put tom cole out there and maybe we can get 30 or 40 republicans. you combine that with the democratic caucus and get there. >> and that is very powerful from boehner. he now gets to use cole as a club against eric cantor or any crazy tea party republicans who refuse to go along with a reasonable outcome here. e he can say to them, look, if you guys hold into that position, the cole wing is going to do this without us. krystal ball and ryan grim, thank you both for joining me tonight. >>> coming up, sandra fellma joins me to talk about the fiscal curb and mitt romney's headed to the white house the only way he can and in the rewrite tonight, a very big ending for the first amendment and a big loss for bad cops. or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use. it's the ultimate combination of speed, small size, and low-cost printing. time for citi price re

put tom cole out there and maybe we can get 30 or 40 republicans. you combine that with the democratic caucus and get there. >> and that is very powerful from boehner. he now gets to use cole as a club against eric cantor or any crazy tea party republicans who refuse to go along with a reasonable outcome here. he can say to them, look, if you guys hold into that position, the cole wing is going to do this without us. krystal ball and ryan grim, thank you both for joining me tonight. >>> coming up, sandra fellma joins me to talk about the fiscal curb and mitt romney's headed to the white house the only way he can and in the rewrite tonight, a very big ending for the first amendment and a big loss for bad cops. [ emily jo ] derrell comes into starbucks with his wife, danielle, almost every weekend. derrell hasn't been able to visit his mom back east in a long time. [ shirley ] things are sometimes a little tight around the house. i wasn't able to go to the wedding. [ emily jo ] since derrell couldn't get home, we decided to bring home to him and then j

of course, john boehner has basically said, look, i disagree with tom cole.has happened, we have actually seen other republicans embrace what tom cole said. mary bono mack said she'd support something tom cole is calling for, extension of the bush tax cuts for the middle class, not for the wealthiest. by having this cover john boehner could actually have the flexibility to negotiate with the white house maybe something that doesn't go as far as the white house and tom cole want, but some other kind of middle ground. something we didn't see in the 2011 negotiations over the debt ceiling. >> meanwhile john boehner is being pretty elusive about what the specifics, the details are. i want to play a little bit of what he said today at his weekly briefing. >> revenue is on the table. but revenue was only on the table if there were serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. it has to be part of the agreement. we have a debt crisis. we're spending too much. >> so we know that revenue is on the table and the president pretty much said that that was going to be t

tom cole, you heard him on the show.p or hurt john boehner's cause of cutting a deal before going over the qulcliff? >> long term probably helps. not helpful every day that goes by without entitlements being part of the discussion. >> i snow there are senate republicans frustrated. do you think tom cole helps the cause of barack obama? >> keeps taxes in the discussion, so it helps. >> you are a skeptic that there would be a deal. >> why would i be a skeptic? >> you believe we will gooff o the cliff. >> i do. i want to see the speaker put something on the floor that does not get the majority. >> i will make the prediction he will go there without knowing he had the majority. i have sources who claim this. shame wless plug. >> christmas, remember the folks in new jersey and new york. >> i have to go with my washington redskins. big game monday night, new york giants. wild card. >> lose record wild card? >> i know you're excited about facial hair being all the rage these days, but this is the last day of november. men's hea

congressman tom cole. the conservative from oklahoma was the first republican to admit the gop should pass the democrats' bill to extend the tax cuts on income over $250,000. other republicans are joining cole's ranks. >> if you're going to sign me up with a camp, i like what tom cole has to say. i know you had him on the show earlier at length. i think tom presented a very thoughtful, articulate position. >> republican senator john thune of south dakota dropped the bomb on fox news. >> are republicans willing to hold the line to say to the president, i am sorry, we will never agree to a deal that involves an increase in taxes? are they? >> i think any deal that passes up here that raises taxes and raises taxes, as i mentioned earlier, on small businesses, martha, is not going to enjoy a republican support. now, there may be enough republicans who would vote for something like that to pass it in the house of representatives. >> well, if there are enough republican votes to pass the bill, the game's over, i

