mr. boehner, mr. boehner, mr. boehner, mr. boehner, mr. boehner, mr. boehner, mr. boehner. >> reporter: the very place boehner had given a speech two weeks before, slamming the president's economic plans. >> there were no new ideas. there was just the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade that they were in power. >> reporter: on sunday the republican leader fired back. >> we have offered him new ideas for the last 20 months and speaking of new, i wonder what's new about more stimulus spending, more taxes, more uncertainty for american small businesses? >> reporter: elected in 1990, boehner has become one of the most outspoken members of the republican party, but outside washington, he is still relatively unknown. the white house is looking to change that. >> so what the white house is trying to do here is put a face on what has been a somewhat abstract argument by elevating boehner you give him more visibility and you put him in a more central role on the stage. >> reporter: well, congress

mr. boehner dismiss these job. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. let me clear to mr. boehner and everybody else. >> health care overtime is going to become more popular. people are focused on this economy now. >> it would take a real stretch to think that i caused the problems with the economy. >> u.s.a.! >> the president: there were no new ideas just the same philosophy we tried during the decades they were in power. >> if the president wants to do something new why don't we cut spending and get rid of in notion we can spend our way back to prosperity? >> sean: there you have it. we are just 50 days from the midterm elections. as democrats prepare it seems their concerns keep growing. a new report details that house speaker nancy pelosi may have more to worry about nan just losing her title, if the democrats lose their majority power. there may be a coup in the works. it appears some democrats in the house think their party needs a shake-up. rumor has it that steny hoyer might take the reins. the democrat with the most to lose is prince harry reid. new polls show tea

mr. boehner. there were no new ideas. there was just the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade that they were in power; the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place. cut more taxes for millionaires. and cut more rules for corporations. >> schieffer: what about that? >> well, listen, you know, the president says we have no new ideas. we've offer him new ideas for the last 20 months. and speaking of new, i wonder what's new about more stimulus spending, more taxes and more uncertainty for american small businesses. that's what the president is proposing. what's new about that? if the president wants to get serious and wants to do something new, why don't we cut spending and get rid of this notion that we can continue to spend our way back to prosperity. >> schieffer: the big difference, of course, between you and the president is that you want to extend the bush tax cuts that run out this year to all americans, including the wealthiest americans. the president wants to extend them only

mr. boehner, we already have that. >> reporter: mr. boehner has gotten the attention of the white house. press secretary robert gibbs just put out a statement a few minutes ago, saying they welcome mr. boehner's words, but say time will tell if those words become action. and the white house tells me that the president will talk about boehner's statement in the coming days. dan? >> thanks, david kerley. >>> and so now we're going to bring in our senior washington editor rick klein for his weekly "political insights" segment. and did boehner actually blink? >> i think boehner winked more than blinked. because, dan, it does give the president more of a path to getting the tax cuts passed in a form that he wants. the flip side is that democrats can no longer argue it's republicans standing in the way of getting this done. this highlights one of the potential shl pitfalls they are building up bainer in this race. when they have someone who is the head of the party of no who is now saying yes, it's potentially problematic for democratic argum

mr. boehner. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. >> reporter: he's trying to make boehner, a republican house leader during the bush years, his de facto republican opponent. seizing on a speech boehner gave just over two weeks ago. >> there were no new ideas. there was just the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade that they were in power. >> reporter: and diane, president obama was full of praise for some republicans today -- reagan, eisenhower, lincoln. all of whom are dead. he called those great leaders, and suggested the current crop of republicans is not. diane? >> well, thank you, jake. and as you just told us, the white house does argue that this is the choice. either america borrows $700 billion or increases taxes on the wealthy to get that money. but republicans say raising taxes even on the wealthy will hurt too many small businesses, and that will stall the creation of jobs. so who's right? we asked jonathan karl to check the facts. >> reporter: republicans claim raising taxes on those earnin

mr. boehner, we already have -- >> reporter: mr. boehner has gotten the attention of the white house.ss secretary robert gibbs put out a statement late today saying while they welcome his words time will tell if they become action. i'm also told by the white house that the president will be talking about boehner's statement in the coming days. voters in six states and in d.c. when they head to the polls tomorrow. the last primary before the november election. our senior washington editor rick klein has a preview. >> reporter: delaware is getting so much attention. a sleepy race in the smallest of states getting so much attention at the end because the tea party there could cost relica the country. here christine o'donnell, the tea party favorite, got some late support from sarah palin, from jim demint and others. she's running a very strong challenge against mike hassell, the establishment choice. this could be a case where the tea party takes a big chunk away from the republican chances this fall. >>> an american woman arrested in iran more than a year ago is expected to be heading h

