so what speaker boehner said isn't right. his party, if they had been resolute for this middle-class tax cut for the last six months, maybe they'd have a leg to stand on. but they didn't. they were against it, against it, against it. >> have you -- could you point to any other time where the democrats have held together so strong on an issue? >> no. >> there was no caving at all. >> but i will tell you, since september we've done a lot better. >> yeah. >> why well, we have focused on the economy, jobs, and income inequality. we came out united finally for the tax on incomes over a million dollars. we came out for a jobs program. and we said, look, even if it doesn't pass we're going to put it on the floor of the senate over and over and over again. and here's what's happened. is it people now believe that democrats are much better at helping the economy than republicans. this is the first time in 30 years when you ask the american people who's better at tax policy. they prefer democrats to republicans because we separated the

this was not john boehner tripping and falling. this looks like john boehner was pushed. who let john boehner took this stand on the payroll tax? john boehner took this defiant out on a limb stand with absolutely nobody in his own party backing him up. john boehner came out this weekend with this bold plan to defy the thing the senate had already approved including a huge majority of people in his own party. he came out with this plan to defy a deal his own party had worked out, to defy a deal he himself had support aid few days earlier, to defy a deal there was overwhelming puck suppo ini for, john boehner came out this past weekend and boldly declared that house republicans were standing against, against this payroll tax cut extension, and we are not doing it. i realize i said i was for it before and i realize it just got 89 votes in the senate and that senate republicans have signed on to it and that we want to be seen as the tax cut party and that even though we were sort of against this before we'd like to be for it now and tit's kind ofa mess, but no, john boehner s

and now boehner is out here having to fight the battle. and i also think it's interesting that we talk about the relationship between boehner and cantor and you know, there is a lot of rumblings from those folks and the ones who coalesced around cantor. who said the two months would not fly. and boehner knew that. he said i sort of told mcconnell that wasn't going to work. there was a kind of belief from the senate which allowed the folks in the house call, called the house of lords over there, that while these commoners in the house will just take what we give and they should do it because we're so much smarter. >> and we will be talking -- >> you're seeing that rebellion right now that we've seen all year. >> we'll be talking more about the interesting dynamic between the house and the senate a little bit later. i want to talk about the white house and how this is just like -- the golden goose. if you will, the white house has a new, they're enlisting the american public. asking what a tax hike of $40 per paycheck woe mean to them. one m

boehner had a conference call. we got to get together on saturday morning and figure this thing out. he had a conference call in his caucus on saturday and reportedly said, hey, look, this is a good deal. the senate package is good. we got to take it. tea party members blasted boehner. for going along with the deal and demanded a new vote. they want a new vote. we're not going to take this. the tea party was not happy with the two-month extension and they demanded an entire year. well, boehner, he went running with his tail between his legs over to "meet the press" to change his tune. today boehner claimed the two-month extension would create this thing called uncertainty. >> we oppose the senate bill because a two-month extension instead of a full-year extension causes uncertainty for job creators. i used to run a small business. i met a payroll. i hired workers. a two-month extension creates uncertainty and will cause problems for people who are trying to create jobs in the private sector. it's time for congress

>> speaker boehner is right with us. the president himself called for a one-year pay roll tax holiday extension. we agree with him. the year is not over. we have ten days in which to work. millions of americans are going to be working, martin, across the holiday season. i have done it myself many times. i'm a doctor and i am more than willing to be here. >> as you say, you're a doctor. here's the equation. you can keep the patient alive for two months during which you can develop a treatment plan going forward. or you can simply let the patient die. and what's happened, what has actually happened is that speaker boehner wouldn't even allow a vote in the house. you let the patient die. 160 million middle class americans are at the worst christmas present they could be given by this government. a $1,000 tax increase. for some people, that will kill them. >> you have my vow as one of the conferrees that we are determined be to let the american people go through to january 1 without knowing they will have relief. what we are

