political maestro larry sabato. you argue it's very realistic and there is precedent. explain. >> absolutely. neil. it's entirely possible because under the new republic rules, you can get in as late as early february and still qualify for enough primaries and caucuses to compete for delegates at the national convention. second, it's entirely possible to win the nomination getting in late assuming there is is a good candidate who gets in simply because if you win a bunch of the late big primaries like bobby kennedy did in 1968 or jerry brown did in 1976, you can make an argument to the delegates that you have the momentum and you should be nominated. >> neil: in the case of bobby kennedy, even allowing for his tragic assassination and winning the california primary that night, he was still well shy in the dell gatt count and far from guaranteed the nomination. so what -- is it just the momentum issue? >> well, you have to make an argument. you have to say i'm winning these primaries and kennedy one a slew of them at the end with the exception of oregon. he lost oregon to gene mccarthy. but he had a good argument developing that i'm the people's choice. and, in fact, the guy who got the nomination, hubert humphrey got it because he was the boss' choice. he was dick daily's choice, the mary of chicago. he was lyndon johnson's choice. he didn't compete in a single primary. you can believe somebody could get the nomination without competing in a primary. today it's different but i think some of the rules still apply from 1968 or 1976. now, look, what i'm suggesting neil is probably not going to happen. we are stirring the pot. we're having fun. and it's okay to do that at the end of the year prior to the election. let's say you enter in early february. you missed the chance to qualify for the new hampshire primary, right? >> right. >> neil: have you missed the chance to qualify for south korea. >> yes because all those primaries are in january. if you enter in early february, the voting is over in iowa, new hampshire, south korea and florida. there is nothing can you do. >> neil: stupid question. i guess future primaries then, what is the first one you would be eligible for? let's say you are sarah palin or a jeb bush who raised this thought. early february is when you announce. then what are you -- what are you eligible for? >> you can qualify for some of the primaries on march the 6th. you won't get in most of them but that's super tuesday, march 6th. you have a slew of primaries and caucuses on that day all over the country. not just in the south. and then, remember, after april 1st, you can get the winner take all primaries. you are not supposed to have winner take all, florida is doing it anyway in january, but you are not supposed to have until after april 1st. when you get them, you can accumulate delegates very quickly just by getting one more vote than all the other candidates on the ballot if the state has adopted winner take all. >> neil: so in the meantime would the early states not have more apportionment? there will be a slow start to this. let's say mitt romney were to take iowa and new hampshire. >> very slow. >> neil: goes on ang and takes south korea. since the question is not winner takes all yet. late entrant comes. in can a late entrant do what jerry brown was trying to do to slow the carter momentum in '76 or is it too little too late? in this modern day and age, once the so-called anointed party choice is on a roll, it's very hard to stop it. >> yes. but that's the key. is there really going to be an anointed party choice. it's possible that one of these candidates is going to take off in those january caucuses and primaries. and this will all be theoretical and we will be talking about the nominee by march or april. it's also possible that the lead candidates, romney and gingrich and paul and the others will have knocked themselves silly by then. and desperate republicans may, may be looking for another candidate. so it all depends on what the atmospherics are what the optics are. if they are favorable to another candidate. look, it's a big country. there are lots of celebrities. there are thousands of people in major political office all across the country. there are people with money who could fund the candidacy. you just never know what's going to happen. >> neil: very interesting. you were very kind to politely dismiss my stupid new hampshire question. a it's always good seeing you. >> thank you so much. >> neil: merry christmas. larry sabato. new threat that the iowa republic party is beefing up security big time. the party chair is on the phone with us right now. what is going on? what are you afraid of. >> one thing that we want to i can that sure in the first of the nation caucus state is we report our results to the nation on january 3rd, that they are done timely and done accurately. and given the call-to-arms that the occupy movement has issued nationwide to encourage their supporters to come to iowa to disrupt the process, we want to make sure that we're preparing for every eventuality in iowa. >> neil: what would they do to disrupt it. >> well, there is a couple options. one thing we are hearing is they are going to coach their occupy supporters to go to different caucus sites. potentially