you have the 2,000 page omnibus spending bill that was dropped yesterday. ing in the background this more than 300 page omnibus public lands bill which is a huge land grab buy the radical greens. they've been pushing this for months. it has been under the radar. it occludes the appropriation of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of acres of land that will be off limits to economic activity. these are the same job-killers from the interior department, ken salazar, carol browner pushing in the background behind the scenes. it is going to cause all sorts of economic damage to the vilified induce of logging, mining, recreation, hunting, fishing. i think the republicans, some of them have done a good job. you mentioned hate continues also james inhofe in calling attention to all of the spas sieve regulatory power these things would hand to the feds. >> sean: you discuss this in your column. first the democrats they are going to get their way there, there's a real human impact in all of this. it is going to be a real threat to the financial livelihood and security

and russia but eventually they'll get to the omnibus bill. in there, 6,500 earmarks. a list of the top earmarkers in this bill. the top two are republicans. senator cochran from minnesota, ann wicker. senator inoue is next. senator feinstein from california. next is senator murray from washington. those are the top five. then senator reid is numbersen. the senate majority leader. senator mcconnell, minority leader is 48 at $112 million. what about this? start there. the panel, chris stirewalt, fox news digital editor. juan williams, fox news contributor. and charles krauthammer, syndicated columnist. >> conclusion of the earmarks was done by democrats inside in what the republicans decry as behind closed doors secretive process. they were included to get them to support the bill. these were preexisting earmarks. they had been included. some think it was inducement or one described as blackmail. receipt so say it's loaded with your earmarks so how can you oppose it. >> that is what has happened>>. >> that's precisely what happened. but the republicans said we're opposed

why are we suddenly at an omnibus bill at the end of this session? didn't do any appropriations work during the year. they didn't come up with a budget. the appropriations committee did not come up with appropriations bill. >> greta: the rest of us would get fired if we did that. it is astounding the way things get put off at the last minute. if you are in college and you cram you don't do well on the exam. >> that's right. the rest of the world has to live up to its obligation. this outfit here, run by the democrats, and i have to say there were times when republicans didn't do the best job either. but at least tried to have appropriations bills and have transparency in passing appropriations bills. both sides have had troubles getting budgets out, because it is a very difficult process. at least an attempt ought to be made. i gotta tell ya, they wait until the last minute so they can punish the american people with stuff they know they would never get through otherwise. even though they've had these majorities. >> greta: thank you, nice to see you,

senator reid is supposed to bring up an am any bus spending bill -- omnibus spending bill. $1.1 billionve problems with it. cane cape cane of arizona went to the floor saying there are 6400 earmarks at $8.# # billion. his favorite for polynesian society and maple sir cup research in vermont. stephen hayes, "weekly standard." a.b. stoddard, "the hill." and syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. steve, looks likes a collision course. >> i say fine, shut it down. you have a congress more unpopular than in history of the country. >> bret: 13% by gallup. >> we have had in the united states in the past two years, closest thing to european style one party government than we've ever had. the reason we're in the fix is democrats chose to put us in the fix. chose not to do what they needed to ensure it didn't happen. they created the problem so they had to ecreate emergency solution. that's why we are seeing what we're seeing today. the problem they never did a budget. the earmarks are problem. we should eliminate them if we can. but by not doing budget and cramming it through, it gives the c

you don't have to wait that long to hear the fox all-stars talk about the omnibus bill and potential government >>> this is eerily reminiscent of last december and i believe america will have the same reaction to this bill than the healthcare bill a year ago. >> christmas is a week from saturday, i understand that. i hope the republicans understand it also. because we are going to complete our work. no matter how long it takes in the congress. we have to do the work of the american people. we stalled the whole congress. >> bret: getting weird from senate democratic aide on the senate said that the u.s. government runs out of money midnight on saturday could be shut down for a day or two according to aides because of the clock that is running in the senate and schedule of things. senator reid is supposed to bring up an am any bus spending bill -- omnibus spending bill. $1.1 billion. and many have problems with it. cane cape cane of arizona went to the floor saying there are 6400 earmarks at $8.# # billion. his favorite for polynesian society and maple sir cup research in vermont. steph

