who is senator jim demint, and what does he really want? l y michael crowley profiled him in the washington times and he joins me from washington. the big headline from the profile? what's the sense you have of demint? >> well, he's determined to keep plowing ahead, and he's not interested in the strain, the school of thought in the republican party that says be careful. don't overreach that you have to reel the tea party passions in a little bit, and if you try to push too hard on cutting government, you're going to scare away the middle of the country. independent voters. he thinks there will be more candidates to come in 2012. >> is jim demint oo success of populism? am i seeing that right? >> yeah, i do think there's a populous strain to it. i think demint has been in washington for a while. but i think he does a good job of presenting himself as being outside the system. it's the theme we've seen so many times. there's a washington establishment that is caught up dm its own rules. earmarks are a good example of this. they're caught up i

the president didn't say i want to compromise with jim demint and the republicans and jim demint didn't mention the democrats or president when he speaks openly against them. it's almost as if each one is credit for it. does it make a difference? >> republicans are going to do this assemblic vote in the senate anyway, which is not a binding vote. almost like they can go around it. on the other side, the other side of this debate is mitch mcconnell and cutting earmarks makes people appear as if they are conservative and doesn't save any money. republican, versus republican, listen to the senator. >> the problem is, it doesn't save any money it's an argument about discretion. what we need to concentrate on reducing spending and reducing debt and this debate doesn't save any money, which is why it's kind of exasperating to some of us who really want to cut spending and get the federal government's discretionary accounts under control. >> and how-- >> 15, 29 billion dollars. that's a drop in the bucket. >> let's start somewhere, it is symbolic of wasteful washington spending money to a brid

it strengthens jim demint's hand and a bit of a moment for mitch mcconnell. he wouldn't had gone as far out as he has opposing this. he said this is crazy. you are not going to su stain this, but this is important. he's proud of what he as done for kentucky. if you are senator for 25 years you define yourself with senator of kentucky and worthwhile earmarks that you he secured. >> fusion in paducah. >> yeah. >> had to be in paducah. if it had been in the normal legislative process, would haven't been efficient. but he swallowed hard to give the statement but i give him credit for doing it. interesting moment where we are seeing that the republican establishment is adapting to the tea party. trent lott, the republican leader said, was quoted in the "washington post" saying the tea partiers will get here and we'll domesticate them. we to get them under in control. it's more the opposite. >> talk about extending the bush era tax cut. the deadline the first of the year. it's a tax increase across the board. if it doesn't get fixed in the next couple of weeks. tak

. >> and the freshman class and jim demint. >> it is a smaller freshman class had jim demint not endorseds. in some ways it will be principally about earmarks but could be a proxy vote on jim demint's tactics. i have heard some people say that is part of the reason this might not prevail. >> the opening shot in this was last week with lindsay graham saying something about jim demint and how they would have been a lot better off if they did not have those candidates. so you, in looking behind the scenes, are hearing more bubbling up? >> yes. he acknowledges this publicly. his tactics are very confrontational. within the republican conference. the earmark issue, let's address that. it is a nonbinding vote that would only apply to republicans. mitch mcconnell's argument is wait a minute, are we going to take all this power away from republicans, knowing democrats can earmark and authorize things if there is a trade deal with south korea or panama -- >> it is called unilateral disarmament. >> right. things you can put in trade bills sector specific for your state, do you want to give that up?

so, you know, i think that jim demint should not have been a happy camper yesterday. and furthermore, his colleagues mostly eight. and so i think he will have more troops than he had before, but his conservative caucus in the senate is not all that cash is not all that big. so the same applies to sir palin i think. you know, i think she's a phenomenon. i think she's a rock star. i think she attracts cameras wherever she goes. she's a joke. you know, even within her own party, the idea that she would be the presidential nominee ahmad, you know, vast majorities of ordinary publicans is just unthinkable. she's got a following. no question about it. but i don't think that she's triumphed in the campaign. >> the majority of americans agree with you, mort. but i suspect the republicans do not. and i think you're right in your analysis of the act on the senate races of the tea party, but not in the house. the house really -- and the house, the energy impact to did he really did help the party. and a large number are coming in with an affiliation of one sort or another. and i

