a dennis hastert kind of a speaker instead of newt gingrich. not a revolutionary. not a member of the tea party. he wants a deal so he can talk later on about getting elected. this is the way boehner gets reelected as speaker. this is the way that obama wins injuries the media will declare him the winner. this is the way the republicans in the house get out of this box because they are going to vote no, not be primaried and then the train is on the track and sadly i think what is going to happen, sean hannity is the predictions of ernst and young and the cbo is between 250,000 and 700,000 private sector jobs lost because of this deal and that will be hung around the neck of barack hussein obama. >> you are saying bill cunningham that the people not being considered here are the american people. >> us. >> sean: washington is failing america at this moment because on top of it, they are not dealing with the real problem. >> no. >> sean: and all this discussion. >> sean, bill is right. >> sean: 6 cents of every dollar. >> can i just add? there is a difference between

. >> he's talking about the so-called hastert rule there. >> that's not the hastert rule.s the majority. >> that's true. >> that's not the hastert rule, at all. >> know where you were going to with the majority and the majority. the numbers are wrong. he had closer to 90% of his caucus aligned there, with 20, 25 members that were unclear, but he had the overwhelming, over 90% -- >> he didn't have 218. >> agreed. that's because none of the democrats were going to join. >> that's an unreasonable standard. >> he's not negotiating with nancy pelosi. he's negotiating with the president of the united states trying to work this deal out and certainly it's become a discussion with nancy pelosi and it's not, it's a discussion with the president of the united states in term of trying to work this through and where does he have to turn? he has to turn back to the principles in this negotiation and that's what he's done. >> but i believe he could have passed his plan b if he hadn't gone with the $20 million cutoff and he'd moved toward the center and that had been under discussion wit

this hastert rule.uld never bring something through unless majority of republicans to support it. >> chris: majority of the majority. >> so of course his speakership could be threatened here. one side story of this at least in washington is the majority leader. cantor has been not as front and center in the negotiations at all. is he waiting in the wings to help things out, waiting in the wings to be there if speaker boehner falls? that is an intrigue here. speaker boehner is committed to doing this. if it costs him his speakership at some point my guess is so be it. >> chris: really? that is interesting. >> it's not his preferred course but he has been in washington a long time. he sees how real the problem is. >> chris: fox news has a new poll out. interesting results. put them up on the screenm when people are asked what is the best way to deal with the deficit, 69% say not surprisingly raise taxes on the wealthy. that doesn't affect them. 65% say cut government workers. 56% call for changes to socia

the problem has been this hastert rule, this policy of the republicans in the house, that they won't take a bill to the house floor, even if it will pass, even if it's important to the american people, if it doesn't have a majority of republican support. now, if he was willing to break the hastert rule and take the senate bill to the floor of the house, just like the democratic senate bill that would protect everybody under $250,000 a year, from any tax increase, it would pass. >> right. >> it would pass. >> all right. >> so his problem is a self-imposed one. it's this republican policy that they won't take a bill to the floor, unless a majority of their caucus approves, and the tea party effect in their caucus is so bad that they can't get that done. you saw that with the farm bill, you saw that with the highway bill, you saw that with plan "b." it's a repeated dysfunction. >> let's see if we can get past this hastertnation, so to speak. mr. white house, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> now let's turn to congresswoman schakowsky. welcome. is there any way house speakers can agree

something called the hastert rule which exists in the house which says the majority party the republicans won't bring a bill to the floor unless a majority of their own party supports it. i'm a little worried that speaker boehner will not let the sorts of bills you're talking about that would pass if it got to a vote, they may not get to the floor for a vote because of that little speed bump there. how do we deal with that? >> well, in addition to other legislation, i've got one hr277 that deals a lot with parents making sure they secure guns and a number of other items dealing with protective children. but here's the point that i want to make. there has to be a surge of public opinion that includes faith leaders from fundamentalists to conservatives and others in their pulpits this past weekend raising up their voices and for those of us, many different faiths, we know that the part of faith that is scriptured is about action. so i think the first order of business has to be this. there has to be a surge a tsunami of public opinion and members not giving up to insist that this legislatio

