he called the republican-controlled congress the do-nothing congress and called on that do-nothing congress return to washington to a special session to finally do its job and pass legislation, thank you very much. after that fiery convention speech, congress did come back for a special session and they still did nothing. and president truman, therefore, continued to call them the do-nothing congress. and he railed on them about it on the campaign trail. and that campaign trail led him all the way back to the white house for a second term. 1948, harry truman talking about and criticizing the 80s congress. this congress, the one in washington today is the 102nd congress. here's what has happened since the time of truman's do-nothing congress. that is truman's congress there, the red arrow there, the one that couldn't get anything done, so terrible and hapless and unpopular that truman was able to run an otherwise hopeless campaign against them and win. the graph shows how much legislation was passed by that congress. right? that was history's do-nothing congress. here's our current congress.

guest: it is kept up with a number of congress can be paid. -- it is capped at what a member of congressan be paid. they do have flexibility from the numbers perspective on what they do. is a negotiated process. people who go to work for congress are not doing it for the money. the staff member in the house or senate is being paid 25% less than they would get in the private sector. the higher you go up, the bigger the differential. a chief of staff could make 100% more in the private sector. the benefit levels are much like you would see the federal employee would get. you have the 401(k) and health care. you do not give a lot of benefits you might get in the private sector like professional development opportunities. they recognize they are under the public eye. they have a great deal of scrutiny. that means they make fewer investments in professional development and other things the private sector might do. it is a challenge. they recognize they are under scrutiny. they try to recognize that by being as frugal as they can. the house representatives have cut the personal office budgets

but we're hopeful that congress can get it done. but it's not done. and so, part of the reason that i wanted to speak all of you here today is to make sure that we emphasize to congress and that members of both parties understand that all across america this is a pressing concern. >> well, this is what's going on the last 24 hours. vice president joe biden taken the lead in the talks. negotiating with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. they spoke and narrowed down the differences. among the points with headway, the tax hike threshold, the estate tax and extending unemployment benefits. the remaining sticking point is rumored to be the automatic spending cuts. collectively called the sequester you have been hearing about poised to kick in tomorrow. let's get to nbc white house correspondent kristen welker there for us. what was the point here? the president decided to come out and that bully pulpit can be a powerful weapon. >> reporter: certainly can be. good afternoon to you, t.j. the president using the bully pulpit. this is a part of the pressu

to force congress to act and is now acting against congress so much so that it could potentially cause the us to spiral into a congressional mandated recession so are you prepared for that or do you think this whole thing will blow over in a last minute deal lorie harshness of the resident dot net took that question to the streets of the financial capital of the world to find out. america is about to go over the fiscal cliff are you worried what should we do about it this week let's talk about that do you know the fiscal cliff. do you think a lot of americans do so then why is the media talking about it incessantly well so go there i guess i'm not as informed as they should be but i just kind of figure it might work out do you think most people feel that way you know even most people are worried i think they are and i think that if i ignored it all go away do you think calling it something like the fiscal cliff minimizes it yes or no i definitely agree that it's a complex problem i don't think it simplifies it though i think it adds an element of panic or fear looming. doom and the med

and even the people who serve in congress don't like congress, they hate congress. they are embarrassed by it. just listen to them. >> we have lacked the courage to face up, to deal with these issues. we here in washington are going to hurt the american economy. we're going to hurt americans at every level, and to me, it's just a travesty that we've not been willing to deal with this issue. >> americans believe congress is broken. the american people know, democrats and republicans, that this place isn't working and there need to be some changes. >> america people should not countenance this deal made in this gridlock. we're here to do our jobs in washington, and we're seeing this failure demonstrated time and again because of ideological and political and philosophical stubbornness. what about the entire country? what about the good of the country? >> and yet, any time anyone tries to change anything about congress, any time someone tries to make it a little bit better, the forces of the status quo mass together and quick. right now, the filibuster was meant to be

