bill, thanks. >>> michael steele is former chair of the republican national committee and he joins us as well this morning. sir, good to have you with us. >> it's good to be with you, erica. >> bill just went through the comments, the president saying he's happy to have the debate. is he essentially framing the debate now on health care and even the budget? is that a debate that the gop wants to have? >> well, i think a little less bravado and a little bit more leadership by the president on this issue would go a long way. i think his speech the other day was more partisan than it needed to be, particularly with republican leadership that he invited to be there. and i think this rhetoric that we picked up last night is consistent with what we've seen so far, is that there's a lot of noise, there's a lot of, you know, excitement, but the nuts and bolts is what we really need to focus on. my hope is, is that both sides will come to some, you know, accommodation with respect to the...