at majority, must support a bill before denny hastert would put it on the house floor. i don't get a sense that's where speaker boehner is. >> you could imagine a scenario where the house could pass an agreement that's reached in the senate, with a minority of republicans and dozens of democrats make up the difference. that would essentially be john boehner falling on his sword, diving on the grenade and giving up his speakership. you know, democrats might say this would be a great act of self-sacrifice, not the kind of thing you see in washington. there isn't any indication it's going to happen. it's worth reminding people, if we go over the cliff the world doesn't end. it gets worse the more time passes into january and god fored by february, but there's a good chance they will work something out in early january. unfortunately, the flip side, if they do a band-aid solution right now, we have the debt limit fight coming up. things are still in churn. it's not like it's black and white in the next 24 hours. >> really quickly, do you think the speaker would put a bill o

i'm joined by former house speaker dennis hastert. sir, great to have you here. i want to start with this tense phone call we have been reporting on between the president and speaker boehner. you were able to sit down and get things done with bill clinton, who at the time was negotiating with a congress that impeached him. in your estimation, why does it seem so hard for these two modern day men to get around the same table? >> i'm not going to impugn anybody on this thing. everybody's got their problems. but i think where we're at right now, boehner's got a big load to carry, not only has to deal with the president, actually get something done, he's got to make sure that his constituency or basically the members of the house are happy about it. i would guess, i don't know what the inside deals are, i would guess right now that boehner's probably getting less from the president than he did this summer. it's not going to sell well, probably, with his conference. i mean, he's got a real hard -- there's always something called palace politics and political revolutio

. >> the reason it's unwritten is because it came about during the hastert delay administration whereve a majority of majority. # boehner hasn't operated in that manner. if there was a deal he thought could pass and achieve what needs to be achieved for america and that is the revenue side plus the spending side he would put that on the floor and let the house work its will. that's his greatest strength and greatest weakness because that makes it difficult to run the house from time to time. >> congressmen, thank you for joining us. maybe we'll see you after christmas. >> merry christmas. >> we'll be right back. plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel®, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infection

>> we call it the hastert rule after former speaker of the house hastert.a tom delay invention. and people need to know, this is just something they made up. he -- >> how can you be bipartisan if you said it's a rule you've got to have a majority of your party? >> well, that's exactly right. that's what we're saying. be a leader. take into accounts the interests of the country, not just the republican party in the house. bring it to the floor so they can get a majority vote, republicans and democrats working together. that's what the american people want -- >> let's talk about -- >> so my concern is that because he might think he's going to put his speakership at risk if he does that before the end of the year, he may be in fact holding out until january 3rd, which is when he's officially sworn in. he has to be voted on by his colleagues as speaker of the house for the next term. so my worry is that he's dragging things out for political purposes. >> is it possible you could get a deal that's not the biggest deal in the century but good enough to get throug

he was selected by three different speakers, speaker gingrich, speaker hastert and speaker boehner, to have that -- what was really an awesome obligation. he is truly a man hind the scenes. -- behind the scenes. we have brought many pieces of important legislation to the floor, during the financial meltdown, during the flash crash, during other times of financial stress. and our committee is known for working in a bipartisan way. but that doesn't all the time work. and jay often says when i show up and ask for his advice, he says, the financial services committee is bringing a bill, things are fixing to get messi. well, let me say this -- messy. well, let me say this, jay. because you were here, things didn't get as messy as they otherwise would. and i, along with every member of this body, has relied on you phenomena your advice and guidance and i too, along with every other member, consider you not only a professional but a friend. so thank you for your 34 years of wonderful service. mr. woodall: i thank the chairman, mr. speaker. at this time it's my great pleasure to yield to my go

i watched one at capitol hill, that speaker hastert at the time, the one we took live on tuesday.imp and catering inside, my dad was there. he started taking the jumbo shrimp and put it in his pockets. i said daddy stop doing that? he said why? my taxpayers dollars paid for it. eat as much as i want. >> bob: greg, have you had a christmas tree? >> greg: you know how to turn on a christmas tree? read it penthouse letters. this is murder. it had baby trees. obama is a monster. impeach him. >> bob: one more thing is up next merry christmas! ♪ ♪ sometimes life can be well, a little uncomfortable. but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go, it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. >> announcer: 'tis the season of more-- more shopping, more dining out... and along with it, more identity theft. by the time this holiday season is over, an estimated 1.2 million identities may be stolen. every time you pull out your wallet, shop online or hit the road, you give thie

