at this point, please welcome senator ben nelson. [applause] good morning, everyone.and thank you all -- before i began, i should tell you the story about right after i was elected governor, going out to the middle part of the state to speak at a their graduation. i spoke at their graduation and then i signed a few autographs afterwards. the staffer that was with me on the way back to lincoln told me this story. he said that he asked one of the young graduates what he thought of the governor and then he told me what he said. the little guy thought for awhile and then said that his dad did not think he was very bright, but he liked him a lot. [laughter] i thought that it dimwitted parents could have broken children, there is hope for us. automatically go into effect if congress doesn't act by the end of the year. you know, two great philosophers come to mind. it was ben franklin who said: nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. and it was will rogers who amended that by saying: the only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get wor

senator ben nelson said he hoped the lame duck session doesn't turn into a dead duck or a daffy duck. is some indication that might be the case because they are coming back for a relatively short period of time and have 60 items they would like to get to. top of the list: whether or not to -- or which of the bush tax cuts to extent. >> that is the essential issue. the other 59, probably hold until january. but right now, no one knows what is going to be the rate of income tax, estate tax. dividends, capital gains. you can't have that kind of uncertainty with so much capital sitting on the sidelines as a result of uncertainty. and this is probably the major source of uncertainty. i think they are going to have to attack it. i would guess you are going to get an extension for at least a couple of years and then you look at it again down the road. >> that's what they have a continuing resolution to keep the budget going, that's something they have to do on top of tax cuts. >> jim: are they embarrassed that they have been unable to pass any of the appropriation bills? >> i can't speak to

maybe they only need nine and they can start talking to ben nelson and joe lieberman.k you, all, panel. see you next week. don't forget to check out the latest edition of panel plus, where the group picks up with a discussion on our website. foxnewssunday.com. we promise we'll post the video before noon eastern time. up next, we go on the trail. [ male announcer ] you can dream of delivering leading edge i.t. solutions to local hospitals. or, like windstream communications, you can dream it and do it. windstream lists on nasdaq, the world's most innovative can-do exchange. imagination and reality have merged. because of one word, a new generation-- a fifth generation-- of fighter aircraft has been born. because of one word, america's air dominance for the next forty years is assured. that one word... is how. >> chris: with the election only 16 days away, the parties are sending in their big guns out to rally the faithful. and the candidate are facing off in final debates. the action was fast and furious on the trail. ♪ ♪ >>> man up, harry reid. you need to understand t

it is people like ben nelson. i had to say, people like blanche lincoln. and so, essentially the interesting thing is there wasn't a lot of key behind the organizing. at the same time they started to do an end run around the party establishment. the thing is the party had really been built up under dean. you know, they had 200 organizers. they were much better condition. after the election was organizers contracts expired, so they left. and it took a long time to fill that vacuum. i think obama could have easily just kept the 50 state strategy. he says what dean is doing great he could've done both. i would've both given him the strength for bubbles in the party and would've given him his own mobilization would've been maybe out to the dnc or affiliated or allowed them to push for his legislative policies. and i think that would've helped them with a tea parties emerged, which is what i'm going to get to. i think the two parties are interesting at this point and it doesn't really get made often enough, which is they copied to dean and obama playbook. they

technically an independent but caucuses with the democratic party, that's when you talk about guys like ben nelson from nebraska who has voted against the president on so many of his initiatives so far that you say your real home is with the republican party, senator, and you need to come over here, so that's why, for republicans, it would be great for them if they picked up ten but from their way of looking at things if they can even get it close they can really start a conversation with democrats who are unhappy about the direction of their party. jenna: some of our viewers have asked us about some of these polls saying we're making a lot about the republicans' moves but they're still behind, they might be in a close race but they're several points off the democratic con terpbd. give us context about polling and something that we should keep in mind when it comes to republicans and how their polls versus the democrats. >> that's a great question, and i think the point here is you look at what we call the generic ballot test that you ask americans across the country, poll 1000 americans, who do y

then ben nelson talks about why he is against letting any of the bush era tax cuts expire. later, members of the a services committee meets with pentagon officials for not being forthcoming about budget initiatives. next, at a rally held earlier today. it is made up of 150 national, local and state organizations. leaders spoke at the lincoln memorial for jobs, justice and education. we heard remarks from reverend al sharpton and double -- naacp president and harry belafonte. this is close to four hours. one more time for the urban nation choir. ladies and gentlemen, let me bring to you one of the voices of our nation today, a man who speaks with clarity and power. one that understands power. the one and only ed schultz. [applause] >> one nation. we are together. this march is about the power to the people. it is about the people standing up for the corporations. are you ready to fight back? are you ready to stand up for your brother and sister? >> yes. >> of this is a defining moment in america. are you americans? >> yes. >> are you americans? >> yes. >> do you love america

schultz of florida, the chairman of the house legislative bratch appropriations subcommittee and ben nelson of nebraska, the chairman of the counterpart in the senate, they have both talked about the need for congress to set an example for the rest of the government and monitoring its own budget. but you get the impression looking at this budget over the years that it's been something that has kind of mushroomed without anybody looking at it. and like one strange thing is there's a political -- the political imperative that is come up to do something about congress can often lead to more costs. host: bob has this comment. guest: well, again, i was looking at the size of the forest rather than the individual trees. but i would like that gentleman to go on line and it has an excellent website. in the house clerk's office where you can look at the dispersments from the house office. but for the most part, house and senate members get roughly the same budget although it's adjusted in the senate case for the size of the state and it's adjusted in both cases for the amount of travel they have to

when we are calling out someone like ben nelson for taking millions of dollars from insurance companies and then opposing the public option, he actually had to air response ads. we need to be bold. hopefully, you can even get involved in our cause. host: next phone call. south dakota. caller: i have a couple of comments. every state, progressive, california, new york, massachusetts, keep going down the line, progressives have taken over the political system. they are absolutely devastated. they are broke. the taxpayer will have to end up bailing them out. progressivism is destroying our country. confusene, let's not progressive with democrats. i am from the state of new jersey. it is a very democratic state in general, but honestly, the politics are very machine oriented and i would say corrupt, like new york. you have these machine environments thriving on backroom deals and does not rely on people power. what we are trying to do is allow the boys of everyday people heard and have that reflected in politics. when you have politicians who do not raise small dollar donations but are inst

nelson mandela was released, 1990. but up until then, you had a stark division between east and west germany, and ben brumfield, who's oneional, on the international desk, was saying he remembers going to east berlin and what it was like to live in this oppressive communist dictatorship. he remembers somebody who wanted a washing machine. if you wanted a washing machine, you had to apply and get the washing machine through a whole process. you had the people's police, who would spy on you. every second person was an informant. he said he remembers how quiet it was being in east germany, oppressive communist dictatorship of east germany. then in 1990 you get the reunification, where east germany really joins west germany. and it's 20 years later. now, east germany still lags behind west germany economically, but certainly today it's a celebration. it's a national day of unity. people will be saying congratulations. >> there are still amazingly some polls that even come out, there are still some people who weren't in favor necessarily of that wall coming down and the reunification taking place. it's still small numbers, bu