. will there be any drama? now that the senate has approved it,ed, are democrats celebrating a big victory here? >> reporter: yes and no. the president has still not come out on camera to celebrate anything here. that is because they learned their lesson last saturday, thought they had a deal and it unraveled. here we are almost a week later and we're waiting to make sure that the house approves this by unanimous consent. the president sent out a little tweet saying thanks to all who shared $40 stories. today's victories is yours, it makes all the difference. bo. when the president has his initials that's when the president himself sent out his thoughts. a $40 reference in reference to how the white house used social

meeting to create hash tag, how much a family would save per paycheck if this deal goes through. the president was very direct and blunt between trying to drive a wedge between john boehner and mitch mcconnell who had been somebody who signed onto the compromise, julie. julie: we want to take you to the capitol. >> who aeu ranges all things according to a wonderful design. gracious she receive the prayers we pour out to our country and the which is tkofpl its leaders and integrity of its citizens so that harm me and justice may be assured. as we pause in the coming days of celebration and rest to be with our families and friends prepare our hearts to welcome a new year, that is filled with your guidance, and grace. heavenly father, in this joyful season be most especially with

our military and all who serve our country, especially those separated from family and friends, and may they and their loved wonder know the gratitude and esteem we have for them and their service. we ask that all in your most holy name, amen. >> pursuant to section 3a of house resolution 493 the journal of the last day's proceedings is approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led today by the gentle lady from missouri, miss emerson. >> i pledge aeu [the pledge of a allegiance.

>> will the gentle lady die. >> i ask for its immediate consideration in the house. >> the clerk will report the title. >> hr3765, a bill to extend the payroll tax holiday, unemployment compensation, medicare-physician payment, provide for the consideration of the keystone xl pipeline and for other purposes. >> is there objection to the bill? >> mr. speaker reserving the right to object and i will not object. >> that's recognized. >> i thank the gentleman. i know that the american people are pleased that we have come together to agree on this extension to give certainty and peace of mind to the 160 million americans who are concerned about losing their tax cut, the 48 million seniors who were concerned about their medicare and the 2.3 million people who

are unemployed and seeking work, who were fearful of losing their benefits, and i think the speaker, and i think the gentle lady from phourbgs and i withdraw my objection. >> without objection the bill is engrossed, red for a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. chairman and ladies before the house a communication. >> the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to section 1238b3 of the floyd d. spence national defense authorization act of fiscal year 2001, 22usc77002 amended by the division p of the consolidated appropriations resolution 2003, 22usc6901 i am pleased to reappoint the following individuals to the

united states china economic review commission. miss car long bartholomew. jeffery fielder. thank you. >> pursuant to clause 4 of rule one the following enrolled bills were signed by the speaker on wednesday, september 21st 2011. >> hr515 to reauthoriz reauthorize. gregg: they did move onto other matters in the houfrs representatives. they did pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. a half an hour ago the u.s. senate did as well. again, this is just a two month extension. there will be house and senate confer he's who will meet in january and perhaps in february to workout a deal for a longer term, one year extension of the payroll tax cut. we were worried, or many people

were worried that somebody would stand up and object and that would require the entire house to return next week to vote on it individually. it didn't happen. david drucker joins us now, staff writer for roll call. david, your reaction to this? >> well, speaker boehner has finally put to an end a horrible process and situation for house republicans. they finished last week with a major victory getting the xl keystone pipeline into the bill to extend a tax holiday, if you will, that they never thought was good policy and didn't want to agree with. democrats had capitulated on that and they knew they did. when house republicans declined to support the senate compromise buy was overwhelmingly bi-partisan on saturday they gave all that political capitol away and we witnessed what happened over the ensuing days. there was no way this would end

the way it did unless there was massive pressure on the republicans. gregg: how much does the damage the republican party in a forthcoming election year. >> i tend to think because they put an end to this quickly, because we're going to have a mountain alelection, because of the unemployment rate and job growth are going to be the major issues of the day that they probably didn't do any lasting damage. but i would say that they had really ended the year politically in the driver's seat and the same fight they had this week is the same fight they could have had between now and the expiration of the two-month extension, and it's the same fight they are going to now have any way. gregg: sure. >> one thing i would point outs i understand that a lot of republicans feel like the finally had to take a stand on principle after the step at dictated terms to them all year

