the census count determines how many congressional representatives there are. it is used to figure out funding for counties. sometimes it is our own immigrant communities who really need those resources but are in a weak position to negotiate. i cannot emphasize how important it is to understand that your information given to the census is confidential and there are extra safe marks for the information. there is also big penalties for anyone who inappropriately to full does the information. it is never meant to be handed over to the immigration service. absolutely, the commission should encourage everyone to participate. can you imagine if we got another represented in this area? -- rep in this area? i think we could use it. >> last question. we have heard a couple of suggestions on things the immigrant rights commission could do. the last question is, your top three suggestions for the immigrants' rights commission to begin preparing for building capacity in the community to assist immigrants, not if, but when cir happens. >> there is a lot of expertise in the

budget office had shown that this would be a net deficit reduction the congressional budget office said it would be for the short term but over the long run it would be excessively expensive and the one gross under estimate of the congressional budget office on the dream act is how do you put a price tag on the fact that this will incentivize yet a now the round of illegal aliens who will figure that americans immigration policy is a defacto amnesty every ten or twenty years the united states of america will enact an amnesty so we might as. well comey and i mean those who are seeking entry into the united states illegally will act rationally they'll assume hate you know we did this in one thousand nine hundred six they did it in two thousand and ten might as well come in now and wait it out until my next amnesty and in the process the american taxpayer will be shelling out those cost and by the way the cost of illegal immigration in the united states right now annually is one hundred thirteen billion dollars for health care education and incarceration cost we can no longer afford martin

theorr, which is taken without congressional authority, in my opinion, and certainly the courts will litigate and make decisions, the f.c.c. reserves the right to regulate wireless just as however, wireless providers will have more leeway to innovate and manage their networks, but how much investment are they going to make for the long term if they don't know what the f.c.c. might foresee in the future that needs fixing? even if it isn't apparently broken. the real-world impact is that wireless is the fastest-growing area of communications markets. the threat that the commission might later apply the prohibitions in its order today to this marketplace is a major er commend the two dissenting members of the commission in the vote today, rob mcdowell and meredith baker. they each did op-eds one in the "wall street journal" and one in "the washington post" about, i would say the common theme that this is a solution where there is no problem. we have an open internet, madam president. we have an internet that is working. it does not need the heavy hand of government. it does not need a g

you are talking about a policy ought to have congressional -- congressional auditors go in and look at policy decisions. there are some who say this will lead to congressional and political meddling in their decisions. what you think about this auditing creating a problem for the federal reserve? interest rates are watched closely by the market. >> they do look at interest rates and the fed is responsible for interest rates. that is where our real problem is. unless we get a handle on that, i do not see how we can solve our problems at all. >> do you think the movement to audit the fed is going to lead to something that you want, which is ultimately to end the fed? how are those two ideas connected? >> i think it could lead to a loud and a legal tender competition and allow people to get out of -- to allowing a legal tender competition and allowing people to get out of that. if you are a banker, you need to protect yourself and be in a futures market to protect your currency or lack of currency. we think he should be able to do this domestically. exposure to the fed will help us in tha

more now from congressional correspondent nancy cordes. >> reporter: 17-year-old haley bernstein was hospitalized for nearly four months after eating e.coli-tainted lettuce when she was three. all these years later, she still takes seven medications a day, is partially blind, learning impaired and has diabetes. >> the hardest thing, i think, is my deficit on my eyes. i never know what's to the right. i always have to turn my head to look what's there. >> reporter: the legislation that passed the senate today... >> the bill is amended as passed. >> reporter: ...aims to prevent the kind of contamination that sickened 1,800 americans who consumed eggs this year and 1,400 who ate jalapenos last year. >> detect it earlier, stop it earlier. >> reporter: the bill gives the f.d.a. about $1.4 billion over five years to dramatically boost inspections of domestic and foreign food facilities, from 7,400 inspections a year now to 50,000 a year by 2015. for the first time, the f.d.a. would have the power to recall contaminated foods. >> there was a company during the recent peanut outbreak that re