, robert of idaho saying tom cole is part of the problem., the nrc, head of of the nrc, pete sessions saying, there's no appetite for that type of talk. what's interesting, martin, if you go back to 2010, the last lame duck, speaker boehner actually stepped in it when he was on "face the nation" and he said i would accept if it was the only thing i could get saving tax cuts for those making $250,000 or below. republicans were upset about that. he had to walk that language back. now you see the language is all or nothing on the bush tax cuts. >> and yet, luke, we have had an election. we have had exit polling. we have had a new poll in "the washington post" today, all of which appears to support the president. so, is speaker boehner going to be able, as you said, to step in it again and win at least 20, 30 republican colleagues? >> well, i think what you'll see, martin, going forward is the reason why they're taking such a tough line on this is because they're trying to strengthen their negotiating hand. what you saw today was the messaging w

>> i'm sure that's what tom cole's trying to do. not clear that he has any kind of support for that idea in that caucus. look. it's going to take a crisis evidently to create some sort of impetus for them to bend on this. one would think that the fiscal cliff itself, it's a man-made crisis and good enough. maybe it needs to go further than that. you need to see markets tank and need to see the economy plummet and then say we tried and we have to give in on that. that's an awfully dangerous game to play. >> that's sad. >> dana, we have word that mitt romney is going to the white house tomorrow. oh, to be a fly on the wall over there. what do you expect that meeting to sound like? >> awkward. >> is this for show? because obama basically said that he would or do you really expect this to be a meeting of the minds and actual sort of agenda to come out of it? >> yeah. well, the white house announcement is terrific. it said it's a private meeting in the private dining room and no press. >> right. >> very clear that they won't want anythin

does tom cole play into all this? >> he certainly does. what tom cole is thinking is leverage. and right now democrats have a lot of leverage. they can make the case to the american people that by being obstructionists, republicans are preventing a tax cut for everyone, including the middle class. and if republicans go along with the president on this, and they lose this small battle, then they will give up the tax increases on the wealthy, which they don't want, for a big tax cut to the middle class. that takes one of the democrats' biggest talking points off the table going into next year and they can live to fight another day during tax reform to bring those rates down for the wealthy and continue that fight while most americans already are enjoying their tax cut. so while it seems like a concession, it could be a strategic move by republicans to be able to make themselves some room to come back next year in a much stronger negotiating position. sf >> i want to bring up the other big topic on capitol hill and that is susan rice and the republican opposition to her only seems

i think the big news of the day is tom cole.uch influence does tom cole have inside the house republicans among the conservative pragmatists? >> not much. i wouldn't make too much of this other than it's another republican talking about the e idea that we don't have to raise -- we don't have to hold firm on this idea. it's notable because you have somebody going public with the idea that, hey, let's just do what the president wants. but if you're -- correct. if you're looking at it asings oh, he can give people cover, he's going to influence people to change their minds, no. >> but the polling piece -- i heard you say that about him earlier, that's not insignificant. at this point, remember, the polls say overwhelmingly americans will blame republicans if this deal goes down. the president has the wind at his back on this one. so it's -- even if you don't like the politics of it from a pragmatic approach as a republican, i mean, they're negotiating with a hand they do not have. >> and that's what's striking to me. this is a case

>> tom cole said it all. take what the president has offered right now.ake sure that 98% of the people aren't affected by any tax increases. that's how we get it started. and patty is absolutely right. we have all these problems facing us and this is the way to do it. a bad deal would be saying to the millionaires and billionaires, you're going to get a big tax break. that's what the elections was about. we held an election. it isn't as if this was a sidebar issue, chris. this was a main issue. >> i know. >> so, we can fix this. we can stop the sequester right now. we can make sure that 98% of the people don't pay one penny more in their taxes. and we get off that fiscal cliff and we're on to the new year. and the markets will be happy. and the people will smile. and i think tom cole, again, i mean, maybe i'm hurting him by saying this, he had a lot of courage. and i hope that others will follow his lead. >> thanks so much, senator barbara boxer of california. i do believe the whole world is watching us. not just our money markets. i think they're watchin

