Joining us. Anderson cooper 360 starts right now. Thanks, wolf. Were going to pick up right now, it hit the senate and then hit the house, deals mainly with restoring middle class tax cuts. Let listen to nancy pelosi right now. I believe that we will heed the american people, come together with a strong vote. We will increase by voting for this legislation and passing it in a strong bipartisan way, well increase the confidence of consumers, of the markets, of businesses, of employers to hire more. We will extend Unemployment Insurance to people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. This is very, very important. Not only to those individuals but to our economy because this is money that is spent immediately injecting demand into the economy creating jobs. Well extend permanent tax relief for the middle class, for more than 98 of american taxpayers, more than 97 Jessica Yellin and dana bash working their sources to stay ahead. Dana, when do we expect a vote to take place, within this hour . We do now. Its been moved up a little bit according to the republicans who run the show here. They say they do expect it probably within the next half hour to 45 minutes. Perhaps it means that members are as tired as everybody else is, that they want to fin, the debate and go back. But one thing that i just mentioned before and i think its worth saying again and that is the procedural vote that took place to get to us this point was very, very big, a big bipartisan vote, 408 members voted for it and that means almost all of the democrats voted for it. It is significant in that this is the kind of procedural vote that is almost always pretty partisan and it really does signal as youre hearing from the democratic leader, nancy pelosi on the floor, that it is going to be a bipartisan vote. What accounts for that . Earlier in the day there was all sorts of dissension, eric cantor among others, saying they werent going to go for it. He may at the end of the day vote no. Youre going to see a lot of republicans and a fair number of democrats vote no as well. What accounts for that is this is i think a classic compromise that nobody likes, meaning everybody lost things that they want and that is actually the way legislating used to be, that not everybody is happy but you realize you got to do whats best in order to actually get something passed. In terms of the white house, do they view this as a win for the president . Yes. This is something the president campaigned on and whats in this bill is largely largely democratic priorities, anderson. 450,000 as the threshold wasnt what the president wanted but in principle that is the notion that the president wanted, tax increases for the wealthiest americans. It extends Unemployment Benefits for a year and its not paid for. Republicans wanted it paid for. But think about some of the other measures. Theyre doing things like patching this doctor payments but theyre not doing it through medicare retirement age increase, something that the republicans want. Theyre not taking a bite out of entitlements. So the way theyve engineered this bill, its largely formed to win as many democratic votes as possible, precisely because they knew that they would need as many democratic votes as possible because it would go down exactly the way its going down tonight. Theres a lot for republicans theres some things for the republicans to like tonight but its a win for the president tonight. What did it take to get the vot today . As far as the way the republicans in the house go, they have to wind themselves up and then you have to allow themselves to wind themselves back down. That is the way this day went from start to finish. The republicans were not happy with the senate vote, even though 40 out of 45 republican senators voted for this. I mean, it was overwhelming among republicans in the Early Morning hours this morning. But republicans simply are upset about the fact that it does raise taxes on wealthy americans, it doesnt address spending cuts enough and as jessica was saying, it doesnt address entitlements the way that they wanted it to. So what we saw today were a series of meetings where republicans vented and the House Speaker and others listened and they were trying to craft a way to get this result but allow people to basically go through the process of grieving is the way another source put it, to understand theyre not going to get what they want. There was discussion and a move to potentially amend this at 300 billion in spend being cuts but the tactic that the House Republican leadership used was to say well see if we can get the majority votes to do that. If not well put this on the house floor upordown vote and at the end House Republicans behind closed doors relented big time because they stand the politics of this would be so, so bad for House Republicans, who are already basically the bad guys for a lot of what has happened with regard to this dragging out. They did not want to be in a position for this continue, particularly when the markets open tomorrow morning and americans to suffer. The tax piece of this bill for the democrats, what does it accomplish . Well, it raises the rate for the highest income americans, which was a fundamental principle for the president. And it keeps down the rate for 98 of americans, which is another principle for the president. And then it sort of puts it aside. If you think of the dinner plate and you got to deal with the protein, the vegetables and the starch, it takes one portion of that and puts it aside. It says we have done our protein and now we have to deal with the star of and vegetables in the next fight. I would say, anderson, as much as this is a win for the president , we should also acknowledge that this is a permanent extension of the bush tax cuts for 98 of americans. Thats something