i have a bone to pick with jim demint. i take the position of many senators. ways he was harry reid's secret weapon. you don't go into delaware as a party leader -- in the northeastern state, we threw away perfectly good senate seat. similar situation in nevada. we could be at 49 or 50 seats right now. there has to be some level of pragmatism to provide some sort of -- >> had an about the accountability moment for republicans on where they're going to cut the budget? they're making big promises. will they cut the prescription drug benefit that bush passed? will they deal with some of this spending? president bush tried private accounts in social security. it did not work. part of his own party was the problem there. >> now that we control the house, we have an opportunity to take votes and pass legislation every week. we need to cut spending. we need to say that there's not going to be a $6 trillion tax cut that will kill jobs and hurt the fledgling economy. that needs to be priority one. we could start with not authorizing the stimulus spending that's not bee

nancy pelosi, newt gingrich and jim demint. jim demint, jim demint. i was reading pete wayner's commentary last week and he brought up the point that here this small government tea party champion is actually -- oh, no, no, no, we don't have to cut social security. and pete wayner who worked in the bush white house, he said, okay, jim demint, you need one of two things. either stop talking about being a champion of less government or start acting like you're a champion of less government. it is inconceivable to me that anybody would paint themselves as a champion of small government and balanced budgets without admitting you've got to do something to social security and medicare. >> that's where the money is, medicare and medicaid is the biggest single pot. you have to deal with the basics. >> and the pentagon is there, too. let's put in -- here is newt gingrich from yesterday on "meet the press." and i just want to talk about it. i'm not picking on newt. i'm the first to say this guy was a champion of balanced budgets. he's sounding a lot like nancy p

>> the quote from jim demint, that we had earlier about warning the new folks not to be cooperative,he's not the only one saying that. there are a whole group of republicans coming to washington with a different mindset to stop what they see as over-arching government. rand paul said it is not my aim to pass bills but to repeal them. and you have mike pence, one of the leading republicans in the house saying i don't think the american people are electing a new generation in the hopes that congress and the white house can get along better. so the whole kind of "sesame street" let's all cooperate, that's not where these republicans are at. they think they're there to stop something they regard as dangerous, and i think that can portend some conflict, even within that party. >> couric: meanwhile, barack obama, it's been said he doesn't like new people. do you think he's going to have to bring in some new blood to the-- into the white house to kind of shake things up? >> reporter: yes, i do. i mean, think about it. his whole economic team, except for treasury secretary, tim geithner has

host: jim demint supporting your campaign. he said over the weekend perhaps there is room to compromise on this issue and not make the permit for everybody. guest: if you are thirsty and someone offers you a partial's of water, you are probably going take it. a temporary extension is better than none at all. host: grove city, pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: i had a question about social security. they say that social security is going broke. why not give a cost-of-living raise to those of us that are under even $50,000? why could they not give those people the cost of living instead of everybody? host: where are you on this ise of possibly giving seniors on social security another $250 check. is that a good idea? gut: eventually, it has to happen. it could this coming year. long term we need to look at whether we need to reindex based on inflation or cost of living. in the long run, we have to look at changes to make social security more sustainable. host: i am sure you saw the proposal from the chairman in the deficit committ

i think that jim demint should not have been a happy camper yesterday. furthermore, and his colleagues mostly hate him. i think that he will have more troops than he had before. his conservative caucus in the senate is not all that big. the same applies to sarah palin. i think she is a phenomenon. i think she is a rock star. she attracts cameras wherever she goes. she is a joke, even within her own party. the idea that she would be the presidential nominee is unthinkable. she has got a following. i do not think that she triumphed in this campaign. >> the majority of americans agree with you. i suspect the republicans do not. you are right in your analysis of the impact on the senate races in the tea party, but not in the house. in the house, the energy and activity really did help the party. a large number are coming in with an affiliation of one sort or another. michele bock and is starting her tea party caucus -- michele bock ben -- bauchman is starting her tea party caucus. i think the responsible figures in the party will have a hard time treating th

