websites and we want to thank our partners in helping to distribute this ranging from the huffing ton post to zero hedge, option monster, it will be streaming on msnbc.com and steel on wheels, dylan ratigan.com that starts this evening at 7:00, live from the university of rochester where we will convene a meeting not only with andrew and the panelists but with the people and the students here in upstate new york so that we can launch into this jobs movement and we will see you tonight at the town hall, tomorrow in philadelphia and we look forward to t it's my party and i'll cry if i want to let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris math news washington.

leading off tonight, one down, one to go the senate just passed the tax bill that anger sod many on the far left and the far right a number of progressives are still promising to fight it in the house but our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows americans left, right and center approve of the bill, which raises two questions. why is the minority making all the noise and why is the majority staying silent? two great questions. and speaking of today's poll, it has some surprisingly good news for president obama. contrary to the buzz, voters have not given up on the president. that includes independent voters. truly alarming, by the way, in terms of numbers, are the latest test scores that show american school children falling behind further and further the rest of the world. is it because unions keep us from firing bad teachers or what? former washington, d.c. schools chancellor michelle reid joins us tonight. and it is my party and i'll cry if i want to by now, you have probably seen tape of john boehner becoming vividly emotional a number of times on

"60 minutes" there he is. nothing wrong with that of course, would the public be as forgiving if say, speaker nancy pelosi were in tears like that? what would the rights say then? finally, when it comes to eliminating earmarks, texas republican senator john cornyn is all hat, as they say in texas, and no cattle. he likes the idea of getting rid of earmarks but also likes the reality of having them. let's begin with the senate passing the tax cut. senator dick durbin of i will sill the democratic whip. senator, thanks for joining us. you have joined the great majority of senators from both parties. how do you distinguish between the high noise level on network television like this on msnbc and elsewhere, among the net roots, among progressives generally you can the loud, angry noise against this deal this compromise and yet when we look at the polling right now, overwhelming support for this deal among democrats? >> i think people want us to move forward. that might have been the election's -- the clearest message coming out of it and they want us to be constructive and that means that we have to

give. the democrats have to give on some of their ideas, republicans on theirs. that's how we are going to solve the problems facing this country. >> let's take a look at these numbers, here they are, the brand new nbc/"wall street journal" poll out tonight, 59% of the country likes the deal we have been talking about for weeks now, 36% disapprove, 61 say, 61% it is a fair compromise, just 23% think that obama gave up too much. 10% say the republicans gave up. so there is a little bit of tilt there, to say the least. what do you think of that tilt, among the people that don't like the deal it is the the left that doesn't like it a lot more than the right who seems to relatively like it. >> so let's try this question. ask the american people, would you be in favor of tax countries for wealthy people if you knew that it added $70 billion to the deficit, money we are going to have to borrow from china? chris, you and i know the answer to that question the way you ask the question has to a lot to do with the results. >> yeah, but let me ask you this. back to my question our political figure, you are the leader of the senate, why is all the noise at the polls and maybe

a bigger question, why is there no sound coming from between the 40-yard lines? why do we never hear from people who are mild of the road democrats, middle of the road republicans? >> most of them are not watching political shows. most of them are worried about the basics of life, you know? the bottom line is the people who really care, really get intense tune into their favorite cable channel and one of them happens to be chris matthews. >> well, i don't mind that let's take a look. any way, your thought bus the house, think we will get a big conference flip flap or flap over there, you expect this to go down through christmas or expect to see your colleagues on the other side of the hill backing this eventually? >> well, i can just say this, it's heart felt, the on six to the bill among the liberal members of the house democratic caucus is heart felt and they deserve their day to argue their point. they may prevail. my guess is looking at the vote in the senate, 81-19, cries the political spectrum, it is like lit version of the bill that we