long, political victories enable policy victories. to argue that they were standing on policy and that in itself was a win is like arguing that you won a football game that you lost because you simply had more first downs than the other team. gregg: many a political struggle has been lost by standing on principle. politics is the art of compromise. final question to you. it was a near inc insurrection last saturday are saturday when speaker boehner announced what he thought was a deal with mitch mcconnell. is his leadership as speaker in jeopardy? >> i tend to think not. i've done a little digging on this today. i know there have been anonymous republican house members saying that h they were unhappy and his speakership was in

jeopardy. if i was boehner i'd be more nervous if they would want to put their names on the weapon. the way this went down, this not being blocked rather telling them what they were going to do yesterday, rather than asking them, means he's probably if good shape and they are going to move on other issues. it shows how ten oo tenious being speaker of the house when you have members are not happy with what has gone and. gregg: thank you, merry christmas. julie: she was swept away by an indonesia tsunami. see the dramatic events. surveillance video capturing a

few grinches in paradise, and the targets, toys r us. >> they are not in packages, they are just carrying items. its not small items, it shows barbie, huge items that they are carrying. hi ho! kermit the frog here

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gregg: in hawaii a to toy story that would make the grinch smile, making off a loot from a front display. they may have struck again. five women and young men hauling away their stash of toys. here is a honolulu police officer describing the size of the robbery. >> this people, this group i should call them is grabbing, taking it back to the car. in the meantime they are looking at the merchandise. they stocked up are pretty well for christmas we are talking over a thousand dollars worth of items. gregg: i think we can call them crooks.

they are not in a rush. police say they spent about one hour pulling off the heist. julie: newt gingrich was once surging in the polls in iowa but his numbers are coming back to earth now that the former house speaker is actually trying to keep expectations of a victory in the iowa caucuses in check, at the same time take being the high road as he comes under attacks from tphelg tiff ads. i negative ads. is this a good policy. our panel joins us. doug, what is the thinking, first of all behind newt gingrich trying to lower expectations going into the iowa caucus? is he not just conceding to romney? >> well, he's trying to lower expectations to get to south carolina and florida. he now doesn't really believe he's going to win iowa, unless

he gets some sort of a lucky break. what he's trying to do is survive to get to two states where he still has pretty strong leads so he can then say he's the come back kid of 2012, he has momentum and use that to surge. if he's perceived to have lost badly p in iowa that could dampen expectations and hurt him down the road. julie: i want to show a poll. it's not newt, it's not mitt. ron paul is leading the pack with 23.8 percent. another poll has romney on top, gretchen. >> polls are polls. when it comes down to iowa who is going to come out on a snowy, cold night in january, away from their warm house and fire and go vote in the caucus.

when it comes to the other state it's all about who turns out just as much. you can't put a lot of stock in the polls about it does show who has some momentum behind them right now and who doesn't. julie: i guess young people don't mind going out to inch the cold. ron paul has a lot of young followers. the forme former speaker has an ad campaign that was going after him hard. it turns out the campaign service will be delivering newt gingrich and early christmas president. they are actually pulling the ads off of the air for christmas eve and christmas day. it's only a temporary thing, though. why do you think the reason for pulling off? if you're going to back off, why not just back off, it's so temporary. >> yeah, i think what mitt romney is trying to re avoid and ron paul as well is on christmas eve and christmas day have people nestled around the

fire watching television watching vision attack ads. that is somewhat counter proceed duct tip. the negative ads won' will begin in earnest on monday morning, they'll carry through to the january 3rd caucus. you can expect that mitt romney and ron paul will continue to attack newt gingrich as well as perhaps themselves with unrelenting fury. julie: mitt romney has got even the backing of former president george h.w. bush. although he has not formally endorsed him he's throwing his support behind him. he tells the houston conical that hcon kral that he this is romney is the best person because of his experience and he's not a bomb thrower. let's hear from romney when he got the news. >> i'm very encouraged by the support of president bush for my campaign. obviously as you can tell there

