That is the opinion of eugene robinson. Alabama on theom democrats line. Caller i heard a congresswoman yesterday who said there was only to the blaze through the problem. He said one was raising taxes. The other, i cannot remember. I think the other was cutting programs. I feel like the only way they are going to fix it is by cutting programs or taxing businesses. I have looked at statistics. It said some corporations like exxon and walmart have more income. I do not understand how they do not owe more. We spend every day on these people. They are making millions and millions. It is amazing that they should not sit in on anything except to help the regulate everything. It is amazing to me. Host we are asking the question on our Facebook Page. Will this congress be different . We welcome your comments. 78 are saying no. 17 are saying yes, it will be different. Roman joins us on the line for republicans. Caller as far as will congress be different, i would like to say it will, but i have serious doubts. My main reason for calling is i have seen where you put up the top five most important things for the coming year. Here it is funny the number one it did not even make the top five. That is our deficit. I do not know what people are thinking. Host that was the first issue. This is what cbs news put down as the top five on the agenda. The first was the fiscal cliff and debt issues. Caller i did not see the debt limit. It aint just the debt limit. It is the deficit. I do not understand why spending cuts were put off for two mounts. If this this country is going to go under if we do not make serious spending cuts. I know they can be made where they cannot hurt nobody. Host how would you do that . Caller i know they are in there. There is all kinds of stupid crap congress or somebody is paying for that they could get rid of. Just like the nuclear thing. Do we really need three of them . Host thanks, wilma. They listed five agenda items. Let me share with you we have reached the current debt limit of 16. 4 trillion. That will set the stage for another battle over spending issues. This is what it looks like. It was an issue Mitch Mcconnell said yesterday Congress Needs to deal with. [video clip] it will be up to the president and his party to work with us to deliver the same bipartisan resolution on spending we have achieved on taxes. It needs to happen before the 11th hour. For that to happen, the president needs to show up this time. The president claimed to want a balanced approach. Now that he has the tax rates he wants, his call for balance means he needs to join us in the effort to achieve meaningful spending reform. Host senator Mitch Mcconnell made his comments yesterday on the senate floor. This says Speaker Boehner remains his post but dissidents nip at his heels. The next caller is from louisville, ohio. Bob is on the independent line. Caller the guy was talking about walmart. The family is sitting on 250 billion. They do not pay any taxes. Last month, 50 people got killed in india making 18 cents an hour. They got killed in a facility run by walmart. Another thing about barack obama and extending Unemployment Benefits. He has had four years to redo tax and trade policy. He did not do that. He could have created jobs doing that. What he is doing with unemployment, he is becoming part of the new world order. That is handing people vouchers. Host another point of view from paul krugman in the new york times. Next is tyalor taylor joining us from chicago. Caller milli this congress is different from today . No. They have an issue with the president. The head of the tea party said she wanted to kick out everybody that voted for a tax increase on billionaires we know should play more. It is not about class. I wish i had money. I am not jealous of anybody. I think they could pay more. It will not hurt them. They will make more money. As far as extending unemployment, it can only go so far. Three times, that is it. It is not like it is permanent. Social security, i am going to be 62 in a couple of years. I would like to collect Social Security also. I cannot understand why they have this thing for this in the hurricane relief. This thing for the sandy hurricane relief. I almost fell out of my chair when i saw all the earmarks. Excuse me . You expect me to pay 64 billion to go to connecticut and new jersey. 40 billion of it is earmarked. Lop that off and give them the rest. I would like to know every member of congress that put those in there. I was so angry. Host you can watch it when the house dabbles gavels in in about 2. 5 hours. This, from our twitter page. This is on our Facebook Page. We are watching the debate in the senate on the filibuster rule. Theres a story Available Online at thehill. Com. They say it should require them to hold the floor and debate if they want to block legislation. Carl levin favors a more modest reform and has recruited republicans to negotiate a solution. Junior democrats say unless lawmakers are required to sustain life floor debates, the chamber will remain. Blocked most of the time. Harry reid addressed that on the floor yesterday. [video clip] we have been occupied with other matters, including the fiscal cliff. I believe this matter warrants additional debate in the congress that just started. Senators deserve additional notice before voting to change rules. It will preserve the right of all senators to propose changes to the rules and not acquiesce in the carrying over of the other rules. It is my intention that the senate will adjourn today. This Important Role in discussions to continue. I am confident we can come to an agreement to allow the senate to work more efficiently. Host this cover from bloomberg. A lot of attention on starbucks. It has spread nationwide. Businessweek is taking aim at that. I see no evidence the ceos influenced anyone. The next call. Caller why are charges not being brought against harry reid for not following