you could have physical disruption, verbal disruption across our 17774 precincts. we have to make sure as to how we tabulate and report our results with different cyber threats we are building the most sophisticated system used for the iowa caucuses. we want to make sure we are doing everything in our power to prepare for every eventuality. >> i was in your fine state last week for the debate. the iowans i met didn't seem like the type you could easily intimidate or keep away from a caucus site. i could be wrong, but given the fact that occupy sioux citiers i was told going to show up outside the debate. i saw a couple guys with sandwich boards not a lot. i don't see this as a big threat. >> can i only hope we run the caucus night as successfully as that debate in sioux city with fox. we would be responsible for preparing for every eventuality. we have been in contact with city officials to assess both known and potential threats whether it comes from the occupy movement or whether it comes from more an,ists or outsidage territory groups. we want to make sure there is some irony that the occupy movement had targeted, what is probably the most grass roots oriented progress that exists with the caucus. way want to make sure that our caucus attendees feel safe and know there is a plan. we also want to make sure the rest of the nation knows the results will be reported accurately and timely on caucus night. >> neil: two weeks away from the vote. your governor terry bran stat has been focusing on the ron paul phenomenon, going so far to say look who comes in second and their. if mitt romney comes in a strong second it helps him going into new hampshire and other states. all but dismissing whatever ron paul might do even winning the state. what do you think of that? >> well, neil, i think it's the chief elections officer for the caucus i'm going to let iowans actually vote two weeks from now and we will make assessment as the dust settles. the one thing irrefutable is congressman paul has a great organization across the state. even more irrefutable than that over half caucus goers could change their mind over which candidate to support between now and january 3rd. >> neil: don't you think that's dismissive though to say just ignore congressman paul if he wins this thing. doesn't mean anything. that's what he seems to be saying, which to me, doesn't seem like a very nice thing to say. >> well, one thing you know with congressman paul's organization here we thought in august the names. we have seen around the state building a very robust organization. >> neil: i know that. if he wins is the party establishment going to dismiss it and say oh it doesn't mean anything. >> one thing it means that some folks are trying to say that the retail level organizing of the grass roots activists in the caucuses is dead. ron paul's resurgence or sur general's here in iowa shows that organizing does matter. irrespective of where he ultimately finishes, he had built a very vibrant organization in this state. with two thirds of caucus goers still up in the air, i think it would be wise to wait until the dust settles on january 3rd. >> neil: all i'm saying is if i'm ron paul and i'm hearing all these rumors that he might jump from the republic party and i deny those rumors, but then i hear i'm a potential win in a key state is ignored by that state's governor because it must be an be a aenter ration i'm ticked. >> voters have their voice heard on january 3rd. >> neil: okay. comawnk, matt. good seeing and hearing you. >> thank you. >> neil: meanwhile in the middle of this stocks jumping up. the dow up 337 points. it's now back about 12,000. stocks getting a lift on word new housing construction climbed to a 19 month high while in europe there is a new report that is showing growing confidence in the german economy. this thing tends to change by the day. to put a perspective for all the wild swings we have had in the markets, we're up about 4% on the year. meanwhile, coming up,. [shouting that is indeed the scene on capitol hill right now. forget rushing votes on a payroll tax cut. these are the actual lawmakers trying to rush home. man: my electric bill was breaking the bank. so to save some money, i trained this team of guinea pigs to row this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. >> neil: did congress just pull a napoleon dynamite. >> can i use your guy's phone for a second. >> is anything wrong? >> i don't feel investigated. very good. kneel peel we put thought into that. lawmakers aren't looking for a sick note per se but at the holidays are they looking for a way out? because of a straight up and down vote on this payroll tax fight we are just back to plain old fighting and gresham hammel ain't happy with public notice. what's the fallout from this? >> oh, wow. i don't even know where to begin with the fallout with this. i mean, when you have approval ratings that are in the double digits on average low double digits, i don't know if there can be much more fallout but one thing is for sure that the american public is not happy with the way things are going up on capitol hill. >> do they take it out on the congress on the president or both. >> i think they will take it out on congress. the president to his credit has done a very