wout of landfills each year? plastic waste to cover mt. rainier by using one less trash bag each month, we can. and glad forceflex bags stretch until they're full.* so you can take them out less often. good afternoon. i'm ari melber. it's december 18th. within this very hour, we may have a budget deal in place. and that's real talk. >> because of budget, what else has he got in his sack? >> the bill that nobody seems to love. >> don't expect peace, love and harmony. >> tired of everybody screaming from the sidelines. >> lacks some intellectual death integrity. >> keep the government functioning at its current

weather levels. therchlts themselves set. >> are you kidding me? >> are you kidding me? >> are you kidding me! >> so we could avoid sequester, avoid furloughs, avoid the shutdown. >> we have a low bar these days. >> it's a strange new normal, isn't it? >> fiscal genius would lead us to the promise land where reagan will rise once more? >> just because you ran around the block doesn't mean you can run the marathon. >> it's a conversation we should better have during the commercial break. >> we'll do that. let's go spread some christmas cheer. ♪ twas the budget before christmas, one week to the big day. and, yes, congress is finally tired of running on empty. you're looking right now, live at the senate floor where a final vote on a two-year compromised budget bill is set to come this hour. senator reid is excited washington may be moving on from a season of hostage-taking. >> it's time to get back to setting fiscal policy through the regular order of the budget process.

rather than hostage-taking, which takes place so often here by my republican colleagues. and it's time for congress to show the american people that democrats and republicans can compromise rather than lurching from crisis to crisis. >> and that call for compromise reinforces the majority leader's shoutout yesterday when republicans voted to move forward with the budget deal. reid's gop counterpart was not among them. mitch mcconnell is facing a tea party challenge in his home state. as everybody knows by now. and that may feel like a lump of coal in his stocking. in fact, he had colon his mind today when he struck sarl several severely conservative notes from fossil fuels to democratic filibuster reform. >> i remind my colleagues, one day they'll find themselves in the minority again. you never know how soon that might occur. and they should think long and hard about what they're doing to this institution. >> meanwhile, as for the white house, they are happy something is just getting done.

>> the bar is very low here when it comes to congress working. but congress worked. that's good. and both sides deserve credit for that. >> so that's about as close as you get to any heartwarming holiday greetings on capitol hill these days. we have a lot to unpack here. coming up in a moment, i will be joined by a panel of krystal ball and james peterson, as well as a member of the u.s. senate. but first, i do want to get right to nbc's luke russert on capitol hill. luke, you know the art of war and sun sue. we're told the true warrior only fights battles he's already won. you have been pointing out that actually the tea party seems to be happiest when it's losing battles, which is why they have recast some of these spending cuts as a loss. explain that. >> reporter: well, it's an interesting development, ari. if you go back to paul ryan's budget when he first introduced it a few years ago, the top line overall number was actually higher than what this budget

deal is going forward. this is coming at about $.012 trillion. part of the reason you see john boehner get so upset at conservatives after this budget, he's basically saying, guys, we've won this arpth. democrats have come way further over to our side of the table than they have where they would like to see the numbers at. so that's sort of an interesting development within this whole context of a bill which is going to pass later this hour. there is no doubt about that. >> yeah. and luke, on -- you say later this hour. walk us through briefly what -- where we go from here today. >> the bill will pass. it will pass with democrats, with a little bit of a few republicans. from then it goes on to the president's desk further down 16 hub pennsylvania avenue. you'll see an outcry from conservatives saying this is increasing spending, against the military because it has a cost of living adjustment in terms of military retirement benefit cuts. john mccain, who i would say is

probably the most decorated individual within the chamber -- for the military, says he will support it. then it will move on, going forward. which interesting, though, ari, you step back. this gives us two years of budget peace. but at what cost has it been to the gop? is it split boehner and mcconnell. paul ryan is now tainted by the outside groups for not being conservative enough, and marco rubio, rand paul, all these guys, ted cruz of 2016 aspirations, they're voting for no budget piece. so it helps them in a primary but in general election could come back to get them. >> exactly. and paul ryan putting his chips on sort of a dose of responsibility. we'll see how popular that plays in the long run. luke russert, thanks for your reporting. we may check back in the hour if a lot breaks out on the floor. the budget not the only big news from the capitol, either. the white house announcing that the president's commission on surveillance will release its report early. here's how spokesman jay carney explained it today. >> over the next several weeks, we will be reviewing the review group's report, and its 46

