. >>> republican senator john thune is thinking about running for president in 2012. he also thinks tax cuts for the rich are more important than helping the 9/11 first responders. you know those heroes that americans have been so proud of. you know the ones that got sick at ground zero. tax cuts are more important than their medical care? he'll get an uncomfortable ride into the "zone" tonight. >>> and the reverend al sharpton met with the fcc about the drugster and the racist hate speech that's that he's put out over the airs for a long time. >>> but this is the story that has me fired up tonight. president obama's tax compromise with the republicans has been on hold, been put on hold, knocked off track by house democrats who want to fight this thing. i love it. that's what this is all about. a fight. this bill was supposed to sail right on through. republican his champagne on ice and victory cigars ready to go but house democrats threw a monkey wrench into their plans all day long, and at this hour, house leadership is behind closed doors trying to hammer out a dea

>> several of them, not the least of them was john thune, tall, handsome south dakota and. he was making sounds of running for president in 2012. lisa murkowski, they reelected republican from alaska, is an independent agent all of a sudden. don't ask, don't tell, start -- the republican leadership, if you recall, cut her loose. she apparently has a long memory. >> and she has cut them loose. >> she voted for all of these things. >> let me say one word about start. there is something so anachronistic about it. it is putting us and the russians back in the 1950's. the idea that we are going to curtail our arsenals by 10%, and that will make any difference, even if the russians wanted to triple their arsenal, it will not make a difference. who cares. the point is, obama wanted a victory of sorts, and this is the only one that he had in foreign affairs. intrinsically, it has almost no importance whatsoever. >> that is not a question of trust. it was not just rakowski. you have 13 republicans who did not follow leadership. >> the public does not give a darn about what the leade

, the last john thune being someone who has even talked about for 2012 is a republican and the democrats you've got harry reid, patty murray, chuck schumer, dick durbin, everybody does it. so what's the sort of high and mighty posture by the republicans last night? >> well, the heat is coming from the newly emboldened conservative base in the republican party and the tea partiers and others had railed against earmarks. it really became awkward when you see senator connen come out and attack the bill and then get challenged because he has his own earmarks in it. it just became untenable. they couldn't vote against it. and still have any credibility. and so they just had to tank the bill all together. and this is just a touch of flavor of the kind of fights, many fights that we're going to be in for next year. i can almost see why the republicans would have preferred to have a long-term omnibus spending bill that would get them into next year before these kinds of clashes would begin happening. because now in all likelihood they could start almost as soon as the next congress begins. >> th

senator john thune, both of whom are outraged by the pork and earmarks. pork and earmarks requested by themselves. best as we can tell, this bill contains 32 separate earmarks requested by senator john thune and 53 earmarks requestedly senator john cornyn. a fact that made for an interesting turn of events once these senators opened things up today for questions. watch this. >> the bill contain miss earmarks that you requested. i mean, why are you opposing this bill when it includes things that you called for in there? >> i intend to vote against these earmarks, because i think the american people sent a message on november 2nd saying they wanted a new way of operating. >> senator thune, i was looking at the list and it adds up to over $100 million. have you asked those those earmarks be removed? >> i'm going to vote against it. >> why haven't you asked they be removed? >> well, those are projects that were vetted. i mean, i support those projects, but i don't support this bill. >> i support those projects, but i don't support this bill. to be clear, thes

looking ahead, it shows him ahead if he would run against mitt romney, sarah palin or senator john thune. they were not quite as optimistic about the country's direction. 63% think it's headed in the wrong direction. not surprisingly as the nation emerges from what's known as the great recession, a combined 54% say the past 10 years have been either a very bad decade or one of the worst decades in american history. >>> back to the s.t.a.r.t. treaty that is the nuclear arms agreement with russia that tracie mentioned earlier, the president wanted it to be ratified before the holidays. last night on "the rachel maddow" show she asked john kerry why he thinks it's so important to pass. >> we have an opportunity to make history and reduce the number of nuclear weapons pointed at the united states. we have an opportunity to increase our security, to make americans safer, by once again getting people back on the ground in russia to be able to inspect what the russians are doing. we haven't had people on the ground for a year now. every member of our intelligence community has said pass this tr

