rank and file democrats in the house. to talk about the house, speaker john boehner made a surprise appearance at the capitol today banging the gavel in the pro forma session to actually keep the house open. he actually did that from the chair. they don t usually do that, they do it with one the lower members. he s got a conference call later this afternoon scheduled to his members. in an e-mail sent to his members obtained by nbc news, he said, discussions are under way on legislation that will cut government spending more than it increases the debt limit, it advances the cause of a balanced budget amendment without job killing tax hikes. these talks are moving in the right direction but serious issues remain and no agreement will be filed until members have a chance to weigh in. so you notice there in boehner s a letter to his own members of the house in the gop, no job killing tax cuts. we won the argument on taxes. discussions are under way.