joining us now, congressman tom cole from oklahoma. he is a republican, thank you for joining us. >> well, thank you. >> you're proposal that republicans should agree with democrats in extending the tax breaks for those making 250,000 there's a year or less, deal with that later, that is the proposal a lot of republicans are resisting, what is the reaction you get? >> oh, i think the reaction is mixed. some support it, some don't. i think have have more questions about it. look it is simple. i don't believe in raising tax rates for anybody, bad for the economy and bad creation, ultimately by slowing down growth, cuts revenue. and i think the president needs to come to the table with real spending restraint and tax reform. having agreed with that, if we agree that taxes shouldn't go up on the people, shouldn't we set that aside. i think they will listen to us, we'll win the argument. putting people at risk when we agree their taxes shouldn't go up, is something in my opinion we shouldn't do. >> speaker john boehner told republicans they

i have to say that if you're going to sign me up with a camp, i like what tom cole has to say. the show earlier at length. tom presented a very thoughtful, articulate position. i know my husband and i are going to disagree on this. we waited till after the first cup of coffee to disagree over this. i would agree with what tom cole -- >> yes, dear. >> see? i'm right, he's happy. i would agree with -- >> that's the quote of the day. >> that's interesting. that's a vote right there. you will get a chance to vote on this, presumably. tom cole, that plan has a vote. >> what about to ryan lizza. >> congresswoman and congressman mack. >> mary and connie is great. >> thank you. what has to happen in that caucus to get a deal done? how many people agree with you, mary? how many people are silently in the republican caucus, agreeing with the cole/mary position on this? >> let me first say this. you know, who knows what the conference is thinking. but this is where loweredship matters. this is where we need not just president obama, but speaker boehner to lead. they need to stand up and pr

tom cole is right. this is why people are frustrated with washington. everybody on capitol hill agrees on this fact at least, that we should continue tax cuts for the first $250,000 in income for all middle class american. i happen to think it should be a little above. some people think it should be much higher. the fact is we all agree it should be at least $250,000. let's just get that done. let's get done what we can get done. and where there are areas that will take a little more time, a little more negotiation, a little more compromise, we can get to those things. tom cole is right, and we just had an election that was a referendum on compromise, consensus, and solutions. we can get a compromise. we have consensus. at least $250,000 in income for tax cuts is a solution that everybody agrees on. let's do it. >> the words that mitch mcconnell used basically calling the president out campaigning a pr blitz to the american people, does this prove, though, with the president doing something like this and getting americans involved and to understand what

is tom cole an outlier among republicans? what's going on? >> it's a sign of the diversity in the republican party and that's something that president obama's team is trying to work on. they're trying to develop divisions and to break the logjam, the big showdown that's going on between speaker boehner and congress on one side and president obama and his team on the other. so it's a sign, but we've still got a long ways to go. >> if you can believe it, the negotiations got arguably more complicated yesterday when several leading democrats called on the president to demand republicans agree to raise the debt ceiling as part of any fiscal deal. let me play what harry reid said about that. >> we would be somewhat foolish to work out something on the cliff and is six weeks later republicans could pull the same game they did before. >> dana, any indication progress is being made on this or just more roadblocks coming into the picture? >> you know, i was just as a breakfast where bowles and simpson were speaking, and it was a very gloomy and pessim

you would fight so hard. >> it is hard to understand but, joy ann, one person doesn't agree with tom cole who i showed in the opening and that's speaker john boehner. let me show you what the speaker had to say. >> i told tom earlier in our conference meeting that i disagreed with him. the goal here is to grow the economy and control spending. you're not going to grow the economy if you raise tax rates on the top two rates. we're willing to put revenue on the table as long as we're not raising rates. >> so, joy, boehner is not exactly ready to go along with the american people, it seems. >> i think what you just saw there, rev, was a man waiting for bated breath on january 3rd, hoping that every day gets shorter and shorter and shorter as long as we're still in the lame duck congress and tea party members are still there. i think john boehner still has an ounce of fear that he will lose that vote. so he's always watching his right flank. i think boehner will be in a stronger position if we get to january 3rd and there isn't a deal and he can force a deal on his tea party members but this

