territory to go in. house republicans are not just pushing the envelope, they are soaking it with lighter fluid and waving a match at it." >> i think the president came out very much above this week, above the fray. i think he's going to do it again. i think he knows and i think ben bernanke is telling him, listen -- the fed chairman -- you'd better get this stuff together because rates are going to start going up rather dramatically once we're done buying bonds, which is going to be in july-august. the president knows this has to be solved within the next 12 months or it's going to hurt his re-election. interest rates will go up dramatically precisely because of medicare. >> what about this entitlement fight they're starting on the republican side? >> i think president obama's making a calculus right now that -- traditionally, presidents versus congress, whenever they go head to head, the president usually looks better. and throughout the past week, president obama, i mean, on friday morning he called his aides into the oval office and said this is the same time harry reid was out there saying they're throwing women under the bus, and he said be quiet, don't say that much. when he went out during the