recommendations, as we consider the path forward, including sorting through which recommendations we will implement, which might require further study, and which we will choose not to pursue. >> so for that and the budget, we bring in democratic senator, richard blumenthal. thank you for being here. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> senator, let's start right there. the white house seizing control of this nsa debate, something that the president hasn't spoken about at length since august. part of those recommendations that we would see in his panel, this would be president obama's panel, would be to take this massive databases away from the nsa. it's not clear whether the president supports that. his panel might, according to the "washington post," today. where do you stand? >> i think there needs to be fundamental far-reaching reform to make the nsa process and our entire signals intelligence gathering program more accountable and more transparent.

and this report is a beginning. it's a first step. not binding on the president. but the president has indicated that he believes that reform is necessary. he said, for example, he thinks that some kind of adversarial process within the foreign intelligence surveillance court, as i have proposed, a constitutional advocate in my view, he hasn't endorsed the specifics, is necessary. and i think that he will move to at least modify greatly, if not strictly restrict the bulk collection of data, which has been ruled unconstitutional by the district court, judge leon. and other measures that will, for example, make the guysa court's ruling more transparent by making many public. >> you supported that, and the president spoke about that in august. a lot of people don't realize, when you go to that secret court, it's one of the only courts in the united states that's one-sided. it just has the government side. it doesn't have the other side and the president and you and others have said let's change that. and that would take some

congressional action to do it formally. i do want to turn, though, to the budget, which is on everyone's mind. we await the vote here. walk us through your thinking of what this budget does, and whether we are any closer to more bipartisan action now that you've had some of your colleagues beat back the tea party threats. >> i don't want to take the holiday analogy too far. but i hope that this budget is a template for the vision of much more bipartisan cooperation and not visions of sugar plums or santa, which maybe it is. but i think it's more than illusory. i think there is really a different spirit now in the senate. we know that the shutdown hurt the institution. it hurt confidence and trust in democracy. and we know that washington has to get things done, which is why i came here three years ago from a job in state government, the attorney general there. and now we need to use this

bipartisan spirit on immigration reform, achieving a farm bill, intelligence and surveillance reform. there are a number of really pressing -- plus, i hope correct some of the deficiencies in this, like extend unemployment insurance and remedy the cuts in military retiree benefits. >> yeah, i hope you're right about that. i also hope beyond bipartisanship, which can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, we also see that having broken the bluff and the threat over the debt ceiling, we don't have to relive that. i know your colleague, senator mcconnell, was gesturing at that. i think one of the answers we have seen that movie you guys bluffed and lost in october. don't waste our time. senator blumenthal, thanks for spending some of your time with us today. >> thank you. we are turning to other friends of ours, krystal ball, my colleague at msnbc, and professor james peterson from pennsylvania. professor, you just heard the senator speak to unemployment

insurance. how important is it to mix the arguments here, because you spoke last week about how this is not only a humanitarian program, but also one that according to the cbo could actually help net 200,000 more jobs in the long-term. >> yeah. i think it's important to have an integrated sort of conversation around these issues. you know, like so many people have said, ari, a budget reflects a nation's priorities. and while this particular budget doesn't reflect too many progressive priorities, because it doesn't include unemployment insurance, it doesn't get after the draconian sequester cuts enough, doesn't think enough about a jobs bill tied to infrastructure. there's a lot of things that -- there are not a lot of progressive priorities here, but it does reflect the priority that we have to actually have a congress that works. and so i think that two-year sort of stay of execution with respect to these crisis -- lurching from crisis to crisis when it himself could to the budget and budgetary process is an important step forward. but there is a lot here left on the table from a progressive

