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We have resolved the revenue issue, and the question is, what are we going to do about spending? i wish the president would lead us in this discussion rather than putting himself in a position of having to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the table to discuss the single biggest issue confronting our future. you know, until we adjust the entitlements so that they meet the demographics of our country, we can't ever solve this problem. the time to solve it is now. >> do you, then, agree with the republican leader in the senate, mr. mcconnell, who says we're done now with the taxing side of i...

Want to confirm. so you're telling me that chuck hagel, if you look at his record, he actually has a record of strong support for israel? >> if you look at all the votes, all of the things he's done as a senator, you will find a record of strong support for israel's security. >> that's interesting. let me ask you the question that we've been knocking around. lindsey graham claims that chuck hagel is out of the mainstream of u.s. foreign policy when, in fact, as andrea mitchell -- >> in-your-face pick. >> -- as andrea mitchell reported, most of the establishment support chuck hagel. comment on ...

Extent that you diminished the tax cut -- the tax change at the high end, you would have to claw down into the middle class to get more revenue. >> are you, then, saying to the upper classes, get ready, you're going to have to pay some more? this is not the end of it? >> well, i'm saying that's not off the table. >> welcome back to "morning joe." 22 past the hour. joining us now from washington, d.c., nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. and here on set, editor in chief of buzzfeed.com, ben smith. >> hi. >> you know what n...

Some others. it is true that he's been more open, for example, to an opening by the united states to hamas than some israelis would feel comfortable with. i don't mean to minimize the way -- he is a voice, you could say, on the left, a more critical, skeptical voice, but that's from a bedrock of very strong support. >> john heilemann. >> hey, david. you're a great student of this administration's foreign policy and its foreign policy personnel choices. you just raised susan rice. i have a question for you about that. relative to this. the president, on two successive potential foreign policy n...

Completely in a different direction and brought up a very good point. but back to today, if you look at what happened and you look at where we're going and why we're not talking about spending, it's because the president got rolled on taxes last time around. he got hammered for it. he had no choice but to make this happen the way he did. and quite frankly, boehner, cantor, mcconnell, the most difficult people on the face of the earth is what we've learned by watching the sausages being made. could anyone negotiate with them and get anything done? >> well, actually, yes. >> oh, really? >> joe b...