we also have ezra klein and sophia nelson.want to talk about the lame duck session that's getting under away let's look at things that are critical. a number of deadlines coming up. so this gives you a sense of what's at stake. the bush tax cuts expire, there's a budget bill to keep the government running december 2nd. and then you have unemployment extension, november 30th. that's the decision that has to be made. by the end of the year, they have to make a decision on bush tax cuts and whether they should expire, and that's where i want to start. it's probably the biggest issue out there. we saw some movement, some willingness on both sides, maybe to compromise. let's take a listen from what we heard over last 24 hours or so and then talk about it. >> no deal, no compromise. >> well, you're asking me -- i'm telling you what the president's position is, we need to move forward on the middle class tax cuts, we cannot afford a permanent extense of tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. >> if that's all we can get with the presi

how do we pay for any cuts anyway with ezra klein. the revitalists versus the survivalists. the two factions that have cut this white house stuck for 22 months. richard wolf inside the split. the martian chronicles. the the solution on how to get there, don't try to get back? >> you might be going to mars, you know! >> fixing the filibuster, ending the earmark. mcconnell caves to the tea party. >>> and the real death of news. ted koppel, false equivalence, and the failure of television news, 2001, 2005. my special comment. all the news and commentary now on "countdown." >>> good evening from new york, this is monday, november 15th, 722 days until the 2012 presidential elections. with the lame duck session of congress now under way, there is one word that has and will be tossed around repeatedly. a word that must be probed, scoured for authenticity, particularly of the white house and congressional democrats and republicans all coalesce around an understanding of it that may very well represent a collective deception. the word is compromise. the collective deception, that a t

now it's time to govern. >> ezra, what's your prediction, how does that end up? extension, one to three years, probably one to two years actually. democrats continue get anything -- >> for everything? >> everything, tax cuts for the rich, for the middle class. short-term extension does less to the deficit. it's a way of kicking the can down the road a bit. i don't think they've got enough internal cohesiveness to do anything different. republicans don't have the power to force them into a permanent extension. we just do the easiest thing and make sure there's no tax increase next year. >> donny deutsch? >> i think basically if you're obama, you're not losing your base. they're not going anywhere. i think it's the right move for the economy. i think juan or two-year extension keeps things where they are. it's the right move. >> elijah, is that going to happen? >> unfortunately i think so. i think there's going to be some kind of compromise. i'd rather not see the rich get extension of tax cuts, but i think we may be -- that's probably about the only thing we will

time to call on staff writer for the "washington post," "newsweek" columnist ezra klein. good evening. >> good evening, keith. >> government waste and excess, the thing they made all the noise about the last two years, the earmarks to end all earmarks, this is not actually an earmark? how does that work? >> i'm surprised you didn't know about this, actually. if you look up earmarks in the congressional dictionary, it is spending i don't like. and it's actually very easy to get rid of earmarks when you get into power. you don't appropriate any spending that you like. >> you use the word appropriate, which leads me to appropriations committee. and the one sure fire way to cut spending is to sit on that committee. why aren't these budget-slashing, financial republicans and tea partiers clambering at the chance of these open seats on the committee? >> this is quite remarkable. appropriations was historically one of the most coveted seats in all of congress. it was considered a very respected position. and then later on, you were the guy who got to dole out or girl who got to

. >> i think ezra is wrong. don't think it will happen. >> don't think so?u think they will cut? where? we had a slew on the show. where are you going to cut? they're saying no tax increases, tax cuts. then you mention social security. all the stuff we do every day. they don't want to go there. >> campaigning is different from governing. when you get in there, you have to do something. can't keep going this way. i think they will. >> time for one quick final question. boxer won his eighth title, the boxer called one of the all time greats. what a lot of people don't know he also is a congressman in the philippines. how does a boxer's skill in the ring translate into working in congress. you know both of the rings what do you think? >> one of the greatest fights of all time. i worked the fight over the weekend for hbo. amazing. i don't think it helps for a legislator. helps for an executive maybe. maybe obama could learn something from, from manny. but don't you have to work with people. anthony weiner notwithstanding. >> come on, i will defend anthony. >> pu

ezra klein.e dirty secret that washington politicians know but they want to deny. voters don't care about the deficit and don't take it from me, take it from them. a cbs news poll found only 4% want the new congress to put deficit reduction first. that was far behind economics and jobs. 56% and health care 14%. that's why the simpson-bowles proposal is getting a lot of attention from budget wonks and policy writers but few endorsement from active politicians, even the ones who served on the commission." >> but when they do realize that the deficit and the debt is national security, it is jobs because it will crowd the private sector out of the market it is education, it is infrastructure, it is high value added research. >> it's everything they love. >> it's everything they love and if we don't cure it, that money is going to create that next new thing over there, it's not going to be created here and the jobs of the future won't be here. >> that's what i tell them. what do you love? well, i love

they all read ezra pound for goodness sakes and walt wittman and marianne moore. i mean a lot more than probably most of you do. and i thought this is a country which so easily could be made a friend of america. they wanted to be a friend of america and instead, because of those cold war days, you know, america's backyard, soviet union area of influence, all that you know, because they were seen as being marxist which some of them were in some of them worked. the sandinistas. they were treated as an enemy and i just thought it was a tragedy, this tiny little country with a population half the size of the island of manhattan was being treated as a kind of real danger and a menace thank goodness it wasn't the age where people pretended to discover weapons of mass destruction. [laughter] [applause] but, no i haven't been back. i haven't been back to do have friends that are still friends. the writers, a vice president at that time has come back to being a novelist is a friend and a great poet is still a very close friend of mine. so yeah, i think it is in worse shape