>> production assistance was provided by albritton communications and politico. ♪ >> this has been a season of progress. this is a message i will take to heart in the new year. >> this week on "inside washington," a poll shows obama is the most admired man in america. his new health care law is a nother matter. a look at the brewing brawls

with congress. >> i am the voice of mainstream america. >> afghanistan and who may oppose him in 2012. and the biggest political screw- ups and some of our favorite quotes of 2010. >> come bout anout and debate like a man. >> a year ago we showed long unemployment lines in north carolina. retail sales were up and the stock maket has pombo

rebounded. and despite the defeat in the elections, barack obama is the most admired man in america. >> we see the arrows going up. i am worried about the public sector. worry about european nations going down. states are in financial trouble. can they get their fiskacal houe in order? >> consumer confidence is looking better. this is critical for any kind of recovery. most economists say they see modest growth. jobless numbers stay pretty high

for the country even as we grow. we have so many people who may come into the market. >> you see some modest growth in the coming year. thanks in part to the stimulus package. the big problem is on the jobs front. the unemployment rate is not going to come down to make obama comfortable. it will not get to 6%. >> happy news in 2011, a republican house. the two-year experiment of hyper-liberalsim iism is over.

we have two years of a debate between large and small government, the social democrat agendand the resistance of the tea party. that great debate that went on for two years and the resolution will be in 2012. >> the speaker of the house is john boehner. he says he will start the new year cutting the budget by $100 billion. >> the congress will do something differently. >> the new congress comes together next wednesday. a 53-47 advantage for the

democrats. how will he cut the budget by $100 billion? >> because of how the house operates, there is a great deal of influencing. i think when we were in the lame ductiok session, they had the debate for enhanced benefits for emergency workers. that showed the fights ahead. many republicans say, they have to draw the line. they couldn't draw the line at $4 billion. $100 billion they will find difficult. me of the voters will have a chance to get a good look at the

republicans and make judgments on them. it will be a real reality moment. >> hold the line on taxes and attack the deficit. >> can i offer you a free lunch? >> it is not free. i think they will probably come to some agreement on the number. the reduction. the conflict is on what is on the package. that is where the split will take place. republicans are wanting to protect defense. the idea of the defincicit reduction takes hold in both parties. >> republicans are all smoke and

mirrors. not big entitlement programs. you can't cut taxes. i am all for attacking big government. this involves a lot of fiction. >> what about the tea party on the hill. liberals love extremeists on one side, the republica onhe other. i think there is a general understanding on the tea party. we've had an experiment expanding the government. everyone is allied on repealing obamacare. about $1 trillion right there. they have to be careful.

when gingrich won in 1994, they thought they could govern from congress. but if you control the house and senate, as republicans did, this is impossible. they will get smashed if they try to govern. everyone who wants to cut back entitlements, there is no way a party can reform this. democrats will demagogue it. there will be a backroom deal or nothing. >> i think republicans will have a phony vision. that you can cut spending and taxes to solve everything. >> read up about pensions if you

want to keep yourself up at night. that will be a lot of fun. let's look beyond our shores. >> we are training security forces for july 2011. >> that was obama last january. the target date is 2014. despite the assurance we are making progress -- is there an exit strategy. >> there is a great piece in the "washington post." he is the worl's greatest briefer. he is convincing. nagging questions keep coming back. who do you turn them over to?

there is a rotten, corrupt government. >> do they have control over what goes on in those valleys? >> i think the idea of pulling back is going to happen. ihink you may see some movement in the next year. i think he is looking a t t a decent way, and not a cut-and- run strategy. the u.s. is able to withdraw and not with afghanistan. >> wi don't have ot oto disagree with. there is no clear endgame.

general petraeus was able to take over the south, protecting the population. it is good obama has withdrawn from 2011 and every afgone was wondering i ty would stay with the americans. putting it off helps in recruiting assistance. we can have a short-term success. you don't have to have a pristine government. they have never had an un- corrupt government. it is part of their culture. >> look at pakistan. what countries in that area,

espeally the ones -- >> they have a strong army. >> let's stick with afghanistan. >> i am not an expert. but when it comes to politics. >> we are on television. >> i won't try to fake it. politically, this is an importantssue this is a big drag on the obama administration. we saw what happens in the mid- terms, when the progressives and liberals stay home. he's broken this promise and is struggling with guantanomo. these promicesses have been hal-

kept or unkept. >> charles said something earlier, saying "hyper-liberal" is the last couple years. >> i was being charitable. >> when you look at the base, they don't think this is hyper- liberal. there is no public option. they have a list of offenses, the liberals do. >> veterans understand this. you have to position obama as a wild-eyed liberal. he's tried to impose socialism. we get this every week. i would be disappointed if i didn't hear it.

