what some regard as flaky thing? well, of course a person a person has to be careful with statements that they make and that is true and i think now there will be an opportunity to speak fully on the issues. i look forward to that. good morning. it s 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set, we have jon meach meachum, harold ford jr., andrew ross sorkin and in boston, msnbc he s back? i didn t think we were going to get him back? he wouldn t leave the studio. mike barnacle. we got a lot to talk about michele bachmann, of course ask, you whether you ask that is amazing. can we was that an amazing interview, especially the fact it was on fox? give any credit? no? i think that s what chris wallace claims he does. maybe he show it had there. harder on republicans. i don t know. i think somebody you know what makes me feel better that interview but it didn t
around. he s coming in the room finally. get joe biden out and him in. they want to hear from the man or woman in charge. the president is the person in charge. he s the one to force consensus and make concessions the republicans will believe they can count on. it s important. when i say i ll get republican votes to do this, they look at me and go okay, we ll do it. otherwise, it s squishy and everyone takes a risk. i want to be clear on taxes. at this point, they are not the same thing. we have had fair tax rates and people consider tax rates on the wealthiest. i think we are at a point where it is. i don t want to be overly critical. we have tracked car jobs and we have problems in our system.
compromise. it s going to be up to the president, the speaker and senator reid. they need to get in the room and finish it off. you are shaking your head. it s disappointing. we talk about having an adult conversation at the table. we are not having that conversation because taxes have been taken off the table. here we are, we are back to cuts, how we cut and which things they are going to cut. the washington post talked about how republicans are putting a big defense cut on the table. i want to talk tax cuts. that s a positive. the question is, it s always a two-way street and we still haven t got there. hold on, let me explain why i think both sides are on the same side of the street. because mitch mccon el said something revealing there. i think as we say that about mitch, he said something very
me, then i come in to bless the deal. it s not what the president is. it s a fine system of government. do you think it s what we are in now? if he doesn t step up to the plate, we ll drift. the president is the person who can stop the drift. what should republicans in washington be willing to concede? i m not in the room so i don t know what they should be willing to compromise. i think the president and the republicans have to say what are we going to do that makes us uncomfortable? that s when you get real compromise. when i used to settle cases as a lawyer, i knew i got to a good place when i wasn t happy when i walked out and the other side wasn t. the tea party don t challenge the house?
it depends on what they agree to. i m going to assess it. get in the room and start working. i believe these folks are well intended people who know there s a huge problem. there s a freight train coming down the track at us. it s getting closer and closer. they have to fix it. if the president and the republicans sit in the room and say we have to fix this, what are we going to do? have the republicans conceded on anything, though? is there any reporting on that? i think you can t work with mika, i don t think they should concede anything until the guy who can concede on behalf of the democratic party gets in the room and concedes himself. what did you take off the table when you started? you took nothing off the table. republicans have taken off the table. do you think that s the right