senator jim demint has met his waterloo. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> one republican senator said, i'm quoting him now, if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him. think about that. >> jim demint is cutting and running. john boehner is in a box. grover norquist near oblivion. karl rove benched on fox news. and the real action of barack obama has sent the republican party into total disarray. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> congressman jim clyburn of south carolina and eugene robinson on the latest republican fiasco. >>> plus, congressman chris van hollen on john boehner's latest concession on the fiscal cliff. michael eric dyson and donna gentile-o'donnell on the political fallout. howard dean on chris christie's big decision on the obama care exchange. and apple's ceo breaks big news to nbc's brian williams. >> next year, we will do one of our existing mac lines in the united states. >> tonight, a story of economic patriotism in an era of bain capital with e.j. dionne. good to have you wit

the reason jim demint isn't in the majority today is because of jim demint. but jim demint says he's okay with that. >> i'd rather have 30 republicans in the senate who believe in the principles of freedom than 60 who don't believe in anything. [ applause ] well, let -- let me make myself even clearer. i would rather have 30 marco rubios in the senate than 60 arlen specters. >> arlen specter you might remember got driven out of the senate in part by folks like demint. he went to the democratic party and became the 60th vote on obama care. so that worked out well for demint. but demint does rather this being in the minority thing so much that he wants to seven out the rest of his term in the minority. when you're a senator and you even begin talking to another employer about leaving the senate, you have to file this paper with the senate office of public records. they do that so before a big vote on, say, an energy bill that will make oil companies really rich, you can't go to a big oil company and say, hey, don't you think i'd make a good executive vice presi

jim demint didn't do that. his net worth was listed at something like $65,000, which has to make him one of the poorest people in the united states senate. 10 certainly he's better off. you know, he is an activist at heart. so going back into the movement purely is good. and you know what? for political junkies, this is good too, because nothing is more fun than south carolina politics. and now we're going to have two race, 2014 and 2016 to watch, whereas with jim demint it was a forgone conclusion. >> jim demint's record in congress is not all that great, which is to say actually pretty bad. he picked some winners. ted cruz, rand paul, marco rubio, jeff flake. >> right. >> but he is also the guy that gave his personal seal of approval to crazies like christine o'donnell and sharron angle and richard mourdock and todd akin. in the end, is this a net-net win for republicans who have some amount of their sanity, a shred of it left? >> not necessarily. when they did the count of his 35 major legislative proposals,

this is jim demint. jim demint was re-elected senator for south carolina not this past election, 2012, but in 2010. you might remember he was the guy who had the good fortune in 2010 to be running against a young man named alvin green on the democratic side. it was not a hotly contested race. mr. demint won by 34 points. and that freed him up to spread a bunch of his own campaign cash and his own energy that year on other campaigns and other candidates that he favored. and that has been the way that jim demint has built his influence in politics. he has treated all of his time in the u.s. senate not as an opportunity to get anything passed. he has no legislative record at all. he spent his time in the senate trying to become a kingmaker, trying to make the republican party over in his own image. trying to shape other people's races. to have more conservative litmus tests for republican candidates. so jim demint was elected for the first time in '04. he was re-elected in 2010. they serve six-year terms. r

i'm so thankful that we in south carolina, we don't lose jim demint, that we see jim demint go to a bigger, greater opportunity. there is no one else in south carolina than lindsay graham. senator graham has served his state incredibly well. he understands the foreign affairs are real like no other. i look forward to learning more about foreign affairs from senator graham. i will also say that over the last two years i've had the privilege of gaining a new family. some people don't think we look alike, but sometimes we do. [laughter] i'll tell you that everyone from joe wilson, who we have referred to as the scoutmaster, to nicholas mulvaney -- i'm not sure what it is, but this wonderful haircut, and jeff duncan, who's not here with us and the new addition, tom rice. i have been afforded one of the greatest opportunities in the world to serve in the house of representatives. but what has made it more meaningful is to have served with these four guys and our scoutmaster. and i look forward to continuing to build on the family known as south carolina. you know, i haven't won anything yet in

they like jim demint. they are going to listen to jim demint. jim demint has positioned himself acutely here. the question for me, this is what byron was talking about. i'm surprised you would give up power with an elected seat in the senate. they don't come along often. the idea that mr. scott might get, a black republican, the only black person in senate, phenomenal step, too. we'll see how it plays out. it's a shock. i think to everybody. that jim demint would voluntarily leigh the senate of the united states. >> bret: judge? >> i was surprised as juan and byron were and you and people watching. i agree with eric and byron. jim demint is a classic, traditional, barry goldwater, ronald reagan conservative republican. not the george bush compassionate conservative. he believes the states have a role i government. that the individual is greater than the state. that the government should shrink. he is now the most powerful republican in town. he has an extraordinary opportunity. this is not inside the beltway story. this is a jim demint is the le

