now that the tea party era of congress has officially gotten under way with republicans holding a 242-193 majority in the house of representatives, will the new democratic minority show the same kind of discipline and unity that swept the republicans back into power? and what strategies can leader nancy pelosi and her team use to defend their achievements against republican assault? joining me now is congressman chris van hollen, former head of the democratic national campaign committee, and now the ranking minority party member on the house budget committee. congressman, thank you ver much for joining us tonight. good to be with you, lawrence. now, we just heard in our first segment from a new tea party member of the house, allen west, sounding very much very suddenly like a politician trying to spin his way out of a promise. in this case, the spending cut of $100 billion in the first year. did you think the republicans
now that the tea party era of congress has officially gotten under way with republicans holding a 242-193 majority in the house of representatives, will the new democratic minority show the same kind of discipline and unity that swept the republicans back into power? and what strategies can leader nancy pelosi and her team use to defend their achievements against republican assault? joining me now is congressman chris van hollen, former head of the democratic national campaign committee, and now the ranking minority party member on the house budget committee. congressman, thank you ver much for joining us tonight. good to be with you, lawrence. now, we just heard in our first segment from a new tea party member of the house, allen west, sounding very much, very suddenly, like a politician, trying to spin his way out of a