i watched one at capitol hill, that speaker hastert at the time, the one we took live on tuesday.imp and catering inside, my dad was there. he started taking the jumbo shrimp and put it in his pockets. i said daddy stop doing that? he said why? my taxpayers dollars paid for it. eat as much as i want. >> bob: greg, have you had a christmas tree? >> greg: you know how to turn on a christmas tree? read it penthouse letters. this is murder. it had baby trees. obama is a monster. impeach him. >> bob: one more thing is up next merry christmas! ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] more than a security system, adt can help you turn on a few lights. access cameras from anywhere to help you keep an eye on things. even bring family in from the cold when you're not there. now get the advanced technology of adt starting at just $99 and save $300. with adt, you get 24/7 fast response monitoring that helps protect you from burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide. plus remote access to your home. even control your thermostat to help save energy and money. get adt installed starting at just $99. that

that is something that he has not beening to do and he talked about that last year, and it is the hastert rule, the majority of the majority, something that speaker said he would stick to. >> a final question, could the house of representatives, or would the house is decided to vote if there were no spending cuts on the table if the sequestration was involved? >>bret: that is the biggest sticking point. i do. now the republicans are saying they want to have that fight on the other side. they want to have that fight with the debt ceiling as the back drop. but some republicans on capitol hill say, we heard this in the reagan years, do the taxes now and we will do the spending cuts later and it does not happen. there is skepticism. >> a lot of details all overtime place. thank you so much for joining us. we have senator john mccain weighing in for us next. keep it here. this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day afr day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in

with what is going to have to happen is a decision -- the so-called hastert rule. i will not bring anything to the floor unless the majority of my caucus supports it. that is what may need to go here. there is clearly a majority support for doing something, just not a majority of republicans. that is the problem. host: let's look a potentially what you could face if the fiscal cliff begins in january. increase of $400 if your income is $20,000 a year. it increases substantially if your income is $40,000 to $64,000. deanna is on the phone from oregon. republican line. caller: there are so many issues to address here but i certainly wanted to talk to joshua specifically. i retired from the air force after 20 years and recently finished my master's degree. my thesis was on diagnosing and the affects of diagnosing on the economy. one of the things i discovered through my research, which i find remarkable -- my professors as well -- was that there were two types of social security. one that people pay into and one that people do not pay into. the one which is not paid i

that's known as the hastert rule.on't bring a vote to the floor unless, majority party is going to pass it. but if he was that in, let's it come to the floor i think the democrats, if mcconnell and biden can come to an agreement i think the democrats will be there. the question will be, will boehner let it go through? if he does are there enough votes in the house on the republican side to pass it. jon: senator rand paul is speaking about it now. i'm sure he has a few interesting things to say. we'll keep an ear on that. let you know what he says. joe trippi, good to have you on. >> thanks, jon. happy new year. jon: happy new year to you. let's hope we can get a deal done. uma: president obama facing another key test ahead of his second term over another union battle as a major strike deadline approaches. the next fight concerns our nation's ports. doug mckelway joins us live from washington with details. and, doug, the complaints of the longshoremen whose strike was temporarily averted last week is a symbol what is t

i think boehner is -- isn't bad because he probably is in a position to break what the so-called hasterte and pass a bill that could pass without the majority of the majority. it hasn't always been that way and all he has to do and this could threaten his speakership or at least have him run against somebody and not just gavelled in. let the bill pass,y free up 35 or so republicans and at least have the stop-gap measure passed by the end of the year because that's essentially what president obama was suggesting the stopgap. >> mark, one of those who was rejecting plan b and what speaker boehner was trying to do is consider republican tim hills' camp is the one who rebelled against speaker boehner. that's when he said on morning joe. let's listen to him first. >> i disagree with john boehner caving on taxes. and we'll give you $1 trillion in tax revenue and we'll raise it for a year and take a lever on the hand of the republicans and he did that without the support of the conference, as we found out. >> i'm interested in terms of what you're hearing the number of votes he came up short. h