good job of distancing himself from washington and capitol hill, though he does have that top position here. >> you know, gresham, what i don't understand why is it politics if, you know, republicans are saying a two month extension is a joke but it isn't if the president is saying a two month extension isn't a joke? >> i completely agree. and i think this is one of those areas where communicating to the masses is key and the democrats right now have a great message of saying that republics are going to be denying 160 million americans a middle class takes rate. who can disagree with that message. republicans right now need to push that message of this is absurd to be budgeting or actually not even budgeting in this case to be extending a tax credit for two months is just absurd. we have gone from budgeting by month to budgeting by week to budgeting by day to now giving tax breaks for months and now, what, are we going to go for weeks and go for hours just because they can't agree on a proposal? >> neil: you just explained it very nicely what's really being debated here but they have not. republicans specifically have not. so, it looks like they're being obstructionists and they are being childish. they are risking whatever headway they had made in the midterm election. do you think that this type of behavior comes back, whether it's proper behavior or not, to bite them in november? >> you know, if they don't do a good job on messaging on this and getting out in front of it and saying you know what? we do care about the middle class. we want to make sure that they can plan. that they know for a whole year they are going to have a thousand extra dollars and not just $20 this paycheck and that paycheck for the first two months. if they can get out there and message i don't think this will bite them in the butt back in november. again, it all comes down to the message and getting out and getting out in front of it i think right now they may have to be in a position where they save face. >> neil: all right. we will watch. gresham, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> neil: now this. >> i'm calling on the speaker and the house republic leadership to bring up the senate bill for a vote. >> personally that i need john boehner to help out. >> i need the president to help out. [ laughter ] >> all right? [cheers] >> that almost looked like the president walked out on boehner of course he didn't. he said, he said nothing done to new york congressman tom reed who has said nothing yet. is he willing to work through the holidays to get a deal done. congressman, the devil will be in the details getting beyond this two month thing. i was wondering along with gresham if you have lost the p.r. here trivial as it may seen. most americans are seeing you guys as being obstructionists here. i are against this whole payroll tax extension be it two months or a year. do you think the two month thing isn't registering? people don't know your beef, this has gotten to be a repeated game? >> neil, what i would say is. this that we are here to do the job. i have been named as one of the conferees set in the house to work out the differences. we have 11 days to get this done. we will do the work, regardless of the political implications because the american people deserve better. they need us to lead in washington and that's why we are staying here. we're going to get it done and we are going to get a long-term solution that people can rely on. >> you are on this committee but the senate, i understand, sir, has left. harry reid could reconvene the senate but that's unlikely, maybe it could happen. so who are you talking to? >> well, right now we are just waiting on harry reid and the senate to name their conferees. like you said, with the stroke of a pen, harry reid can have the senators come back here and do work. i understand it's the holidays. i would love to be home with my family. but i'm going to be here in washington doing the work for the american people because that's what they deserve. that's what they sent us to do. >> neil: you are on this conferee but you have no one to meet with now. if he does not, that is if harry reid does not call the senate back, you have nothing to do. >> well, what we have is we are going to do the work on our side and come up and go through the proposal that the senate put out there, see where the disagreement is. we will do the work for the other side if they don't want to participate in it obviously to pass the bill we will need the senate to come back and do that. they need to do it. >> neil: you have serious qualms about putting social security on the table and doing this year after year, that it gets back to whether this is wise to do. , period. whether it's two months or a year, right? >> i have concerns about that. but ultimately i do believe that lowering tax burdens on small business america. hard working americans is good policy. that's why i'm willing to absorb this because in 2013 we have to deal with the tax rates for everyone. that's where i think we can go long-term stability tax reduction that doesn't threaten social security. >> neil: in your gut, sir, does it look like you are going to be working through christmas? >> i will be here. and i just call on my colleagues in the