handy cap the house of representatives. ve over there, we believe this will be passed in the house of representatives and it will certainly pass in the house and a signal to the american people we will get our financial house in order. this is an important first step of the $3 trillion in spending reduction with no tax increases anywhere in this bill and sets the tone for future. in in the future, no president can get the debt ceiling increased without a reignition, reigniting of the same discussion of how do we cut spending and get america headed in the right direction. i expect the next president will be asking us to raise the debt ceiling in 2013. no default. no tax increases. $3 trillion in spending cuts. >>neil: are we sure we are right on the no tax increases. there is confusion about what this condition could decide and whether revenues. the white house indicated that they are among the openings on the table. >>guest: good question. it is not a commission a joint committee of congress. it can deal with tax reform. it

gabby giffords making an emotional appearance on the floor of the house of representatives tonight. let's listen in, the vote has concluded. 267 to 161 the tally not voting 5, we have to wait for the official clerk of the house. and the speaker of the house and the chair. the democratic vote on this is split. the democratic vote stood on this 94 yeas and 95 nays. some don't like the defense

>> to the house of representatives. probably vote and then all eyes will be on the house to see how they will cobble this together. i'm sure the speaker is going to lose a lot of his republicans. but the democrats are going to have to pull it out for the president. >> a done deal as far as you can tell? >> the markets take a sigh of relief. it won't last. the first whiff of trouble, we are back to square one. >> i love richard quest, he tells us what he thinks. let's bring in ali. what a do you think? >> colorful language there, always. >> the markets are up so much. richard is right. there is not a lot of leeway for this. my friends at cnn money are saying it's the cbo scoring of the deal. when it comes out it feels like less of a done deal because you you will see opposition. from the left and right. a lot of the cuts that come to entitlement programs come later in the episode and by then hopefully we'll have seen economic growth. i think you will see a muted deposit of economic response when markets in the united stat

members, wolf blitzer. >> that enthusiasm that's coming from the republican leadership in the house of representatives may explain why the democratic leadership of the house of representatives specifically nancy pelosi, at least as of a little while ago, not all that enthusiastic. she said just a little while ago before the president announced that there was an agreement she said i don't know all the particulars and what the final product is in writing and the ramifications. she says she wants to see the whole deal in writing before she makes her announcement. she says she'll meet with her democratic caucus on monday morning, then says this -- listen very carefully to what she said a few hours ago, nancy pelosi. "we all may not be able to support it or none of us may be able to support it." very cryptic remark. gloria borger is here, our chief political analyst. they're going to need a lot of democrats in the house representatives to vote in favor of this deal because you know they're going to be many republicans, tea party supporters who will not vote in favor of this -- >> they're going to lose, i w

and has to be voted on in the house of representatives, the speaker said he supports it. s up in the air. we will see what happens in the house of representatives. we want to access what it means for america's aaa credit rating. to you first, ali. america's aaa credit rating will remain firm? >> mixed views on that we spoke to mark from moody's economy, he said this deal is big enough to avoid a downgrade. the largest bond dealer said probably not. he said, you don't necessarily have a bond rating agency, all you have to do is read a newspaper it. is not clear if the down grade will be as important as the u.s.'s ability that it won't use it as a bargaining chip for obligations made. the second thing that is important to krrp is that most important thing to the recovery of the u.s. economy is jobs. this doesn't do anything to help job creation. probably does something to hurt job creation, that in the long run, may be dangerous then not having this deal in the first place. out three years and five years t may not have been the right thing to do. everybody is doing a victory

january, she was shot at point blank range in tucson, arizona, back on the floor of the house of representatives today as this traumatic vote unfolds. the former speaker, nancy pelosi paying tribute as we've heard. a key member of the negotiating team for the white house. and rallying, trying to get some votes for this plan. the question is, as we watch this emotional personal drama play out. we also have a very important and consequential policy debate that continues here in washington. this legislation will go over to the senate, i want to bring our conservative contributor into the conversation. the speaker just passed this, it was an important moment for him. you saw the number of republican defections in the house in the 0s there, you think this is a bad deal, why? >> i do think it's a bad deal. first of all, john. as aaron said earlier, if we go through with this deal, we're still going to raise the national debt $12 trillion. this is going to be the first of what are going to become increasingly tense battles over the national debt. i can't see this as a serious plan, considering what it'

