right now when you're talking about goalposts, i think the key goalpost to look at is how long down the road can they kick the can on this sequestration. >> it doesn't sound like the republicans want to kick it at all. how long can they, ezra? >> what republicans have been insisting on is you have to pay for it. if you're going to move the sequester back, you have to pay for it somehow. what the white house said is if you're going to pay for it, you're going to do so with a mixture of tax increases and spending cuts, not just as republicans want spending cuts. in all of this, and, you know, we were talking about winners and losers before the break, in all of this everybody is a loser. this shouldn't have been that hard, there should be better spending cuts made in a smarter fashion. at the moment we will have a fairly modest amount of deficit reduction. maybe even none at all. mixed with a fairly bad economic impact from the fiscal cliff. kicking some of the sequester down the road would be a good idea but it's the same disagreements keeping us from doing that that has kept us from gett

he moved that goalpost to $400,000 or more. speaker baner was far away saying it should be $1 million . he brought it up and had to pull it back. there is frustration among the president's aides, jumping through hoops, trying to get a deal. now the president is on vacation in hawaii and there's been no progress. everyone went home for the holidays. >> i want to get this in. i have to ask, a lot of people were surprised the president announced he would come back from vacation. when did you know he was going to do that? >> we've known for at least two or three days it was likely he would come back. he wanted to spend time with the family and go to the marine base as a christmas tradition, to thank the troops for service. but they knew quickly after christmas he would have to get back. the optics awoke horrible would be horrible if we go off the fiscal cliff. not just taxes but 2 million people unemployed are about to lose unemployment insurance if there's no deal. the final point is that i was pressing a white house official a fe

he moved that goalpost to $400,000 or more. speaker baner was far away saying it should be $1 million. bring it up for a vote. he brought it up and had to pull it back. there is frustration among the president's aides,umping through hoops, trying to get a deal. now the president is on vacation in hawaii and there's been no progress. everyone went home for the holidays. >> i want toet this in. i have to ask, a lot of people were surprised the president announced he would come back from vacation. when did you know he was going to do that? >> we've known for at least two or three days it was likely he would come back. he wanted to spend time with the family and go to the marine base as a christmas tradition, to thank the troops for service. but they knew quickly after christhe would have to g back. the optics awoke horrible would be horrible if we go off the fiscal cliff. not just taxes but 2 million people unemployed are about to lose unemployment insurance if there's no deal. the final point is that ias prsing a white hou offici

but the president, by changing his goalpost, because first he said it was $800 billion when he was running for office, now it's 1.6, then the president said he wants to have a credit card with no limits in terms of the debt ceiling and the president looks as the term you used is arrogant. i think the president has a grudge because speaker boehner has said you want to get $800 billion from the rich. let me get $800 billion from the rich but instead of raising the tax rate, let me get $800 billion. the same people, the same amount, but i'll get them differently through closing loopholes and getting rid of some deductions. and the president, the white house said no i think because the president wants to rub his nose in it and extract it in increased rates. >> he could get more money by cutting the deductions or capping the deductions. he wants the rates up, why? because the republicans said we can't raise the rates, it violates our principles. >> that's the grudge part. that's the grudge part and the lack of leadership. i think he ought to come off it, but i think speaker boehner to the exten

that outraged republicans that accused the republicans from moving the goalpost. >> the revenue that has beencams being used not to reduce deficit but to keep spending cogs that s that have been agreed to from not happening. >> suessy it looks like a source negotiating right now to come up with a to 20 to 30 billion three need to move it back to two to three months and that seems to be going well. talk us through the steps over the next couple of days. let's assume we go over the cliff and there is a good chance of that. can we assume that the democrats and represent republicans are ch they are going to sign off in the next couple of days or has the dynamics changed. >> my new years resolution is tl ball. >> glad to hear that. >> it will take a lot.the sensr and they expect to have a vote by the time the ball drops or maybe just after. the house looks like it's going to come back at 12:00 tomorrow. that's the most difficult part. >> we are hearing that perhapsnt get a lot of democratic votes to pass wha whatever the central gs tomorrow. if it doesn't come together tomorrow it will co

