greatly and wish to pass the same values along to our two children that we have in burban washingn d.c. >> but of course, not everyone is fortunate to have a doctorate or even a college education. not to worry, says linda springer, director of the office of personnel management. the hiring arm of the federal government is looking for all skill sets to fill tens of thousands of federal jobs each year. >> let me put on my sales hat for a minute and say why i think it's important and why it's so attractive for people to consider federal positions. it's public service, and it's got that dimension, but for the individual tmselves, there is no occupation, no type of job that you could look for that you can't do somewhere in a federal government agency. and it is not about bureaucracy. these are exciting jobs. and no matter what it is, there is something for you to do. >> i am the lead eineer for avionics, and i love it.

>> that is very impressive. where do you work? >> i work for the united states government. >> how do i start? how do i finthose opportunities? wh we've been doing is to put more things online, for example. usajobs.gov is the main entry point to find jobs that the federal government has across the country. >> i went to the web site, i examined the qualifications and responsibilities of the position, and that helped me decide whether to apply. and i used the usa jobs website to apply for the position i have currently as a toxicologist. >> to encourage more hispanics to take the same steps, the office of personnel manageme has launched a new ad campaign, targeted to the hispanic audience. >> we really do have something toffer that's not just about siing behind a metal desk in washington d.c. for the rest of your life. >> once you enter the federal government, and for example, i'm

with the fda, there are many, many opportunities inside in rms of what direction you could take your career. >> and if the thought of relocating to washington d.c. has you somewhat reluctant, conser that 80% of all federal jobs are located outside of the nation's capital. >> one of the most valuable featuresf the usa jobs web site is the assistance it gives in resumé preparation. not all federal jobs accept traditional resumés. this web site has a resumé builder that helps you put your experience into thproper format the government requires. and sabes que? the washington d.c. area, of course, always leads the way in the number of federal jobs. but in addition d.c., virginia and maryland, what two states round out the top five in federal job openings? we'll have th answer coming up. and also just ahead, we'll take you inside the big money world of mariachi anmeet one of its rising stars.

>> welcome back to "hispanics today." here's the answer to our sabes que question of the week: what two states other than d.c., virginia and maryland ad the way in hiring federa employees? sabes que? georgia and florida round out the top five states for hiring federal workers. for our next subject, growing up in a strong mexican household in los angeles meant lots of exposure to mariachi. even then, jé hernàndez knew music would play a b role in

his life. but he couldn't have imagined just how big. today, josé is one of the most successful entrepreurs in the big-money world of mariachi. but he'll be the first to tell you, it's not just about the money. it's also tradition. >> he's a perfectionist whose passion is the music that is deep-rooted in tradition. mariachi. a tradition which fills maestro josé hernàndez with pride. >> i had very mexican parents that shared their love for their culture and their country with me. so at home, it was very much mexico. u know, mariachi. everyone singing. >> he started playing the trumpet at 15, a joined his older brother'mariachi. but his creative streak and different ideas on how a mariachi should perform led him to break away. and at1 years old, he formed

mariachi sol de mexico. >> in the beginning, they thought i was crazy. "why are you writi for cellos and french horns" -- you know, in my recordings. "why are you doing that? why are you mixing the concert harp together with a mexican harp? why are you doing that?" and i just say, hey, you know, sometis the old songs need a facelift. you know? that was my way of giving our music some plastic surgery. >> josé rehearses with sol de mexico every week. his brother jesús is part of the loyal team. now 26 years old, his mariachi continues to have the appearance of eternal youth and beauty. but that's no coincidence. josé admits he is out to please his audience with some eye candy. they say -- en español, they say "de la vista, nace la amor." it is very important, i think -- that to erase our stereotype. because first thing, a lot of people used to think, oh, mariachiare the four fat mexicans playing "la cantina." mariacs, you know, they're