and each congressional member, i know you don't like to hear this, but each congressional member has to fight his and her hardest for their district. >> that was yesterday. >> if they do not, they get voted out. so this process is ugly and it's messy, but ultimately, you've got to fight for your district. >> you know what they're going to wind up with instead of this, tell me if you agree, they could wind up with a short-term resolution to fund the government, get you past january -- >> at the current level. >> at the current level. and guess what, you come back, the new congress, and you have a standoff over shutting down the government. have we been there before? >> and so, john avalon, my favorite in these earmarks, this is the 1,900 pages that's here. this is just a printout, about 70 pages of the earmarks. it's a big spreadsheet, goes through every single state, every single project. there's some for $30 million, for $50 million. here's a great one, an $80 million fund to help restore pacific salmon populations. maybe that's very important, and of course, it covers alaska and or

i represent the ninth congressional district of california, also chair of the congressional black caucus. i stand here with my colleagues from the congressional black caucus this morning to reiterate a message that i delivered during the democratic caucus meeting with vice president joe biden. the overwhelming majority of the congressional black caucus members are opposed to the current tax plan. we will have a specific proposal that we will be presenting today that congressman bobby scott, donna christiansen, and our task force had been working on. they have been putting this together of the past couple of years. congressman scott and congresswoman christiansen will speak in just a minute. before they come to the podium, let me say that the vast majority of our members are opposed to the estate tax provision and to extending the bush-era tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% of americans. our members want to support responsible, very clearly defined positions, which is why we really do support extending -- and we voted for this and will continue to vote for this -- extending unemployment benefi

. >> lehrer: then, kwame holman reports on president obama's meeting with congressional leaders. >> a stated aim of today's white house meeting was to resolve major issues in the lame duck congress. it was an early barometer of how the president and the opposition will get along in >> woodruff: we have a newsmaker interview with white house senior advisor david axelrod. >> lehrer: margaret warner examines the decrease in schools known as "dropout factories" and the rise in high school graduation rates. >> woodruff: and gwen ifill talks to marcia coyle about today's supreme court arguments over moving inmates out of california's crowded prisons. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the long-awaited pentagon study on the effects of ending "don't ask, don't tell" was released today. it

how congressional districts will change around the country. give us the overview. >> the overview, the quick story is that there's a shift of 12 seats. it involves 18 different states for shifting. the states that received added seats are disproportionately in the south and the west. texas received four seats. that sounds like a lot but i remind us that in 1960 california received eight seats from one census. so the loss of seats is disproportionately in the northeast and the midwest. so it follows that population trend that we talked about a minute ago. >> woodruff: we're going to talk about that a little bit more in a minute, the politics of that. there has been a lot of discussion about the accuracy of these numbers. you know, what do you say to people in terms of what's the margin of error here? and people always want to know is there some sort of political overlay to what you do at census? >> well, let me ask the second one first, answer the second one first. the census bureau is a non-partisan statistical agency. this is something i feel

i co-chair the house hunger caucus and congressional hunger center. hunger is a problem in this country. there are tens of millions of our citizens who are hungry. 17 million children in this country. the united states of america, the richest country on this planet, are hungry. it's a national disgrace. all of us in this congress should be ashamed of that fact that we haven't been able to help be part of the solution in a more significant way. this is one way that we can be proud of that solution. and so -- i have a list of national organizations, state organizations too many to put in the across-the-board -- congressional record, and -- but it is significant. the support across this country for this legislation is significant. and i want to thank the speaker of the house and chairman george miller and rosa delauro and carolyn mccarthy and barbara lee and so many others. i want to thank senator blanch lincoln who is a champion of this legislation over in the senate. but we must act today. we must do what's right for our kids, for our kids. not for our

congressionally-directed spending. >> very much so.ere michele bachmann and others jim inhofe are saying, well, what about transportation? >> you're saying, for a bridge or a road, it's important -- >> whether or not they can drink communion and drink the wine, will they become an alcoholic again, you've got to go free. you can't take any of these earmarks. and frankly the big issue is they don't need these earmarks. we're arguing over who should spend this stuff but whether she should spend it. >> these earmarks didn't exsit not too long ago. >> they always have. this is, again, i think this is what the founding fathers intended. they gave congress the power of the purse. i've worked in the congress and in the white house. i've seen it from both sides. if there were no earmarks, no congressionally-directed spending, all you would do is, you wouldn't cut the spending. what you would do is empower some bureaucrat at the department of transportation to decide where that road or bridge often that bureaucrat might be wiser but often she mi