mr. boehner. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. >> reporter: he's trying to make boehner, a republican house yethe bush years, his de facto republican opponent. seizing on a speech he made just two weeks ago. >> there's no new ideas. it was the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade they were in power. >> reporter: the president was full of praise for some republicans. eisenhower, lincoln, reagan all of whom are dead. he called them great leaders. suggesting that the current crop of republican leaders is not. jake tapper abc news the white house. >>> we will get more of president obama's take on the tax cut issue in a special interview with george stephanopoulos coming up on "good morning america." >>> as the nation struggles with some bitter divisions over the economy, foreign policy and wars overseas secretary of state hillary clinton says it's time to seize what she calls a new american moment. in a major speech to the council on foreign relations, clinton said we must try striking a balance to avoid

mr. boehner. privatizing social security, privatizing medicare and veterans benefits and ending unemployment compensation. i think that's a bad set of ideas. they think it's good ideas but they're specific ideas. this is what this election ought to be about. >> now you see, when you're taking a look at politics from paul begala, colored glasses, you get fear instead of hope. this is what paul is running with and this is why you're going to see a change in november, because the american people see -- >> clearly the -- >> the extreme overreach is the obama administration spending exponentially higher. >> are you saying there aren't tea party candidates that want that? you're saying paul is flat out wrong? >> what we're seeing from house republicans is an effort to achieve a consensus. it is always a work in progress. and just one final comment. as i heard the interview with john boehner, i thought back when jack kennedy announced the goal of sending men to the moon and bringing them safely back home

mr. boehner. mr. boehner. mr. boehner. there were no new policies from mr. boehner. boehner. boehner. boener and the republicans in congress, i bet this just seems like common sense. but not to mr. boehner. >> president obama finds a foil in his speech in cleveland, the man who would be speaker if the republicans take the house in november. we'll talk about that and more with george will, arianna huffington, kate zernike, and abc senior congressional correspondent, jonathan karl. thank you all. welcome. let's take john boehner. since we just heard his name a lot. and he's just made some news by saying that he seems to -- if he would have to, make a compromise on the middle class tax cuts and vote for just extending them. is that a go, do you think? is that a qualifier? >> i think he means what he says, some tax cuts are better than none. he wants to fight for all of them. seven times he mentioned john boehner. the president of the united states has met the enemy of hope, freedom, and prosperity in congressman from ohio. he has a 78-seat majority in the house of representatives and joh

mr. boehner's opening of the door about tax cuts? actually vote with democrats on this. >> well, i think these are just words. i learned a long time ago, not to pay a whole lot of attention to what people say. watch what they do. and that is the real test here. i think that what we've heard from mr. boehner for a long, long time now is that they've got a plan for america. i call it the three rs, they want to repeat, they want to reject, and they want to repeal. they want to repeal those laws that we've already put into place to close these loopholes so we can create jobs here in america. they want to reject president obama's middle-class tax cuts. and they want to repeat the blowing up of deficit which is what we're to do if entries or extend president bush's tax cuts. $700 billion deficit increase. that's not what the american people want. >> yeah. >> and so i think we not going to let mr. boehner hide behind his words. we're going to sign on his actions. >> okay. well, the president was in cleveland just last week. made a strong pi

mr. boehner. there were no new ideas. there was just the same philosophy that we have already tried during the decade with a were in power. the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place -- cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations. instead of coming together like past generations did to build a better country for our children and grandchildren, their argument is that we should let insurance companies go back to denying care for folks who are sick, or let credit card companies go back to raising rates without any reason. instead of setting our sights higher, they are asking us to settle for a status quo of stagnant growth, eroding competitiveness, and a shrinking middle class. cleveland, that is not the america i know. that is not the america we believe in. a lot has changed since i came here in those final days of the last election, but what has not changed is the choice facing this country. it is still fear versus hope. the past versus the future. it is still a choice between slid