>> charles has had favorable things. >> to my defense, hyper- liberalism, if obamacare is the only elementennacted, he would be remembered like lbj and fdr, as a guy who socialized a sixth of the economy. if obamacare remains, insurance companies become the public option. >> we drifted away from foreign policy. wh are we missing? >> there was a story about the worm in the iranian nuclear program. i am sure it's mossad or the

cia. it has set this back two years. it means the world has a breather on this issue. it was as if there was a land attack, but it was unknown and unseen, to not trigger a war. >> if they attack us through cyberspace, look at wikileaks. >> keeping with the theme, the personality has taken over to some degree. the volume of the material is startling. what we have yet to see is the real impact of all of these records going public.

i have not seen a good assessment of the underlying impact. >> colby, you were in the state department. >> i am dumbfounded that this information is so widely available. what are they doing with access to this material? the problem is so widespread. the information could have been compromised before. >> the big problem is technology as a force for evil. that now one or two people, or three, can have a huge global impact. it always took a nation state to

do this. now it is one demented person who can effect all of our lives. this is a scary underside of technology. >> what if he wanted to shut down the electric grid? >> the non-state actors, we close out with an incident in denmark where they rounded up some terror suspects. they were thinking of creating a mumbai incident. you had problems with nigeria. this problem, a year ago we talked about the underwear bomber. we closed out talking about more terrorism.

>> in the movies, the terrorists figure things out. in the real life, they are disfunctional. >> we had a day when they functioned. 9/11. >> and another day. fort hood, texas. >> he was just a guy with a gun. >> when you look at the guy who was behind 9/11, and you saw what he did with non-nuclear, 19 guys. imagine them witht a wmd. we are in a world we've been thinking about. we are here to prevent the day after. >> this is not the scenario i

was looking for. >> we the people, the average, hard-working american people, the patriots who will turn this around. >> hilary clinton is the most admired woman, behind palin and oprah. if not palin, who? mitt romney? >> if -- is she the candidate? i think her chances of being this are small. if you talk to republicans, i don't think there are one in three who will say she has a chance at the nomination. she has a strong constituency. outside of that, she is rather weak.

>> she has no chance of winning a general election. why would you want a candidate who will lose against a vulnerable democrat? >> in 2008 they thought she was qualified. >> a half-term governor? >> we see voices high in the party who say this. theyay, it started with joe scarborough. he said, call her out. she is unqualified. they ahvhave responded seeing te poll numbers. she is trying to defend herself and round out the public image. >> here is what i don't understand. she ran with a 72 year old man

with a history of skin cancer. she could have been president. if she was qualified in 2008 -- >> there is a diabolical scenario. there is s s much dissatisfactin that a third party may run, like bloomberg. if he runs, it will soak up the center. that leaves the far right to nominate the process. they nominate palin, and a centrist, and a democrat. nobdoody gets 280. who would be president? palin. >> i don't think that will

happen. i don't see hers a symbol of the far right. she has a lot of company. i don't think her position is different from romney an d the others. how would she do in iowa? >> there is no front runner. >> we don't have a field. >> the elites don't like her. they look down their noses at her. >> let me talk about new stars. let me talk about a big 2010 screw-up. margaret cokely, she was the favorite, then came this state senator, in a truck, campaigning

in diners and subways and he cleaned her clock. >> well, what they say is the polls moved late and they missed it. they also want to blame her. she didn't run a good campaign. she was not on top of the game. scott brown was. >> taking nothing away from him. >> he is now in big trouble. he has come to washington and played a smart game. the republicans who voted for him are upset. >> he is from massachusetts. >> any other major foul-ups?

>> for a tie, i thought the democratic party of south carolina gave us alvin greene. i forgotim. >> they were beaten out by the republicans in delaware, who gave us christine o'donnell, the worst candidate of all time. >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you've heard. i'm you. >> she beat mike castle, then lost to the man filling joe biden's seat. >> joe biden. a big bleeping deal. >> it was. >> it was. >> my favorite is the candidate

for the governor. i will remember him, "the rent is too high." the creepiest part of o'donnell's ad. "i'm you." >> jimmy macmillan. and sarah palin, who asked muslims to refudiate the mosque at ground zero. >> my favorite quote is when obama says we won't kick the problem of the debt down the road. he has said this several times. >> i have two. meg whitman, when she said the reason she moved to california was because the schools and economy were so great.

she failed to note that was the last time jerry brown was governor. creating the groundwork for a great ad. >> stars of the future? rubio? paul ryan will be head of the budget committee. he is going to be with the voice of republicans. a good thing for republicans. >> colby, your star of the future. >> rubio, republican vice presidential candidate. >> happy new year. see you next week. >> for a transcript, go to