young, good looking guys that are very talented. >> an accomplished musician, josé is a composerarranger, record producer, andithout a doubt, a mariachi visionary, turning the music he loves into a lucrative business. more than 20 years ago, he bought cielito lindo, a restaurant in south el monte, east of los angeles, that provides his musicians with a steady job. they perform there every night when they are not on tour. >> if you work hd and you have a dream, and you present something with class, you will do good. you don't do it for the fact of making money. you do it because you're very passionate about what you love. >> but in this case, the money isn't bad. between s recordings, concerts and the restaurant, josé's mariachi business rakes in two to four million dollars a year. >> god has beegood to me. i think this is my way of sharing, giving sothing back,

trying to bless others the way god's blessed me. and i think through the heritage society, it makes that dream come tru >> josé is talking about the mariachi heritage society, a foundation he created to keep the mariachi tradition alive, and children out of trouble. >> we all know that there's lot of negative influences out there. but mariachi gives them a sense of belonging to a group. and it sort of connects them and their parents, because then their parents say, "oh, i used to hear that because your abuelita used to play that song for me!" >> on the d string. >> josé has his hands full with the business, but he likes to teach whenever he can. this class was lucky. the maestro stepped in for their weekly lesson. children ages seven to 18 can enroll in the music program. since its inception, more than a thousand kids have played a violin, strummed a guitar, and

learned to sing the songs that josé hernàndez wants everyone to remember. >> he is very caring, very giving, and he is ju so involved with just keeping the mariachi tradition alive, it's incredible. there's not enough hours in the day for him to continue with all this mariachi. he just would like to have it, you know, 24-7. >> josé's involvement with the heritage society made him realize something was missing. >> i had three years of my foundation. the kids -- 50% of the kids were little girls. and the little ks would say, "oh, when i grow up, i want to play for you, maestro. i want to play in sol." but the girls, they had no role models. >> so he created mariachi reyna de los angelesthe first all-female mariachi in the united states. a top-notch group of young, talented ladies that play as good, or even better, than any mariachi. to keep them at thtop of their game, josé also rehearses with the girls every week.

>> i'm very proud of these girls, you know. and now the female students that we have at the heritage society have somethingo dream about. "w, one day i want to play with la reynas." >> and there is another reason for him to be proud. josé, who is a fifth-generation mariachi, has handed down the musical trition to his daughter, karina, who plays violin with the mariachi reyna. josé's talent and dedication has attracted numerous artists throughout the years. he's worked with musical legends such as juan gabriel, vincente fernández, his son alejandr and celia cruz. but his biggest break came after a 2006 performance at the white house, when luis miguel asked him to go on his "méxico en la piel" tour. >> we'd been touring the world with him, and it's truly an honor to be at that lel and to be the mariachi of choice for

him. he could take any mariachi he wants in the entire world, and definitely he knows all the mariachis that are around, the and we're the ones that got the call, i feel very proud of that. >> mariachi sol shared the stage with el l de mico for 12shows in six months. while his accomplishments are many, josé's biggest success is sharing his passion, mariachi, with his family. >> my nieces and nephews, they all sing. we have it in the blood. d what better way to share it with everyone else? >> josé has collaborated on the composition of my filmcores you might recognize. "seabiscuit," "american me," "don juan de marco," and "old gringo." when we return, we'll have a preview of some of the stories our producers are working to bring you in future weeks. "hispanics today" will be right back.

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>> welcome back. here are some of the things you can expect to see in upcoming shows. in the internet world we live in, identity theft has become an epidemic. we introduce you to the latina whose job is to safeguard the sensitive information of millions of customers at toyota, the world's largest carmaker. it starteds a simple letr from a frustrated hispanic college student to the editor of a magazine. but his letter of frustration inspired countless entrepreneurs to chip in, and the hispanic college fund was born. 18 years after that letter was

blished, we show you just how big this financial aid powerhouse has become. and with smuch at stake in the 2008 elections, we look at how latino voters could play a bigger role than ever in shaping history, and why neither party can afford to take the hispanic vote for granted. "hispanics today" will be right back.