senate. let's do the work. just come on back and let's get it done. we can get it done for all of america. >> neil: how does your family feel about that. >> obviously they want me home. and i have a 11 and 13-year-old at home. i would love to be there christmas morning. the bottom line is. this they understand the sacrifice we are doing is for the future of america. this is just the initial battle of the many battles to come. and we're just going to do what needs to be done and that's do the work. >> neil: any in-laws that are ticked off at you. >> i would rather not comment upon that. >> neil: i hear you. what happens in washington i hear you stays in washington: good luck, i hope it doesn't get to that. for your sake and in-law's sake. >> merry christmas to you. >> neil: merry christmas to you. the taliban isn't the enemy? that guy said that you have had enough of that and maybe him? so the former governor who says yeah. i have had enough of joe. time for him to go. did i mention that that governor is a a democrat? >> this year i consistently for a lot of gas. did the veep get in too deep. vice president biden telling "newsweek" the taliban is not per se our enemy. wishes he was no locker on the president's ticket. joining me from virginia. to be fair to the governor he was saying this a year ago ahead of all these faux pas storms here. you are making a more general statement that he is just a weak link on this ticket. explain. >> well, first of all, neil, you look great and congratulations on continuing to look great. and have a merry merry christmas. >> you too, governor. thank you very much. half of what you said is right. i do wish you a merry christmas as well, sir. go ahead. >> thank you. you go back to the reasons that joe biden was put on the ticket in the very first instance, it was supposedly because he had the great experience. he had been there for years. he had been foreign relations chair. he had been chairman of the judiciary and supposedly knew the workings of the senate. has that worked to the president's better interest or has it taken away from the president? and the gas is not just a question of will joe biden make a gaffe and incidentally i like him. personally, i think he is a fine fellow. is he the person you want in place you? always hear that thing. suppose something would happen to the president, who would be in charge? >> neil: right. >> joe biden? you have got to be kidding today when you say the taliban is not our enemy. i fought in korea, front line. i knew who the enemy were. the enemy were the people who were firing at me. and shooting at me. and so for some guy to come back and today, incidentally, to meet with the returning veterans and their families and i don't believe he would tell them oh, look, the taliban is not your enemy. just like they would have told us in korea, well, you know, the chinese are not really your enemy. they are just helping out the north koreans. get ahold of yourself, joe, not just that. look what happened just last week or so in europe when you go and you make the joke, guess who i have with me. i have representatives from the treasury department hundreds of millions of dollars. are you going to give this money to us? no, what do you have to say to these people? hang in there it's tough. when you find these gaffes, the question is who is going to be in place president in these instances. last year i said that you are absolutely right earlier part of the year. you would be surprised, neil, at the numbers of people who now say, you know, the president ought to make that change. and he is -- it's not too late for him to do it. he could do it as late as -- >> neil: you and i remember when vice presidents were chains. fdr went through them like tissue paper. the fact of the matter is harry roosevelt had truman stopped the music. now much less common. agnew leaving and ford coming. in very unusual. what would it take to do something like that. >> i would tell you who would make the change if he were the president and needed to do it lyndon johnson would have done it in a heart beat if he were faced with this kind of situation. i said this to someone recently who knew exactly what i was talking about. the problem that the president has is the parking place. members of the media asked me last year where would you put joe biden? some would say he has always wanted to be secretary of state. no way. we cannot have a nation afford to have joe biden speaking for the nation. not only that here is how help the president. next time around it would be assumed whoever is the vice president would be the person next in line to be president. i don't believe that that's going to be the case if he sticks with joe biden because i frankly don't see hillary clinton staying on for another term as secretary of state. i wouldn't rule her out at all. to the contrary i would say she would be preparing to make a run in 2016 for the presidency. kneel kneeling as vice president? >> well, if she were the vice president that would be the stepping stone. >> neil: you would rather see her and think the democrats' chances are better with her as number two on the ticket than joe biden? >> i think unquestion whether i that is the case and i think polls might even suggest that, i know surveys do. i can tell