joining me now is legendary congressman charlie rangel of new york. congressman, welcome to the show. >> thank you, doctor. >> speaker boehner is finally reconvening the house. but is this just so much posturing? is there anything substantive that can get done? >> something could happen. but you realize that some of the people that he can't get support of have already been defeated and refuse to accept it. there are a lot of republicans in the house of representatives that wanted obama beaten, and they cannot believe that some of them got beaten. obama really has tried, and he's shaking up his base a little bit by reaching out to these people. but the truth of the matter is that i don't see how speaker boehner could stay in ohio with the senate in washington, the president in washington, and he's given us 48 hours' notice. now we have it. i just hope that he has the courage to say he's going to lose some of his people and do what's good for the country and not for his politics. >> well, you mentioned him shaking up the base, that is, president obama a

to democratic congressman charles rangel. taxes are going up for the higher earners but the sequestration, if that goes in effect, it could do serious economic damage in defense industry jobs. >>guest: it is amazing how people have no confidence just when people say we have an outline and it looks like we are close do deal people are happy. the fact is we don't know whether we have a deal or not. but if the white house and the senate can leak out information to the press that we are close, accept that. the sequestration is a problem that we created and one that we can move on and deal with at another time. i hope this is the case. right now, people want to see their government work together and if we have that type of attitude rather than one of confrontation, there is no problem before us that collectively we cannot resolve. >> congressman rangel, this confidence in government question, why should americans be confident in congress, in you, when we have been down this road before in the debt ceiling fight of a year and a hal

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. >>> now we turn to congressman charles rangel, a democrat of new york.ir, i put to you the question we started with, the clock is ticking to the new year. here comes the fiscal cliff. so what on earth is the speaker, mr. boehner and his boys, what on earth are they doing wasting time on these gyrations as harry reid referred to them? >> the best i can make out is that he doesn't have the votes to do what he would want to do, and that he's using these legislative procedures in order to test the moderates as opposed to those that prevent him from making any type of decent agreement with the president of the united states, and i'd like to add, and the american people. he has, unfortunately, in his party a group that he's dependent on if he wants to remain speaker that refuse, that refuse to the believe that obama has won the election. they hated had i am from the beginning and the election didn't cause any more delight in where we go from here. and so the best i can make out, he's trying to get enough votes to get enough support to free himself and to ultim

congressman charles rangel is a democrat from new york and he joins us live from capitol hill.d afternoon, sir. jay carney said today that the republicans' offer is, i'm quoting him, magic beans and fairy dust. speaker boehner says democrats like you are living in la la land. as one serving his 22nd term in congress, can you tell us, sir, who is living in an enchanted universe and who is operating on planet earth? >> well, quite frankly, the republican party is so confused that they don't truly realize that president obama won re-election, and there are certain parts of them that said, hell, no, they're not going to accept that. even mitt romney has gone off to shangri-la somewhere because of their refusal to accept reality. instead of just saying, as the president has said, that you can't get to $800 billion without hurting so many people, americans, and that it would be unacceptable, why don't we tell speaker boehner, first of all, that's going to be unacceptable by republicans and most americans. two, why don't you lay out the $800 billion? i for one, if you didn't care abou

. >> congressman rangel, i'll begin with you. if most economist say the chained cp sy a more accurate way of measuring inflation, why are you against it even if the white house is for it? >> because if you're saying you're out there to save money, the most vulnerable people that we could possibly have in the united states of america, old folks whose cost of living is going up, whose health care have increased, and now we have a formula that was original designed to find out what was the cost of living so that the social security check will be able to be increased to meet the cost of living. now we're doing it backwards. we find out how much money we want to save. incidentally social security was never supposed to be involved in this procedure. how much money do we want to save, and then we say we'll get a formula, and the formula will save us that much money over ten years. it's just not fair to do this to old folks, most of whom are dependant on their checks completely or in part. >> congressman, why should social security not b

