Message for the middle class. Both parties tend to divide americans into our voters and their voters. But there is no escaping their own policies. Were going to a majority of takers versus makers in america. Dnc chair Debbie Wasserman schultz responds tonight. Plus, senator Barbara Boxer on her new plan for National Polling place standards. And a new poll shows half of all republicans think the defunct group a. C. O. R. N. Stole the election from president obama. Thats an eye opener. I wonder where they ever got that idea . You just have to wait and see what happens. Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching. Here is are the latest. Republicans are at a stalemate with the white house for debt negotiations. Republicans really only have two options now, bad and worse. The New York Times is the latest outlet to report on senior Republican Leaders who are ready to strike a deal. They want to push off negotiations until the debt ceiling vote next year. President obama wont have it. The president is attacking the only leverage republicans have left. The president spoke to a group of ceos today and said that he will not negotiate if debt ceiling is going to be used as a hostage. I have to just tell you, that is a bad strategy for america, it is a bad strategy for your businesses, and it is not a game that i will play. So i want to send a very clear message to people here. We are not going to play that game next year. If congress in any way suggests that theyre 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 in our history, until we did it last year, i will not play that game. Because weve got to break that habit before it starts. Treasury secretary tim geithner also made it very clear, this is no game. He spoke with cnbc about holding the line with tax increases for the top 2 . If republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. Oh, absolutely. Theres no prospect to an agreement that doesnt involve those rates going up on the top 2 of the wealthy remember, its only 2 . So the white house is eliminating the republicans house cards. House Speaker John Boehner was left pretending that the democrats had not offered them a deal. Now we need a response from the white house. We cant sit here and negotiate with ourselves. House republican leader eric cantor also seemed to forget that the white house presented a specific plan in these negotiations. Where are the specifics . Where are the discussions . Nothing is going on. Meanwhile, the people of this country are the ones that suffer. So we ask the president , sit down with us, be serious about the specifics of spending so we can stop the wasteful spending in washington and finally address the problem. John boehner appears to have the same form of anesthesia mitt romney was suffering from on the campaign trail. He tells supporters, if our offer is not acceptable to the president , then he has an obligation to show leadership by presenting a credible plan of his own that can pass both houses of congress. But the white house already presented a plan and the American People backed it up. Democratic senators were quick to point out that republicans can pass a bill right now to extend 98 of the bushera tax cuts. So its really simple. Its there, its one thing that we agree on. We need just to get it done. Republican leaders also met with Business Owners today. You see, they want the Business Community to think that president obama is the enemy in all of this. Although the president seems obsessed about raising taxes on you, we feel thats not the right direction to go. Its interesting how no one from the bibz community has said president obama is wrong in all of this. None of the ceos who met with the president of the United States today came forward and challenged the president s plan. Democratic leader nancy pelosi told me last night, ceos have been very understanding of the plan set forth by the white house. The Business Community is willing to accept rate increases. They are really making more concession than john boehner. Eric cantor says republicans are not going to adjourn this year until a deal is reached. Is that a sign of early capitulation . He knows republicans cant go home to their districts with absolutely nothing to show for it. Thats not what the American People voted for. John boehner says hes willing to stick around town to get a deal done . Ill be here and ill be available at any moment to sit down with the president , to get serious about solving this problem. But president obama says John Boehners presence is not the solution, its the problem. The holdup right now is that Speaker Boehner took a position, you think the day after the campaign, that said, were willing to bring in revenue, but were not willing to increase rates. And ive just explained to you why we dont think that works. Senate majority leader harry reid has also called republicans out for sabotaging the democratic process. Now, putting this all into context, he tweeted out today, harry reid did, i share the frustration of americans lamenting the lack of progress in negotiations to avoid a massive tax increase on middle class families. But for insight into why negotiations have been tough, consider the failure of the disabilities treaty at the hands of the tea party. Those are the same republicans with whom democrats are supposed to find agreement to protect middle class families from a january 1st tax increase . Who could say it better . Democrats are not being unreasonable here whatsoever. They are the party of reason right now. The people have spoken. House democratic whip steny hoyer says democrats are still willing to talk with republicans about entitlement reforms. Theyve been on the table for some period of time. That does not mean that id be prepared to adopt them now. But theyre clearly, i think, on the table. Republicans dont want to talk about entitlement reforms. You see, they just want the democrats to roll over and give them everything they want. The president is done playing around. He has the gop right where he wants them. Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think. Tonights question, will radical republicans ever agree to a tax hike deal . Text a for yes and text b for no to 622639. You can always go to our blog and leave a comment. Well bring you the results later on in the show. Joining me tonight, congressman steny hoyer of maryland, the House Democratic whip. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Appreciate it. Always good to be with you, ed. Thanks. Got some folks nervous talking about entitlements. When you say entitlement cuts are on the table, what does that mean and how far are you willing to go . Well, when i say everything needs to be on the table, ed, i want everybody to put their cards on the table and tell me what they want to do. I want not only to see that myself, i want to see what others want to do, including my republican colleagues, in terms of entitlements. Now, there are some things we are absolutely not going to do, as you well know. Made it very clear during the election, were not going to voucherize medicare. Were not going to privatize security. We believe very strongly that we need additional revenues if were going to get our country on a fiscally sound basis. And that would take us to benefits. Are you willing to put benefits on the table to get a deal . Everything needs to be on the table. When you say say, am i willing i want to see what the outlines are. I think even paul ryan, in the shortterm, said benefits should not be on the table. I agree with that, certainly. And it depends upon what youre talking about. Certainly, i think we need to make sure that the guarantee of Social Security and medicare is secure. And one litmus test i will have, ed, personally, is the vulnerable in america. Those who are least able to participate in helping to get us out of this debt should not be asked to pay anything. Very frankly, the most able among us ought to be asked to pay a great contribution so we can get our country on a sound footing. I think the democrats have made it very clear, youve got to have a rate increase from the wealthiest americans. Absolutely. But where does the debt ceiling come into this conversation . How does that come into play . Ed, in my opinion, the debt ceiling should not come into this conversation. The debt ceiling is a phony photo, very frankly. And very frankly, from time to time, democrats have made it an item that they demagogued on and the republicans have demagogued on it as well. The fact is, the debt limit is simply a recognition of what we have already spent, what we have already decided to do. And its irresponsible for us to say that the most creditworthy nation is not going to pay its bills. So i would hope Speaker Boehner would take this off the table. I think the president s offer of taking the minority leader, senator mcconnells suggestion, of, okay, put the burden on the president of the United States. Whether its a republican or democrat, saying we need to raise the debt limit. And if twothirds of the congress, one house or the other, and both houses would have to by twothirds disagree, it would happen. And it would happen as a result of votes by the congress of the United States to spend money and to borrow must be. Not to set a debt limit at an arbitrary rate that puts our credit at risk. So i would hope that speaker banner would not make this an item of leverage, because it is that a deal killer . I think it would be a deal killer. If that becomes a leverage point. Of course, we wont know that until probably some time late next month or early february. But i would hope that the speaker would not pursue his intention to make that a leverage point. Congressman, when eric cantor says he needs to hear specifics from democrats, what do you say to that . I said on the floor today, the president of the United States has put a long list of specifics on the table. Have put it on his budget, has put it on other proposals that hes made. The republicans, on the other hand, sent a letter to the president with five items, conclusions only, no specifics. No specifics in terms of how you raise revenue. No specifics in terms of cutting funding. And very frankly, i think they made a political judgment, they would much prefer to have the president choose those alternatives. Thats not a way to negotiate. They only come up with their alternatives, the president comes up with their alternatives. Put it on the table, thats my point. Put everything on the table, and lets get to a place where the math works. This ought not to be an ideological problem. This is a math problem, as to whether or not we can get our country on a sound fiscal footing. Quickly, do you think Speaker Boehner is worried about his job . Well, i think that hes got a lot of people in his caucus who have got their head in the sand, very frankly, and who dont understand the realities that confront us. I think Speaker Boehner is trying to do i think hes trying to do the right thing. He may not agree with me on how to do it, but i think he thinks we need to make a deal. Okay. Congressman steny hoyer, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much. Always good to be with you, ed, thanks. Remember to answer tonights question there at the bottom of the screen. Share your thoughts with us on twitter and on facebook. We always want to know what you think. Coming up, how is president obama supposed to negotiate with republicans who wont realize reality or deal with basic facts . Former congressman tom perriello, center for American Progress, joining us next. Paul ryan and marco rubio try to reinvent themselves as the warriors