you a whole lot of democrats feel somewhat the same as i do. >> neil: all right. governor. you ought to speak your mind more often. we never get an opinion out of you. >> you never give me the chance, neil. >> neil: governor, have a merry christmas. >> the same with you, good friend. god bless. >> neil: historic figure. i always tell people and say this repeat i hadly. i don't know whether it's good or bad. we wouldn't have a barack obama in the oval office if not for that gentleman. depending on your point of view. when we come back, putting a million more americans back to work. let's just say it could bed in the bag. what makes scottrade your smartphone's most powerful trading app ? total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start. try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. >> neil: a dramatic shot of the u.s. capitol where you can cut the tension with a knife but apparently you can't come close to cutting a deal on payroll taxes this is the scene constitution avenue looking at the united states capitol where we already have the senate adjourned. we have the house effectively torpedoing an earth to extend the payroll tax cut for a couple of months. they say that's a travesty, a waste of time. the president say dickering around at this a waste of time. you dickering around about us dickering around is a waste of time. now they are in their offices sulking, we will keep you posted. what if i told you take away all the hassles of air travel and you are looking at conservatively 900,000 more jobs. the travel association says it's doable. how do you do it? >> neil. thanks for having me. the first thing we have to do is look at what are travelers confronting in this system and how do we make it better? four out of the top five complaints that travelers have are with that t.s.a. security process. the number one complaint they have is dealing with the number of bags coming through that check point. we can make this process better. we just have to have the commitment, the will to do it i think people accept that hassle if it keeps them safe. he they assume the searches and scanning is all necessary and it's well worth it in the end they hope. how do you disavow the security types that they don't have to go this far? >> security is job one and we all agree with that and nobody agrees with that more than the folks in the travel industry who depend on customers getting to our doorstep safely and securely. we have made the wrong assumption in recent years that everything we are going through is making us more secure. when you look at that t.s.a. check point the easiest thing we can do is put in place a trusted traveler program those who are willing to provide more information about themselves can get a better experience. we need to get away from this one size fits all approach where we assume everybody is a potential terrorist. it's a waste of resources and it's not making us more secure. >> neil: how would it create more jobs though if everyone, for example, didn't have to use the same ziploc size bag with all of their personal effects which i find interesting because invariably i'm behind the guy who has the tube of toothpaste, the shaving cream and razor blade. remove all those requirements and simplify them. how is that going to create jobs. >> here is the real unfortunate effect. people are traveling less. the airlines themselves are projecting 1% decrease in holiday travel this year. >> neil: because of this, right? >> people are avoiding travel because of the hassles. in fact, they say travelers claim they would travel two to three times more per year if these hassles could be addressed and security could be maintained. most of these are business travelers. get these business travelers out there on the road you have $86 billion in new spending. 900,000 jobs. and every corner of this country. air travel is the gateway to commerce. let's get people back out there. let's get them out there doing these business deals off to those meetings, seeing grandma in the process. this is going to put people back to work. >> neil: there is goofiness to it. cut down on some of the goof ball ideas that could go a long way on easing it. thank you very much. >> thank you, neil. >> neil: meanwhile, he mitt. has been it's time to take a cue from awry a. -- mariah. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. [ knock on door ] coo you found it. wow. nice place. ye. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postagenline and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally stayinsane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail fla rate shipping at usps.com. a simpler way to ship. >> neil: this is incredible. one susie on a very different mitt romney. >> he gathered everyone into a conference room. he gave us the news as he knew and it the facts came out slowly in those days, the internet was not what it was. and he gathered everyone into the room had us hold hands and he said this beautiful prayer. i mean, he prayed for the people who died. he prayed for their families. he prayed for the world. he prayed for us. this was mitt's leadership. you never hear him talk about this. i never hear him boast about this story how he led the firm during this terrible crisis. how he reached out