enacted is going to pass in the house of representatives. we are going to see it finalized some time next week. >> thank you so much for joining us. congratulations, by the way, on getting it done here in the senate. thank you, senator durbin. let's go now to democratic congressman brad sherman of southern california. congressman sherman, we haven't had you on in a while. where are you, if you had to vote right now, on this deal? >> well, i hope we -- >> yea or nay? >> i would vote yes because if we don't pass a bill this year, there will be a worse bill passed next year. >> okay, answer my question, i know is a media question, i'm not media, i'm with msnbc, i know the point of view of my colleagues, i hear -- i share most of it. here's my question, why is there so much anger and noise in the media among the net roots, among people, self-described progressives, yet we look at this poll data tonight, overwhelming support among democrats, by the way, support in other polls the last couple of days for this measure this compromise? >> i thank you a lot of

democrats who respect the president and when he put his impromatur on this deal, 30, 40% of the democrats who might oppose it in terms of deal are going to vote for it when they hear this is obama's position. >> interesting. >> i think once the president announced this was his position it both created more support for the deal among democrats and made it impossible for us to negotiate a better deal with the republicans. >> you have been out campaigning, got re-elected overwhelmingly, let me ask you this 63, 65% of the vote this time. >> mm-hmm. >> why does the public hate congress yet re-elect most members of congress? >> i mean -- >> look at this poll, 83% don't like congress. >> first of all, thank god i run against an opponent instead of just the concept of couldn't we do better? when people say they don't like congress it's mythical image

they have of what congress ought to be, that they compare us to. second, a lot of people like their individual member of congress because they know us. finally, we reflecthe views. if you ask people in the adjoining district whether they like me, they would say no. so it could be when you ask people in my district do you like congress, they are thinking of the other guy. >> congressman, i was speaking to a smart politician, getting a smart political answer. here is better, tougher question. i know nancy pelosi, you know her, you know her as an inside political player, i know her as an outside person in the media. i like her. when i'm with her, i think she is a really nice person. i can't understand these -- maybe i can, but i want you to voice it why is there a disconnect between the nancy pelosi you and i know in a strong political player, grew up in a political family who is a real pro and this nasty imagery that goes on about her that you see and i think reflected in this poll number, 83% against the congress? >> i think even if nancy pelosi wasn't in congress, when you've got a 9.8% unemployment rate and

you have got congress, sway place where you watch sausage being made, i think you would get same results. i don't hold her responsible for that i think that the right has spent hundreds of millions of dollars i will have fig pole lohse across the country and it is taking its to. >> here is president obama today speaking before the senate votes. i want your reaction to what he says, congressman. here we go congressman sherman. let's listen to the president. >> i am absolutely convinced that this tax cut plan, while not perfect, will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. i know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of congress on both sides aisle object. that's the nature of compromise, but we worked hard to negotiate an agreement that's win for middle class families and a minute wynn fwin for our economy and we can't let

it fall victim to either day lay or defeat. so, i urge members of congress to pass these tax cuts as swiftly as possible. >> what's the story in your state? jerry brown won, barbara boxer won, a woman of the progressive side. she is no middle of the roader. every democratic member of congress got re-elected why is it -- we call it the left coast, maybe i'm answering my question, why is california so solidly democrat, even in a brutal political year? >> i would like to think it is because we are a little bit smarter than the average person in the country but realistically, california is a democratic state and we looked at the situation, think reached the right conclusion. also, california is socially more liberal than the average person in the country. >> thank you very much, u.s. congressman brad sherman. said he will vote for the bill if he has today but will change if he wants. we have the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll and president obama in a better shape.

wait until you here is when the public talks about this guy, he is in very good shape given the fact we have almost a 10% unemployment rate in the country and he is running about 50%. let's try to figure that one out with chuck todd. you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil.

with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. well, sarah palin, the former governor of alaska, says that washington elites don't like her and guess what she is right. a new politico survey put out just today says that 11% in d.c. say she is qualified to be president. she can actually 150e9 1% from alaska. 86%, a lot easier to see, say she is not qualified. get this, while 15% of washington elites in the survey say palin is a breath of fresh air, 79% find she is a negative influence in national politics. don't come to washington, governor. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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welcome back to "hardball."

