he's a republican talking about republicans there. it's also susan collins, dick lugar, dean heller, olympia snowe, chuck grassley, roger wicker. the name brand republican senators openly trashing house republicans for what they're doing or at least publicly prodding them to get their act together. the incoherence and infighting of republicans in washington on this issue is now even starting to spill over into the republican race for president as well. after chastising congressional republicans for failing to, quote, speak with one voice, on this issue, presidential candidate mitt romney was unable in three separate media appearances to state which side of this argument he is on. i was going to say that the only candidate with any coherence on this issue at all is candidate newt gingrich, but then he got incoherent on this as well. first mr. gingrich decided to come out and bash senate democrats on the issue. okay. the vote was 89-10, but at least you're aiming your fire outside the republican circle. so far, so good. but then just a

when you mention the republicans and some division twn the republican party, we haven't seen that that much. they've been singing from the same page in terms of opposing the president, it sounds like there is some division within the ranks. should we be out opposing the payroll tax because of the optics of it. >> the optics of allowing the tax cut to expeer, being against a tax cut for the middle class, it's not good optics and not good policy. if they oppose this they're going to be on the wrong side and look hypocritical to some people and look like they're in the for tax cuts which is what the party stands for now as much as anything. >> when you mentioned that the supercommittee's failure and the kind of bipartisan disgust the american people have with congress is that what you mean when you say you'll be listening to the president's tone? meaning is he going to try to rail against congress as a body, but rather president versus congress and try to ib crease his own political fortunes. >> today he'll continue to rail. at some point if the next year's about anything but preparing fo

did with 50 republicans.he number's 89. to go ahead and give a two-month extension. isn't that leadership? >> yeah. by the way, chris christie might have taken note that right after the 2010 midterms, john boehner went on "60 minutes" and said we don't believe in compromise, we don't like that word. he was reflecting the views of his radical republican extremist caucus who have time after time after time rejected compromise even when the country was risking default last summer. they wouldn't compromise. the presidential candidates, they were asked, could you take 10-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases? that's a fabulous compromise for the republicans. they all raised their hands and said, no. >> just for the numbers, the president has been able to put together 21 months of private sector job growth. the guy heckling from the stands, governor christie, has been the governor since january of 2010. 22 months. 12 months of private sector job growth. he has some catching up to do and his state also took stim

and he gets pilloried for it by the establishment republicans and by the establishment republican media. but the idea of not getting involved in another war in iran, for instance, is something that does get ron paul applause. from republican audiences, at republican debates. >> you know what i really fear about what's happening here? it's another iraq coming. it's war propaganda going on. and we're arguing -- to me the greatest danger is we will have a president that will overreact. nuclear weapons are loaded over there. pakistan, india, israel has 300 of them. we have our ships there. we got to get it in a proper context. we don't need another war. >> understood. you make that point quite a lot. >> you make that point quite a lot. now please stop making it. it is likely that whoever wins iowa, it really will not matter all that much. i mean, it could be ron paul, could be michele bachmann. could be anyone other than rick santorum really. it could be mike huckabee, right? it was mike huckabee in 2008. the uncomfortable truth about the carpet bombing coverage of the iowa republican caucu

that's why vote you saw today, john, the republican leaders crafted it carefully so that republicans didn't have to vote for what was effectively a tax increase. you're also seeing senate republicans more and more, john mccain on cnn just a short while ago saying to their colleagues in the house, come on, guys, we think that you should pass this two-month extension and then we'll deal with the longer term one year that almost everybody agrees on. >> stand by. the other end of pennsylvania avenue, jessica yellin. will the president heed the speaker's call and say, senate democrats, come back or does he think he has the upper hand here? >> quite simply new york. there's no indication the president will call the senate back. the feeling here is why should they? it's not their place. and it's the house's turn to act. their view is that the politics on this are very clear and the policy is clear because 89 members of senate have voted to pass a compromise. that's very rare, we all know. four senate republicans, all up for re-election, calling on the house of representatives to agree to th

the republican on republican spitball fight over the payroll tax may be doing for democrats what they couldn't do for themselves. two national polls give president obama his best approval numbers in months, and republican infighting over whether, when, and how to extend the payroll tax cut seems to be moving the numbers. it's possible the gop is finally paying the price for its full-body embrace of the tea party. plus, up in the air. three polls have mitt romney and newt gingrich in a dead heat nationally. and now ron paul is learning what it's like to join the front-runners in iowa. he's facing renewed questions about bigoted comments printed in his political news letters of two decades ago. also, why iowa? republicans there have proven as good at picking losers as winners. so why do we care so much what they think? a growing number of people are saying we shouldn't. and pants on fire. we'll look at politifact's biggest lies of the year, see if you can guess which one came in at number one. and finally, let me finish tonight with the millions being spent on ads by pacs and the candid