everybody's looking at tom cole now. who's going to be primaried. see, tom, this is what happens when you say -- this is what happens when you go and try to meet democrats halfway. according to "the new york times," they start with a proposal that's loaded with democratic priorities. according to "the wall street journal," the first offer was provocative. suddenly tom cole looks like an idiot out there. >> or he gives someone to boehner's left so he doesn't look so extreme. >> but again, the president, by putting this offer out there, just made it impossible for another tom cole to step out and be responsible. >> see, i don't know because the curt phone call between boehner and the president makes me feel that they're actually doing exactly what i was saying, which is posturing and getting somewhere. >> first of all, i couldn't disagree more. i think there are lines of optimism to be seen very clearly in this deal. and i'll explain why. let's start with this. we should expect the democrats to offer an offer -- to start with an offer that has democra

try to work honestly for a much bigger deal. >> democratic senator, patty murray, jumped on the tom cole bandwagon on msnbc. >> i really respect representative cole for saying the obvious. there is no need to hold 98% of our middle class families and 97% of our small businesses hostage just in order to protect the wealthiest americans. >> later, congressman cole explained the logic of his position to chris matthews this ink. >> what i think a lot of people forget is look, these tax rates are going up automatically unless congress act. i favor acting to save as many of them as possible. >> this is what i have been saying for weeks. the president is giving the republicans a hell of a deal. they are going to be able to go home to their constituents and say, i didn't raise your taxes. 98% of you, everything is just fine. house speaker, john boehner, he doesn't know how to handle this. he was forced to respond and wasn't quite sure what to say. >> i told tom earlier in our conference meeting that i disagreed with him. he is a wonderful friend of mine and a great supporter of mine. raising tax

tom cole of oklahoma urged fellow members to accept a plan for taxes. senate democrats are optimistic that more members of the republican party will be willing to step away from their pledge with grover nornorquist. >> republicans are deciding they no longer want to be married to this pledge. republicans are saying they want a divorce from grover norquist. that alone is a leading indicator that the fiscal deal is within reach. both sides are still far apart. the discussions over the next few weeks will be difficult. but with each new republican disavowingi grover norquist, th chance of a deal rises sharply. >> apparently wall street is not as optimistic. stocks dipped immediately. the dow dipped 9 poi89 points. >>> house republicans have announced their recommendations on who will claire the committees. and they love white old men. there is not a single woman among the 19 members that speaker skrjohn boehner recommed yesterday. not one woman. although chairs for the ethics and house administration committees have yet to be decided. that would make sense

republican congressmen tom cole of oklahoma disagrees stronsly. at the same time, he recognizes the political reality that all tax cuts will expire on january 1st and no one wants to raise taxes on what would amount to 98% of all taxpayers. >> in my view, we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of discussion right now. continue to fight against any rate increases, continue to try to work honestly for a much bigger deal. >> congressman cole joins us shortly. a rock rib conservative. chair of the national republican congressional committee, and he's no longer a lone voice in the wilderness. the staunchly conservative editorial page of "the wall street journal" is on board as well. i'm quoting now. the fact is that republicans face a new political reality on taxes. president obama's re-election means that taxes for upper income earners are going up one way or another. the question, how republicans should handle this reality. congressman cole and a number of other con serbiv

