sequester showdown right now on capitol hill, a senate hearing underway on the impact of the looming sequester. march 1st is the date among those testifying, homeland security secretary janet napolitano and arne duncan. and 15 days away from the devastating cuts if the president and congress can't come to an agreement. mitch mcconnell said there's a familiar scenario going on right now. >> phase one, republicans identify a challenge and actually propose a solution. phase two, liberals sit on their hands until the last minute. phase three, they offer some gimmicky tax hike designed to fail and blame everybody else when it does. >> joining me now is democratic congressman chris van hollen of maryland. it's good to have you here. and as you could hear mitch mcconnell right there, i want to get your reaction to that.