hastert had some unkind words saying i don't want to be critical of john, but you don't ever bring something to the floor if you don't have the votes. did the speaker miscalculate and do you think he'll be challenged for the speakership? >> no, he's not going to be challenged for the speakership. he didn't bring it to the floor. he decided not to, but he could have if they had had even 30 democrats willing to say i'll do what nancy pelosi said we should do and that plan brk would have passed. it would have demonstrated we were willing to put revenue on the table and got the wheels gree greased a little bit for a negotiation. >> john harwood tweeted this. he said gop house members and colleagues, i blame most of this on a block of about 50 members who have the political judgment god gave a goose. do you think the far right of your party is a big part of the problem in washington right now? >> i think the extremes on both sides are a big part of the problem right now. and i've got a lot of respect for the men and women who are representing voters in their district who are telling them this. bu

does john boehner have to violate the hastert rule, which is you have a majority of the majority for anything you put on the floor. does he put something on the floor that can only get 45 gop votes and depend on nancy pelosi to bring it across the finish line? that would be something that i think a lot of conservatives would find extremely troubling. >> this is just -- imagining what might happen, every potential eventuality from here, is really, really weird. but what just happened tonight tops it all in pure unexpected weirdness. >> absolutely. and watch out for the dow future markets. a lot of the economic republicans, those establishment guys who are the wall street guys, they are very worried tonight. they think they this could have a very dismal effect on the markets tomorrow. an absolutely wild night, rachel. you don't see too many of these. >> congressional correspondent luke russert. it's great to have you here tonight. thank you so much. appreciate it. you think about how the republicans must be thinking about whether or not john boehner can stay as their speaker. think abo

meaning as of right now, john boehner is sticking by the hastert rule. that's very significant because he feels that maybe they get something large scale if they can get a lot of republicans or this is just all for show to show the american people they're still there to the end. >> hold on. 6:30 on sunday? i mean, as harry reid pointed out, that's 48 hours. i mean, in terms of the optics and as you said, it's conference calls and no real details coming from the house republicans on what it is they would accept as harry reid was pointing out. 6:30 on sunday feels like not a real sense of urgency. >> no. it's this idea that they should be around here waiting for something to occur, but the urgency has not really been there to be honest with you either side the last few days. now you're starting to see it from the senate and harry reid. but for the house republicans it's get your ball gown and tuxedo on monday on capitol hill and be ready to stay there all night. this is so fascinating, karen, because the new congress comes in january 3rd. eric cantor said

what you are saying is they're still committed to basically the hastert rule that they need a majority of majority of republicans. >> as of right now that's the indication is they would like a majority of a majority of republicans before moving forward, so -- >> let's bring in your -- i want to bring in your discussion with communications director of the white house last night, dan phiffer. he said this is all proof of how hard it is for the gop to raise taxes under any circumstances, and you added, i think for rhetorical flare, the ghost of reagan would have trouble getting 216, and white house communications director dan phiffer replied to you, luke, and he said that's why you do things in a bipartisan way. could have easily pass the obama's offer with the help of democrats. do you think pfeiffer is right about that, and do you think there's any chance of success through that mechanism? >> pfeiffer is right in the sense that if you actually would have a bipartisan bill and bring in democrats, if you only had to get 40 or so republicans, you could do that. you can get 120 for some sor

now, that's something that republicans since the days of speaker hastert have insisted.ority of the majority. you could have all the democrats and some republicans, but not a majority and pass the bill. will that happen, and john boehner was asked that this morning and did not respond. >> chris alissa, you have a situation where the democrats if they were to do that could put the republicans on the offensive? they could say we did this with democratic votes, but, of course, whatever they do is going to be painful so there's no buy-in. >> you know, in a way i think a lot of democrats celebrated last night when they saw that the plan b wasn't even bringing brought to the floor. i would say yes and no. this does still have to go through a republican controlled house. can you peel off 20 or 25 republicans and have john boehner and eric cantor agree to bring up a bill that is going to be worse from a republican perspective than the one they just voted down last night? do they agree to that or not, and what is that -- if they do agree to it, does that further erode john boehne

