that was the republican victory in 2010 which turned so many districts to the red and gave the republicans the majoritylet's blank that out. as we head into the election season, the mid term season and the president gives the state of the union, the republicans obviously in the majority, 234 seats. democrats in the minority, 201. democrats were optimistic the tide was turning. perhaps nancy pelosi could win the gavel back. people viewed this as a nonpresidential party meaning a republican year. let's look at 2014. most house seats and house districts are safe. we've assigned the seats to the parties. the 50 most competitive districts you see on the map. the blue are democratic, red are republican. if you take them out, john boehner needs only 8 of 50. look how easy it would be. just winning 8 of those 50 and john boehner keeps the speaker's gavel. republicans think they'll do better. here is why the hill is so steep for the democrats and nancy pelosi. of the 50 districts, she would need to win 43. a lot of those districts are red republican districts in what shapes up to be a republican year. the wisdo

important to note that the majority leader has tried to pass off the cloture motions he has filed, which are attempts by the majority party to silence the minority party as nothing but republican filibusters. there seems to have been a concerted attempt to confuse cloture motions with filibusters, but "the washington post" fact checker has caught the majority leader in this distortion, giving the claim of republican filibusters two pinocchios. in fact, a report by the nonpartisan congressional research service called quote cloture attempts on nominations dated historical development, end of title, written by richard s. beth contains an entire section titled -- quote -- "cloture motions do not correspond with filibusters." end of title. the abuse of cloture often combined with the blocking of amendments prevents all senators from doing what they were sent here to do, not just members of the minority party. and you know it's even gotten worse. even where the majority leader's decided he is going to open to amendments, he has created out of whole cloth new restrictions to limit senators' rights. first he normally only opens up the amendments process if there is an agreement to li

the senate republicans still refused to stop their filibuster. then the senate republicans insisted on amendments. we offered up to ten amendments on each side. can the senate majority leader say after offering that unanimous consent, did the republicans agree to it and stop their filibuster of unemployment benefits? mr. reid: i already said they did not. mr. durbin: i would ask the majority leader at this point in time, what are we waiting for? what are the senate republicans now demanding to stop their filibuster providing unemployment benefits to 1.4 million people across america? mr. reid: i have no idea. mr. durbin: i would say to the senate majority leader, it strikes me as unfair, if not cruel, that we are holding 1.4 million unemployed americans hostage to this continued political negotiation where each day the republicans come up with a new demand before they'll stop their senate republican filibuster. i would ask the senator from nevada, our majority leader, does he believe that a majority of the members of the united states senate would vote for the extension of unemployment benefits to these 1.4 million americans if the senate republicans would drop thei

look at the chemical industry, especially since it's so highly popated here. >> brown: ashton mara, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day: house republicans and president obama challenged each other to act on major issues. g.o.p leaders circulated principles for immigration reform, while the president called for improved job training. the economy turned in solid growth at the end of 2013 thanks to the strongest consumer spending in three years and federal prosecutors in boston served notice they'll seek the death penalty for the man accused in the boston marathon bombing. >> woodruff: on the newshour online, read about a group in california dedicated to bringing nutritious meals to schools in low-income areas across the u.s. that's the latest dispatch in our social entrepreneurship series. and we're looking for your input: know of an organization whose mission is to help children? tweet us your recommendations at @newshourworld. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and again, to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in the afghanistan conflict we add them as their deaths are made official and pho

of the major turning point came of the final years of the bush administration when the democratic majority held vote after vote on bills they knew wouldn't pass. now look, i'm not saying republicans have never staged showboat when we were in the majority and i'm not saying i don't enjoy a good messaging boat from time to time but you have got to wonder if that's all you are doing why you are here. it's become entirely too routine. and it diminishes the senate. i don't care which party you are in. you came here to legislate, to make a difference for your constituents yet over the past several years the senate seems more like a campaign studio then a serious legislative lobby. both sides have said and done things over the past few years would probably wish we hadn't but we can, we can improve the way we do business. we can be more constructive. we can work through our differences. we can do thing that need to be done but there will have to be major changes if we are going to get there. the committee process must be restored. we need to have an open amendment process and finally let me suggest we need to learn how to put in a decent weeks work around here. a decent weeks work. you k