for the middle class. Buy it . Ill ask congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultz if their actions match up with their rhetoric. Thats coming up. And the gops attempt to create an alternate reality seems to be working. Find out what almost half of republicans believe about a. C. O. R. N. And the 2012 election later in the hour. Share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using edshow. We are coming right back. Mark. [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading nonconcentrated brand. To clean 2x more greasy dishes. Dawn does more. So its not a chore. Welcome back to the ed show. Thanks for watching tonight. Now, lets put this all into context here. Fiscal cliff negotiations, dont you think they would proceed a lot faster and smoother if both sides were really dealing with reality . But, you see, the republicans, they simply are not. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell have spent years catering to the base that believes, lets say, president obamas a socialist, and the United Nations wants to take your disabled child right out of your home. They have votes to back it up, folks. This pitiful display of most Senate Republicans on the disability treaty showed once again just how far they are, and how far they are removed from reality. One democratic senator told me yesterday his office was actually getting calls from constituents with disabled children wanting to know if the u. N. Would remove their children from their homes. It is manufacturing fear in the lives of americans. Sometimes its just a baldfaced lie about the facts. Heres the democratic and republican opening bids on the fiscal cliff. But the revenue side of the republican proposal just doesnt match up with reality. You cant get 800 billion in revenue from lowering rates and closing loopholes and deductions. Can we get on that page . It doesnt come close to adding up, unless you get rid of just about every deduction for the middle class thats out there. Is that what this election was about . President obama has been clear about it all along. Unfortunately, the speakers proposal right now is still out of balance. You know, he talks, for example, about 800 billion worth of revenues, but he says hes going to do that by lowering rates. And when you look at the math, it doesnt work. You see, if we lower these rates, then the job creators will go out there end and all this money to hire a bunch of people, and thats going to contribute more to the tax base. And gosh, were just going to take care of all of our problems. We have tried this stuff, and it didnt work. When leaders mcconnell and boehner feed the base, it makes it harder for them to come around and later on lead their members towards a sane deal with the president of the United States and democrats who, by the way, won the election. Lets bring in former virginia congressman, tom perriello, now the president and ceo of the center for American Progress action fund. Tom, good to have you with us tonight. Always good to be here. You bet. Have Republican Leaders boxed themselves in by catering to this fringe element out there that just doesnt want to deal with reality . Well, i think it is a tough situation for them. But even more importantly, its a tough situation for the middle class and working class families right now. People are headed into the Holiday Season and they dont know what their own personal financial future is going to look like. And the only thing stopping that from becoming clear is the house taking up the bill thats already passed the senate, that would protect tax rates for everyone making 250,000 or less. And as you know, this isnt one fiscal cliff. This is six or seven Different Things that can be taken on one at a time. The middle class and the working class can be protected. The only thing preventing that from happening is the house leadership. And thats a tough situation for the republicans to be in, where they either have to show their true priority, which is to hold the middle class hostage, or take this piece away and be forced to show what theyre really standing for. But if you look at the fish bowl the republicans are swimming in right now, there are a lot of sharks. Youve got Mitch Mcconnell, whos running for reelection. Youve got eric cantor, looking over Speaker Boehners shoulder. Hed love to have that job. I mean, how can you get an honest broker out of the republican camp, when all of this stuff is swimming around . Youve got the hard rightwing tea partyers out there. Youve got mcconnell looking at possibly being in a real tough reelection. And as i said, you know, boehner, is he protecting his backside or the American People . I mean, this doesnt have the framework or the dichotomy of a good deal from their standpoint, does it . Well, i think one of the reasons that theyre on defense is the fact that the president is willing to take this fight outside the beltway. Inside the beltway, theres a whole fuzzy logic that starts to apply, where you lose track of what it means to be in the middle class and how serious the Economic Situation is. And i think as the president continues to make that case about basic economic fairness, one that nearly twothirds of voters in this election felt that some form of raising revenues on the highest rates made sense in order to get our fiscal house in order and make investments, and the republicans are trying to dig in on the wrong side of that. So it is a tough debate. But ultimately, this shouldnt really be about whos in leadership and boehner versus kantor. This really should be about families out across the country. And you and i know, those families are still struggling and would like to see a little bit of common sense. Well, theyve made a lot of improvement. No question about that. Our economy is a lot better. We can still