criminals you know in order to protect our lives our families and to work in peace ok let me move the goalpostthat we are forced to pay protection to illegal groups what roy says colombia going to pay. the modest effect on r.t. . free credit free. free. free. free. free. download free blog videos for your media project free media r.t. dot com. you're watching all see it's good to have you with us the average family in the u.k. is being small stuff as of that endings to the government a new study claims households with one of breadwinner a paying seven to three percent of their income into tuck's but we're saving no benefits in return. looks at the implications. up to seventy three percent that's the amount of tax that your average british household pays once an average british household that's two kids two parents with one breadwinner so a lot of people who are just trying to raise a family being called good by this tax that goes towards your income tax your national insurance a lot of other european developed countries they also pay a high rate of tax but nowhere near as high as the u.k. we'v

fold move the goalposts. move. the. guitar sometimes you see a story and it seems so. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew. i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. the admission of free accreditation free in-store judges free. range mentioned free. free. free. download free blog loaded video for your media project a free media dog hearty dot com you. know when to. cook. it. plays. play. length. players play. live. play. play. play. play play. play . welcome back we're talking about innovation and how you fuel it and if bubbles can be helpful and before the break we were talking about how i.p.o.'s have declined in the reasons for that and we were talking about the decline in dollars raised by v.c. firms venture capital and we can bring up a chart i just do want to show our viewers what that looks like so they can kind of see how those numbers have have changed over the years relative to what kind of the median is so there you see that and we were talking

they're going to continue to move the goalpost every time we do something on immigration, so they can have this political tool they can hit us over the head with. >> rue all, we have a stem bill and it's actually michael grimm, a republican from new york, and myself, who have put forward this in the house of representatives, who have had it. you guys have not allowed it to be passed. it actually adds more series saturday, 55,000 more visas for the very people that today you voted would be able to have documents. the problem with the bill you voted on today you said yes to it doesn't increase the amount of people coming to this country. it just takes away from one group and gives to another, and that's a divide and conquer strategy. >> you're doing the politics -- >> just don't believe the that. >> your solution today was to vote no on a bill that was actually going to advance the ball, and go to the senate. the senate -- you have the democratic lead -- leadership in the senate. instead you have a threat from the white house and all of the democrats, except for 27, locking arms and say

. >> eric: we move the goalpost again. the stock market knows you will get a deal.s eminnocent. but you get a bad deal for everyone. >> andrea: the republicans meet behind closed doors. is he boehner darker tan? >> greg: it's supposed to be spending, not taxes. losing on this so this reminds me of 1960 sitcom argument between a married couple. boehner is a sensible long suffering husband trying to tighten the purse strings. and obama is lucy ricardo. appreciates spending because it's fun, fun, fun. doesn't get the savings. perhaps episode of green acres. talking big is paul krugman. >> eric: the plan that boehner offered -- this is huge. said you know what? we will put up the debt ceiling debate for two years. that means the republicans, it has to go through the house, spending bill come through the house. approved. the house has to approve the debt ceiling inces. they said they put it off for two years. he gave president obama the best gift. the best deal they could do. a lot of people on the right think he gave them -- >> bob: wait, wait, wait. this is not the pel

. >> a lot of republican aides are accusing the white house of moving the goalpost by, at the late hour, throwing in this other issue, the sequester, the defense and domestic cuts that are obviously a big issue but they feel like they can do that in a couple of months. the bigger concern is they have worked out an agreement on all the different taxes due to kick in so mcconnell is pointing out, let's do that now. >>trace: now there are democrats who are complaining about what they have heard of the possible deal. >>reporter: that is right there is unhappiness on the details. there will be plenty of unhappiness on both sides with republicans upset there are no significant spending cuts in the possible deal. some key points of the framework include increasing taxes on individuals making more than $400,000 a year and couples making more than $450,000 a year, addressing the estate tax, the medicare fix for a year and extend unemployment benefits a year and fix the alternative minimum tax which is an annual headache permanently but some democrats are worried about the tax figures. >> somehow

every time boehner an obama get close to a deal, president obama moves the goalpost back. >> kimberlying hard ball. this is the problem. he is going hmm to you, republicans. i don't care about that. that is nothing. i get that for free. he is the guy changing the play for his side. what about the right? >> juan: the american people. look at the poll, they think president obama is willing to compromise. >> andrea: which is ironic. [ overtalk ] >> juan: who are the obstructionists? it's my ideology, i can't negotiate. even if we go off the cliff, endanger the whole economy. >> greg: here is thing. the idea of adhering to a principle in this world is seen as extremism, trying to limit government and cutting taxes. what obama is able to do is shift the argument from cutting and spending to now spending and borrowing. cutting is part of it. >> eric: leave it there. coming up, the day after christmas. you know what that means? all the bad gifts are going back. tell you what the five of us got from san. the plus, this woman says she was fired from her job for from being too sexy. her boss co