the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll we do them together with "wall street journal," out tonight shows us what voters thinking about the tax compromise we have been debating here and what the voters think of president obama. fascinating numbers, actually. here to run through the numbers, of course, chief white house correspondent, political director of msnbc, chuck todd. here is president obama's approval rating in the poll, 45 to 48%. what do you make of that? i'm amazed he is hanging up there given the 10% unemployment rate. >> look at that in a one-year-long, one year ago, 47/46 it has not budged. he has -- and both of our pollsters say there is a resilience, the part is he has a very solid base but he is still a float and he took a horrible, horrible year. when you really think about it step back, shellac ted polls, all of these things, he should be in worse shape and he is not. his base is just very strong. young voters. it is -- excuse me, younger americans, african-americans it

is hispanics and core liberal democrats but that base has not abandoned him. >> why do we hear a differential on television? i don't think anything is phony on this network or anywhere else, you hear voices from real members of congress angry about these guys. >> ways you look at our poll where you see a part of the liberal base unhappy with him on policy stuff and comes through on characteristic questions we ask but you see him come home when you ask about obama as president. >> people asked about their feelings, interesting way to ask it feelings toward president obama, only uptakes to 48-38. look at this only 38, not sure it is going to show in later numbers that people decided against this guy. i think a lot of people are in limbo about him now because of the bad economy. >> that's right. you have -- just think about what the last year was. the only issue fight he chose to have was health care. every other issue he has had to deal with whether the oil spill

you can the multiple phase of the economy are things that were dropped into his lap. afghanistan was another one. dropped into his lap. all of these things -- you do sense from the public, and in the poll you see it we don't know what kind of president this guy s. >> here we go to make this point, i love this, my favorite question answered today, when asked to judge whether president obama will be, i love that phrase, will be a successful president, 42% say they respect ready to say. now, usually somebody says undecided, i say gimme a break. but i empathize with those people, because that is a fair, very fair assessment. >> you know, we asked these, do these 16 characteristic tests, okay, on the president, some are personal and some professional. overall, did he much better on the the personal we see it here, much better. >> you know how i looked at that michelle numbers sky high and the fact it is a family they like. >> a year ago, asked the same question, 40 said they were not ready to judge a year later, after he gets health care

passed, after he has to deal with the crisis -- >> explain. >> i think it is nothing but crisis, nothing but reaction. they don't know and kind of curious, how is this guy going to handle the new congress? he has -- this is opportunity for him. the upside. the downside is that it is also -- >> six months from now, all right compromise he is making on taxes and unemployment comp be good? support for the tax bill across-the-board 54% of dems support it, as do 60% of independents, 68% of republicans, republicans a lot more randy about this than republicans. they love this thing. tax cuts for the rich and everything else. >> deal did seem to be more of -- >> he jammed them. objective fact. >> the fact is democrats read that and the republicans read that. >> somebody saying before the show tonight, one reason why democrats don't like this bill is not because the essence of it which gives them a cut for payroll tax, a lot of thing these do like it is the way they were jammed and held up by the other side. >> they feel like they lost it.

>> look at this one, how the two parties were doing, democrats want their house and senate leadership to compromise or stand firm this is generally speaking, 63% say compromise. again, a discordance with cable television -- >> among republicans, it is a little bit lower, a majority of republicans want republicans to compromise to stick to their position but it is more narrow. it is a nature of the -- the democratic majority what ever you want to call it here, this democratic grouping here has always been this way, always more leaning toward compromise generally. >> you know what -- it is different from -- >> i have to give you history, when i worked for the speaker of the house, tip o'neill, 90% of what he sid or i wouldn't be working with him had, go into the whip meetings, thursday morning, glazed donuts and could have fair, scene in the cowboy movies, indians about to attack, they were the indians, war whooping, yelling, screw the

other guy, there is something about certain personalities that are always -- i don't think it is always the left wing, just some guys were always like that all the time and they loved being in leadership meetings get own the floor and everybody when we gonna vote? when are we going to get out of here? >> want to go home. >> let's go to this other question, 37% of those polled have a 41% view negative, 37% positive. so basically that is just sort of mediocre. it is. you need to point out for the republicans, the first time in our poll in five years -- >> they are up. >> they are up -- >> one. >> a net positive. that does say. >> swept it by 60-some seats. >> this is the honeymoon. >> if you asked that question right after the election, the democrats were -- keith and i and rachel all covering it that night, wipeout by the republicans, you would say these grice popular. they are not quite popular, the democrats are not popular, people are looking for an alternative. they haven't fallen in love with

