it s jobs bills. it s getting rid of loopholes for oil companies. it s a whole series of things. so if these rules are changed, as poisonous as the republicans claim they are, will president obama be able to have a successful second term? will he be able to get to climate change? will he be able to get to immigration reform without the republicans getting in the way? well, i think under there is no magic set of rule changes. but if we go with the 51 vote option, with the most robust form, it certainly puts us in a much better position because there will be accountability before the public. as you said, the public is with us. they want to end the war in afghanistan. they want to create jobs. they absolutely would love to see us get rid of secret campaign donations, and so on and so forth. senator jeff merkley, great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. coming up, president obama s inaugural address laid out the case for change on a number of important issues.
he ll use every tool at his hands. every tool available, if you will. and it s why he so fiercely opposes the talking filibuster, because then he couldn t kill bills in secret. the disclose act on the floor widely supported. get rid of secrecy in campaign donations. they filibustered it. but not with anyone making the case on the floor or before the american people. was the complete silent objection, no accountability, no transparency. and the result is we still have this huge secret pools of funds that are corrupting our political system. and it s bill after bill. it s jobs bills. it s getting rid of loopholes for oil companies. it s a whole series of things. so if these rules are changed, as poisonous as the republicans claim they are, will president obama be able to have a successful second term? will he be able to get to climate change? will he be able to get to immigration reform without the republicans getting in the way? well, i think under there
laura: this is a drop in the bucket in the end. if republicans are blamed anyway. bush is being blamed for the bad economy in the last election still. better to get back on principle here and stick to first principles if you are still a conservative party and still believe that. if you don t believe that you better tell the american people you are okay for some tax increases. no question about that. one thing we learned we will get blamed no matter happens. the republicans in the house passed 30 jobs bills and sent them to the senate where they died and passed a budget every year. sent it to the senate and died and they get no credit for that. no matter what happens they will blame us. we learned that lesson well over the last two years. laura: thanks so much. and directly ahead, barack obama mapping out plans for his second term. how far left will the president take the country? we will have a debate. later on, more on supreme court justice sonia sotomayor s
laura: this is a drop in the bucket in the end. if republicans are blamed anyway. bush is being blamed for the bad economy in the last election still. better to get back on principle here and stick to first principles if you are still a conservative party and still believe that. if you don t believe that you better tell the american people you are okay for some tax increases. no question about that. one thing we learned we will get blamed no matter happens. the republicans in the house passed 30 jobs bills and sent them to the senate where they died and passed a budget every year. sent it to the senate and died and they get no credit for that. no matter what happens they will blame us. we learned that lesson well over the last two years. laura: thanks so much. and directly ahead, barack obama mapping out plans for his second term. how far left will the president take the country? we will have a debate. later on, more on supreme court justice sonia sotomayor s
laura: this is a drop in the bucket in the end. if republicans are blamed anyway. bush is being blamed for the bad economy in the last election still. better to get back on principle here and stick to first principles if you are still a conservative party and still believe that. if you don t believe that you better tell the american people you are okay for some tax increases. no question about that. one thing we learned we will get blamed no matter happens. the republicans in the house passed 30 jobs bills and sent them to the senate where they died and passed a budget every year. sent it to the senate and died and they get no credit for that. no matter what happens they will blame us. we learned that lesson well over the last two years. laura: thanks so much. and directly ahead, barack obama mapping out plans for his second term. how far left will the president take the country? we will have a debate. later on, more on supreme court justice sonia sotomayor s