the democrats say if goalposts is getting moved. >> take the football and charlie brown episode.y jerk it away. >> 15 months ago the president suggested threshold on tax hikes might be a $1 million. >> middle class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaire and billionaires. today they said it did not preclude raising rates with broader reform. >> the idea to tax people making more than $1 million is so bad and unbalanced why did the president propose it in 2007? >> millionaire tax in rose garden? >> first, >> that is a different propoise sal. he supported exploration of bush tax cut for those making more than $250,000. >> private talks, president moved the threshold to $400,000 or more. is republicans noted 5653 senate democrats voted for a plan by schumer that sounds similar to boehner. >> senator schumer said first i don't know a single one of my colleagues who would about prefer tax breaks ifer people up to $1 million. >> boehner has bigger proble problems. he has a bill for tax cuts for anyone making $250,000 or less. that could help avoid the cliff, since the sena

every time boehner an obama get close to a deal, president obama moves the goalpost back. >> kimberlyhard ball. this is the problem. he is going hmm to you, republicans. i don't care about that. that is nothing. i get that for free. he is the guy changing the play for his side. what about the right? >> juan: the american people. look at the poll, they think president obama is willing to compromise. >> andrea: which is ironic. [ overtalk ] >> juan: who are the obstructionists? it's my ideology, i can't negotiate. even if we go off the cliff, endanger the whole economy. >> greg: here is thing. the idea of adhering to a principle in this world is seen as extremism, trying to limit government and cutting taxes. what obama is able to do is shift the argument from cutting and spending to now spending and borrowing. cutting is part of it. >> eric: leave it there. coming up, the day after christmas. you know what that means? all the bad gifts are going back. tell you what the five of us got from san. the plus, this woman says she was fired from her job for from being too sexy. her boss couldn

reporter: if it passes thursday, there's little chance of passage in the senate where democrats say the goalpostseep getting moved. >> they take that football, and it's a charlie brown episode. they jerk the ball away. >> except it was only 15 months ago the president suggested the threshold and tax hikes might be a million dollars. >> middle class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. >> today, white house officials noted the president's push for the so-called buffet rule was only a minimum tax for millionaires that did not preclude raising rates as part of broader reform. >> boehner's idea of taxes people is so bad and unbalanced, why did the president propose that in september of 2011? he had the millionaires tax when he came out in the rose garden. >> that was an entirely different proposal. the president always supported expiration of the bush era tax cuts for those making more than $250,000. >> in private talks with boehner, however, the president moved the threshold to $400,000 or more, and republicans today noted two years ago, 53 senate democrats voted f

they have moved that goalpost to $400,000 or more. speaker john boehner moved away from that saying it should be a from that saying it should be a or more, he brought it up and had to pull it back because it did not have enough republicans. frustration among them that they were jumping through hoops trying to get a deal and now the president on vacation in hawaii basically no progress. they understand that rea. eric: when did you know he was going to come back? >> we knew two or three days it was likely he was going to comel back. he wanted to spend family time yesterday and go to the marine base because it was a christmas vacation to thank the troops but they knew pretty quickly was going to have to get back. he is here in sunny hawaii. not just taxes going up, 2 million people unemployed are about a to lose their employment insurance if there is no deal here. the final point i make, ats white house official the president is's going back now tonight, what is on his agenda, what did he dotl differently he couldn't do on the telephone