. >> let's talk about one of those members, representative tom cole, republican from oklahoma came out and said he thinks republicans should go ahead and pass what the president has proposed, basically extend the tax cuts for the middle class up to $250,000. then deal with that other piece. speaker boehner came out and sort of chastised him. but tom cole went on to continue to go on about 18 different shows and reiterated the same position he was actually on with our chuck todd this morning. let's take a listen. >> that advice was given in private. but you guys have a way of figuring out what is said in private. somebody leaked it out. that's fine. because i'm not going to -- >> you didn't intend for this to go public? >> no, no. i absolutely didn't. >> okay. >> again, it is what i said. it's not an inaccurate report. and, again, i don't think it changes where we're going. our chief negotiator is the speaker. he can deliver the republican votes for a deal that he thinks is the right one. i always support him in that. i'm sure i would again. >> nick, like i said, he's saying this leaked

and that's why the courageous republicans like tom cole deserve a lot of credit. but their leaders don't have the message. i don't know what they want. they want a presidential election do-over? that isn't going to happen. this was one of the major issues in the election. let's get on with it and help the middle class, ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share, and we can find savings all over the map. we've already cut a trillion dollars. we can do it. but we need a revenue stream to come in. >> as you say, it's a negotiation. we'll see what they come back with, a counteroffer to come. senator barbara boxer, thanks so much. i appreciate your time. >>> i want to bring in our political power panel, erin pike, ted strickland and reverend joe watkins, a republican strategist. great to have you all here. i know you were listening to the senator there. reverend joe, i want to start with you. the president is going to speak in the next hour from pennsylvania. we're getting live pictures of his plane arriving right now, as i understand it. it's going to be the first tim

your colleague, tom cole of oklahoma, now is proposing that you go ahead and do essentially what the president has been asking for, allow taxes to rise on the wealthy, come january 1st. so everyone else, the 98%, their taxes would remain the same. let me just play this sound. congressman tom cole speaking earlier today. >> in my view, we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of this discussion right now. we're not going to raise taxes on those people. and i think we ought to go ahead and make that abundantly clear to everybody. and take them out of the negotiation. recognize we don't throw -- let's get the best deal we possibly can from the american taxpayer. part of that is making sure people that make less than $250,000 don't face a tax increase. >> so, congressman cole basically saying to, you know, fellow republicans, look, we didn't win the white house, we didn't get control of the senate as we had hoped, let's just cut the deal that we can cut right now and that's a deal that as he mentioned would rais

the most recent adherent oklahoma congressman tom cole saying, look, republicans need to compromise.hey need to keep tax cuts in place forpeople earning $250,000 and less. heays it's time to make a change and now people on the hill saying that the g.o.p. is splintering. what do you say? >> that's not true. actually, what tom was trying to say was it's a tax call thing. tom is against raising taxes on any level. he's against raising taxes on all folks, but have agreement with the president onhis group that's $250,000 and less, clear the table and make the bracket.ions in the upper he's against raising rates on every single one of those. th's been a clarification. gerri: what about corker and grahm and all these people in washington, elected representatives now saying,you know, i'm rethinking whether there should be a no tax pledge. >> true. that's on the senate side. on the house side,evenue was on the table a long time ago, as in last summer of 2011 and said if we reform the tax code, clear junk deductions out that for the upper brackets, thers more revenue and simplifies the system,

tom cole has come out and said, let's just embrace what the president has offered and extend the taxuts only for the 98% and lit the 2% pay a little bit more. how many like-minded recommendation are there? is there enough to get them to forge a coalition with the democrats to get this through the house if it never reached the floor for a vote. >> remember unfortunately we're dealing with the present congress, not the new congress. it's a lame duck. some of the worst tea party republicans who lost their races still get to vote until january 3rd. this is a more difficult congress for speaker boehner to rally votes. but if that were the deal, the simple thing we're going to extend the middle class tax cuts and deal with the restitution of it after january 1st, including the is he questions trace, i think you would get a lot of democratic votes. >> eliot: after january 1, do you think there would be a core that would agree with your analysis that you can cobble together 218 on both sides of the aisle? >> well, we picked up wins not certain yet one race--but we picked up about 12 seats. s