of the house financial sftss committee. a very difficult day in the house of representatives. i've never seen a messier piece of legislation be brought to a vote there. tell us how you voted and why? >> the republicans came to power promising all of these procedural changes, openness, amendments, et cetera. there is not now a single republican procedure left unbroken. the way they said. imted to vote yes. i think a default puts a lot of pain on the people least able to deal with. i don't see to see the tea party succeed in its canmpaign to degrade the government. i saw the details. the bill puts caps on military spending and caps on dikdz spending, but it exempts from any cap at all spending for iraq and afghanistan. now, that's well over $100 billion a year. i can't vote to give a blank check for spending in afghanistan, and then can you tell important programs for police and fire on the streets of the cities i represent. it also said, look, when we go forward, we have a 50/50 split in cuts between the mill father and nonmilitary. i was for that. we overspent on the military.

minority leader, they came together just as nancy pelosi and john boehner came together in the house of representatives yesterday and passed it overwhelmingly in the house of representatives. no one is really all that enthusiastic about this deal but they have a deal that allows the debt ceiling to go up, avert a potential default, the united states government unable to pay some of its bills. that was the disaster that could have awaited the u.s. economy if it were to happen. it's not happening right now. but this debate will continue. i'm curious, john, if you think this is a moment, a lot of us who covered ronald reagan back in the '80s remember the deals he worked out with tip o'neill, who was then the house speaker. is this a moment where there's a new relationship now between the president, the speaker and the republican leader in the senate along the lines of what happened back in the '80s? hold on one second. >> any senators wish to change their vote? if not on that question, the ayes are 74 and the nays are 26. the motion to concur in the house amendment to senate bill 365 is agreed to. >> so t

of the tea party caucus in the house voted for boehner's plan. we're not giving credit to americans in november of 2010 who sent them overwhelmingly to the house of representatives because they really thought washington spending had gotten out of control. >> david gergen, i believe you're still with us. one of the questions last week when the speak he was having trouble was his leadership is somehow undermind? is that the case or would this vote tonight, does john boehner prove he's in control of his caucus and the house? >> he had a near death experience over the last couple weeks, but i think he survived it and he strengthed that he got his plan through and he got this compromise while eric and a lot of other conservatives are not happy, there are going to be a great number of conservatives around the country who are going to think, absent john boehner this may not have happened. the tragedy will be -- if the president and john boehner had not been able to cut that deal that they were willing to talk about a $4 trillion deal, it would have included some tax revenues i thought were fair, more than that, it would have been $4 trillion in one fell swoop, we would

the bill is the product of a know-nothing house of representatives that loudly flaunts its economic illiteracy and held hostage no congress before dared tamper with, raising the debt ceiling. a democratic president and democratic majority leader of the senate would never have agreed to the stupidest deficit reduction package in history if the stupidest republican congress in modern history had not taken the debt ceiling hostage. because it was the only way that they believed that they could find the way to raise the debt ceiling 95 house democrats, including minority leader, nancy pelosi voted in favor of the bill along with 174 republicans, including speaker john boehner, who traditionally, the speaker, does not vote on legislation. during the vote, the house of representatives applauded arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords, who appeared in the capitol and cast her first vote since she was critically wounded in the january tucson shooting rampage. she voted in favor of the legislation. senate majority leader harry reid announced the senate has reached a unanimous consent agreement to do a

they thought it would be much closer in the house of representatives. and seeing what they are going to do and saying, we will do our deal today. >> we will be on the edge of our seats again today watching the outcome of the senate vote. >> this gives new meaning to the 11th hour. you know? the whole thing. >> yeah. thank you, joe. >>> if you're not already furious with your elected officials for the way they have handled this debt ceiling crisis, this might push you over the edge. because congress couldn't stop bickering and the deal came down to the wire, instead of getting done two weeks ago, american taxpayers are on the hook for $1.7 billion. that's how much additional interest the government had to pay investors to get them to buy treasury bills. >>> when word of a debt deal were spreading on sunday global markets rallied overnight in asia and then in europe. richard quest is joining us live this morning from the national mall in washington. probably because that's the only place he can find peace from this crazy debate as somebody who is not from