. >> today, the republicans accused the president of moving the goalpost suggesting more tax increasesd to stop massive cuts aimed at the pentagon and elsewhere. >> the revenues have to be part of the equation in terping off the sequester. >> trouble on the left as well. senators grumbling the president gave away too much on the tax threshold of $450,000 or more. the white house is pushing back by saying that the president held firm on 39.6% at the top rate despite reports he might negotiate down to 38%. bret? >> bret: ed. in that event, the president didn't have a lot of details. it seems to be framed much like as you mention ad campaign style event. perhaps a signal that this is what we may see in the new year if the battle over the debt ceiling heats up in the next few weeks. >> in doubt. he did two things. going out and hitting republicans hard at this event he was making clear if they don't have the final deal, he will go out on the road and pound them in the days ahead to put the blame on them. the second thing he was doing, not just on the fiscal cliff. on immigration and other

blood they say john boehner walked away prematurely and the republicans say the president move the goalpoststerm but they say don't poison the well come closer to our terms and be nicer and we can meet half way the democrats say we won the election you have to keep on the rates 250 and

both extremes are trying to set their goalposts to make it impossible for speaker boehner and president obama to negotiate. my words to my colleagues are, get over yourselves. there has to be a deal here at the end of the day. by end of the year we have to some sort of tax increases in place and some entitlement put on the table in terms of fixing the system. agree to do tax reform and enlightment reform over the next six months with huge sequester or huge tax increases as a consequence of not getting to the deal. i think that's very doable at this point in time. the elements are all there. we just have to rally around our leaders and agree to fix america, save america at this point, frankly, sandra. sandra: i'm curious what your specific experience has been so far as a member of the blue dog coalition? have you felt pressure from your mainstream counterparts in the democratic party to sort of toe the party line? >> no, i don't think i felt pressure to tow the party line. i think my caucus gives a lot of members of diverse points of view a lot of leeway to express themselves. i'm not su

we might move a goalpost and say now the cliff comes to us in june 30, or september 30.ppen. majority of both houses and president have to agree. the real tragedy here, to make you real angry, if you talk privately to both members of -- to members of both houses the only way to do it is accept revenue increases and cut spending. main thing is cut the increase in entitlement spending. none of that is popular. but i think the american people would understand that's what we have got to do. not to be popular but help the country. if we negotiated a debt reduction agreement it would be the best for the economy. >> neil: thank you. >> happy holidays, hearry christmas, happy hanukkah. share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. sharable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. get a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99.

we need to stop focusing on the grand bargain but the initial part and move the goalpost six or seven months. that's why the market is trading up. >> michael, couldn't it be the market decided, hey, what difference does it really make if we get a deal before january 1 or, quote, go over the cliff for a few days a week, punts into the next congress, and then there is a, quote, down payment on future bargain. everybody says, wow, once you solve the immediate problem, they will never get back to -- >> i think that's what's going to happen. people are going to basically say, as long as there's some movement and the can is moving a little bit. >> they are kind of saying it doesn't matter, aren't they? are investigators saying it doesn't matter. >> as long as we have the initial down payment. >> kenny thinks we're beginning to look a little like europe. they are punting. >> the market, as we saw in europe, they rallied the market ahead of what they thought was going to be a deal, kicked the can down the road. in fact, if that's the case. michael may be right there's going to be a framework

president for the impasse saying "we don't have time for the president to continue shifting the goalposts. we need to solve this problem." in fact, his approach all along has been to deny reality altogether. his plan is essentially a rehash of mitt romney's. closing loopholes to raise revenue and remember, mitt romney lost. and democrats of course, rightly are calling him out on it. representative sandra levin who released a statement yesterday saying that republicans "remain in a state of denial." well, here he is on monday, going even further. >> the republicans have a major decision to make. and that is essentially who's running their party? is it norquist? is it the people who spoke in the election and voted for the president? this issue was foremost in the campaign. the people spoke. the republicans need to listen. >> jennifer: the people spoke! well said, congressman leen! -- levin. deal with it. so far the republicans have not listened. some of them have even moved on to the next stage of grief which is anger. case in point, eric cantor. he threw a bit of a twitter tantrum today. h

every time bainner and obama gets close to a deal, obama moves the goalpost back. >> because he's playinging, republicans, i don't care about that, i get that for free. he's kind of the guy that came to play and staunch for his side. >> the american people, when you look at the policy, they think it's president obama who is willing to compromise. >> because he's able to fit it in. because he hasn't conceded anything. >> and who are the obstructionists? who is afraid to move? it's my ideology, i can't negotiate. and even if we go off the cliff we endanger the whole economy. >> again, the idea of add hearing to a principle sadly in this world is seen as extremist, which is trying to limit government and cutting taxes. what obama has been able to do is shift the argument from cutting and spending to now spending and borrowing. cutting is even part of it. >> we have to leave it there. coming up, it's the day after christmas. you know what that means? all the bad kids going bad. [laughter] >> let's tell you what the finalist got from santa. and this woman said she was fired from her job for be