the constitution . He is supposed to bring the budget. He has not. He called john boehner a dictator. My other question is, Dianne Feinstein took an oath to the constitution for holding the constitution. Yet she is for gun control and taking our rights away. We have the right to bear arms against a tyrannical government. Why is this not getting out there . She is not upholding the constitution. Host from the connecticut post. He replaces joe lieberman. There is this point cover story from the new york post. A student on a bus heading to sandy hill elementary school, as the kids go back to school. From inside, it is good to let the kids be kids. We will go to kelly on the republican line from montana. Are you with us . Caller i am here. I am really concerned about the gridlock in congress. It is ridiculous. I do not think it will get much better. Until we get a pile of fresh bodies, it will be the same gridlock. Host we go now to elena. Thanks for waiting. Caller i want to say congress will not be different. You have the senate and president who are too far to the left. I feel john boehner needs to stand his ground and represent us on the other side. I feel in defense of walmart, it is a business that works hard throughout the year and accomplishes their goals. Nobody sees the hard work it takes to build a business. That is what makes me sad. People just want to take what everybody else has. Host liz has this on our twitter page. This is from his syndicated column. There is this from mildred on the democrats line. Caller i want to say one thing. It is not about whether this congress or the next do better. It is not about the president or the senate. It is about the American People have elected all of the officials to be our mouthpiece. We are divided in our election process. Whoever wins, republican or democrat, the American People have done their job. Now it is time for congress and our officials that we have put there to do their job and remember the oath they take when they come in to serve the American People. Host thanks for the call from connecticut. This is from the Washington Post. Nancy pelosi will guest star on the Series Finale of 30 rock at the end of january. That is for the finale of the nbc program. They are notoriously tight lipped about the upcoming episode. Larry is joining us from biloxi, mississippi, on the independent line. Caller thank you for taking my call. I do not believe our congress or president are going to do anything different. They have laid out their lifestyles and the things they intend to do. They are looking for ways to decrease spending, but it seems to me we have elected some people to go into these positions to make our decisions for us. They seem to be selfserving. If you get an ineffective congressman who cannot do his job and has proven it by serving a couple of years and then gets voted out, that congressman still gets a pension for the rest of his life that is well over 100,000. We have thousands collecting this money. If you took a job and were expected to serve 20 years and do an effective job and could not do that, would you expect to get a pension for the rest of your life . Why should we be paying these thousands of guys all this money . We go now live to the Senate Gallery for remarks from senator schumer on assistance to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Good afternoon. Let me say a few things first. Were glad the house and senate acted and provided another 9. 7 billion to the National FloodInsurance Program. Without this program, we would have run out of money leaving over 100,000 san the victims in the lurch sandy victims in the lurch. I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the house and senate for making this an easy passage. We hope and pray the next bill will be similar. We do not expected to be the same. We do not expected to be the same. We are worried. It is good news the house passed the bill. We have visited people depending on Flood Insurance to help rebuild. Flood insurance pays about 250,000 in limits. For most of the homes hurt industry, it pays either the bulk or completely for the damage. Some of the destroyed homes will be worth more. That is good. The bad news is we have to go through this dog and pony show in the first place. Last month, the Senate Passed a good bill to help all of the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The house could have taken it up and passed it. That is what it should have done. They promised to vote on a similar version before the last congress ended. Unfortunately, this changed at the last moment. We do not need to get into why, but we do not want it to happen again. To be a bride left at the altar once is bad enough. To be left at the altar twice would be unconscionable. We need the house to move forward and pass the full 60 billion. We also need them not to put language in the bill that would make it more difficult for homeowners, Small Businesses, and localities to get the aid. We will have to examine their language carefully to make sure is not one step forward, two steps back. Let me say this. The 9 billion is a good thing. There is no question about it. It is a good but small first step. The Flood Insurance relief is a small down payment on the much larger amount of aid we need to get through congress. The job has hardly begun. We must make sure passing this bill is not the end or even the middle. It is only a start. Here is who has not helped in the bill. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners who do not have Flood Insurance who lost their homes or suffered major damage. They cannot sign contracts for repairs until the contractor or the bank making a construction loan knows that there is money to reimburse them. Right now, they know nothing of the sort. The money is not there. The cdbg account is dry. There is no money even with the passage of this measure for Small Businesses ready to go under, Small Businesses hanging on their fingernails because they have been out of business for three or four months. Not only do they not have the wherewithal to repair their businesses, they have not had any income because their businesses are not functioning. We need health care. This does know ho this does not help to rebuild the shoreline so we are not naked to the next door. There is no money in this program for that. There is no help for all of the localities that have laid out billions of dollars. If they are not reimbursed as they always have been, taxes will skyrocket in the new york and new jersey area. This bill is a small first step, but it hardly gets at what we need. Our governor has requested 80 billion. The administration approved 60. The Senate Passed the 60 billion. That was good news. That was a good, large step forward. We are waiting for the house. Then we will have to get to work in the senate. The ideal senate situation would before the house to pass the same bill we passed in the senate. Consentmost unanimous it on the floor. If they make changes, harry reid has promised it will be the first thing we take up when we get back. We will not rest until the full 60 billion is sent to new york and new jersey to provide the relief our homeowners and businesses need. Thank you for your steadfast leadership fighting for the families in new york and new jersey are desperately need this money. It has been a tough Holiday Season in new york. Families are wondering how we can begin to rebuild. So much of what is available does not cover everything. The much covers 30,000, a little more. Fema covers 30,000, a little more. This Flood Insurance is vital for those who have the Flood Insurance. Relatively few families have that. We need the rest of the money to begin to rebuild homes. We need the money for our roads and bridges and sewer systems and infrastructure. We need that money to flow for the cities to rebuild. We need to make sure businesses have the money to begin to rebuild what has been lost. That is what the families are waiting for. They look to us in washington to come together and get the work done. Can we find the common values to offer some amount of help at a time it is so desperately needed . I was very grateful to house passed the first 9 billion. It makes a difference. We were able to do it unanimously. But this is just a small first step in the direction of meeting the real needs. New york has always stood by every other region of the country when they have undergone Natural Disasters. This is a moment when we desperately need other states, senators, and members of the house to stand by new yorkers. It is a time of great need. Families are still not in their homes. Children are not in their schools. We want to make sure they can rebuild their homes and be back in their communities. That is what we need this money for. I am eager to work hard on the next package. We need to have a package out of the house that mirrors what we passed in the senate. We will work night and day to make sure the needs are being met. We are ready for your questions. On your concerns about what is in the house bill, can you talk about that specifically . We want to work with them. There are some provisions that are different from the senate bill and make it harder for funding. There are others as well. Those are the two that stand out. There are relatively small amounts of money in the senate bill that caused controversy. Why is it important to keep those in . We have had a tradition of dealing with disasters that have not been paid for. There are parts of irene that have not been paid for. There are parts of the tornadoes in missouri that have not been paid for. We have done what the senate has traditionally done. The house has moved to take out some of those. We will see what happens. The bottom line is none of this is extraneous to disasters. If the house wants to take it out, we will have to deal with that in the senate. It will make some people not happy. It may make it harder to pass. Weve gotten the support from our Senate Members on both sides of the aisle to help the people of Hurricane Sandy that i think we could overcome it. Some of the language was opening up vehicles for other states to play to apply for money. Allowing other states to apply for that fema money. That is what makes a difference. We have not had an opportunity to give relief to other states. To broaden what we ask for allows others to make applications to the federal government. That was a sense of fairness. There are some that use things as excuses. Some people have said there is pork in this bill. There are no nondisaster related things in the bill. Omb scrub it to make sure that does not happen. There are some that say we should not do mitigation. That is why they do not want to vote for the bill. We have always done litigation when it comes to disaster. It makes no sense to rebuild a building in a flood plain the same way. We cannot tell people to move a mile up the hill. We are too densely populated. If you tell a lot of our localities they have to pay 35 of the damage, they will never rebuild. The same thing with homeowners and Small Businesses that have lost everything. I think a lot of people i think there has generally been good will on both sides of the aisle and in both houses to help us. There are some values things as excuses. There are some that will use things as excuses. We have started doing it in the hopes to get the best bill the house and senate can pass as quickly as possible. The you have any thoughts about paul ryan voting against this . A Flood Insurance is an obligation of the federal government. They pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and the government says if you are flooded we will reimburse you. I do not understand why anyone would not want to vote for that. I have not heard congressman ryans reasoning. [indiscernible] that is terribly harsh to a homeowner wh