the new guys. >> not yet it is up to them to figure it out. >> everybody talks about sarah palin, impressed by the relentless negativity toward her, here is 50%, haven't seen 50%, 50% don't like her. 28%. >> the way we ask this number, much harder to get a 50% negative rating or 50% positive rating, the nature of how we asked the question. to score 50 on either side of this is saying something. >> on fox television, on tlc, on positive venue she is out shooting -- >> her own, chris. it was 40 a year ago. she has been a net negative since she has gone on the scene. >> what is she doing wrong? >> she is sitting at 50. >> why don't people like her? all she does positive pr. it is not clear that she is talking to the middle. talking to -- >> going to robin roberts friday morning on gma, another big interview -- >> all the other shows, right now, she is only talking to fox

viewers, only talking to the conservative base. >> talked to barbara walters, robin roberts. >> only been recent. only been recent. >> the house of representatives just passed, by the way, a repeal of don't ask, don't tell. the big fight will be the senate, that ends the bans on gay people, men and women openly admitting orientation as they serve our country, a position, i, of course, support it goes to the senate faceance uncertain future. i don't know why chuck. why is the senate fighting this, history is moving in this direction. the public is 70% for this thing. >> i don't know the senate is going to fight it as hard as a standalone. >> the votes? what do they get out of opposing it? >> >> before it was lumped into the whole defense authorization. i think we will really see where these guys are on individual votes. >> people who oppose open service dying off, to be bunt blunt about it very of old people, very cranky and angry with new thing? >> i think what is amazing about this issue is how behind -- when we have made big social change in government, whether it was

integration, interracial marriage, down the line. >> those feuds are dying. >> my point is public opinion was still very negative toward that change. here is a case with don't ask, don't tell, where you have a majority of the country wanting it repealed, a majority of the country. that's what's been odd about this taking so long. by the way, if this fail notice senate, the pressure is going to be on the president to do an executive order because the military wants an orderly way to do. this they don't want the courts -- >> nonsense. my dadder is nftd navy in world war ii a lot of gay guys in the military, it was part of life, celebrating it, it is a fact. >> they have avoided having to deal with the with executive order aspect of this because they wanted congress to do it for them. >> the congress created the problem. >> no choice if they don't do it in the senate. >> i want it done by legislation permanently. any way, thank you, chuck todd. >> yeah, buddy. up next whoer is hypocrisy, remember when senate republicans promised to ban earmarks? they didn't need it the new bill is loaded with money for

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back to "hardball." sideshow time, of course. first, elvis is alive, well and back in the building. here is jon stewart on last week's incredible scene in the white house briefing room. >> i'm gonna let him speak very briefly and then i have actually got to go over and do some -- just one more christmas party. >> you're gonna leave that guy, the michael jordan of press briefings, in charge, while you go to a christmas party? >> go ahead. >> mr. president, is there anything else that can be done,

in your opinion? >> the comfort lean. ah, the precious. it's mine. you can't have it back. nasty obama says. look at this guy. it's like he never left. he is doing the creepy smile. he is doing a little knuckle point, a little lip biting. what the [ bleep ] was that? he has introduced the tongue swirl. guy's got moves we have never even seen before t is a virtuoso performance. obama what are you doing? >> stewart at his best. i actually consider it a show of confidence on president obama's part, passing this tax day would be a huge victory, of course, bill clinton might just be the one who helps put him over the top. next, 'tis the political san. democratic leader harry reid has said that the senate could work right through christmas day or around at least christmas eve, if it hasn't been rat fig the nuclear arms deal with russia. republican senator jon kyl's

