joining us now from washington, msnbc policy analyst, ezra klein of "the washington post."lways great to see you, my friend, especially on days like this where i am so confused as to how this could be happening. i ask you, my friend, is hank greenburg getting high on his own supply? >> it's honestly hard to talk about this issue on television, because you can't curse, and it's hard to talk about this issue without using all seven of the words you can't say. it's very important to know the loan rate that aig could have got if they had gone to the market, to the private market, that rate is nothing. it could have got no loan. it would have been forced immediately into bankruptcy, and it is aig, the reason we had to save it, the ugliest thing we had to do in the financial crisis, was the role they played in the entire financial system was they had backed up the horrible bets every other bank had made. so if aig went down, all of wall street would have gone down. they were the nerve center. what scared us about aig was that if they went down, goldman sachs went down, jpmorgan w

ezra klein will explain it all next.night, why wayne lapierre's attack on president obama last night was a crime against history. that is coming up. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from c

ezra klein will explain it all next.the rewrite tonight, why wayne lapierre's attack on president obama last night was a crime against history. that is coming up. app to get a tow truck. it's gonna be 30 minutes. oh, so that means that we won't be stuck up here, for hours, with nothing to do. oh i get it, you wanna pass the time, huh. (holds up phone) fruit ninja!!! emergency roadside assistance. just a click away with the geico mobile app. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, whic

we'll talk fiscal realities when ezra klein joins us next on "now." [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. >>> there's no spending cuts, we're adding $4 billion a day to the debt. >> i thought we were in a deficit crisis. i thought our families were being put at risk by this massive debt. what does this do about that? >> tonight, we will pass 83 provisions that remove federal revenue. totally $3.9 trillion. we are going to look back on this night and regret it. >> a day late and $4 trillion short. the fiscal cliff debate began 519 days ago when congress gave itself a deadline to address the ballooning debt and deficit. but according to the congressional budget office, the bill

joining me now is ezra klein, an msnbc columnist, who could add more.h episode of what happens if we don't raise the debt ceiling. give us the idea of what the latest talk in washington is of what may or may not happen. >> we got a call from the head economist for j.p. morgan, and we asked about treasury debts. what if it was not as secure as we thought. it would be like the painting of hell. people need to think about that. when you try to understand what is going to happen, if the white house is able to follow through on not negotiating on the debt ceiling, which i think they actually will be able to do. the president is backing himself into a corner, where he said so many times he wouldn't be held hostage, if he did, it would undermine his credibility. he sod he would negotiate, because it would essentially troy him in office. when it -- when it becomes clear to republicans, on the obligations to social security, pensioners to folks who need the defense department payments, they're going to see the financial sector, the economic sector, every defense

ezra klein is also an msnbc political analyst and "washington post" columnist. robert costa is the washington editor at national review and a cnbc contributor. gentlemen, the 112th congress was not only unproductive, it was hugely unpopular. for comparison's sake, the irs, nixon during watergate and bp during the oil spill all had higher popularity ratings than this congress, and yet, ezra klein, if the objective was to thwart all things obama, you could say they were immensely successful. >> and yet they weren't because the overarching strategy was to eventually thwart obama himself, to get him not re-elected, to allow mitt romney or whoever was the republican nominee for president, to become president in 2012 thus fulfilling what senate minority leader mitch mcconnell once referred to as his top priority. that didn't work at all. the republican brand was so tarnished in part because of the actions of the 112th congress, in part because of the way republicans acted around things like the debt ceiling, that in the end president obama was re-elected with a quite

ezra klein and jared bernstein, thank you. >>> and coming up, republican governor chris christie versus boehner, and university john king, versus john boehner. and more on hillary clinton's condition and the republicans who lied about that. >>> and in the rewrite tonight, the secret governing, totally secret governing that took place in the united states senate today even though it was on c-span, it was completely a secret. i know you have been told the senate is closed after the fiscal cliff vote. but that is not true. the truth is that the senate works better than you think. and it did that today. that is coming up. i tell them de very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can grow and multiply. polident is specifically designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste. that's why i recommend using polident. [ male announcer ] polident. cleaner, fresher, brighter every day. >>> it is hard out th