jim demint is leaving u.s. senate, will he be able to prevent the president's tax hikes before he does? demint here, next. where's your? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. you know how painful artburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fas long lasting gaviscon®. neil: he is a very influential senator and a tea party rock star. one of the most infl influential figures of conservative movement, he is leaves u.s. senate to go to the heritage foundation, jim demint to tell us why, why? >> it was apparent we need to do more to convince the american people that conservative principles will make their life better. i can think of no better platform than heritage foundation, to take our message to the american people and connection research, policy ideas, with real people,

jim demint's seat. it says in part, quote, i want to make two things clear from the outset. number one, i will not take the appointment myself. number two, i will appoint a person who has the same philosophy of government jim demint and i share. there you go. just out this morning. maggie, i'll let you take that first. well, that is good news if you are tim scott, i assume. >> i assume. >> she mentioned jim demint in the statement and nikki haley aligning herself with the new ceo of the conservative movement. >> which she has to do. look, nikki haley now has something that we have described as goldman, right, without being a scandal. tim scott's name has been tossed around by conservatives, as we know. i have word from some people the ag as a place holder, where this ends up going is going to be extremely interesting. i think that demint is going to have some say in what ends up happening here. >> and what's intriguing here is there are so many interesting moving parts and you may care about this in a c

frankly i think jim demint couldn't agree more. he said, i'm leaving the senate now but i'm not leaving the fight. i've decided to join the heritage foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. chuck, to your point. kelly, i want to go to you. in the midst, and we'll talk about the fiscal cliff in a minute, about the midst of the fiscal cliff and who's doing what, this is a huge news story, dropped on capitol hill that seemed to take everybody by surprise. what's the reaction up there. >> reporter: the pieces that are less sprying look at the fact that republicans failed to reclaim majority, that always has an influence on how much power senators think they have if they're among the minority. jim demint said he would not seek another term. at some point there was a plan for him to forecast his future. the timing of doing it right now certainly caught people by surprise. but it also is a point where it tells you that he feels comfortable that the voice of objection on some thing

people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become to easy to capitulate. remember with the budget control act when democrats were screaming bloody murder and thought the president had capitulated? guess what? on the far right they thought john boehner and mitch mcconnell had capitulated and lost that negotiation. they want the party further and further to the right. what demint specializes in doing is finding candidates to primary other republicans and to try to push the party further and further to the outskirts. >> what do you think of that? >> i think there's some truth to that. what is interesting to me is that during the bush years, where were all these voices when all the spending was going on? >> he wasn't -- >> there's a certain level of disingenuousness there. you have to be careful in making these broad brush -- >> let me ask you a question. if you were back at your old job, rnc chair, you may be there again for all i know, how would you umpire this thing? would you go to demint and his crowd

is this about just jim demint, or something larger, amy? >> we can probably see a little bit of both. you're right, jim demint is the de facto leader of the tea party, but the tea party really isn't a movie -- movement either. it's a leaderless sort of entity. he's been a thorn in the side for leadership and for the establishment republicans for quite some time. whenever boehner is the control for what he see is has compromise or caving, he stands up. he's been involved in a lot of interparty fights. most successfully, marco rubio. he beat charlie crist in a primary and one of his biggest failures is christine o'donnell. he's not afraid to get into the mix and we -- he didn't want to be here much longer. he was going to be out in 2016 so he was ready to go. you're right, the question is what does he do with this new position? use it to positive agenda? tell america what we stand for or, as many republicans we all talk too are worried about is he's going to use that perch to punish republicans who don't tow the tea party agenda. gwen: what i

people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become too easy to change. remember they were screaming bloody murder, the democrats and thought the president had done that and they feel john boehner had lost that negotiations and want the party further and further to the right. what demint specializes is doing is trying to push the party further and further to the out-skirts. >> what do you think? >> i think there is some truth to that. what is interesting to me, during the bush years, where were these voices when the spending was going on. there's a certain level of disingenuous there. you have to be careful of making a broad brush. >> if you were back in your old job as rmy chair and may be back there again, what would you do? would you build a logger out there to fight the -- or say, the future of the republican party is dead center conservative. not fringe, not going over. >> we're a center right party much like the country. >> i don't agree with that. the country is center right. it just voted. it just