that even president bush couldnt get passed. He only got it done for a decade. So president obama has permanently extended the bush tax cuts. So tonight republicans should be happy about that piece of it. The one piece they didnt get is the continuation of it for a sliver of americans. And some democrats are upset that that has happened today. In terms of revenue, its not a huge amount of revenue. Its not a huge amount of revenue. Well, you know, what is huge. As i recall some 600 billion over ten years. Ten years. And its also this principle that this is now codified into law and its going to be very hard to change if they make an effort to change it. The other piece of this thats a win for republicans is that theyre even having this larger skirmish over deficits and spending, which is a republican priority and the president is arguing on republican turf right now. Right. A lot more to cover, dana, jessica, i appreciate it. Were going to be talking to you throughout this hour, as dan ashe was just reporting. Do expect the vote to occur within this hour. Stay tuned for this. You can follow me on twitter also. Well have more on the vote coming up on the fiscal cliff, on the bill, what americans and the markets think of the mess in the market. Well be right back. You know,that could be a question of blood flow. Cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moments right. You can be more confident in your ability to be ready. And the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. Side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30tablet free trial. That make kids happy. And even fewer that make moms happy too. With wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. So we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. A collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs each of your bodies. Our sleep professionals will help you find your sleep number setting. Exclusively at a sleep number store. Comfort individualized. Save 50 on the final closeout of our Silver Limited Edition bed plus special financing through new years day. Breaking news tonight. The fiscal cliff bill is now heading for a vote possibly within this hour, probably within this hour. It fails to do anything about spending, merely pushes the deadline forward. In other words, get ready for another battle a couple months from now. So it looks like this is going to pass, margaret, from the republican perspective. How do you see it . A lot of republicans are not going to vote for this, as we know. Talked to a couple of folks on the hill today, they are extremely frustrated, responsible republicans, moderate republicans, who arent going to vote for this because they feel out of control on the spending. They dont understand how six to eight weeks from now theyll have any more leverage on spending than they did now, a year ago or ever had. Theres a lot of frustration from those who i think a lot of us would call responsible republicans. Though there are lots of liberals who are concerned, the fact the president has moved from his 250,000 position to 450,000. This is the very nature of compromise. Youre not going to get everything that you want. You will have to kick people use this analogy all day, kick the can down the road a bit. You have to come back to it, live to fight another day and say i will deal with what we will deal wican deal with now. If we can do that, they will have a chance to deal with it. Isnt that what governance used to be . Is this governance, ali . No. I think its important to note there are far fewer competitive districts in the country now. Instead of doing something because youre worried that somebody from the other party will take your seat, youre doing something because youre worried somebody will challenge you in the primary. Thats a republican thing. We have that, Public Finance law, come stant campaigning and this idea that if you compromise in any fashion, youre not doing the right thing for the governance of the country, youre giving something up, youre caving. Going from 250,000 to 450,000, it was a sign of were going to have to compromise to get what we want. Youve seen the people who will not compromise. Im talking about marco rubio and rand paul and all these guys who are jockeying for position. Theyre going to run for something. What you have, anderson, is republicans are all over the map. You have the republicans you just mentioned, ali and you have republicans in the house of representatives who want to vote for it who cant. You have the republicans in the senate, the majority voted for this and mcconnell is a huge winner because he was able to deliver most of his republicans to do it. The reason it still happened is because of him and joe biden. So republicans are completely scattered. There is no central messaging from the Republican Party on this. Guess who else is missing in action. Reince priebus, the chairman of the Republican Party. Where is he . Hes got elections coming up in four weeks. What does this mean about the tea party . Didnt boehner try to go around them basically . I think the tea party has been weakened significantly in the last president ial election. Only 21 of americans said they identified as supporters of the tea party. Their kind of control over the Republican Party is substantially weaker. I do think you have hit tonight head, margaret. Theres a centralized feel being among democrats that they can make compromises and they will not pay the ultimate price for that compromise. That is no longer something that is in the kind of dna of the Republican Party. We dont need to make any kind of false equivalencies here, this is a republican problem. They are no longer able to govern as a kind of full fledged party. Charles, theres one economic argument that has come apart here and that is the tea Party Conservative republican argument that we want a government that spends money responsibly, doesnt overtax people. That got divorced from the idea that we ended up with people defend being the rights of people who earn more than 500,000 a year not to pay 4. 