you talk about the goalpost being moved. the compromise from speaker boehner would be that he is willing to increase the rates on some income earners, only $1 million or more in income and obama want its to be $400,000. boehner is willing to give an increase in the debt limit. he won't get an increase in the medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. now, want only did the president reject that offer, he race to the microphones today and he declared that he won the debate with boehner on tax rates. so clearly, he now wants to humiliate all republicans, as i predicted. >> i remain optimistic, though. because if you look at what the speaker has proposed, he's conceded that income tax rates should go up, except right now he only wants to have them go up for millionaire, if you are making $900,000, he thinks you can't afford to pay a little more in taxes. but the principle that rates are going to need to go up, he has conceded. i have said, i am willing to make some cuts. what separates is us a few hundred million dollars. the idea

themselves and recast the republican party as a party of diversity and, perhaps, big ideas and a larger goalpostalso say this because i have to say this as vice chair of the party. as you know, the democratic party has a large and broad base, including vice president biden, who's done terrific job in his capacity as second in command, but we also have a lot of governors, a lot of diversity, duval patrick, and governor cuomo. now you have senator-elect elizabeth warren that might be considered presidential timber. i don't want to throw all our eggs in one basket, because there's wonderful of people -- martin o'malley, the governor of colorado. there are so many people, like the republicans, there will be a large field of candidates, but no question if secretary of state hillary clinton decided to throw her gloves into the race, game on. >> she's got a lot of competition. >> oh, absolutely. >> david, do you think the republican party will have the strongest field it's had in maybe a generation next time around? >> i thought actually 2008 frgs the strongest field the republican party has had in a l

even if it is a partial cliff deal and we move the goalpost nine months, i think the selling will be overwhelmed. >> you said to hedge your bets. that's you how put on the hedge. how would you do it? >> make sure you have a percentage of portfolio in gold. asset that does well and in all likelihood, when there is a fear in the marketplace, i think that's where you hedge your bets. in addition to more equity as you buy in advance of a fiscal cliff deal. >> michael, thanks. see you a little later. >> be sure to tune in tomorrow for cnbc's special fiscal cliff coverage live from washington, mission critical, rise above d.c. jim cramer, brian sullivan, mar maria and they will talk about how they will stand and how they will do their part it rise above partisan politics and reach a deal. >> one of the big debates involves housing. including what could happen to the mortgage interest deduction in their state if we do good over the cliff? our real estate correspondent, diana, here with exclusive data. diane? >> that right, tyler. talk to anyone in the real estate business and they say getti

president to come to the table and in addition to that, we have the administration that keeps moving the goalpost. 2010 this very president said this is not the time when the economy is so bad to raise taxes on anyone yet now we're having him say he wants to raise taxes on small business own that's are going to affect about 700,000 jobs. is that really what we need to do in an economy where we have 23 million americans that are struggling for unemployment? this is the reason why we have to hold strong on this. the other this evening ng is we hear from the president on the other side of the coin. we have a spending problem in washington. unless we get serious about talking about that, we'll never solve this debt crisis and fiscal issue. >> congresswoman, i quoted the enough quinnipiac poll that's out, over 65% of americans degree that taxes need to be higher on those making over 250,000 a year. i know you like to say these are small business owners, these are the people that are going to give jobs to the american people, sure. but when we look at this as a whole and the mandate that was given as a

only ot tone of the president's presentation but also that demand which they consider move og the goalpost even though democrats dispute that on the issue of the sequester a lot of them are really really mad about it judy. and they thought the president was twisting the knife, was goading them was ridiculing them in front of the public. it made some of them frankly, very, very angry. i was told how does that affect a deal in a practical sense. probably not much. but this sequester is, you know, it's a big part of the fiscal cliff. monetarily it's not quite half of it. it's worth $110 billion and those spending cuts go into effect tonight. it's unclear if they are going to solve that part of it. >> woodruff: but todd s there, on the tax side, has there been agreement there at least on the senate side. because as we just reported some democrats say they don't like what they see. >> well, they don't need everybody. keep in mind you-- what you need in the senate usually is 51 votes. we've gotten into this environment here where we assume that everything needs 60 votes. it doesn't have to be th