here's john thune, republican senator, a member of the leadership. he's from south dakota. here's an important footnote. he's thinking about running for the republican nomination for president. he's on the floor today, he's not naming names, but he's sending a message. >> when it's perhaps even politically expedient to stand on the sidelines and criticize this proposal. but let me make one thing very clear, mr. president. advocating against this tax proposal is to advocate for a tax increase. and that is something that we cannot and the american economy cannot afford. >> now, not naming names, but perhaps, just perhaps, he read "usa today" this morning, where there's a guy, the former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, i think he's running for the republican nomination as well. and he wrote this. "given the unambiguous message that the american people sent to washington in november, it is difficult to understand how our political leaders could have reached such a disappointing agreement. because the tax deal is temporary, a large portion of this ben efficient effect is mi

the president ahead if he were to run against the likes of mitt romney, sarah palin, or senator john thune. >>> the public wasn't quite as optimistic about the nation's direction. 63% think the country is headed in the wrong direction. that's the most since obama took office. and not surprisingly as the nation emerges from what's known as the great recession, a combined 54% say the past ten years have either been a very bad decade or one of the worst decades in american history. >>> this morning's "new york times" reports that federal prosecutors are trying to build a conspiracy case against wikileaks founder julian assange. according to the "times," the justice department is trying to figure out whether assange encouraged or helped private bradley manning, the army specialist suspected of leaking classified state department files, who is currently being held in a virginia prison. if assange did so, officials believe they could charge him as a conspirator in the leak, not just a passive recipient of the documents who then published them. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories maki

. >> meanwhile republican senator john thune, named as a possible 2012 presidential candidate, blasted the plan's critics. >> now, it's easy to stand on the sidelines and it to criticize this proposal and it it's, perhaps, even politically expedient to stand on the sidelines and criticize this proposal. but make -- but let me make one thing very clear, mr. president, advocating against this tax proposal is to advocate for a tax increase. >> thune's comments came on the same day that potential 2012 republican frontrunner mitt romney called the tax plan a, quote, disappointing agreement that does not extend tax cuts for the wealthy for a long enough period. romney wrote that in a usa it "today" editorial. >>> there is growing outrage after senate democrats unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill to finance the federal government, filling more than 1,900 pages the measure cuts $26 billion from president obama's budget requests. however republicans say they will oppose it for including hundreds of earmarks which many on capitol hill have promised to stop. among the flash points in the bill

host: and another viewer says that john thune is another possibility. guest: it seems that he is creeping toward the starting gate. he has a lot of attitudes. he looks like he could be a potentially strong candidate. i think there are questions about john thune as there are about all of these candidates. all of us have got around to talk to people are looking at this race or strategists who are involved in it. it is a notion that for every candidate's strand, there seems to be a weakness. you can go down the list and say so and so has this problem and so when so has that problem. everybody looking at this has concluded that this race may be as wide open as any we have seen on the republican side for a long time. host: we have a caller on our line for democrats. caller: thank you. i hope i will be able to finish my point. thank you for c-span. i think i will become addicted to it. president obama is a centrist. when his liberal friends assumed he would be more on their side, they were shocked that he ran the harvard law review from the metal. as we talk

. >> reporter: senator thune thune thune among the field of -- john thune among the field of potential 2012 contenders casting their vote in favor of the bill. other possible candidates joined the sometimes qualified support. newt gingrich, the new jersey governor, christie. 2008 contender mike huckabee who told the national journal it will make a big difference about those making decision about expansion and hiring. it means more money in private sector and less in hands of government. so those are all good things. >> those who support the deal will be able to say i helped prevent a catastrophe. >> but others say true conservatives shouldn'tth to deal to add to the deficit. >> bad deal for taxpayers and little to ecreate jobs. can't support it. >> joining in the opposition to the deal is 2008 hopeful and probably 2012 candidate mitt romney who wrote "what some are calling a grand compromise is not grand at all, except in the price tag. the total package will cost $1 trillion resulting in substantial new borrowing at a time we're downing in red ink." that reportedly invited this respon

so is john thune. folks who might run for the republican slot in the presidential ticket are taking aim at each other already using a tax cut deal as a proxy fight. so we're seeing that one begin already. moving over to a local race in chicago today, we've heard about how a former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel is going before a judge and waiting to hear whether he will be deemed a legal resident of chicago so he can continue to run his race. that might be a tough time for him but good news has come his way. a chicago tribune wgn poll shows that in a very crowded field, rahm emanuel is a front-runner in that race. he has 32% of support from the voters there. not a clear overall majority but more than any other single candidate has because, again, very, very crowded race. so that's a little bit of good news for rahm emanuel. and, okay, here is a different kind of christmas war. brooke, senators -- senators john kyle and jim demint have said, look, senate shouldn't go lake, go way into the holid

