i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> we begin this morning with under pressure. with millions of americans facing less in their paycheck and the white house not bundling on a payroll tax cut extension, house speaker john boehner is quickly becoming isolated over his stalling of a compromised senate bill in order to get the cuts extended for a year rather than the two months currently being proposed by the senate. yesterday the "wall street journal" likened boehner's strategy to a, quote, circular firing squad, while one republican senator labeled boehner's stance, quote, irresponsible and wrong. nbc's brian mooar is in washington for us with the latest. good morning. >> good morning, lynn. neither side seems willing to bend and the clock is ticking down. >> let's see if my credit card still works. >> reporter: while his family is in highway', president obama is staying here in the nation's capitol to battle republicans over the payroll tax cuts

i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> we begin this morning with dueling power plays. in washington this morning house republicans are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass a sweeping budget plan. the senate's top democrat says no one is leaving town for the holidays until both sides agree on payroll tax cuts. nbc's tracie potts joining us from washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a couple issues going on here. the budget and the payroll tax cuts. and it looks like congress may finally have a solution to that can they've been kicking down the road month after month. health, education among the departments that have been unfunded permanently. now it looks like they've worked out the details. aides say there are some minor details to continue to work out. it look like that will happen before the end of the month. the payroll tax cut, republicans take a vote in the house today. they expect to tie that to that c

i'm lynn berry. quick check of sports.imply the los angeles angels spent more money in a day than any team has in the history of baseball. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. albert pujols has made a decision and he's heading west. agreed to a 10-year, $254 million deal with the angels. angels definitely the dark horse in the pujols race but when the marlins dropped out and the cards offered him $220 million, the angels upped the ante to $254 and pujols couldn't turn that down. the angels weren't done. they also signed the best free agent pitcher on the market, lefty c.j. wilson, 5 years, $77.5 million to cap off a monster day in anaheim. >>> nba lakers had a trade in place for the hornets' chris paul then the commissioner david stern stepped in and said, not so fast. the deal involved three teams, sending paul to the lakers, pau gasol to the rockets and in return the rockets would get lamar odom, luis scola, kevin martin and draft picks. after an uproar from nba owners, stern vetoed the deal. you see, the hornets a

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with dueling power plays. in washington house republicans are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass a sweeping budget plan but the senate's top democrat says no one's leaving town for the holidays until both sides agree on payroll tax cuts. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a couple of issues going on here. the budget and the payroll tax cuts. it looks like congress may have a solution to that can they've been kicking down the road month after month. health education among departments unfunded permanently. now it looks like they've worked out the details. aides say there are minor details to continue to work out but it looks like that will happen before the end of the month. now, the payroll tax cut. republicans take a vote in the house today and they expect to tie that to that controversial keystone pipeline. there have been protests over environmental issues with the pipeline. the white house had put off

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with payroll politics. pushing back against a senate bill passed over the weekend, house republicans refuse to hold a vote that could have extended payroll tax cuts before they expire at the end of the month. instead they challenged senate democrats to come back to town to negotiate a new deal, a political gambit that could end up being paid for by tens of millions of americans. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> the nays are -- >> reporter: the senate payroll tax cut extension slammed into a republican roadblock in the house. house republicans are trying to shame vacationing senate democrats back to the bargaining table. >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> reporter: house speaker john boehner refused a direct vote on the senate bill. instead, sending the legislation to a conference committee. but democrats say they will not negotiate. president obama accused republicans of brinksmanship. >> the clock is ticking. time is running out. and if the house republica

i'm lynne berry. this is "first look" on msnbc.tay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. ♪ >> where is he? where is he? >> he's a little late sometimes. >> what do you mean he's late sometimes. am i late? am i ever late to my show? >> um -- >> we give little willie a show. >> it's an adorable show, too. it's good for him. what? >> i give him everything. >> yes. >> everything. >> mm-hmm. >> willie, do you like your show? >> yeah, i guess so. >> he's doing

i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we begin this morning with the death of a dictator. north korea's longtime leader, kim jong-il, has died at the age of 69 after suffering a heart attack, ending 17 years of rule over the isolated country. kim's likely heir is his youngest son, kim jong-un, who state media is now calling the great successor. nbc's ian williams takes a look back on the life of kim jong-il. >> reporter: they called him the dear leader, the iron-willed commander, his birth heralded by rain bows and a new star lighting the sky, but kim jong-il has turned out to be marital after all. kim's north korea was isolated and unpredictable and often seemed more like a cult than a country, at times bizarre but also dangerous, impoverishing and enslaving his own people while arming himself with nuclear weapons and threatening to aannihilate his neighbors. it was easy to poke fun at the paltry dictator with his buffon hairstyle, dark glasses and high heels. he was rumored to be a

