mitch mcconnell got six more votes. there are going to be more emboldend in the senate and republican majority in the house. there are things john boehner won't bring to the floor. gwen: this is a president who came out after the election and called republicans hostage takers. bad feeling left over from that or is he the one feeling that way? >> he's happy. he is feeling mostly happy. he has these contradictory sentiments. he likes the idea of compromise to get things done, he likes saying, we are making washington work. one of the reasons that the democrats lost in his estimation is they failed on the promise to make washington work. on the other hand, when he makes these deals, he makes it so clear that there are parts of those that he really hates that it angers the people he is making the deals with. i don't know how he is going to work that balance out over a long sustained period. gwen: i heard some of that playing out on wednesday on the question about gay marriage now that you got don't ask, don't tell. some sai

spending bill going down in flames, democratic majority leader harry reid and republican leader mitch mcconnell are now working together to fund the government into february so they can start fresh next year on spending bills. >> the senate will take it and pass it. senator mcconnell and senator reid agreed they will pass this. >> the senate hopes to vote this evening on that extension or perhaps the longer one. >> no one should be worried about the lights going off. that will not happen. >> the movement pleased republicans, g.o.p. leaders in both houses took a moment to hail the progress. >> after two years of policies that lacked public support, the tide is beginning to turn. >> yesterday in the senate, we saw victory for the american people when the so-called omnibus bill had untimely death. >> that sweeping senate bill died after senator reid lost key votes he needed to pass. he thought he had nine republican supporter, and included appropriators, those on the committee that churned out 6,000 earmarks. but they bolted and reid had to pull the bill. >> in the last 24 hours, walked away from

it came from mitch mcconnell in a motion he made before the committee. >> our guests, congresswoman debb debb debbie masserman schultz. >> something you could hit your crazy relatives with over dinner this weekend. a study that shows everything we

. >> reporter: and the president has an unlikely ally on that, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. >> we've reached a bipartisan agreement. it's time democrats in congress reach a similar conclusion and enable us to act for the good of the whole country. >> reporter: but mcconnell may have some work of his own. not all republicans like the deal.

and most of all mitch mcconnell and harry reed and john boehner have to figure out how to work together. this is first time that the senate and the house will be run by different parties since 2004. people are out of practice. >> schieffer: cheryl, you know, again, we see money entering in to the system like we've never seen it before. "the washington post" this morning in a front page story points out that during the very week when congress was working out the regulations to police wall street, the members of the joint committee working that out received $480,000 in campaign contributions. do you see this letting up at all? will there be any serious work done to try to rein in this campaign spending? >> may be work done on it. for now it has worked for the members ever congress despite the criticism, they haven't stopped this practice. i want to point out that what the "washington post" reported is very common. it's been going on for years. when i look at those congressionally tax payer funded earmarks that the members of congress hand out to individual people, i've gone through one by

i want to point out we're actually looking at mitch mcconnell.mocratic leader, he actually is the number two democratic senator who is there. want to point that out. it is dick durbin to the right of mitch mcconnell. one out of all the democratic leadership. here comes the vice president. >> here's the vice president. let's listen. >> thank you very much. thank you. ladies and gentlemen, this is -- i was going to say big deal, but an important deal. i can no longer say big deal. thank god my mother wasn't around. the famed 18th century british statesman edmond burke once said all government, indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act is founded on compromise and barter. today we have a crystal clear example of what he meant. this package, this package is a result of leaders from both sides coming together to act on behalf of the american people at a time they need it most. i want to begin by applauding senator mitch mcconnell and the other republican leaders who, like their democratic counterparts who are here t

mitch mcconnell can defend him or not defend him. because the republican leadership was blind-sided by tea party anger about the tax bill, they were determined to get out ahead of this. mitch mcconnell who could have cut a deal with harry reid couldn't deliver the votes this time. reid said the nine republicans who promised to vote in a way which allowed that omnibus bill which contained the democrats' priorities for this year's spending, they had to pull it because they couldn't get the votes. all the talk about readings the bill on the floor is all out the window now. the tea party won this round. >> there were two options for mr. reid. he could have gone along with the temporary measure and handed this off to the 2011 senate and congress or said, there's no support. you're going to blink. we're not going to blink. we're going to let you shut it this down. don't democrats normally benefit from shutdowns? wasn't that turning the point against gingrich? >> it was the turning point against gingrich 15 years ago. i don't think democrat