rubbish rangel or believes that social services decided to take him. his family far too quickly he spent two months in an orphanage and all the time parents try to prove that they happened to be used their son but finnish social services rarely change their minds. that this was because he was more than the shock you know when my child was taken away from the. city my instincts told me that i had to save him i said there was no fear nothing you know i knew that i would fight for him fight until the very end. in the meantime social services began to look for robots future guardians. they even let the adoptive parents take a look at me they wanted me to become their first child but i told them. all never be your child i have my own moment. in finland foster parents raise a child only for a limited time at the very most until they come of age and there are unable to conceal information about their wards biological parents local authorities reimburse substitute parents expenses associated with caring for a child. from the very beginning that she was not our

rangel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: let me thank the gentleman for the service he has given to this congress. some may review our conduct in the house and one of the speakers on the other side said shame on the congress. i just wanted to join with him on that, but i want history to record because they may ask what the heck was rangel was doing down there? what happened? i hope the record is abundantly clear, that this was outlined in a campaign, presidential campaign and the president said that as a result of america getting into wars and not paying for it and as a result of wrongdoing of wall street and a result of a lot of people out of work, we had to a program to pay down the deficit by cutting back programs. it seems as though what has happened here is that the republican party missed something. maybe it was election night. maybe it was a small group of the republican party. but they really didn't believe or don't believe that the president won. and this whole idea of protecting 2% of the population actuall

last time around we had congressman charlie rangel urging him to run are and it takes the same shape.nswer your question to anna marie coxe, whether i thought she would want to run for senate. hell to the nah. that is no way. that the first lady would run for senate. did you see her reaction on the clip that you showed on "the view"? >> she said no way. everything that we know about her. we know she doesn't want to run for elective office. politics is a hard game and she went through it in the first campaign. president obama's first campaign and it wasn't terply pleasant. can you imagine what it was like to put yourself up and stand on your own two feet? >> she watched her husband fight fights that she shouldn't have to. i think she knows there are other ways to impact the system from the outside in. she will find those but it won't be from public office. that reads like a semiofficial leak. it reads like someone who is running for congress. no, no i'm too much of a truth teller. that is like what is your biggest flaw? >> i work too hard. i would say it since the non denial category m

rangel, is recognized. mr. rangel: thank you for this courtesy and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. . mr. rangel: i thank you for this courtesy. we've got ms. betty sutton on our side and mr. dennis kucinich. i remember when mr. latourette was on the floor and he demonstrated his friendship in a way that members on both sides will never forget and mr. austria is leaving. one of the main reasons why i did come to the floor was because of mrs. schmidt. when i heard she was defeet, they told me her opponent said i endorsed her and that's why she lost the race. i want to make it clear that while i did not support her politically, i would support the lady she has been, kind and gentle. mrs. schmidt has managed to disagree with so many of the differences we have in policy and yet the first thing that you would ever see on her face is a smile, asking, how are you feeling? and having a genuine concern about that. and i personally will miss

less happy note, there are economists who are saying this whole fight over the fiscal cliff, the rangeling in washington has already caused a hit on the economy. can you explain sort of what the impact of the debate has been. >> you dw definitely seen it. ju as early as friday when we report that the president was not making his new offer with offers down at the white house. we saw the stock market sell off rather dramatically just in those couple of minutes as that news was coming out. i got to say that over the past 24 hours or so the stock market has been relatively calm sort of expecting a deal, expecting that lawmakers will somehow come to a consensus here. in terms of long-term planning, this is difficult for businesses who don't know what the tax situation is going to be for the next year. it's that uncertainty. so many businesses have such difficulty, and a lot of folks do say that there are a lot of hires that would have been made in the economy right now. new jobs created. new people added to existing companies that haven't happened as a result of this hangover over the economy,