is growing momentum for this effort here in new hampshire and across the country, and i had the chance to chat with the president this afternoon and wish him a merry christmas. he did the same to me. i thanked him for his support, his leadership, his heroic life, and his friendship, it means a grit deal to me. i must admit this is much more important to me personally than even politically. he's a real hero to me, and to my family and i appreciate his support. julie: gretchen, quickly bush actually referred to romney as not being a bomb thrower. some thought that with us a dig to newt, do you agree. >> i agree. inside the beltway people have been attacking newt gingrich and that has played to his advantage because he is seen as an outsider. when you have a forker president citing different examples when he was working with him, that he is throwing

bombs. that carries a lot of wait. that contrast he drew yesterday is not what people want. people are tired of politics as usual and tired of the bomb throwing and it carries a lot of weight and the plays to romney's candidacy. gregg: sandy levin is before the house democratic news conference there, and the house obviously has passed the tax payroll cut extension. now it goes to the president of the united states, but it only lasts for two months. we'll continue monitoring what is happening there. brand-new numbers in the real estate market providing a window on a critical segment of the economic. julie: one special house for one very special soldier who gave so much to this country.

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julie: now a quick check of the headlines for you. thousands of egyptians in ka egyptians in cairo rallying against the rulers. they are calling for an immediate hand over of power for a civilian unit. a 15-year-old girl tracking down her parents after she was given up for dead. that indonesia tsunami killed

many people after it hit seven years ago. new home sales are up 1.6% last month, but 2011 is still likely to be the worst year for sales on record. gregg: a wounded warrior receiving a grand new home. army sergeant joel tavera severely injured while serving in iraq. undergoing 75 operations in nearly four years of hospital care. now to a very special group this brave man is moving into a new house equipped for his need. we are live. >> reporter: sergeant joel tolvara's humvee was hit by five rockets. he lost three friends and was also thought to be dead. he proved to be a fighter. he has a kne a new homemade

possible by an organization. he is met by fire trucks, military vehicles and veterans. bag pipers excourt him through the neighborhood where the community is waiting. >> there is no finer example of courage and commitment and sel self-less service and dedication. >> he asked me what do you want joe. i said i want to live in a gated community, and i would like a therapy place in the backyard. >> it took us five minutes to builmonths to build this home. >> reporter: the result is a brand-new home especially designed for joel and his injuries. >> we started a year ago raising the funds, 4200 square feet and it's beautiful. >> earlier i was referenced to as a hero. i don't really look at it that way. i signed up to do my job.

i got hurt. i managed to survive. >> you are, you are. [applause] >> i've known that man for a year and a half. i've never one time heard him complain about anything. >> you all think i'm like cool and stuff because you all don't see me on my bad days. >> reporter: do you have bad days. >> we're all human. i'm not perfect, nobody is perfect. >> reporter: for more on this touching story please tune into hannity tonight at 9:00pm. hannity has his christmas special at 9:00pm. gregg: thanks so much. for more on this touching story. you've got to check it out, he's overcome incredible obstacles. tune into hannity's special tonight. julie: home for heroes is a great, great cause. a federal judge blocking most controversial block of a new state immigration law. with the supreme court's decision on arizona's law pending it could have an impact on your state no matter where

you live. gregg: how about this a $99 billion project to speed up mass transit in trafp traffic-ridden in southern california? sounds like a dream come true. why are so many californians turning sour on this one. big st. ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now. i really can't see myself not taking it. osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort.