>> before we leave, we want to remind you of our web site, hispanicstoday.com. from there, you can view past stories and keep up with curre events. you can also sre your feedback.

if you have ideas or suggestions, we would love to hear from you. either go to the web site and click on the contact button, or e-mail us at ideas@hispanicstoday.com. we will see you again soon for another edition of "hispanics today." sta la proxima vez.

this sunday, the tax fight. the president gets some powerful pport for his deal with republicans but liberal democrats are in revolt, unmoved by the president's rational follow compromise. >> i think it's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers

unless the hostage gets harmed. then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. in this casethe hostage was the american people. will the deal pass congress and what will it do to create jobs? we'll ask our lead news maker gues the chairman of the white house council of economic advisers, austan goolsbee. and then the politics of the center. if washington is broken is the answer an independent? independent yor of nw york city michael bloomberg joins me exclusively to discuss the economy, the president's leadership and his own political future. finally, our political roundtable on the president's course corction after the midterm. what does the tax deal say about the prospects for bipartisanship over the next t years? withus, democratic congressman from new york, anthony, former congressman from tennessee,

harold ford and paul gigot and nbc news white house correspondent savannahuthrie. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> good morning. back in september austan goolsbee was appointed to the economic council. along with treasury secretary tim geithner, goolsbee delivers a briefing to the president every day. goolsbee is now front and center in the administration's attempt to achieve agreement in congress on this tax cut deal before they go home for the holidays. mr. goolsbee, welcome to "meet the press." let's start there. are you going to get a deal? will this pass through congress before chstmas? >> i certainly hope it does.

what the president got in the package is very important for the economy and to see 150, 200 million people and their families have taxes go up in less than three weeks would be a serious blow. think everybody should take a step back if -- i understand the feeling that it's a bitter pill to swallow high income tax cuts but what the president was able to get that is substantially bigger than that and important for the economy whether it's incentives for investments for firms, whether it's a payroll tax cut for 155 million workers, money for college edution, et cetera, is really important and we can't let that go. >> you predict passage? >> i'm predicting passage. >> let's talk about the rationale for this deal. this week the president's economic adviser larry summers warned of consequences of inaction here in a brieng. i'll put part of what he said on the screen. failure to pass this bill would

materially increase the risk that the economy would stall out and we would have a double dip recession. now, for months this administration, the president's economic advisers have been downplaying, dismissing the idea of a double dip recession. when it come to building political support for this tax deal, suddenly this is the fear. >> i think it takes larry's comment out of context. i think all private forecasters agree that when they saw this package anunced, you saw them step forward and say that it would significantly raise the growth rate of t united states in the coming year if we were to pass it and get e unemployment rate down and job created more than they thought before that and if you let these tax cuts expire, wch they will in 20 days if we do nothing, i think that would be a serious blow to the economy. everybody agrees on that. i don't think we shouldet into the sentics of how much it

raises the probability of double dip but just recognize not acting is very bad for the economy and acting would be good for the economy. >> what about the affect on jobs? at's what matters whether e unemployment rate is going to come down. ron brownstein is critical of that prospect of stimulus. it further entrench this is deal, the bush tax cuts, even though the median income and number of americans with jobs are lower today than when the tax cuts were originally signed in 2001. almost unprecedented decade long record of futility. >> be careful with that. the context before the president came out with this deal was a cycle of dysfunction in which democrats are putting forward reasonable ideas like a three-month extension of unemployment, defeated. extending the middle class part

of the bush tax cuts. defeat. the republicans are also arguing about the bush tax cuts. what the president was able to do in this negotiation was expand the board beyond just the bush tax cuts. the important stuff in this, in addition to preserving the tax cuts for middle class, are the oba tax cuts. you'veot incentives for education, a new payroll tax cut for 155 million workers, earned income tax credit, investment inceives that are new, these are things which i think help the economy and all i would say to mr. brownstn who i respect a great deal is wen the announce this package, it's not often that washington announces something that leads the private economic forecasters to come out d say we believe that gdp growth rate will be one-point higher. that's what they did. >> this is a tough question. the president and his economic team said in the first stimulus that the tax cut provisions were