a ballot with democrat barack obama republican newt gingrich and the republicans elect jeb bush.oing the polls in new hampshire and they said absolutely not. jeb bush's spokesperson has disavowed them from the start. quote, nothing's changed. the governor has said he would not be a candidate. so this one's impossible, right? right. probably. but it has had me tossing and turning and up all night anyway. who's funding those calls in new hampshire? and why? [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and

that's the space where republicans can do well. where republicans should be arguing. this just as a tactical issue isn't a great fight for republicans. american people will not be on the side in this fight. and i think it's important to put this in the rearview mirror and to get on with business heading into the election year. >> steve, let's listen to what jon huntsman had to say about this. >> i think it ought to be extended. i think there's a good deal on the table. i think the republicans put a good deal on the table. it extends for awhile, it moves the keystone pipeline along. i think it's a fair package. >> i have the feeling if you were managing a republican presidential campaign at this point, that's what you'd like your candidate to say. >> no doubt. look, sometimes in this process you have to know when it's okay to declare victory. the fact that the keystone pipeline which i think rather outrageously the administration postponed making a decision on has been included, it's moved forward. it's an important issue. so republicans had a lot in this that they cou

republicans got mad about that. they threatened to get rid of the filibuster, called it the nuclear option. in order to avert the nuclear option, seven democrats and seven republicans formed a gang of 14. the gang of 14 came up with a deal. there would be no more filibustering of judicial nominees except in extreme circumstances but the filibuster would be saved. >> the cots were in place and senators were all ready for an all nighter. they were girding, in fact, for a virtual shutdown until 14 senators who call themselves moderates emerged from a marathon meeting with a deal. it means the president will get his way on some federal judges, but he will lose on others. and it means all eyes will be on the next vacancy on the u.s. supreme court. >> republicans were in charge of the senate then. they made a deal. president bush got his nominees confirmed. and the senate kept the filibuster as an option for extreme cases. then democrats took charge. republicans went to the minority. that gang of 14 agreement, yeah, not s

, had to say yesterday on cnbc about how this is impacting the republican brand. >> are republicans gettingght now in public opinion? no question. are we on a bad path related to public policy? no question. >> the reality is this issue is hurting republicans. democrats are exploiting it. >> i think when republicans have a grade that some type of payroll tax holiday is going to happen, i think that the "wall street journal" is right, let's get it behind us and move on. >> david, the question, the short-term politics we are and will continue to debate. the long-term politics, does this look like republicans are simply an impediment? are you fighting a war that's basically over with in the sense that we are almost certain we're going to get some kind of extension? >> well, i mean, again, it comes back to, what is the outcome that people are focused on. if you're looking at getting to that full year, that's where everybody wants to get to. there can be disagreements, certainly, within the republican party on what's the the best way to get there, but i don't think there's anybody, and democrats

bush republicans. and that's why it is so remarkable that the republican politics of the ending of the iraq war now are that the iraq war ought not end. that the real problem is that the troops are coming home in time for christmas. republicans, people running for president, elected officials, all of the conservative leading voices on issues like this, they are all against the war ending. >> unfortunately, unfortunately, it is clear that this decision of a complete pullout of the united states troops from iraq was dictated by politics and not our national security interests. i believe that history will judge this president's leadership with a scorn and disdain that it deserves. >> this was a failure by the obama administration to close the deal. at a time when we need troops in iraq to secure the place against intervention by iran and the bad actors in the region, we're going to go into 2012 with none. >> the administration was not interested in having 10,000, 20,000 troops there. that's a decision the

why no passion for republicans. and why the political battle in washington continues, violent battles of a deadly nature erupted in baghdad this morning. approximately 14 coordinated attacks left at least 57 dead and nearly 200 injured. baghdad has not been this violent in months and the timing coincides with the u.s. military pullout. s. i do. but lately, we've been using k-y® intense™. it's this gel that stimulates arousal... she's a screamer. ...so that big moment feels like nothing i've ever felt before. pretty loud. and it's scientifically proven to... ♪ [ female announcer ] k-y® brand intense™. k-y's first and only arousal gel proven to intensify female satisfaction. so to save some money, i trained mathis team of guinea pigs to brrow this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange

among republicans. it's certainly bad externally from anyone watching from the outside. >> i don't think it would hurt president obama to veto the house bill at all. i don't. i think that he can continue to whip boehner with his own people and probably hold out for better deal. i could be wrong on that, but the think that would be a good play. what do you think? >> scott brown is looking at the same polls and understands the same kind of politics. the reason these republican senators are speaking out against boehner and the tea party right now is because they know the house republican position right now is a losing proposition. so, you know, they have done -- the tea party republicans have done what this president has struggled to do for three years which is to create bipartisanship. they're bipartisan against the tea party. >> great to have you with us tonight, richard. msnbc political analyst, richard wolffe, here on "the ed show." thank you so much. >>> remember to answer tonight's question there at

he's only been a republican. why do you think he's a rino, republican in name only?dn't say that. he's more like ae's known as th republicans romney gets called a rino for being on both sides of the abortion issue, the health care issue in massachusetts. gingrich has been on both sides of the climate change, he championed the health care mandate itself. he has many of these flip-flop issues on substantive policy as many as mitt romney in his past. the issue is, wolf, i think many conservatives are placing style over substance. newt gingrich is combative. he's going to take it to president obama. so a lot of poll takers or voters are willing to overlook these charges against gij rich in a way they won't with romney. >> wolf? >> hold on, roland. newt gingrich supporters are probably watching right now. we're getting ready to hear from gingrich and the president of the united states. probably many of them are saying, wouldn't this be nice if this simply continued into the presidential general election season next year? go ahead and weigh in from what we heard from will.

but i think the republican philosophy is. the republican party as i said a while ago favors the privileged few and not the common everyday man. ever since its inception that party has been under they're going to throw out a special privilege and they concretely approved it congress people know the democratic party is up people's party and the republican party is the party of special interests and it always has been and always will be with god they call it give them hell harry and kick the republicans but with those speeches in that election so seriously so substantially so badly so you know flat out across the room across the country that the republicans didn't take back the house of representatives for another forty six years one of the things that we can see both in the republican primaries and in these in this bounce and number is now that president obama has stood up to the republicans and basically kicked their butts you know with the headlines like you know obama trances republicans and things like that is that american

in 1980, iowa republicans picked republican george h.w.ronald reagan who eventually won the nomination and the presidency. in 1998 they picked bob dole over george h.w. bush and mr. bush went onto become the republican nominee and win the presidency. iowa's track record at the picking the nominee is at best spotty. joining me now is steve kornacki, news editor. we pay a lot of attention to the election. we must. it's our duty. it's the first. i want to look at a caucusgoer and the kind of questions they are getting now. here is someone who will be at the caucus asking newt gingrich a question about president obama. >> according to the constitution, those that are running for office must be a citizen of the united states. why is mr. obama not have to prove his citizenship as he's going to a& these other countries besides leading our country? let me answer this. i thought you were going to ask if donald trump had citizenship. >> no. no chance. no chance. >> all i can report is the state of hawaii has certified that he was born there. this is

meanwhile republican infighting began today as republican senators pleaded with their colleagues to pass the middle class tax cut senators dean heller scott brown and dick lugar all for immediate passage of the bill senator scott brown's strongly condemning house republicans saying the house republicans plan to scuttle a deal to help middle class families is irresponsible and wall yes yet none was that's exactly what's just about to happen so months of bowing to the tea party finally caught up with speaker john boehner is the republican party on the verge of breaking apart and how voters react to yet another no vote from republicans and and a tea party tax increase here to talk about all of these issues is richard asco senior scholar with the campaign for america's future richard welcome back. good to be here thank you we've been flirting with this idea all year but has been or officially lost control of the republicans in the house of representatives his caucus now. well you know i think it's always been the game of good cop bad cop but you never know when the bad cop goes really bad an

candidate are needlessly onerous i mean the republican party you know this is the way the republican party up until now never even bothered to cross check and then this guy who was an independent sued and said the republican party doesn't cross check but i'm an independent and i have to cross-check i have to go but this the by the by the regular developers second or whatever the date is first tuesday in november rules so why don't the republicans and the judge ruled the republicans have two two and that's why rick perry and newt gingrich got bounced off you know what i've done for massachusetts politics you know the sort of the signature parties as petitions are for to get on the ballot or for initiatives and referendums passed around a table i mean these stories are legend and so i have no problem with checking names on a petition i also have no problem with newt or rick perry being bounced if they didn't follow the rules i mean one of the most compelling arguments that obama was . ready to be president was that he had run a national campaign and had run it well and that's unfortuna