mr. boehner and his allies. when mr. boehner was here in cleveland, he attacked us. mr. > reporter: one major standoff centers on the bush tax cuts which are about to expire at the end of the year. the president wants to extend them for everyone who earns $200,000 a year, or $250,000 for families. boehner or republicans want to extend them for the wealthy. in an exclusive interview with abc's george stephanopoulos the president had this to say -- >> my challenge and the challenge of every democratic candidate who's out there is just making sure that people understand there's a choice here. >> reporter: republican senate leader mitch mcconnell gave an instant review of the president's address, calling it more government, more debt, and more taxes. vinita and rob? >> and you just saw a bit of president obama's interview with our george stephanopoulos. the rest of george's interview will come up later this morning, an exclusive that you can check out only on "good morning america." >>> despite outrage from the white house along with world political and religious leaders, flo

mr. boehner wants to give us. we just can't afford it. and really what we ought to do is as the president said agree on the middle class tax cuts. let's not hold them hostage while we debate whether we're going to give this very small number of people at the top a tax cut that we can't afford. >> it was striking to me hearing the president on friday when he talked about the economy and the choice in this election. he did not mention anything in his opening remarks about health care reform, which he and you and others have billed as signature achievement of this administration and you said once people know more about health care, the more popular it will become. we see reporting this week in politico that in fact there aren't any democrats who supported this who are out there touting that vote and only those that opposed it are touting it in the election. senator chuck schumer was on the program in march and this is what he said about health care. >> i predict by november those who voted for health care will find it an asset and those who

mr. boehner once and national headlines after he was caught handing out checks.e flew of least 45 times with his wife, and finally, mr. boehner continues to travel paid for through his political action committee. he has spent $57,000 at the ritz-carlton in naples in florida, and $29,000 at the village golf club in ohio. >> john boehner does a lot of fund raising. it is one of those things. he is someone who understands the community. he works closely with the business community. you should think that is a green thing. -- a good thing. >> it includes people but a former aide. could you not say there are others also influencing legislation in washington? >> i think it is absolutely fair. part of the way he is campaigning -- i think it is absolutely fair. i think we have seen a change in transparency. the way he has tried to do business and some of the democrats, we could take a look at democrats, but if you looked at the accomplishments and things the democrats have tried to accomplish -- we are out of iraq. we are taking care of our children, not to mention 95,000

mr. boehner some republicans showed signs they don't know how to proceed. if democrats make them choose tax cuts for 98% of america or tax cuts for no one. senator grassley to the a.p. it's kind of a conundrum i'm not sure i can answer your question. i'll probably vote for it. congressman from texas to politico yesterday, out there in theoretical land might there be something that we vote on that is half a loaf? i suppose so. joining us back here in actual land as promised. stan greenberg, we should note does polling for nbc news. great thanks for joining us tonight, sir. >> npr and l.a. times. >> we got the whole roster out there. give us your assessment of the caucus tonight and what you told them and how much they listened? >> this issue is obviously taken seriously. i came over here, the caucus was supposed to be over, it was still going on, discussing this subject with a lot of support for addressing this. i don't want to talk about what members said in the caucus. that's for them to raise. i can talk about, you know, the polling that we did, and what

mr. boehner's part a concession in an election year, a concession that lasted just about exactly 24 hours. today the top republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell, announced on the senate floor that actually, no really, republicans really are going to block tax cuts for middle class and poor people in order to try to force $700 billion worth of deficit spending on the very richest people in the country. they are really going for it. this election year, they're really doing it. hot damn. joining us now is chris hayes, washington editor of "the nation magazine" and an msnbc contributor. hi, chris. >> hey, rachel. >> did we just have a big republican wobble? is their position clear now? >> i think it is very unclear. part of it has to do with the different political calculations for the different houses. if you're john boehner, all of your members are up for re-election. there is an anti-incumbent fervor and you don't want them to have to vote against tax cuts in an election year. i think mcconnell because there's more procedural control in the senate and because cutting taxes for rich peopl

mr. boehner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. boehner: mr. speaker, my colleagues, in a few minutes we are going to have a series of votes. >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house will be in order. please remove your conversations from the floor. the gentleman can proceed. mr. boehner: as i was saying we are going to have a series of votes here in a few minutes. one of those votes is going to be on the adjournment resolution. that will allow the house to adjourn sometime over the next few days until november 15. american people are asking the question where are the jobs? and this congress has an obligation to help get our economy moving again and get the american people back to work. we have had time all year to move job-killing policies -- the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman suspend. if we could clear the aisle there at the very back of the speaker's right. we'll proceed. if staff could either sit down or leave it would be greatly appreciated. the gentleman can proceed.