the omnibus bill is dead. they have to figure out a way to fun the government or we close it down this weekend. now the house side. right now they are debating the tax extension. that seems to be a little bit of a mess. >> yes. earlier today the house democratic leadership was prepared to bring the bill to the floor. in order to do that in the house of representatives you have to have a report from the rules committee, a procedural question that defines how this bill is going to be considered? what amendments and what the implications of those amendments were? congresswoman slaughter of new york in close cooperation with speaker pelosi came forward with a rule that would have said you can vote for the democrat alternative on the estate tax. if you do in essence that passes the bill and sends it back to the senate. all heck broke loose with democrats saying we don't want to be automatically on record as supporting the bill even if we vote for the change in the estate tax. they had to go back to leadership. the

both democrats and republicans have earmarks that would benefit their states tucked into the omnibus billsomething the senator acknowledged but added despite that, they still, by his count, plan to vote against the bill. >> nothing like a visual. 1.1 trillion is $575 million per page. >> per page. we're going to start reading. >> some specifics at the bottom of the hour. thank you. >>> you probably heard about the grinch that stole christmas. tonight, a democrat who may spoil it. and the week after, for his fellow lawmakers. carl cameron has the latest of that tale from capitol hill. >> happy new year, democratic senate majority leader harry reid is threatening to make lawmakers work between christmas and new year's to complete a host of items including extending tax cuts and unemployment insurance. >> there's congress after christmas. if the republicans think that because they can stall and stall and stall that we take a break, we're through, we're not through. congress ends january 4th. reed wants senators to simultaneously tackle a 1900-page bill for next year, the ratification of the

. >>> the omnibus bill yanked from the floor after republicans' demands were met. >> they want to ram this bill through congress and they're using once again the christmas break as an inducement to the vote for it. >>. >> dropped on them democrats call shenanigans. >> what hasn't been commented on by senator kyle, that's exactly the amount they asked for. so to stand back in horror and look at $1.1 trillion and say where did this figure come 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

the omnibus spending bill with the fox all-stars right after >> the people in the propane -- appropriationsee worked very hard and we're going to move forward with the omnibus. >> where we are is eerily recommend necessary enter of last year. we have a almost 2,000-page bill no one has seen. it's completely and totally inappropriate to wrap this up into a 2,000-page bill and try to pass it the week before christmas. >> bret: nothing like a visual. if we pull out you can see the 1924 pages of this omnibus pending bill. here's the deal. 575 million per page. 1924 pages. 1.1 trillion total. you see the per page cost. in here is $1 billion for healthcare law implementation. democrats putting that in as well, along with the threats to dismantle healthcare. if president obama is truly serious, he should oppose senate pork-ladened spending bill and announce he will veto it. fred barnes of the weekly stad. mora lawyer son national public radio and national review on line. jonah, i can barely see you but let's start with you. what about this? dropped before the government runs out of money saturday.

. >> 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 the ability for us to complete this legislation. >> the reason he doesn't have the votes is because members on this side of the aisle increasingly felt concerned about the way we do business. for many of the members, it's in the so much the substance of the bill, but the process. >> it wasn't the substance of the earmarks which can range from utterly ridiculous examples of pork to perfectly legitimate spending needs that would be supported by many lawmakers such as drug enforcement efforts for instance. it was instead the process of having 6,000 earmarks in a bill that was going to be pushed through in three days, with no changes allowed, a point the leadership press

omnibus bill with earmarks. this tax cut bill with 200 billion dollars in new spending. they are trying to bring up start, don't ask, don't tell, the dream act. what do you make of this flurry of activity in the wanning days in this 111th congress. >> this is called the jamming in of the agenda before change of control begins next year. even in the senate where democrats will keep the majority we've seen a pick-up of senate republicans there. that independent hanses the ability of minority leader -- that enhances the ability of mcconnell to negotiate and navigate on behalf of common sense policies. i think they are trying to jam it in now. trying to whipsaw democrats who lost in november saying what do you have to lose, vote, get it out of the door, part of the legacy of obama, part of the liberal agenda. and they can't stomach it because the weight of it is too great for the american people. >> sean: i'm aggravated with six republicans in the senate that had an opportunity to support jim demint making these tax cuts permanent. i named them last night. we had nine republ