republicans. we'll see where it all ends up. stick to your guns, democrats. it's your best, best move right now. and keep in mind, unemployment's going down. retail sales are going up. this is the nightmare that the republicans just don't want to wake up to. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. will john boehner ever have the guts to stand up to the tea party? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. results coming up later in the program. joining me now, r.t. rye balk, mayor of minneapolis, minnesota, and vice chair of the democratic national committee. r.t., good to have you with us tonight. >> good to be here. >> you bet. i find it interesting the tea party can't come up with a credible candidate but can raise mell on the house and stop everything. where does this all end in your opinion? >> they sent poor boehner out to dress this thing up. he talks about kicking the can down the road. the can that's get

republican. that i'm someone who is moderate and my views are progressive and that i'm going to go to work for our senior citizens, for people who've been left behind by urban schools that are not doing the right job. they're going to vote for me regardless of the party label. >> mitt romney pitching himself to massachusetts voters in 2002 as the not really republican republican. the moderate republican with progressive views. that's who republican voters are probably left with at this point if they do not choose newt gingrich. so. even as the newt gingrich pile-on grows, and the enthusiasm for newt gingrich seems sort of shallow, the big unanswered question is if it's not going to be newt gingrich, are republican voters really going to go back to mitt romney again, if newt gingrich is just the new bubble guy, are they going to go back to romney? is this all there is? peggy lee? joining us now, eugene robinson, "washington post" columnist, msnbc political analyst. gene, is peggy lee the answer? >

could've had a v8. >>> by a vote of 234-193, house republicans have just passed their far right republicanme now is jonathan capehart. opinion writer for the woesht and msnbc contributor. jonathan, what about that. >> well, what about that. we're about to see a showdown between the president and congress. it doesn't stand a chance of passage in the senate but let's say it does. the president has made t clear he will not sign any bill that has attachments like this, the pipeline from canada to mexico that the president doesn't want to do right now. >> and other things that we've been discussing right now that i think is a war on the unemployed. now it goes to the senate, and you say it's not like ly to pas but if it does the president is likely to veto it. >> the president said he'll veto this bill. he's made that very clear many times. >> all right. no surprise the house passed this pill. let's talk about donald trump. cast a big shadow on the republican race and today the gop king-maker has officially trumped the shock. 11 days after announcing he would moderate the news max gop debate. t

it's a republican party problem. in the 20th century, certainly for the second half of the 20th century, the republicans knew what they were and what they supported. they defended private property. they believed in a competitive economy as the best solution to collective problems. they were practical rather than imaginative. they were managers. that was really their brand. they were also executives. just look at the republicans' overwhelming dominance of the white house throughout the second half of the last century. nixon, reagan and bush 41 won with enormous margins. they were strategic. look at newt gingrich's orchestrated takeover of the house in 1994. now, do any of those descriptors, practical, managerial, executive describe what you're seeing right now with the payroll tax cut fight? the house republicans have walked away from a tax cut. and they've walked away from a tax cut because they just want to give democratic president obama what he asked for? which begs the question, what defines the 21st century repu

republicans. do something that i've never done before. this is what you should be doing, not me. i'll do something that i've never done before and give it a shot. we'll see how it is. i think i have lot of good questions to ask. i feel very strongly about the country. we'll see how that turns out. it could be the last debate before the primary in iowa. >> ron paul, the only anti-war and anti-torture republican candidate is now the most eloquent anti-trump candidate. he issued this statement in response to the announcement that donald trump would moderate a republican presidential candidate's debate. "the selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is is beneath the office of the presidency and flies in the face of that office's history and dignity. to be sure, mr. trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere." >> i'm not going to kiss his ring and not going to kiss any other part of his anatomy.