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julie: fox news alert both the u.s. senate and the house moving swiftly this morning to approve a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts. >> without objection the bill is engrossed, read for a third time and passed, and the motion is laid on the table. julie: it's a victory for the democrats. ed hen le henry is live from the how. any reaction from the president? >> reporter: we haven't got even anything from the president. yesterday he put out a written statement and a little sweet as well thanking the american people and saying the victory was theirs. we'll see whether the president now comes out on camera i think they were hesitant last night to

make sure that the house as senate actually followed through as they just have. remember last saturday when the senate first approved this compromise the president came out on camera, congratulated everybody and it sort of unraufld. w unraveled. we spoke to a person who ran some come pains. campaigns. he thinks the republicans will be able to move on. inside the white house when you talk to officials they have a much different view. they think this battle shows while the president may have a hard time in 2012 showing the american people he's no longer the problem here in washington, he's no longer the change agent as in 2008. he can say he was working with senate republicans. it was house republicans out on a limb, julie. julie: president obama was about to take off on a vacation for hadz, and he actuall hawaii,

and he postponed that. i know he wants to get this signed, when will he sign the bill. >> reporter: there is a lot of process that still has to go through the channels on capitol hill. to give you a quick example, last saturday the house and senate had already completed work on that big op omnibus budget bill. that has not reached the white house. there is a good chance we might see the president leave later today, now that it's done in the early stages, head to hawaii, and maybe have the bill flown out to hawaii to sign it out there. julie: well when you're the president you can do that. ed henry, thank you very much. gregg: some new developments in the battle over illegal immigration, a federal judge blocking the most controversial part of a south carolina's new immigration law requiring, get this. requiring law enforcement to

check the immigration status of any suspect they believe is here illegalee. joey jackson criminal defense attorney joins us and marie mcelroy former prosecutor joins us. joey does any police official have the duty to stop and detain and investigate any time they think a suspect is doing something illegal? isn't that what this is? >> it's a fair point and obviously you'll find a lot of support, like alabama. i think the judge was right to stop in and grant the preliminary injunction and here is why. if you look at federal immigration policy, what you look at is something called article 6 of the constitution. and that speaks to the sue preliminarsupremacy clause. and as a result of that you can't have states that are

continue victoriaing that law passing their own laws. the bigger problem is if you have all kind of states that are doing various things like that it results in a match quilt with different types of laws and there is no uniformity. gregg: you have put your finger on the most important word there, continue victoria federal law. annmarie the states are saying, wait a minute we compliment existing federal but, this is not inconsistent. with the supreme court buys that, what then? >> hopefully this law will be able to stand the way it was written then. what happens is when the federal government has not acted to carry through with the laws that it has on the books the states can go in and act in their place, and that's what essentially these states are all trying to do. there is no question that coming into the country the way these people have i don't it is in fact illegal, and the states have the right to enforce the laws regarding immigration. that's all that they are trying to do here. gregg: joey, their other

argument is wait a minute, we also have concurrent authority under the constitution, police action by the states to enforce our borders. isn't that a pretty powerful argument here especially if they can convince the high court that the federal government has essentially seed or ab toda abd asabdicated this. >> there were two things worried about. would it upset the people who preside, the authorities in those particular countries. the other thing that was really of concern to the judge was whether or not it would burden federal immigration policy enforcement. the federal government focuses its resources in a limited way on those immigrants they want to see remove, and to remove everyone is problematic and that is what concerned the judge. gregg: in the arizona case now before the supreme court

annmarie, the lower court judge said look, forcing law enforcement, the feds in particular to do these background checks on the status of a suspected illegal places a quote unquote undue burden on the feds, end of quote. since when is enforcing the law an undue burden? >> and the reality is in today's day and age all is doing a computer check to see if they are legally in the country or not. this is not something that is very final tensive for law enforcement. there really isn't a dragnet affect. law enforcement utilize discretion all the time whether they actually take people into custody or prosecute them, whatever they do with them there is law enforcement discretion involved. >> the average time that it takes to check the federal database, 81 minutes. >> that was a provision upheld by this particular judge. he said you can do that. the employers can check the online sites.