it's my privilege to be addressing you here on the floor of the house of representatives and it's always interesting for me to sit here and listen to the other members deliver their impression of what goes on and how they envision the future. ien joyed the gentleman from illinois' presentation and the gentleman from california, particularly the gentleman from arizona who came here to talk about the balanced budget amendment system of i take that issue up as we get ready to close out the evening. i'd like to add some of the points i have to this. that is that when i was first elected to office, it was in the state senate, 1996. i believe that if i just simply made a cogent argument on principle, it would sway my colleagues over to my side. didn't think it was that complicated. it wouldn't be hard to talk about balancing the budget, keeping the spending within our times, because after all, each year, government provides more and more of what people were providing for themselveses the years before. so this encreaturement of government that is the growth in the nanny state and the decrease i

don't what to call it, six members, six republicans, six democrats, three of each, in the house of representativesnd the senate. they will make some big decisions. these will be huge decisions. >>reporter: a couple of big hurdles. one, do we get a downgrade after all from the credit rating agencies? they are not tied to a particular bill. are they satisfied with a bill that falls short for the amount of cuts they needed in the debt before they would guarantee the aaa rating of the united states. next, who is going to be on the committee? what is the complexion? the tea party constituency of the republican party will want to load up the court. >>shepard: at least have a vote. >>reporter: and know people will fight foyer their agenda and same for the liberal wing of the democratic party. and will they be effective in actually carrying this through the most difficult part of the debt negotiations. that is, tackling taxes and entitlements which this bill before the house and senate today did not do. >>shepard: that is an observation, the really tough road is ahead. trying to figure this idea of cuttin

-- in this chamber, the house of representatives and the u.s. senate. i hope so much we do that while we can and that the people of this country will let their representatives and snars know they are tired of this deficit spending and tired of this fiscal irresponsibility and saying in our lifetime, we will have a balanced budget amendment to the constitution and we will make sure that our children can walk in the light of freedom and economic hope as we have. i hope that happens, mr. speaker. with that, i would yield to the gentleman from georgia, mr. price. mr. price: thank you to my good friend for yielding and for taking -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. mr. price: to highlight what. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman from georgia, mr. price, is recognized for the remainder of the hour. the gentleman is recognized. mr. frank: i was just yielding to the gentleman. -- mr. franks: i was just yielding to the gentleman. such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ar

one served in the house of representatives. one served in the state legislature, one -- two of them were tremendous horsemen. they contributed significantly to the horse industry in kentucky, so they were more than historians have described them as, and i began to see this and thought the story needed to be told. >> what exactly were they doing that people thought they were a burden? just because she doesn't like washington? >> well, she was rather plain looking, and somewhat dour looking. there's a type of the two of them, and i say it's the clay version of grant woods painting american gothic because they both look so dour, but by that time, he's suffering from tuberculosis. she's had 11 children in 21 years, raised them, raised her grandchildren, you know, they had experienced some difficult times, tragedy is a key ingredient of this family. it -- they have suffered beyond any measure. how clay kept going, i can't comprehend. i don't think i could withstand the tragedy that affected him with his children and grandchildren, bu

i love the fact that the senate is the house of lords, the house of representatives, the house of commons. is that a pretty good analogy? >> if only we would have question time. and the president had to go in. democrat or republican, i think it would be good for our process although i think the last couple weeks were messy enough. let's leave it there. richard makes an important point about going forward. we'll see what the ratings agencies do. a lot of that will depend on whether they see washington behaving and the president tried to make the case, this is going to be fascinating to watch because as you know, the ceos have said we're waiting to see what the tax climate is like before we start hiring people. will they have the excuse or legitimate reason to wait another five or six months as that process plays out? the president will fight for the payroll tax cut extension. most republicans support that. he can probably work a deal on that. unemployment benefits extension, that one has been dicey. you can get the votes for it but now you have the conservatives saying only if you offset i