with white house senior advisor david axelrod and the man known as senator tea party, republican jim demint. >>> ragu government takes shape in iraq. we'll ask the sunday panel about the latest developments in america's two wars. and our power player of the week. a crazy heart academy award winner makes it his mission to ended childhood hunger all right now on "fox news sunday." and hello again from fox news in washington. congress gets back to work this week on some key issues that were left unfinished before the election. with a new political reelity here after the mid terms we want to discuss the president's agenda with white house senior advisor david axelrod who joins us from chicago. start with the bush tax cuts that expire at the the end of the year. seems to be confusion about where the president stands so let's clear that up. does the president rule out a permanent extension of all of the tax cuts for the middle class as well as those who make more than $250,000 a year? >> i think the president's position has not changed at all and he made it clear again overseas. the president bel

jim demint says he wanted to use it to repeal the health care bill, cut spending massively. if republicans want to blow up the deficit by extending tax cuts, they need to stand shoulder to shoulder on the debt ceiling. if i were the democrats, i would not do the tax cuts without doing the debt ceiling at the same time. senator conrad said it should only be possible in the context of tax reform. we can extend these for a couple of years, but if you don't do tax reform, it's an automatic snap to clinton 1999 rates. republicans want it and nobody wants a big tax increase. but the big fear i'm hearing from people on the hill is the democrats are going to give this away for nothing. and it's not clear why they're doing it that way. >> is there any lawmaker to your knowledge who is willing to suggest, hey, you know what? it isn't a good idea to extend any of these? >> actually it's george voinovich, the republican from ohio. >> of course, it is. >> besides him, there's been little on it. to be fair in the next couple of years for folks not making much money, we need any kind of st

>> jim demint on "fox news sunday," some call him senator tea party.extenting the bush era tax cuts for all americans, talking about a temporary extension for the upper income americans. here is demint. >> we need to remind everyone that we're not talking about cutting taxes. we're talking about keeping current tax rates the same. and i don't think there is any room to negotiate on raising taxes; particularly, on smaller businesses. i hope we can get a permanent extension. if the president wants to compromise on a two or three-year extension. >> so two or three years, possible deal in the works. jamie? >> jamie: senator jim demint, chris' other guest on "fox news sunday." thank you for the preview, julie kirtz. live in washington. >> eric: president obama pushing his nuclear pact in the final hours of the ten-day trip to asia which has now been completed. during the trip, he sat down with dmitry medvedev and president obama saying to get the senate to ratify the new nuclear start treaty is a top priority in this administration. the star treaty which ha

exclusive interview with the south carolina senator and tea party supporters jim demint.s right after our show. on fox news channel. >>> joe miller seems to be losing steam in the battle with fellow republican lisa murkowski in the state of the senate race. miller visited a voting center in juneau where he said he was counting on military ballots to push him ahead of murkowski. he said he won't go forward with a lawsuit and appears close to conceding the race. so far, alaska said 98,000 write-in ballots with murkowski with undefeated lead with 90% of the write-in vote. >>> arizona voters narrowly approved a measure to legalize medical marijuana and it will allow patients with the theize like cancer, h.i.v./aids, hepatitis "c" and other or chronic or debilitating diseases to have guidelines to buy 2-1/2 ounces of marijuana ever two weeks. they can grow marijuana plants. that decision makes arizona the 15th state to approve that kind of law. >>> the first major storm hit the upper midwest causing 400 car accidents in minnesota and dumping a foot of snow in part of the twin

the characters here, mitch mcconal and jim demint. oh, yeah, pork. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪ go to walmart.com for details. >>> this is the scene in london. thousands of students protesting because of a plan to increase significantly the cost to go to college there in the uk. some of these protests have turned violent. a few people have broken windows at political party headquarters. we're going to keep our eye on what's happening there in london and throughout the uk. >>> meantime, evidence of the terrifying night elizabeth smart was taken from her family back in 2002 is being seen for the first time. the u.s. district court in salt