gregg: good to see you both. >> happy holidays. julie: california taxpayers have remorse over a high-speed rail project. why the change of heart? >> reporter: californians are having second thoughts but every taxpayer in the united states has a seat on the train because they are paying for it. supporters say it's an investment in america's future, critics say it's the last thing that washington can afford. >> our goal is to give 80% of americans access to high-speed rail. >> reporter: less than a year after that speech the president's bullet train project looks more like a runaway engine. >> it is not viable or the best use of tax dollars when you're borrowing the money to do it. >> reporter: he joins other conservatives hoping to derail the federal money train. >> what fire stations, what police officers, what schools

are we going to close to continue to build a train that will probably never be finished? >> we need to move forward on this project because the costs of doing nothing are far greater. >> reporter: california residents voted narrowly in 2008 to issue 9 billion in bonds to help pay for the project that promised to create thousands of jobs and reduce grid hrofpblg reduce gridlock. >> reporter: figures show more people riding california bullet trains than all americans now using amtrak, a price increase from 33 to $98 billion, travel times that are longer and ticket prices that are high her than air planes which could mean taxpayer subsidies. >> the numbers don't lie and every time you look at this more the worse it looks. >> reporter: so the stimulus

bill earmarked 8 billion to jump start high-speed rail around the u.s. we had 10 corridors, most of them have dropped out allowing to california to take all the money. do they kill in baby while it's in the crib, or continue on. julie: new developments in the search for a missing toddler for maine. crime tape going up around her house. what this means for ayla reynolds. >> it's just sad, it's christmas time. it's supposed to be a happy time. our community is just devastated by this.

gregg: new video, a vintage plane almost made a splash landing. the plane touched down safely on the beach near myrtle beach,

south carolina. they said the engine failed after take off. the pilot continue make it back to the airport. nobody was injured in this. julie: focusing on the home of a baby girl in maine. police tape encircling a little girl's home. neighbors say it's a depressing sight especially this time of year. her father reported her missing a week ago saying she just vanished from her crib. mark fuhrman is a former l.a.p.d. detective and fox news contributor. this sound very familiar. the father says he put the baby down at night, he woke up in the morning to find that she wasn't there. >> julie, these kind of cases, there are certain things that need to be there that the parent reporting has no control over unless they are the facts, and that being if an outside intruder came into the home, or somebody that is not a resident

of the home or a family member comes in they are going to leave some level of evidence, whether a point of entry and exhibit, hair fiber, fingerprints, they are going to make noise, they are going to make tire tracks outside. they are going to make footprints outside in winter. there is usually snow, rain, mud, they are going to leave some evidence. i haven't heard anything this this case. this case is very suspicious if not unbelievable. julie: it turns out the baby had a broken arm from an accidental fall. there are two homicide prosecutors who are going to be searching the home. what are they going to be looking for? >> julie, first you have homicide prosecutors that are coming to the home of a man who reports his child has been abducted. once they'veee lim they have eliminated parent ab trucks, which i'm sure they have, when

is the last time a homicide prosecutor going to a home like this. they are talk being to the detectives about a path to go for possible prosecution. julie: the mother was actually checking herself into a ten-day rehabilitation center when the little girl went missing. that is the mother right there. it does not look good, you're right, thank you very much. gregg: let's check in with jon scott, see what is happening on "happening now" coming up. >> reporter: breaking news from capitol hill where the house has approved the two-month extension of the tax cut holiday, but the battle might just be beginning. new developments out of egypt where tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets. they are furious, what it means to the military regime there.

paul gigot joins us in the tax extension drama. ron paul on the rise, what a win by that libertarian candidate would mean for the future of the iowa caucuses. did you know there is a mistletoe shortage? no kisses this year. we'll get into it happening now. gregg: plenty of mistletoe at my house. >> reporter: you're the lucky one. gregg: making good use of it too. >> reporter: i bet you are. gregg: the u.s. senate and the house extending the payroll tax cuts for just two months. reaction next from maryland congressman chris van hollen. he'll join us. julie: bah hum burks ug. this santa suit getting him in trouble. we'll explain to you why. i don't really want to go to the

mall, you can take your phone with you. you can download our apps. gregg: good idea.