jim demint has not had an original idea himself. he's all about platitudes. >> take a listen. >> either way, my expectation is, my hope is that that's no longer their number one priority and i'm hoping that once the election season is over that that spirit of cooperation comes for to the fore. >> are we seeing a change? are we moving in that direction, in your opinion, governor? >> we're clearly moving in that direction, reverend, whether it can go all the way, that the country needs -- i don't know. and it's really going to be incumbent on the president. as the movement start, the president has got to take hold and say to these republicans, okay, let's talk seriously. what do you need to make this deal work? what do you need to get this deal in a position that we'll get this country back on track and cause our economy to get back on track? the good news is, if we can do a deal on the budget by compromising and coming together, then we can go after immigration and infrastructure and energy and education. the things that are still on

it becomes less of a think tank with jim demint. they want to stay in their little bubble, reinforce their talking points, don't want to do any soul searching, don't want any new ideas and think that having jim demint at the helm helps them politically. someone very exciting jim demint is leaving and hoping he doesn't let the door hit him on the way out, he was going to be a one-term president, the president is getting ready to be inaugurated again and jim demint is packing up his office. this is a loss in many ways for him. they thinks he will be more powerful but he's going to be talking to a bunch of the same crazy wing nuts and having -- >> wait, joan. >> crazy wing nut wants to get in here. >> no. >> before you respond to that. >> please. >> let me ask you one question, though. >> yes. >> let's take a basic issue, immigration reform. do you think heritage is going to lead on imin i gration reform with jim demint at the hel snm. >> oh, i think that it has the potential to do that, but again, that leadership, that leadership you'

jim demint is leaving u.s. senate, will he be able to prevent the president's tax hikes before he does? demint here, next. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. i took my son fishing every year. e had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung functi starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, toda i'm b

>> you have a couple of -- on jim demint tweeting @bpshow, get riddance to jim demint. a. tasia says nikki haley may appoint herself and steven colbert is from south carolina. there is an online movement to get him in that seat. >> society so is peter ogburn from south carolina. senator ogburn. >> if asked, i will serve. >> bill: senator ogburn. i love it. >> this is bill press show. [ music ] when the last card is played what will be remembered? explore the lives of the famous and infamous who changed our world forever. experience the drama, back to back to back. of all the hours in all their days, the ones you'll never forget are the final 24. don't miss the final 24 mini-marathon this sunday on current tv. save the best for last. [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet but they're gonna fall in love get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married they'll find some retirement people

some other not so fun facts by jim demint. he is stood with todd akin after those legitimate rape comments. lead the opposition against obamacare. turns out that was his waterloo. he wants to strip all federal employees of collective bargaining rights. he threatened to single-handedly shut down the senate. remember that? >> sure. >> stephanie: used a failed terrorist plot to attack unions. he said the administration is intent on unionizing so union bosses will [ inaudible ] collective bargaining. he was willing -- is willing to cause, quote unquote serious obstructions in the economy. he was asked on fox news despite not raising the debt ceiling would cause serious problems, he said i'm willing to do that in order to get serious cuts to social security and medicare. bye-bye [ applause ] >> stephanie: senator lindsay graham. >> i met with jim demint this morning, and to say i was stunned is an understatement. he has always been a friend somebody i could count on. we have really enjoyed our time together. >> wait a minute go bac

jim demint has been a thorn in the side of republicans. so whoever he puts in there needs to roll-up their sleeves and get the job done. there are some statements floating around. we'll wait and see. >> a busy day. my power panel, thank you. appreciate it. >> thanks. >>> the united nations is putting up a serious front to warn syria not to use chemical weapons on their own people. what are the options on the table? [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. go ahead, mark your calendars. mmm i can still see you. it's the last day you can switch your medicare part d plan. we're ready, and we can't wait to switch. what i wanted was simple: the most value for my dollar. so, now that it's time, we're making the move to a plan that really works for us. [ male announcer ] make the swi

that's what jim demint has been trying to say. if you were back at your old job, rnc chair, you may be there again for all i know, how would you repair this thing? would you go to demint and his crowd moving to the outside to sort of build their sort of logger out there to fight the establishment or would you say, wait a minute, the future is dead center conservative. it's not fringy, it's not john birch, not going over -- >> i would remind them we're a center right party very much like the country -- >> i don't agree with that. >> the country is center right. >> they just voted for obama. >> center left. >> that's another show. we'll have that conversation. but the country is center right in large measure. >> we can't have another arithmetic system. >> this is not about the math. this is about the facts and the realities on the ground. >> the facts. the numbers. >> 51% of the people identify themselves as pro-life. that's center right. >> they don't support outlawing -- >> another show. >> they don't believe in outlawing abortion