mr. boehner is a pretty good face. he has been in the congress since 1990. he was part of the gingrich revolution in 1995. he was video taped on the house floor handing out checks from the tobacco industry to members while they were discussing ending tobacco subsidies. he advocated in cleveland a few days before the president made this speech. he is advocating a return to 2008 spending levels and to the bush tax cuts. so what is different between what john boehner who would be the speaker if the republicans gain power and what george w. bush represented. so the president is trying to draw a clear contrast. it may be too little, too late. but it's one of the few tools he has left at this point in the game. >> boehner is what, one of 12 kids? he is an honorable guy? >> he -- >> kennedy was a big pal of boehner. >> he has policies that got us into the ditch and he doesn't have any new ideas and he smokes like a chimney and spends time in the tanning bed. >> listen. >> he lives on the edge of a golf course. >> exactly. the reason now obama is turning his gunfire

mr. boehner and his allies.or years, republicans have fought -- fought to keep these loopholes opened. when he was here in cleveland that he attacked us for closing some of these loopholes, using the money to help states like ohio keep hundreds of thousands of teachers, cops, and firefighters on the job. mr. boehner the script -- dismiss these ideas, the people that patrol our streets and rush into burning buildings, as government jobs. jobs that i guess we thought were not worth saving. i could not disagree more. teachers, firefighters, police officers, they are part of what keeps america strong. in ohio if we are going to give tax breaks to companies, they should go the ones that create jobs in america. not ones that create jobs overseas. that is one difference between the democratic position and the republican position. that is what this is all about. let me give you another example. we want to put more americans back to work rebuilding america. our roads, railways, runways. when the housing sector collapsed

mr. boehner and everybody else.e should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. >> reporter: republican tax cuts for millionaires, said mr. obama, is part of what led to the mess we're in. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in california, an armed fugitive wanted in washington engaged police in a dramatic two-hour standoff, forcing the evacuation of nearby buildings. the suicidal man even spoke to authorities on his cell phone throughout the whole ordeal while sitting in a car. the suspect eventually surrendered after tear gas was fired. he's being held on suspicion of robbery, possession of a firearm, an outstanding warrant, and parole violation. >>> more nasty weather in texas brought on by tropical storm hermine caused a dangerous tornado to develop and touch ground. the violent spiraling funnel took down power lines, damaged several industrial buildings, even sent a semi slamming into a building. no associated

mr. boehner and senator mcconnell and... they weren't going to vote for any meaningful health care bill. they weren't going to support any student loan reform that the banks didn't like. they were going to oppose the financial oversight bill. we got a couple of republicans for that. and i think he was shocked at the intensity of the republican opposition. but they learned, from my first two years, that if you just say no, even though people hate it, you get rewarded for it because it discourages the democrats and it inflames your base. so they're doing just what they did in '93 and '94. and so far, it appears that they're being rewarded for it. i think that it disoriented him for a while. he just kept trying and kept trying. i also think he believed that if he accomplished a lot on the legislative front that would be reflected in a better political climate. but the problem is there's a huge lag time, once you get in a deep economic hole, between digging out of it and having people feel it. so i think, you know, look, bob, if

mr. boehner and everybody else, we should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer. >> reporter: the president claims letting the tax cuts on the rich expire will give $700 billion to cut the deficit. >> borrowing $700 billion for tax cuts that average more than $100 million a year, to millionaires and even billionair efast effective bang for the buck we could have. >> reporter: extending the cuts to edge costs the government $3.7 trillion over ten years. what are the odds that the bush tax consults get extended before election day? >> i'd say the chances are zero that they get extended. >> reporter: what we're seeing is the white house worried about john boehner being the next speaker. and how would the house operated under a speaker boehner? "the ohioan" has called for repeal of health care and financial reform. so the white house press secretary was quick to point to story, a republican leader tightly bound to lobbyists including those from wall street. >> so they can go back to writing the rules themselves. they said we don't need to buy access. >> david kerley, abc news, the

mr. boehner -- remains to this day. mr. boehner invited a lot of wall street washington's to washington and met behind closed doors to planned to sabotage and kill the wall street reform bill. so i guess it is no surprise now that that is a major part of their agenda if they were again to return. the measures that were taken by the speaker in this house represented a dramatic change from before. number one, when it came to making sure that we held our members accountable, we set up an outside group to review all the cases that may have been made, all the allegations made against members so you have independent bodies making judgments about those in fording recommendations. earmark reform. you might remember that there was a lot of talk on the republicans' side about how they were going to have this moratorium on earmarks. i want you to look at their 47- page document, and i challenge anyone to find anything in there about earmark reform. we reformed the process and dramatically reduced the number of air marks. they quadruple

