Both parties continue to blame each other over sequester

>> should be you. just about an hour from now, the president will nominate sylvia mathews burwell , the president of the walmart foundation as his next budget chief. he's a veteran of the white house and comparative outsider. she'll have the unenviable task of squaring off with the house republicans . little was done to stop the sequester, and both parties seemed content to blame each other while waving the white flag and allowing a sequestration to continue.

>> we have this sequester because the president demanded it.

>> it's happening because a choice that republicans in congress have made.

>> i think in many ways the president and the congressional leadership have moved beyond the sequester.

>> a sequester somehowdown was avoided by doing nothing. some furlough notifications have already gone out, but the first cutbacks won't happen until april. in a sign of political exhaustion, both the president and speaker are also signaling they won't be battle over sequestration during the funding of the government fight that could have taken place to the end of this month, so it takes the prospect of a government shutdown completely off the table.

>> the president this morning agreed that we should not have any talk of a government shutdown .

>> the president doesn't believe in manufacturing another crisis.

>> so there you go. and believe it or not, there's still a little bit of optimism, but it has to happen much later this year, after this time-out, if you will.

>> what i would like to see happen is that the president and republicans and democrats reengage where they left off with boehner, that we as republicans put $600 billion on the table.

>> bipartisan compromise on revenue raising tax reform with serious entitlement reform.

>> you can see how this is potentially coming together, although w been here before . the president did spend saturday making phone calls to senators in both parties who have been open to that kind of grand bargain. the bottom line is neither side wants to have a big budget fight in the next months. the white house wunts to de-emphasize the budget and focus on other issues. they are leery of headlines like this one that said stymied by a house, obama looks to his legacy. though the story quotes from no one from the white house , quotes like this one from dccc chair of israel , they don't help the white house 's cause. quote, the president understands that to get anything done, he needs a democratic majority in the house of representatives . to have a legacy in 2016 , he will need a legacy in 2014 . and this could be the message of the 2014 elections. the white house was very nervous about that story circulating this weekend. they claim they do not want to start the political campaign this early. i do think september, i'm a little optimistic. it's possible. probably? unlikely, but it's possible. the grand bargain could still be alive. at as republican governors expand provisions of healthcare reform they wasn't railed against, one issue still does unite the gop and that's a commit to lower taxes, less spending and smaller government. over the weekend, congressional leaders aware of what it would take to keep their own jobs had one relentless message, no new taxes.

>> the president got his tax hikes on january the 1st. he got his tax hikes. $650 billion of tax hikes on january the 1st. i'm going to say it one more time, the president got his tax hikes on january the 1st.

>> can you here, and republicans got their spending cuts after sequestration. that's why i'm optimistic about a grand bargain in september. but senator republican leader mitch mcconnell drew a hard line .

>> so far i haven't heard a single house republican -- that's been why the reason reaching a ground bargain had been hard to obtain. republicans have no political incentive to do so because it would cost them their jobs in a gop primary. meanwhile, the candidate the party is eager to move on from, mitt romney sat down with an interview with his wife, ann, and boy, did they make it painfully clear they have not moved on.

>> obviously, it was a winning campaign. it worked.

>> do you think it was fair?

>> no.

>> the president had the power of incumbency. obamacare was very attractive.

>> i believe it was the media's fault as well, is that he was not giving -- being given a fair shake, that people weren't allowed to see him for what he was.

>> in some of the debates you get asked questions that are kind of silly.

>> the great princess bride line, mostly dead. i'm mostly over it.

>> watching it golden critical moment slip away.

>> though romney blamed much on his failure to check with minorities, he did say this.

>> people should not be given citizenship to this country merely because they've come here illegally.

>> these a harder line than everybody is taking these days, most people in the republican party . former florida governor jeb bush firmly planted his flag as a thinking-about-it candidate.

>> are you going to run in 2016 ?

>> that's way off into the future. i have a voice, i want to share my voice about how the conservative party can regain its footing.

>> you will not definitively rule out a run for president in 2016 ?

>> i won't.

>> i'm going to have more in a sit-down with jeb bush tomorrow. republicans in california , by the way, had their convention this weekend, and if you want exhibit a about what happens to a republican party when they utterly alienate an important demographic group , the california gop provides the lesson. the state party is trying to still recover from embarrassing defeats in november that gave democrats two-thirds majorities in the state senate . on saturday california republicans got a. talk from none other than karl rove .

>> we need to be asking for the vote in the most powerful way possible which has to have people asking for the vote who are comfortable and look like and sound like the people asking the vote from. look, i'm norwegian. i look at my shoes a lot. i don't dance. i twitch. my message is this. get off your ass.

>> california republicans , problems started with prop 187 . they've never recovered with hispanics, and that's the future some in the party are staring at. finally, as the president prepares to make his first stip to israel this month as president, it's day 2 of apac. this morning both vice president biden and israel 's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu via satellite will address the group. here was texas senator john cornyn last night.

>> israel remains a country where arabs can serve in parliament and heckle the prime minister. can anyone imagine jewish legislators being allowed to heckle a prime minister? me neither. and that goes to explain why americans stand with israel .

>> biden started by saying, quote, you're not going to like this. today he's expected to be much more conciliatory while previewing the president's trip. the question though, is is there a window to we engage in the peace process . last night defense minister barack addressed that issue.

>> a two-state solution is the only viable long-term solution.

>> today secretary of state john kir's meeting with the palestinian authority 's abas. up next, breaking barriers in our meet the new members series as it continues, with a woman who's changing the face of the new york delegation. then picking a new pope. the process is underway as cardinals from around the world convene in rome. first, look at todd's politics planner. at 10:15 this morning, in addition to the omb announcement, the president will nominate mccarthy to head the agency. and another big scientist to take over energy. to take over the energy department from steven chew. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ female announcer ]