ezra klein and jared bernstein, thank you. >>> and coming up, republican governor chris christie versus boehner, and university john king, versus john boehner. and more on hillary clinton's condition and the republicans who lied about that. >>> and in the rewrite tonight, the secret governing, totally secret governing that took place in the united states senate today even though it was on c-span, it was completely a secret. i know you have been told the senate is closed after the fiscal cliff vote. but that is not true. the truth is that the senate works better than you think. and it did that today. that is coming up. my name is marjorie reyes, and i'm a chief warrant officer. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. >>> it is hard out there f

i'm joined by "washington post" columnist, and msnbc policy analyst, ezra klein, who has written about this. good morning, ezra. >> good morning. >> in one of your columns, you wrote that republicans are wrong to think that the sequester gives them leverage. what's your reasoning? >> it's just become a somewhat bizarre conversation. look, you have to go back. the sequester, it's a very weird, kind of boring word. it comes out of the debt ceiling deal in 2011 and it was the backup to the supercommittee. and way it was designed, it was originally supposed to be half taxes and half spending cuts. so both sides would be terrified of letting it happen, and because they were so terrified of letting it happen, they would come to a deal. the point of the sequester was to get the two sides to a deal. but republicans wouldn't allow tax increases, even in the sequester. and so they made this weird deal with democrats. and they said, okay, the sequester has to be all spending cuts. but because we're not giving you any taxes, they can mostly be spending cuts you don't mind and that we really hate.

joining us now by phone is ezra klein of "the washington post," and nbc political analyst. you are probably watching this. and for many of us watching it if you will did you think it was going to come down to the income thresholds? i was reading your latest post. and it was the first item listed on the major parts of this deal. >> yeah in some ways i think the income threshold has long been one of the big sticking points, right? and early in this process, president obama was very very aggressive in arguing the point that he was not allowed taxes -- hopes that tax rates, for people making $250,000 or above, him going up to $450,000 is a genuine significant concession particularly given the default here with higher taxes. but i give both sides of the negotiators both credit and blame for that. this comes down to just a dozen or two dozen different things to estate taxes, whether or not we off set the sequester. the number moving parts of the detail in this deal were really significant. and it is probably why we were not able to get a bigger deal. they had trouble adjusting th

ezra klein. >> reporter: i am impressed they actually came to a deal. the big change, we knew earlier they were going to set the bush tax threshold to $450,000. the bill deal tonight, they reached the deal to avert the so-called sequester, the spending cuts to begin in the first of the year. they reached that deal for two months. and what is important about that deal, it relies on tax increases and spending cuts. the tax increase is a little bit complicated and dodgy, regarding the roth ira accounts. it puts together the principle that after the deal further changes, needs to be half on the tax side and half on the spending side. what that holds open to them, going forward, when we have the sort of inevitable deal over medicare, possibly social security, and to raise the debt ceiling, democrats want to be very sure that that is going to be again, half tax side, mostly revenues coming through tax reform and half spending cuts. so that they're not giving up what the tax revenue could be from the fiscal cliff, in order to just let the republicans take a bi

ezra klein wrote, obama isn't making it easier for rs to vote for this deal but probably thinks if the rs kill it they get all the fiscal cliff blame. >>> new information on secretary of state hillary clinton and the blood clot that has her hospitalized. the clot is located in a vein in the space between her brain and skull near her right ear. it did not cause a stroke or neurological damage. doctors say clinton should make a full recovery and she is making excellent progress. the blood clot is related to the concussion clinton suffered earlier this month. it was discovered during a follow-up exam sunday. >>> from amazing fireworks displays to ancient traditions to our favorite polar plunges. folks around the world marked the beginning of 2013 in their own unique way. nbc's kirk gregory takes us on a tour of all those crazy celebrations. >> reporter: the first major city to celebrate 2013 was auckland, new zealand. fireworks and boat horns rang in the new year. in australia, a seven-ton fireworks display dazzled hundreds of thousands in sydney. with an estimated 1 billion people watchi