if i'm a republican, i don't criticize tom cole.-- >> you want to exhaust every other possibility. >> he's an ally of paul ryan and sits -- if you look at where he sits along -- >> interesting. >> and he's a former pollster. >> i'm not being critical of tom cole. >> i know you're not. having the guts but as a guy that abhors raising taxes, if we're going to raise taxes, i say we raise taxes after we get the other side agreeing they'll save medicare. that they'll save medicaid and social security. that they're going to cut discretionary spending. you know, i will pay more taxes and americans will pay more taxes but not just so they can cop out like so many governors do and not make tough cuts. >> i talked to really severe republicans in the south and alabama and arkansas and they say the same thing and say we're prepared to do that but not unless there's some significant cuts on the other side but they are. talking about the fact they really are -- they're prepared to raise revenue. >> if you give washington money is my opinion and g

let's bring in the element of tom cole, a republican of oklahoma. doesn't get more red than oklahoma. let's play what he said regarding support and passing the middle class tax cut. >> in my view, we all agree we won't raise taxes on people making less than $250,000. we should take them out of this discussion right now. >> what is the issue with that? >> well, what congressman cole has really shown is that there's an imminent amount of good logic and sense in preserving the current tax rates for 98% of americans for a lot of reasons. one of which is the gdp dependent on consumer spending. 0% of the economy is consumer spending. if you take $2,000 on average out of pockets of consumers, it's going to hurt the economy so right away you have a low tax good economic rational behind it but there are politics here, too, of course, and that is the republican party just got she lacked in an election and learning that the only way to expand their popularity, expand their base is if they stop being perceived as the party of wealthy white people and start bein

house speaker john boehner came out, has come out and said, look, we are not in support of what tom coles saying. tell me why the republican house conference doesn't think that's a smart strategy? >> first of all, great respect for representative cole. he is a very fine man and he is a very good thinker as well, but i don't agree with him either on this one. we know that the proposal by the president is going to hit 1 million small business owners. ernst and young has told us 700,000 jobs because of that. that doesn't help the middle class at all. and this is very important we do protect the middle class and this is not the way to do that. stop just talk iing about taxes only. here's the thing. if you just look at what the president wants to do by raising taxes on those small business owners, about a million of them, we'll only bring in eight days of revenue to send us to fund the federal government. what about the other 350 plus days? it makes it sound like the panacea is only on one side. we need to have tax reform. we need to bring tax reform, to cut taxes and we need to reform our de

. >> reporter: in the first republican break inside the house, the oklahoma congressman tom cole endorsed the short-term approach. >> in my view, we all agree we won't raise the taxes on people making less than $250,000, we should take them out of the discussion right now. >> reporter: but the idea was quickly shut down. >> the goal is to grow the economy and cut spending. you won't grow the economy if you put tax rates on the top two rates. >> there was no serious discussion by the white house on entitlements on medicare and medicaid. this has to be a part of this agreement. >> reporter: the white house is going all out on this campaign tactical front, even deploying twitter, using the hash tag, to learn how they would save. >>> and chuck todd on the white house lawn, starting us off. a big aspect of this again is medicare, 50 million americans get their health insurance through medicare. that number is growing quickly as the baby boom number gets older. polls show americans don't want big change to it, but big change could come. nbc's tom costello has more on what it may look like. >> r

he's got to still talk the tea party talk to the extent they have any power left. >> but he let's tom cole go out there and tell the truth. >> right. >> that is a boehner authorized mission, cole going out there. >> totally agree. >> chris hayes and joy reid, thank you. chris hayes' show is "up with chris hayes", the best thing you can do early weekend mornings, 8:00 a.m. on msnbc. thank you for joining me tonight. >>> coming up, howard dean on how the democrats should handle budget negotiations with republicans. what should be on and what should be off the table. and two-time oscar winner, sally field is here. she's on her way to a third oscar with her performance in "lincoln" but the acceptance speech you'll want to see is what she had to say about her son when she received an award this year from the human rights campaign. and in the rewrite tonight, another unarmed black teenage boy is shot dead in florida. and yes, the shooter now claims he was standing his ground oh. that's coming up. new prilosec otc wildberry is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fanc