rangel, for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: i don't rise to talk about and to give accolades to congressman cleaver because he has served the congressional black caucus so well. and the reason i don't is because i can't imagine that he won't continue to serve as he has this capacity to do. i know that congresswoman judge fudge is going to do a remarkable job, but there is a uniqueness about reverend cleaver, pastor cleaver, city councilman cleaver, mayor cleaver, congressman cleaver, that god has given these terrific assets to be able to take complex emotional problems and to talk to you like he's known you all of your life as he helps you to work with him to try to find some solution. . every time i hear him give a talk, i envision him and his church talking about those things that give inspiration to so many people that have lost hope, and especially now as many have lost their homes and lost jobs. and as we struggle in this congress today in trying to bring some balance

speaker boehner beginning the start of third day to rangel his conference to get behind plan b. let's bring in our thursday gaggle. my colleague, mike and jennifer. vick, let me start with you. you are mr., this is the way congress works, blah, blah, blah. >> mr. pessimist. >> also in an oddly optimistic way. this is what happens. i hear all of this and kay bailey hutchison was trying to say the same thing. >> you think? >> i think it is worse than it looks. >> they are doing what they always do. first of all, i'm on the record. i say january 11th. >> you did. >> and that was more than a month ago. >> that's a friday. i'm going to go with january 10th. the speaker is doing what he's -- what republicans and democrats when they run the house do what they always do. it's just a little late in the game for this. they are trying to let some steam out of their caucus or conference. >> it's a little late in the game for this because it's partly a negotiating ploy with the white house. as you -- as you pointed out before. to demonstrate to them there's very little give and the white hou

dagen: democratic congressman charles rangel is sitting next to us to weigh in on this. tax hikes on billionaires. house speaker boehner is moving in the right direction. >> no questions in the right direction. there is a big gap between 250,000 then a million dollars. it is in the right direction. the speaker is not digging his heels. i was just wondering when they would stop and say, look, we lost the election. this is a major step towards that end. connell: does the president also compromise. i am getting higher taxes, i am raising revenue, let's make a deal. >> they said they refused to even take about increasing the rates. that is the big issue. we can talk about everything. we can put everything on the table. the problem you will have is it is easy for the two principles to say they have broken the steel wool back of the ballpark. now is the time for them to come together with offers that he can bring back to his republicans in the house and democrats can bring in the congress. dagen: a trillion dollars in revenue is the latest proposal. the president last offer wa

. >>> now to new rangeling on cuts. >> the only thing that it stands in the way of a deal right now isp of republican members decide they are going to block a deal because they want to extend tax cuts. we can't afford for the wealthiest 2% of americans. >> joining us is ben jealous. i'm glad you're here e. i want to ask you about the president's first proposal to avoid the fiscal cliff. he's offering $400 billion in it entitlement cuts but he's not being specific there. how much do you think the country can absorb cuts to programs like medicare and medicaid without reducing quality of life? >> we talked about this in some detail inside the white house. we're comfortable at this stage. he's really going to protect the least of us. that's where our mind should be as a country. we're going into the holiday season. these are times for us to pay keen attention to how we take care of the least, the last and the lost. knowing that this president will fight to make sure that people who have been out of work for a long time still get covered. when you extend insurance for the unemployed, it get

>>tarjetas muy lindas, la familia rangel. >>otra tarjeta padrisima de los estefan.ntro está micky mouse >>que tremendo trabajo >>aquí dice, les mando esta tarjeta de navidad a mis apreciados amigos de despierta américa de parte de mi familia un abrazo muy fuerte, que dios los bendiga y la virgen de guadalupe es isabel rodarte y familia muchas gracias por tomar parte de su tiempo y compartir su navidad con nosotros. >>ponlas en el arbolito >>karlita esta ade vacaciones pero le voy a guardar esto. miren, todo lo que le escribieron. no la voy a leer, porque es de ella >>así es. un prospero 2013 para los que trabajan en ♪.. >>que bueno que sigue en despierta américa le presento a cotinuacon las noticias más importantes de la mañana para reducir la violencia en méxico ixtapalapa, adam hacen una campaña donde se intercambian las armas por computadora. esto hasta junio del 2013. >>macabro hallazgo en morelia michoacan, al ir a sofocar un incendio encuentran varios cuerpos. >>bomberos respondieron a una llamada para sofocar un incendio, hallaron dentro los cuerpos de cuatro

