and, you know, we happen to know on background that the two were talking. >> right. >> and giving each other ideas. it's -- it starts with actually telling the truth and making extremely tough choices. and for the republicans to accuse the president of punting and then to punt back, this is -- it's going to get boring very quickly. somebody has to actually come forward. >> when you say politicians are rational creatures, you're saying they're rational in terms of wanting to keep their jobs, not rational in terms of tackling problems that they all know exist. >> i have one point on the keeping the job issue. there was a nugget buried in the budget which i don't think a lot of people paid attention to. the obama administration itself, did you see this on the jobless number? they're projecting years out what joblessness is going to be. in 2012, which is the next time that will matter, 8.6%. so to the extent that you thought -- and we've talked about trying to get that number down to 8%. that's a magic number for him. the fact that the administration