6 Percentage Points higher in taxes. We went from protecting responsible government and your hardearned money into just defending rich people. That didnt make sense. Republicans had a hard time countering president obamas message, which is the you grow the economy by growing it from the middle class out. Its the one argument the republicans havent come up with a cogent response to. I would say its a Republican House of representatives governing problems. It looked like the senate did okay today. This is the house they control. Correct. You basically have a vacuum in republican leadership, you dont have the presidency, dont have the senate and the house of representatives is controlling these members they have extreme positions. And that goes across the board in congress. As you know and as ali just said, all of these house districts have become more polarized. There are less in the incoming class, only 14 in the one that is going to start on thursday and 50 Tea Party Republicans with a diminishing number of moderates in both parties. Were watching the debate live on the house floor. We anticipate the vote occurring relatively shortly, in the next 20, 30 minutes or so. In terms of this getd decided tonight, whats the next schedule . We still have another vote two months from now. There are three Different Things now. The first is the debt ceiling, which we hit on december 31st, yesterday. The treasury can do what they did last time. Theyve got 200 billion that they can shuffle around and keep us going for maybe another month. So im calling that the valentines day cliff. Thats the republicans have leverage on. Then you got the sequester, those cuts across the board, half in defense and half in nondefense. This agreement postpones that for two months. And then the one we all forget about, it is the governments job to actually come one a budget, something that has not been done in several years which is crazy. Crazy. That is actually not technically due until september except were about three years overdue. Immediately well have a budget debate. Well have three very distinct debates where these same discussions are going to take place. To be fair, it the senate that hasnt passed the budget in three years. For the average american, its the government that hasnt passed the budge. The only constitutional responsibility the United States has and its the one thing toethedont do. Youre right. About bu when youre the average voter, you need to get your act together. But you can give the House Republicans a little credit. I will give them credit when this passes tonight because finally theyll be getting something done. Grover norquist holds no elected offense, no official title. Hes a lobbyist, president of americans for tax reform. Hes been a central figure in this and every tabs debate washington has had for 20 years. For those two decks aid, his position on taxes has been simple dont raise them, no time, ever, never. This time he says the Senate Tax Deal is kind of sort of okay and thats got a lot of people somewhat confused. Grover norquist johns us now. You said the voting for this deal, which increases taxes on households earning more than 450,000 annually would not violate your pledge that lawmakers make to their constituents. Help our viewers understand that. Lawmakers who sign that pledge promised to oppose any effort increase tax rates for individuals, for businesses. Howe does the fiscal cliff deal not violate that pledge. Its technically not a violation of the pledge. But i understand why a lot of republicans have said, look, even though whats happening is the tax cuts disappear and were restoring them for for most people, so were not raising taxes, were actually cutting taxes. You say because the bush tax cuts have expired yesterday. Yes. So technically they are still tax cuts. Correct. I understand and i understand if youre a congressman or senator, youve got to convince not me that you havent violated the pledge, you have to convince your constituents. And they need to be able to say with a straight face they fought to protect those tax cuts for everyone. And the republicans have done that more than once and theyre fighting to oppose any and all tax increases period. I think can you look your voters in the face and say we voters in the face and say we voted to protect them. The president in the white house vetoed the bill, here is the best we can do right now. And we continue to fight for everyone going forward. Is compromise that dirty of a word . For things to work, is this a good system, to constantly have this brinkmanship, these battles that go late into the night . This is just the beginning of it. Its not even the end of it. Critics say your pledge limits the flexibility the members of Congress Congress might otherwise have to make compromises. Define compromise, okay . Richard nixon and ted kennedy could compromise very easily. Richard nixon wanted the government to get birg and ted kennedy wanted it to get much bigger opinion a bigger. Today they are committed to principle. The democrats wanted an expansive view of the role of government. The republicans want lower taxes and spending less money. If somebody wants to go east and somebody wants to go west, what would a compromise be . Im in favor of compromising in favor of we had a come mieds in 2011. The republicans wanted to cut taxes 6 trillion and we agreed to 2. 5 trillion in spending cuts. Dhafs that was a compromise. You can have compromise in the direction of liberty but raises taxes and spending more money, which is what obama wants to do is moving away from libert