that's a disgrace. >> omnibus bill is like the ghost of christmas past. health care bill was 3,000 pages they gave people 48 hours to read it and jammed it done the throats. it is amazing they haven't gotten the message from the 2010 elections. after that they had a vote on not having earmarks. some of the earmarks are ridiculous. >> this is the worst congress the 111. harry reid has made a mess -- >> sean: this is the worst president in our lifetime. leadership starts at the top. all pomises broken gitmo, unemployment being below 8%, earmarks, transparency. he was going to stand firm and not let the bush tax cuts being examine ended. >> he's certainly running carter a close second. >> sean: as of right now. what happens politically dana? does this get through democrats are capitulating -- >> i think there's a danger in every hour and everyday this vote is not taken the harder it gets to make a deal. left and right are hardening. for example, take ethanol. for years it was untouchable. all of a sudden, it is. but it will be interesting to see how the repub

an omnibus appropriations bill would have provided this funding, but the c.r. will do nothing to address this urgent problem. not passing this omnibus would halt new national security enhancements intended to improve the f.b.i.'s security, cybersecurity, weapons of mass destruction and counterterrorism capabilities and assist in litigation of intelligence and terrorism cases. the f.e.i. will not be able to hire 126 new agents and 32 intelligence analysts to strengthen national security. mr. president, the omnibus was better for our brave men and women who work as members of law enforcement to make our streets and everyday lives of our constituents safer. without an omnibus, the department of justice will not be able to hire 143 new f.b.i. agents, 157 new prosecutors for u.s. attorneys, target mortgage and financial fraud scammers and schemers who prey on america's hard-working middle-class families and devastated our communities and economy. mr. president, when it comes to the health and well-being of our constituents, it is clear that passing an omnibus has jus

but i want to say one thing about the budget that did not get passed, the omnibus bill. we talked a lot about passing a huge tax cut because we have to know what kind of tax cuts we have. but these agencies, including the defense department, don't know how much money they have got. and there was a christmas party at the department of justice and people were really worried about this. these are people who do not know exactly -- >> democrats have control the house, control the senate, control of the white house for a year, did not pass a single appropriations bill. whose fault is that? >> i'm just saying -- >> charles knows that blame is enough to go around. i want to point out that the congressional job rating -- the purpose in a poll is to make of a president look good. -- make every president look good. and to make the united nations look effective. [laughter] that is reaeay the purpose it serves. >> let me get serious for one second. there is no opportunity -- the public really hate congress and they don't like obama that much, but they don't mind him too much. he has

outrage in people's voices when you hear them talk about this as bill and i did on the radio is really palpable. >> it is. here's the omnibus i wouldn't waste 1900 pages. these are all blank but, the top 15 or so are printed on it and i didn't want to do that but i went to colburn's te. and bill referenced it. names the earmarks and what they are for, outrageous stuff going on, martha. in boonville, arkansas, stress tolerance, for $994,000. how about, $1.454 million, for mosquito trapping in gainesville, florida, and this one, this one, please e-mail the show, let me know what it means, 500 grand for ethno-botanicals. in maryland. i'm not sure. that on top of things like senator harry reid asking for a million dollars, for, get this: centipede research. now, $8.3 billion in earmarks, the list goes on and on and 1500 pages of earmarks, i printed 32 and pound 3 ridiculous ones and i'm sure there are 3200 ridiculous ones. martha: and most boil down to favors, from -- >> bingo. martha: special interest and people who, guess what, make campaign donation down the line so everybody is trying to keep somebody happy out there. so wh

democrats are scrambling after republicans outplayed them on the omnibus spending bill. news correspondent and nbc's capitol hill correspondent luke russert is joining her. we've got both sides of the hill covered. kelly, first to you. what happened last night with the omnibus spending bill? >> harry reid thought he had agreements privately with enough republicans to pass the 1$1.1 trillion bill which would fund the agencies of government through the whole fiscal year. it was a very biggs project. something they worked on for other than a year and also inclusive for 6400 earmarks and many defend them as important. so he thought he had the votes. well, mitch mcconnell had been working his side very hard and it turns out they didn't have the necessary votes. and harry reid had to abandon that bill and agree to work with republicans today on a short-term funding fix which will keep all the lights on and the power bill paid for the government for a period of months. and that's what they're going to do instead. many republicans who had been particularly vocal about opposition

take a look at the omnibus bill. i know that the new federal article listed senator but i have earmarks, heard a report that 90% of the earmarks were democrat earmarks. at any rate, there's so much pork in that bill. during the hearing, every democrat said we have got to raise the taxes on the rich to pay these bills. they are not paying the bills. they are spending more money. like i said, we have a spending problem, not in income problem. host: from "roll-call" this morning -- "roll callle is in article this morning. coleen, go ahead. caller: this lame duck session makes me sick. the republicans taking the president hostage to make him agree to a plan of more benefits for the wealthy people and less taxes -- they should be paying 39% like they did under clinton, even though the republicans had control of the senate and house since about 1992. this country has just gone downhill in the last 20 years. all we talk about our republicans and democrats. what about the people? the people that have gotten so wealthy over th

