plus, can either party compromise and keep hard core supporters on board, neera tanden of the center for american progress, "the wall street journal"'s jacqui kaums and "the new york times" and our own dana bash. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." you knows what happens when sisyphus rolls that boulder to the top of the hill, it rolls back down, a piece of greek mythology that brings to us the reality of the u.s. congress. it got a deal for now that raises taxes on the upper brackets and prevents for now huge spending cuts. it's moved on to the issue of avoiding a u.s. default. >> the president needs to show up early this time. >> republicans say they are done raising taxes. they want the president to agree to spending cuts in exchange for raising the amount of money the u.s. treasury is allowed to borrow. the president wants the debt ceiling raised without debate. but be serious, this is washington. >> any future budget agreements must balance the need for thoughtful spending reductions, with revenue from the wealthiest among us and closing wasteful tax loopholes. >

we'll ask two people at the center of the argument, neera tanden of the center for american progressnd larry pratt from gun owners of america. >>> then, a confirmation show down over the president's nominees, to top national security posts. from defense to the cia. the men the president wants in his new cabinet are coming under heavy fire. will the senate approve them? we'll hear from two members of the armed services committee. republican kelly ayotte and democrat richard blumenthal. also the president is taking a more aggressive approach as he begins his second term. we'll ask our sunday panel if mr. obama has the clout to win the fights he's taking on. >>> and our power player of the week... the wife of a washington insider makes her own mark. all, right you now, on fox news sunday. ♪ >> chris: and, hello again from fox news in washington. in the wake of the newtown school shootings washington is getting ready for a battle over how to prevent more acts of mass violence. joining me are two people at the center of what is likely to be one of the first big political issues this year,

i go back to neera tanden. my belief is she wants to think about this presidency thing. what do you think should be the right media response to her for the next six months or so? >> you know, i think people should just, you know, take a deep breath and look at what she does, and she's a person who is always committed to public service. i think she'll have some element of service, whether it's -- i don't think it will be public service immediately, but it will be service of some kind, and i'd say what i thought was really interesting about the hearing yesterday and the treatment by the right wing is, you know, i think hillary really demonstrated to people how ridiculous these hearings are. republican members, conservative members have spent much more time grilling american leaders than they have been focused on the people who actually killed americans. you know, they spent much more time trying to treat this as a political issue of going after democrats, obama, hillary, susan rice, than actually finding out who is responsible and what we should do about it. and so, you kn

. >>> joining me around the table, jackie calls of the "new york times," neera tanden of the senatorrican progress, stephen moore of the "wall street journal" and cnn's dana bash. i want to talk about reaction to the fiscal cliff deal and sort of sew that up. the first comes from the co-founder of the progressive change committee, and he said the president remains clueless about how to use leverage in a negotiation. republicans publicly admitted they lost the tax debate and would be forced to cave, yet the president just kept giving stuff away. and then we have this from the leader of the tea party express. >> we elected the house of representatives. we have the majority. the republicans have the majority there. we still control part of the government, and the house controls the purse strings. >> basically saying, wait a minute, we have the house majority, you know, why didn't they stick up for, you know, spending cuts? so let's -- the left and the right seem to be not happy with this which almost makes it a perfect deal. >> right. >> but can you hold on to -- can either party hold o

neera tanden and the center for american progress, bill richardson, former governor, former everything and a negotiator. finally, rep donna edwards from maryland. take the call for joining us. -- thank you all for joining us. let's put up the results. not so great. 46% have low confidence that this government operate effectively, confronted with a crisis rillettes get to it. it is sometime in the future. a hypothetical future not far away. i am the president. i have been wanting a promotion for a long time. governor, you are my chief of staff. it is 7:00 in the white house. we are early birds. good morning, governor. >> good morning, mr. president. [laughter] >> i love the sound of that. working at the white house is a terrific thing. prices a day. we have a crisis a -- crises a day. we have a crisis today. europe has not been going well. they refer to it as austerity spring. let's look at what the arresting -- what we are seeing. [video clip] -- audio clip spanish damages are blockaded harbors and airports, demanding budget cuts the rescinded -- be rescinded. the rising discord could