today, we're going to submit a congressional review act to overturn this troubling regulatory overreach by the fcc. i think that it is time for congress to say that we have not delegate this authority to the fcc. the communications act -- of the sec tried to do this in another part of the act. they were struck down by the court. now, they have gone to a different interpretation in a different section of the act to try to gain the capability to obstruct the freedom of access to the internet. it is a huge and serious issue that i hope congress will take the reins and say to the fcc that if we need regulation in this area, congress will do it. >> dean garfield? >> my reaction is that it is appropriate for congress to exercise oversight in this area. in the administrative agency is subject to the oversight as well as direction from congress. it is important to keep in mind that the month and a half ago, if that long, chairman waxman was trying to find a solution for congressional action and were not able to do this. i think it is perfectly appropriate. it would bring a greater degree of cer

president obama announced he had reached a deal with congressional republicans to renew all bush era tax cuts, including allowances for america's most wealthy, for two years. in exchange, the gop agreed to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. among other concessions. so, tonight, we ask, did republicans get the best of the president? in this deal? or do democrats now have some political capital by virtue of the concession? we've already heard from many of you on facebook and twitter but please join the conversation. tell us what you think at the "nightline" facebook page on or the "nightline" page at abcnews.com. also tonight, the family of elizabeth edwards announced today she has stopped all cancer treatment and that loved ones

they want the law unconstitutional and congressional appeal that could be raised as a stand alone bill in the lame duck congress. the supreme court rejected a deal calling for house of representatives to even the congressional districts from one state to another. the federal government will release the 2010 census resultos december 21st. that will be determined how house seats are allocated. republican states in the south and west are seeing more growth than in the northeast and midwest where democrats are more dominate. alaska senate race. joe miller is taking his challenge of incumbent murkowski to the state supreme court. the judge ruled over murkowski right and victory. miller contends they did not follow the law in counting the bail on thes. >> the stocks were mixed and s&p 500 add less than a point and nasdaq back 12 and two-thirds. americans from wall street to maine street are waiting to see what happened with the tax deal with the republicans. congress wrestles over what to do. others are weighing the deal's impact on the economy. >> larry somers, one of the president's senior

i didn't see that -- i guess he wrote on congressional stationary to me and others on congressional stationary asking for money for some kind of a center, the rangel center. >> steve: did it feel like a shake down? >> no, it didn't. it really didn't. i feel badly for him. i've known him for a long time, being in new york. but it's too bad what's happened to him. >> gretchen: do you believe that censure is the right punishment for him? >> would you do me a favor, would you leave me out of this debate? i've known him for a long time. in certain ways he's very lucky. if it happened to you, you, or you, called jail time. so maybe he's lucky to be censured if that's all that happens. >> brian: i got nine more questions about him. do we have time? i'm kidding. you jumped on the phone with us and i was intrigued by your take, instant analysis on the north korea and south korea situation. south korea quickly said, oh, my goodness, for the first time in 60 years, we're under attack. two people died, dozens wounded, when north korea decides to open up on some island. your reaction? >> i have two reactio

congressional democrats fight back against president obama over his tax cut compromise with republicans. how far will they go to stop it? we'll ask a leading democrat who's ready to take on the president. >>> case closed. beverly hills police say the gun used to murder a high-profile publicist has been linked to the person of interest who killed himself before being questioned by cops. many residents are wondering if the case has really been solved. we'll have more on the story that hollywood can't stop buzzing over. >>> and heading home. after being battered by waves and losing power in the high seas, a cruise ship with nearly 100 americans aboard is finally making its way back from antarctica. we'll talk to a crew member who helped get the ship back in shape early this thursday

the white house and congressional republicans appear closer to a deal to extend the bush-era tax breaks. >>> murder mystery. a person of interest in the murder of a hollywood publicist kills himself as police close in. >>> and out of the woods? positive economic news and a blockbuster day on wall street suggests the economy may finally be getting back on track. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 2nd, 2010. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. >>> talks between the obama administration and congressional leaders resume today on extending the bush-era tax cuts. it now appears likely some sort of deal will be reached. meanwhile, the house votes today on legislation that would extend just the middle-class tax breaks. whit johnson is in washington with the details on all of this. good morning, whit. >> betty, good morning. more political posturing on capitol hill. today's house vote just another example of that. the real tax cut negotiations are going on in a place more familiar to lawmakers, behind closed doors. republicans and democrats appear