i want to say one thing about the budget that did not get passed, the omnibus bill. we talked a lot about passing tax cuts because we have to know what kind of tax cuts we have to put these agencies, including the defense department, don't know how much they've got and for what. and i was at a christmas party for the department of justice and people were really worried about this. law enforcement people don't know exactly what kind of money they can spend for what. >> democrats have controlled the house and senate and the white house for a year and did not pass a single appropriations bill. whose fault is that? >> i am not laying blame, i am just saying -- >> charles is laying blame and there is enough to go around. i want to point out about the congressional job rating. its purpose is to make every president look good. and to make the united nations look effective. [laughter] that is really the purpose it serves. >> just to make a serious for one second, there is a narrow opportunity -- the country really hates congress, and they don't like obama that much, but they

bill. what about the omnibus? want your honest take on it. >> i don't think earmarks are necessarily bad. megyn: you agree with harry reid then? that's what we were sent here to do. >> it was renewable energy, tax credits for renewable energy, money that went to -- megyn: right. and it was taxpayer money for blueberry research. >> well, you can pick out all those things -- megyn: i know, we did. >> the maple syrup stuff is good for the economy. megyn: you can make an argument that each one of these is a worthy argument, but why do the taxpayers need to pick it up? >> reporter: pause they're contribute -- because they're contributing to the main economy as a whole. megyn: $10 million for a john murtha memorial? >> again, you can pick out some of the pork, but the overwhelming percentage of this stuff would have been good for the economy and pumped even more money back into it. i'm not anti-earmark. megyn: so you say it was worth it. >> yes. megyn: sorry for your loss. >> i don't think i lost anything. given when yo

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 democrats are as confident as back then. i think they worried they wouldn't necessarily win the ball game. although, it's got to be said that the reason why all this stuff is jammed up at the end like this, the reason why it's so dramatic and controversial right now, after the election, is that the republicans slow-walked all these spending bills.

if you have an omnibus bill that can last for one or two years. probably one in this case, they don't have to do the start, stop, start, stop. they can plan for the entire year. >> well, it's a lot different than the cartoon of how a bill becomes a law. former senator john breaux from louisiana. thank you for joining us. >> you're more than welcome. thank you, chuck. >> all right. coming up, the president's health care overall dealt a serious blow. just how serious? stay with us. >>> wac back. >>> welcome back. as we were preparing for this, about two hours ago, a major blow to president obama's landmark health care law. potentially. this afternoon a federal judge in virginia declared that part os it have law are unconstitutional. the attorney general filed the lawsuit because he believe the reforms require people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. he believed that was unconstitutional. pete williams is here to break it down. now pete, first of all, this is one federal judge, but explain what happened in this ruling, and explain the one par

omnibus, the house and senate majority are finalizing the details of a 12-bill, $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. the senate faces a 60-vote hurdle to pass that omnibus bill but if they succeed, it will fall on the house democrats to pass it. and they will have to do it without a single republican vote, i can assure you. mr. speaker, none of us believe we should shut down the government, but i cannot and will not support the this c.r. omnibus because it simply spends too much and contains unnecessary and extraneous legislative writers. if we pass a c.r. we should pass a clean c.r. funded at the f.y. twathe levels and demonstrate our commit -- 2008 levels and demonstrate our commitment to cutting spending. and, mr. speaker, just per chance the senate is not able to get those 60 votes, this could be the last time that my chairman, mr. obey, and i are on the floor together and as we do that, i wanted to recognize especially my staff director, jeff shocky, for the fabulous job he's done working for us over these years. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore

we tried an omnibus bill that blew up. so, there's been no serious debate on start. with 50 amendments left, i don't think you can have a serious debate between now and january 4. given the process and the substance, there's a real hurdle there. >> schieffer: so i take it you're not going to vote for it. if you're not going to vote for it, it takes 67 votes. you think that's going.... >> here's what i'm saying. if you want to have a chance of passing start you better start over and do it in the next congress because this lame duck has been poisoned. the idea that you can have a meaningful debate on the start treaty when you've had one amendment after weeks of special interest politics, you have unresolved the difference between the russians' view of missile defense and ours make it a hurdle you can't overcome in the lame duck. maybe next year, we can straighten things out and have a chance to do it. >> schieffer: senator levin, i think there's some news here because i think a lot of people thought that senator graham might be one of the republicans who decided, in th