the least stimulative part of the package. i ask you if there's ahange of philosophy here. >> which tax cuts? i don't beeve the president doesn't believe that the high income tax cuts work. period. i don't think the evidence supportsthat. as i say that, it's a bter pill to deal with. it's a compromise. by giving that one piece we were able to get a series of things that i think make a big difference to middle class and working families. >> what about 2012? we're going to make the case that tax cuts on upper earners don't make economic sense. what makes them think he can make a better case in 2012? do you think in an election year you won't see a vote in congress to extend these? >> the only argument being put forward by republicans why to extend them are as you come out of the deepest recession since

1929 we shouldn't affect anybody's taxes. in 2012 that's not going to be the circumstce. in 2012 i believe they will have to stand up and defe on their own merits that they tnk high end income tax cuts work and they will not be able to do that because they don't. the point was by giving on this one issue the president got more than twice as much than the size of those for his priorities that will help us grow our way out of this. >> let's talk about the broader contt here talking about a jobs crisis. we're also talking about a debt crisis. this is what treasury secretary geithner said back in august about temporary extension of the tax cut for wealthiest americans in the country. this is what he said. >> the world is likely to view any temporary extension of the income tax cuts for the top two percent as a prelude to a long-term or permanent extension and that wld hurt economic recovery by undermining confidence that we're prepared

to make a commitment today to bring down our future eficits. >> you have a compromise here but isn't the secretary's warning already coming through? 80 hours after the president says the debt commission did great work to slas the deficit, within 80 hours he announce this is deal that adds a trillion dollars to the deficit and two-yearextension to when prospects of reversing these is very difficulto imagine in an election year that congress wouldn't extend the tax cuts further. >> you got a couple questions embodied in that question. first addingo the deficit. the majority of that money is preventing taxes from rising in this recession. that's 500 plus billion of the total. there's 350 billion of new tax cuts that are on the obama program. i think it's a little bit different. i agree that's the downside. the president doesn't support -- if we were voting just on extending the high income tax cuts on their own, we would be

100% against it. they don't work. we've all been publiy stating for a long time that they don't. but by trading that we were able to get things tat really matter for the economy. >> how can you show youe serious about long-term efforts to bring down the debt? >> that's the second part of your question and what i would emphasize there is the fiscal commission highlight that it is medium and long run fiscal consolidation and responsibility, which is their goal. you cannot reduce the deficit if the economy is not growing period. they each have made clear that the short run growth of the economy -- we should not be conflating it medium run deficit reduction with short run getting out recession. >> that's not what secretary geithner made in august. >> i don't know that's true. >> the language isplain. >> i don't know what he said just before and after that.

>> i didn't take it out of context. >> do not make high income tax cuts permanent. we can't afford to do that. there is risk. we'll fight that. in 2012 we would havebeen growing our way out of and tax cuts will have to stand on their own merits whh they cannot. in the meantime by making that two-year trade, we got things on the obama priority list tice as much as what's in those high income tax cuts that are fundamental important for the growth of the economy. >> is it a flaw that this compromise did not accompany long-term solutions to deal with the deficit? >> i don't know that we could sort out the entire long run solutions to the debt in if the 20 ds that remain before hundreds of millio of americans are about to see their taxes go up. the president created the fiscal commission. believes that the medium and long run fiscal consolidation that's required in the country is critically important.