perspective so not a well-integrated will bill when it comes to those matters. >> krystal, i know you've reported and advocated and on a lot which is inequality and minimum wage. you can also look from a liberal perspective that the budget is the minimum, right? this is the appropriated minimum. we add to that when we have an emergency or hurricane or jobs crisis. speak to any of that, if you would, and the other issues. >> yeah. indeed. and i do want to echo a little bit of what doctor peterson is saying. we should not underestimate the value of the fact that we're just showing, taking one small step toward showing that government can work. and we are the party and progressives are the group that believe that government can work and can work effectively. so that piece of it is important. and i think the other piece of it that is really important is that it does short-circuit another government shutdown, which, again, was terrible for the economy, terrible for americans, terrible for a lot of people, and also undercuts the argument that government works. now, i am very skeptical of the idea that this is some new era

of bipartisanship, and there's going to be like rainbows and sunshine, and d.c. is going to be wonderful. but i am somewhat hopeful that we could see unemployment insurance and maybe an increase in the minimum wage coming up in the new year. simply because those are really bad issues for republicans to have hanging around going into the midterm elections. they are the party that has every time a jobs report comes out, they're the ones that highlight the plight of the long-term unemployed to say look, our economy needs a lot of work. so it would be hypocritical for them to turn around and say, oh, but we don't need to help these folks any longer. so that's a very bad issue for them. and increasing the minimum wage is incredibly popular. a majority of republicans and tea party republicans support lifting the minimum wage. so letting that hang out there going into the midterm elections, i think also is going to be very politically damaging. >> and dr. peterson, just briefly, the president also, if

he doesn't get action from the house or even a vote, he goes into the state of the union, able to bang the drum on these issues. >> right. >> that's exactly right. i would add immigration to that list, as well. because what's going to happen is it's sort of like a windfall. it's a slippery slope. now that we have the slight little bit of bipartisanship, what it means is that it opens the door for us to be a little bit more rational about processes. so if you add immigration to that, and yes, the president can apply pressure on the minimum wage. remember, the minimum wage for the tea party perspective has got to be understood to be something that will help americans rely less on government. and so it's very, very difficult ideologically for them to be against that. and so i think the president ends up being the best position out of this particular budget process we have on the table today. >> yeah. i think you might be right about that. i appreciate your time, dr. peterson. i've got to tell you, you look really good in that room with the background, the wood panelling, looks like a law library. very serious. we've got to get one of those here. >> gravitas, ari. >> i've got to learn about that. thank you very much. krystal, stay with us. i want to give a quick note, as

well. the markets have just closed at an all-time high, a surge that comes after the fed announced this afternoon the economy may actually be sound enough to ease off some of their stimulus programs. apparently wall street liked that for now. and coming up, we are going to review john boehner's year with a man who knows the u.s. house, "hardball"'s chris matthews in just a few minutes. and we're going to keep monitoring the senate vote on the budget, expected within the hour. also, you're not going to want to miss this. we have the women who rocked 2013, which is more reporting from krystal ball and liz plank and anna homes, founder of jezebel that covers politics, sex and fashion for women, quote, without air brushing. it's an all-star panel on why this year was so big for women. stay with us for that. ♪ stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum

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we are still awaiting that senate vote on the bipartisan budget bill. and we'll begin to bring you those developments as soon as they come in, just a short time ago, president obama and the first lady met with some of the chief beneficiaries of the nation's health care law, moms. after which the president used the opportunity to stress once again why, despite the rocky rollout, the nation needs this law, and why mothers, as he put it, are in the perfect position to make that case. >> moms can tell young people who think they're invincible they're not and prod them to at least get information. >> now, as i mentioned earlier, later in this segment, we are going to get into a big, broad conversation about the big moments of feminism and women in 2013 with my colleague, krystal ball and anna holmes with jezebel. that's you guys. first joining us to talk about health care is cecilia municipal yoez. thanks for being with us today.