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a bleak outlook. a startling round of new poll numbers point to what could be a game-changing election year given the overwhelmingly unsatisfied state of of the american people. according to the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll, a whopping 70% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. americans felt a similar lack of satisfaction with congress and the economy. nbc's political director chuck todd has more results on the field of republican presidential candidates. >> let's start with mitt romney. his electability problem is getting the republican nomination. newt gingrich surged to 40%, the highest number any republican has had in the calendar year of 2011 since we started polling this primary. when the race shrinks down to three candidates, gingrich, romney, paul, gingrich's lead expands 53% to romney's 31%. what is romney's electability problem? one word, ideology. 70% of republican call them conserve ty. 59 57% believe newt gingrich is one of them. newt gingrich has an electability p

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with picking up the pace. republican presidential candidates are working their way across iowa at a fast and furious pace, packing in as much last-minute campaigning as they can before caucus tuesday. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are way on the ground and stepping up the air war. >> good to see you. >> reporter: the gop presidential candidates are making their closing arguments in iowa. >> don't do anything to any other country we don't want them to do to us and that would solve a lot of our problems. >> reporter: ron paul is the wild card, polling second, but with a well-organized army of supporters. that makes him a target. >> ron paul would dangerous as a president of the united states. >> one of the people running for president thinks it's okay for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i don't. >> reporter: mitt romney has a shot at winning, if he can convince enough v

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a shutdown averted. last night congressional negotiators signed off on a trillion dollar spending package. just one day ahead of a deadline that could have led to another government shutdown. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the details on that and a massive defense bill headed to the president's desk. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. it looks like the late-night negotiations saved paychecks and federal jobs. no shutdown at midnight tonight if, in fact, votes happen in the house and senate as expected. democrats and republicans each gave up something for the trillion dollar spending bill. democrats wanted energy efficiency rules sooner, they booked off that. and republicans wanted restrictionses on people spending money and making visits from cuba a budget spending today's vote. the payroll tax will be extended. the cuts extended for two months we're told. and unemployment benefits for 99 weeks, and preventing a 27% cut in medicare

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with dueling power plays. in washington this morning, house republicans are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass a sweeping budget plan, but the senate's top democrat says no one's leaving town for the holidays until both sides agree on payroll tax cuts. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on all of this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. parts of the budget, like transportation, the justice department were set earlier in the year, but other parts like health, that's been a big issue because of the president's health law. republicans don't want to fund all of t education and other government departments, possibly set for yet another shutdown. now it looks like democrats and republicans have worked out their differences. aides say there's minor things they need to work out today but it looks like they'll be able to work that out. the other issue that they're trying to work out is the extension of the payroll tax cut. the house takes a vote t

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with deadlocked. millions of workers may end up paying the price in lawmakers in washington can't work out their differences in time to extend payroll tax cuts, before they expire on december 31st. now, insiders say house republicans are trying to scuttle a senate deal and they may try to prevent a much anticipated vote on the house floor today. nbc's tracie potts has the details. >> reporter: house leaders announced late last night the two-month extension that democrats and republicans agreed to in the senate won't even get a vote on their side. >> our members don't want to just punt and do a two-month short-term fix where we have to come back and do this again. >> my guess is they are afraid their members won't stick with them. >> reporter: republicans are pushing for a conference. a few members on each side, to come back to washington, and work out a new man. democrats claim it's a ploy to kill the tax break. they say republicans never wanted in the first place. >> we're not going to play. >> repor

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with veto power. president obama warned congress yesterday that if they tie the approval of a controversial oil pipeline to a bill to extend payroll tax cuts he will reject it. nbc's tracie potts joins us with more. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the pipeline decision was put a off until after the election, but republicans say this could consider bringing up tens of thousands of jobs. with the prime minister of canada yesterday president obama said absolutely not, not that, not any other issue should be linked to this. the pipeline is controversial because it would go almost 2,000 miles through middle america to canada. but there are also some environmental concerns. what about oil spills? what about greenhouse gas emissions? there have been protests over this already, that's one of the reasons why the decision has been put off. they are looking for a different route. but the focus here is extending this payroll tax cut. the president says it needs t