. >> congressman tom cole is a republican from oklahoma. good morning. >> good to be with you. >> we said this is a numbers game. here's one bottom line -- 90% of americans will see their bills go up if you don't reach a deal. are republicans willing to compromise? >> oh, i think we are. i think the speaker's made that very clear, that he's put revenue on the table. pretty important as to how you get that revenue. i was disappointed to see leader pelosi saying it had to be higher rates or nothing. i don't think that's how you begin a negotiation. >> what about the possibility of keeping the same rates but eliminating deductions for wealthy? >> that's a very good potential suggestion. again, i think that would meet with broad support. that's consistent with what the speaker's laid out, gets the revenue, but we think in a method that probably helps foster growth. long term, you've got to have a growing economy to deal with problem we're dealing with. unfortunately, we think the proposals from -- some of the proposals from the democratic side

. >> politico has an astonishing story about congressman tom cole, republican of oklahoma, one of the savviest operators in congress, former chairman of house republican campaign committee who yesterday talk to the republican whips and told them they would be a stronger bargaining position if he were to give taxpayers an early christmas present, vote to extend the bush tax cuts for all but the highest income earners and then negotiate later about the highest income, about the very top bracket. that sounds like a way out of this corner spent it's an interesting tactic or strategy. the challenge is -- >> so you are not against? >> look, by announcing, we're trying to decide how to cut spending. we have a spending cutting and then -- spending problem. i think we should be focused on spending. yet chambliss, for five congressmen and senators have said we could raise taxes or, we could raise taxes here. to be fair to them, somebody like south carolina lindsey graham says i would raise taxes although if i could get into one ironclad guarantee of entitlement reform, a series of things that d

congressman tom cole was on ac 360 last night.ept revenue increases in exchange for a compromise. this is what he said about the bush era taxes. >> i want to make all of them permanent, quite frankly. this is a debate about political tactics. not a difference over political theology. in the end all republicans want to make sure we don't increase taxes. that's where we differ from the democrats. if there is a place we can get 80% of the bush tax cuts for # 8% of the american people made permanent we should do that and then continue to fight for the rest. >> speaker boehner said he disagreed with cole. is this a debate about political tactics? >> to a degree, i think it is. i don't think the republicans really know where their negotiating position is which is a reason you're hearing republicans say kick the can down the road six months and do a grand plan and why democrats say to do it now. the republicans haven't found their footing since the election. the big problem is spending. no one wants to talk about spending. the fiscal cli

oklahoma representative tom cole said the gop should sign off on the middle class extension. but house speaker john boehner isn't ready to budge yet. >> it will hurt small businesses, hurt our economy. it's why this is not the right approach. >> reporter: on capitol hill on wednesday, erskine bowles met with both sides. he's the co-chair of the committee that drew up a plan to cut the federal debt. >> i'm hopeful but don't put me down anywhere near optimistic category. we got a long way to go and very few days to get it done. >> reporter: and some signs of compromise from the democrats. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi is giving some hints her party may be willing to consider some of those offers made between the president and speaker boehner during last year's budget talks including cuts to medicaid and medicare and one more sign two sides are moving together. today president obama is hosting mitt romney for lunch. it's closed to the press but those fiscal cliff talks will be part of that discussion. >> curious minds will want to know. susan, thank you. the fiscal is

politico's also reporting oklahoma representative tom cole told his g.o.p.leagues yesterday to move forward with the president's he plan to extend the tax breaks for everyone except the top 2%. cole said that he does not agree with raising taxes for anyone but that it is time to take care of the majority of the american people first and fight for the wealthy later. that bill made it through the senate back in july but it still has not made it through the house. we're right back. you're about to watch an viewer created ad message for little caesars who proudly salutes united states veterans everywhere. >> clarksville is a small town on the tennesse/kentucky boader and it is a really great place to raise a family. my name is lloyd allard i was a chief officer in the special forces, i was in the army for 23 years. i have made 1400 parachute jumps. well, my experience in the military was varied. i spent a lot of time in iraq, a lot of time in kuwait. i did two tours in iraq and i decided it was time to do something different with my life. i saw little caesars as