we have to sort that out in a way that is distinct from getting the economy growing, which is what we're going to do with this package. >> after two years when you hit that two-year mark of the extension, do you agree with peter that tax cuts for wealthy americans and middle class are unaffordable? >> i absolutely agree that the 700 billion you have to borrow to pay for the high income tax cuts is a mistake. that doesn't work. the president has call for extending the middle class part of the tax cuts permanently and i don't think you can balance the budget just on the backs of the middle class. that will not work. >> can we afford even middle class tax cuts? >> it depends on what other actions you take. it's clear that medium and long run fiscal challenge facing the country has to do with the rise of entitlement spending, they have to do with longer run imbalances that we created in the structure of the system.

you can't just choose one thi and say can you afford this one piece unless you are looking at the whole package. that's why the president set up the commission. >> final question quickly. en do you think we'll see a meaningful reducti in the unemployment rate? >> well, as you know, the unemployment rate is influenced not just bhow many js are created but also by pele coming in from the out of the labor force status. there's an official forect that the government puts out and we update it every six months. it's been better this year than it was forecast to be in february but it's not nearly enough. having private sector job growth for 11 months adding 1.2 million jobs is a good start but we've got to do much more. this tax deal according to private forecasters goes a long way to up the growth rate. th's why the president is for it. that's why he insisted -- >> it will bring down

unemployment? >> i think it will. deepest hole since1929. takes a while to get out of there. >> thank you very much. coming up next, the politics of the center. dependent mayor of new york city michael bloomberg joins me clusively to discuss the economy, washington and his own political future. then it's our political roundtle on bipartisanship and state of the president's relationship with h liberal base. democratic congressman anthony weiner, former congressman democrat harold ford, "wall street journal's" paul gigot and nbc's savannah guthrie. what are you looking at? logistics. ben? the ups guy? no, you see ben, i see logistics. logistics? think--ben is new rkets. ben is globaaccess-- china and beyond. ben is a smarter supply chain. ben is higher margins.

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we're back, joined by the mayor of new york city,ichael bloomberg. welcome back. nice to have you. >> thank youor having me. >> you have heard the administration make its case. on the issue of tax cuts, i want to ask you, last time you re here, you were in favor of a temporary extension of the tax cuts, middle class, wealthy eaers, but you thought it had to be pegged to long-term solutions as well, which is not

the ca in this compromise. are you disappnted with what's been accomplished? >> no. i think you should be encouraged. at least both sides of the aisle and both ends of pennsylvania avue have finally come together to do something in a bipartisan way. i'm sure the president would have liked other this, but the real world of governing iso do what is possible and everybody getting something, nobody getting 100% of what they want. i view this as the first step. indentally, the president did get some of the things he wanted, the extension of tax cuts that he was in favor of for business, and extension of benefits for the unemployed. >> what about the de? here we are were. last week, the president was talking about the debt. the debt commission's findings. within 80 hours, he is championing an agreement that adds $1 trillion to the debt. >> the bottom line is unless he does this, he's not going toet a chance to do the next step. you know, the president has got to get some of the other party to go along with him and he has to keep his own party in line.

that's what leadership is all about. and you can't sit there and say i'm going to do everything at once. you'll never get anything done. he has made a step. heas opened the door. and i think now it's incumbent upon him to keep working together with the republicans and democrats and the next thing will be tougher, as you point out. it's easy to reduce taxes, very hard to redu expenses. >> is there a concern that when, really, people look at this, this is a two-year extension. 2012. hard to believe a politician is not going to vote in an election year to extend tax cuts. does it send a signal that we're not seris about tackling the long-term debt picture? >> no. i think that's one of the ways he will have to try to get on the agenda. you have this commission, well-run commission, srt people. they come up with some ideas and then congress esn't even want to consider them. that's disappointing. on the other hand, eventually, they're going to have to face some of these issues, because the chinese will stop buying our debt. we're going to g to the point

