Gentileodonnell on the political fallout. Howard dean on Chris Christies big decision on the obama care exchange. And apples ceo breaks big news to nbcs Brian Williams. Next year, we will do one of our existing mac lines in the United States. Tonight, a story of economic patriotism in an era of bain capital with e. J. Dionne. Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching. The reality of the election is start to set in on members of the Republican Party. Republican senator jim demint of South Carolina is leaving capitol hill to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Dont cry for demint. The outgoing president of the Heritage Foundation made 1. 1 million according to 2010 tax filings. Demint will do just fine. Its not just about the money. The senator realizes he could be more effective for the conservative movement if hes not attached to the dysfunctional party known as the Republican Party. In a statement, demint said im leaving the senate now but im not leaving the fight. Ive decided to join the Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative Movement Needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. He was more to the point on cnn earlier today. This will give me the opportunity to help take our case to the American People and to translate our policies into real ideas. So you think you could be more influential within the conservative movement as the leader of the Heritage Foundation as opposed to a United States senator . Theres no question about it. In case you need a little refresher course, jim demint has been one of the most prominent voices of the Tea Party Movement over the last four years. He led the charge to defeat obama care. If were able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. It will break him and we will show that we can, along with the American People, begin to push those Freedom Solutions that work in every area of our society. And demint is an outspoken opponent of labor unions and workers rights. I dont believe collective bargaining has any place in government. Including at a federal level . Including at the federal level. Thats what elections are. Collective bargaining. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi pointed out jim demint was one of the ringleaders in voting down the u. N. Treaty for people with disabilities this week. That was one of the saddest days, so anyone who was a party to that, well, i wish them well wherever they are going and hope that we can have more of our values represented there. It was demint and his tea party allies who pushed the country to the brink of default back in 2011. This is what demint told abc news about republicans who tried to strike a debt deal. What happens if what happens to republicans who go along with a debt ceiling increase . If they go along with the debt ceiling increase without a balanced Budget Amendment and the kind of stuff youre talking about . I think for the most part theyre gone. It would be the most toxic vote we could take. Demints far right ideology is a key reason nothing gets done in this congress. House Speaker John Boehner is currently being pressured by demint and his followers to refuse any debt deal with tax increases. Demint was on rush limbaughs radio show today with heritage president ed feulner. Life isnt going to get any easier for john boehner, i can tell you that. Jim is a real man of ideas as well as a man of courage in the senate. Well, i think its safe to say boehner is not forcing either of you guys out, right . Thats pretty true. It might work the other way, rush. Jim demints defection is just the latest sign of a Republican Party simply in shambles. Seems to me theres a civil war inside the party of Grover Norquist as well. Youll notice that only 10 of voters agree with his antitax policies. Republican kingmaker karl rove is on the outs after his Election Night meltdown on fox news. Hes been kicked off fox news until further notice. Tea Party Organizer dick armey, what happened to him . He has split from freedom works. The Tea Party Group that he actually formed. He walked with 8 million. Everywhere you look, republicans are in disarray. Its almost like they never planned for a scenario in which barack obama was going to win reelection. The problems dont end here. Say what you want about jim demints positions, at least he was the wellconnected he was the well connected to the republican establishment. Moderate republicans believed demint could keep the radicals in line. The same certainly cant be said for Tea Party Senators jim demint, who he leaves behind. Demints political operation spent a lot of time and money to get Young Conservatives elected to the senate. Guys like mike lee, ted cruz, marco rubio, ron johnson, pat toomey and rand paul. Yeah, rand paul, the man who wants to abolish virtually every Government Agency and restore the gold standard. With jim demint gone, i guess you could look at rand paul as the de facto leader of the Tea Party Senators. Establishment republicans, they ought to be nervous. Senator Lindsey Graham looked like he was in a state of shock on the senate floor today. I met with jim demint this morning, and i, to say i was stunned is an understatement. He has always been a friend. Somebody i could count on. Personally, weve really enjoyed our time together. And i just i was stunned this morning. The tea party has poisoned, i think, the well of the senate and the republican ideology. The gop is so far out of the mainstream right now you can hardly recognize them from ten years ago. A new quinnipiac poll Shows Americans support raising taxes on the wealthy 65 to 31 . Republicans, i think theyre in the wilderness. They face a changing demographical situation in this country they dont know how to deal with. Theyve not dealt with womens issues properly and they have ignored immigration reform. Its time for the republicans to take a page out of the ed show and lets get to work. Im joined tonight by congressman jim clyburn of South Carolina and also Eugene Robinson, msnbc political analyst and associate editor and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for Washington Post but most of all i can title them both as two distinguished gentlemen from South Carolina. Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. Congressman, you first. Is the congress thank you so much. Is the Congress Better or worse off with a guy like jim demint . Well, i wouldnt put it that way, ed. I think that jim is a very principled guy. I never agreed with a single one of his principles, but hes a very principled guy. He is doing what he thinks he needs to do in order to further his cause. He has had some real Serious Problems with his relationships in the senate. I think all of us who practice politics know that if youre going to be successful in any legislative body, you have to develop relationships with people and people have to feel comfortable knowing that you are going to be a certain place at a certain time. I dont think that anybody in the senate ever felt comfortable where jim demint was on any of the issues, and he had a lot of strained relationships within his own party over there. So i think hell be much more comfortable outside of the body and over at the Heritage Foundation where he can pontificate, and as we say down here, he can preach to the choir. Well, hell do a pretty good job of that. He has in the past. Eugene robinson, this