mitch mcconnell as these bills were making their way through the year he might have supported it.'s now made a pledge after the election saying i the message. >> sandra is right. they made a pledge for earmark reform. there are republicans who have earmarks including mitch mcconnell. [ talking over each other ] >> sean: this is important. i am very critical. republicans have voted against extending the bush tax cuts permanently, scott brown, olympia snowe, lisa murkowski, voinovich and others. i'm furious at all of them. mcconnell always said he supported earmarks until after the election. i am not defending republicans. >> he put earmarks in. >> sean: but he's opposing the bill. >> that is still disingenuous. >> reporter: i don't want to defend this any republican that supports earmarks does not get the mood of the people. so, he changed after the election. >> did he really change? >> sean: yes. >> this bill has earmarks in it. >> sean: he's not supporting the bill, so yes. >> this all goes back to the fact there's no accountability in washington. yes, there are earmarks from bot

mitch mcconnell the top republican said if the house makes any changes that breaks the deal. end game for them. a chance to try to make a change is symbolic on the house side. if people want to get it done in some form or another, if they can swallow some things they don't like they have to take it as is. the clock is ticking to deal with other things, funding all the operations of government which run out on saturday, the s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. a number of things before they put a period on the end of the congress. there isn't much time. any try to change something throws the clock into disarray. >> they just want to vent, i know. that is part of the politics as well. let's talk about the other issues. first of all, s.t.a.r.t., a nasty statement from the white house showing how angry they are about jim demint suggesting when the s.t.a.r.t. treaty hits the floor he is going to require the reading of the entire treaty which could take eight or ten or 12 hours. where does that stand? is senator demint going to try to slow down a vote on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty? >> republi

mitch mcconnell was saying there would be weekend sessions. that sounds to me like they're going to go ahead with start after they get the tax vote and the spending bill out of the way. it seemed like they were preparing for this to go into next week. unfortunately. >> and so what you're saying is the timing would be this tax vote, start, then funding the government, so they would insert start in between that? >> before or after or even in the middle. but something like that. then they still want to get a vote on the immigration bill. they've got the don't ask, don't tell bill. if they want to stay into next week, they'll have a lot of votes through the weekend and into early next week. >> and i don't want to play with you -- >> yes, you do. >> you're right. but this bill that senator harry reid is is championing, where is that going to get inserted? is that part of the tax bill? >> i don't think he'll put it in the tax bill. me may try to put it in the spending bill. i think he's going to have a difficult time getting that in anyway. however

so who are the new all powerful well we decided to take a detailed look we start with senator mitch mcconnell the minority leader for weeks he has made comments saying the g.o.p. has goal over the next two years is to make sure that obama is a one term president but today he was preaching working together said that their meeting was frank and productive you're right and he was followed by senator jon kyl of arizona this suspect hasn't been the most trustworthy at keeping his word in recent weeks he said he was all for a start treaty then last week he all of a sudden said that he's not going to vote for in the lame duck session he also back to ban on earmarks and three days later he placed a two hundred million dollars earmark in a bill that was passed in the senate that is leadership for you now on the house side you had mr orange himself the next speaker of the house john boehner was there it's been reported that the president and boehner have tried to make nice recently but he's made repealing obamacare and extending the bush tax cuts his top priority so i'm still betting their relationship

bill: and what mitch mcconnell on the republican side has offered, instead of the $1900 spending bill that was on the floor, he's offered one page to keep government operating until february. >> right. bill: which would essentially be a two-month delay. >> yes. bill: they would have a new congress in washington the first week in january, then they would start battling out, to figure out what america is going to spend and not spend. >> you are correct. this continuing resolution, forget the jargon for a minute f. it means that, we're going to keep spending money the way we are now, no change until february, when the incoming congress gets a chance to dictate spending for the rest of 2011. the defeat of this spending bill means that the outgoing, somewhat discredited 111th congress will not dictate spending for the year 2011. bill: and the reason that's important, stuart, we're going to find very early in the new year whether or not the politicians in congress are serious about cutting spending and cutting into our deaf at this time. >> it's now become all about spending and that is the

