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>> well, thats actually -- >> and unfortunately for those on both sides, republicans and democrats who say were going to cut discretionary spending, but were not going to touch the mandatory stuff. thats what theyre doing. theyre cutting education. theyre playing into the chinese hands. theyre cutting r&d. theyre playing into the chinese hands. theyre cutting transportation. theyre playing into all of our competitors hands over the next century. it seems so shortsighted. >> i agree 100%. its a m...

Flank. but some of this stuff was already on the table last year. >> and i think thats a really important point that the republicans dont give obama credit for. that he has put a lot of that stuff on the table. and he is prepared to go there. in terms of that mechanism, david, my understanding is the same as yours. it would be something like that. but remember, these guys hate the fiscal cliff. you know, it has caused this enormous problem. so the idea of setting up another fiscal cliff six mont...

Of a couple of days ago. whats your big takeaway from this poll? >> by the way, whats different is that we offered the both part of this. >> oh, okay. >> abc did not. >> there you go. >> how you word a question and what you offer, that stuff does matter. we believe in offering that because we think that there are a lot of people that look at it that way. not everything is "a" versus "b." some people say thats all of washington. and you have to account for those guys in washington. they dont know...

>> those are tough words! >> you know the old bob novak, he used to say that republicans were put on earth to cut taxes. and if they dont, they have no purpose. >> no purpose, yeah. >> that was bob novak. you know, all of a sudden were faced with a set of circumstances where were talking about cutting taxes on spending, and now weve got stuff on the table to react to, and conservatives dont feel comfortable with whats on the table. >> so what is it that conservatives would like to have happen? i...

You. the u.s. terror agency -- >> i dont even know what that means. you just happen to disagree with me. >> harboring some hostility here? >> no, i think its interesting. weve had some interesting debates about the slippery slope. on every level. im not going to -- >> you argue against this kind of stuff when republicans do it. its interesting how this will be explained. i want to understand it. >> heres the deal. u.s. terror agency can acquire entire databases ranging from flight travel to fami...

Trying -- and again, im not cross-examining you, im trying to engage in simple math. $1.6 trillion -- >> $1.6 trillion in tax -- >> this looks like $600 billion in spending cuts from discretionary and mandatory. >> 350 from entitlements, 250 from other stuff. >> 600. >> right. >> that gets us to $1.2 trillion. wheres the other? >> 2.2. >> 2.2. >> youve got about $1.2 trillion of cuts already enacted in 2011 that everybody agrees should be counted. this is not phony math. this is real math. you c...