the looming fiscal cliff is leaving many small businesses in limbo in this country. some owners say uncertainty over potential tax hikes is keeping them from expanding and hiring new employees and analysts warn, that s a recipe for disaster in this already sluggish economy. anna kooiman joins us with more. many small businesses owners say they re kind of operating on the defensive right now. it s tough to plan. they re making decisions based on business coming in and the risk of losing it all. arthur cooper is concerned that the change in tax rates will hurt his ability to hire so he doesn t want to expand. when you don t know what the rules are, all right? and that s it s hard to be aggressive and it s hard to
0 president should lead right now not cast blame. correspondent s henry is live from the white house. he is frustrated going on a talk show today in the middle of the negotiations. he has not been on one of the programs since 2009. he felt it was important to get the message out there. you are right he was pounding the same message again and again f. we go up the fiscal cliff for not meeting them halfway. not because democrats and congre congre congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate but i think it has been hard for speaker boehner and republican mcconnell to accept the fact taxes on wealthiest should go up a little bit sweas well as a deficit reduction package. if they can t say yes to good offers i have an obligation to make sure the entire burden of deficit reduction doesn t fall on seniors who are relying on medicare. republicans are expressing frustration saying the president is trying to put the blame on them for going off the cliff but when senator mcconnell was brou
private sector spending. we also see it in hiring. i spoke to arthur cooper, owner of a internet marketing company, who is concerned the change in tax rates will hurt his ability to hire and reward his employees. when you don t know what the rules are, all right? that s a it s hard to be aggressive and it s hard to be really resolute and in your business planning. this is echoed by many. barbara and her husband are concerned if congress fails to act their company would suffer as they make up the difference in salary increases. i don t want to lay anyone off. it s become like a family here. there are 12 people that work here and we have they all have children and you feel a little bit responsible for them. i know i m not supposed to do that but i can t separate myself from the rest of them. economists say the wallets of
0 who is up at the podium right now. gregg: let s take a look at the shot. they are continuing to discuss this. we think there could be a path forward. one thing there is democrats have come out and made a change on cpi and republicans are concerned if that is not used as an offset to replace some of the spending cuts that would occur under sequester that democrats put forward and alternative. this is a process, there is a lot of things going on right now but republicans don t want to see new revenues, democratic tax increases to be used for new spending. that is where many of our members have drawn the line right now. and democrats want to use.. [ inaudible ] there are other issues involved but that is one example. frankly i mean it s not just about replacing question se questions terror putting a place a policy that will protect social security in the long term. that being said. if democrats don t accept that as an offset, then come up with something else. because raising taxes
the debt in a serious way. but the way they for behaving, their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are protected. this deal won t affect the debt situation. it will be a political victory for the president. i hope we will have the courage of our convictions when it comes time to raise the debt ceiling to fight for what we believe as republicans. but hats off to the president. he won. south carolina senator lindsay graham and president obama the state of our fragile economy. president obama made his final argument, placing the blame squarely on congress, specifically, house republicans, mr. obama is cautiously opt mifertic that lawmakers will reach a watered-down deal, but no mention of debt, tax reform or entitlements. i m shannon bream. the senate will convene in an hour. we have team coverage on capitol hill and at the white house. we start with mike, live on capitol hill. what s the latest on republicans? and how are they reacti