where business has so little confidence they're not willing to expand. there's a lot of problems facing us down the road. some of these funds like socia security running out of money, medicaid and medicare taking over the whole economy. whether you like it or not, there's going to be a point where you have to stop kicking the can down the road. and this president, his job is, to some extent, explain to the public why that's the case. it's going to require shared sacrifice. never easy to get sacrifice. but that's what leadership is all about. >> what about the impact on jobs. do you believe that tax cuts have an actual stimulative effect on the economy? >> i don't think there's any question they put mor money in people's hands and i think that the public wl do a better job with more money in their hands to stimulate the economy than you will do with government. >> economists y, especially wealthier americans, don't end up necessarily spending money that they keep through tax cuts. look at the effect of bush tax

cuts, a decade of futility some call it if you look at the number of job created. >> number one, some of these things are not connected. they just happened to have happened at the same time. the more money you put in people's hands, the more they will spend. if they don't spend it, they invest it. and investing it is anotheway of creating jobs. it puts money into mutual funds or other kinds of banks that can go out and make loans and we need to that. >> what about the president's leadership? you've had some observations about him, one of them in an interview with "gq," portion of which i'll put up on the screen. the president, i think, needs some better advisers. he campaigns, i'm going to do a, and then he doesn't do it. now he's pissed off the supporters and the opponents. you go for it. does his agreement on this dl signal to you that he's going in a different direction? >> no, it signals he's going for it. >> he's going for it? >> yeah. he can't sit there and depend on ideology.

his job is to lead and leadership is doing the poible and not sitting around waiting for the perfect. i start with the assumption that -- or with the belief that this president has to succeed. we all have an enormous amount of capital invested in his success. his success is the count's success. and whether you like him or not, whether you voted for him or not, you want to vote for somebody else, you'll have that opportunity in two years. but right now, we should all pull together. republicans and democrats both sides of the aisle, the public as well as the elected officials and make sure that this president is successful. >> how does he deal with an angry liberal base? >> he says, look, this is what i did. this is the best i can do. suck it up and let's get on with it. we have other things we can do together. this is not the only tough vote. this is not the only issue. whether you're a liberal or conservative, there are lots of other things that you probably feel the country should be doing and can do. >> the big question is whether our nation's leaders are making the tough choices, whether they're makinghe sacrifices to

really make progress. you spoke about that this week in new york, about the gridlock in our politics. let me play a portion of that. >> as famies struggle to get by, they have seen little but partisan gridlock, political pandering and legislative pandering and finger pointing, blame games and endless attacks. put simply, when icomes to creating jobs, government hasn't gotten the job done. >> to follow up on that, do you think we havthe balance right between investment in the economy, innovation in our economy d the kind of austerity you've been talking about that is necessary to make tough choices about how much we are spending? >> no, i don't. i don't think we're focusing on innovation. if you go back and look at history,n 1816 or something like that, t erie canal was built. it opened the whole midwest. during the lincoln psidency,

transcontinental railway opened the whole country up. henry ford in 1905 all of a sudden created factories and processes that could employ an awful lot of people. you go world war ii. world war ii did help the economy a litt bit but the great thing that came out of it was the gi bill. for the first time, the average person could go to college. whether it's microchips, lers cell phones, the internet. each of these things are innovative things that have created new industry and we are not putting the kind of money into basic research that we used to do so that i don't know where the next thing is coming from. what's really worrisome is because of our immigration policy, our next great thing might be invented or developed elsewhere, not in our country. >> tt raises the question of larry summers, the best thing you can do for economic recovery is to make sure you achieve rapid economic recovery before you t to the business of slashing the deficit.

that doesn't seem be where the politics is moving in washington or the voice of the electorate at the midterm. >> no, it doesn't. but i don't believe you need big stimulus things to get the economy going. i think there are things that don't cost very much money but would have a greater impact. number one, you have tbuild confidence. banks have money, but they're unwilling to make loans. companies have money. we're at a record amount of cash, an article in the paper the other day, in company's bank accounts that they are unwilling to spend on plans and new employees. we have to make sure people understand that this country is going to pull together. it's confidence more than anything else. if people have confidence, the consumer will start spending money. and that's the bgest single impediment to growth. >> what about tough choices? as you look at this landscape of spending, entitlements, other parts of the budget, immigration. what is a tough choice that you would support washington making now that moves the country forward? >> first thing is open the doors to those with the skills we need