>> thanks for having me. >> how would you characterize the way broadly the aca rollout is going, and specifically what you guys were trying to achieve today in this sum met mit with moms. >> obviously, a roque start but things are going better with the website. things are going better. and we heard stories today from moms who met with the president and first lady and talked in very personal terms about a child that was born with a tumor and how this mom was worried since he was an infant he was going to have preexisting conditions and not be able to get health coverage throughout his life. another mom talked about how her adult son races motorcycles and show loses sleep over him not having health insurance. we heard about the relief of moms because their kids could stay on their plan until age 26. these were very personal stories from women who were very often the people making health care decisions for their families. so it was a personal conversation, but a conversation about what matters most to people, to families, to moms and ultimately to the country. >> and in the president's

discussions with you or with first lady michelle obama who we were just seeing there up on the screen and in part of this discussion, what is important to them as they look at this impact on mothers and families around the country? >> well, you know, moms -- i'm a mom of a couple adult daughters. moms know a thing or two. they tend to be the guardians of their family's health. they tend to be persuasive, even with young adults who think they might not have to worry about having an accident or getting an illness. the first lady talked about how we know better and it's important that we give that advice to our young people and it's important that we recognize. of moms are often the guardians in their family, making health decisions. one of the moms in the room today described being the person poring over the plans, making the decision about coverage, and how much peace of mind it gives them to know their families are covered. >> that's interesting and important sort of personal grass roots perspective on a law that often is talked about i think too often in washington in. cecilia munoz from the white house, thank you very much. >> thank you.

it's a pivotal time. 2013 a big year for women in general, including a woman who is on the top of the pop charts this week, and who is always getting people talking about what it means to be a strong, independent woman. ♪ ♪ who won the world girls ♪ >> back with us to discuss feminism in 2013, ann a holmes, liz plank for policy, article on the most iconic memo inconsistent moments of the year has gone viral, 1.1 million views. congratulations on that. and my colleague, msnbc anchor, krystal ball. let's start with beyonce. anna, she was saying just today in describing this album of hers now really burning up the charts, sometimes you lose and you're never too good to lose, never too big to lose. my message, she says, behind this album was finding the beauty in imperfection. is that a feminist message?

>> i'm not sure that any one thing counts as a feminist message. i think that's an interesting message she sent. but in terms of beyonce's feminism, what is more striking is the way she is rewriting the narratives about womanhood, about black womanhood, about being a mother, about being a wife, about being a business woman, a pop culture icon and kind of unapologetically embracing the term "feminist," the word "feminism" without apology, especially with someone at that level. >> liz, what do you think? >> i think she showed feminism isn't something constraining, liberating. it's not about setting -- being kind of accountable to a set of standards that are set by someone else. it's really an individual and personal experience. >> all right. well, i want to turn to a more political one, an inspiring woman who burst on the national scene this year. take a listen to wendy davis. >> if you a -- you must not

treat others -- >> malala also on our list, different than a texas filibuster. krystal ball, tell us about wendy davis. >> wendy davis burst on the national scene this year with her opposition and this epic filibuster of a really onerous texas law that is affecting a lot of women there. it's actually forcing the closure of a third of texas abortion clinics in a state where access to reproductive choices and options are already extraordinarily limited. and she launched this epic filibuster, which was successful in the moment, which brought hundreds of thousands of people to youtube to watch a filibuster in the texas statehouse, kind of an incredible thing. and then to add icing to that cake, she has decided to run for governor. she is an incredible woman with an incredible up by the boot straps kind of a story. incredibly talented. and whether she wins for governor or not, i think she is going to be definitely one to watch for the future. there's going to be great things

for her ahead. courageous. i mean, her act, her filibuster, was both sort of mentally tough and physically tough so it was an incredible thing to watch. >> yeah, liz, what do you think of krystal's point there, that it really captivated people online, because of in part the incredible drama of those moments? >> yeah, i mean, we need to prove that feminism isn't dead. this was the moment. and it really showed that feminism is still a grass roots movement, still from the bottom-up. no major network actually broadcast the fill bust e but we saw women and men go to their computers, as krystal mentioned, and really, really tune in, talk about it online. thousands of people tweeting about it. irs tweeting about it. i was seeing my friends tweet about it. and the next day, the mainstream media had to pay attention. >> right. because sometimes we take our cues from elsewhere, believe it or not. did you know that? sometimes it's not -- >> i see it happen quite a bit. >> i want to move to another one on your list, and the article which is robin thicke, the singer made a lot of waves with a very explicit video for his