only ot tone of the president's presentation, but also that demand which they consider move og the goalpost even though democrats dispute that on the issue of the sequester, a lot of them are really, really mad about it, judy. and they thought the president was twisting the knife, was goading them, was ridiculing them in front of the public. it made some of them, frankly, very, very angry. i was told how does that affect a deal in a practical sense. probably not much. but this sequester is, you know, it's a big part of the fiscal cliff. monetarily it's not quite half of it. it's worth $110 billion, and those spending cuts go into effect tonight. it's unclear if they are going to solve that part of it. >> woodruff: but todd s there, on the tax side, has there been agreement there, at least, on the senate side. because as we just reported some democrats say they don't like what they see. >> well, they don't need everybody. keep in mind, you-- what you need in the senate usually is 51 votes. we've gotten into this environment here where we assume that everything needs 60 votes. it doesn't have

cheryl: the house speaker says the president is moving the goalposts again.n the backup plan to the fiscal cliff crisis and why the president is still saying no. dennis: adopt 87, home builder confidence meanwhile at its highest level in 6-1/2 years, cover living standards could change that. let's take a look at today's winners on the s&p. nicole: i am nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange, up arrows across the board. let's take a look every 15 minutes at stocks, let's look at a name that is a winner and it is jefferies coming out here, adjusted for a quarter profits and did better than the investment bank with higher-income from the fixed-income unit. it is up $0.53 at 1877 and that is a gain of nearly 3%. we obscene stocks doing quite well over the last couple days bringing to the main point which is the markets said doing really well. the dow jones industrials up 86 points, that is a gain of 1/2%. the nasdaq up 1.1% and the s&p 500 up nearly 1%. the dow at 13,322 and the majority of dow component to the green which shows you there's broad ba

no from what he campaigned on, he's still moving the goalpost away from a compromise. >> it sounds like end up where he started. he'll probably end up where he started. >> oh, i think -- well, a trillion seems to be the right number. if you look to last year's negotiation, the deal fell through at 800, and then the president countered with 1200. then he campaigned on 970. so you know, started going to washington, a trillion -- >> larry -- >> he's learned to negotiate. >> people -- to move the goalposts outside of the ball park is what he learned to do. >> boehner's got guys that are way to the right of you, and then people with jared that are to the left of jared, the president's got to make it look good for these people or he's going to get pilloried on the huffington post. >> on the cpi chain, which the white house is making i think positive sounds about, there's a lot of people on the left who are not happy about this. >> i'm talking about -- >> i'm making a factual statement about where -- >> the aarp is sharply -- >> that's true. >> you're not just talking about -- >> and by the wa

>> well, the fed is constructing these goalposts, so it never actually hits them. going to tighten. i started saying this, when the fed first started talking about an exit strategy back in 2009, i started saying there was no exit strategy, that the fed had checked in to the roach motel of monetary policy. there is no way for the fed to exit. all it has to do is make excuses as to why it's not. the fed is going to keep printing money until the dollar implodes and the economy collapses. because if they try to exit -- >> let me interpret you there. >> yeah. >> i somewhat agree with you. but the problem is, it's very hard to get a gps on how ugly the dollar is. because, of course, it only could be relatively valued against something else. and fortunate or unfortunate, the main bench marks that most people look at are the yen, and the euro. and of course, both the countries or group of countries on europe, the country on the end, they have their own issues regarding quantitative easing, so how am i supposed to look at the dollar, how is the average family going to feel

the president continues to change the goalpost along this process.k what has to happen here now that if we agreed to revenue, let's talk about the balanced approach and the two and a half times the spending cuts. the president won't talk about that. in geithner's proposal, he offers a new stimulus program where he's now spending even more money than what he can -- martha: you know, both sides are pretty well staked out here. the question is, what's going to happen? are you all going to find a way to, you know, sort of come forward a little bit? perhaps you might say, well, you know, we'll raise taxes on those who makeover a million dollars or $500,000? a lot of people think that's where the negotiation is going to happen here. is it? are you willing to do anything in that direction? >> look, republicans are willing to make sure we don't go over this fiscal cliff, but at the same time don't harm this economy. what has to happen here, the president shows a little leadership, we're willing to sit in the room, we're willing to get this done. that's why y