Boehner puts Paul Ryan in charge of budget deal

>>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. democratic leaders are in the budget fight to win it for the middle class . president obama is wrapping up his southeast asia trip. he was overheard requesting help from a higher power to solve the standoff in washington .

>> in washington he's deadly serious about keeping the upper hand in negotiations. democrats are defending the line in the sand . here's how democratic leader nancy pelosi when she was asked if the democrats would accept a deal extending tax cuts for the wealthy.

>> talking about a possible come ro miez that would cap deductions. is that something that's acceptable?

>> no. the president made it very clear in his campaign that there's not enough resources. what you just described is a formula and a blueprint for our future.

>> democrats from both chambers are not budging. senator dick durbin wouldn't entertain the idea of the gop of a tax hike on millionaires only.

>> $250,000 for a family is a reasonable number. to go up to $1 million, i'm not sure what we're proving. there has to be revenue on the table. and those 2% or 1% of highest wage earners in america who are doing well should pay a little more.

>> labor is also on board. i spoke with the service employees union on my radio show today. she says her members will be okay with letting all tax cuts expire.

>> i think that would be acceptable. i do think that republicans have a choice to bring peace of mind .

>> so letting all the tax cuts ek pyre would put us back to square one and president obama and his team could come up with a framework that could be better for the middle class . you're okay with that?

>> absolutely.

>> this is where we're at. the presidents and democrats will not do a deal without tax hikes. democrats will not consider a millionaire-only tax. big labor says it's okay if all tax cuts expire because republicans will lose all of their leverage. the republicans are up a bad creek without a paddle. conservative governors like bobby jindal and scott walker have emerged trying to moderate their party's agenda, but both had had no answers on what they would do for the middle class .

>> president obama says, look, let's extend the bush tax cuts for 98% of all taxpayers right now. i'll sign it today. took out his pen at the news conference. and the republicans say, no, we can't do that until we decide what we're going to do with the top 2% of taxpayers. why wouldn't a middle class voter look at that and say, the gop are all about protecting the rich.

>> crystal clear . pretty direct question . here's the answer.

>> we're not the the party trying to protect the rich. they can protect themselves. we want growth.

>> no, no, no, no. it's the answer. i was at a football game last night and i didn't see a punt any better than what you just saw. here's walker.

>> when the president is saying i'll sign it, lowering taxes for 98% of americans and republicans are saying not so fast, bill crystal was on last week and said it wouldn't kill the republicans to raise taxes on millionair millionaires. is he wrong?

>> another tough question from fox on taxes. your move, governor walker.

>> we need to get the economy going. e we need to get people back to work. and that affects the middle class right now and the fact they are talking about anything that might make it worse in the economy i think is a bad sign about what's happening in washington .

>> scott walker looks like he's running for 2012 dodge ball champion of the year. folks, just let all the tax cuts go away if they don't want to do a deal. then they are going to say no to another deal and it's going to get politically worse. republicans have no answers because they just basically have a loser's hand. i'm tired of the bush tax cuts . i would like to see the obama tax cuts . john boehner doesn't seem to get it. look at who he has put in charge of their negotiations. "the new york times" reports speaker boehner has tapped paul ryan to help strike a deal on tax increases by the end of the year. and to bring along fellow republicans , i don't think he's goods at that. this is the same paul ryan from the losing ticket of just a few weeks ago. the same congressional leader who wants to kill medicare and medicaid , the same why gooi who wants to keep taxes low for the wealthiest americans and let's cut the hell out of education. voters rejected paul ryan 's plan two weeks ago, but boehner put him in charge of the negotiations. in fact, mr. ryan could conceivably scuttle any deal if he loudly opposes the solution that's the speaker of the house and also top republican leaders would embrace. what is he, the ruler of the house now? putting paul ryan out front and center in these budget negotiations tells you everything you need to know about how far the republicans are going to go to doing a deal. republicans took a beating in this election. they haven't heard what the american people are telling them apparently. this is the biggest story in the country. all the side stuff is all chatter in my opinion. this is where the country needs to be focused. the outcome of this budget fight will tell you, the future of america's middle class , and that's what this election was about. democrats , i think, are off to a very good start. just hang your hat on pelosi said. no. we're going to move the rates higher on the wealthiest americans and there's not going to be a deal on deductions that's going to get us to some number that's going to exist. let me give you the straight talk . somebody has to pay the bar tab. the democrats are willing to write the check, but the republicans , they want to get out scott free . isn't going to happen. democrats need to hold the line here and keep telling yourself, liberals, we won this election. and this was an exhausted topic throughout the entire conversation between president obama and mitt romney . we have the facts and the people on our side. get your cell phones out. tonight know what you think. tonight's question, who is paul ryan going to fight for? text a for the rich, text b for the middle class . you can always go to our blog. we'll bring you results later on in the show. let's bring in bill pascrell of new jersey tonight. also robert riech. gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. congressman, let's start with you first. what do you expect with paul ryan at the helm of these negotiations?