comprehensive reform legislation from being enacted this year would be the reluctance of the republican majority in the house of allowing a vote to come on that legislation. and that is basically the question mark in terms of mr. boehner's attitude and that of the republican leadership in the house of representatives and how much they are likely to be influenced by the more conservative members in the republican house seats. yes? >> there is some momentum in the senate towards immigration reform that has increased immigration, mainly inertia in the house. how much energy is there behind your answer to decrease immigration that that fair supports? >> one way of answering that is that if you take a look at who is supporting the comprehensive approach and who is supporting our limitation side, on the comprehensive approach side you find big business for obvious reasons. because of the fact that the more workers that are available, the more it gives the advantage to the hirer of those workers. big labor, afl-cio, which is more difficult to understand because of the fact that they traditionally were

but if that's impossible to get through the house of representatives where there's a republican majority, he would be opening to finding some offsets, some spending cuts. the question to you as a representative of the president from the obama administration, do you agree with senator schumer that if necessary to pass this three-month extension and help all those people with the president today, you would be willing to cut spending elsewhere? >> well, again, you know, we're willing to do -- we need to work to address this emergency right now. and i think, you know, in the presidency of george bush, congress understood that it was indeed an emergency. it continues to be an emergency for people. and the administration, you know, remains open to finding solutions for this problem. but, you know, people like kathryn hackette and others have already lost their lifeline. and they can't afford to wait three, four, five weeks while you find long-term solutions. that's why it was so important, and i'm so heartened by the fact that the senate acted today. >> so is that a yes, you are open to that p

did, the republican majority at the time left a gap in coverage known as the doughnut hole. when a senior on medicare spend approximately $2600 on prescription medication they fall into the doughnut hole coverage gap and pay for the drugs 100% out-of-pocket until they reach $5600 in prescription drug spending. some seniors never reach the top amount in calendar year. they pay for 100% of prescriptions for rest of the year until next year. many seniors on fixed income can't afford to pay the way gap through coverage. affordable care act phases out doughnut hole, closing it out in 2020 savings seniors $3,000 a year of drug cost. i spoke at the west broward democratic club, one of the largest democratic clubs in florida, made up senior citizens who live in my congressional district, when i finished began taking questions, woman i known at 23 years never known struggling to make ends meet rose to make a statement. she said, deb business, thanks to obamacare i don't have to ask the pharmacist to score my miss. i used to do that so they would ask me longer. because the doughnut ho

court, the legislature matters here too, in congress, republicans control the house of representatives, the judiciary committee of the house of representatives, specifically the republican majority judiciary committee on the house of representatives which looks like this, all these lovely ladies. they decided that the first bill they would mark up in 2014, the way they would start this new session of congress, the very first thing they would work on would be the no taxpayer funding for abortion act. which concerns abortion coverage and whether or not washington, d.c., is allowed to spend even its own money providing access to abortion for low income women in that city. that was the very first thing that the republican controlled house judiciary committee decided to work on this year, and all the male republicans in that committee which is all the republicans in that committee unanimously voted for it, but not before telling the one representative of washington, d.c., in congress that she would not be allowed to speak on the issue. republicans in the house are also expecting this year to make their most concerted pusher for a federal nationwide ban that would criminalize abortion

when congress passed part b the republican majority the time left a gap in coverage known as the doughnut hole. when a senior on medicare spends approximately $2600 on medication they fallen to the doughnut hole coverage gap and have to pay for their drugs 100% out of pocket until they reach approximately $5600 in prescription drug spending. some seniors never reach that top amount so they pay their 100% of their prescription until the next year. of course many seniors living on fixed incomes can afford to pay their way through that gap in coverage. if audible care act faces out the doughnut hole closing it for good in 2020 saving seniors up to $3000 a year in drug costs. about a year after president obama sign the affordable care act into law i spoke at the democratic club whose membership is made up of senior citizens who live in my congressional district grade when i finish and began taking questions a woman i had known for 23 years who i never thought of it struggling to make ends meet rows to make a statement. she said, debbie thanks to obamacare is don't have to ask a pharmacist to

it's the same old same old from this house republican majority. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. delauro: oppose this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. foxx: the passage of h.r. 7 will be welcomed news for the majority of americans who do not want their tax dollars paying for the grisly business of abortion. this bill, which is co-sponsored by 165 house members, and a quarter of the senate, will make existing policies like the hyde amendment permanent and will rid obamacare of its massive expansion of public funding for abortion insurance plans. the president repeatedly assured americans that obamacare would maintain current hyde amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extend those restrictions to newly created health insurance exchanges. that promise didn't pan out. like so many other promi