with top administration officials meeting with congressional leaders behind closed doors. many expect mr. obama to agree to a temporary extension of cuts for the wealthy cupped with renewal of unemployment benefits. with today's votes out of the way, the president called for a quick agreement with republicans. >> it will require some compromise, but i'm confident we can get it done. >> reporter: with the jobless rate a top concern, mr. obama touted a breakthrough, new agreement with south korea on the tariff lowering trade pact, poe ten shapoe -- potentially the biggest of its kind since nafta. >> including the opening of the korean services market will support 70,000 american jobs. >> lester, that trade deal is is not a done deal quite yet. it requires congressional approval and while trade is one area where republicans are expected to cooperate with the president, already one prominent democrat has come out against the deal. lester? >> thanks. long time nbc capitol producer, ken strickland joins us now to offer his insight. based on what we saw today the votes are not th

after weeks of haggling, nasty debate and political posturing, it appears that president obama and congressional republicans have struck a deal to extend the bush tax cuts and to extend unemployment benefits as well. the question: will democrats go along? senior white house correspondent bill plante is following developments. good evening, bill. >> reporter: good evening, harry. it wasn't easy getting there, >> this is not perfect but it's a potential step on the road to recovery. >> reporter: the deal includes a two-year extension of the bush tax cuts for everyone, including the wealthiest taxpayers in exchange far 13-month extension of unemployment benefits for long-term out-of-work americans. the estate tax returns at 35% on estates worth over $35 million and there is a one-year 2% cut in payroll taxes for all workers. the compromise was all but

overwhelming vote of 81 to 19 passed that tax cuts package that president obama negotiated with congressional republicans. no matter what you think of the

president obama has reached a tentative deal with congressional republican leaders to extend all bush-era tax cuts. the deal will also extend a long-term unemployment benefits. preeti arla is in washington with details on this. it appears the white house has some convincing to do today on capitol hill. >> reporter: they sure do, betty. the president for a long time has insisted that they shouldn't give tax breaks to the wealthy americans but that's exactly what this plan does. some democrats aren't happy about it. vice president biden heads to capitol hill today to pitch a new tax cut deal to democrats. the plan, which president obama and republicans agreed to monday, would offer a two-year extension of bush-era tax cuts, not just for the middle class, but for higher-income earners, as well. >> it's not perfect. but this compromise is an essential step on the road to recovery. >> reporter: the white house wanted 13-month extension of unemployment benefits as part of the deal. there would also be a one-year 2% cut in payroll taxes. but the president gave in to gop demands to temporarily ke

every weeknight, congressional hearings and policy forums. also, supreme court oral arguments. on the weekends, you can see our signature interview programs, "the communicators." you can also watch our programming anytime at c- span.org. is all searchable on our video library. c-span -- the public service greeted by america's cable companies. on c-span, speakers of the -- speaker of the house nancy pelosi and the congress lit the national christmas tree. later, on the 50th anniversary of the 50th televised presidential debate, michael dukakis and charles gibson talk about the preparation for presidential debate and their impact on the campaign. christmas day, former prime minister tony blair and author christopher hichens on the role of religions -- hitchens on the role of religion. four justices will discuss -- former justices will discuss life on the high court. >> it should not take financial calamity to summon from each of us and from this body collectively the greatness of which we're capable. nor can america afford to wait. >> as the 111th congress reaches its final days,

another factor is that several members, i understand close to half of the congressional black caucus members are representing districts that are not at least 50% african-american. >> yeah. >> which means they're representing whites, latinos and asians and others. so the political diversity is trumping class in some ways. people are crossing racial lines to vote for elected officials because they feel that those people will represent their interests regardless of race. >> i -- the -- the way i disagree with that is -- you said that they're crossing racial hines. but the class issue is still prevalent. the reason i bring that up, is because when you look at certain areas, the atlanta area, where you have high income, largely african-american neighborhoods, you're seeing the exact same thing in other places of his pan ibs, those are now being perceived as suburban districts and you have legislators, republican, saying how can you possibly grasp those areas because you're no -- now talking to them in an economic discussion as opposed to a racial discussion. with that being said, how do y

i have seen throughout the course of my career generally there'll be congressional investigations, and generally things will shift too far in the other direction after the congressional investigation, and then it will, you know, i've seen it ping-pong back and forth. probably, you know, after the church committee hearings things went too far in one direction and after the, you know, various other sets of hearings you see how rules come in and they have unintended con -- consequences which cause the next problem and the next committee hearings which in turn bring a bunch of other solutions. i mean, i think it happens in a lot of areas, not just intelligence. >> host: susan hasler, what do you think about the new dni system that the u.s. has? >> guest: i think that it was another bureaucracy plopped down on top of the bureaucracy we already had and ctc, the cia counterterrorism center, had the same charter as the new bureaucracy that was put in place. and the cia had the same charter as the dni. the cia was brought in to, brought into being to pull all intelligence together, centralize i