they drop us on us an omnibus spending bill.hat's because democrats couldn't get their act together to get the individual spending bills through. now they've got backs up against the wall and they are trying to push this through at the last minute. nobody has read it, 2,000 pages loaded with all kinds of g u.n. k and pork imaginable. some of this stuff is laughable, right, peanut research, maple syrup research. the only research i want to do on maple syrup is on my pancakes. i don't want my tax dollars doing research for it. megyn: we have to talk about the john murtha earmark. he was a congressman from pennsylvania who is diseased. there are five lawmakers, here they are. look at your screen. in this case it's all democrat whose have come together to ask for $10 million of your money, your taxpayer money to build a center in memory of him. now, i'm sure that john murtha is very popular with a lot of pennsylvania citizens and a lot of democrats, but all that money in his memory? >> reporter: he's also deed. these folks were tryi

an omnibus appropriations bill would have provided the spendini , but the cr will do nothing to address this urgent passing this omnibus would holdn detional securityat enhancements intended to improve fbi security, cybersecurity, weapons of mass destruction and counterterrorism capabilities as and assist in litigation of intelligence and terrorism cases. the fbi will not be able to ages higher 160 agents and 32 intelligence analysts tostreng strengthen the nationalmr. prese security. mr. president, the omnibus was for a great men and women who enforcement to make our streets and everyday lives for her constituents safer. without the omnibus, the department of justice will not be able to higher 143 new fbi fr agents, 163 new attorneys and target mortgage and financial fraud skimmers and schemers andi prey on america's hard-working middle-class families and comm devastated our communities and m economy. mr. president, when it comes tor the health and well-being of the constituents, it is clear that passing an omnibus has just bee. a promise. again, we are talking about redirecting our re

bill. the omnibus contained over 6,000 earmarks costing taxpayers close to $8 billion. the 2,000-page bill took over two days to print. i agree with speaker-elect john boehner's statement, this bill represents exactly what the american people have rejected, more spending, more earmarks and more big government. senate liberals tried to bulldoze this legislation with pork-filled spending. for example, $1.8 million to study swine odor and manure management in ames, iowa. $2.19 million for center of grapes genetics in new york. $1.76 million for honey bee lab in texas. withdrawing the bill shows the american people can make a difference. thanks to the tea party activists and radio talk show host such as mark levin. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. pallone: to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, m

all of the bills that are involved in this omnibus bill, every one of them went through a long, long process of committee hearings, subcommittee markups and passage and full committee markups and passage. the changes to this bill that have come to the floor have come as a result, not of change in policy, but because we all were told in order to get an omnibus passed, we had to reduce the amount of that bill that's inned out of committee each of those bills a significant amount to meet the -- the mccaskill-sessions level, so we went back and cut a significant amount out of each one of our bills. the result of is the omnibus in front of us. so the 2,000 pages we're referring to have worked their way through a process. i would ask the leader if he knows this. and the difference is we had to cut money to meet the level of sessions-mccaskill and that's what we have before us and that's what we're being told after a year's worth of work that somehow we don't have the capability of knowing what's in this bill. is the leader aware of that? mr. reid: i'm aware that my friend, the republican le

>>neil: we still have the monstrous omnibus spending bill out there.hey have to do something with that, right? we hear from harry reid, the senate majority leader, he has no plans to pursue a short-term continuing resolution. and instead, he is going ahead with the plan to pass an omnibus spending bill. in other words, that whole puppy. all nearly 2,000 pages. representing $1.25 trillion. they vote up or down on that. what makes this a bone of contention there is a lot of waste $8 billion worth of earmarks and specialty pork projects that many are offended by but harry reid is saying we will not keep the government limping along with the continuing resolution, a little bit each time. yes-or-no on this. you have this up in the air. you have the whole tax compromise thing that they thought they worked out. and you have it snowing in washington. we also are getting word of locust lying around the capitol. i was bluffing. but it is weird. and now republican congressman from ohio who joins me. congressman, this has gone from looking steady to as bad as it g