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the death of a dictator. north korea's long time leader, kim kim jong il has died at the age of 69 after a heart attack ending 17 years of rule over the isolated country. kim's likely heir is his youngest son, kim jong-un. state media is now calling the great successor. ian williams takes a look back on the life of kim jong-il. >> they called him the dear leader, the iron willed commander. hits birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim jong il's north korea seemed isolated and unpredictable and at times was more like a cult than a country. at times bizarre, but sometimes dangerous, impoverishing his own people and threatening to annie late his neighbors. it was eager to poke fun at the portly d lly dictators. he liked fast cars and fine foods. myths easily flourish when so little is really known. diplomats describe kim as shrewd and calculating, well practiced at the use of that's and forc

i'm lynn berry. add we begin with an empire state of mind as gop presidential hopefuls make the most of their final few weeks before their iowa caucuses. >>> former house speaker newt gingrich took his campaign to new york. in addition to drumming up funds for his surging campaign, the most recent republican front-runner reached out for some bright light, big city support. nbc's brian mooar has more. >> reporter: newt gingrich is on a roll in iowa and new hampshire, but he spent the day in new york. courting the support of donald trump. >> i think one of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. >> it was a great honor to have newt up here. it's amazing how well he's doing. >> reporter: the former speaker is cultivating a tea party power base that only grew stronger over the weekend when herman cain dropped out, which spells trouble for mitt romney. >> this translates politically into being out of step with the electorate on fundamen

i'm lynn berry. according to "the wall street journal," u.s. officials spoke with pakistani officials and got the green light ahead of last saturday's nato air strike that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. u.s. officials say pakistanis were unaware their troops were in the area at the time and afghan/u.s. troop contingent was fired upon from across the border. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton has met with political prisoner and nobel peace prize winner, aung san suu kyi during her historic trip to myanmar, the two pledged to work together to bring democracy to the country. >>> ticket master is forced to refund $1.50 for every ticket placed between october 1999 and october 2011 due to a proposed class-action settlement that says the company profited from undeclared processing fees. >>> queen of england met with john lennon's widow, yoko ono, during the official opening of the museum of liverpool. >>> in brazil. a motorcycle stunt went horribly wrong when a dare devil smashed head-on to an oncoming c

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the end of a long and painful era. the official end to the u.s. mission in iraq. after nine years and some 4500 american lives lost, president obama and the first lady were at ft. bragg yesterday marking the end of the war. kristen welker reports. >> hello, ft. brag! >> reporter: appearing before a sea of service members at ft. bragg, north carolina, the president and first lady marked a pivotal moment in the nation's history. after nine years in iraq all the terms are returning. >> welcome home. welcome home. >> reporter: the speech, a tribute to the 1.5 million americans who served and the nearly 4500 who gave their lives. >> hard work and sacrifice. those words only begin to describe the costs of this war. >> reporter: the president facing a tough re-election battle did not declare victory in iraq but has called the withdrawal a campaign promise kept. >> we are ending a war, not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home. >> reporter: back home john

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a decision in days. lashing out against so-called character attacks designed to force him out of the race, herman cain has put off a final call on the future of his presidential campaign until next week. cain says he needs to talk to his wife in person before making any final decisions. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: even though herman cain said he will decide by next week whether to continue, he implied the answer will be yes. in an interview on fox. >> politics as usual is that once it gets rough and gets rocky and they start trying to attack your character, politics is usually drop out of the race. well, that's just not me. >> reporter: the pressure, cain said, is taking a toll on his wife gloria, but he says she told him she loved him. >> we want cain! >> reporter: with much of his support intact, cain can wait until january when voters in iowa decide about the alleged 13-year affair, the charges of sexual harassment and cain's foreign policy flubs. if cain drops out, the reuters poll

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with under pressure. with millions of americans facing less in their paycheck and the white house not budging on a payroll tax cut extension, house speaker john boehner is quickly becoming isolated on his stalling over a compromise senate bill in order to get the cuts extended for a year rather than the two months currently being proposed by the senate. yesterday "the wall street journal" likened boehner's strategy to a, quote, circular firing squad. while one republican senator labeled it irresponsible and wrong. nbc's brian mooar has the latest. >> reporter: with taxes set to go up on 160 million americans in just ten days, president obama called house speaker john boehner to turn up the heat. >> the ball is in the house's court. there is a compromise available. >> reporter: house leaders are refusing to pass a senate compromise and they're digging in for a fight. even though the senate's gone away for the holiday. >> all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us, to resolv

i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we begin this morning with campaign shake-up. with iowa's caucuses now just five days away, new poll numbers show ron paul is closing in on front-runner mitt romney, and those same numbers show a sudden surge from backpacker rick santorum. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on all of this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: thanks, lynn. iowa's social conservatives appear to still be shopping around, and that is good news for mitt romney. five days before iowa, the gop presidential deck has been reshuffled again, and this time, mitt romney's on top. >> this is an exciting time. we're going to take back the white house, thanks to you guys. thank you! >> reporter: ron paul has slumped to second but picked up a key endorsement from michele bachmann's state co-chair. bachmann says her one-time supporter was offered a lot of money to switch sides. he denies it. >> i believe that we have