to the families. how he prayed for them. >> that was susie welch talking about his days running bain capital. she was working there at the time. this was the reference to the lockerbie panam flight 103 disaster in which bain lost a couple of key employees and shook up the firm. she was recounting that a story very few people i certainly didn't know about it there might be a reason for this. mitt romney is reluctant to show his emotions or be emotional. why? you say that can be damaging. why? there is something to this idea of emotional intelligence. if you look at some of our past presidents like bill clinton he had it in spades. he was elm pa fat particular. he felt your pain. reagan scared about our values. mitt is still trying to find his voice. that's not uncommon for a candidate but beyond just finding his voice. he is trying to find where that emotional connectivity is between himself and the voter trying to figure out him too. take more time get into primaries and caucuses to find his voice as well as his emotional connectivity with the american people. >> i'm just wondering with a lot of these candidates i have been seeing a lot of them up close on the debate and one-on-one in the interviews. very cautious. very careful. very guarded. mitt romney chief among them. he kidded himself with the letterman appearance where he tried to make fun of the fact that he appears so stiff and wooden. there is a limit to that right? >> if you remember al gore tried the same thing running in 2000. making jokes about himself and being stiff and rigid it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. and reinforces how people view you. he struggling trying to figure out do i take my tie off. look more relaxed. i do change my garb? talk more differently? he is trying different things for good reason to find where that sort of intersection is between who he is and the emotional connection that he needs to make with the american voter. it's not a simple process. not every candidate does. dukakis failed at it i think john kerry failed at it i think al gore failed at it. it's not easy. >> i also think when you have dealt with a great deal of pain in your life and who knew that better in recent history than john mccain it's very large to drenel that up and use that as a campaign tool in this case he didn't. i wonder he had done it more not the people didn't know all the hell he went through but had they been more familiar with that side of him. they just saw this tough in your face campaigner unaware of the magnitude of hell this guy went through. >> yeah. i think if you look at john mccain and bob dole. if you remember bob dole was a genuine war hero, very reluctant to talk about it or even discuss his heroism. i think that generation doll, dole mccain. loot of americans been through war they are reluctant to tap into that for whatever reason. romney now is different. it's not a war thing. i do think he was raised a certain way. he was a consultant. very successful businessman and entrepreneur. i do think he is still struggling not to find his joyce voice. i think he has found his voice but to find that intersection with what americans think and feel and letting them in and seeing a window inside of him. susie tells a great story why doesn't he tell that? who knows? >> whoever the republics decide on. they are up against a very good campaigner. very eloquent speaker. and do you just see that grounded on eloquence. capturing emotion. he is all of that let's see if you are a dogged businessman who knows stocks and numbers and dutiful accountant that might be okay. in this environment at a time like this. that might be welcome. what do you say? >> it's a very very good point. i think the president is very articulate. is he a great speech maker. i think, you know, even the most objective of observer would say he has had trouble at times connecting on emotional level. mitt romney offers a very clinical understanding of the economy and business like approach. that may be the antidote what we're looking for in this topsy touchy 24/7 disconnected world we live. in part of romney's strategy is to play into that at the end of the day he will have to find the right note when it comes to letting people see a little more of a window who he is as a person. reagan was not great with that reagan was not. >> neil: very good point. >> he wasn't that kind of empathizer but he found it with his values. >> neil: a line everyone goes through their personal hells. only a few of us are good at relaying them. >> exactly. >> neil: nick, thank you very much. >> thank you, neil. good talking to you. >> neil: republicans say no deal with the 2 month tax cut deal. i want you to meet the senator who could not be happier. . >> neil: when it rains it pours from fannie mae, freddie mac. california attorney general camilla harris has filed suit against both entities seeking seeking -- questions after the firm's federal regulators sought to block and you open-ended inquiry by the state. the feds moving in on both of these lenders as to what their executives knew and when they knew it about the loans. the troubles continue. the scene on capitol hill right now where there is not much going on right now payroll tax extension lays in the abyss to a guy who says we are