On budget talks, NY Congressman stresses the need for common sense compromise

>>> israel, how optimistic are you, congressman?

>> well, i would be optimistic if we had some republicans who are willing to compromise, not just compromise, but compromise on the basis of common sense . look, last week we actually offered what i thought was a common-sense solution to turn off this sequester. wrepd rather than handing out 750,000 pink slips to lay people off, which is exactly what independence economists will say will happen, why don't we just have some common-sense solutions? why don't we stop giving oil companies $4 billion a year in handouts.

>> with all due respect, congressman, those are the arguments that obviously didn't work. the sequester is -- it has happened, and do you still believe in that 750,000 jobs number given a strong jobs report today? how does that change the equation moving forward?

>> those numbers are not my numbers. they're numbers that come from the congressional budget office and from the federal revenue bank and others. we just picked up 236,000 jobs. that's good news. we need to continue to -- why would we want to insist on a policy that individual observers say will deflate it. it doesn't remember any quantum leap . all we're saying is we have to do a grand solution to this, but it's got to be based on common sense . here's one solution. instead of saying that we have to cut back medicare, why aren't we cutting back special-interest loopholes in the tax code ? why aren't we cutting babb the subsidies to big oil companies? those are common-sense solutions. democrats are prepared to have that conversation with republicans.

>>> let me play for you what speaker boehner had to say, you know, about what people are talking about, which is the president reaching out to both sides of the aisle, holding these meetings.

>> after being in office for four years he's going to sit down and talk to members.

>> i think it's a hopeful sign action and i'm hopeful something will come out of it, but if the president continues to insist on tax hikes, i don't think we'll get far.

>> i'm circling back around to my first question, i guess, but is it doa?

>> anytime people are talking, it's a good sign, but you also need people to listen. consistently at every point since the tea party brought us to cliffs, chaos and crisis, the president has offered compromise. we've actually voted to reduce spending by over a trillion. we know we have to find a solution that's got to be based on common-sense compromise. we're looking for a few republicans in the house of representatives who will meet us halfway. if we can get just a few, i think we can get it done.

>> congressman israel, it's always good to have you on the program.