>>neil: you agree with romney's message, what is the problem with romney? >>guest: well, personally, no problem, but the problem in the past is he has been slow jumping in to be a conservative and spends time sticking his toe in the warm to see if it is warm before he jumped in. the tea party is the every day average american working and paying the bills. we want conservative warriors people that are going to do the right thing, and damn the torpedoes and we do not see that where the new congress in january. >>neil: so when romney says that he is against this compromise and against all the waste that is in it, that should be music to your ears but you don't think his heart is in it? >>guest: looking back, i liked a lot of what he has said in the past and he will have problems getting beyond the romney care in massachusetts but i agree open the sick. a bad deal for the republicans. if americans want to compromise with the democrats, we would have voted for democrats in the last election. we are now a month later and we see the republicans are back to their s

. >>> romney heads right. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading off tonight. who's sorry now? one week ago, all that noise against the tax cut deal came from the democratic left. now the noise is on the right. limbaugh, palin and hoping to be seen in the same club, mitt romney, complaining about the $900 billion bill. the question you have to ask the what are they complaining about? they love tax cuts. this deal gives you huge tax cuts. are you complaining just because you don't want the president to have a win? is that your economic philosophy? downgrade obama? >>> also, whose presidency has president obama been reading about lately? guess. according to "the new york times," it's bill clinton. clinton's emergence from the ashes of the 1994 congressional defeat could help explain what may be the most important political alliance in america today. bill clinton and bill and hillary clinton. two former clinton administration heavy weights -- robert reich and terry

then romney. romney is sort of what we consider the establishment republican party. is he trying kill that image by going to the right so he doesn't run as the east coast republican? >> he's saying, i am 2 the business guy. i understand ceos. i understand the mentality, saying it's the uncertainty argument playing in here and the sub splot i'm the guy who's run a business. i have this executive experience. there is a track here, a spot for someone who is a business guy, the fiscally conservative guy to separate this fr the pal pack. there's palin and everyone else. the one track he can take is -- >> is there any doubt -- howard, to both of you, that if boehner and mcconnell had introduced this exact bill as republican position, not the compromise, he would have been for it? romney, the whole bunch of these dpis. . >> the true supply side says you have to promise cuts forever. reagan had his tax cuts chopped back in the day. this is to me at any rate, they took notice of what romney dade because it was something where he was saying, i don't like the inside deal. i don

mitt romney was detailed in "usa today." romney writes "death and taxes it is sad are life's only two certainties. in the wake of president obama's tax compromise, with congressional republicans, only death retains the status of certainty." he goes on to say "the deal keeps current tax rates from rising to pre-bush era levels for two years. in 2013 unless congress acts again, the rates will increase dramatically." all right. now, to me, it's pretty clear. the righties will put the tax issue right on president obama's desk in the 2012 run-up to the re-election. the president will constantly be on the defensive and i guarantee you republicans will never let, never let the tax cuts for the top 2% expire. and watch them come up with some special argument on the social security reduction tax. they're going to say, oh, we can't let this go back to 2010 levels. it was just one week ago today that president obama, he didn't sound too worried about taking the fight of the republicans on this issue in 2012. >> i know there are some wh

so thune versus romney, and it's not just those two, ed, there's a split in your party. >> there's a split in my party. obviously, we're not for expanding the deficits. but you've got to make a compromise. if you didn't want the tax increases in january, you had to make -- we don't have the whole government. and as mitt romney ought to know better than anybody, because when he was the governor of massachusetts and he had it democrat controlled, about the only thing that he accomplished was romneycare, which he'll get to explain the difference between romneycare and obamacare for the next two years. >> it's not your candidate, ed? >> pardon? >> it's not your candidate? >> ed rollins got to that before john thune could. >> i think at the end of the day, as the senator has said, and romney did try to be a senator, he didn't make it, but he tried to be a senator. and i think at the end of the day, he tried to take democrats out and he didn't succeed. so what he did the last year of his governorship is he ran around the country 344 days running for president. so he's off trying to run for