the community chairman thinks not. there are still a bulk of republicans, the majority of members of the house republican caucus who -- who aren't thinking of the future of the party, their own election and this is not the issue that resonates do -- doing an over haul is not what resonates. so the speaker has got a big sales job ahead of him in trying to persuade most of the republicans to put the future of the party ahead of their own. >> that is a majority you say of the gop caucus taking a firm stance saying halfway to citizenship is nothing more than amnesty? >> i think it is a majority. at most what will happen if they do reach a deal is speaker boehner will have to bend the so called rule we talked about so many times, you and others on this air, and he will have to pass with a minority of the majority and mostly democratic votes. >> where do you envision the president compromising especially on citizenship. >> it has become clear and as i wrote about in the piece you quoted a second ago, the outlines of the deal are getting pretty clear. the president would have to back off his previous demand of getting a path

many seniors face a difficult choice between medicine and meals and congress passed party, the republican majorityeft a gap in coverage known as the doughnut hole. when a senior in medicare's hands approximate $2600 on prescription medication cometh onto the into the doughnut hole coverage gap in how to pay for their drugs and hunt up some other pocket until they make $5600 in prescription drug spending. some seniors never reach that amount of the calendar year, is they pay for the rest of the year until the next year. many seniors living on fixed incomes can afford to pay their way through that gap in coverage. the affordable character faces at the doughnut hole, closing it for 2020 and saving up to $3000 during drug costs. about a year after president obama sang the affordable care act into law, i spoke at the democratic lock on one of the largest in florida whose membership is largely made up of senior citizens who live in my congressional district. when i finished to begin taking questions, a woman i'd known who i'd never thought of is strictly jamaican roots to make a statement. she said debb

saw happen, i saw senator murray representing the democrat and democratic majority in the senate and democrats altogether and ryan representing the republican majority in the house kind of huddle for about six, seven weeks, and they came back with a two-year budget, a blueprint, which was passed by large margins both in the senate and in the house. i think they said to themselves, you know, we cannot just be the party of no, which i think is what speaker boehner. i think they want to be a party of yes. i think the tea party sector of their party is really the party of no. we're not going to cooperate with republicans, we came here to do nothing, we came here to dismantle government. i think they want to be the party of yes and see an opportunity with immigration, given the gains we've made in the senate, to really get something done. >> yeah, if not the party of yes necessarily, at least an alternative party. >> they want to be a party that's the alternative party, and listen, look, from a demographic point of view, okay, from a demographic point of view, look, every four years, about 2, 2.5 million more latinos vote. if you take 2000, 2004

the republican leader said, let's take the panama canal debate. senator baker, senator byrd. they would run this senate in the way the republican leader suggested, in the way most majority leaders have suggested. they would come to the floor, they would put a bill on the floor that a republican and a democratic senator agreed on, let's say senator mccain, senator levin, senator inhofe, senator levin, they would ask for amendments. they might get 300 amendments. they would then ask for unanimous consent to cut off all the amendments and, of course, they would get it because everyone had a chance to have his or her amendment, and then within that unanimous consent agreement would be a procedure for how to vote on them and they say we're here on monday, and we're going to finish this week. just as the republican leader has said. and it didn't work perfectly. there was a senator from alabama, and then a senator from ohio and they did all they could to put glue in the works but the majority leader had all the tools he needed to run the senate in that way. everybody got a say. everybody got a say. and senator byrd in his last remarks before the rules committee and i was there to hear

the new war on women. the majority, republican majority reserves the first ten numbers for its most important bills.n. we're tucked into a sweeping abortion bill that for example goes after even people who pay for their own abortions on the exchanges, on the state exchanges. but to make things worse, it goes after the district of columbia in a special way. and then denies and then the chairman trent franks of arizona denies me the right to speak to that provision. >> chairwoman, we're going to hear from trent franks in a moment. it being an all male congressional panel, the idea flgts war on women, i imagine that's another issue that you had real concerns about. >> i do. i'm sitting there with a bunch of males who want to pass judgment on women all over the country and want to keep the district from spending its own local funds on abortion for low income women the way women in 17 states do who declare that the district of columbia for purposes of abortion shall be a part of the federal government. i mean, come on. that's kicking us in the gut. we're not going to take it. now, this member didn't have