former speaker denney hastert joining me about boehner's dance with the president on the edge of thel cliff. >>> and it's okay to be takei. the iconic actor joins me about his latest voyage as an activist and very, very interesting lunch with donald trump. ncer ] we begn serving handcrafted coffees in seattle, and people seemed to like it. so we wondered -- where else could we take this? ♪ for over 40 years, we've brought our passion for fine coffee and espresso to people everywhere. but one place was impossible, until now. our lattes, espresso and brewed coffee, now in your home from a machine like no other. and now $50 off through january 1st. the verismo® system, by starbucks. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! for thos...this...ions of doing this... [ male announcer ] yes, it is. ...and this, dancing in their head

everybody, every day who walks through there, looks up at the portrait you see newt gingrich, dennis hastert, this reporter will say this person did that. you see tip o'neill, reporters say, tip o'neill. john boehner wants that tip o'neill legacy. he wants to be able to say when you see my painting there will be universal praise. we won't agree with him here or there, least he got something done. >> can he get that without a sideways mention of the tan? >> newt gingrich has the contract with america in his portrait. >> and the crying. this is what i meant by the fact that obama helped him, because he allowed him to trim his sales get rid of the tea party complainers because now they say look the nation wants this. he looks like he's being broadly democratic for the best interests of the nation while shoring up his own, you know, particular interest there and he's been able to get help from obama to beat back the tea party. it's an ironic -- >> obama gave him -- >> he said the rich could pay. how about that? the rich would pay. >> obama gave him pow. >> we'll talk more about the rich paying.

not that we cannot get a majority vote in the house, that they apply the so called hastert rule, that you have to have half of the republicans no matter what before you even bring a bill to the house -- that could clearly complicate matters. people should understand there is no requirement that that be done. we can get a majority vote in the house without necessarily having half of the republican caucus. >> even though i hate to mention birthdays, it was when you were a little kid, the o'neill rule, to. it was not just a republican -- >> there have been moments where speakers have allowed those to pass without a majority. >> let me ask you, tim, as a republican and as the financial services chief now -- if you were to go a long or the country were to go along with restoring that top rate, the 39.6% rate, what kind of commitment would you like to get in order to do that? you cannot do anything in the three weeks -- you cannot reform entitlements and taxes in three weeks. >> if i might, stepping back from that question, i really applaud senator corker's perspective of saying, if we can

but the biggest obstacles is the hastert rule in the house.n hard to see bill that a majority of house republicans would vote for that would be acceptable to president obama. so in many ways, i felt for really months, the only two choices were going over the cliff or abandoning that hastert rule and john boehner being willing to bring up a bill that could be passed by democratic votes, not passed by the majority of republicans. sounded a little more optimistic on the relative gauge we have than over the last couple of weeks. >> they're now running out of venues to discuss this. they discussed it at the white house. tried to get a deal between speaker boehner and president obama. now it's gone to the senate. harry reid and mitch mcconnell will try to work something out. after that, they have run out of both time and places to go for a deal. >> right. most of the time, when there's stalemate, it's tougher for the democrats than republicans because democrats are the party of activist government. they want things to happen. when things don't happe

something without the house majority of the majority that is something that house speakers back to denny hastert have tried to do, when they have the majority, get the majority of their members to sign on to it. he would have to pass it with most democrats and not a lot of republicans. arthel: there is such in-fighting in each party. speaker boehner is not going to speak after the president makes his remarks. i would like to see what you think of that stance on speaker boehner's part. >> reporter: trying to figure out if they can get the votes. the deal seems foe nebulous. what we are hearing about it -- i don't think the president is going to get into have many specifics here. we'll hear much of the same thing we have heard the past few days. i could be wrong. you are looking live at the eisenhower executive office building part of the white house complex. we are waiting for the president to come out in the south auditorium to make this statement. it's just going to be remarks here trying to move law makers to make this deadline. everything we are hearing capitol hill is this will be difficult.