the top manager, mitt romney polls better than sarah palin.r to a republican primary voter. >> if you are going to make a cold, calculating decision, many of the republican strategists would argue for a manager on the ground that the opposition to obama and democrats among blue collar whites seems pretty deeply set. and the white colar white, the college educated white suburban vote is more of a swing constituency for 2012. if that was your primary focus you'd look at a manager with more ability to reach up scale than a palin or mike huckabee. but that isn't the only -- obviously, that is not the only consideration. that isn't the way it works. right now by the way, even in the early polling you see a really clear divide among republicans without a college degree, palin and romney are even or pail sin ahead whereas in gallup and quinnipiac polling, romney leads palin, 3 to 1 almost among college educated republicans. this wine track/beer track divide we've seen in the past in democratic races is already showing up in this republican early skir

that's what romney -- >> chris: with respect to both of you we have one of mitt romney's former -- >>esident experts. >> chris: yes, the resident expert, top advisor. does mitt romney, are you saying that mitt romney were in the senate he would have voted against the bill and would have let the bush tax cuts lapse? >> be critical here. this is the difference of being pragmatist and when you have to vote and being outside the office and look at a pure approach. that's one of the things that senator thune made clear. would you want to be a senator up there the deciding vote to let it stay in place and everybody gets a tax hike on january 1? no. as far as 2012, there won't be room between folks on taxes that will create that much of a difference. i think that the republicans at large are set up very favorably against president obama, because now president obama has to spend 2012 defending his own tax cut. it gives republicans chance for contrast. >> chris: a minute left. then the democratic congressional leaders we haven't mentioned. nancy pelosi, harry reid. how do they do in the sessio

in mitt romney's editorial, it was inco herent.he says either we'll have the higher taxes or the uncertainty of not having any bill. we don't know what president obama would do. it's not clear he'd say we're against this. i doesn't make sense. >> you are seeing the tax cut religionist and those who believe that any tax cut is good no matter what it costs and those who have the larger vision, debt, deficit and increase government especially when the price you pay for tax cut is huge wasteful spending, that i think is the prevailing sentiment of the electorate but the establishment still has tax cut religion. >> bret: you don't buy the economy would crater if taxes go up? >> no. you would have had a hiccup and understanding a change in january. two week delay. >> 2k% of g.d.p. is more than a hiccup. >> bret: we'll continue the debate on the online show after this broadcast. that is it for this panel. stay tuned for a look at what it sometimes feels like in washington in the time days of >> bret: finally tonight, a lot of people, colu

. >> and mitt romney talks 2012 on "the tonight show." >> all right. after an embarrassing few days of wikileaks, america was dealt another blow this afternoon. hours ago the fifa executive committee announced that the u.s. will not host the 2022 world cup, and you may be surprised to hear who beat us let's take a look. >> the winner to organize the 2022 fifa world cup is qatar! >> all right. this announcement is yet another huge disappointment for the obama administration on the world stage. just yesterday the white house dispatched former president bill clinton and attorney general eric hold tear zurich, and they were there to lobby on behalf of the u.s., but clearly their pitch fell on deaf ears. now all of this comes one year after the president failed to bring the 2016 summer olympics to his hometown of chicago. even after flying all the way to copenhagen, so i guess this is what two years of bowing to world leaders and shaking hands with dictators has gotten the u.s., what happens after an american president spends two years traveling the world a

. >> and mitt romney talks 2012 on [ manager ] you know... i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it. [ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. oh. about what? uh, they don't really think you're an exchange student. what? they think you're a businessman, using our house to meet new clients in china. for reals, player? [ woman saks chinese ] they overheard a phone call. speaks chinese ] something about shipping with fedex to shanghai. and then you opened a bottle of champagne. that was for a science project. [ man and woman speaking chinese ] i'm late for..occer... rehearsal. [ man speaks chinese ] you and i