congress needs to take care of that point. in some areas, congress has stepped up. there are members of the oversight committee who joined together despite disagree on many issues, they joined together to get the data at passed through the house. senator mark warner and a republican joined together a few months ago to configure b data act on the senate side. the-configure -- configures the data act on the senate side. they will be counting down doors on the hill in the 113th congress to get that leadership. >> that is the question. the plumbing is stopped up, to extend your metaphor. who do we need to call in to unstop it? i will change metaphors. looking into the crystal ball, what is likely to happen over the next two ha 4 four years to make these things move -- happening -- what is likely to happen in the next two or four here's to make these things move forward -- years to make these things move forward. >> we need new legislation. this is an administration talking the talk about transparency and openness. it came after administration that was open about its sec

this is something he wants congress to deal with.s still to be seen whether there's an appetite to deal with it in congress because the rhythm of the stories is it's a tragedy but the motivation of it goes away over time. i think we have yet to see e that. but i think president obama is going to try to go to battle on this issue. >> that's very interesting. thank you for that. brianna keilar at the white house. >>> happening now on capitol hill, senators are releasing a special report on the attack that killed the ambassador. what they are saying, next. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone...but her likes 50%

into the 113th congress. one of them is the farm bill. there is a threat that their prices could as much as double. you come from a part of indiana that is very diverse. what are you hearing in terms of those sorts of issues that are not necessarily in front of the headlines on newspapers or cnn or c-span about issues like that? >> this is an example of a washington has changed. they used to be certain issues, national security, transportation, agriculture that tended to not be partisan and all. you could come up with a solution that both sides could live with. this is another example of something that has historically not been a political football. there are some reasons for that. the bill used to be about 50-50 agricultural issues and 50% food stamps. now 80% of this bill is food stamps. it is not even aptly named when mcauliffe the farm bill anymore. we call it the farm bill anymore. i think it is an approach to helping the industry that makes more sense than the old school grants were they paid people not

lots of congress people talk about local issues and congress people being partisan but to just be involved what is going on in. the contract of america, wins issues of minorities or immigration and in a lot of ways we are connected. politics was interesting to me and to i was surprised. i know it is supposed to talk about politics but i was surprised how local politics still is and we talk members of congress are supposed to represent what does that mean? but to within that i was impressed how members grave able to put their stamp on what they we're doing. it mattered to a representative was this they differed from their predecessor by which issues they focused on and that seemed to do for of before they came to congress. those faced by congress all across the country and the findings that the constituencies are so different influences say members choices and the background will play a role that generalizes across the 10 jury and i think when i interviewed 10 members of congress but to get the holistic perspective to add so much depth breyer appreciate the things that the members do at the

allow guns in congress? >> the thing is polls are mixed on gun control. a majority favors stronger gun control, but a majority also says we shouldn't ban assault weapons. so how does the president frame his case to voters so they support him? >> i think, first, he's got to do like what he did with david gregory is subtly acknowledge the fact the discourse is moving in wrong guards. if we're talking about arming teachers, that's the wrong conversation to be having in the wake of newtown and aurora and the other incidences over the last six owe eight months. we need to sort of reorder and redirect the conversation. the president tried to do a little bit of that here but at the end of the day, if we're talking about armed guards and arming teachers, we're not talking about common sense gun safety. that's the conversation we have to have going forward. we have to have victims' families and survivors coming into congress. we have to have moments and people protesting. but we also need a congress that's actually c

he and i formed a partnership that went way beyond the congress. it has led to personal friendship as well as social friendship. >> i'm going to go back to the newt gingrich years again. when the government shut down, what did that look like in the rearview mirror, that whole effort? and the fact that the country almost came to that point again a year and half. >> we had come to a crunch in the road where neither side of the aisle were willing to talk to one another. people through their hands in the air and said we need to do something for the country to pay attention that we're spending more money. it is true that the appetite of the federal system is endless unless we're willing to get a handle on that and say to the public, do you want us to continue on this pathway of collecting money as that is the only place to do things and government do it for us? i feel strongly if we stay on the pathway we're currently on we're headed to the nanny state which is france and greece. that concerns me a great deal and the country will not be able to deal wit