ron is a former communications director to the house speaker, dennis hastert.e you both. >> good to sigh. >> gregg: donna, let's start with what the president was offering a. even democrats are criticizing him for demanding 150 billion in more spending. not less, including a $50 billion stimulus this next year. at a time when the focus perhaps should be on spending cuts, are those democrats right? >> well, i'm hearing many more democrats resonating with the message that the president is delivering and that message is that he ran on and got elected on the basis of more taxes for the most wealthy americans. i think that there is a real danger for republicans in not really hearing that message. i've been impressed by the number of republicans that have made positive indications that more revenue could be forth coming, even in the form of tax increases on the most wealthy americans. and i think that there is a little bit of danger i think for the republican party as they redefine themselves as the party itself has said that it must do if it will be a viable party i

option one is boehner has to violate the hastert rule. is no place where these diagrams overlap. no place where president obama could sign that a majority of house republicans could support. either he can break that, do a deal primarily with votes along the line of a deal that president obama offered him. or going over the cliff and republicans can vote to cut taxes. >> we'll talk about this all morning. what happened last night, big story today. up next, really incredible images, floodwaters during sandy, the images that tell a story the way only a photo can. a look back at the year in pictures, ahead. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. >>> 2012 has been a year of many iconic moments both on the national front and the international front from the soaring human spectacle of the olympic games to the lowest moments of humanity's grieving. here to take a look back at the year is the co-founder and ceo of getty images

boehner could have chosen to be a hands-off speaker like dennis hastert earlier in the last decade butants to be a strong speaker but he's not in a position to do it. partially because it's not a question of him being able to build a majority of house members. it's a question of him being able to build a coalition of a majority of republicans. and the median house republican is actually very, very conservative. and so there's just not very much space for john boehner to maneuver when it comes to dealmaking or coraling the caucus for much of anything. >> and -- >> can i -- i just want to say that while we're not focused on whether he's going to be speaker or not, i'm certainly not happy with him and i know a lot of people are not happy with him for removing those three tea party freshmen from their kwom assignments. that did not help his situation whatsoever. it was a power play from the caucus to say who's in charge. you got to show some good will. if you want people to come along and come together on something, you've got to show some good will and that was not the right thing to do.

to the top republicans since 1986, serving republican leader bob michael, newt gingrich, speaker hastert and john boehner and floor assistant as the general clerk for republican leader john rose and assist ant manager for the republican cloakroom. his experience has been invaluable to all of us who serve here in the house of representatives. jay is known for his vast knowledge of the rules, for his vast knowledge of the traditions and history and the procedures of the house of representatives. and he has been a teacher and a coach to so many members of the congress over the years and we're grateful to his dedication and that he has given this institution over the past 34 years. jay was born in santa barbara, california and graduated from westmont college. jay has a master's degree and pd in english literature. he and his wife have two grown sons, joel and jay. jay is a man of faith and he has his party in the right place. several years ago, he said politics must be secondary to faith and to life. ultimate answers don't lie in politic. no matter what we do or legislate, we won't solve the

with what is going to have to happen is a decision -- the so- called hastert rule. i will not bring anything to the floor unless the majority of my caucus supports it. that is what may need to go here. there is clearly a majority support for doing something, just not a majority of republicans. that is the problem. host: let's look a potentially what you could face if the fiscal cliff begins in january. increase of $400 if your income is $20,000 a year. it increases substantially if your income is $40,000 to $64,000. deanna is on the phone from oregon. republican line. caller: there are so many issues to address here but i certainly wanted to talk to joshua specifically. i retired from the air force after 20 years and recently finished my master's degree. my thesis was on diagnosing and the affects of diagnosing on the economy. one of the things i discovered through my research, which i find remarkable -- my professors as well -- was that there were two types of social security. one that people pay into and one that people do not pay into. the one which is not paid i

not that we can't get a majority in the house but the hastert rule after speaker hastert you have to half the republicans the matter what before you can bring a bill to the house and that could clearly complicate matters. people should understand there is no requirement to get a majority vote in the house without necessarily having a caucus. >> even though i hate to mention birthdays, when you were a little kid it was tip o'neill. so it wasn't just republicans. >> but there have been moments. they have done without a majority majority of. >> let me ask you about a republican in wearing your hat at the public service roundtable now, if you were to go along or the country were to go along with restoring that top rate, what kind of commitment would you like to get in order to do that because you can't do anything in the next few weeks. you can't reform entitlement. >> if i might, al stepping back from that question directly i really applaud senator corker's respect to getting something done totally by the end of the year. that is great and i would hope for that but i don't know if that