>> you get mitt romney and joe scar bore rent same side, tells you something important. >> mitt romney. he created a great sensation in the conservative world by saying obama won big on this deal, great deal or obama. bad deal for republicans. >> like you create a sensation on the progressive side, among progressives that watch your show by saying this is a great deal. there is a more fundamental split here and we saw it in 1994 ben we enter up there, there were the supplysiders who said cut tax no, sir matter what cut taxes doesn't matter how big the deficit goes. then those of us that came in and said, yes, not going to raise taxes and cut taxes when we can but we keeping an eye on the deficit as well and there was we had those battles in '95, '96, '97, we had the tax cuts, going to grow the economy but battle budget at the same time. >> the interesting thing is what happens to john thune's vote in the senate, since presidential candidate romney has come out stake out this anti-deal position? i believe thune was one of the people voted to proceed yesterday. demint voted against proce

mitt romney. the question: how strong a front-runner and how big a problem for romney is healthcare reform plan he did as the governor of massachusetts? >> it's a problem. it's something that people raise all the time. when you raise mitt romney's name. it's a problem. in the same way that he has baggage, i think everybody else has baggage. if you look at all the front-runners, you are talking about timing going back to this. you talk about this being early to open the election season. this time and this election cycle for the democrats last time around, hillary was just about to announce, hillary clinton. and barack obama was about to give his speech in february, just a few weeks away on the statehouse steps. what strikes me about this election is how late everything is. yes, maybe romney will have an organization up and running by the spring. yes, maybe tim pawlenty. i think newt gingrich probably will. sorry to break it to gingrich during break it to bill kristol, sorry, the leading governor ca

but you have mitt romney coming out now saying this is no good. you also have rush limbaugh and other conservatives chiming in now. it's not just about the liberals or the president's base. mitt romney, who we know wants to run for president is coming out swinging at this, too. >> obama won. that's their problem. what they're analysis says is obama beat the republicans in this negotiation. and obama got a great deal for himself and a bad deal for republicans. so not everybody can be right here. the liberals saying obama got a bad deal. conservatives are saying obama got a good deal. the public is saying obama got a good deal. >> what do you say? >> 69% support him. a week ago when i heard this deal outlined just before the president announced it, i was amazed at how good a deal the president got. every single person i know who had to negotiate with republicans on a tax deal thinks this is a good deal. every critic -- every liberal critic is someone who has never negotiated a tax deal with the republican. i've been in that room when i looked in the

we know romney can raise the money. raise the kind of money and could be competitive. >> look. we're going to have a race maybe a dozen people. everybody and his uncle is going to run because there is a sense that obama is weak. and if you are ever going to run for the presidency for the republican nomination, do it now. you can get lucky the way obama did in 2008. so, i think it's going to be -- you may not need that much money. you may not have to get 50% in iowa or new hampshire. you can. >> bill: some on the ballot. >> so many people you get 30% you could win. so, i think money is not going to be as constraining a factor as it would be in a two-man race. >> bill: sarah palin certainly can raise some money and has a very hard core base who love her. but running 12 points behind president obama much further back than either romney or huckabee. first of all, why is she running that far behind? >> she is political phenomenon of remarkable proportions. she has her problem is sort of like the way hillary was in the late 1

if you match him up against mitt romney, 47%.st sarah palin everybody knows sarah palin. 55% to 33%. the president gets his highest numbers there. my question to you, mr. carville, does any of had matter on the palin question? will republican primary voters, will electability be an issue or is it about ideology? >> electability is an issue. i'm supporting sarah palin. look. i think this is the warm-up. i think the mother of all is the debt limit. >> amen. >> i think this is all foreplay here. the big event is coming up. >> i totally agree with james on that. what they do with the debt limit will make or break these guys. in particularly those in congress right now and even some of the ones who are speculating that they'll vote for it depending on what deal they get cut from the democrats which i'm starting to think you're going to see the republicans, new guys in particular, mike lee and rand paul come in and flat out say they're not going to vote for the debt limit and which candidate will rise above that. >> rand paul says he h

governor romney tapping into that.ause of the massachusetts health care bill. he's saying maybe you don't like me on that but i'm with you on this. >> another political update in just another hour. >>> as john and i were talking about the big tax deal between the president and the republicans could have a really big downside on the money front. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces a new windows phone... [ exclaims ] ...with...stage presence. ♪ now get an htc surround for $199.99, and get one free. only from at&t. rethink possible. eggland's best eggs. the best in nutrition... just got better. even better nutrition -- high in vitamins d, e, and b12. a good source of vitamin a and b2. plus omega 3's. and, 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. but there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. better taste. better taste. yum! [ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste -- and now even better nutrition -- make the better egg. >>> time now for the "xyz" of it. today i'm talking credit scores. n