out of 12 people they mention in the survey, only two senators, john thune and john mccain.s, ron paul, sarah palin. so interestingly enough, it sounds like any senators who are eyeing the white house have a lot of work to do to get a little buzz going. >> that surprising. joe johns, always have the good stuff. thank you, sir. see you tomorrow. >>> what stories were you most interested in this year? which stories did you click on, talk about, tweet about? we have the list of the top trenders, and there is a new online service in the dating world. but this one kind of different. instead of finding a soulmate it helps you break up with one. the whole dumping website is next. oh, my gosh. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 yea

yesterday, john thune issued something against the new spending bill. >> the american people neither deserve nor want this bill that heaps more debt on to the backs of future generations. the bill is loaded up with pork projects and shouldn't get a vote. >> how much in so-called pork projects does thune have? according to politico, he has $65 million in pork. senator thune that has $65 million main earmarks. he's campaigninging against the very pork he's grabbing. boy, these guys are unbelievable. >>> they say they're mad at harry reid for threatening to keep the senate in session. reid says the republicans are just trying to run out the clock. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. everybody has somebody to go heart healthy for. who's your somebody? eating campbell's healthy request can help. 25 delicious soups with low cholesterol, zero grams trans fat, and a healthy level of sodium. because heart healthy is good for your life... and the people in it. healthy request from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. >>> stocks gaining ground on upbeat economic reports and bullish

in 2012. 42 to 39 against an unnamed republican. 47 to 40 against mitt romney. 47 to 27 against john thune, and 53 to 33 against sarah palin. obama's ratings have held surprisingly steady over the past year and have been especially resilient with his core constituency of african-americans, democrats, latinos and younger voters across the board. people to like the president personally, but are less likely to view him as a strong leader who's uniting the country and changing business as usual. so has president obama done the best he could given the limited powers of the presidency, the deadlocked congress and the conservative nature of the american people? joining me now are richard wolffe, author of "revival -- the struggle for survival inside the obama white house" and ari berman, author of "herding donkeys -- the fight to rebuild the democratic party and reshape american politics." ari, are you surprised at these numbers, given all the criticism the president has been getting from both left now and the right? >> yeah. not totally, lawrence. and thanks for having me. i think if you look at

john thune equally outraged. explaining his 28 earmarks worth 39 million to the national journal. quoting him. those were projects that were voted. those were projects that we -- i mean, i support those projects. but i don't support this bill. john mccain called on the carpet by economist magazine. the magazine pointed out they provide funding for valuable things like protecting life stock from disease. one anonymous house republican telling rollcall, they will find a way around their self-imposed earmark bill. build a better rat trap. you just get smarter rats. >>> senator reid thought that republicans would fall in line. coming out to defend president obama. reminding the senate the without this bill being passed -- >> the constitution we have doesn't have a lot of information in it. what is in it tlunz runs this country. i am convinced i do not want to give up more power to the white house. whether it's george bush or barack obama. i'm going to fight as hard as i can against president obama on these earmarks and my republican colleagues who hate to vote for them but love to get

>> not just that mitch mcconnell and john thune, both of him who are now against earmarks to their creditboth of them have earmarks in this bill. and they have to be stripped out. >> bill: they want to show the people -- -- all this kind of stuff. i'm saying no more. i don't care where you are. >> we are done. they are like addicts though, bill. i'm senator x and i'm a spender. okay? they have to admit their problem. >> bill: mcconnell and thune, it shows people that you are just not idealogue at trying to bash the democrats. >> i had senator thune on my show today. i said senator, what gives? he said he is going to support an amendment to strip out even his earmarks. i think that's progress. i think they are getting it. >> bill: laura ingraham, everybody. mcdonald's under attack. is their food legally bad? megyn kelly will analyzed. sarah palin on -- tv show and book. do they hurt her in the political arena? the governor upcoming. pkó@v@ zx7? >> bill: kelly file segment tonight, that villain julian assange out on bail. today the british authorities released him on $315,000 bond despite

