mr. goolsbee, welcome to "meet the press." let's start there. are you going to get a deal? will this pass through congress before christmas? >> i certainly hope it does. what the president got in the package is very important for the economy and to see 150, 200 million people and their families have taxes go up in less than three weeks would be a serious blow. i think everybody should take a step back if -- i understand the feeling that it's a bitter pill to swallow high income tax cuts but what the president was able to get that is substantially bigger than that and important for the economy whether it's incentives for investments for firms, whether it's a payroll tax cut for 155 million workers, money for college education, et cetera, is really important and we can't let that go. >> you predict passage? >> i'm predicting passage. >> let's talk about the rationale for this deal. this week the president's economic adviser larry summers warned of consequences of inaction here in a briefing. i'll put part of what he said on the screen. failure to pass this bill would material

mr. goolsbee, the president, even president clinton all agree that the answer is no. if that doesn't seem to the fight we have in washington. >> in the end do you vote against this? >> i think the house of representatives on t democratic side said we won't go for this deal. we have to get something done to make sure taxes go down for the middle class and, two, it has to be done quickly. we're doing our job in congress. we're going to change this and hopefully the esident will back us up as we try to take out the worst things that are in it. >> congressman, how do you feel? >> this position that anthony is taking is the one that was rejected on november 2nd. as much as i believe all taxes should go up on every american to some small extent, we're dealing with a different congress and a different ality. in comparison to president clinton when he lost in '94, remember, unemployment was not at 10%. the kind of whipping we took as democrats in the congress was not as large and as grave as it was a few weeks ago. i think the president should lean morinto this agreement. we