welcome to new york. happy new year s eve everyone. welcome to the fox news countdown to 2015. i m anna kooiman. and i m jesse watters. it s time to start the party. yes, we re honored everyone is welcoming us into their homes tonight. yes, we have one of the best views of times square. in the shadow of the famous waterford crystal new year s eve ball. let s give everybody perspective, jesse. because right behind us, this is insane, this tradition has been going on in new york city since 1904 the people have been gathering into times square. the first ball dropped in 1907. it was just iron and wood. we ve come a long way. we have. now there s thousands of crystals and tens of thousands of l.e.d. lights. a million people are packed into times square. and we get to be part of it. that s right. and there s a billion people watching tonight. we ve got a great show. in a few hours we re going to have kimberly joining us. the famous bob beckel. do you think there s going
speaker, john boehner encouraging both sides to try to get the job done. president barack obama: we move forward together or don t move forward at all. so, as we leave town for a few days, to be with our families, for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody perspective. we proposed plans over and over again, the democrats used to support, but now they won t. i don t want taxes to go up. republicans don t want taxes to go up. but we only run the house and democrats continue to run washington. rick: a democratic political consultant, former advisor to hillary clinton s 2008 presidential campaign, and a former media spokesperson for president george w. bush. welcome to you both and what a mess. mercedes, if you are speaker boehner, do you want to sit back and let the president and democrats on the hill run this show? well, unfortunately, that is
leaders of congress to work toward the package that prevents a tax hike on middle class americans, protects unemployment insurance for 2 million americans. and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. that is an achievable goal. as we leigh town for a few days to be with the families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody perspective. everybody can cool off. everybody can drink some eggnog. obama about an hour ago encouraging lawmakers to go home for the holiday, come back and get a deal done to avoid the fiscal cliff. bring in the panel. steve hayes for weekly standard with us, as well as a.b. stoddard associate editor of the hill. syndicated columnnist charles krauthammer. this was your lightning round topic but we are moving it up so you start us off. are we going to get a deal before the 2nd of january or go tumbling off the cliff? it looks more and more likely that we will go off the
legislation in to law. before january 1 of next year. it s that simple. averting this middle class tax hike is not a democratic responsibility or a republican responsibility. with their votes, the american people determined that governing is a shared responsibility between both parties. in this congress, laws can only pass with support from democrats and republicans. that means nobody gets 100% of what they want. everybody has to give a little bit. in a sensible way. we move forward together, or we don t move forward at all. so, as we leigh town for a few days to be with our families, for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody perspective. even can cool off. everybody can drink some eggnog. have christmas cookies, sing
washington. reporter: the president left town for his traditional christmas in hawaii and he and his family arriving there this morning and he has gotten in a round of golf already. before leaving the white house, he stayed back hayes spe scal back his expectations, and he said it is time for compromise. president barack obama: we move forward together sore we don t move forward at all. so, as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody perspective. reporter: if nothing is done by the end of the year taxes go up on everyone and unemployment benefits would end for about 2 million americans. jamie? jamie: steve centanni working the story for us in washington. rick: it looks more and more likely, there may not be a deal. what would it mean? according to the tax policy center, 90% of americans would see a tax hike next year, 121