house speaker john boehner. "roll call" newspaper reporting the payroll tax cut fiasco, "has raised significant questions about john boehner's ability to lead his conference for the long term." listen to this. "the number one question that will be debated over the eggnog at hill centric holiday parties is whether john boehner will be able to continue -- excuse me, will be able to save his speakership for more than a few more months in light of his horrible miscalculation on the payroll tax bill and then his desperate flip-flop to get in front of the troops that were marching in opposite direction from where he said they needed to go." wow. bob corker of tennessee is turning out to be the personification of the republican party's political and policy incoherence on this. here's senator corker on cnbc this morning calling on house republicans to just pass the darn payroll tax cut bill. and remember, bob corker is also a republican. >> are republicans getting killed right now in public opinion? there is no question

just to underline the point that boehner is sweating this one out. the president even flashed a hawaiian gesture that basically means hang loose. >> aides say the president is committed to staying here alone until the end of the year if necessary to get it done. his planned trip to hawaii, now completely up in the air. bret? >> ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has the latest from capitol hill, including political pitfalls facing lawmakers on both sides of the argument. good evening, mike. >> good evening, bret. pressure builds here on capitol hill, even though most lawmakers are home now. house republican leaders are standing their ground so far. >> the bill is what the president asked for. the senate only produced two-month bill. the process is to sit down and resolve those differences. we are here ready to work. >> traditional allies including senate republicans don't think the arguement is working. "wall street journal" editorial entitled the "g.o.p. payroll tax fiasco" blasted the republic

boehner's really in the hot seat. mcconnell is basically saying, wrap it up, dude, the time's running out of the clock. >> reporter: it's tough to see a path forward. and mcconnell gave boehner a heads up, it was nicely done that it came directly after the press conference we had with speaker boehner, it would have been a really nice question to be able to ask him about, but that is the way washington operates. but nevertheless, how do you chart a way forward? how do you say to the american people, no, our way is correct, when our leadership in the senate is essentially saying that this is all for not. not to mention every strategist. i mean, karl rove won two elections for george w. bush, an amazing feat of political brilliance. he's agreeing with the "wall street journal" that what they're doing is killing their chances of winning in 2012. if you're a republican and your main desire is to beat president obama and to beat the democrats. that's what you want to do. mitch mcconnell said that from -- last year, he said,

this was clearly a boehner move. i think it was clearly intended on his part to show that he was making this move and i think some of the other junior leaders, cantor included have done themselves some damage, frankly, by being seen as so disloyal to boehner. >> publicly this looks terrible for boehner because it looks like he's not in control of his conference. in terms of internal republican politics, does he take on the role of being the wise elder who basically said, look, i knew what was coming, i told you to get behind this on saturday, i went out and fought for you, but you see the damage you did to us? does he have a confidence vote now moving forward? >> i think for some of the republican members, particularly some of the more senior members who have been around the block a few times. they're seeing him in a new light. they're respectful of his judgment. i think in this case he substituted his judgment for the collective wisdom of the republican conference, which was leading them in the wrong direction. they

boehner yourself and mr. o'connell? otherwise, why does he go forward that otherwise 48 hours later reject? >> i was very clear with the senate in expressing my reservations and what harry reid wanted to do and said that our members feel, as do most americans, as does the president feel 60 days is not acceptable. come on, how can families plan on a two-month basis as to what their tax liabilities is going to be as to how to deal with any of their expenses? that's what we're saying. we expressed that view. now it's up to harry reid because he provided the one opportunity for the vote in the senate that is an unacceptable policy. we're saying let's be reasonable. sit down and find out where we can resolve the differences and they're narrow. let's get the job done. >> i just want to highlight again, because i know that there are differences between harry reid and eric cantor and john boehner but seems like there are differences between republicans and democrats. let me read. is scott brown celebrity elected in a special el