song, "blurred lines," which if you haven't heard it, if you want elizabeth's view, you wrote it objectified women and promoted attitudes that can justify rape. the video you're seeing on the screen is not his video, but actually a rebuttal video. tell bus that. >> there were many rebuttal videos, and i thought that was fun. because this was a sexist and very miss original inconsistent song. this really exemplified the way that females watch and consume the media. we don't just consume in a massive way. we really consume it in an active way. so we go to our phones, go to our -- smartphones, cameras and make our own response videos, instead of standing being angry, we can speak back. what. >> do you think of that, anna? this is an old discussion of should you ignore it. in politics, do you deny it oxygen, which is often what people say they've got to do in

campaigns or find some way to reinterpret it or make a joke out of it, right? what do you think about the efficacy here? >> i don't think that it would have been really possible to starve the blurred lines song or video out of oxygen. just because robin thicke is a fairly big artist. and the people, unfortunately, who had a problem with the message that it was sending -- i assume are probably fewer number than people who either dent have a problem or didn't see a problem. so, yeah, i think ignoring wouldn't have been the right idea. but what was really interesting, and what elizabeth got to, not only there was a response but that we now have the tools to do somewhat sophisticated responses, like the video you just showed. that was, you know, very well-produced and well-lit and well lyricized if that's a word. so i think that's what's exciting nowadays about calling out any sort of injustice or making a criticism, particularly with regards to gender politics. >> and that leads us back to malala, krystal, which is the

very we were just looking at e beginning of the segment and bringing attention that can lead to pressure on injustice. she became an international figure, despite being a minor and being what we would traditionally consider highly oppressed in pakistan. >> yeah. i mean, the courage of malala, i think is just astonishing. totally unafraid to speak her mind. totally unafraid to speak, not only for herself. she has this global vision of women's rights. and so she is speaking for women and girls around the world, which is an incredible thing. and to pick up on the point that anna was making, you know, when we see things, whether they're big injustices or small, or if they're sort of like underlying sexist principles like the robin thicke video, it really is important that we call them out. because sometimes ordinary people who are watching that video not thinking too much of it, but then if you pointed out -- if you mock it out or point it out and say this is really sexist, suddenly they go, oh, yeah, you're right.

and then they have more awareness of what's going on. so those sorts of things are really, really important. no matter how big or small the issue. it's vital that you have the tools and the ability and the courage to call it out and i think we saw some incredible women doing that this year. >> yeah. and that deconstruction right doesn't have to be an intellectual exercise. when you do it in a way that's consumable, it co exists and lives on online and else where with the original cultural product. we are going to go, but three women on our list for next year, janet yellen, hillary clinton, elizabeth warren. which are you most excited about, if any? >> which am i most excited about? of the three. i feel like you're asking me to choose between favorite children. how about elizabeth warren, because i'm really excited about her. >> liz? >> janet yellen. >> krystal ball? >> i've got to go with elizabeth warren. so cool. >> now i know where you stand on 2016, krystal. you have revealed too much.

anna holmes, elizabeth plank and krystal ball, thank you all. this was a fun conversation to have. >> thank you, ari. >> absolutely. and coming up, we are awaiting the senate vote on the budget this hour, and we bring in chris matthews, historical scholar in his own right and a man who remembers what a productive congress actually looks like. ♪ [ 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 are made from oil and natural gas. ♪

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see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. when the senate wraps up its budget today and begins recess, the first session of the 113th congress will be officially over. the session has a pretty rough record for republicans, with very few marks left on the u.s. code. the 51 titles of federal laws and rules that govern our nation. and that's because this was the least productive congressional session in modern history. >> the worst congress on record, if you judge by pieces of legislation passed. >> the worst congress ever.

>> polls are coming out, calling this the worst congress ever. >> viewed by a majority of americans as being one of the worst congresses ever. >> yes, this congress passed fewer than 60 laws this year, and those were mostly on small technical or symbolic matters. usually congress passes over 200 laws a year, and far more when one party is in charge. that was actually the case in the late '70s, when democrats ran washington and passed about 800 laws over two years, including the clean water act, the ethics in government act and the full employment act. plus laws that create td the department of energy and new courts to oversee the nsa. back then, the legendary tip o'neill was speaker, and even when republicans took back the white house in 1980, he didn't let the house stop working. instead, he tough labeled with the new president when he could during president reagan's first two years. in fact, the house passed about 500 laws. chris matthews was there. and he chronicles when a productive congress looks like, "tip and the gipper."