. >> reporter: boehner made headlines last month demanding the president fire his economic team. mr. obama returned fire in his home, calling out his name no fewer than times. >> there were no new policies for mr. boehner. >> we've offered him new ideas for the last 20 months. >> reporter: on sunday, boehner said he wants to see the bush era taxes for all income brackets, but would support an extension limited to the middle class if he has no other choice. >> i think that's bad policy. i don't think that's going to help our economy. >> reporter: still, the white house claimed the g.o.p. leader had changed his tune. >> i think that congressman boehner was fairly clear yesterday in outlining a position that the president outlined last week. >> reporter: on sunday, a new york times article portrayed boehner as indebted to lobbyists and 45 currently or recently departed house members raised more from lobbyists than boehner, among them house speaker nancy pelosi twice as much. and yet, there was gibbs using twitter to call attention to the article. and one had kinds things to say, and ki

mr. boehner. there were no new ideas. >> reporter: the president laid into the gop several times while once again calling on congress to dismiss what republicans say is a stimulus package. >> he can't -- >> reporter: on the bush era cuts, he said those should 0 only be extended for those making $250,000 or more a year. >> i was really very surprised by the harsh tone of this and not taking responsibility for the failure of his own policies. >> reporter: president obama will likely highlight the proposals again this friday. it remains unclear if congress will consider this two montes out from elections -- months out from elections. >>> how is this playing out on wall street? alison burns was in virginia to a company. she says she's had to cut her staff and pay. >> the hardest part for me is not knowing what the effects of the legislation that they are looking at now and that has been passed will have down the road. >> warner said she hopes unemployment will soon ease so people will begin spending m

mr. boehner helped us make this case if you say i wanted to vote for tax cuts for middle class.billion in more tax cuts to rich people and i wanted to stop that and we are going to come back and fix it next year. >> democratic polling greenberg is making her case. people are willing to fight this fight. the rich shouldn't get the tax cut. the democrats believe this. nancy pelosi believes it in her gut and will fight like heck on this. you say? >> it is a mistake. to answer your first question, i can't think of anybody across this country who wouldn't want a tax cut. people want a tax cut. the class warfare distinction, the democrats are making a mistake. if the democrats do nothing between now and the election and everybody's taxes go up the republicans can say see, we told you. >> that is not going to happen. >> most americans, 95%, don't know anybody makes over $250,000 a year. >> i believe that. >> there are counties in pennsylvania $100,000, one person makes that kind of money. >> this is politics rather than sound economic policy. we have an administration who spent almost

mr. boehner in answering a question on the gop standard of american values said the gop's unintentionally true sound bite of the day. >> on the point we make in this preamble to our pledge is that we are not going to be any different than what we've been. >> a bunch of white guys. indeed the rally outside that rally might not bode well for republicans. all two dozen participants chanting. the pages yellowing with indecision. they have the long-standing gop stance on smaller government. at the same time, it pretends to protect social security, medicare and medicaid. there is no detailed plan to reduce the deficit. the revolutionary part of the pledge is that it drew from the gop's listening post, the website, america speaking out, which i think is the name of this network before we chose msnbc. where real americans got to vote on their favorite stuff. >> it's about listening to the american people. as we listen to the american people, these are the things they told us. >> oddly, america's second-most favorite thing was not included in the pledge. yesterday think progress asked republican c

mr. boehner. you. you are the problem. boehner has the nerve to say that americans aren't ready for solutions? it's pretty clear the tan man was thinking more about his handicap and where to catch rays instead of developing a real agenda for america. boehner's sidekick, mike pence, caved when asked if there's anything new about the plague on america. >> what we have in this proposal is not necessarily new. the idea of fiscal responsibility, pro-growth policies, openness and transparency in government are solid american ideas. >> not necessarily new. i just want to make sure i got that written down. boehner and his crew, they don't want to talk about solutions. even though, as think progress found, his own pledge states, "we recognize these solutions are ambitious." the pledge also states republicans will fight to promote and advance solutions. john boehner, you know what he is? he's a cheater. he's cheating the american public every time he opens his mouth and offers nothing but the word, no. he cheated people out of unempl