so, look, he's in a position where if, in fact, the republican majority in the house will not cooperatehim on anything, i wonder what choice he has? now, so obviously he has to lay out the case tonight, but i think on crucial issues where he really believes we need to move forward, i don't see what choice the president has if we are going to make progress, but to use executive action when he can. he has already ruled out using executive action in some areas where perhaps he could technically, but he thinks it's just a political bridge too far. so he said he's not going to do comprehensive immigration reform through executive action. >> right. and, michael, lastly, this nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, one of the questions and answers, i should say, getting a lot of attention, where you believe the country is compared to when obama became president. 68% believe, according to this poll, we are worse off or the same place. your reaction to that number. >> okay, so the dow at the end of 2008 was at 8,776. the dow today is at 15,837. i don't understand the pessimism. again, i'm not sugar

yet, that is all the republican majority has offered americans so far. neither school choice nor quality of schools was on their agenda when they voted for the republican rewrite of the elementary and secondary education act. that bill would abandon our responsibility to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education. it undercuts schools. the republicans remain vigilant in protecting and promoting school chose, yet, their -- choice, yet, their bill removed those choices already in current law. and it fails that schools in districts improve when they're failing to effectively educate students. with the republicans' elementary and secondary bill, along with sequestration, the majority turned their backs on poorest schools and took money away from america's poorest students. the very -- the very people that the majority schools choice media opportunity tends to support are the ones hurt by the majority's vote in this chamber. not a media conversation, not a posturing to appear to soften the image but the actual votes taken in this chamber ha

is congress defined by the republican majority in the house of representatives, or is it defined by this bipartisan mess and squabbling in the u.s. senate? i think republicans would want to talk about congress as the senate and the dysfunction there. democrats really want to talk about congress as the republican house running so counter to president obama. so there's a bit of a framing issue here. there's no question both sides agree that when your numbers are in the single digits, it's probably good to run against the institution. >> all right. let's switch gears and talk about chris christie. he apologized yesterday again during his state of the state. >> now the last week has certainly tested this administration. mistakes were clearly made, and as a result, we let down the people we're entrusted to serve. i know our citizens deserve better, much better. i'm the governor, and i'm ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch, both good and bad. >> so perry, how's he handling this? >> i think he's handling it. he's being forthright, he's apologized for a long time last week, g

in the senate, at the same time for republicans, to get a majority they need a six-seat gain. they have to not run the table, but pretty close to win the majority, which is why i would put the republican prospects considerably less than 50-50, even though it is almost a 100% chance that republicans will pick up seats, but not the six seats that they need. and just sort of as an aside, it sure as heck looked like republicans were going to pick up a bunch of seats in 2012 and in the end they did not do that. part of that was because of these brand problems we were talking about. the other problem will exist again, and that is that in this post-tea party era, republican primaries have become pretty exotic places great there has been an increased tendency for republican primary voters to choose people who god did not necessarily intend for them to be members of the u.s. senate. [laughter] it has cost them seats that they should have won. whether you are looking at nevada, colorado, delaware in 2010, or at missouri or indiana in 2012, arguably, right now the senate is 55-45, and rep

remember the conversations then when republicans were take the blame for the republican shutdown, everyone thought perhaps the democrats would get the majorityack. let's go back in time a little bit. i want you to look at all the blue. look at the blue. i'm going to circle areas. this is just after president obama won his first election. this is what the congress looked like. the house of representatives. these are house districts in 2009. look at the areas i'm circling. i want you to watch something. that is early 2009. this is what happened after the 2010 mid terms. again look at all that blue. look at all that red. this is the republican takeover of the house in 2010. they've built on it since then a bit, wolf. here's where we stand at the moment. 234 republicans to 201 democrats. it takes 218 to have a majority. here's what we're going to do. most of these districts, 435, are not competitive anymore. they're simply not. either republican or democratic districts. if you take out the rest of them and assign the reliable republican and reliably democratic districts, about 50 districts in the country at this time are competitive. that number