they have a significant number in the house of representatives. perhaps as many as 80 members of the house out of a 435 that have identified themselves as tea party members of the house. the manner in which the house of representatives operates -- that is, speaker boehner, speaker of the house, relies upon his conference to develop plans. the tea party members have a tremendous amount of influence in the house of representatives. in the united states senate, dark a few members to identify as the party members, a -- but it there are a few members who identify as the party members, but they do not have anywhere near the influence as in the house. will be the future of the tea party? i have no idea, i really don't. it is certainly being a factor in the nomination process right now for the president, the nominee for the president on the republican side, and it is playing a major role in a lot of primary elections are around the country on the republican side. it is not having as much influence on the democratic side on primary elections. what impact it

means congress would have to add some members, two in the senate and at least seven in the house of representatives. that could affect the balance of power here on capitol hill. commissioner pierluisi received this gavel in recognition for his introducing the puerto rico democracy act to the house of representatives. the act calls for puerto ricans to hold a plebiscite, that means a vote, on one of three options -- becoming a state, becoming an independent country or remaining a u.s. territory. in earlier plebiscites, puerto ricans have voted against statehood. one reason, becoming a state would mean they would have to pay more taxes. yet for generations, puerto ricans have shown their devotion to this country by joining our armed forces. they fight and die for the united states, so many say statehood makes sense. >> i am puerto rican in that i have the customs and the traditions of the puerto rican people and the puerto rican culture, but i am an american citizen. >> to become a state takes more than just a plebiscite. congress also has to agree. lawmakers opposed to extending statehood to puerto

as many 80 members of the house at a 4 to 35 that have identified themselves as tea party members of the house. the manner in which the house of operation -- the house of representatives operates, speaker boehner wrote plot -- relies upon his caucus to develop plans and the tea party members have a tremendous amount of influence in the house of representatives. in the united states senate, there are a few members that identify as tea party members but they have nowhere near the same amount of influence. what will happen in the 2012 elections, what will be the future of the tea party? i have no idea, i really do not. it ended up being a factor in the nomination process right now an nomineesident' on side, and it is on the republican side. it is not having as much influence on the democratic sat on primary elections. on the general impact -- on the impact on the general election, i do not know. >> [inaudible] by raising your hand, do we see whether they are doing a job? >> i think everyone has views. i do not disagree with the right of their views to be represented. i think they just have more impact in the house of representatives than they should. they should have the

right now, the house of representatives is voting on it. and congresswoman gabrielle giffords returned to washington for the vote. what drama. first of all, there were three parties to this, that's the problem. two parties to the right, republicans and tea party, making demands on a president that was negotiating from center left. the result is what you would expect. something well to the right of center. so we have peace, but at a price. the tea party sets the terms, republican party lives with it, democrats are forced to live in a political household dominated by the other side. today, republicans have been preening, democrats bowing their heads. we start with howard fineman, msnbc political analyst, joining us now. howard, let's watch this now. what do you make of the vote as it transpires? >> watching this now, chris, you know having once worked on the hill, you know exactly what's going on. this is -- the leadership, speaker boehner and his top republican lieutenants and nancy pelosi and her lieutenants are deciding right this minute wh

capitol right now as the house of representatives nears a vote on the deal to raise the debt limit. we'll bring you every step of the way. if the legislation passes it sets the stage for another heated debate later this year and the possibility of automatic spending cuts if lawmakers can't see eye to eye. let's go to lisa sylvester. she's over at the data wall picking up this part of the story. >> we're talking about $1 trillion in cuts, but then on top of that, there lab bipartisan committee that will be formed. you could call it a super committee, if you will. there's some question and debate about how successful they will be and tackling the revenue side of it. they'll be looking at defense spending and nondefense spending. some of the potential cuts really we're talking across the board in terms of the government. transportation, education, and energy. these are just a few of the examples that this bipartisan committee will be taking a look at. we go to something called the trigger. we will be hearing a lot about this. you're talking automatic cuts across the board. 50% from defe

