So i want to send a very clear message to people here. We are not going to play that game next year. In congress in any way suggests that they are going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation which, by the way, we have never done it in our history until we did it last year, i will not play that game. Sorry Speaker Boehner. Find someone else to play economic game with. The president isnt interested. Hes done with their gimmicks. Hes done with their ploys. Hes done with the argument that they are the serious ones in this whole debate. So we ask the president , sit down with us, be serious about the specifics of spending. And ill be available at any moment to sit down with the president to get serious about solving this problem. Get serious . Nothing about the republican side is serious these days. Even one of the leading gop voices, former senator allen simpson, has released a video that has pretty much everyone scratching their heads. Stop instagraming your breakfast and tweeting your first World Problems and getting on youtube so you can see gangam style. And dont forget, take part or get taken apart. These old cook cans will try to get you out before you get there. Horse, horse. Get them ready. The cowboys ride. The cowboys ride. Im not quite sure what that has to do with the debt talks or the republican position on taxes. Maybe another prominent conservative can help me understand what the gop is thinking. Any word from karl rove . Hes been telling you its over. Romney lost. Dammit, i gets its time i explain to these good people about the fiscal cliff. Think of the economy as the car and the rich man as the driver. If you dont give the driver all the money, hell drive you over a cliff. Its just commonsense. Finally someone on the right willing to tell the truth. But heres the thing. This time it doesnt matter if mr. Burns, Speaker Boehner, or the tea party try to hold the American People hostage just to get what they want. The president isnt going to budge. So i want to send a very clear message to people here. We are not going to play that game next year. Up until now, the gop has ln playing with a load of debt but today president obama has the trump card. Joining me now is congresswoman janet can kakowski, member of the progressive caucus and mar sdwree omera, democratic strategist. Thank you both for coming on the show tonight. Congresswoman, let me start with you. Is the gop serious about holding the economy hostage again just to get what they want . Well, think about the cards that they are holding. They are in favor of tax cuts for the rich. They want to cut tax care programs and medicare and make seniors pay and threaten the economy of the United States of america by defaulting on payments or at least to threaten that. This is not a very popular position among the public. In fact, they will be i think its a Suicide Mission that they are on, that the American People will make them pay the price. I really dont understand their strategy. Margie, if you look at the fact that in the 2011 debt ceiling battle senator Mitch Mcconnell had this to say. He said, i think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage. You might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didnt think that. What we did learn is this. Its a hostage thats worth ransoming. And it focuses the congress on something that must be done. Now, if this was their thought and attitude in 2011, do you think thats what were dealing with, that kind of feeling, attitude of holding the hostage for ransom now . I hope not. Its bad for its certainly bad for the economy and its also been bad for the economy brand. Its the reason that they were unsuccessful in the polls and by two to one if we dont reach a deal for the fiscal cliff. And its also the reason why you see voters very clearly support having the wealthiest pay a little bit more. It the one proposal that is consistently it received strong support from a ma sdwrort majority of reporters and they dig their heels in and say we dont support this. They are on the wrong side of politics, wrong side of what history supports. Its just a bad strategy all the way around. Now, what happened last time we held the debt ceiling hostage, it led to the first credit down grade in u. S. History. The stock market dropped 1300 points in 2011 and the gop rating dropped 11 point, congresswoman. Do we need to play this game again . No. And thats why the president went to the business roundtable. This is a very unpopular and there are real kwens. The downgrading of our Credit Rating is consequential to say that hes not playing that game anymore in front of business leaders. Let me ask you this, margie. Nancy pelosi argued that the democrats must stand strong against raising the medicare eligibility age. Will democrats hold the line on this . I dont think theres any question. We cannot raise the age of medicare. This would be a marriage major cut in benefits. It would hurt people from 65 to 67 because the truth of the matter is, many people in the United States are not living longer. Those are people, poor women are actually living shorter. People who make less money are living i have not seen their longevity grow. We cannot do that. That is a cut in benefits that we dont want and the American People are adamantly against it, overwhelmingly against it. Is that a deal breaker, then, for democrats if the age eligibility is on the table . I think if the age of eligibility is on the table and i doubt very much that it will be. I believe that the president is not going to support that. And i believe that the democrats are not going to support changing the age of eligibility. It is nothing more than a dangerous cut in benefits and that is just not going to fly either with the American People and i dont believe that it will happen in the congress and certainly not in the white house. Marg, a leading conservative