an omnibus appropriations bill would have provided this funding, but the c.r. will do nothing to address this urgent problem. not passing this omnibus would halt new national security enhancements intended to improve the f.b.i.'s security, cybersecurity, weapons of mass destruction and counterterrorism capabilities and assist in litigation of intelligence and terrorism cases. the f.e.i. will not be able to hire 126 new agents and 32 intelligence analysts to strengthen national security. mr. president, the omnibus was better for our brave men and women who work as members of law enforcement to make our streets and everyday lives of our constituents safer. without an omnibus, the department of justice will not be able to hire 143 new f.b.i. agents, 157 new prosecutors for u.s. attorneys, target mortgage and financial fraud scammers and schemers who prey on america's hard-working middle-class families and devastated our communities and economy. mr. president, when it comes to the health and well-being of our constituents, it is clear that passing an omnibus has jus

>> on the earmarks, were there other issues on the omnibus bill? >> i think the spending levels were totally out of control. nice christmas shirt. [laughter] >> on the question of spending, the tax bill will add about $400 billion to the 2011 budget. we have 681 in non-defense spending. it would be less with homeland security and va taken out where can you cut to compensate for this? >> if we want to close the deficit hole that we have in washington, d.c. with the budget, we need to cut spending and we need to have a healthy economy. is growing jobs in our country with more people taking care of themselves, their families, and back on the tax rolls. you cannot have a growing economy if you're going to raise taxes on the very people we expect to invest in our economy. >> you voted for the tax bill last night but what you say to conservative critics like sarah palin who called it a lousy deal? >> there were members that did not think the agreement on the tax bill was a good one. i have to tell you that from where i stand, our first goal was to stop th

is the omnibus bill going to pass? will the budget pass? if so, when. >> we are doing everything we can to keep that from happening, and, obviously, the vote will take place, variable, may be the last piece of action that we take here this year in the senate, i hope that does not pass. if it passes, what it does, it really takes away the opportunity for us, this entire next year, to decline in spending, we have a debt ceiling vote that will be coming up in april, may or early june, depending on when we hit the debt ceiling, and it is my hope we'll be able to really but in place these constructs to drive down spending before that, and if we pass this bill, that you are referring to, what it does, is really kick the can down the road and -- an entire year and flies in the face of everything people spoke about during the last election. martha: and even the context of this passing with the amount of earmarks you showed us and people say that is a small percentage of everything but it doesn't matter. the principle, people are completely fed up w

with the omnibus bill. for a number of years, john mccain, tom coburn and a few have been shouting in the dark about how we had to defeat bills that included earmarks. didn't work for a number of years. didn't work last year. this year, it collapses. it is possible just by shouting loudly enough and getting taken seriously to shift the reality of the senate. it is unique in that way. it takes this long and this push pressure to do it. i don't want to sound like i'm depack chopra or something like a pipe dream. they need to make it attractive to enough senators to get one vote on january 5th or a discussion that takes a couple of days. it's risky, but having this discussion is making it more likely to happen. >> dave weigel, msnbc contributor. >>> mike huckabee's curiously morphing stance on something he insists he only has one stance. also, debunktion junction and something about veterans and something that made me very angry. one thing at a time...? consider this: drop & go charging for up to 4 devices at o

it's in effect the vote to consider this omnibus bill. our constituents will not be fooled by senators who vote yes on cloture to go to this bill, ensuring that it will be considered under this rushed process without amendment, but then who vote no on final passage after it's too late to stop the flawed process, and say, well, i voted no on the bill. of course they voted no on the bill, but then it was too late. the key vote is on the cloture vote, whenever that might occur. i'm told it might occur at actually 12:01 on sunday morning. in other words, one minute after midnight. well, that would be very reminiscent of last year's consideration of the health care bill where through all of the procedural gimmickry, this body, i think, did not distinguish itself in adopting legislation under a process that the american people saw through, objected to, and continue to criticize the legislation adopted as a result of the process as well as its substance. we want to do the same thing with this legislation here, then it will demonstrate in the very

it is frozen in this omnibus bill. we need additional funding for national security. additional funding for follow on in iraq so to make sure the civilian side gets ramped up and for dealing with international terrorist organizations. we got both of those things. do we like some of these "earmarks" in there? no, we don't like them. the question is are we going to throw out the baby with the bath water here? if, in fact, this omnibus bill negotiated by republicans and democrats, not by us, republicans and democrats passes the president will support it. >> you are the point man on all of this. you are here at the united nations, negotiating with mitch mcconnell. you are everywhere. are you the defacto chief of staff? >> well, look, when the president asked me to join him, he asked what portfolio i wanted. i said i want to be in the room whenever decision is being made. you are president but i want to have an input. the president used me where i have a skill set. i still consider myself a senate man. i love the senate. i love the congress. i keep in touch with them. i ha