member of congress. and it was by quite a lot, by a couple 100,000 votes. overall, more michigan voters wanted to send a democrat to congress to represent them than wanted to send a republican to represent them. guess who is actually going to congress to represent them? ah, yes, republicans. michigan's congressional delegation will include almost twice as many republicans as democrats, even though more people in michigan picked a democrat when they voted for congress. republicans got nine seat and the democrats got five. what has happened in michigan is not some sort of miscounting of the votes. it is not a mistake. it is weird quite deliberately, and weird by design. elected officials draw up new districts for electing members of congress in state legislatures every ten years after the new census. well, republicans were in charge this time around in michigan, so it was the republicans who drew up the maps. and so republicans got themselves pretty good advantage. they got to decide how to clump voters in

congress. we really have to decide who we are as a nation. we are spending more and more money for wars, more and more money for interventions abroad. we are spending more and more money for military buildups. we seem to be prepared to spend less and less on domestic programs and on job creation. this whole idea of a debt-based economic system is linked to a war machine. it is linked to wall street's concerns rather than main street's concerns. we need to shift back and get -- give the government back the ability to create jobs. the private sector is not doing it may, let me ask about the economist, as we had on a few weeks ago, dean baker. he said the whole fiscal cliff issue is way overblown, that come january 1st, yes, we will be subject to higher tax withholding rates but not a lot of people are paid on january 1. if a deal is worked out in the first or second week of january, we will probably not see any extra deductions from our paycheck. and if we do, you'll get it back in the second pay

congress want the oce gone. >> the oce has forces members of congress to take ethics more seriously.t has forced the ethics committee to act and let all members of congress know they can't skate by like they have for so many years with unethical conduct going on. >> c.r.e.w. is considered by some to be left leaning and liberal, but they're not the only ones worried about the oce. >> one of your counterparts say members will go out and say they support the oce while privately they're trying to kill it. do you think that's true? >> yes. that is true. >> this man is chairman of the conservative right-leaning national legal and policy center. >> if oce goes away, if the members are not named, if it's not reauthorized, what message does that send to the public? >> it sends a message to the public that not only is the system broken, the ethics system broken, but it doesn't even exist anymore. >> the oce was formed just four years ago after scandals and corruption had grown so bad, the house had to clean up its act. speaker nancy pelosi helped create the oce as a solution. in just four year

he called congress the do-nothing congress and he called on the do-nothing congress to return to washington job and pass a legislation, thank you very much. of that fiery speech, congress did come back for a special session and they still did nothing. and president truman, therefore, continued to call them the do-nothing congress. and he railed on them about it on the campaign trail. and that campaign trail led him all the way back to the white house for a second term. 1948, hafry truman talking about, and criticizing the 80th congress. this congress, one in washington today is the 112th congress. here is what has happened since the time of truman's did-nothing congress. here, that is truman's congress there with the red arrow there. that's the one that couldn't get anything done. so terrible and hapless and otherwise running a campaign against them and win. that was history's do-nothing congress. here is our current congress. the good old 112th. here is our currently republican-led congress. truman's congress passed a meager 900 or so bills. our congress passed fewer than 100. the weakest

what has congress been working on and still need to do before this congress actually ends? >> it's kind of fascinating how these very modest measures that wouldn't get a vote gotten one because there's so much time on the clock still as they wait for the marquee legislative event of the year. there were changes to drywall standards. there was discussion there of the world war i commemoration which is coming up. two nominees confirmed over in the senate. two of obama's nominees. going back a few weeks, even just before christmas, there were some changes in policies at the tsa and screening baggage and judges confirmed and actually are some things that have gotten done but certainly not the big issues like you mentioned. certainly there's the fiscal cliff. a question of whether or not the deal is a fix on dairy prices and so that milk prices don't go up and or they might pass a temporary measure and solely of milk prices and also the aid for new jersey and new york, the communities affected by hurricane sandy. the house is reportedly looking at a plan that would only provide

congress is chasing the wrong rabbit. raising taxes on small businesses is no worse than cutting social worthy programs. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke admitted that the spending levels of this administration are unsustainable, just as president clinton declared years ago, the era of big government is over. this congress needs to man up and declare the era of taxing, spending and borrowing is over as well. now is the time for the president to provide leadership and level with the american people and set aside the campaign rhetoric of class warfare division and envy. small businesses cannot and should not be painted with the same broad brush as millionaires, billionaires and wall street executives. we must protect our small businesses and stop promoting the treatment of their income the same as the wealthy. at the same time, this administration needs to admit that raising taxes on small businesses will not help small businesses. we must prioritize our fiscal negotiations by putting spending reductions before address