senator, tom coburn argued that it doesnt really matter with tax revenues come from. Take a listen. I know we have to raise revenue. I dont really care which way we do it. Actually, i would rather see the rates go up than do it the other way because it gives us a greater chance to broaden the base in the future. What do you get from that comment, marg . I do see that some republicans are trying to pavement way for there to be an agreement. I think it can be an encouraging sign. The trick is you have the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party that has really pulling john boehner and pulling republicans farther to the right and i hope that this is just posturing and that now that they have gotten their posturing out of the way, everybody can come to the table but certainly that wasnt what happened last year. So it just really remains to be seen. The president drove home the point today that tax rates need to go up. Theres no other solution. Take a listen. The holdup right now is that Speaker Boehner took a position i think the day after the campaign that said were willing to bring in revenue but were not willing to increase rates. And i just explained to you why we dont think that works. Were not insisting on rates just out of spite or out of any kind of partisan victory. But rather because we need to raise a certain amount of revenue. Congresswoman, do the republicans realize the president did win the election . Well, certainly some of the republicans have caught on and also realize they are just on the wrong side of the majority of americans by saying that they are going to go to the mat. They are going to fight to the finish. They are willing to bring the economy down to fight for the top 2 . Really . This is not going to help them. If they want to win in any future election, they are taking the wrong positions. Some republicans are definitely coming around to that conclusion. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and margie omero, thank you both for your time tonight. Senator tom hawken joins us next. Plus, the grand old party gets a grand old makeover. Wait until you hear what paul ryan is saying about the 47 . The one and only rosie perez is in the house and i just learned today we have something in common. Youre watching politicsnation on msnbc. Get this, earlier today mitt romney was spotted on a costco shopping spree. Thats right. He ended up buying 14 costcos. [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. But she has some dental issues shes not happy about. So i introduced jill to crest prohealth for life. Selected for people over 50. Prohealth for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. Conditions people over 50 experience. Crest prohealth for life. So jill can keep living the good life. Crest. Life opens up when you do. Have you joined the politicsnation on facebook yet . We hope you will. Today everyone was talking about the diverse drem Democratic House leadership and says this looks like the house i live in. Karl says, and they wonder why they lost the election. We have more on this and what republicans should be learning. Comi coming up, but, first, head over to politicsnation on facebook and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. So, im happy. Sales go up. Im happy. It went out today. Im happy. What if shes not home . together she wont be happy. Use ups she can get a text alert, reroute. Even reschedule her package. Its ups my choice. Are you happy . Im happy. Im happy. Im happy. Im happy. Im happy. Happy. Happy. Happy. Happy. together happy. I love logistics. Try running four. Ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately weve got ink. It gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at Office Supply stores. Rewards we put right back into our business. This is the only thing weve ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. Make your mark with ink from chase. I have to just tell you, that is a bad strategy for america, its a bad strategy for your businesses, and it is not a game that i will play. The president knows the game and he knows the score. The idea of a gop doomsday plan is picking up steam. They will cave on tax and come back ready next year ready to hold the economy hostage again. This is the danger that lies ahead. They will demand raising the medicare eligibility age to 67 and demand 600 billion in tax cuts for medicare and medicaid. And demand 200 billion be slashed from Social Security. Thats the game the gop is playing. So who will be there to fight . Our next guest. Thats who. Joining me now is senator tom harkin for iowa and champion for the middle class. Senator, its a pleasure to have you here tonight. Good to be back with you, al. This new plan is picking up steam. How can you and the democrats fight back if they give in on tacks . Well, ill tell you, al, what were seeing is number one, medicare shouldnt be a part of this whole debate at all and neither should Social Security. Lets take care of that later on. The most important thing we can do right now is to let people know, let the middle class know that we passed a bill last this last summer. Its 3412. S3412. If the house passes it, president obama said that he would sign it tomorrow. That would extend the tax cuts for the middle class. That means the middle class can go out and do Christmas Shopping and buy thing for their families because they would know that their tacks are not going up. Its being held hostage by the house of representatives. That would be the best thing that we can do right now. Now, if they, in fact, allow the tax cut across the board and then come back in, i understand that some are saying that its better to have no deal than to have a bad deal. Where do you stand on that, senator harkin. Better no deal than a bad deal. What do you mean by that . To make the elderly pay more on their deductibles or copays and to mess