former house speaker newt gingrich, minnesota governor, tim pawlenty and south dakota senator, john thune. what do they say? they say there is plenty in the tax package that they don't like, but they think this deal is better than the alternative, letting taxes go up on january 1st. they also stay provides some clarity about the future which business leaders have wanted. now, clearly there is potential political danger in both positions. for those who vote yes, they risk incurring the wrath of tea party groups, some which said they don't like the bill. for those that vote no, taxes go up on january 1st they risk induring the wrath of voters will don't want higher taxes. >> we have yet to find out what is going to happen january 1st w don't know. wait and see what happens with the tax package first. >> thanks, jessica. >>> nine years into the war in afghanistan, president obama insists the u.s. is making some progress toward defeating al qaeda. he says he will travel to pakistan next year, in part to push for tougher action against what he called terrorist safe havens there. now the presid

senator john thune of south dakota. mitch daniels, governor of indiana. let me ask and just throw this open. who jumps out among those? >> it's interesting when you throw them out like that. thune jumps out because he has the least baggage. newt gingrich has personal baggage. >> chris: because he's cute, right? >> he's very handsome. but he is -- newt gingrich has personal baggage that doesn't go, his marital history doesn't go over well with social conservatives. mike huckabee, we just discussed. i don't think mitch daniels is necessarily going to run. haley barbour i think even if the comments specifically don't hurt him, i think it opens up a line of inquiry which we have seen other comments come out on the race issue that could hurt him. his lobbying issues could hurt him. you just see all of these -- when you look at all the candidates i see problems. >> can i go out on a limb and make predictions. i think palin will not run. no knowledge at all but i think ultimately she won't. newt gingrich is underestimated. he is going to run and he will be formi

john thune, rick santorum have already mentioned she is kind of the elephant in the room so to speak.y are waiting to see. they are sort of testing the waters. they might like to run. she takes up so much of the oxygen and so much of the energy, to be frank, in a place like iowa where you have to go door to door and get a lot of those folks on board. it is going to be very difficult. don't forget about somebody like mike huckabee. people want to talk about sarah palin but huckabee won the '08 iowa caulk cusses. evangelicals like him. he is a very friendly guy, good, well-spoken, former southern baptist preacher. if he gets in, if sarah palin gets in, then, you will have a real fight for the oxygen in the room and who can get the social conservatives. mitt romney, the front-runner, we're likely to hear him announce later this spring. >> dem mon comon tan nar roe, thank you very much. >>> the nbc news political unit. you can logon to first read. >>> christmas goes underground in slovenia. visitors are heading underground to see a live performance of the nativity. they board a train that

host: and another viewer says that john thune is another possibility. guest: it seems that he is creeping toward the starting gate. he has a lot of attitudes. he looks like he could be a potentially strong candidate. i think there are questions about john thune as there are about all of these candidates. all of us have got around to talk to people are looking at this race or strategists who are involved in it. it is a notion that for every candidate's strand, there seems to be a weakness. you can go down the list and say so and so has this problem and so when so has that problem. everybody looking at this has concluded that this race may be as wide open as any we have seen on the republican side for a long time. host: we have a caller on our line for democrats. caller: thank you. i hope i will be able to finish my point. thank you for c-span. i think i will become addicted to it. president obama is a centrist. when his liberal friends assumed he would be more on their side, they were shocked that he ran the harvard law review from the metal. as we talk

. >>> now to the tonight's "big number," yesterday republican senator john thune issued some a fatwa against the new spending bill. >> the american people neither deserve nor want this bill that heaps more debt onto the backs of future generations. the bill's loaded up with pork projects and it shouldn't get a vote. >> wow. but catch this, how much in so-called pork projects does senator thune himself have in this spending bill? according to politico, he has $65 million in pork. talk about one of your cake and eating it too. senator thune has $65 million in earmarks requests in the new spending fwhal he opposes. he's campaigning against the very pork he's grabbing. tonight's outrage worthy "big number." boy, these guys are unbelievable. >>> up next senate republicans say that they're mad at harry reid for threatening to keep the senate in session around christmas. they're saying reid is disrespecting christmas because he wants to hold a vote on the new s.t.a.r.t. nuclear treaty before christmas, and reid says the republicans who are just trying to run out of the clock, let's get into

republican senators john thune and john cornyn railed against the pork spending. >> the bill's loaded and it shouldn't get a vote. >> i think it demonstrates profound disrespect for the american people. >> reporter: but both senators have inserted tens of millions of dollars of their own earmarks in the bill, including thune's request for $8 million for b-1 bomber fleet maintenance, and cornyn's request for $1.6 million for the texas army national guard counter drug task force. the president has asked congress to pass the bill anyway. without it, defense secretary robert gates says the pentagon would be left without the resources it needs. vinita and rob? >>> the battle over tax cuts moves to the house today. the president's plan easily passed yesterday in the senate. the legislation provides a two-year extension of those bush-era tax cuts for all americans. it also extends benefits for the long-term unemployed. oklahoma senator tom coburn is one of the lawmakers slamming the deal saying it simply costs too much. >> not only are the disgusted people in this country with our actions th