julie: things get ago about it rowdy outside of the wheaton plaza mall in maryland with hundreds of people standing in line to get their hands on the latest air jordan sneakers. they were just released this morning. >> we waited a lifetime. >> what was the crowd like? >> oh my god, it was unexplainable. julie: cops arrested several people as the mob tried to push through the door. the shoes go for about 160 buc

bucks. gregg: breaking today the u.s. senate and the house voting to extend payroll tax cuts for two months. here is speaker boehner a short time ago. >> without objection the bill is engrossed, read for a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. gregg: it was that quick. chris van hollen is a ranking member of the house budget committee and has been named as one of the conferees to try to workout a longer deal. congressman thank you for being with us, we appreciate it. >> good to be with us. gregg: democrats wanted a millionaire tax, they didn't get it. republicans wanted the keystone project, they got it. do you think the gp got more than the democrats did in this deal? >> i don't think this is the time, frankly for which party got the better of what at this point in time. i think we should focus on the reality that this is good for the country and the american

people. it's clearly good for a very fragile economy. it means that 160 million persons will not see a tax increase come january. the president of the united states came before congress back in september asking for a year-long pay tax cut on the payroll tax. we've got the two months and we have to get right to work making sure we extend it throughout the year. gregg: the size of this thing is $33 billion in an economy of $15 trillion. doesn't that fel tell you in truth this will have very little economic impact. >> i will say two things. all sorts of independent economists out there say this will make a difference. it will mean somewhere between 500,000 and a million jobs, and, look, when you have a fragile economy like we have right now why would you take any risks? in other words, it could only hurt if we did not move this

forward, so why take a risk when you're so closed to the razor's edge and that's why it was important to act. gregg: there are other economists who say that most individuals who will receive the savings here actually do that, they save it, they don't spend it, so it's not going to really help the economy. and they say the jobless benefits dissuade people from aggressively looking for jobs, so it's counter productive. what do you think? >> yeah this notion that there are a lot of people sitting out of work, collecting unemployment checks when there are these jobs out there is really an insult to americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. it's well-known that there are about four americans out there looking for every one job. in every past recession the federal government has provided emergency unemployment, and not just to help the families that are hurting in this economy, but also to help the entire economy. independent economists point out

that those individuals especially on a shoe-string budget will go out and spend money on goods and services. gregg: the cost of this thing over two months is $33 billion and it's going to be paid for with fees charged to borrowers on freddie mac, fannie mae and fha loans isn't that going to hurt about 90% of homeowners in america? >> well, these are fees that will be collected over the ten-year period. in other words, you're not going to collect all that amount -- stphaoeut still hurt gregg: it still hurts them. >> i want to point out again you don't want to do that in this particular economy. i think both side on a bi-partisan basis agree that the fanny and freddie fees should reflect the risk that those institution are taking. many of your colleagues have reported that fanny and freddie because of the guarantees they provide now actually allow people to borrow without reflecting the true costs of the risk to the taxpayers. gregg: i did the math on this

thing, have you have a $200,000 loan you'll pay $180 per year more. if you have a $400,000 more, 360 more dollars per year. look, aren't you cutting a tax by creating what is essentially a tax or fee? >> what we're doing here is trying to make sure that we don't get into the kind of situation that we had before. i think it's important to protect the taxpayer, and in protecting the taxpayer you want those guarantee fees to at least begin to better reflect the risks the taxpayers are taking. that is the whole idea, and as i said errole earlier, those fees will actually be kicked into effect over a ten-year window where as the payroll tax cuts all take place. gregg: it's a ten-year payoff. >> and we're going to extend it for the full year. i mean that is the plan obviously as soon as we get to work. gregg: congressman chris van hollen, thank you very much for being with us, we appreciate it.

and we'll be right back. >> thank you, happy holidays. gregg: you too.

>> well the post office may have just earned itself a spot on santa's naughty list a veteran mail carrier in washington state seen here, banned from dressing as santa on his daily rounds as he has done for a decade after fellow postmen complained he wasn't wearing the proper brown uniform. ba humbug. bob mcclain says