further no matter what's on the table, as far as the republicans' demands are concerned? >> well, the answer is i certainly hope that's the case. the american people, ed, have been extremely clear on this. the rich are getting richer. the middle class is collapsing. and the american people are saying, you know what? the wealthiest people in this country have got to participate in deficit reduction, they've got to pay more taxes. and also, we've got to keep the focus on jobs. and furthermore, in my view, we've got to draw a line in the sand, defend social security, defend medicare, defend medicaid. >> what about those folks on unemployment right now that's going to end here? there's going to be a bunch of people, well over a million, coming up on february 1st. and the president seems very adamant about getting these two things done before anybody takes off for the holidays. >> absolutely right. he's absolutely right. >> what if it doesn't happen? >> well, if it doesn't happen, we're going to be having christmas breakfast i think in the capitol and we're going to be here through january. you can't allow tens of thousands of families in this country to lose their only means