Fiscal cliff stand-off continues

>>> show." talks continue on capitol hill to avoid the fiscal cliff. but where is it all going? house speaker john boehner went to the floor and spoke about his meeting with president obama for the first time. boehner and the president sat down over the weekend. boehner says the meeting was nice and cordial but went on to attack the president's offer on spending cuts.

>> we're still waiting for the white house to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the balanced approach that he promised the american people . the longer the white house slow walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff. right now the american people have to be scratching their heads and wondering when is the president going to get serious?

>> boehner and his far right caucus may find the offer unacceptable, but president obama has put a lot on the table. nancy pelosi hit back at boehner 's rhetoric today.

>> the fact is, the president has and democrats agree, to $1.6 trillion cuts. where are the cuts? in bills that you, mr. speaker, have voted for.

>> pelosi is lobbying for house republicans to hold a vote on letting tax cuts expire for the wealthiest americans . with house majority leader eric cantor and congressman paul ryan tasked with pushing boehner 's plan on the tea party , it's going to be a tough sell. they are part of boehner 's strategy team? in the meantime, the white house is hitting back at boehner and the gop tactics.

>> a question of whether or not we have specific spending cuts, the answer is we have. i understand they may not agree with all of it. but it exists.

>> i'm joined by illinois congresswoman january schakowsky joining us tonight. congresswoman, good to have you with us.

>> thanks, ed.

>> harry reid now says it's going to be awful hard to reach a deal by christmas. where is this all heading, in your opinion?

>> the republicans are in total disarray. i think john boehner went to the floor today to encourage his -- or to placate his tea party people saying the real answer is in more cuts and the president has to be clear about the cuts, which as you said, and pointed out, that we have been very explicit about that. i think it's going to be very hard for us at the end of the day and the end of the day is december 31, to come up with a final deal. and i think it only gets worse for the republicans. look, they want us to cut medicare and entitlements have to be on the table. as if there is an equivalency between the richest americans paying a bit more and asking senior who make $20,000 a year to pay more. really?

>> congresswoman, isn't this a time where liberals in congress have to hold the line? there's rumors going around from medicare age going from 65 to 67, there might be some benefit cuts in here. the fact is, there's a lot of lawmakers on capitol hill that don't know exactly what's being put on the table. there's a lot of trust being put forward by lawmakers supporting president obama . are you confident that there's not going to be a bad deal out there for liberals?

>> well, what i'm worried about is that there will be something between raising the age of medicare eligibility or means testing , further means testing medicare . you know, ed, we means test medicare right now. that's a really important point that gets lost. people who make over $85,000 a year pay more already. it's like, you know, arsenic or cyanide, which do you prefer? i don't think we should agree to either one.

>> well, cantor and ryan are part of boehner 's strategy team. what does that mean?

>> i don't know what the heck that means. it probably means we won't get an agreement. boehner was again talking about the democrats really want business -- small business tax increases and the same old line that he's being fed. and he hasn't put his ideas on the table in a very clear way.

>> is boehner about keeping his job? is he all about making sure that he can do a deal and still be speaker?

>> that's what i think. the number he's most interested in is the number of votes he has to maintain his speakership. i don't think he gives a hoot about the rest and that he would be willing to make any kind of deal that would keep him with the speakership. the truth is, though, the american people are with us. they are for raising taxes over $250,000. they want to protect their social security , their medicare , their medicaid. we have agreed to $1.6 trillion in cuts.

>> so right now, it sounds like it's the president's deal or nothing as far as democrats are concerned, because boehner has not been specific. is that a fair characterization?

>> i think that's absolutely right. the president has been very firm, he's gone out to the american people who nod their head in unanimous agreement. and so i think that we just need to stick with our president and if we go to january 1 , we're in even better shape.

>> congresswoman jan schakowsky , we should also point out in the house races across the country, 1,165,000 people voted for democrats more than republicans. so i don't think boehner has any mandate for austerity. nuke. great to have you with us tonight.

>>> coming up, republican governors around the country are trashing obama care. but it's getting implemented whether they like it or not. up next, the details on what change means for your health care .

>>> and dick cheney is still acting like he has credibility on foreign policy and is attacking the president for ending the wars in iraq and afghanistan. colonel lawrence wilkerson will weigh in on that later.