walked away from middle cls taxpayers. >> right now on "andrea mitchell reports" -- high drama on the hill. the stalemate over extending the payroll tax cut dissolves into a bitter partisan fight and neither side is ready to blink. >> we're ready to work, we're looking four our counterparts to sit down with us so we can do what the president, bipat partisan leaders in the house and senate all want, and that's to extend the payroll tax cut for one year. >> we were on the floor to do our work. >> on the 24 campaign trail, newt gingrich faces heat in iowa. [ yelling ] >> and he's lg turning up the heat on mitt romney to call off attacks from a political action committee working on his behalf. >> if you can't handle the heat

in this little kitchen, the heat that going to come from obama's hell's kitchen is going to be a lot hotter. >> a shock, twist in the death of an army private reported to have committed suicide in afghanistan today. eight of his fellow soldiers are facing charges in connection with his death. >> good day, i'm chris in for andrea today in washington. in the daily fix, what else but stalemate on capitol hill. president obama called house speaker, john boehner today, urging him to take up the two-month payroll tax extension passed by the senate. the president also put in a call to senate majority leader, harry reid. house republicans are demanding the senate return to washington to negotiate a full-year extension. joining us to talk about it is mark murray, nbc news deputy political collector. stalemate seems like the right word. i feel like if you had a word to define congress in 2011, it would be stalemate, or partisanship gridlock. pick your word. this is brinksmanship.

political chicken, who turns the wheel first? >> usually the side that's actually behind. and right now, you have to see that republicans are the ones that are in a corner. chris, it actually started earlier in the week when republican senator scott brown and dean heller said we don't support what the house republicans are doing. >> dean heller served in the house, he knows of what he speaks. >> you have the deafening silence from senate majority mitch mcconnell. that he's not said anything says a lot. and lastly "the wall street journal" editorial page saying look, house republicans, it's time to wave the white flag. it shows the politics aren't behind the republicans right now. you don't know how it's going to play out. but at least opticswise, prwise, the republicans are ott a disadvantage. >> couldn't agree more. we saw president obama come out yesterday and say this isn't a joke, we need to pass this. what does the white house do? we're going to have stephanie cutter on, former white house official now with the obama campaign in a minute. but what is your thought,

strategically? what do they do here, they seem to be as you point out, sitting rarely, they haven't sat in the catbird seat all that much. they appear to be doing that here. >> they might be doing well prwise, the question is, ha are they going to do well economically? they obviously think that actually getting this unemployment, the extension of unemployment benefits, as well as the payroll tax is maybe more important than the temporary politics of the moment. all of a sudden you've seen there is this narrative of congress, is it a stalemate, it doesn't work. but for them, getting re-election in 2012, getting the unemployment rate down to the low 8%, it actually might require the payroll tax cut as well as the unemployment insuranceth and while they might say, we're not going to give up anything more, we've got all of these republican votes, 89-10 vote in the senate -- >> this is why the president is calling john boehner to get something done. >> we'll have more on that in a minute. as i mentioned from stephanie cutter. i can't let you go, i saw the poll this morning, my eyes were wide open. it's an iowa poll, conducted at iowa state university, the cedar

rapids gazette. ron paul, the poll was in the field for ten days. and a lot changes this late in the campaign. let's put that a caveat out there. still, ron paul 28, newt gingrich, 25, mitt romney, 18, rick perry, 11. is ron paul going to win the iowa caucuses? >> we still have 13 days to go. my colleague and i point out, do you know herman cain suspended his campaign on december 3rd? just about two weeks ago. >> it was this month! >> but i -- honestly, that last round of polling that we're going to see right before the iowa caucuses i think we'll have a better idea who is going to win. yes, ron paul sup, he could win, newt gingrich could win, mitt romney could win. i don't think we're going to know until he woo know. >> it's a great story, ron paul has probably the best organization, maybe romney, but probably the best organization in iowa, much more, mark murray, deputy political editor, nbc. it's a standoff on chill to get the year end tax cut