from around the world. i think the whole issue ofhat you do with 11 million undocumented, i feel very strongly, we should give them a path to citizenship. we cannot let those two issues, which are controversial and take some time to work out get in the way of right away starting to make sure anybody th gets a graduate degree in america from oversaturdays gates a green card attached to their diploma. that's the ways that we are going to keep going. all these other countries are trying to attract the best and the brightest and we're helping them. it's even worse. we're educating them, and then helping them. this is craziness. i call it national suicide. we have to go and get the immigrants here. first thing i would do is that. that doesn't cost any money. >> let's talk about politics. >> i'm shocked. >> shocked that we would get to that. let me show you the cover of "the new york post" about your

speech. state of the union, presential in quotes, mike leads riot act to d.c. goods picture. do you think an independent could be president? >> i don't know. i'm not going to run for president. i have a great job. i'll finish out my 1,100 whatever number of days it is left to go and leave the politics to the experts. >> do you think it's possible to scrap the two-party system in would you be in favor of that? >>he original founding fathers didn't seem to have an interest in party politics. i've worked hard for nonpartisan elections and i'll give a speech next week on nonpartisan redistricting. paies have a place, but party loyalty, i don't think, should get in the way of doing what you as an elected official believes what's right. i think that's what most of the public wants. >> you say youon't want to run for president, yet based on all my reporting, you're taking a series look at this, dng some calculations about whether this

could be something that you could actually win. are you saying that you're not even looking at the possibility of running? >> no, i'm not looking at the possibily of running. i've got a great job. i am going to speak out on those things that affect new york city. that's my job. people would say, oh, you shouldn't be talking on a national level. well, we created 55,000 private sector jobs in new york in the last 12 months. that's much greater than the percentage we should create with our population, but we can'to everything without help from the federal government and our state government. and so i'm out there, talking about immigration, talking about regulation, talking about the president being out there, selling our products, all of these kinds of -- >> if advisers came to you and said, mr. mayor, we've taken a hard look at this. we think this could not just be a vanity plate but you could actually win this thing, would you change your mind? >> no. >> no way, no how? >> no way, no w. >> your supporters who create all this buzz should cease and desist? >> i don't think most of them create this buzz. yes, theshould cease and desist.

but most of this is just bause the press wants to have something to write about. the ttom line is, i have a great job. i want to go out being -- having a reputation as a very good, maybe thgreatest mayor ever. i'm lucky. i have three predecessors, giuliani, dinkins and koch who have been helpful in trying to make me a better mayor. >> you talked about the broken nature of oupolitics. let me show you that piece of it. >> despite what ideaologs on the left believe, government can't tax and spend its way back to prosperity, pecially when that spending is driven by pork barrel politics. at the same time, deite what ideaologs on the right believe, government should not stand aside and wait for the business cycle to run its natural course. >> if somebody wants to influence the national dialogue, we've looked at this, sounds a lot like what caidate ama said in 2008. it's easy on the outside to say that kind of thing rhetorically.

what makes you think or anybody else that believes what you believe could come in to be the presidenand roll congress and somehow do what the president has been able to do in terms of bridging that divide. said, federal and state government should do in new york at our level and i've been in office nine years now. new york city has done pretty well during that period of time. we've never had the deep recession other cities have had. we've recovered faster. >> the question is still how do you -- even a new york model, you're not dealing with congress. isn't it easier said than done to say from the outside, get in there and roll congress, tell the far left and the f right they're both irrational? >> there's no easy jobs in the world and particularly in the politically chargeworld that we live in, with the constant scrutiny of the press and the lack of funds to go ahead. bu you know, that's the job. and i think the president is capable of doing it and i think he is doing it. i don't thk we give him enough credit. i have said he should go aroun