air base in kurdistan congressional investigators say the u.s. turned a blind eye to an elaborate fraud by a fuel supplier for more on this we discuss it live with. the president of the eurasia democracy initiative who joins us live from new york good to have you with us so you've been following this congressional investigation can you explain more about what the u.s. officials are being accused of. well what the congressional subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs. dealt with in the report that was released today was allegations of corrupt dealings between the subsidiaries of the pentagon which was supplying fuel. in kyrgyzstan to prosecute the war effort in afghanistan and members of the family of the deposed former president of kyrgyzstan key if among other aspects of this cooperation. was that don's. dealing with this of c.d.'s of gas bomb through which secured large supplies fuel for its war effort while at the same time furnishing the russian side with falsified documents claiming that the shipments would be used strictly for

individuals who will draw 120 legislative districts and four board of equalization districts, 53 congressionalistricts. they must do it by august 15th of next year. based on april 1st census data that will come out, you know, after the first of the year. >> now, some of those commissioners are already there, but there's a little bit of controversy over whether the ones who are there are representative enough of the actual voters in california. and then there are some more that need to be picked, correct? >> yes. we have eight of the commissioners have been selected through a very convoluted process that began with 30,000 applications. 30,000 people put in their name to be on the rezriblthing commission. so at least 30,000 people knew knew knew -- there's a small stipend that goes with it when you're serving there. you'll be paid per day, i believe. so when you're working at it full-time, i believe it will be enough to get by on when you do that. and -- >> how many more are going to be selected and -- >> there need to be six more selected, and right now, of course, the argument is are they from

congressional people about we could be speaker tear is expected part of that pattern it's a repeat of the red menace and all these other kinds of fabricated ministers and so now they have that now they've got a fabulous opportunity to say well the enemy has already inside the us their own the internet because we set it up it's ours and there are they've infiltrated what have people that would listen to your take on that and say that just sounds like a conspiracy theory well conspiracy theory was invented by the spies no one knows more more conspiracy theory than spies do national security out of bread was cooked up conspiracy theories all the time but they put out the story that is just conspiracy theory as though it's contemptible but in fact they're the ones who cooked up the threats that are far more complex and those are than anything we ordinary people could ever cook up and they get billions to fight it thank you so much for speaking with us thank you.

dish out substantial amounts of money for campaign contributions in election years meanwhile a congressional watchdog group found in two thousand and eight over one hundred fifty members of congress had one hundred ninety six million dollars collectively invested in defense contractors and so as lawmakers scream louder too we need to cut spending and federal spending for education health care and social services has been reduced cutting the military budget which makes up over twenty percent of the federal budget is not on washington's agenda jan hottest r. t. washington d.c. . well you know with and still ahead with the russian capital on a bug. do you deal with still believe as the bull mayor took the money from the city budget. christmas period from. prison to do you suppose i've been full of you. so we investigate be counter trailing also has people ned. but with a gun let's take a look at some other stories that have been making headlines around the world five suspected militants have been arrested for allegedly planning a gun attack in denmark they say that target was the copenhagen off

well, a top democrat tells abc news that congressional democrats stung by the midterm elections and this tax cut deal are almost going through the five stages of grief. denial, anger, bargaining and they're working their frustrations out. but the white house is very confident that this tax cut deal will pass in its present form. the president today presented the tax cut deal as the only option. >> there is an important debate, i think, most of you are aware of, on capitol hill that will determine in part whether or economy moves forward or backward. >> reporter: the argument that rejecting the tax cut deal will set the economy backward is just the latest in dramatic white house warnings. yesterday, the president's top economic adviser said rejecting the bill would significantly increase the risk of a double dip recession. even economists lukewarm on the tax deal agree. liberal economist michael linden says it will save or create 2.2 million jobs by 2012. >> it's a pretty bad deal, but the president has to take it. it will create jobs. it will help us move to a more robust recovery. >> re