response says reid is disrespecting christians. republican jim demint echoed the religious rage calling it sack yes limp joyce to hold a vote on s.t.a.r.t. around christmas. here is senator reid defending himself and shooting back. . >> i don't need to heart sanctimonious lectures of senator kyl and demint to remind me of what christmas means. my question, madam president is where were their concerns about christmases to in that filibuster after fill buster on a major piece of legislation during this entire congress? >> well, how about a nuclear arms race, a renewed one? is that a better way to celebrate christmas? look, s.t.a.r.t.'s important enough to stick around, at least another week. finally, doize say, not as i do here we go. hypocrisy time. republican senator john cornyn requested millions in pet projects in a new spending bill bebee indict signing on with all that ballyhoo on the earmark

moratorium. here he is face the heat on fox news. >> earmarks, too, according to this list, some 16 million for your home state. can you defend that, senator? >> well, by live i can but i'm not going to because i'm going to vote against this bill. >> you favor earmarks is what you're saying? >> i do not. i think we need an earmark moratorium which i voted for for two years till we fix this broken system because it's become a symbol -- >> i get it, but i'm confused then, why is there 16 million in request request from you listed here is that not true? >> early on in the year, i did request earmarks that i think are individually defensible. >> good for bill hammer, confused him with mike because he acts on those scenes, something if either party goes cold turkey, which brings us to tonight's big number. how much in earmarks is in the new big spending bill? $8 billion. americans voted over whelmingly for government to control spending just a month ago and congress has decided it would

rather keep a few influential people happy with the earmarks, even if it make a lot of regular people generally unhappy that is the story of politics, 8 billion in earmarks despite all the hype about getting rid of them. tonight's height of hypocrisy, big number. up next, standardized test scores of american school kids at age 15 are way weigh down. our kids are trailing behind asian and european students. what can we do about this? why are the schools doing this terrible job? we have got schools reformer michelle reid coming in here. what a great person she is. you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc.

and all my investments, but it's not something that i want to do completely on my own -- i like to discuss my ideas with someone. that's what i like about fidelity. they talked with me one on one, so we could come up with a plan that's right for me, and they worked with me to help me stay on track -- or sometimes, help me get on an even better one. woman: there you go, brian. thanks, guys. man: see ya. fidelity investments. turn here. i'm hampton pearson with your cnbc market wrap. stocks trimming loss after a

late-day decline clue to infinish slightly lower. the dow jones industrials falling 19 points, s & p 500 losing 6. the nasdaq slipping 10 points. again today, we are looking a at stronger dollar offsetting some positive economic news. industrial output up .4 in november. we have also got a new survey showing americans have finished only half their christmas shopping so far. that's good news for retailers. and the bond market is rebounding strongly after some big declines last week. in stocks, bp shares are lower after the obama administration sued the company for violation of environmental laws. gm finished slightly lower after buying back more than $2 billion in preferred stock from the federal government. home builders slipped as loan applications stall on a sizable hike in mortgage rate. but microsoft moved higher. its video game device looking like the must-have gift of the holiday season that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball."

. that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." > that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >t that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >h that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >i that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >s that is first for business worldwide. now back tt is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." > that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >c that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >n that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >b that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >c that is first for business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >that is first for business worldwid . >> i'm on twitter great tool but i don't like that they limit you to 140 -- [ grunting ] it's just not fair. limit to you 140 characters. dad used to say some of the most important things of life take 200 characters to say so i can't talk about it. >> we are back and that's jimmy fallon, hilarious spoof of an emotional john boehner, begins to look like him. the speaker known for frequently tearing up. if you didn't know that after he gave his acceptance speech on election night you certainly knew it after he cries three separate times on "60 minutes" this week.

check it out. there's nothing wrong with emotion you about this is really something to talk about, you a really something to talk aboub really something to talk abouu really something to talk about really something to talk abouu really something to talk aboubo something to talk abouut this i something to talk about. >> i'm on emotional guy and there is nothing wrong with emotions and i have been talking about the fact that i have been chase the american dream my whole career. >> and that was it? >> that was t. >> and you're gonna cry again. >> i know. i'm making sure that these kids have a shot at the american dream like i did. it's important. >> what set you off that time? 'cause she's proud of you? >> well, nancy pelosi be able to get away with crying the way byner did or male politicians enjoy the politician to weep more than female politicians? i love the fact that joan walsh joins us for this editor at large for salon and michelle