ezra klein, read more of ezra thewashingtonpost.com. katty kay, thanks as well. wes, you leaving?to lose you? wes has to go. >> if you're playing treasury secretary "jeopardy!" -- >> that was good. >> that was impressive. albert gallatin for $300. >> see, he had to one-up you. >> exactly. >> that's awful. >> it was great. >> you went to the $1,000. >> meacham -- >> john snowe. >> who was the last woman secretary of treasury? >> of the treasury? jon? >> i don't think there's been one. >> edna -- >> this is like the senior version of "jeopardy!." wes, good to see you. we miss you in new york city, but you're doing good work in baltimore. >>> coming up next, connecticut governor danell malloy. we showed you that clip. his emotional delivery to in his first state of the state since the newtown shootings. we'll talk to him when we come back on "morning joe." ever. nurses are dealing with a wider range of issues. and there are ever-changing regulations. when you see these challenges, do you want to back away or take charge? with a degree in the field of healthcare or nursing from capell

msnbc ezra's klein. >> the joe by den that we have seen emerged is the one we know.ave seen him be concise, effective. very clear, on what objectives are and clear on what was possible and that seems to be the role he is playing inside the white house. it is a big role. it was born out of the increasing feel of biden. he makes these hilarious jokes. telling people they are going to have to spread their legs to get frisked at the senate. when he ran with president obama the idea of the obama candidacy was to get washington past it's partisan warfare. that new kind of politics has lead to many successes. it has not led to less partisanship. the one part that has been a bright spot in cutting deals and getting a working relationship is this old school senate drenched back room dealing. in a funny way it has worked in this new bitter era. >> karen, it looks like we are headed for a biden versus clinton presidential primary in 2016 and make others. but it looks like joe biden and hillary are going to be in there. i don't know that i can bear to think about 2016. but anyth

joining me now is ezra klein, a columnist for "the washington post" and bloomberg. , good to see you. >> good morning, alex. >> your article is titled "good riddance to the rottenest congress in history, thank god." the 112 passed 111 laws. we're throwing out a whole bunch of numbers here but what was it about the 112th that you think found legislating so difficult? >> utter paralysis temperatu. to be a little fair to the 112th, they're the culmination of trends toward polarization, towards our system of governing breaking down. i think the lessons of the 112th fundamentally scary to people who care about good governance. again, this was the least productive congress in terms of public laws passed since we began keeping score. the 1948 congress, the do nothing congress of harry truman, passed more than 900 if i'm not misremembering the number. this congress will pass about 220. this was the least popular congress of all time. at two points their popularity in gallup dipped to 10%. when rasmussen polled whether or not the u.s. should become a communist country, they s

ezra klein on bailouts, lawsuits, and the future on financial regulations. that when "now" starts in a mere 190 seconds. roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

plus, the washington post's ezra klein helps us navigate the land mines in this deal and the small issuef adding another $4 trillion to the deficit. >>> also, can the partisan ranker get any worse? norm orenstein weighs in on these divided states of america. >>> and if reputation is everything in washington, who are the big winners and losers of the fiscal cliff debate? all that when "now" starts in three minutes. yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better

