the response was fantastic and in parliament certainly that was hosted by john mcdonnell and lots of activists and journalists and from from here and abroad turned up and you know they gave us their feedback in the session and i and a lot of it was wow just because they did i've never known about this stuff you know sort of eminent people professors and doctors who have never heard of the role of delivery companies have never heard of the role of thomas gresham setting up global financial capitalism so i think just exposing that historical fact was very well received but also the eventual consolidation of the power of finance as an explanation for how we got to the current situation today i think to hear a priest explaining how the corporation of london a set up or a religion of consumerism that in some respects can explain elements of the last year's riots it's positioned lots of different discourses lots of different ideas in relation to this. and historical explanation and i think people really appreciated that a lot of people were asking what do we do that and why how do we you k

senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcdonnell and john boehner and nancy will sit down with president obama. it's the first time all five are meeting since november. economists hope they'll come up with a plan to avoid automatic tax increases and government spending cuts. some fear the meet as good just for show, however a big development with the senate minority leader. he spoke directly with the president for the first time in negotiations. >> i told the president we would be happy to look at whatever he proposes but the truth is we're coming up against a hard dead line here and as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. >> the main sticking point is who should pay more in taxes. democrats want a hike on households making more than $400,000 a year and republican aids say their leaders might get on board with that offer. >>> meanwhile if they aren't able to avoid the fiscal cliff people here in alabama will be especially hard hit. that's because prop 30 will soon mean higher sales taxes and higher income taxes on the state's top earners, the fiscal cliff would a

for john boehner or barack obama or mitch mcdonnell or harry reid, they have a big problem and a structuraln the political system. >> we have to take a break f. you're sick of talking about the fiscal cliff, we're going it to take a break after this. some news for you. we'll debut the new polls with the top contenders for 2016. i'll ask you all to offer up some predictions for in new yearle as well. >>> we are back wrapping up the fiscal cliff talks. what i'm wondering here, matt, is we hear so often about a cliff. it's a natural disaster, falling off a cliff. you object to this. >> i do. it's important to remember this is not a fiscal cliff. the cliff as you say is something that occurs in nature. you come up on a cliff and if you don't slow down, you plummet to your death. this is a fiscal suicide vest. this is congress rigging the system and saying last year in 2011 it actually was, we can't be trusted to make good, mature decisions about what needs to be done. we're going to booby-trap the system, and if we can't act like adults this date certain, it will explode and be awful. it turns

house speaker john boehner, minority leader nancy pelosi, senate majority leader harry reid and mitch mcdonnell who have a collective 100 years legislating between them will be meeting with the president soon. . they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announ

>> john: i want to talk briefly about one state you've done a lot of reporting on, virginia. governor bob mcdonnell and ken ush nelly are calling for -- virginia is a bellwether state. which way do you think they're going to go? >> virginia went for president obama in the presidential election by about three points. polls showed that by a 9% margin despite huge, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenditures on virginia by the nra voters in virginia preferred president obama's approach on guns to mitt romney's by 9 points. so i think there's definitely a popular sentiment in virginia that we need to do something. >> john: josh, i realize americans love guns the way the rest of the world loves soccer but it is encouraging to hear how nra members support closing the gun show loophole and sensible background checks. i thank you for the terrific reporting you've done for think progress. josh israel, political reporter for think progress. >> thanks very much. >> john: coming up, do you remember the scene in the bible where jesus side loads of shotguns and says say hello to a real peace ma

author -- one john grisham, the best selling author, but right now it looks like it will be mcauliffe and cuccinelli. you can't get two different people. >>> let's talk about bob mcdonnellnd he's a lame duck now. rumor is he's got higher aspirations. >> well, he's got nothing to do. he's out. he's out. if romney had won, he was an early supporter, he would probably have been in the cabinet, maybe even attorney general, but now there were two reports and most prominent being in the wall street journal today that he went up to sheldon madison. remember him, the guy with the real deep pockets who gave over 50 million to gingrich and romney and introduced himself and told him of his availability, i guess, for president. democrats are very please because they think well, i guess he's not going to run against mark warner in 2014 and over in maryland, let's not leave out maryland, i talked to one high ranging politician who doesn't want to be quote -- ranking politician who doesn't want to be quoted who says martin o'malley who is also term limited and in two terms when he gets out has checked out meaning he stops being governor, he's running for president. so we're either ble