specifically, these new freshmen who have said we want these spending cuts, we promised the voters spending cuts. and they re indicating that they re going to be unbending on it. but i did speak with the house republican leadership aid that leaders have been talking for a week with this freshmen contingent and communicating with them that maybe the best way to go about this and get the cuts they want is to perhaps approve a short-term funding measure that does have some cuts in it. something that would get them by, perhaps, for another few weeks following march 4th, randi. and there were hundreds of changes on the house floor. what did this bill end up looking like? reporter: this was amazing. this wrapped up this morning, saturd saturday, in the 4:00 a.m. hour. and this wasn t the only late night we saw this week. hundreds of amendments. the overall bill cut $60 billion for the remaining seven months
shakedown. i m not speaking for anybody else, but i apologize. shepard: that didn t work out. barton, the ranking republican on the energy committee, he apparently will not have the top job come january. james rosen in d.c. tonight. the congressman worked hard to overcome that gaffe but i guess not enough. yeah, shep. in the end the g.o.p. steering committee went with the less controversial man. fred upton of michigan, a seven termer. he had his opponents in this battle. they had circulated a long memo all the times he sided against conservatives and voted with the obama administration. it was one of the most spirited battles for a committee gavel. joe barton had angered g.o.p. leaders numerous times like when he posted corporate health care documents online and balked at removing them and at the bp hearings when he appeared to side with the oil giant over the gulf coast spill victims. one former house g.o.p. leadership aid told me at that point everyone in the republican party thr
if the republicans do hit the president in 2012 for increasing the deficit, they will not have larry summers to kick around anymore. the director of the national economic council, a top obama adviser and a bane to economic progressives announced today he is leaving the white house at year s end and will go back and do whatever it was he used to do. let s bring in msnbc political analyst howard fineman, correspondent for newsweek magazine, that s right, and soon to be senior editor at the huffington post. good to see you. good to see you too. how are the tax cut battles going in each chamber? i m here in new york but i m calling and e-mailing back to d.c. i m not entirely sure this is going to be a profile in courage for the democrats. surprise. it sounds like a profile in painful caution. i was talking to leaders leadership aid in both house and senate tonight. the way i understand it, the democrats in the house don t want to go first because of the famous conservative bl
the deficit, they will not have larry summers to kick around anymore. the director of the national economic council, a top obama adviser and a bane to economic progressives announced today he is leaving the white house at year s end and will go back and do whatever it was he used to do. let s bring in msnbc political analyst howard fineman, correspondent for newsweek magazine, that s right, and soon to be senior editor at the huffington post. good to see you. good to see you too. how are the tax cut battles going in each chamber? i m here in new york but i m calling and e-mailing back to d.c. i m not entirely sure this is going to be a profile in courage for the democrats. surprise. it sounds like a profile in painful caution. i was talking to leaders leadership aid in both house and senate tonight. the way i understand it, the democrats in the house don t want to go first because of the famous conservative blue dogs. okay. here we go again. the conservative blue dogs sti
the director of the national economic council, a top obama adviser and a bane to economic progressives announced today he is leaving the white house at year s end and will go back and do whatever it was he used to do. let s bring in msnbc political analyst howard fineman, correspondent for newsweek magazine, that s right, and soon to be senior editor at the huffington post. good to see you. good to see you too. how are the tax cut battles going in each chamber? i m here in new york but i m calling and e-mailing back to d.c. i m not entirely sure this is going to be a profile in courage for the democrats. surprise. it sounds like a profile in painful caution. i was talking to leaders leadership aid in both house and senate tonight. the way i understand it, the democrats in the house don t want to go first because of the famous conservative blue dogs. okay. here we go again. the conservative blue dogs still feel upset that they were made to vote for that cap and trade envir