romney wrote that in a usa it "today" editorial. >>> there is growing outrage after senate democrats unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill to finance the federal government, filling more than 1,900 pages the measure cuts $26 billion from president obama's budget requests. however republicans say they will oppose it for including hundreds of earmarks which many on capitol hill have promised to stop. among the flash points in the bill is the inclusion of about $450 million to continue a second alternative engine for the f-35 joint strike fighter. defense secretary robert gates has repeatedly said the engine is not a necessity and that president should veto any bill that includes money for that defense project. yesterday, senator john mccain slammed members of congress for failing to get the message from the midterm elections. >> written without a hearing, written without scrutiny, written without the input of the majority of the members of this body, written by a handful of senators who happen to be members of the appropriations committee. and the american people said just 42 days ago

we'll put a face in that box and suddenly the president looks stronger against mitt romney. obama 47%, romney 40%. against sarah palin, president's lead gets to 55%, 33%, a 22-point lead. this has nothing to do with president obama and everything to do with sarah palin. look at these negative ratings. he's sitting at a 50% negative rating, the highest of anybody we tested this month. and as high as nancy pelosi last month who was the most popular politician we tested last month. >> chuck todd, thanks for that. >>> we've been reporting on the violence all along the u.s. border between arizona and mexico. last night, it claimed the life of a federal officer, a border patrol agent brian terry shot and killed. four people are in custody. the homeland security secretary janet napolitano is a former governor of arizona will travel there tomorrow to meet with members of the u.s. border patrol. slgz >> the federal government today sued bp, with other companies involved in that massive record oil spill in the gulf of mexico this past summer. though these suits do not involve any crim

>> i think that there's -- >> just because you mentioned palin and romney.obviously hypocritical. >> i think there's plenty to go around here. as you discussed in your previous

russian relationship and made possible this latest obama success and we heard rumors that mitt romney if he does indeed run for president again in two thousand and twelve that he was going to use start against the obama administration does he have any ammo left at this point i think he does not have ammo left in fact if one wants to. use that metaphor because his shooting against the target was wildly. off target and in fact what mitt romney has established himself now is that he didn't know what he was talking about on this treaty in the two different articles that he's laid out against the treaty said one thing after another that was simply not true and he was taken to task not just by the democrats but by senator lugar for example who is the republicans. greatest expert on arms control issues in the senate well it's nice to see that at least in one political issue logic did indeed prevail i mean we also saw like i said you know something i fully support is the repeal of don't ask don't tell this week this is a lot was done in this lame duck congress some are saying that you know th

al 40%) al aspirante mejor colocado entre los republicanos, el ex gobernador de massachusetts mitt romneysarah palin: 55% a 33%, el peor resultado cosechado por la ex gobernadora de alaska en elÚltimo aÑo... -=--hacemos la primera pausa en el noticiero y regresamos con el sol de mexico... ---podra ser muy popular...y tener una excelente voz... pero un grupo de personas lo catalogo como lo peor... ya le cuento... ---y llamenos para opinar... esta navidad... santa visitara sus hogares o ni se va a acercar por falta de presupuesto... ¿comprara regalos?... recuerde que tambien nos puede escribir.... ---regreso con sus comentarios. comentarios. en noticiero telemundo 48 a las seis, tu voz en la comunidad= ---seguimos en ---seguimos en noticiero telemundo 48 con el segmento "tu voz en la comunidad" .... donde lo escuchamos a usted. ----el tema de esta noche es: ----¿alcanzan o no alcanzan los dolaritos para regalar en esta navidad?---usted: ¿gastaÁ ... y que sea lo que dios quiera?----¿o santa no pasara por su casa en este 2010? ---continue llamandonos para que conversemos... primero dejeme hac

looking ahead to 2012, polls show the president ahead if he were to run against the likes of mitt romney, sarah palin, or senator john thum. 63% think the country is headed in the wrong direction. that's the most since obama took office. and not surprisingly as the nation emerges from what's known as the great recession, a combined 54% say the past ten years have either been a very bad decade or one of the worst decades in american history. >>> and this morning's new york times reports that federal prod cuters are trying to build a conspiracy case against wikileaks founder julian assange. they're trying to find out if he encouraged or helped private manning. he's currently being held in a virginia prison. if assange did sell, officials believe they could charge him as a conspirator in the leak, not just a passive recipient of the documents who then published them. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in minnesota, if you really needed a more tangible idea of just how bad winter weather is, look at what this speck of metal in the snow is goin

