Captioning sponsored by Macneil Lehrer productions brown after talks between president obama and Congressional Republicans stall, the house moves toward a vote on Speaker Boehners planb for limited tax increases. Good evening, im jeffrey brown. Suarez and im ray suarez. On the newshour tonight, we sort through the state of play and the latest political maneuvering with congress watcher Norman Ornstein and Political Editor christina bellantoni. Brown then we look at the suspension of the u. N. s Polio Eradication Campaign in pakistan, after the killings of nine aid workers. Suarez from capitol hill, ame lman repor on two congressional hearings today where state Department Officials accepted blame in failing to protect the u. S. Diplomatic mission in libya. We have to do better. We owe it to our colleagues who lost their lives in benghazi. We owe it to the Security Professionals who acted with such extraordinary heroism that awful night to try to protect them, and we owe it to thousands of our colleagues serving america with a great dedication every day in diplomatic posts around the world. Brown spending versus saving amid the lastminute holiday rush, paul solman weighs the economic benefits. Holiday season Grand Central ternal and a key question is consumerism kind of a bad thing thats overdone this time of year . Or is it the key driving economic and moral force in our society . Suarez and we close with another in our series of interviews with newly elected congressional members. Tonight, north dakotas senator elect, democrat heidi heitkamp. Brown thats all ahead on tonights newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Brown the u. S. House of representatives headed toward approval this evening of a tax plan that republicans backed and docrats said was a waste time. The division demonstrated that efforts to get a bipartisan agreement and avoid the fiscal cliff are stuck in stalemate. The house will be in order. Brown House Republicans pushed their plan b. Despite a veto threat from the white house and the strong opposition of senate democrats. Speaker john boehner insisted the president had left him with no alternative. For weeks the white house said if i moved on rates that they would make substantial concessions on spending cuts and entitlement reforms. I did my part. Theyve done nothing. Brown the public sniping continued at the white house, press secretary jay carney fired back that the president had shown more of a willingness to compromise than republicans have. He never said, either in private or in public, that this was his final offer. He understands that to reach a deal it would require some further negotiation. There is not much further he coulgo because after all, unlike his counterparts in this negotiation he has already gone half way on both sides of the equation. Brown the president would raise tax rates on households making at least 400,000 a year. By contrast, boehners plan b pegs that threshold at 1 million a year. It also drops the 1,000 Child Tax Credit for families who dont earn enough to pay federal income taxes. And, it would let an expansion of the College Tuition tax credit expire. Republicans argued both those provisions were to have been temporary anyway, under the president s original stimulus package. Initially, boehners plan did nothing to stop acrosstheboard spending cuts that take effect in the new year, under the fiscal cliffs mandates. But today, Republican Leaders offered a companion bill to replace 55 billion in automatic cuts to defense spending. Those would be swapped out for additional reductions in domestic programs. House majority leader eric cantor predicted both measures would pass. We hope that the sate ll take this bill up along with the spending reduction act and get the job done in lieu of or absent any kind of agreement coming from the white house. We are again, taking concrete brown some republican members, such as Tim Huelskamp of kansas, still had strong objections. I do not support plan b. Apparently it was amended late last night. I still do not support it. Point being, there is a pretty big tax increase still in there. And its always been a long principle of mine as well as most in the Republican Party that we dont raise taxes and we look at the spending side. Brown but when floor debate began this afternoon, the leadership lined up republicans who supported the measure. Mr. Speaker, this is the right medicine for 99. 8 of americans to prevent them from seeing their taxes go up on january 1st. And it gives us an opportunity in the next session of congress to provide comprehensive tax reform that will simplify our tax code. Brown on the other side of the aisle, democrats, like gary peters of michigan, said the fine print in the g. O. P. Plan does real harm. Chstmas is a time giving, but sadly republicans are taking. Taking food off the table from millions of American Families that are struggling in these tough Economic Times by cutting Food Assistance by 36 billion. Taking the unemployment lifeline away from more than two million americans who are trying to get back on their feet. Brown and in the senate, democratic majority leader harry reid warned today the boehner plan is a nonstarter in his chamber. Were not taking up any of the things they are working on over there. Its time for republicans to get serious. Its very, very, very unfortunate that republicans have wasted an entire week on a number of pointless political stunts, and thats what theyve been. Brown as the day wound down, there appeared to be little prospect for any agreement before christmas. Brown whats going on and where do things stand . Joining me now Norman Ornstein, a longtime watcher of congress and a scholar at the American Enterprise institute, and newsho policalditor christina bellantoni. Christina, what are we watching snowed whats going on . Whats the thinking on whats up in the house of representatives tonight . A lot of people are a little confused by what Speaker Boehner is trying to do here because weve got plenty of plenty of time is probably not the right word to use but theres a lot of time in congressional terms when it comes to the urgency of this fiscal cliff matter. So theyre having a vote before they leave for christmas on a plan that a lot of republicans are signing on to because they feel like they have to but whatever they hold these votes later and late interthe evening thats a signal theyre not quite there yet and thats what youre seeing happen today and this companionillou mentioned in that piece there, thats where youre seeing the deal making go on. You have to Leadership Team adding to that, putting sweeteners in, things here and there, but politically its a dangerous move for some republicans because this bill, the two companion bills, give both democrats and republicans something to campaign against for these members who vote for it. Theyre raising taxes on millionaires, but then theyre also cutting spending programs, a lot of the domestic programs, that are popular back home. Brow i mispronounced your name. Ive only been talking to you for 20 years. Thank you, mr. Brun. laughter brown so this is all about boehner and to his right. Even with this package hes moving to the right. One leveling look at this and be puzzled. We know these are end games. Stakes are high, you go right to the very end. But usually when you have these moves made you can figure out what the chez move is and whats its about. You can interpret this move by boehner to step back from negotiations where it looked like he and the president were only a couple of hundred billion dollars apart on a o trillion dollar package and abandon them for now to go with this as a move of desperation, knowing that any package to be worked out would fail in among his republicans in the house. Or you could look at it as a clever move where he wants to get them to vote for some tax increase and rate increase and then theyre a little bit pregnant. Then the next time when you bring back the deal you can say were not going to raise the rates to 39. 6 , its only 38 , it wont be a million it will be a half million and maybe get something done. But its a dangerous move. And while christina is right that theres time left, theres no time left to get a comprehensive package. Theres only time to get the rudiments of the deal right at the end of the year and then punt for a few weeks. And even when there when we see that he has to move further to the right to even get the votes to make this happen it shows how dicey all of this is in the house. Brown youre saying it could be there this or that but youre not sure, right . I havent seen a move like this before. Usually you have histrionic statements and theyre not negotiating, were walking away anthen they come back and make it work. This one where he basically drops the negotiations at a critical point to move to a vote that isnt going to go anywhere in the senate, that is only symbolic, is a puzzle. Brown because it is important to remember, as norm just said, that a lot is not in this plan b, right . Absolutely. Brown a lot of the big stuff is pushed to the side. And the big issues that these republicans on the conservative side are against but it doesnt address entitlement spending, major cuts theyre looking to see, they say it doesnt go far enough and it raises taxes to boot o youre seeing a split among conservative groups, too. Today you had Freedom Works come out in favor of this against this bill. The Family Research council against raising taxes here. The club for growth is actually scoring this vote. So they could campaign against these republicans that vote for this today, but on the other side of that, grover norquist, americans for tax reform which obviously writes the Taxpayer Protection pledge sfor it. The chamber of commerce is for it. So its split republicans very much phenomenon two camps and that puts a lot of pressure on Speaker Boehner. Brown in the meantime, the president and the democrats, what, wait . Well, they wait. Theres another risk in all of this which is that youve got liberal democrats growing increasingly antsy believing president obama has already moved too far for them, bringing Social Security into the mix which they had been told would not be brought in and if, as jay carney said, hes ready to move a little more theyre saying youve got the upper hand here. Theyre divided, the American People believe its the republicans who are the obstructionists. If we do over go over the cliff on january 1, all those taxes go up and then you can negotiate from there so its a little tricky for him to move even a little bit more to make this deal before the end of the year as well. And were going to see if the senate responds in any way to this other than simply rejecting the boehner plan if it passes. A lot of the democrats were talkingings to are looking closely at polls that show that the American People generally feel that if we do go over the fiscal cliffs edge or if there is some sort of big crash in the stock market baseden on this uncertain they the republicans will take the blame for that. Again, we keep coming back to this word dangerous. Itsiskyolitally in lots of different ways and the democrats are sort of waiting to say well, lets see what republicans