at the same time for republicans, to get a majority they need a six-heat gain. they have to not run the table, but pretty close to win the majority, which is why i would put the republican march rd incentives considerably less than 50-50, even though it is almost a hundred percent chance that republicans will pick up seats, but not the six seats that they need. and just sort of as an aside, it sure as heck looks like republicans were going to pick up a bunch of seats in 2012 and in the end they did not do that. part of that was because of these brand problems we were talking about. the other problem will exist again, and that is that in this can tea party era, rob -- republican primaries have become ready exotic places great there has been an increased tendency for republican primary voters to choose people who god did not necessarily intend for them to be members of the u.s. senate. [laughter] it has cost them seats that they should have one. -- won.l atther you are looking nevada, colorado, delaware in 2010, or at missouri or indiana in 2012, arguably, right no

would add one thing to my friend's description of the 1990's, you ought to give credit to the republican majority who voted for those agreements when most democrats did not to balance the budget and particularly speaker gingrich, because with all due respect to president clinton he never once had the balanced budget w that i yield three minutes to my good friend and colleague from the rules committee, classmate, distinguished member from utah, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah is recognized for three minutes. mr. bishop: thank you, madam speaker. i rise to engage in a colloquy with the agricultural committee chairman lucas of oklahoma and interior appropriations, mr. calvert of california. in relation to pilt. pilt is a program for counties across america that are heavily owned by the federal government. counties in every state except rhode island benefit from this program's first established in 1979. pilt helps to offset the loss of property tax revenue caused by the presence of federal land. the firl government is the largest landowner in the united states and fills t

the summer and build and build and build and build. and at that election republicans needed a 40-seat net gain to get a majority in the house. 40 cements. and -- 40 seats. and if you gave republicans every conceivable seat that they could possibly win, they still couldn't get the 40. but it was building and building, you know, you could see the direction of the arrow, you could tell the wind was blowing strong. and so i, at the end, i was saying, well, maybe there's a one in three chance that republicans get a majority in the house, but that's sort of like i don't know how many of you have gone bird hunting, but with a shotgun, you kind of lead the bird a little bit. if the bird's going this way, if you aim at the bird, you know, your shot's going to go behind the bird by the time it gets there. so you kind of lead the bird. and clearly it was moving this way, so i said one out of three. not only did they get 40 seats, hell, they got 52. and they, you know, you had republican candidates getting elected who didn't get a dime from their own party. their own party didn't even think they were going to win. and conversely, democrats losing

in the senate, at the same time for republicans, to get a majority they need a six-seat gain. have to not run the table, but pretty close to win the majority, which is why i would put the republican prospects considerably less than 50-50, even though it is almost a 100% chance that republicans will pick up seats, but not the six seats that they need. and just sort of as an aside, it sure as heck looks like republicans were going to pick up a bunch of seats in 2012 and in the end they did not do that. part of that was because of these brand problems we were talking about. the other problem will exist again, and that is that in this post-tea party era, republican primaries have become ready exotic places great there has been an increased tendency for republican primary voters to choose people who god did not necessarily intend for them to be members of the u.s. senate. [laughter] it has cost them seats that they should have won. whether you are looking at nevada, colorado, delaware in 2010, or at missouri or indiana in 2012, arguably, right now the senate is 55-45, and republica

the senate. you have major republican groups, evangelical, christians, business community, hi-tech community, lobbyingor this. speaker baner is now entertaining it. obviously he's not going to do it exactly the way we do but i would predict that we will get immigration reform done this year, another example of the mainstream republicans not just listening to the tea party but doing what's right for their country and for their party. >> schieffer: all right. senator, thank you so much for

the documentary? >> i highly recommend it. and there is a disconnect between republicans. not mainstream republicans. i represent the majorityicans and though notion of being fiscally responsible but i think most people fall in that category. but i side with this in 3.5 million people got online and injured 36 questions and then got paired up with the candidate most in line with their views. and i was the ext individual on the mound. streets were bred for gary johnson. then there was a blue tint and a green tint for at least those that i'm associated with. and mitt romney had a light blue tint on the country. neil: mike lee chose to really rip republicans. >> the republican establishment in washington can be just as out of touch as the democratic establishment. and right on. the run for political office. you have baggage associated with it. whether you are not whether you're a democrat or republican or libertarian and a majority of americans are independent. >> they're giving so many responses. that is what it ended up being like. >> and i think the republican party right now is being very exclusionary to the mainstream repu