we think he's the perfect analyst to provide context for our year-end review of congress. welcome. >> thank you. >> how do you rate the job john boehner has done as speaker? >> well, i don't think they see it as a job anymore. the key to a job, as you know, in journalism, is deadlines and getting things done on time. and that's to me the fundamental problem of politics today. there is no sense of urgency. they were supposed to get the budget approved back in may. the democratic-controlled senate hasn't had a budget through in the last four years. they finally got one this year and then good old ted cruz wloou blew it apart. and agreed on a combine budget. the reason we didn't have any appropriations bills passed is we didn't have a budget to guide those appropriations. so everything was sitting there for ted cruz and rand paul and the guys who wanted to shut down the government to just come in and knock off the continuing resolution. a lot of it is the lack of urgency. what drove tip together, my old boss, and reagan together, was a

sense, dammit, we have to get something done here. we're grown-ups. you want to do something the conservative way, i want to do it the liberal or progressive way. let's find a compromise here. you get some of what you want, you give me something, i give you something. and that was the sense of urgency that you don't have today. again, i'm not going to knock the budget deal they just got through. it's something. it's a -- maybe it's a bunt in baseball terms. it's not a single. it's a bunt. maybe a successful bunt. but it's not great. but it's something. but the idea of doing something urgent, if you think something urgent needs to be done, why don't you do it? >> right. and to your point, chris, you talk about deadlines. this is the only deadline that's mattered at all. we have some news the senate is beginning its vote here on final passage of the budget bill or bunt, we can call it. and as you document, the job of the speaker has always required whipping votes from both parties. in your book -- >> you need to get a debt ceiling -- always requires some help from both sides. and i do tell that story, the great story where reagan came to

tip and said i need your help on the debt ceiling. and tip said, fine, just write a letter to each of the democratic members saying, thank you for that. asking them to do it so it won't be used against them in the next election. that's how you put up the truce flag. that's how you move forward. if you don't try to score points on every single issue. and reagan was grown-up enough, at least with the help of people like stockman and baker, to say, you know what, we're not going to win on this debt ceiling. let's not lose. a and. >> and you also write to the same point on tax reform, they wanted strong majorities in both caucuses. and tip had a condition. he wanted a majority of house republicans voting for the bill on tax reform. >> well, actually, at one point, ari, he said -- there was another way -- he said just give me 50. give me something. and what he did was get through -- look at this. this is a kind of a tax system we would like to have right now. we don't have anymore. top rate individual rate 28%. the only other rate was 15. but get this. no special break on capital gains. you pay just as high on capital

gains for coupon clipping as you do for working in a factory. progressives would love to have that today. and you have tons of loopholes. and so you can give these things if you try and have got grown-ups working. unfortunately, the tea party makes it -- i agree. this is not sim mettic here. the tea party makes it very hard for obama to find -- it's like israel, very hard to find a good negotiating party across the border. and in this characters across the aisle who will stand up to a reasonable compromise. >> yeah, and the tea party might fit in all those, saying you never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. let me play -- >> might want to miss an opportunity, because they don't like government, i think. that's it. >> exactly. we're looking at the senate getting ready to complete this vote, as i mentioned. let me play for you something dennis haster, the former speaker said yesterday, when he was describing the origins of the misnomer, the so-called haster rule. take a listen. >> the haster rule is an anomaly. what happened is that i didn't have a majority of my party.

and the press asked me one day, why don't you go and get a whole bunch of democrats to do this. i said, look, i -- it's common sense. you don't really want to move anythingless unless you have the solid base of your party along with you to understand what you're doing. because you start to do that, be then you really start to create real cracks in your leadership style. >> chris, is the speaker right there, or does leadership mean sometimes you do bring things to the floor without the majority? >> yeah, because i remembered one of the toughest times working for speaker o'neill during the lebanon crisis when we had the marines slaughtered in the barracks that night at the airport there, beirut airport. and i'll tell you, the speaker stuck with the president longer than you can believe. he lost a majority in his house but thought it was important for the united states to maintain a diplomatic front in the middle east. sometimes, right or wrong, you've got to challenge your rank and file. and by the way, they do do it on issues like pay issues and things like that. and you bet that's part of the job of the leadership is to take the heat. now, of course, i think boehner