now whenever i see jim demint, i think he started the recession.w i'll think this guy is the man. >> i think he's ready to assume the office. i think obama might learn something, too. he's got to stop being so competent and start being charismatic and start talking in these weird -- >> can you imagine obama, all right, i'm done with this. here's my new policy. >> i've tried reasoning with you people over policy. i'm the man. he should borrow those lines. it might work. he ought to try something. >> it's kind of mohammed ali-esque. that's the keeper, i'm the greatest individual ever. >> that's why he's suited for the office. >> if he runs, it will be awesome. >> it will be awesome. and he will be the first man. the man. >> the man. >> the man. >> all right. brian unger, thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> next, my takeaway on republicans and their affairs. uh-oh. i don't think you want to miss that one. ♪ it's true. you never forget your first subaru. to stay fit, you might also want to try lifting one of these. a unique sea salt added to over 40 c

host: jim demint supporting your campaign. he said over the weekend perhaps there is room to compromise on this issue and not make the permit for everybody. guest: if you are thirsty and someone offers you a partial's of water, you are probably going to take it. a temporary extension is better than none at all. host: grove city, pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: i had a question about social security. they say that social security is going broke. why not give a cost-of-living raise to those of us that are under even $50,000? why could they not give those people the cost of living instead of everybody? host: where are you on this issue of possibly giving seniors on social security another $250 check. is that a good idea? guest: eventually, it has to happen. it could this coming year. long term we need to look at whether we need to reindex based on inflation or cost of living. in the long run, we have to look at changes to make social security more sustainable. host: i am sure you saw the proposal from the chairman in the deficit

senator jim demint on fox news sunday had his own ideas.ake a listen. >> we're not talking about cutting taxes, we're talking about keeping current tax rates the same. and i don't think there's any room to negotiate on raising taxes particularly on smaller businesses. >> reporter: so the republican position is it's not time for a tax increase on anybody as we're dealing with a weak economic recovery. interesting, though, because some democrats want to see an extension of unemployment insurance, so do you give them that in exchange for an extension of the tax cuts for higher income people? we'll have to wait and see. jenna: seems like some bartering going on. mike emanuel at the white house today. >> reporter: thanks, jenna. jon: remember your first day of high school? well, newly-elected lawmakers are getting the lay of the land today in washington as orientation begins for the freshman class of the 112th congress which convenes on january 3rd. right now 94 newly-elected lawmakers are going through orientation. six house races are still off

i'm here for you. >> are you guys with jim demint on earmarks bill? by the way, i knew jim demint had a direct line, but did you notice that the sun came out? that is pretty impressive. i do not normally think of the term, congress and lehmann. i do, but i was a novice line. but starting today, nancy pelosi and harry reid are bringing back in the old, failed congress. they're going to try one last time, one last gasp to cram their agenda that has been repudiated by the american people. we're going to say no, aren't we? we're delighted to have with us one of the longtime leaders -- and i say long time in the sense of the last four for six years -- who has time and again cast the right road, whether it was his own party or the democrat party, he did so with the confidence in our free market principles and in our nations, our founding fathers. and he is someone that we can -- that we can count on now. that is my pants. -- mike pence. >> i am from indiana. it is my high honor to welcome you back to your nation's capital. americans for prosperity, american

i'm not sure that jim demint and rand paul and others have the same view. i doubt they do. >> rose: so the battle within the republican party is as much... is as big as the battle between republicans and democrats, vin? >> i think there's a significant battle within the republican party. i think it's going to be more easily healed than you, charlie, or maybe al think it's going to be. mainly because it's easier to be in opposition than it is to be in government and even though we've got the majority now in the house of representatives, we're still the basic party in opposition. but there's some very serious problems there. i mean, we basically have a lot of republicans that have gotten elected saying that they're going to vote against almost anything in terms of funding the federal government. that's not going to work. but i still think the bigger problem... the bigger question is how is the obama administration going to react to this going forward? as much as we're going to talk tonight about the republicans who have taken control of at least part of the c