there are some democrats are really like, charlie rangel. there is a lot of guys that i like on the other side of the aisle and we get together once in awhile but it is not like it used to be. it should be better. >> any sense of congressional scheduling practices change that? >> when i first ran, i spent 200 tricky thousand dollars or thereabouts my first campaign -- $250,000 or thereabouts for my first campaign. members spend an inordinate amount of time at their headquarters calling people, begging for money. i think you spend maybe one- third to one-half of your time asking people for money. that should not be the main objective of our job. we should be doing the job for the people instead of worrying about raising money. i do not know what the answer is. maybe limiting the terms of the campaign, i do not know what it is. you cannot limit the funding because of the first amendment. it is gone way beyond the pale. i think -- we have state representatives that are spending three-quarters of a million dollars for house in indiana. we have g

charlie rangel from new york said, a move toward a chained consumer price index will be a long-term benefit every single person who receives a social security check. congressman peter welch from vermont who will be with us in studio in the next hour saying that this is unacceptable to democrats and the question is: why would the president do this? after -- why would he pull the rug out from under democrats who following his lead have said, no way are we going to touch social security. now, the very first compromise, the very first compromise, what happened? social security is back on the table and benefits are cut. outrageous, a sellout. i think the president has one more time, you know, stabbed us in the back. and what i am worried is: what's next? this is just the begin of the negotiation. we could up from 400 to 800,000 before we know it and have further cuts to social security and medicare all in the name of compromise? forget it. didn't we agree, a bad deal is better than -- i mean, no deal rather, no deal is better than a bad deal. 866-55-press. tell me you share my outrage. >> this i

i ere are some democrats ar really like, charlie rangel. there is a lot of guys that i like on the other side of the aisle and we get together once in awhile but it is not like it used to be. it should be better. >> any sense of congressional scheduling practices change that? people anxious to get home on weekends? >> when i first ran, i spent $250,000 or thereabouts for my first campaign. now what cost up to $2 million. members spend an inordinate amount of time at their headquarters calling people, begging for money. i think you spend maybe one- third to one-half of your time asking people for money. that should not be the main objective of our job. we should be doing the job for the people instead of worrying about raising money. i do not know what the answer is. maybe limiting the terms of the campaign, i do not know what it is. you cannot limit the funding because of the first amendment. it is gone way beyond the pale. i think -- we have state representatives that are spending three-quarters of a million dollars for house seat in india

there are some democrats are really like, charlie rangel.here is a lot of guys that i like on the other side of the aisle and we get together once in awhile but it is not like it used to be. it should be better. >> any sense of congressional scheduling practices change that? >> when i first ran, i spent 200 tricky thousand dollars or thereabouts my first campaign -- $250,000 or thereabouts for my first campaign. members spend an inordinate amount of time at their headquarters calling people, begging for money. i think you spend maybe one- third to one-half of your time asking people for money. that should not be the main objective of our job. we should be doing the job for the people instead of worrying about raising money. i do not know what the answer is. maybe limiting the terms of the campaign, i do not know what it is. you cannot limit the funding because of the first amendment. it is gone way beyond the pale. i think -- we have state representatives that are spending three-quarters of a million dollars for house in indiana. we have gon

i also want history to record that they may ask, what the heck was rangel doing when this was going on? i hope the record is abundantly clear that this was outlined in the campaign. it was the presidential campaign. the president said that as a result of america getting into wars, as a result of wrongdoing on wall street, and as a result of a lot of people out of work that we had to have a program to raise the money to pay down the deficit by cutting back programs. it seems as though what is -- what has happened here is that the republican party missed something. maybe it was election night. maybe it was a small group of the republican party. they did not really believe that the president won. this whole idea of protecting 2% of the population actually was on a vote. the people voted. the president said he was going to protect 98% of the taxpayers. somehow, this is not being understood. further from that, if you have to have more savings, and i agree that we do, why would you go, of all places, to the most vulnerable? my friend from wisconsin often tells me how fast food stamps have ri