host: will religion be an issue for mitt romney? guest: possibly. it was a factor in his campaign the last time. he gave a speech in december of 2007 in which he tried to put the issue to the side. i do not think it ever got a full airing. it is a potential issue. we do not know how serious it will be. there are other issues he has got to deal with beyond that. we may see that play out in some of the states with evangelicals questioning the govern a's religion. governor's religion. guest: john bolton is one of the most provocative conservatives out there. he as a prolific writer. almost everything he writes has a considerable amount of edge to it. he has been tough on president obama on foreign policy. if he gets into the race, i think you would have to say realistically that he is a long shot for the nomination having never run for any nomination before and not having any obvious financial network to be able to attack -- be able to tap into. he will add something to the debate. host: we have someone on the republican line. good morning. caller: i h

we like mitt romney. we know him well and like him very much. >> larry: he's more in your -- in keeping with the bush political stance. >> don't want to kill him off. >> larry: middle of the road? >> he's a reasonable guy. conservative fellow, which is good. but, no, i think he'd be a good president, very good president. >> larry: do you have a favorite? >> i'll go with george. mitt romney. i like a lot of them. but i like people who feel that you can respect other people's ideas. i like that a lot. >> larry: respect is not popular in america. >> no. >> we don't know them all. this guy pawlenty out from the midwest. i don't know him. never met him. everybody says he's a wonderful person. >> we like the governor of louisiana. >> haley barbour. >> and the governor of mississippi. i like louisiana and mississippi. >> bobby jindal. >> there's just a lot of people who are voices of reason. i think of jeb as a voice of reason. >> larry: what do you think of president obama? >> well, he's been very pleasant to m

against romney he had a seven-point lead.rah palin 55% to 33%. >>> a manhunt is going on in the shooting death of a border patrol agent. brian terry was shot and killed tuesday night. four suspects are currently in custody. pete williams is in washington, d.c. following this story for us. where do they stand on the manhunt for this other suspect? >> reporter: still looking for other suspects, one, possibly two. the homeland security secretary janet napolitano, former governor of arizona is going there today. it happened late tuesday in a remote area about ten miles north of the border near nogales. brian terry was killed in a shootout with bandits, people who rob and assault illegal immigrants and smugglers who come across the border. the killing of the border patrol agent is raising new concerns about the violence of the mexican drug war spilling into the u.s. this does not seem to be directly related to the illegal drug trade. the union president of the border patrol says this shows the border remains out of control when ba

that would be mitt romney, who is now considering another run for the republican presidential nominationindividual mandate was part of the health care from -- reform bill that he approved as massachusetts governor in 2006. at the time, romney called the individual mandate, quote "a personal responsibility principle." >>> well, president obama says that a test vote passed by the senate today supporting the compromised tax plan that he negotiated with republicans proves both parties can work together. joel brown reports the bill looks likely to be approved by the full senate. >> reporter: senators voted to move forward on the controversial tax cut deal that dogged the party. >> permanently agreeing to tax cuts would cost our economy 700 billion-dollar over the next 10 years. that's too great a cost for a budget already burdened by deficits and debt. >> this was only a test vote but the plan is expected to pass the senate later this week. then it moves to the house where democrats opposed to the idea of extending tax cuts to people in upper income brackets have given in on their threat to b

host: will religion be an issue for mitt romney? guest: possibly. it was a factor in his campaign the last time. he gave a speech in december of 2007 in which he tried to put the issue to the side. i do not think it ever got a full airing. it is a potential issue. we do not know how serious it will be. there are other issues he has got to deal with beyond that. we may see that play out in some of the states with evangelicals questioning the govern a's religion. governor's religion. guest: john bolton is one of the most provocative conservatives out there. he as a prolific writer. almost everything he writes has a considerable amount of edge to it. he has been tough on president obama on foreign policy. if he gets into the race, i think you would have to say realistically that he is a long shot for the nomination having never run for any nomination before and not having any obvious financial network to be able to attack -- be able to tap into. he will add something to the debate. host: we have someone on the republican line. good morning. caller: i h