harry truman had a congress that he accused as being a do-nothing congress. well, the 112th congress just ending is probably worse. >> and that's searching through history with a keen eye. let's not forget last year's debt ceiling debacle, which president obama has vowed never to repeat. >> if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation, which, by the way, we have never done in our history, until we did it last year, i will not play that game. >> won't play that game. never done in history. will the president stick to that and not allow another debacle, a debacle, if we want to be british or american, of the debt ceiling vote to be tied to budget cuts like it was last time around? >> whether it's a debacle or a debacle. we'll find out very, very quickly. the president is standing his ground so far, he is saying that he is not going to compromise on what was essentially a very central issue in the campaign. that is, are we going to see b

i like to tell congress, congress is a mano kolinsky for the lobbyists.e have to deal with that. -- monica lewinsky for the lobbyists. we have to do that. they are putting money in their pockets so they can take vacations and revitalize their homes. host: do you think this fiscal cliff nonsense is to make more members of congress money. caller: yes. anytime you can say that corporations are people, you have already gone against -- i am talking about what the forefathers said. when they said that liberty and pursuit of happiness -- the two- party does not -- the tea party does not want to make the pursuit of happiness for everybody. that is why we have a problem. the two-party -- tea party was put on the americans, the same thing in the native americans. making somebody else look like he did something that you did. you either stand up and make this country what the forefathers said it was supposed to be, or we need to take it -- we need to take this thing down under the ocean and drown it. put a bullet in it. host: john from georgia this morning. i want to

this congress, one in washington today is the 112th congress.ppened since the time of truman's do-nothing congress. here, that is truman's congress there, the red arrow, the one that couldn't get anything done, that was so unpopular that truman was age to run an otherwise hopeless campaign against them and win. the graph shows how much legislation was passed by that congress. here is our current congress. ah-ha. the good old 112th. truman's congress passed a meager 900 or so bills. our congress passed fewer than 100. the weakest most anemic record on record for any congress ever. since the congressional clerk started counting the number of bills passed, no congress accomplished less than john boehner's congress. you know what? turns out people still care. just like they did in truman's time. the esteem the american people have for congress right now is mired in the low double digits. so there are still a few more days left in the 112th congress. they have set a new mark for congressional uselessness. the good news is, nowhere to go but up, right

to force congress' own hand. so if something passes at the last minute, it's a case of sort of at least that part of the system working out. congress sort of doing what it forced itself to do. i would also add, i think cornell is right about the problems facing republicans right now, the insecentives for each individual member of the house of republicans, every republican member, are in a sense to oppose president obama as strongly as possible. the incentive for the party as a whole is, you know, look, the legislative landscape is tilted very strongly against republicans right now. taxes are going to go up in some sense no matter what. for the long term future of the party, it's probably better to sort of retreat and find new ground to fight on. you have those sort of dueling imperatives at work. >> ross and cornell, thank you both, and we'll see what happens on monday. >>> more breaking news coming up. a rare case of lawmakers over on the senate side actually getting something done. something that the hard-hit s

pressuring congress to act. chris. >> and kristen, if the sticking point, as you already suggested, the sticking point is when do these automatic cuts, the sequester, as it's called, and inside washington speak, whether do the cuts go in? do we expect president obama to say anything about that specific issue, or is this kind of a broad strokes we need to get this plan done, month specific urgings to congress? >> well, the one thing i would say is that this has been so fluid. not only the negotiations on capitol hill, but how the white house -- how the president has been responding. the president planning to speak in broad strokes. could that change within the final few minutes before he gets to that podium? it certainly could. these negotiations are so fluid. at this point in time i am told that this is really going to be more of a pr event. president obama standing there with middle class americans standing behind him to make the case that actual people will be impacted if congress fails to act in this instance