extension passed. ten days left. house republican leaders are asking president obama to step in and call the senate democrats back to the negotiating table. >> we're just a little ways away from the white house where the president sits, why isn't he calling us in? why doesn't he come join us here to try to make this happen? >> stephanie cutter is the deputy campaign manager for the obama campaign. hello, stephanie. look, i want to first start off, i want to start off with what looks like, mark murray and i were just talking about it, you guys haven't had all that much good news coming out of congress for the obama this year. but this appears to be a fight that president obama, the obama campaign, the obama white house relishes. is that an accurate read? >> well i think good news would be actually passing a payroll tax cut. so taxes don't go up in ten days on 160 million americans. think it is accurate to say that this debate, what's happening in the house right now really does

expose what's been going on all year in the debate that we've been having across the country. whether we're going to do what we need to do to strengthen middle class security, get our economy moving. and rebuild an economy that's not meant to last. or are we going to continue to play politics and bring our economy to the brink? and i think because of what the house did yesterday, rejecting the bipartisan senate bill and payroll, they exposed themselves. i think that's what we're seeing right now. >> stephanie, let me play something that john boehner had to say. i want to, let's listen to it and i'll come back and ask you about it. >> let's extend the payroll tax credit for a year. and all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us, to resolve our differences so we can do what everybody wants to do. >> so the republican argument that john boehner, eric cantor, lots of other people have made is essentially two months isn't enough. small business, job creators are not going to be, there's no certainty in two months.

and that you're not that far apart. president obama wants a year-long cut. house republicans want a year-long cut. why can't president obama tell harry reid, appoint some conferrees to this committee and let's get a deal. it doesn't have to be a house republican deal, but let's get a deal. why is that not what's happening? >> well isn't the question really, why can't john boehner do what he said he was going to do, and take up the senate bill and pass it? 90% of the united states senate, including dozens of republicans, signed on two the two-month extension so that taxes don't go up on 160 million americans. why can't john boehner pass that? it's where the vast majority of the american people are. it's where even "the wall street journal," which is no friend of this administration, came out and said that the house should do the right thing, throw up the white flag, stop playing politics and just pass this extension. that's the question that we need to be asking. >> and stephanie, i understand the politics of it i understand what you're saying, but i also understand that in ten days, 160 million americans are going to have their taxes raised unless something happens.

is there a way the president sees toward compromise, that isn't simply the house adopting the senate bill? is there another comprise that exists here, given the political stakes, the policy stakes, the financial stakes for people starting the new year? chris, of course there's a way forward. and of course, this president, the united states senate, everybody wants a year extension. i mean the president has been fighting for it for months, it was part of the american jobs achlkt unfortunately, the house didn't move on it when they did, they sent over a political bill that they knew wouldn't pass the senate. the senate took it up, took it in their own hands, passed a two-month extension to insure that middle class working americans didn't see their taxes go up. the one way out of this right now is to for john boehner to take up the senate bill. it will solve the problem. it will bring everybody back to the table when they come back after christmas and insure that we can pass a year-long extension. but in the short-term, why can't they take this action to insure that middle class americans can

go into the holidays, knowing that their taxes are not going to go up? >> stephanie cutter, deputy campaign manager for the obama re-election campaign, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. eight u.s. soldiers have been charged in connection to the shooting death of a fellow soldier, army private danny chen. a spokesperson for chen's parents reacted on their behalf this morning. >> we are cautiously optimistic about today's news. the people responsible for his death must not only be charged, but they must be found guilty. of killing him. >> jim miklaszewski is nbc's chief pentagon correspondent. mik, chen died in early october. what's happened since then? >> the army launched an intensive investigation. and this really is a tragedy on all levels. this 19-year-old army private, danny chen, was at a, in a

platoon at a remote outpost there in southern afghanistan. when according to u.s. military officials, he was alone in his guard tower one night, and apparently, shot and killed himself. now the army investigators later determined that it appeared that chen was actually driven to suicide by many in his own platoon, because of the abuse and the ethnic slurs they threw his way. now according to army officials, it appears that chen for some reason, was underperforming and that the leadership in that platoon decided it take it out on chen quite physically. he was forced to do combat crawls with full battle gear over long distances, had rocks thrown at him reportedly. and was even forced to hold water in his mouth while held upside-down. and again, there were those ethnic slurs, constantly apparently, thrown chen's way.