looking ahead, it shows him ahead if he would run against mitt romney, sarah palin or senator john thune. they were not quite as optimistic about the country's direction. 63% think it's headed in the wrong direction. not surprisingly as the nation emerges from what's known as the great recession, a combined 54% say the past 10 years have been either a very bad decade or one of the worst decades in american history. >>> back to the s.t.a.r.t. treaty that is the nuclear arms agreement with russia that tracie mentioned earlier, the president wanted it to be ratified before the holidays. last night on "the rachel maddow" show she asked john kerry why he thinks it's so important to pass. >> we have an opportunity to make history and reduce the number of nuclear weapons pointed at the united states. we have an opportunity to increase our security, to make americans safer, by once again getting people back on the ground in russia to be able to inspect what the russians are doing. we haven't had people on the ground for a year now. every member of our intelligence community has said pass this tr

i have always been impressed by mitt romney. i felt he could -- did good things in massachusetts and he has his feet on the ground. i believe that tim pawlenti, the governor of minnesota, has also had a good track record and has done a good job. i do not support sarah palin. i do not feel that she has the qualities that are needed to be president. i'm not happy about the fact that she walked out of the governorship of alaska. i am not sure that the others being mentioned are going to be able to get there. newt gingrich and mike huckabee just won't get there. johnm thune is a competent guy. he is potentially a vice president candidate in this election. that is a possibility. i would not be totally be surprised to have somebody come in from right field we have not heard about yet. >> all the names you mentioned, to me, are more conservative than you. >> they probably all are more conservative than i m. mitt romney has gone from being more moderate to a little more conservative in recent years. my sense is that the republican candi

romney is the front-runner. huck shuck in the polls. palin.ere are you? >> i'm in the list. mitt romney and mike huckabee are the front runner. >> chris: finally, how does the white house handle wikileaks over the last year, because there has been a succession of the leaks? and if you were in charges, how would you handle julian assange and the website? >> first, i'm shaped by the fact that my father spent 27 years in the army. so i approach this very seriously. information warfare is warfare. julian assange is engaged in warfare. information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed is terrorism. and julian assange is engaged in terrorism. he should be treated as an enemy combatant and wikileaks should be closed down permanently and decisively. even more, how can we go through the last year and not figure out how did all the documents get released? who is responsible -- >> chris: we think we know. it's a private in iraq. >> how do you have a system so stupid? you and i have credit cards. if the credit card is used here and in belize the

by 3 points and looking at specific matchups which mean nothing now but why not he would top mitt romney, 47-40 and in the hypothetical with sarah palin, look at this new margin, the president would win by 22 points. >>> president obama and business leaders are pledging to work together to repair the economy and their sometimes strained relationship. meeting for nearly five hours yesterday in a closed door session at the blair house with 20 ceos, the president declared i want to dispel any notion that we want to inhibit your success. that's according to a source in the room which included the heads of google, ge and american express. the president also reportedly discussed a range of issues with the executives and group reached agreements on goals like expanding american export, improving education and reducing the budget deficit. but in terms of specifics, it appears no formal consensus was reached. the president just wanted to be seen reaching out to business. this morning's "new york times" reports that federal prosecutors trying to build a conspiracy case against wikileaks founder ju

>> jay: i want to thank my mitt romney, jay mohr, and of course darius rucker. tomorrow night jane fonda will "jimmy fallon" happening right >>> this morning on "early today," double dip threat. the president and his men warn democrats of more recession if they don't pass his tax cut deal with the republicans. >>> polar sos, an antarctic cruise ship gets a thrashing from 30 foot high waves. >>> and x-factor, a privately developed spacecraft makes history as the first to reach developed spacecraft makes history as the first to reach earth's orbit. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with wheeling and dealing. last night, house democrats managed to advance a nearly $1.1 trillion proposal to keep the government operating before the current budget expires this month. but lawmakers in both houses still have a lot to deal with >> reporter: lynn, good morning. let's start with the big tax fight. vice president biden told fello