this is the tea party downgrade because a minority of people in the house of representatives countered even the will of many republicans in the united states stat who were prepared to do a bigger deal, to do $4.7 trillion, $4 trillion, have a mix of reductions and reforms in social security, medicare, medicaid and also recognize we need to do revenue. i think this is one of the most telling, important moments in our country's history right now. we have had a fairly straightforward economic road throughout the 20th century. now, david, this poses a set of choices not just about a recession. it's about a financial crisis and a structure of our economy, which really has been misallocating capital. we have an enormous amount of capital going into arbitration over the last years, phony deals, commissions, not creating jobs. the real problem for our country is not the short-term debt, we can deal with that. it's the long-term debt. it's the structural debt of social security, medicare, medicaid, measured against the demographics of our nation. that then juxtaposed to the lack of jobs and job

culminating in them being in the majority of the house of representatives trying to pass a ryan budget which would add $6,000 to the medical costs of senior citizens in order to fund corporate tax loopholes. they made a decision going into this debate on the debt ceiling that they would be -- they would rather close down the government in their relentless pursuit of the end of medicare and the funding of corporate tax loopholes. we're calling this accountability august. accountability august. and the american people are going to ask their republican members of congress to they will from every member of congress, why did you vote to end medicare, why did you stand with the big oil companies when you could have protected medicare. i don't know what the national weather service is predicting for august, but for republicans it's going to be very, very hot because they're going to spend their august defending the indefensible. >> thank you very much, chairman israel. chairman israel is one of the few democrats we can call mr. chairman. thank you for your great work on behalf of the american

it was a grand deal, but the speaker couldn't sell it, and the house of representatives, i think -- it'sfoolish to talk about winners and losers at this point. there are no winners i see on this landscape at the moment, and we're going to have to kind of work our way through a very, very swampy piece of washington real estate to see whether we can get to the high ground or not. but obviously, this has not been a great time for the president, it's not been a great time, especially, for the speaker. if the house does approve the harry reid bill, that will be a little bit of a comeback, but if they reject in the house the rebuild -- and speaker boehner's had a really tough couple of weeks, to say nothing of the president. >> i'm sorry, but i have to here, with all due respect. in the house of representatives, we actually passed a budget. we passed two bills that would have raised the debt ceiling. and i want to show you, this oncc1: you actually saw this show the failure of leadership with this administration. you asked david plouffe a very simple question -- will the paid?ary be cc1: inste

. >> the sticking point is still the house of representatives. they pass a different sort of bill and compromise is not looking good there, and that is a trickier vote. how is it there? >> well, the trickier part is that the house republicans feel good about the deal at this point and the republicans think that they can get a lot of votes and perhaps 180 to 200 republicans and therefore you'd only need 30 or 40 democrats so that they feel good about, but david, we are up against a legislative clock and the default clock, so don't be surprised if the there is a temporary extension if necessary to get the final details done, because they are not done with so some of the details and some democrats are not happy. >> all right. chuck todd, thank you very much from the white house north lawn. i'm joined now by white house adviser david plouffe. welcome. >> thank you. >> it is overly rosey or that close? h. >> well, we don't have a deal and as chuck todd just reported on there is a legislative clock and default clock so the hours are ticking. what is cle

question remains the house of representatives. >> yes. ces from nancy pelosi that she can deliver the democrats for this proposal even if the house speaker loses 80 to 100 of his republicans, which i believe he could actually lose, because there's lots in this for them not to like, they didn't get everything they wanted, and they didn't even like john boehner's plan. and a lot of this seems to be very much based on john boehner's plan. so i would assume that he's gotten some kind of assurances from his democrats that they're going to deliver the votes. as he said, it's not over yet, but he clearly came out to reassure the markets and i don't think he would have done that unless he felt reassured himself. >> because we've already heard some leaders of the congressional black caucus, of the progressive caucus, they don't like this and i assume some of the tea party activists on the other side won't like this. the question will be -- and we'll be checking this thoroughly if john boehner the speaker, and eric cantor, the majority leader, if th