and that according to investigators, is what appears to have driven chen to commit suicide. and as we know, he was relating these kinds of abuses to his family back home. now among the eight charged, five are charged with negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter. those are serious charges, as you can imagine, in connection with a suicide. even though the charges have already been filed, army officials say, the investigation into exactly what happened here, is still ongoing, chris. >> jim, a sad story as you point out, thanks for bringing it to us. up next, republican congressman thom price has been named to the committee to resolve the payroll fight. plus the rise of the super p.a.c.s, they'll handle the dirty work while the candidates stay above the fray. is this the new normal for 2012? this is "andrea mitchell

reports," only on msnbc.

house speaker, john boehner, has named eight members to a proposed conference committee to hash out the differences between the house and senate versions of the payroll tax deal. but there's a huge wrinkle. senate majority leader, harry reid, is sticking to his warning that he will not name democratic conferrees and he's dismissed the idea of the committee altogether. where do we go from here? republican congressman tom price from georgia is one of the conferrees to the proposed committee. congressman, thanks for joining me. i want to read you something from "the wall street journal," the opinion page, not a conservative opinion page. republicans also failed to put together a unified house and senate strategy.

if republicans didn't want to extend the payroll tax cut, they, then they should have put together a strategy and the arguments for defeating it and explained why. now that's "the wall street journal," this is not a liberal opinion page. why didn't you explain better why you didn't want to do this? >> well there are republicans and democrats in washington, but there's also a house and the senate. the fact of the matter is, that we have differences, i know that you know, but your listeners may not know that the house actually passed a payroll, a jobs bill the week before the senate did. and ours, extended the payroll tax holiday for a year. a full $1,000, extended federal unemployment benefits. and made it so that positions would know they're going to get paid for their senioring for two years. instead of two months. so there's a difference. and the way that you sort out differences here in washington is a conference committee. i'm not certain why, what they're afraid would come out of that conference committee. it's the normal process, and it's the way you reach decisions

here in washington. or should. >> congressman, what i keep coming back to. and i hear in the commerce committee, is 89 senators voted for this, including 39 republicans. eric cantor, john boehner, mitch mcconnell, all met on friday night, and then the senate voted. was there a misunderstanding here? there were plenty of republicans who voted for this two-month extension. seeming to kind of that was the compromise bill. was there a misunderstanding between mitch mcconnell and john boehner and eric cantor? >> i can't speak to that but i do know that the house republican conference and the speaker has been resolute about saying, and the president has been resolute about saying that this needs to be at least a year. the president as recently as last week said we're going to stay in town until we get this solved for a year. that's what the house did. we passed the bill that covers it for a year for payroll tax holiday and the unemployment benefits and two years for medicare payments for seniors.

and the solution is there, the question is, isn't whether or not we're going to extend these things, the question is how long it's going to be and that's why you have a conference committee. >> i want to play you something that john mccain, you mentioned the senate versus the house, i want to play you something that john mccain, the arizona senator, had to say about house republicans voting down the deal. >> it seems to me that republican leaders and harry reid and the speaker and congresswoman pelosi should sit down together with the administration and figure out a way through this. it is harming the republican party. >> that last line, it is harming the republican party -- do you agree? >> no. not at all. again, it's all right for them to sit down. but look, the normal processes throughout the history of this country, over 200 years, is that if the house passes a bill, which we did and the senate passes a bill, which they did, and they're different, the way that you sort out those differences is in a conference