mr. boehner demanded that democrats vote on taxes without using the suspension procedure. suspension would require a two-thirds vote. more on that in a moment. meantime, regarding the senate's failure, senator dick durbin on what he sees as simple math. >> i can count, and i know you can, too. we have 59 democrats and not a single republican in the senate supports our position that we need to do something that's responsible to reduce our deficit but also to help middle income families bring us out of this recession. >> why will that be different after the election? >> well, i hope it will be different. occasionally one republican will break ranks and help us. what it gets down to, we can count, and we know we don't have 60 votes for our tax position. we want to basically say after the election when we still face a deadline by the end of the year we'll take up all these tax issues. >> however, immediately after the election, the terms of three appointed senators expire from the states of illinois, west virginia, and delaware. if republicans win any of those seats and are se

mr. boehner the right vehicle for a message of reform? i don't know. ybe lindsay lohan is the right spokesperson for sobriety? i kind of doubt it. john boehner -- john boehner handed out checks from cigarette companies, cigarette packs, on the floor of the house from these merchants of death to republican congressmen who voted with them. that is legalized -- >> does he -- >> this guy's going to reform something is preposterous. >> does he have a chance to make the case, though? democrats have not delivered on promise of reform. >> they have delivered on reform. >> not the process. >> whatever. you just are so concerned with process tonight. what is the process of a guy who's handing out cigarette company checks on the floor of the house? that's the most corrupt thing i've seen in 25 years here. it was john boehner doing it. >> i'm consumed with what you're talking about during the break. a government that works and has things done. the activity we've had under the capitol dome. we said things about congress that were not polite last night. i got complai

mr. boehner helped make this case.nted to vote for tax cuts, they wanted to get $700 billion in more tax cuts to rich people and i wanted to stop that and we're going to come back and fix it next year. democratic polling is making her case. it does say people are willing to fight this fight, that the rich shouldn't get the tax cuts. i hear nancy pelosi believes it in her gut and she's going to fight like heck on this. >> it's a mistake. to answer your first question. i can't think of anybody in this country who wouldn't want a tax cut. but the class warfare distinction, if the democrats do nothing between now and the election, democrats can go back and say, see, we told you. >> i would say most americans, like 95%, don't know anybody who makes over a quarter million a year. >> i believe that. >> they are counties in pennsylvania that don't. 100,000. >> this is politics rather than sound economic policy. the problem is we had an administration that has spent almost a trillion dollars saying we're going to get out of the

mr. boehner. there were no new ideas. they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next ten years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 each to folks who are already millionaires. >> reporter: sustained unemployment near 10% and flagging growth are the main reasons the president's party is staring down potential major losses in the congressional mid- term election. trying to limit the economic and electoral damage, the president conceded that his recovery plans haven't worked fast enough, but he also sought to define the stakes he sees on election day. >> it's still fear versus hope; the past versus the future. it's still a choice between sliding backward and moving forward. >> reporter: mr. obama has called for more targeted stimulus spending and small- business tax breaks including $50 billion in infrastructure spending to upgrade or rehab roads, railways and runways. mr. obama also is proposing a permanent extension of a tax break on research and innovation and a more than $100 billion business tax cut, that would all

mr. boehner admitting this summer that his tax cuts only benefit 3% of so-called small businesses. so how small can that top 3% be when it accounts for half of all small business income? >> only 3% of those small businesspeople, you keep talking about all the small businesspeople that are going to get taxed. only 3% would be affected by that. do you quarrel with that figure? is that a right figure or a wrong figure? >> it may be 3%, but it's half of small business income, because, obviously, the top 3% have half of the gross income for those companies that we would term small businesses. >> so how do they decide which companies they would term "small businesses"? h&r block told politico it has $1.5 million small business clients. but extending the tax cuts would benefit fewer than 1% of them. fewer than 750,000 people, one quarter of 1% of the country, would be affected by the top rate. so how small can this top 3% of small businesses be if they make half the small business money? >> and let's remember the context back then. >> dave kamp knows. he's the ranking republican member on