. >> i'm ezra klein in for lawrence o'donnell, one of the great moments, when redford having just won the election, sits down on the bed taking it all in. the next few words are not just to ever film junky, pretty much to every political candidate. >> what do we do now? >> what do we do now? that is always the question, what do you do now when you have to govern? but it is not just a question that affects winners, sometimes losers of elections have to ask what do we do now? and for them the question can be harder to answer, after all, the winner in theory should do whatever they promise to voters. but the losers just watch them say no, take the republican party, they just lost the 2012 election at every federal level, they lost the presidency, at the senate, and fewer votes than democrats did in the house of representatives. but due to the way the house districts are drawn, they're still in charge. so they're in kind of a weird position. the argument lost, the american people didn't want what they were selling. but they're not out of office, their constituents want them to fight for t

i'm ezra klein in for lawrence o'donnell. >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this eruption of self-doubt and humiliation in the republican party. suddenly after months of denial, you hear the growling and the gnashing of teeth. it's as if we're hearing the cries from hell. peggy noonan says the grand old party is doomed if it keeps knocking hillary and refusing to recognize that, excuse me for disrupting your illusion, president obama is the president, and republicans in the house that once could still see through the dark know they really can't go on like this. margaret is not alone. down in baton rouge governor bobby jindal says we have to stop being the stupid party. haley barbour warns this party to stop making stupid comments again, that word about rape. but don't lose heart. like an old car that won't turn off even when you turn the key to off, some character out in new mexico wants to stick women who are raped with stiff prison sentences if they get an abortion. she calls it tampering with the evidence. but wait a minute, crazy

. >>> the great ezra klein wrote recently at the "washington post" that for all the good-natured joking about our nation's vice president, old handsome and all that, joe biden, ezra said, is secretly incredibly effective." that thesis about the vice president's effectiveness is about to get a major road test. today alone the vice president met with a bunch of political pressure groups who are not exactly thrilled with his current task, which is to come up with a policy to deter gun ...but he'd wait for her forever, for any reason, and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. for a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein. ...to help keep rocky's body as strong as a love that never fades... if he ever lets her leave again. iams. keep love strong. in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medic

. >>> the great ezra klein wrote recently at the "washington post" that for all the good-natured jokingout our nation's vice president, old handsome and all that, joe biden, ezra said, is secretly incredibly effective." that thesis about the vice president's effectiveness is about to get a major road test. today alone the vice president met with a bunch of political pressure groups who are not exactly thrilled with his current task, which is to come up with a policy to deter gun violence in our country. among the vice president's guests today were the nra. how that went and how it stands up to ezra's thesis is coming up. chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not

here's how the great ezra klein at the "washington post" summed up what they agreed to and what was votedenate tonight. "reid and mcconnell have come to a deal on filibuster reform. the deal is this -- the filibuster will not be reformed." what harry reid and mitch mcconnell agreed to today was a package of small changes that will marginally speed up business in the senate and will allow bills to be debated without as many opportunities to obstruct them. it will reduce the number of hours the senate has to wait before confirming judges and some cabinet nominees. but there is no challenge at all here to the minority's ability to force a supermajority vote on routine business as a matter of routine. the problem in the senate, right? has been that they are not able to get anything done. the improvement on that today is that now they're not going to be able to get anything done faster. nobody was ever talking about taking away the filibuster completely. idea was to make it something that hurt a little, that actually required some commitment, that if you wanted to block something it was going

washington post columnist ezra klein is an msnbc policy analyst and editor for "the washington post." hi, e.j. and rezra. nice to be in d.c. and be with you guys. are there big things left to do on the economy or are we twin kerring with the tax code? >> we are going to be blinding out a series of big things. this is going to be the tough thing about it. in the first term, what you have is big things that eventually over a long period of time happen at once. president obama sat down, page and protection act into law and health care reform was done. when we look at deficit reduction, it's four or five deals, each one in endless, horrible slog through the d.c. marshes. in the second term the two things we are going to see, it does not look like we are going to see much more on jobs. the white house is not fighting hard. they have not made infrastructure a condition of moving forward. we got $600 billion in the fiscal cliff. republicans are going to make a decision to include revenues or whether or not they are going to make a decision that is better to do no more reduction over the seco