committee. this is pretty basic stuff, this isn't complicated. >> let me interrupt. i take your point, but we're ten days away from 160 million americans seeing a tax increase, something neither democrats or republicans i would guess want. >> absolutely. >> do we have a time for a congressional committee. aren't there times you have to go beyond the traditional way of doing business, so people don't get hit in their pocket books on the first day of the new year? >> well we think there's more than enough time. without a doubt as a physician i certainly worked through chriss and new year's in the past. but we know that none of this will happen unless the president and senator reid agree that we ought to have conferrees, we can't talk to the wall. look, legislative business is not solitaire. it requires two parties. and again, this is pretty simple basic stuff that's in every civics class, every government class. on american politics, senate passes a bill, house passes a

bill, you come to the conference committee. >> congressman tom price making me think of how the bill become as law song. thank you, have a good day. >> merry christmas to you. coming up, air wars, are superpacs, the new bad cops of 2012? and are you still wrapping up your holiday shopping? you're not alone. a new "consumer reports" poll finds a quarter of americans havy et it start shopping for gifts. the excuses range from lack of money to simple procrastination. if you're hoping to get those gifts to loved ones on time, the u.s. postal service says today is the last day to ship anything by priority mail, within the united states and have it arrive in time for christmas. tomorrow is the last day for express mail. let's just hope this guy is not delivering. dubbed the grinch who stole christmas, surveillance video captured a fedex delivery man tossing a brand-new flat-screen television over a fence.

the recipient, who was home at the time, says all the guy had to do was ring the bell on the gate. after the video went viral, fedex released a statement saying, this is an irresponsible act and it will not be tolerated. he will be worked with according it our disciplinary policies. this won't be his best day. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. former rockette, amy brunette, opened a dance studio in jersey city. she monetized by renting space, added adult classes, a performance summer camp and partnering with another group on performances of the "nutcracker." for more, watch your business on sunday morning. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon.

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are super pacs the bad cops of 2012? that's the question that politico is posing today. given that super pacs tied with mitt romney and rick santorum blitzing iowa right now with negative ads. listen to what gingrich said about the ads and how romney answered the criticism. >> if you see one of these candidates who is running negative ads, ask them to stop it. just look them in the eye and say, this is not worthy of iowa and it's unworthy of america.

>> super pacs have to be entirely separate from a campaign and a candidate. i'm not allowed to communicate with a super pac in any way, shape or form. if we coordinate in any way whatsoever, we go to the big house. we have to let campaigns raise the money they need, and just get rid of these super pacs. >> charlie matessian is the senior politics editor with politico. my favorite part of the last clip is was that mitt romney said my goodness and big house, just proving that he really is a leave it to beaver guy. but we're not talking about that. we're talking about super pacs. look restore our future, which is the romney super pac has spent massive amounts, $2.5 million. hammering newt gingrich. gingrich obviously upset in the last clip about it. is there anything aside from being upset about it he can do about it? >> no, there's nothing he can do, chris. you can imagine why the guy is so frustrated. here he's surging in the polls, he's got all the momentum in the world and all of a sudden, he's getting carpet-bombed in iowa

and watching his numbers fade hard. and there's nothing he can do about it. that's the system that's set up and i think that's sort of the subtext of what mitt romney is saying, that's the system and i'm going to operate within those boundaries. he's though it's not him who is actually spending the money. >> we talk about campaign financing and super pacs. i always think of my parents, they live in connecticut, they see lots of ads. do average people in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida, do they differentiate? do they have any idea about restore our future versus mitt romney? does, can gingrich make any ground up is i guess what i'm asking by focusing on super pac spending money? >> i don't know that you can because in one sense it's a process story. people have enough problems in their life without life process stories and who's behind what ad. think what makes them particularly devastating is it enables the candidates to wear the white hat and spend their

money on positive ads, framing themselves in the best possible light. while meanwhile the henchmen at the super pacs are spending this money torching up and lighting up their opponents without any real consequential ties to the candidates who are benefitting at the end and i think that's at the heart of gingrich's frustration. >> it's the deniable plausibility defense. charlie, thank you for your expertise. coming up, dramatic protests in egypt. the military rulers under fire for using excessive force again women. plus mitt romney hits the campaign trail in a new hampshire. you can get all the latest political news at nbc's branden in new website, nbcpolitics.com. this is "andrea mitchell reports," it's only on msnbc. we're kind of a quiet couple. yes.