yesterday the president called boehner. today boehner called the president. the president says he wants a one year extension down the road. but for now he wants two months. senator mcconnell's compromise down the middle seems to be the way forward. but speaker boehner has not said he will do that. heather. rick: the president today surrounding himself with people he called average americans, who are worried about the impact of losing an extra $40 in their paychecks. here is some of that, take a listen. >> what we have to remind ourselves of, this is about people. it's about the american people, and whether they win. it's not about a contest between politicians. so on tuesday we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week? and i have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming. we haven't seen anything like this before, over 30,000 people have written insofar. as many as 2,000 every hour. we are still hearing from folks. rick: some of them standing on the stage with the president about an hour or so ago. joi

but try and by trying to save face for the house john boehner also called a press conference backed by the very same tea party bozos who are now in charge of his party. and next up is clear i think president obama needs to call on senate democrats. to go back into session move to go to conference and to sit down and resolve this bill is quickly as possible i told the senate leaders senator reid and senator mcconnell. that there would be no negotiations with the house until such time as the senate passed a bill i meant what i said. and when they were getting ready to pass this wouldn't somebody pass on the me what they thought it would look like i made it clear to them at that point that i was uncomfortable with where they were going i expressed my displeasure and once again taking the convenient route and not doing the people's work i think that one year extension the boehner is talking about is nothing more than a gimmick it will freeze pay for federal workers force that are workers to contribute more the pensions means test unemployment benefits and raise medicare premiums on high in

you see boehner doesn't have his heart into this thing. boehner's a pretty decent human being as i found it, he's a man of his word. i think he's off the charts. i think he doesn't know which direction to go on. it's obvious that he's not running the republican caucus. and i might add, they keep on forgetting one big thing, how do you pay for this? and the senate amendment to their bill which went over to the senate is very different. we're not just talking about two months versus 12 months, we're talking about how you pay for it. look, get off the dime, get it done. we don't have to bring everybody back to washington. we can have a unanimous consent legislation, we can put our heads up high and say we did something for the american people. for mr. boehner to talk about jobs 12 months, no plans for job creation or instigating jobs to me is humorous, as well. >> yeah, the big debates on how to pay for this. i want to take one more swing, though, at this idea of quarterly consideration. dave kemp who just spoke right after leader cantor did

what is john boehner doing? well, he's treating this like a damn game. >> our members do not want to just punt and do a two-month short-term fix where we have to come back and do this again. >> did he say punt? okay. let's play football, speaker boehner. what the hell? 89. that's the key number. this is how many senators have voted for the two-month extension. all democrats. 50. i guess you could say 39 turncoats. decided to go with that socialist communist marcus pinkco in the white house and say, let's go another two months. 39 republicans. they want you to punt. that's what you want you to do, mr. boehner. they want you to punt. when you punt in football, you get the ball back. you're going to have your chance, mr. boehner, after the new year in the next 60 days to make your case to the american people that these 39 people are wrong on your side. and you've got a better plan. but instead, you are stuck in this tea party philosophy. they've got you in the huddle in this game. if you want to play a game. and th

so now boehner is taking the heat for it, but boehner was willing to call their bluff. he was willing to say, fine, you want a vote on this? we'll have a vote on it -- >> but having won, won't they sim irin the intoic rooms and meetings. >> yes. >> and say this guy boehner prevented us from a a win? >> i think, he's going to say i showed you the way, and they'll say, no, you didn't, and i think there will be an open revolt by the spring. >> if you're a moderate republican, boehner, the relative moderate, the angry right is sitting there saying we're no longer going ton led by moderates. they hate moderates. >> that's true. i'm not sure boehner is correctly seen as a moderate. he was seen as one of the original seven. >> compared to now? compared to now? >> so moderate comparative. >> this is many golf matches later. but you've got to assume that boehner at some point heard from enough of the guys out there screaming and yelling about what a bad deal this was, that they wanted him to cut the deal now and spare them 9 political pain and humiliation. you've got to figure h