by defeating the 2008, $111 trillion omnibus bill, the american people opposed that. and instead we should pass content in resolution that will get us over to the next year. and to this the right way. if they do the right way to let more people voting for it, people like myself want to support our armed control people, to the very best we can. and would like to support a s.t.a.r.t. treaty. but i don't think this is an untraceable thing. and ram this through at this crucial time of year when we have a lot of other things left to worry about as well, i think it's just not right. >> i will jump in here on the intelligence bandwagon and agree with senator bond, who spoke as the ranking member when i was chairman of intelligence committee. we knew something like this was going to happen in the years ahead. i would encourage everybody here to read the reservations that we all have about the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, as written. and i would simply agreed with my colleagues that we certainly need more time to do this in the proper way as opposed to jamming this up against the christ

washington with an update. >> senate democratic leader harry reid is still going to bring the omnibus bill to a vote this week but republicans continue to fight it. >> they want to ram this gigantic spending bill through congress. and they are using the christmas break as an inducement to vote for it. we know this is not the way to legislate. americans expect more from congress and they demanded more on election day. >> reporter: today mcconnell introduced the clean one-page continuing resolution which would fund the government current spending levels through february 18, giving lawmakers time to examine the bill more closely. the democrats say they knew huh big it would be. >> it's true, it's over a trillion dollars. it's $1.1 trillion in this bill. but what hasn't been said by senators mcconnell and kyl is that's the amount they asked for. >> reporter: but the number of earmarks from republicans and democrats which one long-time opponent told fox he is determined to stop. >> 6 thundershower>> 6,883. one is $300,000 for the polynesian voyaging society in hawaii. $175,000 for maple syrup r

by defeating the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill. the american people oppose that and instead we should pass a continuing resolution that will get us to the next year into this the right way. if they do at the right way they will have more consensus, people like myself who want to support and do the very best we can and would like to support a s.t.a.r.t. treaty, but i don't think this is an unreasonable thing into ram this through at this crucial time of year when we have a lot of other things we have to worry about as well i think is just not right. >> i am going to jump in here on the intelligence bandwagon and agree with senator bond, who spoke as the ranking member when i was chairman of the intelligence committee. we knew something like this was going to happen in the years ahead. i would encourage everybody here to read the 14 reservations that we all have about the s.t.a.r.t. treaty as written, and i would simply agree with my colleagues that we certainly need more time to do this in the proper way as opposed to jamming this u

b it's the first vote, to consideb this omnibus bill. ur ilconstituents will not be fooled by senator terse to vote yes on cloture and go to this bill ensuring that it will bestt considered under this process, without amendments, but then who vote no on final passage after it is too late to stop the process and said i voted no on the bill. well of course they voted no ond the bill but then it was too late. the vote is on the cloture vote whenever that might occur and ir am told it might occur actually 12:01 on sunday morning. in other words, one minute after midnight. well, i would be very by, reminiscent of last year's consideration of the healthcaren bill where the role of therocest procedural gimmickry, this bodys i think did not distinguish itself in adopting legislation under a process that theon american people saw through, as objected to, and continue towe t criticize thehe legislation adopted as a result of the substance. tha this we want to do the same thing ont this legislation here that will demonstrate relating to spending aft

i'm deeply opposed to putting an omnibus appropriations bill on this c.r. that's coming to the senate and passing an omnibus appropriation on 12 appropriation units in a short time debate without the transparency we need. now i'm not a johnny-come-lately -- pardon the phrase -- to this particular position because in the house of representatives when president bush brought an omnibus budget to the house, i voted against it. i voted against it last fall on a number of occasions when we had omnibus appropriations bills matched up coming to the senate floor under president obama. it is a bad way to do business. by rolling all those things together, you don't have the scrutiny, the oversoothe or under -- oversight or understanding are where the money is going and the tendency to push money beyond your limits becomes a reality. we've got to make some hard decisions. we've got to execute some tough love. we've got to have some shared sacrifice. and we've got to do it quickly. time has run out on the american government, and our american budget process without subst