better not having it at all whether it's two months or a year. ron johnson you think fighting over something that's a mistake, period? i heard your lead out where you said i couldn't be happier. >> i couldn't be more frustrated. bottom line is we have $15 trillion worth of debt. another trillion dollars next year. bankrupting social security. now we have this stupid debate at the end of the year here extending or bankrupting social security further next year i don't want continue to crease taxes to anybody. we could certainly target some kind of tax relief to middle, to lower income workers not further bankrupt social security. >> where would this resolve? many other republicans who share this when it comes to extending the bush tax cuts? >> again, the payroll tax is supposed to be a temporary reduction for one year. that's the problem with any kind of temporary tax is every time you go to increase it you will cause economic harm. that's one of the reasons you have to be careful when you start lowering taxes. >> i understand, senator. that's chump change when it comes to the bush tax rates. i don't know your record individually but many your colleagues say no no they don't have to be paid for. all of the sudden this by comparison you are right it's a lot of money but by comparison nickel and dimes. >> the bush tax cuts average $150 billion per year. the argument moving forward is should you be increasing taxes certainly with an incredibly weak economy i don't think we should. i don't want to increase taxes. the number one component of the solution, neil, is economic growth. you don't want to do anything to harm that at the same time, you have to take a look at the fiscal condition of our overall government as well as the entitlement programs like social security. both are going bankrupt when start recognizing that we need to start getting serious about it the main problem is we have no presidential leadership. his budget would have added $12 trillion to our deficit. it lost zero to -- the democrat controlled senate hasn't passed a budget. the reason we are doing this at the end of the year is because we didn't pass the budget. we didn't go through the appropriations process. washington is a mess. it's totally dysfunctional. >> neil: yeah, he has got the president a 38% approval rating. congress has 11% approval rating. it seems to me the american people are saying we think both of you guys are jokes. >> sure, neil, washington is dysfunctional. it wasn't intended and not capable of managing 24% of our economy. the problem is the size the scope, the regulation and intrusion into our lives the cost of government. that's what we need to target. we need to focus in on that like a laser. >> neil: merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. >> neil: when we come back, all i do is offer my help, my only help to men. aimlessly wandering shopping malls and i got so much grief from women. of course. ♪ [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. c . knowing that i could smoke during the first week was really important to me. 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. ♪ ♪ >> neil: well, you know, we are getting a lot, lots of reaction to my shopping tips for men. things like handy advice, avoiding purr fume and opting instead for processed meat and cheeses for the special woman in your life. oddly enough, the criticism is coming from women. ♪ ♪ >> ahhh! >> neil: ladies, i don't understand. that pretty much sums up the reaction from the fairer sex so far. i can't believe it. helen in west palm beach florida writes -- childish? i know you are, but what am i? why i'm at us, i'm rubber, you're glue. whatever you say bounces off me and sticks the you. connie in new york city -- >> neil: well, i'm not. diane in roxbury, massachusetts -- james via yahoo.com -- that would be me, dave! no one else comes close to my retail genius. steven in anchorage -- well, your girlfriend doesn't reserve you. count yourself lucky. carolyn in pittsburgh -- you're a lawyer, aren't you, caroline? from fort wayne -- >> neil: that's way too early, kent. try saturday, mid-afternoon. marjorie via gmail.com -- >> neil: let me at it! anyway, jim, via gmail -- >> neil: kathleen says -- >> neil: young lady, i could fell a smocks of hickory farm sampler basket headed for under your tree. thank me later. kimberly in dallas -- john, in fort wayne -- chad says -- >> neil: get her a hickory farm basket and all will be forgiven. trust me on this one. scott in new york city -- >> neil: that is easy, processed cheeses. try it. victor in georgia -- >> neil: well, come one, come all, my megamunching man cave awaits. it's outside my house right now, but that's where you find it. that will do it here. i'll see you in an hour on the fox business network, where we pick up the shopping tips but the latest from a very, very prominent economist warning of a possible recession if we do not get a payroll tax extension. mark zandi the man. he, too, a big believer in processed meats and cheeses. this holiday season. if you don't get fox business, you won't know about the processed meat and cheese things. what do they do? >> they got to demand it i'm confused, do i get the hickory farm basket or not get the hick torrey farms basket? do i an kel? i'm sd.