behind this, because he had kind of lost them in august, call -- equally important is the inside gafmente he's taking a page from l.b.j. and he's doing it one-on-one, very personally, phone calls. visits to the white house. norah: what about max balk us? is her -- buacus. is he going to yield? >> i don't think max is going to be given much choice. he's been given a great deal of room, months to come up with a bipartisan deal and it hasn't happened. norah: joe, one of the things the president made very clear -- he claimed this is not going to add one dime to our deficit. has he explained how that is? >> read my lips. i think it's a problem and i think that the source of revenue that they've located -- this tax on high priced insurance policies is inelegant and ridiculous. it's going to trickle down to other policy holders. i thought the president's first idea, which was a limitation on the deductions that rich people can take was a really good idea. norah: then how do you sell it? >> you can never prove something is going to be deficit neutral. norah: helene, do they feel the president too