. >> bret: jim, at least ten republican senators led by republican jim demint, are pledging a ban on earmarks, money for local pet projects but some are accusing rand paul, incoming senator of going back on his pledge. what is the deal? >> rand paul supports a ban on earmarks but he uses the same definition that john mccain does. earmark is something slipped in a bill in the dead of night without having gone through committee or having been voted on. smart elector paul says if you go to the committee process to repair a bridge falling down in kentucky for instance, that is not an earmark. he says he will advocate for kentucky's interest. he is promising not to insert something into a bill without it ever seeing the light of day or being voted on but he is not pledging to give up arguing for federal money needed in his state. >> more on this in the panel. thank you. advertised job openings dropped by 153,000 in september to just under 3 million. the labor department says there were five unemployed people for each available job. wholesale inventories rose 1.5% in september, much more t

if jim demint and that action is successful in bringing certain policies to the right, do you vision -- it is hard to imagine a left sitting idle over the next two years. could this be an answer to the tea party fashion? >> i do not see it at the congressional level. look at the caucus now. a lot of conservative democrats have lost. the main targets are not there. and i agreed with what he said, at the presidential level, i think barack obama has to worry about the challenge from the left, especially regarding the anti-war -- his decisions on afghanistan in 2011, they might work out. he might be able to meet his -- go to that place where he said he would begin reducing troops in 2011. it might not work out. one of the reason that we like you is that you're anti-war. that is a major spot for him. that is a place where he might see a challenge from the left or one of these figures like howard dean. maybe down the road, but i think it is a couple of elections away. >> it is also potentially that the tea party could be a gift to obama in that sense. some of the investigations against cli

this morning on television, on nbc, i think it was, your senate colleague jim demint, who is the champion of the tea party said he wants to ban on earmarks. the house republicans want to do that. you said in the past you don't think that's a good idea. >> well, here's the problem. the president of course endorsed the demint proposal in his press conference the other day, as well, which is not surprising because every president would like for us to appropriate all the money and send it to them and let them spend it in any way they want to. the earmark issue is about an argument between the executive branch and the legislative branch over how funds should be spent. so it has generated some level of controversy within our conference. there are many members of my conference who said i don't want the president to make all the decisions about how the funds are spent that might be allocated to my state. other members have said i think we need to get rid of earmarks. we ought to deal the executive branch earmarks-- the stimulus bill, almost a trillion dollar stimulus bill was riddled with executi

as jim demint gets more to sign up for his tea party-inspired ban on earmarks.nhofe points out it doesn't matter. mr. inhofe continuing his public crusade rally against demint's ban. he says it's all for show. he could pass it and it won't make any difference. slamming supporters for the ban for their lack of regard for the constitution. >> these guys will come in and the first vote they'll cast is to trash the constitution and reject their oath of office. >> inhope vows to deliver a, quote, pretty strong statement against the ban on monday. intending to call out demint before being for earmarks before being against them. politico said 13 leaders siding with demint. now many of those lawmakers are hedging on whether they will vote for it it this time around. john boehner and eric cantor inventing an entirely new house gop position, specifically intended to be awarded to a freshman member of congress. no title, no job description as of yet. the gop is floating christine gnome of south dakota. or token tea party rookie of the year award. last week, ms. gnome would

republican senator jim demint also supports the tea party and won re-election by a huge margin over democrate and senator demint joins us from greenville, this morning. congratulations and good morning to you senator. >> well, good morning. it was a good night for conservatives around america and this'll give republicans a second chance. >> let's start where jeff glor just left off, sarah palin running for president. can you see that happening? can you see a maybe palin-demint ticket or vice versa in 2012. >> well, i agree with her, i would only consider if no one else was willing to do it at this point. sarah palin's done a lot of good for the country. she's gone out front and taken a lot of the slings and arrows from the critics, when women or minorities get involved in politics as conservatives, they take a lot of hits from the press. and she's done a lot of good for the republican party, for our country. and obviously, i'm glad to see a lot of these limited government conservatives win elections yesterday. >> you both have done a lot of good for these tea party republicans and when they

