>>> if obama care is imploding, stay out of it, let it implode, and then you guys going into 2014, make the case to the american people is that its a bad law. >> i know thats one contention, but if ted doesnt spend the filibuster, if we dont make this the focus, we had already heard what was coming. as soon as we got beyond this summer, we were going to have an amnesty bill come to the floor. thats what we would have been talking about. and thats where the pivot would have been, if we had not focused america on obama care. >> that was texas republican louie gohmert on fox news, essentially giving away the game. what he was saying was that he knew the government shutdown was an abject failure for the republicans. it accomplished nothing, exct for one thing. it ate up the clock for nearly three weeks, so that none of the other agenda items, such as comprehensive immigration reform, could mov forward. but today, fresh off signing a budget compromise to reopen the federal government, the president addressed the country and laid out with surprising clarity his immediate legislative agenda. >> first, in the coming days and weeks, we should sit down and pursue a balanced approach to a responsible budget. number two, we should finish the job of fixing our broken immigration system. number three, we should pass a farm bill. so, passing a budget, immigration reform, farm bill. those are three specific things that would make a huge difference in our economy right now. >> of course, in order for these bills to move forward, theyd have to pass the house of representatives. perhaps youve heard of it. thats the same house that just allowed a minority of its republican members to shut down the government for no ostensible reason. joining me now is bob herbert, a distinguished senior fellow at demos, former new york times columnist, and congressman mark polkhan. already everybodys starting to talk about what this budget deal is going to look like, because obviously we have just reset the clock. we passed a continuing resolution, another deadline coming up in january. this is a joint statement from senator patty murray, whos the chair of the senate budget committee and congressman paul ryan, who are heading up the budget conference committee. in months ahead, we hope both sides can work together to grow the economy and tackle our debt responsibly. we hope we can reduce the deficit in a smarter way. we hope to restore stability to the budget crisis and end the lurching from crisis to crisis. do you share the same hope and is that a delusional hope? >> i think assiits a good hope. its something democrats have been talking about since the senate passed their budget back in march. weve been trying to get the house republicans to appoint conferrees so we could do just this. but we havent had a budget for four years in this country. you need a road map and we need to have this budget done. so im hopeful, and zdespite the last three weeks, i think we can move forward on this. >> heres the trade everyones talking about. first, i want to play about what the president said about long-term government debt, right? this is the social insurance programs that are medicare chief, that are drivers of long-term debt. take a listen. >> need a budget that deals with issues that most americans are focused on. creating more good jobs that pay better wages. the challenge we have right now are not short-term deficits, its the long-term obligations that we have around things like medicare and social security. we want to make sure those are there for future generations. >> okay. so this is what -- this is always what it -- its the grand bargain, the elusive grand bargain. now, here is -- so what everyones been talking about is youve got sequestration, which elusive grand bargain. now, here is -- so what everyones been talking about is youve got sequestration, which everyone hates. which is in place. which is a drag on growth. its austerity, its stupid austerity. the deal on the table and what paul ryan is kind of talking about in that wall street journal op-ed a few days ago is, we trade sequestration for quote/unquote, entitlement reform, right? >> entitlement reform, right. >> what do you think about the odds of that and what that would mean? >> you know, i cant, frankly, see it happening. if you got real entitlement reform, i dont call it reform, but something that would appeal to the republicans, the presidents going to have a revolt on the left. youll have liberals who will be upset about it. >> youre already seeing it today. the afl-cio essentily sending out a warning shot about a benefit cut to social security. >> exactly right. but before we ever get to that, i think we have to recognize that we still have such a dysfunctional government. weve defined dvnc down to the extent where if we dont have a debt ceiling crisis again in february, well consider that to be a victory. >> thats right. >> thats a long way from a grand bargain. >> yeah. congressman, i want to read you something harry reid said today about the idea of this trade that people have been talking about. you know, get rid of sequestration for what i will call cuts to, you know, very important social insurance programs. he said, thats no trade. we are going to affect entitlement so we can increase defense spending. dont check me for a vote there. im not interested in that. it is the most successful program in the history of the world. i dont even know if that fact checks. the program is not about to go broke, so take it easyn social security. that sounds pretty strong to me. is that in line with your thinking? >> absolutely. you know, i know at least 107 of us signed a letter months ago to the president that said, dont cut social security or medicare as we figure out these budget issues we need to. you know, i sit on the budget committee. paul ryans budget is the same recycled stuff hes put out there, thats not realistic. we cant even pass appropriation bills, based on their ideas, theyre so unrealistic. its like sasquatch economics. its something you want to believe in, but its just not real. and thats why they cant even pass bills assigned to those numbers. i think we need to stand strong. >> i want to sort of hang a lantern on that for a second. this is really important. the transportation bill. i mean, theres routine work that congress did, passing an appropriations bill. they tried to come up -- the republicans tried to get a transportation bill that came in under the caps that were put in there by the ryan budget, and the cuts were so deep, the republican leadership had to pull it off the floor at the last minute, because it was going to get voted down. >> exactly right. and this is why, i think, its even silly to be talking about long-term cuts to entitlement. if youre talking about medicare or social security. we have to get back to having a functional government from day to day, where the government provides the services that american families and businesses need. >> and can be reliably counted on not to screw up the recovery. >> exactly. we cannot even assure people that well even go ahead and pay the bills that weve already contracted. so were in a very difficult place. >> congressman, the savvy insiders, the people that cover capitol hill have been saying for months, theres no way this house is doing anything on immigration reform. obviously, its doa. obviously, its not going to get a vote. i have been in a small minority of perhaps hopeful contrarians that theres a probability, theres daylight am i wrong? >> and he has been pretty consistent on why he thinks we have to have immigration reform. its for different reasons than i think. he realizes they wont ever be a national party again if they dont do it. but the fact that you still have people like that in the party, realizing that this is something thats important, that you have a bipartisan deal in the senate, tells me its still alive. i know the democrats feel very strongly, just like the president does, and were going to fight to have meaningful comprehensive immigration reform. >> one of the big problems facing the push for immigration reform, is that a lot of people on the right in the republican part believe that this would be a political disaster for them. they dont believe that this is a way for them to maintain their national party status. they think this is a way of assuring democratic victories going forward. >> because you bring in 11 million new voters. >> they think those are going to be democratic voters. thats one of the things standing in the way of it. >> heres the point i would make, is that the issue here is precisely the same issue that we just had with the shutdown. which is, if john boehner brought the senate bill to the house of representativesight now for a vote, i think it would probably pass. ting there are probably 20 republican votes and almost all the democrats, almost all the democrats to pass the thing, and yet its going to take some courage on the part of the same people who have shown themselves so feckless in order to get this done. bob herbert from demos and congressman mark polkhahn, thank you both. >>> all right. there was a little something slipped into last nights bill to reopen the government that looked suspiciously like it could have been a big boon for republican senator mitch mcconnell. but theres more to the story than meets the eye. well unravel the mystery, coming up.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 01:45:26 +0000
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