earmarks requested by republican john thune of south dakota, 26. >> those are two different things -- >> so when asked -- wait a minute, if this is such an outrage, why are your emarks in there, here's what he says -- >> we've said very clearly we voted for an emark moratorium. we will abide by that. and we will reject any earmarks rekwecquested by us or anyone e because that's what the american people told us they want. >> so now they're going to vote -- >> $1 trillion bill, the emarks -- >> -- they were for it -- >> i agree with you, earmarks are a tiny -- >> it's less than 1%. >> thank you. >> however, they just ran a campaign to the american people saying we will make them go away. >> it doesn't give the democrats the right to drop $1 trillion bill on their heads -- >> two wrongs don't make a right. >> oh, talk about sanctimony please, john, please. >> the tea party express plans to go after those republicans who vote for this. >> then that's a political price they may have to pay. >> it's the height of hypocrisy, that's the problem. it's a very small part of the deficit. $8 billi

for right now, though, the most fascinating line is that by john thune in the senate with his barbs toromney who had come out against it trying to lay the field there. he will have a very tough time, frankly, as an incumbent senator running on this. interestingly to me is a guy like mike huckabee supporting this when he didn't have to support this. newt gingrich maybe so but the dynamic here is mike huckabee on sarah palin is the one i'm keeping my eye on. >> i hate to use it because he is just, is he not, in the bob dole box? >> right. >> he's in the leadership. he's not number one but he's in the senate leadership so he is supposed to do the bidding of the leadership yet is thinking of running for president which means he has to take a lot of positions, roundup votes, cast votes tough to defend in iowa, new hampshire and beyond. >> they are keeping track of who will vote for this, who will vote for the tax cuts and they're keeping an eye on them. while there's not total unanimity many of the powerful ones do not want a yes vote. senator thune will have to explain should he seek the 2

among them, john thune of south dakota. >> i mean, it's inexcusable to think that we have to pass a $1.2we just got less than 24 hours ago and that's the way you're going to fund the government. and, they're going to load it up with all this special-interest stuff to boot. >> reporter: the house already passed a bill to fund the government through next september that freezes current spending levels. lawmakers there readied today to take up the tax cut measure. the hang-up in the house was an estate tax provision that sets a top rate of 35% on values above $10 million. many democrats instead want a top tax rate of 45% on estates of more than $7 million. republicans warned any move to change the tax cut deal now might jeopardize the entire package. in the "washington post" today,ç maryland democrat chris vanç hollen vowed to try nonetheless writing, "we don't think it's fiscally responsible or fair to provide a tax-cut bonanza to super-rich estates." for his part, president obama again urged lawmakers to come together and finish the job. >> i know there are different aspects of this plan

let me comment on that, because no sooner did the president have his press conference but senator john thune says "well, what we need to do now is get to work on spending cuts." that's... sounds to me like an absolute double whammy, then, for middle-class people. where are those spending cuts that he has in mind? i think it's exactly those kinds of programs that like college... help with college tuition or medical research or job training things that absolutely help middle-class people help our country, that they're going to target next. so they're shameless about that. you know, give us these huge tax cuts that add to the deficit and now we'll be able to cut the size of government. and that's what i worry about is their agenda. but i also want to say that i think rather than certainty, what businesses need are customers. and so i would have preferred to see more investment. you know, everyone's afraid now at the administration to talk about stimulus. the stimulus actually did work. we need more stimulus but it's not going to come from giving tax cuts to the wealthiest and certainly not thro

and, elizabeth, in giving credit where credit is due, john cornyn and john thune that i questioned yesterday about special projects they put in that bill led the fight to defeat it convincing other republicans to withdraw support even though they had plenty of special projects in the bill themselves. >> all right. >>> turning now to the new terror alert. the government warning about the potential threat of a terror strike during the holidays. pierre thomas is in washington with the details. good morning to you, pierre. >> reporter: good morning. to be clear there's no specific intelligence indicating an attack is imminent. but with christmas one week away, u.s. law enforcement is being told, be vigilant. a new fbi/homeland security bulletin warns police that the holiday season provides attractive opportunities for terrorists. it is imperative that law enforcement and security personnel remain alert for indicators of attack planning. the reason for the concern, the psychological impact such an attack would have during such a symbolic time of year, and today a sign of increasing general worry.