i'm lynn berry.n sports, the atlanta falcons made a serious statement last night against the jacksonville jaguars, that they want to be taken seriously as postseason contenders. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. the falcons have waited all season to put together a complete game. well, that wait is over. simply dominated the jaguars in atlanta, capped off their first drive of the game with a touchdown. matt ryan to julio jones, 29 yards to the house, falcons, 7-0. to the second and the jaguars turn it over deep in their own end and michael turner made them pay. untouched to the end zone. falcons soaring high, up 27-0 at the break. many of you play fantasy football, you're starting your playoffs this week. if you have ryan and roddy white, your team is looking pretty good. white's second touchdown of the game made it 41-0. ryan finished with three scores. falcons routed the jags, 41-14. >>> nhl, a concussion has taken out another future hall of famer. the flyers chris pronger is shutting it do

i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we begin this morning with deadlocked. now, millions of workers may end up paying the price if lawmakers in washington can't work out their differences in time to extend payroll tax cuts before they expire december 31st. insiders say house republicans trying to scuttle a senate deal may try to prevent a much-anticipated vote on the house floor today. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on all of this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. one lawmaker who's been around here a long time says "it's the weirdest thing i've ever seen." all but two democrats in the senate and 83% of republicans supported the short-term extension before they left town, but the house now says it's not good enough. house leaders announce late last night the two-month extension the democrats and republicans agreed to in the senate won't even get a vote on their side. >> our members do not want t

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with payroll politics. pushing back against a senate bill passed over the weekend, house republicans refuse to hold a vote that could have extended payroll tax cuts before they expire at the end of the month. instead they challenged senate democrats to come back to town to negotiate a new deal, a political gambit that could end up being paid for by tens of millions of americans. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> the nays are -- >> reporter: the senate payroll tax cut extension slammed into a republican roadblock in the house. house republicans are trying to shame vacationing senate democrats back to the bargaining table. >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> reporter: house speaker john boehner refused a direct vote on the senate bill. instead, sending the legislation to a conference committee. but democrats say they will not negotiate. president obama accused republicans of brinksmanship. >> the clock is ticking. time is running out. and if the house republicans refuse to vote for the senate bill,

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the death of a dictator. north korea's long time leader, kim kim jong il has died at the age of 69 after a heart attack ending 17 years of rule over the isolated country. kim's likely heir is his youngest son, kim jong-un. >> they called him the dear leader, the iron willed commander. hits birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim jong il's north korea seemed at times bizarre, but sometimes dangerous, impoverishing his own people and threatening to annihilate his own. he was rumored to be a cognac guzzling sat of hollywood, guzzling fast cars. so little is really known. diplomates who dealt with him describe kim as screwed and calculating, well practiced at the use of threats and force to win with concessions of aid, successfully fending off u.s. efforts to reign in his nuclear weapons program. he inherited the job in 1994 from his father, the founder of north korea, who though dead remained eternal president. as kim jong il's health

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with deadlocked. millions of workers may end up paying the pry of lawmakers in washington can't work out their differents in time to extend payroll tax cuts, this before they expire on december 31st. now, insiders say house republicans are trying to scuttle a senate deal and they may try to prevent a much anticipated vote on the house floor today. nbc's brian mooar has the details. >> reporter: house republicans are rejecting a senate bill that would have given 160 million american a tax break for another two months, saying it just creates more uncertainty. >> the senate did its -- they did their job. they produced a bill. the house disagrees with it. >> reporter: speaker john boehner and fellow republicans are demanding a full-year extension and trying to shame senate democrats into coming back from vacation to meet at the bargaining table. >> are you willing, are you at least willing to work over the hole addition holidays so that maybe the american people might have a little better christmas? >> re

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the death of a dictator. north korea's long time leader, kim kim jong il has died at the age of 69 after a heart attack ending 17 years of rule over the isolated country. kim's likely heir is his youngest son, kim jong-un. >> they called him the dear leader, the iron willed commander. hits birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim jong il's north korea seemed at times bizarre, but sometimes dangerous, impoverishing his own people and threatening to annihilate his own. he was rumored to be a cognac guzzling sat of hollywood, guzzling fast cars. so little is really known. diplomates who dealt with him describe kim as screwed and calculating, well practiced at the use of threats and force to win with concessions of aid, successfully fending off u.s. efforts to reign in his nuclear weapons program. he inherited the job in 1994 from his father, the founder of north korea, who though dead remained eternal president. as kim jong il's health

