the lobby might be exaggerated but it does oppose almost any new regulations, political analyst norman ornstein. >> no member of congress no mat other how safe wants to have some group pouring millions of dollars in dedicated to smearing them or defeating them. >> reporter: we may see a test of strength between two washington power centers, a lobby, the nra and legislators who feel they've got to do something. dan raviv, cbs news at the capitol. >> jeff: still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", a warrant's worst fear not realized. stories of survival and sacrifice in newtown. and we'll take a critical look back at an effort to stop gun violence in california. >> briefly in other news outside the syrian cap tafl damascus tonight, warplanes fired on a palestinian refugee camp, activists say at least 25 people were killed taking shelter in a mosque there and to the north rebels say they won a key battle taking an infant ree base in aleppo, the country's largest city. more than 40,000 syrians have been killed since an uprise-- uprising against president bashar assad began 21 months ago. and in

we sort through the state of play and the latest political maneuvering with congress watcher norman ornstein and political editor christina bellantoni. >> brown: then we look at the suspension of the u.n.'s polio eradication campaign in pakistan, after the killings of nine aid workers. >> suarez: from capitol hill, ame lman repor on two congressional hearings today where state department officials accepted blame in failing to protect the u.s. diplomatic mission in libya. >> we have to do better. we owe it to our colleagues who lost their lives in benghazi. we owe it to the security professionals who acted with such extraordinary heroism that awful night to try to protect them, and we owe it to thousands of our colleagues serving america with a great dedication every day in diplomatic posts around the world. >> brown: spending versus saving: amid the last-minute holiday rush, paul solman weighs the economic benefits. >> holiday season grand central ternal and a key question: is consumerism kind of a bad thing that's overdone this time of year? or is it the key driving economic and moral force

veteran congress-watcher norman ornstein is with the american enterprise institute, a conservative think tank in washington >> there's been four years especially of deep frustration among democrats. frustration because the filibuster has been used really over the last six years, but in particular, over the last four, in ways that it was never in history used before. >> holman: designed to protect the rights of the minority party in the senate, the filibuster was used sparingly, often for issues of great importance like civil rights. but as the tool has become a regular tool of political warfare, scrutiny of the procedure has increased and questions raised about its impact on the chamber. now, reid and other senate democrats want to change the rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold needed to formally begin debate on a bill; and require a "talking filibuster," forcing senators to make their case on the floor for hours and hours, like jimmy stewart did in the 1939 film "mr. smith goes to washington." >> i'm not, and i'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. >> holman: or

joining me now: norman ornstein, a long-time watcher of congress and a scholar at the american enterprisetitute, and newshour political editor christina bellantoni. christina, what are we watching snowed what's going on? what's the thinking on what's up in the house of representatives tonight? >> a lot of people are a little confused by what speaker boehner is trying to do here because we've got plenty of -- plenty of time is probably not the right word to use but there's a lot of time in congressional terms when it comes to the urgency of this fiscal cliff matter. so they're having a vote before they leave for christmas on a plan that a lot of republicans are signing on to because they feel like they have to but whatever they hold these votes later and late interthe evening that's a signal they're not quite there yet and that's what you're seeing happen today and this companion bill you mentioned in that piece there, that's where you're seeing the deal making go on. you have to leadership team adding to that, putting sweeteners in, things here and there, but politically it's a dangerous

the second speaker will be norman ornstein.he is a long-term observer of politics and he is an analyst at cbs news. he is the author of several books, which you may have read. the broken branch, how congress is failing america, and the permanent campaign of the future, and most recently, it's even worse than it looks, the new politics of extremism. mr. norm ornstein has been quoted probably too many times for any data collected in one place. in the '90s he wrote an article that i might've been in some were quoted. in your quote was i had no idea. i thought to myself, if you can get quoted for saying that you have achieved a unique status in washington. i congratulate you on that. [laughter] >> our third speaker is bill wichterman. he is currently in the public policy practice. previously he served as special assistant to george w. bush in the white house. he is a policy advisor and senate majority leader to bill crist and worked in the senate in pennsylvania. he has great experience in matters of the house and senate. he is ver

i don't know how john boehner keeps his job. 17 republicans norman ornstein put out in his piece he couldeakership. i don't know how he keeps his job when he says nothing more i can do. up to the president and democratic leader in the senate. he abdicated his responsibility because knows he can't get a deal t his own attempt to solve the deal in plan. about was rejected by his own caucus. this is a guy who has big political problems and basically admitted by saying it's in the president's court he can't get it done. patti ann: brad, stephen hayes referred earlier on our show to the conservative theory democrats actually want to go off the cliff because it would give them the tax hikes they want and quickly propose legislation cutting the taxes on middle class which both side would approve easily. and tax hikes on higher incomes would be in place and it is much harder to roll back taxes once they exist. so is this a strategy do you believe? >> absolutely. i think the president believes he has much better leverage in january by us going over the cliff as you say correctly, there is nothing

thomas mann and norman ornstein wrote a great piece -- [♪ "world news tonight" theme ♪] >> stephanie:stephanie: right. >> why don't you say lie? it's quicker, easier zippier, and it's true. >> stephanie: right. even polititfact that's when it has gotten really sad -- >> well, both sides do it. >> stephanie: yeah. campaign coverage in 2012 was particularly a [ inaudible ] radical right-wing off the rail [ inaudible ] republican party booth in terms of its agenda and relationship to -- it's like no. >> time square rolex. >> stephanie: right. >> it's nice it backfired at least in ohio with the jeep ads. >> stephanie: right. >> the public is not stupid. >> stephanie: thank god there is a line which you cannot cross, and the public goes wait a minute. we know that's -- even paul ryan with this plant in janesville. >> uh-huh. >> but it was very gratified to see karl rove thrown off of the balcony, oh that was a saturday night sketch. >> stephanie: yes. we'll have to leave it there. >> i have to leave it there. >> stephanie: right. the main stream jacki's old buddy wolf. >> that's right. >>