the 112th congress only passed about one-fifth congress.ing it the do way less than the do nothing congress. it is this ces

the congress could object. and mitch mcconnell put that bill forward on the floor this week, thinking he was going to embarrass democratic leader reed, and reed said let's go ahead and vote. it and so then mcconnell filibustered his own bill because he got afraid the democrats had the votes for it. so that's the kind of maneuvering that is going on. childish. >> yes, childish. very childish. former republican majority leader trent lott told cnn's anderson cooper how he had a working relationship with his democratic counterpart tom daschle. the two did something called compromise. a concept that facilitates law foreign in today's congress. watch. >> i had a red phone where when i picked up that phone, it rang only one place. on tom daschle's desk. and when he picked it up, i knew i was talking to tom daschle. not his staff. not my staff. sometimes he and i lead when our conferences were not ready to move. i remember i called one time i called him, i stepped out from a conference meeting and tom you know we need

and i think that that's true for congress as well. and i think it's also important for americans to remember that politic has always been messy. people have been asking me a lot about the film "lincoln" and you know -- >> is this your "lincoln" moment? >> well no, look. a, i never compared myself to lincoln and b, the obviously the magnitude of the issues are quite different from civil war and slavery. the point is that democracy has always been messy. we're a big, diverse country. that is constantly sort of arguing about all kinds of stuff. but eventually we do the right thing. and in this situation, i'm confident that one of two things are going to happen when it comes to the fiscal cliff. number one, we're going to see an agreement in the next 48 hours in which case, middle class taxes will not go up. if that doesn't happen, then democrats in the senate will put a bill on the floor of the senate, and republicans will have to decide if they're going to block it. which will mean that middle class taxes do go up. i don't think they wo

is headed off the fiscal cliff after talks broke down last night congress is headed home for christmas vacation so tonight will shine a light on the one hundred twelfth congress one that's being called the worst ever . and you're usually up tight in a little nervous any time you check into the hospital for surgery but a new study looks at how common medical mistakes are here in the u.s. some of the details in that report might surprise you. and are you one of the millions of people flying over the holidays get ready to be frisked and felt up at the airport but is the t.s.a. really keeping you safe or is this government agency only worried about securing their own jobs. it's friday december twenty first eight pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching r.t. . well as official we survive the so-called end of the world that is the end of the mayan calendar but while we might have avoided the fireballs in the earthquakes the u.s. is still barreling toward economic calamity with relentless fiscal cliff talks and things didn't improve much last night in fact talks moved back t

that's how you'll move congress.attle between the entrenchinged polluting special interests, and what i hope will become an energized public and white house. >> eliot: in your speeches time and again you point to the data. we have opposition that is devote of a scientific gene that want to ignore it and tonight want to acknowledge what is reality. rising water levels, ice melt that is melting at a faster rate. >> those are things that you can measure like the acidification of the ocean. there aren't models that. you go and measure. the republicans have gotten to the point where they disbelieve measurement. it's not just scientific analysis or projections. >> eliot: and we're getting to a tipping point where it will be harder and harder to pull back some of this damage. what would you want the president to do at a level, a carbon tax? we had legislation a few years that were so complicated they don't seem to move forward. >> there has to be a price on big emitters of carbon. they are creating enormous costs for the re

i'm the 430th youngest member of congress. and i just want to make sure you get that straight in the record. thank you, george. i'm honored and i'm particularly honored to be part of this great bay area delegation. and 10 districts surrounding the bay area, we have the finest legislative group in the united states. thank you very much. and i yield back. mr. miller: thank you very much. as we all know in this life, members leave the congress, don't leave public life and i expect we will be hearing from them as they leave the congress in their future endeavors. mr. bilbray wants to clean up the sea and dan lungren would like to take down -- and i know wally herger is concerned about the watershed of the parks of our state. their advocacy goes on and that is true on both sides of the aisle. ms. woolsey, if you would like to say anything. ms. woolsey: thank you, george, for doing this. thank you for honoring us that have been here and are now leaving. i arrived feeling very green and feeling very good 20 years ago. i had no idea h