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a shutdown averted. last night congressional negotiators signed off on a trillion dollar spending package. just one day ahead of a deadline that could have led to another government shutdown. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the details on that and a massive defense bill headed to the president's desk. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. here's how they were able to work that budget deal out. democrats agreed to delay some energy efficiency rules that were due to kick in soon. and republicans dropped their restrictions on people spending money and making visits from this country to cuba. those were two big sticking points. as a result, it looks like we'll be able to fund the government through next september. now, included in this senate majority leader harry reid says may be a plan "b" to extend payroll tax cut for two months as well as unemployment benefits and medicare payments as well. without it, doctors are looking at a 27% cut. this would fund ten

>>> hello and good morning, i'm lynn berry. today we begin with double vision. late last night the senate rejected dualing partisan plans on a tax break that could have a big impact on the nation's fragile economy because lawmakers on both sides have difing ideas of how to pay for it. nbc's tracie potts joins us with that and more from the senate session. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. democrats want to tax millionaires, republicans want to cut the pay of federal workers. neither of those plans passed the senate last night. the democratic plan came nine votes short of what it needed to move forward. only 20 senators voted for republican plan. now, with just a few weeks left, the negotiation begins in earnest. republicans say they're concerned that allowing yet another payroll tax cut, extending it into next year, could bankrupt social security faster. white house in response says job and federal pay cuts republicans are suggesting are, quote, a window dressing, unbalanced. they passed a huge defense authorization bill, $662 billion, short of what presi

i'm lynn berry. . a series of coordinated attacks in the iraqi capital have left at least 57 people dead and nearly 200 wounded. iraqi officials say at least a dozen bombs went out in neighborhoods around the city. >>> a russian soyuz rocket took off from a snowy launch pad in kazakhstan with a three-man crew, including a 56-year-old american chemical engineer. they're scheduled to arrive at the international space station tomorrow. >>> two female sailors have become the first same-sex couple to share the traditional dockside first kiss after the "uss oak hills" returns to virginia. it happened just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of president obama's signing the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. >>> england's prince william and his wife took part in a seasonal minced meat pie event last night. the royal couple also watched the talent show and sat in on an employment workshop. >>> meanwhile, prince harry announced he's headed back to afghanistan for a second deployment next year and says he, quote

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a make or break moment. during a speech in kansas yesterday, president obama urged lawmakers in washington to take action on baffle of the nation's middle class calling the country's rising inequality, quote, the defining issue of our time. brian mooar has details. >> reporter: in tiny kansas, president obama delivered a message aimed at both middle class americans and politicians back in washington. >> i believe this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot. when everyone something their fair hashare. >> reporter: the president argues ee defending the working class while republicans are standing with the rich. it's a rallying cry for the current tax fight in washington and his own re-election campaign. >> and in 1910, teddy roosevelt came here, to osawatame and he laid out his vision for what he called a new nationalism. >> reporter: roosevelt argued that welfare was more important than wealth. an argument this president is laying out a century later. >> we simply cannot return to this brand of you'r

i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including in the pacific time zone. today we begin with the house. after days of stubbornly refusing to back down, house speaker john boehner gave in to growing demands from the white house and his own party to approve a two-month extension for expiring payroll tax cuts. after two quick procedural votes this morning, lawmakers can go home for the year, that's if all goes as planned. brian mooar joins us from washington with the details. good morning. >> reporter: wouldn't you know it? the drama has one last cliff hanger. if even one lawmaker objects, the vote would have to be pushed into next week. house republicans have surrendered in the fight over extending the payroll tax cut. >> we were here fighting for the right things. may not have been the politically the smartest thing in the world, but i'm going to tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. >> reporter: facing immense pressure from the 160 million americans that face a j

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the house. after days of stubborning refusing to back down, house speaker john boehner gave in to growing demands from the white house and his own party to approve a two-month extension for expiring payroll tax cuts. after two quick procedural votes this morning, lawmakers can go home for the year, that's if all goes as planned. brian mooar joins us from washington with the details. good morning. >> reporter: well, lynn, one last bit of drama and guesswork here today. if even one lawmaker objects, the vote would have to be pushed into next week. house republicans have surrendered in the fight over extending the payroll tax cut. >> we were here fighting for the right things. may not have been the politically the smartest thing in the world, but i'm going to tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. >> reporter: facing immense pressure from the 160 million americans that face a january 1st tax increase and from members of their own party with a costly backlash, republicans decided to