is going to probably take heat for the next two years on immigration. we don't like it. but i think he's going to protect his members from having to vote up or down on comprehensive immigration reform. so we're going to see some tough leadership on behalf of his caucus, but sometimes you have to challenge the caucus to be a great leader, i think. >> i agree. and i think sometimes that's what separates people who are just operating to those who are leading their caucus. chris matthews on the day the senate is taking some action. a bunt, as you said. thanks for your time. >> thank you. remember to catch "hardball" tonight and every week night at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. keep it locked. we are going to keep a close eye on the senate and voting receipt now on the two-year bipartisan budget deal, see what we can learn from the final tally. stay with us. [ female announcer ] it's a grand gesture

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holding a vote on the final passage of that bipartisan budget deal. we are going to see which republicans are standing with paul ryan, and which are breaking and standing with the tea party. that's coming up. and so are today's top lines. ♪ [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® ♪ through 12 ice storms brewing ♪ ♪ 10 straight days raining ♪ 9 hailstorms pounding ♪ 5 mysteriously heavy holiday fruitcakes ♪ ♪ 4 actual tree houses ♪ 3 blackouts ♪ 2 weird to mention ♪ and a roaming horde of carolers ♪ ♪ with my exact same route [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service. priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans

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about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. from gop in fighting to reagan infatuation. here are today's top lines. you never did get the idea, did you? >> let's go spread some christmas cheer. >> this is going to get you going today. >> first budget deal in two years, some republicans crying foul. >> would you support the so-called bipartisan deal? >> this is a budget that basically continues to spend more money for our government than it takes in. >> to somehow vote against it, without an alternative -- lacks some intellectual integrity. >> i think this thing is passing anyway. >> it includes what one gop lawmaker calls, the quote,

unthinkable cuts to veterans' benefits. >> cut the pensions of the disabl disabled military vets, are you kidding? >> are you kidding me? >> boehner, mad! >> you have people on our side of the aisle that have a really abrasive tone, that come across as knuckle-dragging neanderth s neanderthals. >> that's why they punished him by making him speaker of the house. >> do you think some of these conservative interest groups, tea party interest groups -- >> you mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it? >> are more of a problem for the republican party winning elections or are they an asset? >> they're an asset. >> you know who they love, paul ryan. >> he has led to make a compromise that sells out what actually needs to be done. >> you just called paul ryan a sellout. >> john boehner is not considered conservative enough, paul ryan is not ksht enough. who is? >> ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan so wisely said this and we heard it and thought how perfect for today. >> people keep looking to the government for the answer and government is the problem. >> reagan will rise once more? >> and he will come again in

glory to judge the living and the dead! >> left wing press dismissing this, b-grade actor, has been, not too smart. >> you never did get the idea, did you? >> we have got to stop warshiping ronald reagan. >> holy [ bleep ]. >> when ronald reagan is another hollywood liberal, you've got to say to your party, are you kidding me? and let's get right to our panel, political strategist, angela rye, and guilani cob. welcome to you all. guila guilani, there is a lot of tactical considerations, is the nicest word i can use, for what we're watching on the senate floor right now, republican senators here, the last thing they're going to do at the end of this year of an unproddive congress, and they're going to decide right now as they huddle and shake hands where they want to be on what has been called a bipartisan budget. >> right. i think the most amazing thing here is that we're actually looking at this political system

in the way it was supposed to work gone awry. one of the pride -- i guess points of pride about the american political system, it's supposed to protect the rights of minorities. you're not supposed to have a simple majority that can run roughshod. what we have actually seen is that flipped on its head where you have a small minority, a minority of a party that does not control the white house or the senate. this is actual run roughshod and prevented virtually anything from happening. >> you're hitting on something so important, and thomas frank, you've written about this for years. when we talk about compromise and people say we need to meet in the 50 yard line, that might be true when both sides have equal power, right, and some sort of equally legitimate opportunity to put out a plan or a budget. but to jelani's point, republicans don't control half. they control one wing of one house of congress. and yet we're going a lot closer towards their model of sequester cuts on this deal. so what gives? >> well, you know, it's -- we