could speaker boehner actually benefit from this in the long run next time around? can he say we're not doing that again? >> i think so. i think he's going to get tougher because speaker boehner was put in an awkward position. not only were the republicans getting hurt but there was a real chance republican losses next fall would be larger than expected and speaker boehner's job might be in question as you well know. what's gotten interesting having made an important argument are we ever able to return payroll taxes to their old levels? you know this does have a lot to do with the viability of social security. if we act like you can't raise taxes $1,000 in order to pay for social security, we've got a more severe problem than we ever thought we had with the defic deficits. >> absolutely right. the only way out of this, the bush tax cuts are about to expire, now you have a payroll tax holiday on the books it's a political issue. only way to get out of this is comprehensive tax reform. appreciate your insights. one quick moment for those at home, this is not just a wa

boehner doesn't run the republican party in the house anymore. they're even stronger in the caucuses. they're well organized. they do not like mitt romney. they're casting a doubt. every time they seize on a candidate, the candidate implodes. whether it was rick perry, because he couldn't put two sentences together, or herman cain because of his infidelities, or newt because of his past baggage. romney's, of course, having to take down newt. newt has not imploded on his own. maybe he would have at some point. romney is spending a couple million bucks because if he knows newt gingrich wins the iowa caucuses romney has a fight in his hands. if romney keeps him from winning the iowa caucuses, romney is home free with 30% of the republican vote and the other 70% wishing they were someplace else. that's why santorum is coming back. because gingrich has been destroyed, their last hope is santorum or paul. >> governor dean, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> thanks, ed. >>> did i stiff this man out after a drink? he says yes. i honest

i think boehner is weakened. if he can't get the house to pass this bill, i don't know what that means for his speakership. >> let me turn to you, richard, on exactly that question. part of this was the optics. there was president obama standing surrounded by kind of ordinary american taxpayers and there was john boehner literally all by himself. >> i know. and at christmas, too. look, he's zombie speaker. he is. it is over. he agreed to deal. had to back track from the deal. if you were a betting person, you would say he has not got unanimity, not the word would you apply this republican caucus. so it just takes someone, tea party freshmen, to want the limelight and say you lie, it's over and then he has to call everyone back for a vote, no to say he won't get it through, but it is another round of embarrassment. by the way, then has to go into the negotiations for the year-long deal and how weak is the negotiating position from the get-go on that? so he really doesn't have much of a leadership position after al

could this be the end for speaker boehner? >> well, it seems like he still has control of his conference, reverend al, in the conference call he didn't allow his members to speak. he essentially sell thor at a timetively this is how it's going to go. remember why he's in this position is he wanted that deal that mcconnell made. he wanted it to be done earlier in the week, but there's a lot of apprehension to accept a two-month deal. eric cantor the house majority leader was very vocal behind closed doors, i was told, in opposing the two-month deal, into you he thought that would not be able to be sold to the rank-and-file members. is he in a precarious position? probably not. if anything, this could strengthen him behind closed doors. it appears he had the right idea, he wanted to accept this deal, but by trying to fight the senate, by trying to fight the president, it ended up being a terrible week p.r.-wise for house republicans, so perhaps now the 53 freshmen, about 40 who have never held office before, will listen to the m

i think john boehner's record explains what's going on with john boehner. on day one, the first day republicans were in charge of the house, they flailed their way through a reading of the constitution, skipping some sections by accident, because the pages got stuck together in the three-ring binder they were reading from. leaving out some sections on purpose because they just didn't want to read them. also day one, two republicans who managed to miss the swearing in ceremony on the house floor tried instead to take their oath from a television that was broadcasting the ceremony. and then they tried to start voting on stuff as if they had actually been sworn in by the television. that had to be undone. the brand new republican majority also passed a bunch of new rules about transparency and accountability and citing the constitutional authority for every single bill they introduced and almost immediately they started violating those new rules. their own rules. the john boehner-led house republicans also promised to cut spending for every bill that adds to t

>> i do not know if it is good for boehner or bad for boehner that the house is now gone for a month and they now have a lot to think about what happened this week. i think it was bad for house republicans. >> and speaker boehner admitted that. >> yes. he told them to do which was the two-month extension and then come back to fight another day. he could be criticized for not doing a better job at not making this conference follow him. but as this class has shown, they are not easy -- you cannot tell them what to do. and in the traditional -- and the traditional style of john boehner is different