happen to the democrats. what happens is they go home and hear from the people that put them there and they want them to essentially continue doing what they want to do and with republicans in the house in control. what they want to do is, as charles put it, stop government growth. and i think that's probably not a bad idea. i don't think there is any incentive the way you put it. unfortunately, i wish there were. >> okay. >> but the tragedy is that, you know, we could be looking at a long stretch of time where this becomes the norm. and we do have large kind of national priorities that we should be tackling that probably will not be tackled. >> the last thing i need is an era of good feeling. this is good. >> all right. charles, rich, thank you. and happy new year. let's be optimistic about it. thanks, gentlemen. coming up, 2013, well, in addition to a few problems on capitol hill, there have been a few scandals.