to be tough the capture the house majority in part because of obamacare and the president's unpop lair i think. they're worried about losing the majority because if the republicansain control of the house and the gop takes control of the senate from the agenda for the remaining two years is just completely locked down. the republicans will be able to stop any of his liberal policies because they'll control both chambers of congress, something they haven't done during the obama era. jenna: carl, thank you. jon: and with the president's approval rating hovering in the 40s, some are questioning how wig a role democrats want to see mr. obama play in their re-election bids. the president about to make remarks on job training outside milwaukee. here's a look at his travels, basically, this year, since january 15th when he came back from vacation in hawaii. the only state president obama hit where a senate democrat is facing a tough battle is in north carolina. senator kay hagan, normally a big presidential supporter, managed somehow not to attend that event with the president. elise i have beck is a writer for the hill. post-state of the union speeches are quite commo

gay rights among other issues is cut absolutely against the grain of where the republican party has been and is one of the major barriers to the republican party doing better with younger voters. and that, you know, you just look at the data on same-sex marriage. you know, it's kind of a no-brainer. and i was talking to a conservative leader who has been visiting campuses in a southern state meeting with people that are in the individual chapters of an extremely conservative organization. okay? and she was, had just come back from a couple of campuses, and she asked these conservative student leaders what they thought about same-sex marriage. and none of them had a problem with it. and these were kids that were, like, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really conservative. laugh and it's like, wow finish. [laughter] obviously, there's some people who don't hold that view. and i'm not suggesting the republican party changed their positions or anything, but i think they eight to look at sort of -- look at how they sort of weight the issues and turning the volume and frequency down on certain

well, there is one thing standing in the way of republicans adding to the majority in the house and releasinghe september from harry reid from the democratic foils and that was other republicans. jesus said a house divided against itself can't stand. and neither jesus' statement and obama care have been repealed. many are not finding enough work to pay their bills and the economy favoring those connected with washington and wall street. and our standing in the world bungled by policies like spying on other leaders. if something doesn't change it is going to be a disaster for republicans. and we run the risk of seeing nancy pelosi back in the speaker's chair. republicans, my audience doesn't like that too much! but republicans shouldn't allow the parties process hijacked by advertising campaigns. provide weapons so that conservative can slice other conservative to pieces? those who blame the te party they are misguided. the tea party is a movement and not a structured organization. and as such, the tea party helped the republicans refocused on the perils of spending money we don't have and bor

republican. redistricting so skewers the democratic outcome that in the 2012 election democrats won 1 million votes for the house of representatives than the republicans but because of where the districts were drawn republicans had the majority of seats in the house and probably will keep them this year again because of the way the districts are drawn. >> host: d. d tweets in isn't it true that wages are low because of nafta and. deals and imported labor? democrat ported policies? >> guest: i don't believe that is the case. i will admit i'm not an economist but incomes tend to grow when the economy grows and when more people are working and we produce a higher-quality product and higher cost products when we had nafta and the traded raymond's incomes went up to kiss the economy was growing rapidly. the challenge is to grow the economy to create more wealth. if there is more wealth -- and then governments government's role is to help sort it tempered the market so that everybody has a chance to benefit from that wealth that increase growth and wealth. the other thing that is very important is we want to get incomes up we will really have to fix the education system particularly in the inner cities. the gentleman before from d

democratic and then you've got a whole bunch of smaller counties that are republican and rural the go republican but because the majority of people live in the big cities majority of the state voted democratic and so the state the entire state vote goes for it for example for obama they want to break that up and say the red counties are the red electoral congressional districts. that those votes will become considered individual literal votes if they had done that in the last election and you've got several states alec is promoting this i believe pretty aggressively there are republican strategist promoting this if this had been the case the last election mitt romney would be our president even though he didn't win the popular vote the popular vote went to obama by a landslide and this is because as you point out the jury rigging the gerrymandering of the republican districts jerald in lake wells florida joe we have just a minute left a quick question. we just have a minute left yes or. ok you were interviewed. the man on the great unknown on the whole picture and wendell potter. but i couldn't hear the sound like it on

the republicans message will be this year. if i did, can probably tell you whether they will win or not, if they will hold the majority in the housey will take the senate. forecast republican ingenuity, innovation, all this energy is a hazardous proposition. so i will refrain. i will cross my fingers and hope they come up with a message for these midterms. lou: speaker boehner has certainly granted my wish. listeno him today. >> we're not just the opposition party, we are actually alternative party. lou: the alternative party, that is what they want as a message. mr. speaker, you're makingour followers heads hurt, i imagine. republican national committee has come up with a report on the failures of the 2012 election calling at the autopsy, now you nt republin party to be known as the alternative party. such a name might make people think alternative to what which gives primacy to the word democrat or liberal. how about all words that are latin derivatives for just a holiday that extends through this election years. helping you get concrete and specific and inspiring in your messaging. how about alternative to the current g.o.p. es

