the banks. that compromise legislation was voted down by lawmakers. and on that day, the dow plunged 778 points. what is your message to particularly your republican colleagues in the house about this debt deadline and the prospect of voting down a compromise? i think that default isn t an option. we need to solve this. we need to do it in a way that is consistent with solving the problem, which isn t just the debt limit increase, it is the debt. we have to start making a dent in that, which is why i think republicans in the house and the senate have insisted on dollar-for-dollar reduction in spending to go along with the increase in the debt limit along with an entitlement program. those things will have to be in the plan to pass the house and senate. brian williams has a special tonight on dateline: taking the hill on the workings of congress in the middle of this debt drama. and he spoke with majority leader reid about that view so many americans have right now. the american
majority in the house actually has a plan for getting rid of the loopholes. i am for getting rid of loopholes. i think it s fundamentally unfair that ge paid no taxes this year, and i think most of the american people agree with me. but what we need to do is we need to lower tax rates and we need to broaden the base so everyone gets treated equally. can i pin you down on one point? absolutely. if your speaker supports the compromise that they re negotiating today, will you vote yes for it? i d have to look at it. i m not sure. but what has to be in it to get you to yes? you know, for me, the balanced budget amendment s really important, but i think there s enough members of the house that will probably support it so it can pass. i think the votes are there. votes are there in the house. that s important because i think the votes are there for it, because the majority of the house have already voted for a similar plan. right, but there d be no balanced budget amendme
and the people in the media never talk about it. the ryan budget that was passed overwhelmingly by the house majority in the house actually has a plan for getting rid of the loopholes. i am for getting rid of loopholes. i think it s fundamentally unfair that ge paid no taxes this year, and i think most of the american people agree with me. but what we need to do is we need to lower tax rates and we need to broaden the base so everyone gets treated equally. can i pin you down on one point? absolutely. if your speaker supports the compromise that they re negotiating today, will you vote yes for it? i d have to look at it. i m not sure. but what has to be in it to get you to yes? you know, for me, the balanced budget amendment s really important, but i think there s enough members of the house that will probably support it so it can pass. i think the votes are there. votes are there in the house. that s important because i think the votes are there for it, because the ma
some who want to see taxes as part of the approach. i certainly don t, and i don t think most republicans do and i think we believe that if tax reform is a part of that discussion of the permanent committee, and it certainly can be, it ought to be with an eye toward broadening the base, lowering the rates, and getting the economy growing again. tax reform can be a very useful tool in terms of economic growth, but i don t think tax increases are on the agenda of any republican in the house or senate. can you vote for what s taking shape right now, as you know about it? it s hard to say because we haven t seen the details. i don t like where this is headed. i m not a big fan of the joint committee. but remember, this is probably going to be as good of an outcome as we can get, and most of us will have to accept things we don t like in the final product. senator mccaskill, you were in your office yesterday. we have pictures of you on the phone talking to constituents. and you sent o
businesses, it means no hiring it was a setback. he caused the panic, not the media. so, tom, you ve been in washington a long time. the reality is the president got very close to a deal working it himself and that blew up. he obviously took a different tact here. he was working a deal with john boehner. a lot of people thought they would get that done. it was a grand deal, but the speaker couldn t sell it, and the house of representatives, i think it s really kind of foolish to talk about winners and losers at this point. there are no winners i see on this landscape at the moment, and we re going to have to kind of work our way through a very, very swampy piece of washington real estate to see whether we can get to the high ground or not. but obviously, this has not been a great time for the president, it s not been a great time, especially, for the speaker. if the house does approve the harry reid bill, that will be a little bit of a comeback, but if they reject in the house th