do to one another tonight. Brown what are you hearing about a potential next meeting. We have the holiday coming, right . The president is planning to go to hawaii with his family. The family is going to be heading there soon and he isnt getting on a plane any time soon. He could stay all through weekend. If possible he could wait through monday and eric cantor threatened that today. He said we might stay here all weekend. The senate is intending to come back next thursday and deal with it then. The critical point here is will john baner be willing to bring up a bill in the house thats a compromise that may require more democratic votes than republican votes . That is anathema to him, but it may be the only way out of thiss me. Brown norm ornstein, christina bellantoni, thanks so much. Suarez still to come on the newshour targeting pakistans polio eradication workers; state Department Security failures; the pros and cons of saving versus spending and north dakotas senator elect. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan amid the fiscal cliff fight, members of the house and senate paid final respects today to the late senator daniel inouye. The hawaii democrat died monday at the age of 88. He had served as a u. S. Senator for five decades. Inouyes body lay in state in the capitol rotunda, an honor thats been bestowed on just 31 people. At a service, Senate Majority leader harry reid called him a legend of the senate. Senator inouye was one of the deluxe senators to ever walk the hallowed halls of this great building. Heleaves behind a gacyof public leadership and private kindness that will not be forgotten as long as these walls stand. Dan inouye was an institution, and deserves to spend at least another day in this beautiful building in which he dedicated his life. Sreenivasan a Memorial Service is planned tomorrow at the Washington National cathedral. After that, inouyes body will be flown home to hawaii for burial. The people of newtown, connecticut endured a fourth day of funerals for the mass shooting victims at sandy hook elementary school. Police escorted processions of mourners as five more children and a teacher were laid to rest. Services are also scheduled tomorrow and into the weekend. Meanwhile in washington, Vice President joe biden met with cabinet and Law Enforcement officials to discuss ways of reducing gun violence. Later, attorney general eric holder headed to newtown to meet with those investigating the shootings. The first major winter storm of the season moved across the midwest today and began taking a toll on holiday travelers. Blizzard warnings stretched from kansas to wisconsin as the weather system pushed eastward. It has already dumped a foot of snow in some areas, driven by powerful winds. In turn, some of the nations busiest airports are reporting hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. The countdown to the end of the world was on today, at least in some places. Its based on a reading of the mayan calendar that says a final cataclysm will strike, tomorrow. We have a report narrated by Lindsey Hilsum of independent Television News. Reporter tourists are flocking to mexico and guatemala to sites where the ancient maya lived and where their descendents are channeling the wisdom of their forebearers. Were hoping for some sort of a contact event, meet some beings of other species and really just asking for help. Reporter in the meantime, archaeologists keep trying to explain its the end of an era, not of the world. The ancient maya split time into periods of 400 years and tomorrow is the end of a cycle of 136. 7,000 miles away in moscow, a cold war era bunker is being prepared. The enemy of the state has launched atomic missiles says the voice. Maybe this time it will be an asteroid. The plan is to have a Party Tonight and wait it out. Entry fee a thousand dollars. In china, hundreds of people from the almighty god cult have been arrested for distributing leaflets. Their crime . Not warning of the end of t world but proming war on the big red dragon the communist party. In the south of france its believed by new ages to be the only safe place in the world. Something to do with the shape of the mountain which overlooks the village. But today t. V. Crews and police outnumbered prophets of doom. Sreenivasan in this country, nasa has produced a video to reassure those who need it. Its titled why the world didnt end yesterday. The president of Russia Vladimir Putin put new distance today between his govementnd the egime in syria. In his annual news conference, putin insisted his country is not protecting syrian president bashar assad. He urged assad to hold talks with the opposition, and negotiate an end to the bloodshed. translated we are not concerned about the fate of assads regime. We understand what is going on there and that his family has been in power for 40 years. The changes are undoubtedly needed. We are worried about a different thing what next . We simply dont want the current opposition, having become the authorities, to start fighting the people who are the current authorities and become the opposition and we dont want this to go on forever. Sreenivasan on another matter, putin indicated he plans to sign a law banng u. S. Adtions of russian childn. That ve iretaliation for a new u. S. Law aimed at punishing russian human rights violators. In u. S. Economic news, growth during the summer quarter was better than first estimated. The Commerce Department reported today the economy grew at an annual rate of 3. 1 . And on wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained more than 59 points to clo