>> and he won. >> and his opposite number, in the senate, mitch mcconnell, who when he said his number one priority was to defeat president obama, it is not inspirational to a country where we have significant unemployment and they're looking to the senate to do some other things besides just politicking. and he is so one-dimensional in his speech. >> it was raw plate meat for the heritage foundation. >> most boring? i will give it to president obama who was the most electrifying presence on the scene for years starting with the 2004 speech he gave at the democratic convention to the campaign to being the most boring drone in washington. >> i think rand paul is just as boring for me. the son of ron paul. incoming senator. and a guy who as far as i thought would sound like exciting ideas until i realized they were warmed over and it is interesting to see how things turn out once he hits the real world on capitol hill. >> an optometrist? >> yes. >> robert gibb, most boring. a total snooze. and paradoxically, also the nation's biggest ongoing news maker. most boring and most newsy. gibbs.

maybe a call from mitch mcconnell saying hey, we shouldn't be supporting this thing. this is how harry reid set it up originally. he said it actually was the constitutional right of members of congress to spend your money. >> we have a constitutional duty to do congressionally directed spending and i don't want to give up that responsibility. i can't understand why some of the more conservative members here want to give up their power. i don't understand that. >> well, maybe you don't. we think judge andrew napolitano will be with us this hour to tell us whether or not harry reid is accurate in what he just said. you know what you really have to call this, what happened with this gigantic pork laden spending bill, this is the tea party takedown. this shows that the tea party, the impact of the tea party will be felt long past november. you have three senators to thank for this. tom coburn, also john mccain who was on this program yesterday and jim demint. yesterday, john mccain was on this program. and he talked about how they were willing to read the bill page by pag

this deal was cut between the white house and mitch mcconnell. then it got signed off and passed everywhere else. so we'll see. there's going to be only a handful of republicans that do come to the bill signing. a lot more of the folks that attend this will be democrats. but at the end of the day cutting these deals, it is probably, he'll be working with boehner closely because boehner in many ways controls a lot of the legislative agenda by simply being speaker of the house. but the deals, the compromises, finding the 60 votes in the senate, mcconnell will be a major player here. >> when you think about this, will we see the democrats following the president? he charges ahead as he did in this situation again with this tax deal? >> reporter: i think in many cases they'll have no choice but to follow the president. the president is the one on the ballot in two years. he's the leader of the democratic party. you've seen them take a backseat. you didn't see the leaders coming out and hitting back at the white house. they're realizing they have no c

and it's a totally different way of doing business. >> especially considering that senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, is the person whose legislation has been obstructed, he's taken the lead on that. and it's interesting to see the house leaders who will be empowered come january 5 when they return for the next congress who are on the sidelines so far of this issue. >> quite happily. gwen: when you're up there watching it, does it feel like a giant game of chicken? >> it did until they cut this deal. now it feels more like a game of chess. i mean, for a long time, it was unclear whether democrats were going to actually take a chance on letting these cuts expire and nobody quite thought they would, but there are still folks up there who think they should have that fight,, that it's a winner politically, the polls show they don't want to give tax cuts to the rich. >> ultimately this is only a winner politically if the economy improves and by a lot of estimates of the analysts, like the administration said quite correctly, private sector, macro economists have revised their forec

this was written by mitch mcconnell and then we get an extension of unemployment benefits. i believe just like they did in september, the republicans in the senate would give in and at least temporarily extend unemployment benefits. not be so cruel to cut them off before christmas putting that simple measure forward. >> i agree with you. in every negotiation you pretend a partner outside the room weighing in on your side. in this case, the white house did. that was the democrats in the house and the senate, as well. but they didn't use you. they didn't point to you saying look at the crazies forcing us to say no to you, the republicans and therefore we can't agree but they caved and you're highlighting their failure to negotiate with anything close to the care and wisdom they could have. >> right. and then we gave them a second chance last week. i mean, unprecedented that the democratic caucus took a near unanimous position against a major initiative by a democratic president, and, you know, we opened the door for them to go back to the table. opened the door for the leader

did joe biden sneak one by mitch mcconnell?ll, i think president obama did very well in the tax deal. but most importantly of all, lawrence, this is going to sound like a cliche but it's true. the american people benefited. if you're in politics, you don't always get what you want to quote the rolling stones. president obama didn't get all that he wanted. we certainly shouldn't be giving a tax cut to millionaires. there's no reason for it. the extension of the estate tax and upping the estate tax threshold, those are things our side didn't like. on balance it's a good package for working americans. i think it was a draw with a slight tilt to the president. >> bob green stein, you were here last week advocating democrats vote for this, hold their nose and vote for it on the upper end tax breaks for the wealthy. you're the first person most liberal house democrats turn to on questions of this kind. are you recommending democrats vote for this because joe biden and barack obama outsmarted the republicans in this deal? >> i'm basic

. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell pledged early this year not to request earmarks and spokeng bill today. >> i am actively working to defeat it. there are many members who have provisions in their state actively working to defeat it. this bill should not go forward. >> notice he said members snaft who have provisions in it, senators including kentucky's mitch mcconnell. even though he's opposing the bill and even though he took a pledge not to take earmarks, he's got a bunch he put in before he took the pledge. $18 million to upgrade the rail head at ft. knox, 3 million to widen a road in ft. campbell, more than $100 million in all. earmarks he did not withdraw after taking the no earmark pledge. what you heard a moment ago was part of his explanation why not. here's the rest. >> and regardless of whether members had some input in the bill much earlier in the year when the bills could have been moved to the floor by by bill by bill is completely and totally inappropriate to wrap all of this up in into a 2,000-page bill and try to pass it the week before christmas. >> now oth

we've already reported that senator mitch mcconnell will be here for the signing. we don't have the full manifest of everybody that's coming. not exactly lying down with the lamb but certainly a bipartisan deal which we have not seen in some time. >> that's the christmas spirit before they continue slugging it out on the senate floor. savannah guthrie, thank you so much. and join issavannah and chuck td weekday mornings for "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. >>> democrats were out maneuvered clearly in the senate last night. that means there will not an omnibus spending bill and republicans are making sure any short-term fix to keep the government open will not include president obama's landmark health reform bill. they've been trying to kill in the courts and through the purse strings. the health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius joins me now. what is the fallout of this? how do you get it funded if they're trying to block you in the senate? >> well, i think, andrea, the initial affordable care act passed with some resources included in the bill. and

from a purely political standpoint be more in line with what you see mitch mcconnell doing now which isn't about governing, it's about politics. >> dana, can't, though, members of congress do multiple things at once? can't you have a vote on don't ask don't tell or other issues at the same time you're working on whether or not to continue these tax cuts? >> oh, sure. absolutely. and i might say, i'm just going to lay it out. i'm not bffs with mitch mcconnell by any stretch of the word but i'm impressed to see him get brassy, finally, and start getting tough with the stuff. i agree, we've played politics for too long with american people's money. individual money. i don't understand this insistent push to have the state control the output of that -- fruits of the labor from people. if you look back from -- can you go back as far back as 1916 with woodrow wilson and look at what happens when you raise taxes on folks. look at the discretionary income taken out of people's hands and look at the ref new that comes into the government. you get more net revenue, the government does, by lett

host: republican minority leader senator mitch mcconnell speaking yesterday on "meet the press." let's go to gettysburg, pennsylvania. phil on the independent line. do you think this is a good potential compromise? caller: our country is being hijacked by the new religion, political party. people referred this a bush tax cut to attach and all presidents name to it to demonize and another saying it is class warfare. nobody is talking about what is really happening. to the country and caring about the people but they are caring about the big political power shift that just occurs in congress and we are all pawns in this game of who will be the next president. host: chris writes to us on twitter. it is it -- republican color from alabama. caller: how are you today? host: what is your name? caller: victor. i think it is a decent compromise. as some callers stated before it is the definition of the wealthy. you define over and over again that these tax cuts are for the millionaires and billionaires yet $250,000 in certain parts of the country actually would be that of two professional

mitch mcconnell did. that's indication of big losers and winners there.ancy pelosi trying to corral her troops, trying to encourage them, even get action on this estate tax they saw as a saving grace didn't happen. so for her, feeling that it will be a cold winter and coming next two years with president obama, he will be dealing with the republicans, more and more compromises. it means the house democrats may be out in the cold all alone. >> chris: real quickly, we have about 15 seconds, harry reid, he failed on the spending bill but he did get "don't ask, don't tell." at least he got a vote on the dream act which keeps that campaign promise. and he may get start. >> he got himself re-elected. harry reid had a better six and seven weeks than people expected him to have. >> chris: true. he will be here next year. >> majority leader, which people forget. >> yeah. >> chris: thank you, panel. see you next week. don't forget to check out panel plus where the group picks up with the discussion on the website foxnewssunday.com. we'll post the video before noon

>> well, i think what mitch mcconnell has got to do and the republicans have to do is follow john mccain's lead on this because they did get marching orders in november. if they go along with this monster spending bill without a fight and resistance, especially on the earmarks, i think they're going to have a real problem with the tea party folks back home. so, i would expect real republican resistance here to try to get a short-term continuing resolution so that next year when they meet to really extend, i mean, really do the full budget work, it will be more republicans working on it rather than democrats. that will be the smart play, it seems to me, the necessary play given the election returns. >> lynn, the earmarks make up a small percentage of the overall spending. is it a problem, though, for both parties? >> it's totally a problem for both parties. it exposes the horrible hypocrisy in the way we govern. you run on the principle of no earmarks and we need to cut the deficit. then when it comes to your personal desires, whether you're a republican or a democrat, you load up the bill.