is very unusual that someone would give up a senate seat to do Something Like this. I dont know if we have ever seen this before. Its highly unusual. What statement is demint making by doing this . That the conservative party has lot its bearing and hes got to bring them home . Yeah. I think thats exactly the statement hes making. I think, look, in the wake of the election, Many Republicans are its dawning on them that a lot of republican policies are just flatout unpopular. That people dont like them. And so as republicans, marco rubios talking about immigration and hes one of demint acolytes. Other senators are going to start moving, i think, on some of these issues. And so rather than kind of be swamped by i dont know if you can call it a wave, but whatever the movement is in the senate, i think demint is going to a perch that he sees right now more powerful, more influential, where he can have more impact on the debate. And i would just add, you know, that i dont think either congressman clyburn or i is going to be named the interim senator by governor haley. I think were both out of the running. I dont mean to break that news. Hes probably going to see this as a great opportunity. But whoever takes it has to go through an election in 2014. They will not serve out the next four years of jim demints term. No question about that. You, again, eugene, does he replace Grover Norquist or does he become, so to speak, for lack of a better term, hit man number two for the conservative . If you dont do it my way, were going to get after you. Hes been known from the primaries. Hes kind of been that, right . Hes going to continue doing that. One of the Big Questions i have is what this means for the Heritage Foundation which has been kind of what passes for a mainstream think tank. Is it still a think tank if jim demint is running it since we know what he thinks. We know what heritage is going to come out with. I wonder if this doesnt in some way in the medium term, at least, sort of marginalize heritage, perhaps, from the mainstream conservative debate. Well have to see. No doubt. Well, he will certainly make sure that the opinions and the research that comes out of the Heritage Foundation is a hell of a lot more to the right than it ever has been. Congressman, do democrats benefit from republicans being fractured . Or is it going to be harder to get things done . Well, its a mixed blessing. You know, when you see this kind of activity going on among your opponents, you do see that as an opportunity to kind of drive wedges or keep your folks together. But you could also say you dont know exactly who to deal with or when to deal with them when theyre scattered like this. Thats why i am very hopeful that john boehner can, in fact, continue to bring his caucus together. Hes doing a pretty good job for the last couple of days with his caucus. I hope he continues because i believe in the twoparty system. I do believe that we ought to have good, productive debate. But in the final analysis, you have to know who youre debating with and you dont want to debate with somebody who is spending more time debating within his or her own party. So thats a real big problem. Let me say this about jim demint and the Heritage Foundation. I really do question whether or not jim demint and the Heritage Foundation make for a good fit. Because i actually agree with what eugene just said. This has been a think tank where people develop policies and lay them out for people to run on. But when you start trying to sponsor people in primaries, like jim demint has done, i would hope thats not whats going it happen to the Heritage Foundation. Okay. Congressman jim clyburn of South Carolina. And Eugene Robinson of Washington Post. Great to have both of you with us tonight. Thanks so much. Coming up, Mitch Mcconnell made history in the senate today. He called for a vote on his debt limit bill. Democrats called his bluff and then believe it or not, mcconnell filibustered his own bill. Congressman Chris Van Hollen joins me on all of the latest fiasco surrounding the fiscal cliff. Stay with us. Hes going to apply testosterone to his underarm. Axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. Axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. Axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. Women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. Report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. Do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. 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Join the counter revolution and switch to olay prox. Get cleansing results as effective as a 200 system. Guaranteed or your money back. Olay prox. Youre wonderful you have a heart of gold [ male announcer ] vera wang love. The new diamond bridal collection from vera wang. Exclusively at zales. [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. This season, discover aleve. All day pain relief with just two pills. Welcome back to the ed show. President obama has put house Speaker John Boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. And the evidence is mounting. President obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in Northern Virginia whose taxes will go up more than 4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts arent extended. Im encouraged to see that theres been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. As ive indicated, the only way to get the kind of revenue for a balanced deficit Reduction Plan is to make sure that were also modestly increasing rates for people who can afford it. Folks like me. Just to be clear, im not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2 . The concerted effort from the white house is very clear. Heres White House Press secretary jay carney. What will produce a deal is an acknowledgement by republicans, republican leaders, that rates on the top 2 , the wealthiest americans, have to rise. There is no deal without that acknowledgement, and without a concrete, mathematically sound proposal but Speaker Boehner still insists he can get the revenue without raising rates . Now, the revenues were putting on the table are going to come from guess who . The rich. There are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes, and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates, which we believe will harm our economy. Some conservatives just cant stand hearing Speaker Boehner admit the rich will pay more in taxes, but other republicans want boehner to concede a rate hike before its too late. A congressman told the Washington Post, i and some others are advocating giving the president what he wants as part of the package that includes entitlement cuts and reduces the debt by 4 trillion to 5 trillion. Quite frankly, some people in this 2 who call me, theyre more worried about the fiscal cliff than they are about rates going up a couple of points. Congressman Thomas Rooney of florida said, if there are truly real entitlement reforms that are going to be preserve Social Security and medicare for generations to come, its going to be difficult for me to oppose higher rates for the rich. President obama and Speaker Boehner spoke by phone yesterday for the first time in a week. White House Press Secretary jay carney i find very interesting refused to characterize the conversation. Lets bring in congressman Chris Van Hollen of maryland tonight. Good to ha