i like jim demint. i wish him well. >> reporter: now, wolf, remember jim demint is one of the most conservative senators who worked very, very hard to block many pieces of legislation that the democratic leader harry reid was trying to pass through the senate. and demint made a point of personally going to harry reid's office to tell him face-to-face that he decided to resign. i can tell you as an observer of the senate watching relationships deteriorate, this was surprising but a good surprise. >> leaving on a good note at least with the majority leader in the senate. dana, thanks very much. and i'm joined now by senator demint along with heritage foundation founding trustee, the current president, we see the outgoing president, ed feulner, thanks for coming in. we're going to talk a little about the state of the heritage foundation and the republican party. the senator's here, the newsmaker, you shocked all of us. why did you do this? >> wolf, after this last election it's apparent we need to do more

people like jim demint can't stand people like that. they feel the party has become to easy to capitulate. remember with the budget control act when democrats were screaming bloody murder and thought the president had capitulated? on the far right they thought john boehner and mitch mcconnell had capitulated and lost that negotiation. they want the party further and further to the right. what demint specializes in doing is finding candidates to primary other republicans and to try to push the party further and further to the outskirts. >> what the do you think of that? >> i think there's some truth to that. what is interesting to me is during the bush years, where were all these voices when all the spending was going on? >> he wasn't -- >> there's a certain level of disingenuousness there. you have to be careful in making these broad brush -- >> let me ask you a question. if you were back at your old job, rnc chair, you may be there again for all i know, how would you imp pir this thing? would you go to demint and his crowd moving to th

>> jim demint is a movement guy. not a legislator like fritz hollings who represents the state for generations. he has been a movement by. you see the movement in primaries that republicans lost where they should of one the general election, whether it was delaware, or supporting marco rubio early against charlie crist. the other unwritten stories that you have two major conservative figures leaving this week. you had big armey leaving freedomworks, a very conservative outfit aligned with the tea party, and getting, get this, and $8 million buyout. jim demint has a net worth -- average of $41,000. he is going to institution that pays its chief executive more than $1 million. armey-demint -- if the congregationalist. they came to do good and they're doing very well. [laughter] >> with him leaving the senate and going to the heritage foundation, the intellectual level of both places lifts up. now -- you got it. >> yeah, i got it. >> remember, heritage was the originator of the mandate for health insurance. >> he said t

i am at least as crazy as jim demint. he wanted to ban gay teachers from the classroom. i want to ban teachers from the classroom. (laughter) with their knowledge agenda. i say let the free market decide what the atomic weight of carbon is. but mi the clear, mi the clear first choice here, folks. first of all the good people at public policy polling, publicly policy polled south carlinians today and found that of the possible replacements, i top south carolina voter's wish list with 20% supporting me. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: yeah. 20%, that's a half. now my network contract prohibits me from taking on another full-time job, so the senate would be perfect. (laughter) but we must, of course, honor the democratic process here, wherein one person picks whoever they want. now the last thing i want to do is put any pressure on governor haley, or try to influence her decision, not that that would work. she has the wisdom of salomon, the courage of lincoln, and the balls of margaret thatcher. (laughter) okay. but hotter, really hotter. i certainly don't want this senat

the late tim russert once said i can't believe jim demint is a senator. he is the leader, the ramrod of all those right wing challenges. he put up ron johnson to beat mitch mcconnell because he's too liberal. he's leaving, quitting his senate seat, giving it up, to run the heritage foundation. we have other stuff coming up, but let's start with that. >> first of all, he's going to make a lot more money. ed fuelner, who is leaving, makes $1 million a year. demint has a net worth of $40,000. secondly, the leadership has tried to rein him in. they've said, you can't go out and go after these conservative republicans with really conservative republicans in primaries because you're setting us up to lose senate seats. now that he's out of there, he can become a kind of cross between grover norquist and the jim demint he always was. he can drive these hard right ideas, but he can also sponsor hard right candidates in republican primaries. i think he thinks he's going to be more important at the heritage foundation than he is in the senate. >> let me ask you abou

now of course we all know jim demint leaves some big shoes to fill. then again-- (cheers and applause) but i'm not surprised that the people want me to have this honor. i've been honored in so many ways. in lego form, in ice cream, in space station treadmill, as a plush hockey mascot. which of course let me realize my dream of having drunk townies throw beer cans at me. but now the ultimate honor has come. being immortallized at madame tussaud's wax museum. they-- i know, i know, it's impressive. they have the world's biggest collection of glassy eyed fake celebrities outside of the bravo network. now -- while madame tussaud is a storied institution with 200 years of excellence, could even they capture my essence? find out tonight in. >> stephen colbert, wax on and wax off at madame tussaud the. last june i sat down with the art frist madame tussauds so i could get waxed. >> just leave a landing strip, okay, do that for me? they walked me through their painstaking process. >> when they make your figure they will insert every hair in your figure's indi