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topping the headlines on "andrea mitchell reports" -- north korea's new leader, kim jong un will reportedly have it share power with the military and his uncle after the recent death of his father. according to "reuters," the military in this nuclear-ambitious nation is pledging allegiance to the new ruler. a signal that north korea may be governed bay group of people for the first time since 1948. across the plains, the states are finally reopened, interstates are finally reopened after the preholiday blizzard slammed through the region. the storm is being blamed for at least two deadly car accidents, as whiteout conditions spread from kansas to new mexico. and a russian and american and a dutchman are making their way to the international space station after launching from kazakhstan yesterday, officials say the soyuz rocket blasted off flawlessly, making it the first rocket to the iss since nasa retired its shuttle program back

in july. mitt romney is hitting the road for a three-day bus tour in new hampshire, making a final pitch to voters there. that's three days he won't be spending in iowa. where a new poll shows ron paul the texas republican congressman, out front. the poll puts romney in third place, and it's just 13 days before the iowa caucuses. andrea's saul is a spokesman for the romney campaign. andrea, thanks for joining us. mitt romney, at this stage we're close to the end of the first vote. every day is important. he's spending three days in new hampshire. that's three days he's not in iowa -- why? >> we're going to be in iowa next week. we have a bus tour there. we've been there before. and you know, last cycle he built a lot of support in iowa. we have a lot of friends there. we have a strong ground game and look, we want to win. we want to win wherever it's named on the ballot and that's why we're going to be going back to iowa, we've been there before

and take our message of jobs and economy and why mitt romney is the best candidate to not only beat president obama, but get this economy back on track directly to the voters there. >> andrea, wanting to win and winning are two different things. does mitt romney need to win the state of iowa? given that he's been the front-run anywhere this race almost since the moment he got into it? >> we're prepared for a 50-state battle. we're prepared for this to go a long ways. we're the only candidate that's able to actually get on the ballot in every state at this point. we're prepared, we've been prepared, and you know, after iowa we'll head into new hampshire. we've got a strong ground game in new hampshire. south carolina, florida, this is going to be a long process. i don't think anyone thinks that this going to end, you know, in the first two weeks in january. and that's why we've been preparing all along to be able to win wherever we can. i don't know that there's a must-win in any of these states. we want to win as many states as we can, so we can get the delegates that we need to

actually get the nomination. >> so new hampshire is not a must-win state for mitt romney? >> the nomination is what's must-win. we're going to try to win everywhere. we really are. >> okay. i have a question -- you mentioned the poll at the start. ron paul in iowa now ahead in first place, you guys in third place, in iowa and a lot of national polling, mitt romney has been kind of somewhere between 20 and 30 nationally. somewhere between 15 and 20 in iowa. we've seen lots of people go up and down. michele bachmann, donald trump, rick perry, herman cain, newt gingrich. why haven't conservatives said you know, we flirted with all these other people, we're ready to sign on with mitt romney now? is there a lingering problem for mitt romney among conservatives? >> no, absolutely not. we have strong support, more conservatives are coming on board every day. conservatives such as south carolina governor, and we have jennifer horn, a tea party favorite in new hampshire that signed up with us just this