sarah palin, including mine percent who ace now in the house, but there are some, like senator john thunenow this costs a lot, but would you rather that people's taxes go up? or the mick daniels says it's not a great deal, but you know what? they have to do it. >> i'm one for you. jim demint threatening to read the entire spending bill on the floor of the senate, what is going on here? >> guess what? other, jim demint says he hades the spending bill he wants to spend four days reading it aloud. jim demint doesn't want to pass don't ask/don't tell, a lot of republicans don't want the s.t.a.r. treaty right now. it makes all of them like kind of childish, wouldn't you say? >> absolutely. gloria great toss you. >> good to see you. >>> your next political update or go to cnnpolitics.com. >>> a new story trending on the internet. >>> we're following the big story -- sandra endo is tracking it. good to see you again, sandy. >> hay there, tony, yeah, this is big on social network sites, facebook getting into the realm of facial recognition technology. this will be a feature that launches next wee

among those other republicans who stand for the tax cut package, john thune, a senator currently in congressny others. so a lot of division on that still. and also talking 2012, ali, some new news on when is it all going to begin? those of us planning our schedules for next year care, and so do the presidential contenders. mitch daniels, the governor of indiana and a potential hopeful, says he's not going to run for president until april of next year. and another one, haley harbor, says he's not going to decide until around spring. we have a little while to wait. but what's interesting here is this presidential season is starting a lot later this time around. sfwlnchlt sfwlnchlt >>> and turning the page. remember a place called hope? that was the place -- >> bill clinton's place where he was from. >> it was the theme of hills convention and that's where he was born, hope, arkansas. his home town, his childhood home, is becoming a national park. the place he lived, the two-story house, he lived there for his first four years. and he's now going to be a national park. there are only a few othe

reaction from two leading republican senators as a massive spending bill moves through the congress, john thune and, jon cornyn are set to speak, no doubt poised to stop the porky pet projects, and that is how we start a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," a busy morning, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. how do we know what the senators will say, jon cornyn drew us a picture here on "america's newsroom." here's what he said: >> what we can do, if we can get 41 senators to vote against closing off debate on the omnibus bill, we can do what we should have done in the first place, and go to a short-term continuing resolution to keep the lights on. until february and we can come back and do it the right way. we don't have to do it this way. this is a wrong way to try to keep the government operating. bill: in the meantime, senator john mccain was all fired up over the billions of dollars in earmarks, buried in the massive spending bill, between $8 billion and $9 billion, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for pet projects that some consider a waste of tax dollars, here's the senat

against john thune, one of the unknown candidates, mike pence and national name recognition, the president sits at 47. you kind of see a pattern here, thune at 27%. then match him up against sarah palin and you see some problems here for sarah palin because the president gets 55, palin gets 33. that is more about sarah palin than it is president obama, because look at these negative ratings, meredith. >> yeah. >> she is sitting at 50% negative. >> palin, for all the exposure she has had this year does not do well the voters? >> not at all n fact there is a real divide. dig inside the numbers. sitting at that 50% negative rating. makes her the most unpopular politician we tested in our poll this month and tied for the most unpopular we have tested all year. only nancy pelosi scores an equal rating. women are more negative toward her. really, the only positive group of voters sitting out there, meredith are fox news viewers, one of the only group of voters she has a positive rating. >> on that note, chuck todd, thank you very much. >> you got t. >> is 7:11 once again, here is matt. >> thank

republican of texas, he's got $50 million both of earmarks in it, he's going to vote against it, john thune of south dakota, $38 million worth in there, he will vote against it. so you've got a rising tide of republican senators saying we don't want this, we're not going to vote for it. bill: if they truly wanted to put their money where their mouth is they would pull the earmarks out of it, would they not? >> well, that's a technical thing, whether they pull it in or pull it out, that's irrelevant, largely. the point is they will vote against it. they will vote against the bill, which contains earmarks they put in. now, is this -- if this bill goes down to defeat, if it were pushed out, you have the very remote possibility on sunday of a government shutdown because the government would not be funded. it runs out of money as of saturday. so if this bill is voted out, goes down to defeat, it is a remote possibility the government shuts down just like back in the mid 199 os. bill:el tell you -- i tell you, martha and i were on the radio yesterday and its remarkable to us to hear how many call