not that we cannot get a majority vote in the house, that they apply the so called hastert rule, that you have to have half of the republicans no matter what before you even bring a bill to the house -- that could clearly complicate matters. people should understand there is no requirement that that be done. we can get a majority vote in the house without necessarily having half of the republican caucus. >> even though i hate to mention birthdays, it was when you were a little kid, the o'neill rule, to. it was not just a republican -- >> there have been moments where speakers have allowed those to pass without a majority. >> let me ask you, tim, as a republican and as the financial services chief now -- if you were to go a long or the country were to go along with restoring that top rate, the 39.6% rate, what kind of commitment would you like to get in order to do that? you cannot do anything in the three weeks -- you cannot reform entitlements and taxes in three weeks. >> if i might, stepping back from that question, i really applaud senator corker's perspective of saying, if we can

throughout his tenure, he has since worked for speakers newt gingrich, dennis hastert and now john boehner. when i came to the house in 2003 , i have known jay to be a true student of this institution, he has helped me personally and countless other members. he's helped us to learn how this body works and he's been quick to assist a member with any question about the floor or even a good book recommendation. mr. speaker, what most people may not know about jay is that in addition to a bachelor's degree from westmont college and a master's degree from california state university, he earned his ph.d. from the university of maryland. in his upcoming retirement i want to thank jay for his service to this great institution and i wish he and his wife, jo ann, all the best in their future endeavors. my friend jay pearson. and i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from ca

and the clock is clearly ticking, he has to convince not a majority of the majority, the so-called hasterte can to get enough votes, period drawing from nancy pelosi's caucus and his own to get this true. >> how severe do you think the backlash would be against republicans, especially say looking forward to 2014, midterm elections? >> well, polls seem to show that most people will blame republicans for this if we go over the cliff. they already have this reputation of being obstructists and the spending cuts about by the way, i don't think they're going to do anything about that now. so i think these spending cuts are going to go into effect at least in the january. so that means i think if there's such a thing as going partially over the cliff, i think we'll probably do that. so $1.2 trillion spread out over ten years, that begin in january. unless they can find a way to avert that. of course, about half of that comes down on the military side. so you've got a lot of people in that sector and others who are very nervous about the spending cuts. i don't think they're going to do anything a

with what is going to have to happen is a decision -- the so- called hastert rule. will not bring anything to the floor unless the majority of my caucus supports it. that is what may need to go here. there is clearly a majority support for doing something, just not a majority of republicans. that is the problem. host: let's look a potentially what you could face if the fiscal cliff begins in january. increase of $400 if your income is $20,000 a year. it increases substantially if your income is $40,000 to $64,000. deanna is on the phone from oregon. republican line. caller: there are so many issues to address here but i certainly wanted to talk to joshua was specifically. i retired from the air force after 20 years and recently finished my master's degree. my thesis was on diagnosing and the affects of diagnosing on the economy. one of the things i discovered through my research, which i find remarkable -- my professors as well -- was that there were two types of social security. one that people pay into and one that people do not pay into. the one which is not paid

dennis hastert started and stated it. i don't know if boehner has ever stated it.ration at all. there is this view of many that eric cantor is standing right behind john bainer with a very sharp knife. if boehner undercuts the tea party and i don't know how many tea party members, how do you define if it's 100 or 120 very conservative members of the house, ultra conservatives, not just the mainstream conservatives, i don't know where they -- what they do if boehner takes it to the floor you get 180 democrats and 40 or 50 republicans. >> bill: i think that's why boehner is afraid to take it to the floor. he knows it would pass. also democratic leader nancy pelosi today is issuing her discharge position to try to get them. let's talk about that when we come back with senator sherrod brown and michael tomasky from the "daily beast." today's "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. how far will people go to relieve their sore throat? try these. new cepacol sensations