week. governor chris christie. we have strong conservative support. and you have to remember in the polls, they're polling, you know, seven candidates. eight candidates. so no one's really going to be able to pull out of the pack that much. if you look back at history and the people that have won iowa, won new hampshire. you know, no one, you know, up in the 50s and 60s. but if you look at mitt romney and how he goes against president obama in a head to head, he's going to give him a run for his money. and that's why the democrats in the white house are so scared to run against mitt romney. >> you mentioned president obama. one of the arguments he made this morning in his interview with chuck todd. one of the arguments that governor romney makes is that he is a leader and president obama is not. but i've not seen, and i love you for you to inform me if i'm wrong, but i've not seen governor romney say, what the congress should do on the payroll tax extension. two months or a year? what should be done? this is obviously an issue roilg the republican party. a leader of the republican party

steps in here, correct? >> look, on the important issues of the day, governor romney is leading. as he said, he'd like to see the tax cut extended, he doesn't want to raise taxes on anyone. but he doesn't think this is the permanent way to get our economy going again. he's put forth a 59-point economic plan to be able to turn this economy around. and actually lead things to get this done. as he said this morning with chuck on msnbc, you know, he doesn't think too much, two months is that long of a time. he would prefer to see a year. but again, this is not going to be the end-all, be-all to fix our economy. he would actually do a fundamental restructuring of the economy to get people back to work and turn this around. the payroll tax cut is just a band-aid. >> andrea saul, thank you from my msnbc bosses for that cheap plug, much appreciated, have a good day. >> thanks, chris. egyptians are heading to the polls today, determined to break

the military's iron grip by choosing a new parliament to take over. but the transition is too slow for many egyptians who have increasingly taken to the streets to confront the ruling military. recent demonstrations, including tuesday's rare display of anger among thousands of egyptian women. abdul raheem fakara is al jazeera's washington chief and joins us now. do we see any sign that these protests, and these images are powerful. these are elections that are ongoing, or on the military regime? talking about giving up power sooner than june when it was planned. is there a disconnect there? are they paying attention? or are they not? >> i think they are paying attention. obviously they take the big turn-out at the election as a strong sign from egyptians that they've had enough of this situation. that they want some stability. that they want the economy, the wheels of the economy to start spinning again. but i think that the events that

we have seen over the last few weeks have also sent the message, that the transition that they were entrusted to lead, has not been led efficiently. and they worried about that. just today we've heard that people are calling for the presidential election to be brought forward to the end of january. and they're considering it. which means that they are listening. >> they are listening. but they are under, i mean it's a military rule. they're under no -- they're not forced to do this. what forces their hand? i mean listening is one thing. changing is another thing. we know that in american politics, we know that in international politics. what forces their hand? is there a catalyst or a series of elements? >> you're absolutely right. it's very difficult to see what actually forces their hand. because number one, in addition to being the political leaders at the present time of egypt, they control large chunks of the egyptian economy. to force them to go back to their barracks because of that

is not going to be easy. but there is, it seems to me that there is still a lot of commitment on the part of young people and others, including political formations in egypt, to make sure that, yes, we will end up with a parliament, probably where the muslim brotherhood and islamist groupings have a majority. that's not going to be enough to twist the hands of the military. so street action is going to be a crucial, although at the end of the day, it's very difficult at this particular point in time to see the street actually -- >> the question is, does it add up, does it add up to it. i want to, while you're here, i want to turn to syria for a minute. the white house has again renewed its call for syrian president, bashar al assad, to step down. he's flagrantly, the white house said, he's flagrantly committed a possible massacre in a village. i feel like every time i get the privilege of hosting this show, we talk about syria and people

say, well, it's an uncertain situation, we don't know where it goes. at what point do we reach a tipping point? are we close to it or are we not? >> i think the problem we've all had with the so-called arab spring, is we thought it was going to be fast and furious, leading to the outcome that a lot of people demonstrating wanted. we've seen in egypt, it has not been as rosy as we initially thought it was going to be. and certainly in syria, it's taken time. obviously for people who are were being killed, demonstrating, having their friends and family killed, the change cannot happen enough. but this situation is very messy and very complicated. >> i think our tendency in the world we're living in now is where you can have the internet available every one second is that things are going to happen and sometimes they don't, especially in international foreign policy. >> absolutely. i think it was the internet that gave people the hope that it would happen quickly is now turning into the problem that actually that's making people realize it's not going to happen quickly. >> abdulraheem foukara, thanks