can say that if we want. but the way they look at it is, they think they are the group, you know, the faction of a faction, with the only ones who are the bearers of legitimacy. they don't think president obama is legitimate. they don't think the senate is legitimate. and by the way, they thought the same thing about bill clinton and al gore. that's what the whole -- the idea of the red states versus the blue states. the red states, that's the heart of america, authenticity, all that sort of stuff. the rest of us are these kind of, you know, up rooted, derasnatured, you know, people who, you know, intellectuals who read fancy magazines and stuff like that. they think of themselves as legitimate. >> let me bring in angela. speaking myself as someone who is, you know, written for fancy magazines and may not be a real american. but an larks i know you to be a real american. what do you make of that debate that thomas frank is speaking to? >> well, i think there are a number of considerations here. one is the fact that, you know, we have long talked about the number of ways in which the

republican folks have ceded and you did speaker boehner have a meltdown and then, of course, paul ryan come behind and try to cover it. what we know about this budget, it is a whole lot closer to conservative principles. yes, we are dialing back a lot of what wasn't implemented through the budget control act. but we also have seen a tremendous sacrifice of a number of americans that we talked about last week, ari, the unemployment insurance. 37% of the folks who are on unemployment right now have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. so what's the alternative? is the alternative now that we're going to finally consider president obama's american jobs act that he provided to congress, last congress? what's the alternative here? >> well, i think it's also you said the same vein of what angela is talking about. this is not the end of the road. we're going to look at food stamps, the proposed the $8 billion cut from the farm bill, as well. so there is not a through line in which you can say there is this gun but on the other hand

doing this as a social safety net. this is really one party getting a great deal. so paul ryan said today he was getting 70% of what he wanted and not giving up 30% of, you know, what he really wanted. and a scary thing, he might actually be right. he might be honest about that. >> yeah, and thomas frank, just real quick, any move on immigration, if there is a feeling they can do things together? >> oh, god, i have no idea about that. but you know what's funny, i have been -- i'm on a lot of tea party list serves. and the ways they're denouncing this stuff are hilarious, okay, so they refer to the republicans who want to make the compromises as spokesmen for the ruling class. they talk about them being beholden to big business and want to bring us back to the days of what they call the k-street project. and here's what's fascinating. they sound like us. they sound like msnbc. the tea party people. and, okay, so what am i getting at here? this is an opening for real populism in this country. you know, the right has controlled -- has controlled the language of populism -- well, all my life, basically.

>> well, yeah, and i think we've got to go -- >> it's time to take it back. >> i think that's right. and you do see that in efforts on the ground, immigration with a lot of great action and protests, covering the minimum wage protests and labor and walmart and the holidays. the new populism is rising. it takes washington a long time to listen. angela rye, thomas frank and jelani cob, thank you for being with us on this day as we follow the budget deal. as you can see, the senate has reached its threshold so we have passed this budget deal. we're going to check in with luke russert in washington for an update when we come back. ♪ ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®.

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welcome back. we go to luke russert with breaking news on the hill. >> reporter: two years of budget pieces on the horizon. the budget passed by a vote of 64-36. there were only three republicans who originally voted against this, alexander, blunt and flake.

nine republicans supporting, johnson, mccain, 1600 p.a. avenue, signed, sealed and delivered shortly by president obama. >> the end of a long round of jousting. we will be right back. it's not the "juggle a bunch of rotating categories" card. it's not the "sign up for rewards each quarter" card. it's the no-games, no-messing-'round, no-earning-limit-having, do-i-look-like-i'm-joking, turbo-boosting, heavyweight-champion- of-the-world cash back card. this is the quicksilver cash back card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. now tell me, what's in your wallet? [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant

"the ed show" starts now. good evening, americans. and welcome to "the ed show." live from washington, d.c., let's get to work. right there. i'll look you right in the eye tonight ask tell you that i support workers in every workplace in america. >> that that fight is worth fighting for! >> this is ridiculous. >> now you know, there's a big calculation going on right now about trust. >> i'm not sure what that means, to be honest with you. >> democrats are going to trust john boehner and the republicans to to the right thing for the unemployed in this country. >> i don't trust the republicans.