>> right, and this is welcome to mitch mcconnell's world and john boehner's world. because they're going to have that problem. >> and just to show you where the fault lines are right now, yesterday in the key test vote, 37 republicans voted for this, only 5 republicans voted no and stood with mitt romney and sarah palin and the tea party. >> so the taxes still trump deficit reduction for now. but cornell, the biggest challenge is going to come january, when republicans will have to prove it when it comes to spending cuts. and the question is, how far will the president go with them. >> what the president has to do and congressional democrats have to do is two different things. the president is showing where he's going to go on this bipartisanship. and the polling is really interesting, because you put this bipartisan tax cut proposal out there in a big form and all americans are clamoring for it, yes, bipartisanship, but when you start breaking it down, support begins to wane. the president has to show leadership and look like the adult in the room. however, congres

mitch mcconnell says big mistake. >> we're going to have an opportunity to do this.ould hope it would make sense on a bipartisan basis. this one page continuing resolution on february the 18th is an alternative to this 2,000-page monstrosity that spends half a billion a page. >> so what he's saying is forget all the earmarks, the detailed written budget. let's pass wuj page and keep the government going at a certain funding level and deal with it next year. the republicans will have more power then and senator mccome knows that. leader reid says, you know what, go away. >> you can't have it both ways. you can all look it up in the dictionary yourself but i'll bet if you went to "h" in the dictionary and found hypocrite, under that would be people who ask for earmarks but vote against them. >> not pretty. >> i have to say i love some of the consistent two-party activists are calling this deporkricy. and it is a classic example. but i think the question becomes, do you want to move the business of the senate forward and possibly get a vote on s.t.a.r.t. or don't ask, d

. >>> at the center of it all, republican leader of the senate, mitch mcconnell of kentucky. and for the democrats, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, john kerry of massachusetts. >>> then, america's anxiety. when will the economy turn around? are taxes going up? how vulnerable are we to another terrorist attack? can anything get done in congress? who leads us out in this sense of limbo? our roundtable weighs in, columnist of the "new york times," david brooks, republican strategist mike murphy and the times," david brooks, republican strategist mike murphy and the bbc's katty kay. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. a political showdown yesterday in a special saturday session. blocked tax cuts to the middle class only, which would have raised taxes on higher earners. it seemed to keep a door opened to compromise. >> we need to redouble our efforts to revolve this impasse in the next few days to give the american people the peace of mind that their tacks will not go up on january 1st. it will require some compromise, but i'm confid

i'm not bffs with mitch mcconnell by any stretch of the word but i'm impressed to see him get a littletting tough with the stuff. i agree, we've played politics for too long with american people's money. individual money. i don't understand this incessant push to have the state control the output of that -- fruits of the labor from people. if you look back from -- can you go back as far back as 1916 with woodrow wilson and look at what happens when you raise taxes on folks. look at the discretionary income taken out of people's hands and look at the revenue that comes into the government. you get more net revenue, the government does, by letting people have their own money and decide how to spend it. that's ultimately what this argument's about. >> look, anderson. the truth of the matter is if these -- if these tax cuts were creating jobs we'd have jobs out of our ear holes. what this is fundamentally about is -- is we're in an economic crisis. and do the rich have an obligation to carry their fair share. the other day -- >> they are carrying their fair share, paying the majority of th