for being with us. the payroll tax fight. putting a wedge between house republicans and senate republicans. not exactly the place you want to be heading into an election year. account two sides mend fences? this "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. [ dad ] ok, do you see my location on your phone son? yeah. [ dad ] ugh, your old mans kinda in a jam. yeah, yeah. [ wind howling ] [ dad ] i owe you big time. [ son ] yeah, you do. [ dad ] by the way, don't tell your mom. we'll see. [ dad ] ok, now look up. dad, how did you even get...

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and bank of america was the only bank who would talk to my father. and we've stayed with bank of america. we have four stores now, three in the pacific northwest and one in oregon. my parents would not believe how popular it is now. hi there, everyone, coming up on "news nation" we have the latest investigation into the role eight u.s. soldiers played in the death of a young fellow soldier in afghanistan. army private danny chen's comrades reportedly assaulted him and also taunted him with racial insults. he ended up dead, what happened? we'll have a live report. plus republicans said that their main goal was to make sure the president wasn't going to be re-elected. but it appears they've made him into a winner. that's what the "wall street journal" is saying about what it calls the botched role the republicans are playing in this payroll tax cut. we'll see what happens next. we've got updated information for you. in the meantime, also republican

congressman, kevin brady of texas will be my guest. plus it's possibly everyone worst nightmare. the fedex issue i swear this is crazy. now fedex has something to say about the delivery man caught throwing a computer over a fence. now that's a special delivery. we'll have it for you at 2:00 p.m. ten days before the payroll tax cut is set to expire, capitol hill is still deadlocked and house republicans are getting lots of the blame. >> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible, any more, of the american people about congress. and we got to get this thing resolved. and with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect. >> michael crowley is "time" magazine's deputy washington bureau chief and michael shearer is a political writer for "the new york times." my former colleague at the

"washington post," your "times" overlords won't like that. mike shearer, let's start with you. you yoet a great piece that pointed out the fact that lots of people who are not tom price in georgia, who sits in a safe republican district who we had on before, are very nervous about what house republicans are doing. scott brown, massachusetts, obviously not a republican-friendly state. it angers me that house republicans would rather continuing playing politics than finding solutions. dean heller, nevada, another swing state. what is playing out in washington, d.c. this week is about political leverage, not about what's good for the american people. do, does the republican party broadly, the strategic part of the party say, wait a minute, if these guys in swing states nervous about it, what does it tell us? >> what those folks have in common -- they face re-election coming up right away. so ideology is fine and the republicans in the senate and house have been very united over the past three years in their opposition to president obama. but an election is coming up. and at some point it becomes

every man for himself and you have to think about sort of what is all of this doing to my chances to get re-elected. >> i would say, mike crowley, "associated press" did a poll, this was earlier this month. would you want to extend the payroll tax cut? 58%, let tax cut expire. let it expire. 35%. tim tebow can't even get six in ten americans to agree. there are other poll numbers, i'm overwhelmed, i'm a data hound and i love this stuff. but "the wall street journal"/nbc poll, democrats in congress, 31% approve, 26% approval. republicans in congress. you would think people whose livelihood, their careers are dependant on the will of the public, would listen more to the will of the public, or at least be aware of the will of the public. what is going on here? is it simply disagreement or something broader? >> i think you have a structural quandary here to some degree. and it's a result of the 2010 elections.

