we are turning into small, petty brinksmanship. let's see if we could crush the republican party. he has given up on a larger and more noble goal of doing something. >> the reason he has given up -- i will not say who is right or wrong in the negotiations. there were very close. the reason this grand bargain has twice fallen through is that boehner knew that he could then sell it to his membership. when you do not have somebody to negotiate with, then you play as hard ball as you have to. of doing something. >> i have to conclude, evan is wrong. republicans, when the organize a firing squad, they form themselves in a circle. that is what the group is doing. barack obama is not doing their destruction, they are doing it themselves. >> if congress enacts $500 million in defense cuts, what happened then? he said armed services committee announced that it has hearings on chuck hagel's nomination to become defense secretary. if confirmed, he will have his hands full, especially with these defense cuts. there is talk about pulling a carrier out of the gulf, we only have one there. i wou