republicans want a republican in. host: let us go back to the payroll tax cut debate and get your reaction to this. a small but influential band -- caller: i know, i have been watching. i have to agree and i have to have faith with what the republicans are doing. if boehner changed his mind -- and have to watch a little more -- christmas shopping, whatever. host: will you watch the debate on the floor? caller: yes, absolutely. host: 9:00 a.m.. caller: i think anyone who has a chance, should. host: democratic caller from indiana. caller: good morning, happy holidays. i have to disagree with the previous caller. i have been watching. let's have a little refresher course will equip. this was negotiated last year because the republicans were dead set against any kind of middle-class help whatsoever, including tax cuts and unemployment. so, in order to negotiate, in order to compromise, our president's compromised and extended those stupid crazy bush tax cuts that our governor mitch daniels, it was his brainchild and it ru

the republican part is livid.tand the tea party people, but they're scared to death of them. so they're going out and doing all this crazy stuff that they're asked to do and gritting their teeth. and it's really -- it's really a train wreck. >> brian hicks, columnist for "the charleston south carolina post and courier." i've been enjoying reading you on south carolina politics for a long time. i'm happy to talk to you tonight, sir. thanks a lot. >> thank you very much. >>> just ahead, newt gingrich's fix for the economy, a glorious policy he likes to talk about as if it's theoretical but we have tried for a very long time and it worked very, very poorly. fmf]n] >>> i just don't threaten obama electorally, i threaten him intellectually and threaten their model of how the world works with the reagan supply side model. they're very fundamental fights. >> that's newt gingrich on the bus today in iowa speaking with nbc's chuck todd, describing himself as an intellectual, mortal threat to president obama. as for the par

the republican war on republicans continues. the house of representatives continues to hurt the republican party every day in every way that it can. here's how far the crazies in the republican party have pushed republican senator scott brown. it angers me that house republicans would rather continue playing politics than find solutions. their actions will hurt american families and be detrimental to our fragile economy. and here's how fox news wiseman, charles, assesses the state of play in the house of representatives. >> what the democrats have succeeded in doing is to of the upper hand in the initiative. if the republicans leave now, things as they are, the democrats are not going to save the republicans and save the house. they are going to do nothing. we are going to go to january 1, there will be a tax hike, the end of a holiday tax hike imposed every day and they will be hammering on the republicans in the house and ultimately the republicans will cave. >> the republican house stubbornly refused again to vote on the tax

i mean, here's the republican party, the modern republican party, which never met a tax cut it didn't like, and tax cuts don't have to be paid for, because they magically pay for themselves, yet all of a sudden when it's a tax cut that benefits the middle class and it's being proposed by president obama, well, they're not so enthusiastic about it. and maybe we better pay for it, perhaps by firing 200,000 federal workers! that would be good for the economy too, i guess. >> gene, one last question about enthusiasm. ron just mentioned it. what do you make of the lowered enthusiasm for this race coming up by republicans is it they don't seem as -- once they got a look at the whites of the eyes of the actual candidates, they're not too thrilled about this war. >> yeah. i think that may be the most significant figure of all the figures we've been through, chris. the enthusiasm gap was really worrisome to democrats. it looked like republicans were just kind of loaded for bear for this election. that's no longer true. they have seen the candidates, and, you know, the numbers are getting bette

it charts a path of republican victory.it starts with a republican nominee winning all the states that mccain won in a bad year of 2008, which are now worth 180 electoral votes. then he wins indiana, north carolina, and virginia. the three outlying states that obama was able to pluck from god knows where. it charts a path of republican victory. it starts with a republican nominee winning all the states that mccain won in a bad year of 2008, which are now worth 180 electoral votes. then he wins indiana, north carolina, and virginia. the three outlying states that obama was able to pluck from god knows where. and then it goes on to the traditionally republican states, they pick up the close wins, the always -- the deciders all the time, florida and ohio, both of which obama won in 2008, and then they went through, they lost the republicans in 2008. and finally to win, the republican nominee has to win any single one of the swing states you see here in yellow. this just seems to me so obvious. this is so uncreative by rove. al

in fact, a lot of republicans, most republicans recognize that this time the republicans in the house, the tea party republicans, have really taken this way too far. that's why you have all the senators on the republican side saying to john boehner speaker of the house, come on, bring the compromise bill to a vote. i was with steny hoyer today on the floor of the house where we tried to bring up that compromise bill. we simply asked them for a vote. a vote on a bill that had 80% of the republican senators supporting it. apparently speaker boehner did not want to come to the floor of the house. he was apparently hiding out in his office. but the answer to this riddle is very obvious. which is mr. speaker, come out of your office, come on to the floor of the house, let's take up the bipartisan compromise senate bill. we can get this to the president's desk within 24 hours. >> now, the democrats' position right now, calling out boehner, obviously. but is this the situation where we've done all we're going to do and give us a call when you change your mind, john? is that where we're at ri