people forget, this is the tea party wave that hit so hard, still splashing around, covering everything, including the people who i think the leaders in congress, who are more responsive to that sense of the will of the public, trying to get something done. realizing what the good political play is here. what the tea party wave that is still rolling in. these are people who are responsive to the will of their constituents, to the hopping-mad voters who sent them in there and the whole point of that election for those members of congress is -- dig in, don't compromise. kind of stick it to the man in washington. and that's what's playing out right now. this is the electorate asked for. >> the unfortunate thing about the republican party, is the man is john boehner, a republican. but -- >> that's what the tea party is about. >> i cannot let either of you go without the most fascinating thing i've talked about it already today. ron paul, ahead in a poll in iowa. i feel like for weeks people have been whispering to me. saying watch ron paul, he can win this thing. ha does it mean if ron paul wins

the iowa caucuses? >> what it means is it extends this process, even longer than it's likely to go because if you have mitt romney somehow win, it brings it probably to a close. >> people thinking ron can be the nominee. >> they don't think it not because they have some sort of conspiracy against ron paul, but because his views especially on foreign policy and some of the things are so out of mainstream, even with the republican main strooenl th strooem, that it's hard to see. >> mike shearer is right, it would lengthen the primary. you've got credible people, you've got a former governor, you've got a former speaker of the house. what does it say about the field that ron paul is the candidate of the moment in iowa? the republican party, i guess. >> to some agree i guess it speaks to a weakness in the field that people have talked about for many months now. and that the fact that the establishment, the other key point i think is that the establishment has kind of lost control of the process. i mean ron paul is the ultimate

anti-establishment man. this goes back to the point of the tea party sticking it to the man. ron paul is an outsider and it seems like the conservatives who have been casting around, conservatives have been casting around for is a real outsider. and ron paul is the only one left that they haven't test driven and abandoned. >> it also says something about iowa and raises the question of, is iowa the right place? does it broadly speak to the republican party even? >> the people in michigan and arizona, the republicans in michigan and arizona, the mikes, thank you for joining me. what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next on andrea mitchell reports. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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so which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? nbc contributor and "washington post" columnist jonathan joins us without a bow tie.

i have to admit i'm a little bit disappointed. other than you wearing a bow tie, what do we have to look forward to in the next 24 hours? >> the big question will be whether the president is, will he stay or will he go, meaning hawaii? we know he is out and about prancing around -- prabsing around! he went to best buy, he had pizza and ran into congressman moran of virginia. whether or not he goes to hawaii which is his home state is the big question. that's the problem when your home state is also a luxury vacation destination. you know what? the question is does it makes sense for him to go? now, the whole question is whether, you know, congress is going to do anything to get the pay roll tax cut extended so that they won't expire january 1st. here's something my colleague brought up in our morning meeting. let's say senator reid, which judging by the letter, he sent to congressman -- speaker boehner, this isn't going to happen.

let's say he said, let's go ahead and do this house senate conference. this is there is unanimous consent, it will take several days. three to four days for the senate to go through the process of seating senators in this conference. that puts us into next week. this point next week. ultimately, the way things are going, it doesn't make sense for the president to hang around. none of this is going to happen. so why not go to hawaii? >> although a staycation could be appealing. thank you for joining us. >> thanks. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." attem . >> you're in a good mood despite you're in d.c. where it he soomd see seems like a bad mood there. the "wall street journal" says the house gop botched this pay roll tax cut hike and are putting president obama in a stronger re-election position.

the republican congressman kevin brady will join the news nationwide. plus the latest on the death of danny chen. it happened in afghanistan. eight of his fellow soldiers now charged in connection with his death. what exactly happened here? also new emotional words from his family. a live report from the pentagon is next. we're kind of a quiet couple. yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is... (announcer) k-y® brand intense™ - intensifies female satisfaction. that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams.

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developing news on "news nation." the president is on line 1. boehner and reid got a call from the president. what was said? >> as you walk off the floor, mr. speaker, you're walking out. >> house republicans leave washington for their holiday break with the pay roll tax exemption still unresolved. is this the holiday gift from congress the american people deserve? >> it's the people that put these people, that put our government into power. and they seem