i i saw money from robert tom cole and robin roberts the mayor ok sorry got the wrong guy that's fine robert go ahead what's up. yeah you know i've been keeping up with a lot of things appreciate everything you bring on to us you know online this military thing and. but you know what i noticed you know i watched the whole debate all the campaign and when the two parties democrat and republican and i noticed. either one of them talking about the economy never brought up the gas crisis and we know of troops before. how gas prices affect the price of everything cause businesses to a lot of republicans. a good point i appreciate bring it up the republicans try to bash obama on gas prices in fact they ran a whole series of ads on it gas prices are actually down right now by the way about twenty twenty or thirty cents a gallon from where they were just a week ago. but the big point that most people don't get is that probably about twenty percent of the total cost of gasoline right now in the united states is the consequence of speculation its banks taking the money not all companies tony an

one top republican, tom cole of oklahoma, urged his colleagues today to give in. a lot of republicans think you give up all your bargaining power if you do that. >> you know, i respect that opinion but i don't agree with it. the reality is i don't think the american people ought to be leverage in a negotiation. and i think if they are leverage, it's actually the leverage of the democrats. they're now telling americans basically, oh, republicans are willing to raise your taxes. well, we're not. we don't want to raise taxes on anybody. so i think the best thing to do is to take that issue off the table early. >> reporter: but speaker boehner quickly shot down the idea. >> i told tom earlier in our conference meeting that i disagreed with him. >> reporter: speaker boehner's aides described the talks with the white house today as business-like. they say they're in communication all the time. and that the fact that speaker boehner himself isn't sitting down with the president shouldn't be taken as a sign that talks aren't progress, scott. >> pelley: time is running, th

. >> tom cole. >> sound byte: in my view we all agree we're not going to raise taxes on people who are> we should definitely take them out of the discussion that no one is having. it was the president who said, oh five, eight years now no tax increase on people making money over $250,000--under. >> stephanie: boner is standing for tax rates for those that go over. they think that's their main bargaining chip. he said some republicans on the hill operating tax cuts for the highest earners for everyone else. cole believes the reverse is true. i think we have the winning argument--no. many believe raising taxes is costing jobs. they don't get what the elections said. >> most people voteed for the president of the united states. >> by a large margin. >> stephanie: except the moral victory by romney. >> we've been giving $5 and $10 all this time to get a chance to have meal with barack obama and who would think that mitt romney would win. >> stephanie: how did mittens win. he's always stacked for the top 1%. >> this is milk toast summit. >> stephanie: if jay-z and beyonce is there i'm going

senator bob corker republican senator lindsey graham saxby chambliss yes a republican representative tom cole called on his fellow republicans to take the president's deal and extend the tax cuts for ninety percent of americans letting them expire for the top two for two percent so neil you had breakfast today with grover norquist who's a small kid i have i have a little test kid here to measure whether you've been poisoned or not but i thought you didn't tell him you were coming on the program or no i didn't know ok then we probably don't yes you seem you seem healthy. and his point i did do was everybody still kissing his ring or other parts of him the place was packed today and in fact a representative from boners office is off the record so i'm i'm going to be violence of confidence but. a representative from baiters office was there to express their support and he also mentioned that congressman cole had been shut down face to face by boehner himself and told this is not moving forward i predict chambliss of course called as i wrote in on human events dot com chambliss called grover norq

week that republicans may be willing to cave in on the bush tax cuts for the rich when congressman tom cole called on his party his republican party to take president obama's deal and extend tax cuts for ninety eight percent of americans while letting them expire for the top two percent. that deal was nixed by speaker john boehner almost as soon as it was offered ultimately republicans are against the wall whether they like it or not the bush tax cuts are expiring at the end of the year now the only question left is what will republicans attempt to take. you for these tax cuts expire it could be extended unemployment benefits for more than two million americans which are set to expire at the end of the year as well and if republicans tie up these benefits and also be standing in the way of hundreds of thousands of jobs being created at least that's the conclusion of a new report by. nonpartisan congressional budget office c.e.o. estimates the just the simple act of extending unemployment benefits beyond the end of the year will provide much needed relief to two point one million jobless ame

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