0 yes, the season for wheeling and dealing, and not just bargain hunting at the mal. washington lawmakers face their first test since house republicans backed off the government shutdown. that deal, of course, created a new economic deadline, a congressional budget by this friday. so both houses of congress looking to strike their first agreement since 2011. the last two years haven't seen much consensus. the "washington post" is reporting the new deal may provide a cease fire. under one approach, the white house would push off demands for deficit cutting. the president has said the deficit should take a back seat to jobs right now. there are also tense negotiations over cutting hiking security fees. and lawmakers also talking about partially repealing the sequester spending cuts. proposals to extend jobless benefits for the long term unemployed have also hit a snag. the president says those benefits are critical for many >> and perry? >> key distinction, the republicans for a long time have favored reducing unemployment benefits. right now, under federal law, you have up to 73 weeks of unemployment benefits. that's why -- there's a number that's been high, because the recession has been so difficult and people have a hard time finding jobs. but the traditional number is something like 26 weeks. and the republicans want to move that number down a lot. their argument is basically the economy is getting better. and they don't want the federal government to spend that much money. so you have a big ideological debate here about the role of unemployment benefits, rand paul, this kind of keeps people from getting jobs. the economic data suggests that's not true. that said, it's hard to get house republicans to agree to basically, you know -- withdraw sequester and also increase unemployment benefits in the same two weeks. so i think it's going to be the challenge as we go forward here. >> the washington speak on this is you might get more results if you don't have to have them swallow too many bitter pills at once. the skeptical view that many people have, they're not going to do it. the budget here, as i mentioned to the senator, seems to be a place where republicans don't want to double down. dana, let's listen for a second to something senator rand paul just said. >> what detroit needs to thrive is not washington's domineering hand, but freedom from big government's mastery. to thrive, detroit needs less government and more freedom. >> that is, senator paul in detroit. he gets some points for going there. a lot of congress members would rather ignore detroit, entirely. even though it's the largest municipal bankruptcy. what do you make of this for ray into the midwest? >> it sounds like senator paul was using his own words. so that is some progress there today. but the formula is essentially what he's proposed for everything, and that is tax cuts for everybody, all of the time, for whatever reason. so rand paul has been a bit of an outlier among republicans. he'll go and speak to an african-american group at howard university, oil go and express some concern for detroit. but ultimately, it's very much the same libertarian philosophy that he's voiced all along. and that is we're not doing anything for you but cutting taxes. >> right. and perry, that is -- i think that's a fair assessment. and when you look at this budget that apparently will not cut more taxes. if you believe the "washington post" reporting of the cease fire, a lot can change. what do you make of a republican house that won't get anymore cuts? >> i'm surprised by this. i mean, i think this is where we're headed. this is the result of the shutdown, and other republicans sort of -- losing that shutdown. what you have basically is a real compromise here. the senate democrats proposed $1.1 trillion in spending for 2014. the republicans in the house proposed 9.7 -- $970 billion, i should say. so meeting in the middle, about $1 trillion. and that's a real compromise. the republicans were not compromising, really, until this shutdown, which taught them that the white house was serious about not cutting spending too much. >> yeah. i think that's apt. and i think that's what the senator was saying, as well. perry with the numbers, dana mill bank with the attitude. thank you both. >> thanks, ari, good to see you. >> absolutely. coming up, we turn to another important story, the one-year anniversary of the newtown shootings is this week. and if congress is unable to accomplish anything on gun safety, at the very least, they can heed these words today from parents of the victims. >> we ask that you consider performing an act of kindness or volunteering with a charitable organization in your own local community. we hope that some small measure of good may be returned to the world. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.