jim demint is trying to get the senate to do the same.ave don't think it will balance our budget. we know it is not. you have to deal with the entitlements but they are sending a signal to the american people that things will be different. politically you have to admit that's a smart move, right? >> oh, yeah. it's excellent for spin. but as you said, totally eliminating earmarks saves $8 million. >> i'll take it. >> it's aliit will -- a little shtick. one thing i advocated, sean, national infrastructure bank to spend a lot of that transportation money rather than earmarks, whoever is the most popular and powerful congressman. i they're marks should go. i would like to see the democrats vote for them to go. >> sean: america is headed for, you know, principled showdown, classic conservative, i'm a part of and classic liberalism, bigger government, take over of industry. hillary clinton said something i thought was interesting. she thinks the president will follow the model of bill clinton and move to the center, but she said it in an intere

jim demint trying to get the senate to do the same thing.ll, but symbolic and important message. >> actionable. things like this from the obama deficit commission is something that looks good on paper. john boehner, he is doing something that we are all going to be able to see, something he is actually going to do. she committing himself to it. people like to see this. this really means they're taking it for real. >> sean: if they want entitlement reform, they have to provide the american people choices. if they pull this away from young people and cut benefits and raise the retirement age and means test it when it's said and done, why don't they give us a choice? it's not part of the solution. >> i think you have to trust the public to make smart and wise decision about their future. the reality is we're not going to have social security. it won't be around anyway. >> sean: we pay all our life. are they going to steal it? >> they already are. >> it's insol vent and won't be there. >> sean: they look to demonize the corporation. what if a co

jim demint and sarah pay lin are responsible for the senate not going republican.they are responsible for christine o'donnell and ken buck in colorado and sharon angle in nevada. those characters were all rejected. in every single case when the republicans won a senate seat except in the rand paul case, the margin was considerably smaller for a tea party kind of candidate than it was for a regular. rob portman, dan coatz, but the regulars across the board finished far better off, and you can even put marco rubio in there because he got less than 50% of the vote as well. i think jim demint should not have been a happy camper yesterday, and furthermore his colleagues mostly hate him, and i think that the, you know, he will have more troops than he had before, but he, you know, his conservative caucus in the senate is not all that big, so the same applies to sarah palin i think. i think she's a phenomena, i think she's a rock star. i think she's, you know, attracts cameras wherever she goes, but she's a joke. even within her own party the idea that she would be the pr

supporters, jim demint let the cat out of the bag on the strategy of health reform. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him. >> that was not a substantive argument against health reform on its merits, it was the argument that if we can stop him, that will be harmful to the president, and so that, itself, is reason enough to stop it. mitch mcconnell, the top republican in the senate has reiterated multiple times what his number one goal is for republicans in washington now. >> over the next two years, he says, "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president." >> his number one goal is not jobs. his number one goal is not the economy. his number one goal is not anything to do with any specific policy. the number one goal, the goal that is more important than any other goal is to hurt president obama, no matter the cost. admitting to this type of strategy shows that republicans have calculated that any policy passing in washington at all, anything, might reflect well on the president. might

also on june 1 of last year, this from south carolina senator jim demint.ands of jobs have been lost. now the government has forced tax pairs to buy these failing companies without any plausible plan for profitability. does anyone think the same government that plans to double the national debt in five years will turn gm around in the same time? again, on june 1, we heard this from republican national committee chairman michael steele -- no matter how much the president spins gm's bankruptcy as good for the economy, it is nothing more than another government grab of a private company and another handout to the union kroen knows who helped bank roll his presidential campaign. this is the real change president obama has in mind for america -- government ownership of our economy, financed with irresponsible and reckless government spending and debt and no jobs to show for it. other republican lawmakers called it a disaster, the president's, quote, war on capitalism, and, quote, the road to socialism. instead, about 16 months after the president used socialism