the world and sell our products. he was in india. he negotiated a trade deal with korea, which i think will be great for our manufacturers, who will sell to korea, and great for the consumers, who will buy stuff from korea. i've said that he should get more business experience on -- in his advisers. why? i come from a business background. of course i would think that. you read t papers. roger altman, somebody i was told is being considered. he would be perfect. there are other people like that, who can give him a broader perspective and the perspective of somebody who has actually had to get up in the morning and sweep the floo before his employees came in and lock the door afterwards is experience that he should have himself or if he doesn't have it, get that other people have and they can tell him, what you're talking

abouttheory. let me tell you the real world. unless you've done everything, what you don't know, you can't do. but can you have advisers to tell you. >> is cliff lee hopeful for the yankee >> gliani had a subway sers. i had a world series, had a super bowl win, haven't had a subway series yet. >> we'll wait and see. mayor bloomberg, thanks as always. thankfor having me. >> up next, course correcting. after the mid terms, what does the president's tax deal with the republicans say about prospect for bipartisanship over the next two years and what damage will the deal do with the president's relationship with his liberal base. anthony weiner, former congressman from tennessee, democrat harold ford, from the wa street journal, paul gigot and sannah guthrie after this brief station break. in 1968, as whaling continued worldwide,

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we're back now, joined by our undtable. nbc news white house correspondent, co-host of msnbc's "the daily rundown," "wall street journal," paul gigot, democratic congressman from new york, anthony weiner and former congressman from tennessee, democrat harold ford. welcome to a of you. we talke about substance and impact on the economy. i want to talk about the politics of tax cuts this week and the president's difficulties with his liberal base. savannah guthrie, something extraordinary on friday. president clinton cometo meet with president obama. they meet privately, presumably to g some advice. and then a funny thing hpens on the way to the exit. that is, they find their way into the briefing room. watching this scene unfold was great washington theater. here was a portion of it. >> i'm going to let him speak very briefly and then i actually have to go over and do some --

just one more christmas party. he may decide he wants to take some questions, but i want to make sure that you guys heard from him directly. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. president. first of all, i feel awkward being here. and now you're going to leave me all by myself. >> here is what i'll say. i've been keeping the first lady waiting for about half an hour. so, i'm going to take off. >> ion't want to make her mad. please go. >> you're in good nds. and gibbs will call last question. >> help me. thank you. >> what love, savannah guthrie, is that i didn't sense the awkwardnesthat bill clinton felt or that he expressed. >> yes. >> what was behind that? and what good did it do? >> it may not surprise you, having watched that, but ts was not something that was planned over the series of days. it was as ad hoc as they get.

when the two presidents came down to the briefing room, it was locked. they wer wandering around trying to get into the briefing room. ran into secretary gibbs and they said we're looking to talk to some reporters anhe said give me five minutes. they had this meeting. it was long scheduled. the president called president clinton after the midterms to express his thanks for what he had done during the campaign. they scheduled this meeting. the white house wasn't 100% sure where president clinton stood on the tax deal. having met in the oval office 90 minutes, the two presidents di amongst themselves to come out and do this news conference. and i think especially in a week in which the left wing of the party was so disappointed with the president, to have this former president considered the most successful democratic president in modern history come out and ratify the deal, validate it, they felt -- >> he was speaking to you. you have been outspon in your

opposition to this tax compromise, and to have the president, the former president up there to synthesize the deal, this is what he said to opponents like yourself. >> look, if we had 5% growth and unemployment was dropping like a rock, maybe you could have the so-called mexican stand off and say it will be you, not me. the voters will hold rponsible for raising taxes if they all go down next year. that is not the circumstance we face. >> his point this not the time to fight in the way that you want. >>ince he preached at my wedding, i don't think -- he stood up and fought for the values of the democratic party, fought for what we cared for and the republican-led congress, the reason that the country came to a standstill with the government. many of us are saying we want the president to succeed. it's simply a question of this. in these times when the middle class is under so much pressure, d