price. it s about this idea that some conservatives may try to make baper s life so uncomfortable they could challenge him for the speakership. it s clear he doesn t have the votes for any of this, but how series is boehner taking it and how much of it is impacting the negotiations? it s a great question. the tension within the house republican conference is very real. tom price s comments about his concerns and about a potential deal that includes tax increases reflects where a lot of conservatives are. they are wary about what speaker boehner is doing. no one is really sure about the contours of the potential deal. you see here there seems to be all this evidence that republicans are publicly splintering. they are not behind one position. even mitch mcconnell said he can get his tax increases by doing nothing. there is a long way between overthrowing the speaker and not
wish no taxes would go up on any american. i don t think it s good for the economy. but in this case, i think we need to get beyond it and get some certainty out into the economy. if boehner comes back and says, okay, i feel like i ve cut the best deal i can. i ll vote for this. that s probably something you can support. if it truly is the best deal, yes, i will. i have faith, actually, in what speaker boehner is doing. i think he s letting the process work and i think i said it before. the timeline of the holidays and fiscal cliff looming and negotiations will come to a point where there has to be a best point. the jet fumes of national airport is the joke, but how big is that christmas holiday, if that is threatened, will that motivate more people to vote for something? if you want to see how this vote will come down. look at the first bailout or
avenue, for house republican leaders to make a deal and not run afoul of his organization. he told us as we saw earlier he had a three-step plan. he said that he didn t want republicans to have their fingers on the murder weapon but there are ways around that. he says he wants the deal negotiated in public, on tv. he said it needs to be able to pass the laugh test back home. that certainly in the eyes of the beholder. he wants republicans to push for reforms which speaker boehner is doing. he doesn t want republicans to be blamed. and he s saying republicans need to be out there now making the case for what they want so that if taxes go up, taxpayers are less likely to blame them. the way he put it to me is, you don t stand there and wait for the train to hit you. is he redefining revenue? every time i ve interviewed grover norquist he s always giving a rigid definition, the only kind of revenue increases
generation of republicans in line. and president obama warns, and i m quoting him now, we are almost out of time, urging all americans to keep the pressure on washington and bring this devastating crisis to an end. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. you re looking at a live picture right now of the house floor, where just a short time from now, we expect to see that critical vote on the gop debt plan. the vote was supposed to happen yesterday around this time, but was abruptly postponed when the house speaker john boehner failed to get the 216 votes it needs for passage. meanwhile, with only days left to solve this unprecedented crisis, wall street is already reeling. stocks posted their worst weekly performance in more than a year while the dow fell about 97 points today. this on the heels of a dismal new economic report out today, showing the country s economic growth has now slowed to a crawl. let s go straight to our congressional correspondent, kate ba
entitlement cuts? have some enforcement mechanisms to show this group would finally have some teeth. not just some more washington blather. shep. . if you don t, you go to delay and maybe you pray. so i guess we are there. and divine intervention is what you they are looking for on the hill. can i tell you here inside the white house when you talk to senior aides. they are kind of sort of laughing a little bit under their breath, if you will. they are trying not to do that publicly, but they are looking at what speaker boehner is doing. he said he wanted this time to try to pass this bill. now is he struggling to get it through. normally the speaker of the house has so much power. whether it s a speaker that s a democrat or republican. they can force through almost anything. they are not going to comment just yet. they want to see whether or not speaker boehner can get this through. they re kind of enjoying the fact that republicans are struggling right now. on the other hand, they