bernard, another favorite of mine personally all these years working together, an msnbc political analyst and president of bernard center for women politics and policy. joan, here's the story. joan, these women, angle, christine and sarah kick other men for being unmanly, limp, whatever, impotent, for being unmanly, daring them to man up, saying put on their man pants, this relentless chime this relentless anthem of nonsense from right-wing women addressed at reasonable democratic candidates on the other side. >> right. >> now they are numero uno, the man in charge the stud duck of the republican party, the man right at the front is mr. tears, lonely tear drops and they got no problem with it. explain, lucy. explain. i don't get it. >> weeper boehner they are calling him. >> you have a problem with him it is the hypocrisy, this

manually, macho crap we are getting from the republican side and their own guy is normal, very emotional but he gets a walk? >> he gets a walk. >> your thoughts. not going to tell him to man up because i think men should allowed to cry but come on, chris, there is something a little bit off about all of these water works. some of them are set off by things that don't make any sense and there seems to be some underlying -- i don't know, sadness that's welling up in him at unexpected times. a woman would never get away with it. you and i were both -- not together but both in new hampshire the day hillary clinton cried. my blackberry was blowing up. we know everybody we talked to, that's all they wanted to talk about that day. you know, the same hasn't been true of mr. boehner, i think a woman would be -- a woman on the verge of a leadership position doing this, they would find another leader. >> remember pat shah sfloerd let's look at the montage this

is becoming endemic or pandemic, my old bosseses, a great man, ed muskie, not sure he is crying here, but denouncing newspaper, ought to be, denounced the publish of that new hampshire paper because he was trashing the senator's wife. let's listen to this. >> maybe i said all i should have. fortunately for him, he is not on this platform beside me. >> could i not figure out how to run and not be separated from those i serve. there must be a way but i haven't figure it had out yet. >> i think about the families, the children. i am -- i'm a loving guy. >> true measure of a man is how you handle victory and also defeat. >> i just don't want to see us fall backwards.

no. >> when judd walked out of this chamber, walks out of this chamber for the last time, he will leave an enormous void behind. >> okay, michelle? >> you know, i think that times -- things have really, really evolved. people, you know, joan's blackberry probably went off when hillary clinton cried after losing iowa because a lot of people didn't know if she were capable of crying, i think it was a shock. i thank you men should allowed to cry, women should allowed to cry. >> remember that senator clinton was responding to a very sympathetic concern. >> personal. >> say about her personal feelings about what she had been going through, she was almost -- you know, talked to on that personal basis, gave a personal response, as i recall. >> and people -- i think there were a lot of people who were stunned to see it this is the woman who after all of the talk

came out about monica lewinsky --. not sure that is important at this point. but what is this story about this -- are we now free to cry? >> yeah. >> did it? the doors are open. >> it was very endearing to watch george herbert walker bush do it he talks about his family and he cries it just she is human side. >> let's take a look, here he is defending his tendency to emoat. here is a boehner. >> what you see is what you get. i know who i am. i'm comfortable in my own skin and everybody who knows me knows i get emotional about certain things. >> here is what speaker pelosi said about her counter part, mr. boehner, "he is known to crime he cries sometimes when we are having a debate on bills f i cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that but when he comes -- it comes to politics, no, i don't cry. i have deep emotion about the american people f i were to cry for anything, i would cry for them and the policies --" oh, come on. just too much talk about this from these -- is this

comparative crying? >> exactly. my tears are more normal than your tears it makes no sense whatsoever. it is ridiculous. >> i don't think the public cares. >> michelle and very given men permission to cry so we have got a bipartisan consensus here. the two of us say men, go ahead and cry. >> go for it. >> go for t. >> more guys have cried over women who have given them a hard time than you will ever know about. >> oh, god. don't -- >> nothing we can do that about that. >> true emotions in the boy/girl department not in politics, i can assure you, based on long-ago history. >> you come from where john boehner has become, get this education and become the speaker of the house as he soon will be, i think that calls for emotion. >> joan, imagine -- you can't imagine, you are his flack, his press secretary, you are silting with him, do you advise him not to cry what do you say? >> i would advise him not to cry flankly about this stuff and make someone like merck the night of the election, like at those tears and i think maybe he is crying because he has turned -- he works for the wealthy and powerful in this

