cares more about protecting entitlements fully. uncertainty is a problem but not a bigger problem than the priorities of the republicans in particular. and also the democrats' entitlements. so i don't think we get a deal in the near future. >> well, that's not encouraging. and you've got these numbers, and jay carney asked to explain yesterday about the president's jobs council and said it had this two-year charter and expired and they'll continue to reach out to business leaders in had other ways. but karen, is this bad timing? >> yeah, i think it just gives the -- these outside councils generally are not much more than window dressing. it does give the republicans a talking point to suggest that the president's taken his eye off the ball, which is job creation. but, you know, the council itself was never -- never was or i think was never meant to be a sort of key player in formulating policy. now this white house has been criticized, i think justifiably, for, you know, some of the weakness of its general outreach