>> i think jim demint will win this. there's no question the republicans across the country are against the prak tigs of earmarks. they are destined to lose, this time or the next. >> josh, you have a problem there. within the republican caucus it's actually a secret ballot. so a lot of the senators could go out and be like, oh, yeah, i hate those earmarks. where do i sign. are you really that confident the tea party folks are going to win? >> you're right about the fact that it's a secret ballot. but the fact of the matter is that whatever the outcome of the secret ballot in this case, the friends that the pert is on and the direction that it's going is clear. this is a party that's rediscovered the roots in fiscal conservativetism to an extent that didn't seem possible when we lost power in 2006 and 2008. so whether it happens now or later, it's going to happen. jim d, mint is on the right side of history. josh, slightly confused the difference between the republicans and the tea party, it seemed like they were so clos

he's got a group of people, led by jim demint and the incoming freshman, rand paul, mark arubio an around the country saying no more earmarks. it's swept up so many people including mitch mcconnell who has a long and glorious career of getting things for kentucky and dan coats. it's got everybody in a fer ver. 28 of the incoming 46 are going to support this measure. the incoming 47, i should say. they are going to support this measure. itis going to go through. it's nonbinding. there are some senators who said, we don't care what direction the conference is going, we are requesting earmarks. >> you mentioned jim demint. listen to what he had to say. >> if we can't decide as a federal government, it's not our job to pave local parking lots, we don't understand what limited government is. it's a senate republicans fail to pass the ban tomorrow, obviously, they have not gotten the message. >> the president talked about banning earmarks. do you think all this talk is going to pressure the senate democrats to go along with the ban? >> we have seen a couple jump on to the bandwagon. there's no

presence, but among senators and members of the house, remarkably, if you say tea party, they say jim demint or michelle bachman. her world within that establishment of office holders is strangely quiet. >> but they have a show on tlc. >> no, they don't. >> it shows how out of touch they are. you go to anywhere else in america and you'll hear someone mention sarah palin's name. only on capitol hill is it a name that's not mentioned. and you said something earlier, norah, that if sarah palin plans to run -- listen, she's running. >> she's not just selling books? >> i do not think so. >> she's creating a hybrid model of the politician, entertainer. it's really fascinating. >> the risk for obama in a sense, he's actually running against her, so from his point of view, until she's declared, the best policy is to pretend she's not there. >> we bottom-line this with the matthews mirror. the question was, is sarah palin's high profile next year a plus or minus for president obama? not even close. 12 to zippo. the meter says, she's a plus. kelly? >> well, i think if you are president obama and his s

turn out tea party puppet master jim demint banned earmarks for this congress, two year ban, not permanent straight out of the '94 congress come out and says we are doing this because it had become a symbol. not that he thought it was bad. >> is that kicking the tires or the congressman? >> i think the congressman needs it as well. we ran out of time. next, the four stocks making money right now, next. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. dave the force investment guide is out. head online to see which stocks are sizzling. first four picks you won't find in the magazine. we are calling them surprise stocks. >> new repo

she had endorsed christine o'donnell, as did jim demint, and she dismissed it by saying, "i did not expect her to win in the first place." in that case, why did she endorsed her over mike castle, who would have won the seat? the duse's and is great for the party, but if she is going to run -- the enthusias is great for the party, but if she ru on her own, it would be a catastrophe and it would reelect obama. >> i would defend her and anybody endorsing a candidate not on pragmatic grounds that they are going to win but because they believe in the positions i don't believe in the opponent's positions. that is presumably why she endorsed christine o'donnell over mike castle. on sarah palin in 2012, one of the unspoken problems should as at -- she does have is quitting as governor midway through her first term. it is like ted kennedy's chappaquiddick. there is a higher threshold for that office. >> it is a really extraordinary thing. the republicans have an incredible array of a very talented candidates, but they could divide the other boat t d leave her as the person winning the early primari