country and turned his back on people like his family. >> oh, god, joan that is so unfair. >> i think it is as reasonable as anything else i can think. he wants to repeal financial reform. he is the friend of the wealthy and powerful, not helping children climb that whole -- those crocodile tears, they may be real tears but he -- what, is he mr. -- >> you are so tough. >> i am tough. he's a politician. he can cry but when i look at these political justifications, he cries because he is worried about children? i haven't seen any evidence that he is worried about children. did he vote to extend the s-chip program to give people health care, vote for food stamps, vote for things that kids need? no, as a matter of fact. >> i bet you coming in january we will see speaker boehner be one of the leaders in the house that will vote for school choice, for school vouchers that will allow every single child in this country to have an equal education. i bet that you's one area of come mond ground that you and i can come back on "hardball" and agree he has done something well

and something honorable. >> some school voucher programs are wonderful but not the panacea for equal education for poor children. >> stuck in a d.c. public school, you may think that the school voucher program is the panacea. >> i have been working on this project and found out the only time i know pretty much for sure jack kennedy ever cried about a public issue was when he thought about the children that would be killed in a nuclear war and it was for real. i think that would pass must we are all of us. >> absolutely. >> thank you, joan walsh, thank you, michelle bernard. up next, american students are falling behind, talk about a crying shame. that affects our competitiveness in the world. this is the former workforce, by the way. former school leader michelle reid there she is, will join us about what can be done about this creeping disaster of our kids falling further and further behind in the world in math, in language in everything. this is "hardball," only on msnbc.

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vice president joe biden is urging congress to pass the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear treaty with russia over republican objections that may keep congress in session up until crist christmas. the vice president in an interview with my colleague, andrea mitchell. >> the s.t.a.r.t. treaty finally on the floor of the senate. >> yep. >> but not without one republican senator threatening to read every last word in that treaty and another senator, senator kile, staying is disrespectful to the christmas holiday to even be bringing it up. what do you say to senator kyl and the others who are dragging their feet? >> get out of the way. there's too much at stake for america's national security. and don't tell me about christmas. i understand christmas. i have been a senator for a long time. i have been there many years where we go right up to christmas. there's ten days between now and christmas. i hope i don't get in the way of your christmas shopping, you about this is the nation's business. this is a national security at

stake. act. act. >> well, he has had a good year, actually. vice president biden's full interview airs tomorrow at 1 eastern on "andrea mitchell reports" here on msnbc. become to "hardball," after this. account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. naturally colorful vegetables are often a good source of vitamins, fiber, or minerals. and who brings you more natural colors than campbell's condensed soups? campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™

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they're free. make your mark with ink. chase what matters. go to chase.com/ink. wake up every morning and you knee kids are getting a really crappy education right now. >> so, you think that most of the kids here are getting a crappy education right now? >> i don't think they are, i know they are. >> welcome back to "hardball" that is a clip from the great movie "waiting for superman," by davis guggenheim, which made a star out of michelle reid,

former d.c. chancellor. we saw her, she stepped down in d.c. when the mayor who had given her unwavering support was defeated for re-election, she now launched students first, education reform. thanks for joining us. great to have you on. a big supporter of what you tried to do let's take a look at these scores, the public right now knows the horror story facing us this is america we are talking about. a new survey of standardized test scores compares the knowledge and skills of a 15-year-old in the and skills o 15-year-old. in reading, that's pretty fundamental, the u.s. ranks 14th tied with poland and iceland. we lag behind shanghai, korea, finland, hong kong. in science, the u.s. ranks 17th. again we lag behind shanghai, finland, hong kong and japan. on our most dismal ranking of all with his math the united states ranks now a disgusting 25th. way below average. here again way behind shanghai,