the assistant leader of the house of representatives for the democrats, mr. jim clyburn. >> thank you very much, mr. whip. madam leader, distinguished chairs. despite coming up about 44 votes short of 218, to prevent our nation from being devastated by a default, republicans in washington continue to play political games. they have turned their my way or the highway into my way or the runway. that is what has taken place with this f.a.a. bill. the federal aviation administration has been bottled up now, this is the 10th day. we have lost about $300 million in revenue and i'm pleased that the senate seems to be willing to put a turn cat on some of this hemorrhaging. but the legislation that seems to be agreed to, which is the house version, leaves out a big chunk that is small, rural airports. and the jobs, the contracting jobs that are being held in the balance, that have already been decided upon, there is little that's anymore important to job creation in rural communities than these small airports. and for my republican friends to continue to wreak havoc, h

it is worth noting the house of representatives has passed several bills a budget. they are waiting for the senate to act. the house leadership might think the senate should get back to town first. joining us allen west. good evening. why do you think that the members of congress should get back to town? >> well for one thing greta, and good evening to you. the public perception is we are on a five to six week vacation. we passed seven appropriations bills out of 12 in the house of representatives but the senate has not taken action. by the time we would come back would be 7th september, a new fiscal year. what you are going to hear is continuing resolution and omnibus. we are looking at a senate that has not passed a budget in 829 days am i think we need to go back up as the house of representatives to continue to do the worker with supposed to do and completing the appropriations bills. in the military, we had a saying, that you train and you perform to the mission and not to a time. i think that's what we need here. we've got to get the commission accomplished. >

god bless the united states of america and god bless the house of representatives. signed, david wu, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: under clause 5-b of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in the light of theres. ig -- resignation of the gentleman from oregon, mr. wu, the whole numb of the house is 432. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 2, 2011, at 1:00 p.m., that the senate concurred in the house amendment to the bill senate 365, that the senate agreed to, without amendment, house concurrent resolution 70, with best wished, i am, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 4 of ruled 1, the following enrolled bill was signed by the speaker on tuesday, august 2, 2011. the clerk: senate 6 -- senate 365 to provide for budget control. the sp

it's much more problematic in the house of representatives. cause there are a few vacancies in the house. it probably will pass the house of representatives. the speaker is on board. the senate minority leader -- the house minority leader, nancy pelo pelosi, noncommittal as of now. steny hoyer, the minority whip, is on board. eric cantor is on board. we'll see what happens in the house. it will be a bit of a nailbiter in the house of representatives. but my guess is if it comes up for a vote, and i think it will, the speaker wouldn't allow it to come up for a vote also all his whips had done the head counts and they think they have enough votes to get it passed. >> does this feel like a compromised plan to you? >> it does. there were concessions made all around. the president certainly made a lot of concessions. the republicans wanted to guarantee not only that there would be a vote but that both houses would pass a balanced budget amendment and send it to the states for rad fication. they' ratification. they've punted until the end of november

but i think what you're seeing in the overwhelming vote yesterday in the house of representatives, that most of the members agree that gridlock doesn't do anything to help the country, and especially the economy. and so, we got this compromise plan in front of us, and later today one of two things will be true. either we will have done what is in the best interest of the american people or we will have failed. and i think overwhelmingly what we are going to do when we vote at noon today, i think it could be as much as 75 votes of this 100-member united states senate that will vote in favor of this package. i think not only is it obvious that this package is the way to avoid default, but it starts us on the path of getting serious about what we have to do. more than $2 trillion bringing down the deficit over the course of the next ten years, and that's according to the congressional budget office, it's going to cut about half of that now, and it leaves the rest of it up to a supercommittee of 12 members, half from the house of representatives, half from the senate. each of those halfs ap

