third place, in '99, elizabeth dole, lamar alexander couldn't crack through.he worst spot you can have at the straw poll. they had to move the tent, there was like water -- standing water. he was out of the race. those were big names. lamar alexander thought he was the guy that could get it -- three people dropped out within weeks. you expect dropouts after the next few days? >> i think so. i think you're going to see a lot of campaigns. money, you raise money off of this. and with rick perry possibly getting in, you know -- >> what day? >> exactly. that's -- >> tim pawlenty and rick santorum, those are the two guys. they don't want to be seen as gad flies, do they? >> right. there are guys who have something theoretically to lose in the establishment world. newt will -- look, you can live off the land, yes. jackie is right about fund-raising. you can live off the land. you can go to the debates, give speeches, have a spartan snap. that's what newt is doing now. can you be a serious contender for the nomination. lamar alexander, 1999, expectations high, he und

. >> does the president share the view of lamar alexander that these cuts -- what are the long-term deficit drivers. >> that is self-evident in the initial cuts because they are limited to discretionary spending, defense and non-defense. the second stage will, as the special committee sets up and puts forward a proposal, we believe that and most people believe that the issues remain to be addressed are entitlement reform and tax reform. so the answer is, we certainly agree with that as an obvious assessment for the initial rounds of cuts that are embedded here. and the president has made the point as he has made all along, if you are concerned about consequential deficit reduction, the kind that affects the fiscal outlook for the country, you need to go beyond discretionary spending. it is not a substantial part of our budget -- unless you are willing to eliminate programs that are absolutely necessary and very popular and i don't think members of congress will want to go that route. so you have to do it in a balanced way. if you don't, if you rule out defense and rule out revenues, as the

senator lamar alexander of tennessee calling this a change in government behavior.nd a tweet this morning that he will not vote for this bill because in his view it does not go far enough. so we'll be watching and waiting. it's expected to go to a vote around lunchtime, noon here in washington, d.c. back to you. >> joe, thanks. now let's get to the white house. brie an maanna keilar, when is president expected to sign the bill? >> reporter: we're expecting that he would sign it very quickly after getting it, which isn't to say that he gets it very quickly after it would be passed by the senate. there's sort of a paperwork process that the senate goes through. and then the bill, if isn't just e-mailed over here. it is physically delivered. and while at this point there is no plan for some big signing ceremony like you've seen with past bills, it wouldn't be that nuch if the president were to perhaps make some remarks and try to really punctuate exact exactly what this whole saga has come to and the resolution of it. and then it's interesting, the president is just on

. >> reporter: tennessee's lamar alexander was among republicans who hailed the agreement. >> this is a change in behavior. from spend, spend, spend to cut, cut, cut. >> reporter: as minority leader mcconnell claimed a victory, congratulating his party for holding the line against new taxes. >> while the president may not have particularly enjoyed this debate we've just been through, it was a debate that washington very much needed to have. >> reporter: and will continue to have, so while the president said today that everyone needs to chip in and pay their fair share, there were a number of republican senators who said today they are comfortable that their leaders will not appoint senators to that super committee that will raise taxes. scott? >> pelley: thanks. the last time the president and the congress compromised on a major spending bill, republicans got tax cuts and mr. obama won an extension of unemployment benefits. but in this latest compromise, there are only budget cuts and no relief for those suffering in this economy. we asked dean reynolds to look into this. >> reporter:

republicans at the end of that last debate, and the reason that there were cracks is that people like lamar alexanderle like mitch mcconnell, like john boehner, were worried about the consequences of a default and a catastrophic reaction. >> okay, john -- >> didn't get to default but we're seeing reaction now and that's what republicans can understand and act upon. >> two great reports. one is eric cantor's worried that the grown-ups will take over. that there will be pressure on the people to raise taxes as part of a solution. you're also saying there are people who are already grown-ups, i recognize people like boehner would like to save the american people from collapse. what's the president do given those two facts? back to melissa. given that information, there are republican hess can reach a concern by the crazies on the right reflected in the smart thinking by eric cantor they're exposed as having been too radical? how can he take advantage of that? >> two thing. first, you saw him respond to the criticism he face and you haven't laid out your plan. he said today he was going to lay out for sp

host: that was senator lamar alexander.ant to give the democratic perspective who says it is inefficient and costs more. let's see what he has to say. >> you have got to squeeze the inefficiencies out of this medicare advantage program were the original idea of a medicare hmo's it would be that they would be lower than fee-for- service and it was going to cost medicare on a 95% of it fee-for- service. that is not what happened in the prescription drug bill. it got reversed. host: marsha gold? guest: there is a big debate between the parties about the value of private plans and how much we should pay for them. i think both parties probably think there is a reason to have an option for a private plan because it exists otherwise and gives beneficiaries traces. the question is how much to pay for them and how much value they add. republicans tend to think that competition and choice is good so there are not as bothered by paying more for them because they think it will get people there. the democrats are not convinced they are

host: that was senator lamar alexander.ant to give the democratic perspective who says it is inefficient and costs more. let's see what he has to say. >> you have got to squeeze the inefficiencies out of this medicare advantage program were the original idea of a medicare hmo's it would be that they would be lower than fee-for- service and it was going to cost medicare on a 95% of it fee-for- service. that is not what happened in the prescription drug bill. it got reversed. host: marsha gold? guest: there is a big debate between the parties about the value of private plans and how much we should pay for them. i think both parties probably think there is a reason to have an option for a private plan because it exists otherwise and gives beneficiaries traces. the question is how much to pay for them and how much value they add. republicans tend to think that competition and choice is good so there are not as bothered by paying more for them because they think it will get people there. the democrats are not convinced they are

. >> reporter: tennessee republican senator lamar alexander says the count lee is finally taking responsibility spending money he doesn't have. we'llee hear from the president on this at 12:15 eastern time. fox news channel will carry it live. alisyn: we will be looking forward to that. bill: are we ready to talk about winners and losers? and what do you get out of this debt deal. a terrific panel right now, mary katherine ham a fox news contributor. john fund, seniore editor. bob cusack. bob, i know you've been working this story. how does a guy like john boehner looks today. >> he looks a lot better than he did late last week when he had to pull a debt limit bill that didn't have the votes amid a rebellion of conservatives. a low point last week, what a turn around. in a simple amount of a few days john boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted. president obama didn't get a lot of legislative details, but he did take default off the table until after the 201 2012 election. that's a big thing for him. nancy pelosi and her lieutenants are not so much pleased. alisyn: tea party? >> they did it w

and you know, lamar alexander was in the in -- not in the top three in '99 and shortly thereafter, withdrewhink this may be different. the first thing is, again, we've got a candidate, the frontrunner in the race, who's not participating, romney, we've got another candidate who's about ready to enter the race, in fact will enter the race the same day of the straw poll but will do so by making his intentions known in south carolina, rick perry. sarah palin may or may not enter the contest. megyn: she's showing up at the iowa state fair but not throwing her hat in the ring. >> that's right. so i think we may end up -- if four or five people are pretty welcome packed together there may be a bigger number of tickets out of the straw poll to be competitive in the caucuses in february. the other thing that's at play here is we don't have a lot of partisans here, that is to say, we don't have a lot of people that are strongly committed to their choice. we have a boom for herman cain, he grows in the poll and declines, we had a boom for donald trump in the polls and declined, we had a boom for bach