around with cost of living adjustment on Social Security, thats a bad deal. That shouldnt even be part of the discussion. If thats where they are headed, i say no deal. Well discuss that later on. The most important thing right now is just to have the house pass the tax cut for the middle class. That would be the best single thing that we can do right now. But ill tell you, im not going to fall into this trap of saying, well, we have to have some kind of a deal or well fall off this cliff. Im not worried about that. The cliff im worried about is what is going to happen to the elderly poor, people on medicaid right now, what happens when they fall off their cliff . People like us, you know, and the rich and the people in this country, you know, they can fall off a little curb a little bit. Doesnt bother them. But when youre attacking people on medicaid and on medicare and on Social Security, im telling you, thats when if they fall off they cant get back up. Now, it seems as though from all of the polling, the American People are with you senator, what makes the gop plan most striking to me is that the American People are just absolutely opposing it. 82 oppose reducing Social Security benefits. 67 oppose raising medicare eligibility age. Meanwhile, 60 support raising taxes on the wealthy. So this is just not partisan. This seems to be where the American People are at. Well, i think dont you think, al, the American People are on to what the republicans are up to . They want to balance the budget on the backs of low income, middle class, and the elderly. They are saying, weve got to cut all this spending, cut all this spending, but they dont want the wealthy to pay their fair share. The American People are on to us. Thats what this election is about. If there was one thing clear in this last election is that president obama said, if you reelect me, im going to be in favor of raising the rates and raising taxes on the super wealthy in our country. And guess what, al, he won. And he won big. Thats where the American People are. One of the things that is also a major issue is they are attacking a stimulus portion of the president s offer because for 95 a billion to extend payroll tax cut, 50 billion to Fund Infrastructure projects like roads and bridges. So they are not only playing games on how they are going to deal with the question of tax cuts across the board but they are really attacking the stimulus part of the president s offer. Well, you and i both know the best way to grow is from the middle out, not from the top down. The best way to get this economy going is to get some jobs out there for some people and thats in infrastructure, education, job restraining. Weve got to get people back to work. Then, when theyve got the money, they can go out and start buying things and the Business Community will respond by hiring more people. Thats the stimulus that we need. We know that the last Stimulus Program worked. I dont care what the republicans say. The facts are there. The last stimulus worked. What we need now is to boost that. We need more spending right now. We need more spending right now to put people to work in the short term. You do that and youll get the economy going again. When you look at where we have had like natural disasters, like Hurricane Sandy in the northeast and other things that have shown the need to rebuild the infrastructure i mean, when a hurricane can close down the biggest city in the country for a week and the new jersey coast, were not talking about handouts here. We need to rebuild tunnels and bridges and highways and roadways. You would think that would be above partisan bickering. Its been said before, al, were still driving on eisenhowers highways and going to roosevelts schools. You know, 60, 70yearold things, weve got to rebuild this infrastructure. It will put a lot of people back to work. Youre right on target on that. Hurricane sandy showed that more clearly than anything else. Senator tom harkin, thank you for your time tonight. Thank you, al. Thank you for your leadership. Up next, what does america look like . Heres hant. Its not the Republican Party. Youll want to hear what nancy pelosi had to say about this picture. Plus, the great rosie perez is here. Actress, director, activist. Shell talk about change and progress after the election. Stay with us. Welcome to chevys yearend event. So, the 5. 3liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds . 315 horsepower. Whats that in reindeer power . [ laughing ] [ stops laughing ] [ male announcer ] chevys giving more. This holiday season, trade up to get the 2012 Chevy Silverado allstar edition for 0 apr financing for 60 months plus 2,000 cash allowance or get a total value of 9,000. One of the gops many problems is they have become the party of old, white men and its made them a punch line on latenight tv. Ill have you know, theres a great deal of diversity and variety in that group. For instance, these three gentleman alone look like the kind of guys that would sell you three very different types of insurance. And that guy looks like your average news anchor but that guy look like your average sports announcer. This picture was a big problem for them. They tried to fix it by adding one woman. Thats it that was their big solution. Thats their deaf anything definition of diversity. Well, now its a new line of a democratic leadership by minority leader nancy pelosi. About half of our Committee Chairs are women and minorities and that diversity is a reflection of america. They will ensure that the voices of all americans have a seat at the table every american represented in the halls of government. Democrat look like america. Republicans look like a party in need of a makeover. Well talk about that next. Patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. Water will work for a few seconds but if youre not drinking it, its going to g