we spent a lot of time talking about governor palin and romney says he's going to wait to make a decisionon the program last night, i had a good friend of mr. erickson, jim demint, he's a conservative favorite. but he was standing next to mike pence from indiana. watch this. >> senator, you've told me in the past you're not going to run for president in 2012, what about the guy standing next to you? he's making moves and might run. >> i think he might make a good president, so we need to keep our eye on him. >> not exactly an endorsement, erick. but what happens in circles with your friends when he says that? >> oh, you know, people don't go to detroit to give economic speeches unless they're flirting with president. and mike pence went to detroit and gave an economic speech. he's going to have a lot of weight. i would gladly support mike pence in a heartbeat. in fact, we're supposed to have a phone call this afternoon. had to cancel, i wonder what that was about. >> you also don't leave that house leadership position if you're not planning on running for president. >> is he going to run

about the prospect of eliminating uncertainty and what may be the first of the 2012 campaign, mitt romney said this doesn't solve the problem. it's not good for committee because businesses understand in a couple of years, these rates are going back up. >> no. look, here is -- businesses don't care about the top-end tax cut except those people making a million buck, those are the ones that care. what the businesses care about are the extension of all of those tax cuts for business that we extended, co-called extenders. we provided for 100% extension. a guy right knee runs a contracting company, he buys a $50,000 backhoe, he can extend that in one year now. that will encourage him to go out, buy, build. one target for us in two years is no longer extending the upper income tax credit for millionaires and billionaires and scaling back what we had to do to get the compromise, the estate tax for the very wealthy. >> the president says he thinks he can win this argument. >> he can. >> why not do it now? why wait until the 2012 election? do you really think during an election year that anybody

today i'm not worried, mitty romney's new book is called subfloor mitty romney, everybody assumes this book is the kickoff to your 2012 presidential campaign. are they right? >> guest: it's too early to tell. frankly the book has come from my experience over the years working in the other and seen some of those companies are making a lot of progress. other nations are catching up. and my concern is if we don't recognize the source of our greatness and take action to shore up the fundamentals of america's fatality, that we could find ourselves in eclipsed by the nation. so this is the books in america, let's wake up and do what we always do, graced the occasion. let's rebuild our strength and provide for cases. postcode now, part of this seems to be especially in the early parts of the book a critique of president obama. it's got the it has been candling -- candling for people who hate america and wish america the worst. is that right? >> guest: i think he made an enormous error that hurt his credibility and our national interest by carrying out a few of the first month of his presidenc

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if you look at the race with romney and the others, i's trailing romney in this poll and where he's aheadn independents. megyn: romney now beats him. >> that's what i'm saying. the independents web has not won them back. megyn: how is he not winning back the independents? peggy noo noon environment sayse spent last year losing his liberal base and the first year losing the independents. >> the problem is he's not saying -- i'm embracing this. also understanding one other thing. this is going to hurt with republicans. we are not done with this tax cut deal. the poll today shows big support, the soft individual elements people aren't happy with. one of the problems will be on the right because this raising the deficit with no cuts -- all the christmas trees -- one week after the deficit commission we have $900 billion. and not a penny in cuts. and we have all the earmarks after we promised earmarks. republicans got a conditional mandate. they can lose it by january. i have seen things the tea party patriots excoriating this deal. if the healthcare bill last christmas was the public uproar,

frpblgt romney will have to live with romney care as obama will have to live with obama care. i'm consistent. when you own it and sign it, then you take responsibility for it. i think it could be a problem for mitt romney though he is a very able and talented guy and has a response, as does barack obama. host: the new year will mark the send 10 yell of ronald reagan's birth. a lot of celebrations. you worked with him and you have your own relationship. how will history view his presidency as we reflect in 2011 on his centennial? guest: i think it will view him favorably. the people who had been regarded with contempt who thought he was not up to it are seeing how he changed the world and he did. i love the revisionism that is coming up on both sides. i remember people in the cabinet who were very critical of ronald reagan, senior people in the cabinet who didn't like what was happening when he walked out on gorbachev, didn't like his speech at berlin when he said to tack down the wall and said i was there with ron and we did this together. they didn't. but that is ok. everybod