i was very blessed when i came to congress to start my service in congress with a great staff that i inherited from my predecessor, congressman dave hobson. most have gone on to bigger and better things but i am also blessed to end my service here with a very dedicated and committed staff who's dedicated in helping our constituents back in our district, whether it be veterans, whether it be seniors, whether it be hardworking americans, having a positive impact on their lives and the loyalty that this staff has given to our district, and a very committed staff both in d.c. and back in the district, and many, and most of the staff, actually, who have stayed with me to the very end. to our staff, to our team, you are the best. . to the 111th congress, the freshman class i came in with, in particular our republican members of the freshman class, i want to thank you for your service and the friendship and support we've had throughout the years. i came in in 2008, it was a tough year for republicans. i was the only republican in ohio to win an open seat. in 2010, my colleagues on the other

as members of congress. indeed, it's not what we do for the rich and the middle class, but the basic question we all have to decide is, what did we do for the lesser among us? the vulnerable, the sick, the aged, and the poor. certainly emanuel cleaver provides a conscience for all of us that are privileged to serve in this august body. i turn back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until the hour of >> against the so-called plan b proposal by speaker boehner. we'll hear from the president in about a half-hour. we'll take you live to the white house. west going to be introducing vice president biden to head up a new guns task force. in the meantime we are going to take you live to the capitol as representatives nancy pelosi, carolyn mccarthy, and others talk about the gun violence in connecticut last week and the reintroduction of the assault weapons ban. live coverage here on c-span. >> any americans want to see the high

as congress and the president viktor over the upcoming fiscal cliff many inside the beltway say a path to the stable u.s. economic future can be found in the simpson bowles plan coming up five things you should know that's included in this plan. it's friday december seventh four pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching r.t. well we've been today in syria where fears of chemical weapons have resulted in one american official after another declaring a red line against the country president obama hillary clinton leon panetta and a host of other american officials have threatened action if chemical weapons are used in the country but behind the curtain of rhetoric are real doubts of what weapon syria actually has and whether the u.s. is really willing to get involved in yet another conflict in the middle east r t international correspondent diane chicana and asks if the allegations are enough for military action. u.s. officials said intelligence agencies have detected that assad's government has been preparing its chemical weapons stockpiles for possible use the obama adm

and even the people who serve in congress don't like congress, they hate congress.e embarrassed by it. just listen to them. >> we have lacked the courage to face up, to deal with these issues. we here in washington are going to hurt the american economy. we're going to hurt americans at every level, and to me, it's just a travesty that we've not been willing to deal with this issue. >> americans believe congress is broken. the american people know, democrats and republicans, that this place isn't working and there need to be some changes. >> america people should not countenance this deal made in this gridlock. we're here to do our jobs in washington, and we're seeing this failure demonstrated time and again because of ideological and political and philosophical stubbornness. what about the entire country? what about the good of the country? >> and yet, any time anyone tries to change anything about congress, any time someone tries to make it a little bit better, the status quo force together and quick. right now, the filibuster was meant to be a majority rule const

what is the sense of congress?uest: nobody wants to take away tax incentives for lower or middle-income americans. these are things that cost money. the tax code isn't the place to help families raise children. there are spending programs and things like that. there has been a lot of debate over this yet. you could see some more. host: steven sloan is our guest and he is with politico, senior tax reporter. our focus is looking at tax credits. first call from oklahoma, daniel. caller: i just had a question. if they are allowed to let this go over this fiscal cliff, are we going to not have these tax credits for the upcoming taxes we are filing for this year? and also, will congress be able to take their vacations this year even if they do not do their jobs? guest: these are mostly things that will affect the next year. most of these tax credits were in place for 2012. it affects your 2013 tax bill which you pay in 2014. the congressional schedule is very much up in the air. everyone is figuring out when they can go

at the time of a new incoming congress rather than a lame duck departing one. question, what's the rational thing for our lawmakers to do? mort zuckerman. >> the rational thing, the grown-up thing, which, of course is entirely irrelevant in this process is to find way to get our deficits under control, the debt under control, and to deal with the tax code so that we broaden the base and have enough revenues to, shall we say, encourage control over the medicare ahead dramatic problem. i don't know exactly when. we are going to have deficits and debts that we cannot control. there's going to be a breakdown in the economy. there already is. there is no confidence in the administration, no confidence in the government. we are having people buying $500 billion of our debt, china and japan, for example, do you think they are going to do it under these circumstances? we are looking at a tremendously difficult long- term problem, short-term problem, and immediate problem. >> actually, america is borrowing money at record low rates and the rest of the world parks their