>> i chose ezra klein's piece which explains why the democrats are likely to cave first.ratic priorities, social security, medicaid, pelgrants are all protected and that 50% across the board cut, a big chunk of it would come out of defense spending. it puts republicans in the position of loving tax cuts more than defense. why should the democrats blink? they have been wanting to cut defense spending for a long time. i think this is explained in a clear way. >> what is your must read? >> mine is the interview with president obama. there are a few topics. i was focused on the president's comment that gun safety advocates should listen more to the concerns of responsible gun owners if they are going to get anything done. it is totally doable. most gun owners support common sense regulations to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. this would be a smart way to move forward and get something done. >> such a common sense thing that we can take it up on so many topics and we sat down and listened and respected the person on the other side of the argument.

he told ezra klein, i'm not personally at this stage ready to get rid of the 60-vote threshold and with understand that the senate isn't and should not be like the house. we know that anyone who has been in the senate as long as reid is will be an institutionalist and inclined to hold the threshold and many senators don't want to vote that much, because every vote means to have to declare a position and choose between interests, and so every time you vote, you alienate people, and make your job harder. we know that harry reid said if these reforms do not end the gridlock in washington, we will consider more in the future, but we have absolutely no reason to believe him, but we know that if people are organizing around the issue, it won't matter what is in harry reid's heart of hearts, be but the filibuster days are numbered and we are fighting over what the ending is. and we will begin with my guests to know what do you know this week that you didn't know last week. begin with mike peska? >> well, we talked about the head trauma in the nfl and so i want to pull a flea-flicker and talk a

ezra klein hates that movie.as never been a filibuster like that ever. >> hal: the closest one was bernie sanders actually who wrote a book on the floor. he did. he released his filibuster as a book. you know, it was so long. it wasn't a genuine filibuster. it was a hole to the floor. it wasn't about one particular bill. it didn't hold up that particular thing. it wasn't a traditional one where he went i've gotta stop this particular thing. it was almost a lesson in how to filibuster positively. >> i guess i'll just have to speak to the people of my state from right here and i'll tell you one thing the wild horses aren't going to drag me off this floor until people have heard everything i have to say even if it takes all winter. >> you're nothing but a frustrated old man. >> hal: i don't mind getting back to that. i think if that was the single change, it would be worth it. >> i think so. >> hal: there are other ones that need to be have. we'll talk about that when we come back on "the stephanie miller show." [ ♪

ezra klein says a spokesperson says neither the treasury department or federal reserve believes it shoulde used to facilitate the production of the platinum coin in for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit. the idea came about in 1997 during the appropriations act. the next call during open phones is peter from massachusetts on the independents' line. caller: of watched the saturday addressed by the president. -- i watched the 7-day address -- i watched the saturday address by the president. there is a lot of urgency on the street level. we have military actions going on around the world which are completely unbalanced to what is going on. that is pretty much my comment. they are talking up a storm, but they are not coming down to the street. the regular guy is feeling like there's nothing going on. if you make a comment, the label you as against the system. that is about it. host: thank you for the call. one of our viewers is responding to the column. from "the new york times" best- seller list, here is what some of you may be reading. bill o'reilly's book are one and th

ezra klein has a story here, the political scene that says let's talk.e. shortly after the 2010 mid-term elections, a group of frustrated, democratic senate freshmen led by jeff merkley of oregon and tom udall of new mexico mounted an unexpectedly serious campaign against the filibuster. now, didn't succeed in getting rid of it. what do you think about the deal that we did get? >> it has a couple of positive aspects. one is that the senate made a decision the status quo is unacceptable. we have to take on the dysfunction of the senate. the second is that it has several tools that may prove useful, a couple different ways to approach the motion to proceed to get on to a bill. slightly improved path to get to conference committee. and most importantly most substantively, it has reduced hours after you get debate closed for the amount of time spent on nominations. but realize -- i see these as modest steps, steps in the right direction but i expect it to be far short of the systematic changes we need to make to take on the secret silent filibuster which is