singapore, hong kong and korea. what happened goes on in a public school that allows not to happen? what's it like -- is the teacher asleep? are they la gubryious. are they boring? describe the scene in a d.c. school for a 15-year-old that makes them that behind the competition? >> well, in d.c. public schools across the city, we were facing situations where, yes, children were not engaged in quality instruction. they did not have high standards for what we expected them to be able to do and we had kids who were moving from grade level to grade level without the requisite skills and knowledge that they needed to be successful in life. >> so what's a teacher do when they do a social promotion? do they just say, well that's the deal, that's the deal here. >> well, remember, this isn't a problem with teachers with social promotion, this is a policy that school districts often put in place saying that

it's going to be better for the well for a of the children if we move them along but what we don't realize is that we're so focused on how to make kids feel good that we're actually not teaching them how to read and do math which is really what is going to make them feel proud of themselves. >> well, if you can't do double-digit multiplicatiomulti. in school i have gotten lost. doo doing metrics that's so far behind you you go please what's going to in here. but when you're in high school the most important time of your life to get english, math and some interest in science and if you don't get it then you're not going to go to college and if you go you will go to second-rate opportunity because you don't know what you're doing and that's right. >> won't promote the kid. >> one of the most disturbing things that would happen to me on a regular basis is that kids who graduated from the d.c. schools would go off to college, would come back to me and say you know i got as, i was the valedictorian at my high school and then i went to college and

now i'm in remedial classes. i thought i was doing everything right but now i'm going to college and they're telling me that i don't have the skills and knowledge that i need to be successful in college. and so we're really not doing children a service by promoting them from grade level to grade level without actually knowing what you need to in that particular grade. >> so my daughter went to a very good catholic school in washington. short-time visitation. she goes to the university of pennsylvania, and realized she's ahead of the kids there at a great ivy-league school. so how come the catholics schools can do better than the public schools? >> well, i mean i wouldn't just r just say it's catholic schools. we have a lot of public schools that do a great job too, charter schools who do a great job so i don't think that it's about the sector that the school is in. i think that it's the ability to have a great principle to have that principal to have a great staff of teachers and if you talk to some the best schools whether private schools charter schools or private schools what they'll tell you is it is all

about teacher zbhoolt yeah. is the teacher's union of america are they for education or for the teachers? >> well, look, people want to give teacher's unions a hard time right now and people say why aren't the unions coming along? why can't we get them to change, rebrace for reform? but the purpose of the teachers union is to protect them members. to maximize the pay and the privileges of the teachers. they're just doing their job and doing excellent job of that but the problem is that when you -- when all you have as a special interest group is the teachers union and you don't have an organized interest group that's advocating on behalf of children, then you create an imbalance where the policies and laws that are put in place are put in place for adults instead of for chaney that's the purpose of my new organization, students first, is we're going to advocate and put pressure on decisionmakers and politicians to put kids first. >> well, i wish you well and stay away from the right wing, don't let them grab too control

of. you're too good to be grabbed by some ideological fool. you are certainly important to this country. thank you, michelle rhee. let me finish with what the polls are telling us about the president, the democratic party and the way that politics is played right now. [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums if you're taking an antidepressant and still feel depressed, one option your doctor may consider is adding abilify. abilify treats depression in adults when added to an antidepressant. some people had symptom improvement in as early as one to two weeks after adding abilify. now with the abilify (me+) program,

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let me finish tonight with politicians, they say they don't pay attention to the polls, they do of course. they not only pay attention they

pay for polls. it's the first thing candidates do when they begin to campaign. they hire a first-rate pollster and find out what people are thinking. personally i love polls. i love knowing what my fellow americans think about things. now i've listened to this storm against the president's deal with the republicans, listen to it as obsided with the basic assessment in which he's made that if he hasn't dealt the republicans would come riding into town next month, in january, cutting taxes for everybody after the democrats, led by nancy pelosi, had let them go up. that's the reality i've been looking at through all of this tempest. even as i've tried not to be critical of those justifiably angry by this cruddy reality that led to obama's decision on deal. the reality of a terribly anemic economy, a corporate leadership sitting on $2 trillion it won't invest that could be, by the way, the biggest economic catalyst of all, and a republican leadership in congress in ernest to play the nastiest politics seen in this country in a long while. ready to kill economic recovery