in the last congress, the congress presently leaving washington, 238 representatives and 41 senators signed the norquist pledge. that's a total of 279. in the new incoming congress, 219 representatives and 39 senators signed it, a total of 258. that's a little over half the congress has taken this pledge, which means deadlock in the next three weeks is inevitable if they honor that pledge. >> yeah. so, what they need to do is to say, "i have two pledges here, two pledges side by side. one is to grover norquist. one is to the constitution of the united states. which one am i going to honor?" and that's the choice they have to make. and you have to be honest about the conversation. because on the tax raising side of it, you know, the argument is, "we're going to tax the multimillionaires." but actually, the proposal is $250,000. it's not millionaires and it's not multimillionaires. and so, there's dishonesty coming from both sides and both sides digging in their heels and saying, you know, "we're just not going to budge." and you can't operate that way. that's why i say they should act

it's still another chapter in the story of the do-nothing 112th congress.ver the past few years, the number of bills passed has actually gone down. 460 in the 110th, 383 in the 111th. in this current 112th congress, just 219 bills. the lowest since they've been keeping records. it is possible we could see no action in the house until john boehner has the speaker's gavel back in hand on thursday. joining me now is ryan grim, eugene robinson. eugene, of those 219 bills, a whole pile of them were things like renaming post offices. jeff flight told me this morning this was a huge embarrassment. where could we go from here? >> i have no idea. it would be nice to go somewhere. but we're nowhere. you know, we talk about gridlock and divided government. and, in the past, there are people who divide a government that's good. when we have this sort of political gridlock, we get things done. that is no longer true. as a matter of fact, you have to be pessimistic. you see us lurching from cliff to cliff. if you see us getting passed this one, how can you be convinced w

so is the one hundred twelfth congress the true do nothing congress and what do americans really think about their lawmakers well according to a new gallup poll a mere eighteen percent of americans approve of the job congress is doing at the moment and those are the good numbers for the lorry harshness of the resident dot net went to the streets of the big apple to find out what average americans think about congress. as many hard working americans look forward to taking a break from the grind so does congress did they deserve a holiday this week let's talk about that we're talking today about congress because there's that take their break right now you're already rolling your eyes i've only just said the word it's awful what you can do they don't do anything and they're taking a break while yet because that's what they do they don't do anything and they're going to do you think that they have been working hard enough to deserve a holiday never and i won't say anymore because it'll be a bad word of those going to go and kick the can down the road a little bit for the next year yeah and

very difficult relationship with congress. people come up to me all the time and say don't they realize, all of them, the president, republicans and democrats, how frustrated we all are? >> well, i think we're all frustrated. you know, the only thing i would caution against, david, is i think this notion of, well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate. that's just not true. if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the democratic party, warts and all, and certainly me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first. and to try to work with everybody involved to make sure that we've got an economy that grows, make sure that it works for everybody, make sure that we're keeping the country safe. and, you know, the democratic party still have some knee-jerk ideological positions. and are there some folks in the democratic party who sometimes aren't reasonable? of course. that's true of every political party. but generally if you look at how i've tried to govern over

congress is kicking the can down

very difficult relationship with congress. people come up to me all the time and say, don't they realize, all of them, the president, republicans and democrats, how frustrated we all are? >> well, i think we're all frustrated. you know, the only thing i would caution against, david, is i think this notion of, well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate. that's just not true. if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the democratic party, warts and all, and certainly me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first, and to try to work with everybody involved to make sure that we've got an economy that grows, make sure that it works for everybody, make sure that we're keeping the country safe. and, you know, the democratic party still have some knee-jerk ideological positions. and are there some folks in the democratic party who sometimes aren't reasonable? of course. that's true of every political party. but generally if you look at how i've tried to govern and