they worked hard for the recovery act, but none of this was congressionally directed. they understood what this would do for the country, what this would do for the economy in the bay area to create green jobs, and this would set an example for the sustainable architecture. i would like to thank our friends with the architectural firm as well. she could not be here but ask me to read a few words to you. thank you for inviting me to join you at the construction kickoff ceremony for the renovation of the u.s. general services regional headquarters, the beautiful and historic 50 united nations plaza building. the american recovery and reinvestment act is making a very historic investment to upgrade and modernize federal buildings and make them energy- efficient, including $122 million for the united nations plaza building. this will save with pentecost's -- and this will create good- paying jobs in the green building industry. the decision is good news for san francisco, for the civic center area, and our economy. renovating the building and making it more accessible will

as you metropolitan met with other congressional representatives. you look at his approval rating. he actually rates a bit higher, counter to conventional wisdom because he has taken a licking here. >> the political thing will play out over the next two years. the thing we need to do now is to figure out how we can work together. the american people didn't send us here to do nothing for the next two years. we've had a regularly scheduled election every two years since 1788 in this country. what i hope will happen is the president will hear the message of the american people. i think they spoke rather loudly and rather clearly. one pundit described it as a restraining order against what we've been doing the past two years, this splurge of spending and debt, washington takeovers. that needs to stop. hopefully, we can focus on things we agree on. for example, the president has apparently secured an agreement with korea with regard to trade. that's something i'm very likely to support, can support. >> and you consider that a big accomplishment by him? he was criticized leaving south ko

congressional correspondent nancy cordes has been following this debate and nancy, this was a hard-fought drown-out battle. republicans really dug in their heels on this one. how did the president finally win them over? >> he worked the phones, katie. he wrote letters to individual republicans trying to address some of their concerns and in the end he managed to win over about a dozen of them, and that's all he needed. >> couric: also, nancy, the results of the census are out today and they show the u.s. population has grown over the past ten years to just under 309 million. also the population has shifted as well, which means some states will lose house seats while others gain them. >> reporter: that's right, katie. most people don't realize the main purpose of the census is to make sure all states are accurately represented in congress and it turns out that more than a third of them are not. the 2010 census reveals the national migration to the south and west. the populations in those two regions surged roughly 14% over the past decade while the midwest grew just 4% and the northeast 3%

dish out substantial amounts of money for campaign contributions in election years meanwhile a congressional watchdog group found in two thousand and eight one hundred fifty members of congress had one hundred ninety six million dollars collectively invested in defense contractors and so as lawmakers scream louder too we need to cut spending and federal spending for education health care and social services has been reduced cutting the military budget which makes up over twenty percent of the federal budget is not on washington's agenda jan hottest r. t. washington d.c. . r.t. is coming to you live from the russian capital where it's now just ten minutes past the hour let's let's get to some other world news in brief right now five suspected islamic militants have been arrested for allegedly planning a gun attack in denmark police say the target was the copenhagen offices of the danish newspaper that printed the controversial mohammed cartoons five years ago officials described the most serious terror plot ever attempted in the country the publication of the cartoon swan which depicted the p

>> reporter: it is the congressional record. there is no other way to answer that. you call this political theater. i would not disagree with that characterization. and i frankly think if i would probably corner a democrat here they would probably agree with that. they realize that this is actually something and i think we can sort of go back in time a little bit before the election. democrats wanted -- many democrats wanted to hold this vote. but it was so controversial and still is within the democratic party that they didn't do it. they were a little afraid to do that before the election. you know, now, the election is is done. so there are enough democrats who say that we feel strongly enough about this. we shouldn't mention that president obama campaigned on this very strongly when he was running for president. and let's just get out there and get on the record and make our voices heard. >> and no matter what the theater today, everyone agrees that something will get done by the end of the year. there's no way they're going to get out of there and let these tax

>> i think any congressionally-directed spending is an earmark.on't think all earmarks are bad as long as they're transparent, disclosed, subject to debate. that's what the founding fathers intended. that's why they gave congress the power of the purse. but the problem here is hypocrisy and hypocrisy mostly with my friends in the republican party who have campaigned against earmarks and mitch mcconnell, the republican senate leader, he's against this bill but he's put earmarks into the bill. he's the guy who's carried so much pork he's probably got triconosis by now, and it's the hypocrisy people get fed up by. >> mcconnell does have earmarks in this bill himself, so do a lot of other republicans. >> oh, absolutely. you know, in fact i completely agree with paul on this issue. the republicans in the senate in particular, they've pounded on their chests they weren't going to have an earmark ban until jim demint and senator coburn from oklahoma got enough votes with the new guys coming in to force the issue. so they said, okay, okay, okay, we'll lea