moment that almost redeemed this whole political fiasco. [ applause ] on the floor of the house of representativesich for weeks has been a well of bitterness and rancor, there she was, a tiny woman, her close-cropped hair a badge of her recovery from being shot in the head at point blank range. gabby giffords came back to congss to vote. and her colleagues, united for once, rose to cheer her. afterwards, minority leader nancy pelosi hailed her courage. >> throughout america there isn't a name that stirs more love, more admiration, more respect, more wishing for our daughters to be like her than the name of congresswoman gabby giffords. thank you, gabby, for doing this today. [ applause ] >> reporter: her closest friend in the house, representative debbie wasserman schultz of florida, told diane sawyer what this moment meant. >> she received thunderous applause, hug, tears. even the hardest hearts, which we had a lot of hardened hearts in this debate, juststelted when she walked in the room. >> reporter: it was in january, seven months ago at a congress on your corner town hall meeting she was hold

he'll be leaving his office and walking on to the floor of the house of representatives.e think he'll make a statement on the floor before the actual vote begins. assuming it passes, how does he emerge politically? is this a win for him? is it a loss for him, the entire process going forward? has he been strengthened, in other words, or weakened? >> reporter: it depends, like so many things in this town, which prism through which you view this. what is your own partisan political leanings? if you're watching the speak here, of course he's been weakened somewhat and diminished somewhat because he scheduled a vote on wednesday and had to delay is on thursday and the senate rejected the deal on friday and now he comes back with this deal. the number of republican defections will say a lot about the speaker's standing going forward, but, wolf, we're watching perhaps the most fascinating figure in washington right now. that's not to say president obama is not fascinating, not to say there aren't other fascinating dynamics, but this speaker is by dna and history in the congress

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> as this hearing comes to a close we head over to the senate this afternoon where a number of the senators on this committee are moving over to go vote on the debt ceiling agreement reached in the house yesterday. the house passed that bill 269-161. 95 democrats, 66 republicans voted against the measure. today the bill's in the hands of the senate where senators have been debating it since they gaveled in this morning at 9:30 eastern. majority leader reid just finishing up his final statements before the vote which is just getting under way. it was set to start at 12:00 noon. basically starting a

was nothing in this particular case that he could do because much of this depended on a house of representatives that he does not control. and in the end he sort of had to let everybody play this out. pass their resolutions. he on friday after the house passed its bill that he was going to veto, he basically called up and said thanks, congratulate laces -- congratulations for doing this. you have the long problems coming with the debt commission that reported late last year saw where all of this was coming. and yethe solution comes at these crises moment when you're doing slash and burn cuts. >> charli everybody is looking for direction and vision. how do you have a fiscal strategy and a growth strategy and no one has see exactly where the president wants to take us. >> we've seen a fiscal strategy out of this, at least a directio but i'm not sure we've seen a growth strategy. i mean this is a president hu told us during the 2009 recession that the answer was stimulus. the economy's slowing down again and now the answer is a shrinking of government spending. and nobody in the administration has

the clerk: the honorable, the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 2, 2011 at 9:35 a.m. that the senate passed without amendment, h.r. 2715, that the senate passed senate 1466, appointments, united states commission on civil rights, with best wishes, i am signed sincerely, karen l. haas the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 4, no legislative business will be conducted on this day, pursuant to section 3 of that resolution, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday august 5, 2011. 60 votes are needed to pass and pass on to president obama. we will continue to follow this story and will bring you updates as they become available. right now, we are going to the office building on capitol hill where the senate environmental committee is looking at the safety of u.s. nuclear reactors in the wake of the japanese disaster. this started a couple of minutes ago. you're watching live co

house of representatives by tomorrow. next is pennsylvania, republican line. caller: good morning. the government said most recipients of -- sent most recipients of so security a letter from cpi, consumer price index. they say the consumer price index is what is preventing them from getting people on social security and disability a cost- of-living adjustment. host: that is in place in a -- as inflation, essentially caller: someone brought up about how much food is costing today. this went out to all the recipients. i just want to say that is not right. the grocery store cost more and goods across the board that we use every day cost more. host: next is john joining us from south dakota, independent line. caller: good morning. host: what do you think of this package as outlined last night? caller: i think the democrats need to wake up and smell the coffee. as an independent contractor, i have to place bids almost a year or more in advance and they raised minimum wage which i cannot afford because i had the contract in place. they need to wake up. host: what specifically do you mean