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell put out a statement saying in part we urge the house leadership to bring this agreement to a bipartisan vote without changes designed only to block this bill's passage in the house. the house democratic leadership decides to make partisan changes, they will insure that every american tax pay are will see a job-killing tax hike on january 1st. >> we will bring steve and syndicated columnist. steve. >> and interesting development and probably the larger vote margin. i think what i expect to have happen it will pass the house and probably the same that passed the senate. you will try to see house democrats to something procedure whether it is the same legislation and alows house democrats to vote and be on record to say we have done this and we don't like this and then they will take a vote on the actual substance of the deal which has been the deal since last thursday and posted on the internet since last thursday. it will not be materially changed by that point. >> you hear mitch mcconnell saying if anything has changed, this is a done deal. take a

and some of the republicans who are most outraged now, including mitch mcconnell, and john cronyn are so outraged. 650,000 for advanced genetic technologies, both bart tees a pier to blame for this, am i wrong? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. what the republicans will say is we put the earmarks in earlier this year. since then, especially senator mcconnell, since then we have voted for a moratorium on all earmarks. megyn: are they pushing to take them out now? the republicans voted for moratoriums in november. are they pushing for their earmarks to be taken out of this bill. >> reporter: they are going to vote against this spending bill with their earmarks in it. this is a fascinating issue, one that will be debated in the new congress. what does a member of congress do, they get money for their district, right, for things that are needed in their district. the question -- mccain had always defined an earmark something slipped into the bill in the middle of the night that no one ever look at, never went through a committee, was never voted on or scrutinized by any member of cong

republican leader mitch mcconnell described it as one last spending binge. >> we told democrats last month to stop what they have been doing. bigger government. 2,000 panel bills. jammed through on christmas eve. wasteful spending. this is a monument to all three. >> reporter: many senators bolted over the earmarks which one put at 6,000. >> 6,488, at $8.3 billion. unbelievable. one of my favorites is $300,000 for the pollinetian society in hawaii. $163,000 for maple syrup research in vermont. >> other examples are $6 million for rural iowa school named after harkin. others were set aside for non-profits connected to lawmakers who recently died, ted kennedy and john murtha. many of the $8 million in earmarks requested over the years by members of both parties and dumbed on the senate in the omnibus bill. some republicans said they will vote against the bill even though it has money they once requested. >> i intend to vote against the earmarks because i think the american people sent message on november 2, saying they want a new way to operate in washington. >> reporter: some defended

in the last analysis it is going through exactly how the president and mitch mcconnell agreed.crats don't put it through the republicans will come back in january and write one that will be more offensive to their ideology. >> they're talking about these senators who previously said they couldn't support it, the fact that on january 1st they don't want to go back to middle class folks and say i'm sorry your taxes are going to go up because we couldn't compromise against tax cuts for the rich and couldn't say to unemployed people we can't extend the benefits. >> i do not believe taking the heat on denying 2 million unemployment benefits can give $700 billion to the richest americans. what happens now is we add to the deficit and cut revenue, which could have offset the deficit. guess what? tax cuts this month, come april, spending cut. cut what? cut what is left, workers, social security. >> it is interesting that you bring up the whole balance between spending and revenue. the spending bill arrived in the senate offices includes 6,400 pork barrel items comes to about $8 billion

. >> joining me now exclusively, top republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell of kentucky, welcome to the studio. good to have you here. >> good morning. >> where are we? are you close to a deal with the president on taxes? >> let's put it this way. we've had more conversations in the last two weeks than we have had in the last two years. i think that's a good sign, growing awareness that the power will be more sim emmeymmetrical next congress. >> what will the deal look like? >> i'm not going to negotiate it here on "meet the press" this morning. but i think you're familiar with all the issues. the big issue on the public mind, of course, is whether or not we're going to raise taxes on anybody in the middle of a recession. and it is almost laughable that we were in session yesterday. it reminded me of the old movie groundhog day. we keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. voting once again on the tax issue, it could have been dealt with at any point during the course of the year. here we are at the end of the year. i think it's pretty clear now that tacks aren't going

mitch mcconnell called it a step in the right direction. >> it is only a first step. unless we use it to pick it to the deficit and the debt, we will have only pushed the larger problem down the road. >> some democrats have warned they will fight for changes, and other democrats argued it would not create more jobs. >> economists are telling us that extending tax cuts for the wealthy is one of the least effective ways to create jobs and build the economy. >> credit card companies are doing something they have not done in some time, and you will not believe how much airlines are raking in with the extra fees. plus, we answer your plants and garden in questions. >> dangerous when shows still out there, and some light snow is trying to get together. i will talk about the chances for snow to for the next seven days, and if there will be a end to the brutal cold. it is 25 at the airport. it feels like 10. >> credit card companies are doing something they have not done in recent months -- offering accounts to borrowers with less than perfect credit, but they say they are be