>> it doesn't send -- i'm not frightened about that situation. in fact, one of the things that paul does bring to the table, and i think it's necessary here, ed, is urgency. this is an urgent situation we need to address. if we kick this can down the street, and i would contend that if you do away with all of the bush tax cuts and we supposedly start anew in january or february, i don't think that helps us down the path. i think we could strike a deal to get 218 votes. we need about 30 or 40 votes on the republican side in the house of representatives . this is a time when we have to step up to the plate.

>> what do you have to give up to get that though?

>> we're going to have tax cuts , but we're also going to have cuts in the budget. we have to start that process. that was part of the president's deal. it's a balanced approach. i think it's the correct approach. what the numbers are we can debate. but what the philosophy is and the specifics are, it's critical to get a resolution.

>> i don't disagree with that, but i disagree with paul ryan demanding that there's going to be major changes in medicare and medicaid . he's going to go after the poor.

>> none of us are going to accept cuts in medicaid benefits. none of us are going to accept a different module for social security . what we need to work out is how much are we going to cut in taxes? what are we going to allow? the republicans are holding the middle class hostage here. we could have done this five months ago. that's provide the tax cuts and let them continue for the middle class . we have other taxes we have to debate here. we have to talk about the taxes in terms of what people are paying in payroll taxes .

>> i thought that the hostages saw the gates open on november 6th . robert, what do you make of this?

>> the interesting thing here, ed, is that the democrats are holding tough and the republicans seem not to have remembered who won the election on november 6th . by putting paul ryan in there as the chief negotiator are putting somebody in who really did say all during the election we are going to cut medicare, we're going to cut social security , we're going to cut programs for the poor, and we're going to cut taxes on the rich. well, that was repudiated by the electora electorate. they have a chance to show what side the republicans are on. they are on the side of the rich and not the middle class . there will be, i think, a day of reckoning and that day is going to be in january. if we go over the fiscal cliff, which is actually more of a hill than a fiscal cliff. what that means essentially is that all tax rates go back to the clinton tax rates . the clinton tax rates were not that horrible. i was happy to be and proud to be a member of the clinton administration and we had a very good economy.

>> congressman, are you okay with those rates?

>> i don't accept, and i usually agree with the professor, i don't accept that we should all just wait until the new administration comes in. i don't think that puts us in a better place at all. we could raise a lot of money and lose a lot of money at the same time if we let all the tax cuts expire. there's no guarantees that the middle class tax cuts will pass. you're going to have a few less republicans in the house of representatives . i don't agree with that. i think we should make an effort. let me tell you something. i think we should look at the example of president when he was a senator, senator obama and senator mccain , when they made that decision in september, both of them, in the heat of a presidential election in 2008 to put differences aside and support -- there's got to be some common good here.

>> i don't disagree with that. i totally agree with you. but i don't trust the republicans that they are going to put medicare and medicaid off to the side.

>> we're not. we're not going to accept that and you know that.

>> mr. riech, you think the democrats can hold the line on this?

>> they have to hold the line . that's what the election was all about. do we want to sacrifice medicare and medicaid ? the public said no. do we want to increase taxes on the wealthy and give everybody else an extension? the public said overwhelmingly yes. democrats know they got a mandate at least on that from the public. and the republicans seem not to have heard what the public said. and if republicans are going to do what they have done for the past four years, which is essentially say no to everything, not compromise at all, then we are going to go over the so-called fiscal cliff. we're going to go back to the clinton tax rates . the democrats are going to have a chance to negotiate new taxes that do raise taxes on the wealthy. and then the republicans sglsh we're going to have to leave it there.

>> congressman bill pascrell , thank you being here. remember tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. we want to know what you think.

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