republicans if you go back to the 1980's, freeman did a study and talked about the culture of the two major parties and talked about how the republican party was one and had a culture of being closed, quiet, and consensual. if you look into the 1990's, another study describes the party as one that has a homogeneous membership. william mayer wrote a book, "the divided democrats," an important book and one we were thinking about when we were doing this research. even more recently, "the divided democrats" book, howard dean when he was running for president, which is within the last 10 years, he said that he represented the democratic wing of the democratic party. that is a reference to this ideological split between the moderate democrats and more liberal faction of the political party. it is the democrats who have been long divided. in light of the recent developments where we have been talking about republican divisions more so perhaps of the democratic visions we wanted to ask a few questions. our republicans pacific league tea party and establishment republicans, if they are divided, how

mccarthy is the number three house republican, the house majority whip, in charge of wrangling house icans to vote for bills and initiatives, party initiatives. >> how do you get people to get up this early? >> we have a dedicated audience. we're very fortunate. so out of that entire speech last night, touched on a lot of things, executive orders, immigration, minimum wage, the my r.a. concept. what are some things that house republicans will take from that speech and put into legislation? >> well, one, trade. we'd love to work with him on trade. we'd love to work with him on energy. nothing in that speech said legislation. it's either do what i want or i'll go around. and i don't think that is helpful. i understand he has the phone and the pen. i always say, well, use the phone to call and work together. use the pen to sign the bills we work together on. to me that's a frustration. but remember, we make policy in the world of politics. when he talked about what i referred to about job training and others, that sounded a lot like the skills act that passed the house and lingers in the

and those who go through the committee and if republicans are fortunate enough to gain the majority next year, that will be done. the bill should come to the floor and be debated. we have an example of that going on right now. and that includes a robust amendment process. in my view there is too much paranoia about the other side around here. what are we afraid of? because both sides have taken liberties and abused privileges. but the answer is not to provoke even more. the answer is to let those debate this. let the folks debate and let the senate work its will. that means bringing bills to the floor and having a free and open amendment process that is part of the legislature. that is what we used to do here. and that is exactly the way this place operated just a few years ago. the democratic majority leader likes to say that if you don't want to fight fire, do not become a fireman. if you don't want to cast votes, do not come to the senate. and i guess he has not said that lately. and when we used to be in the majority in order to get the bill across the floor and got to pass a lot of

republicans have stopped extension of unemployment benefits, it's an interesting thing to recognize that now for the first time in history over half the members of congress are millionaires. the vast majorityse are republicans. now, i still wonder -- >> bob, liar. >> why are you lying? >> makes everything up. >> you said vast. >> maybe i just thought that. the majority are republicans, and it's no wonder that rich millionaires don't understand the importance of unemployment. the republicans ought to learn that so it will cost them at the polls. >> let's more let's cite the beckel institute. >> yesterday i signed up for instagram. today a new app, not that new but really really cool. snap chat where you can send stuff and they can send stuff to you. when you open it it evaporates anywhere between one and ten seconds. downloaded it, opening it right here. show you how it works. open it up. i have a snap chat right here, ready, and there -- >> like clayton morris. >> he's naked. >> did you see who that is. >> senator rand paul. >> senator rand paul. >> i like that. >> snap chat. >> very call. >> eb 2016. >> follow me. >> greg, running for president? >> deadspin they captured this graphic from

and these are general ideas that the republicans in the house think or the majority of republicans in the house think ought to be in immigration legislation. and the reason it probably is not going anywhere, especially in the united states senate is the first one, and the first one says don't do anything until everything is secured internally and on the border. that is a no-go with democrats in the senate. there is no chance of them accepting the enforcement first. so this looks like this is not going to be any kind of a law any time soon. >> okay, but then why do you have people like ann coulter, where this is one of her top issues? predicting doom and destruction for the republican party as a result of these shifts we're seeing now on capitol hill? >> so we talk a lot about the executive authority wielded by president obama. and that is part of this story. the president has threatened the business community in the united states that if they can't force their allies and the republicans they support to advance what democrats call comprehensive immigration legislation that the presiden