programming note. david drgregory will interview m geithner on meet the press sunday on nbc. check your local listings for times. back now to the news nation political postscript. much of this week was dominated by the looming fiscal cliff. we ve heard a lot of talk, a little progress, and several signs that this debate may go up to the last minute. i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country only if democrats will do entitlement reform. no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. times have changed significantly and i care more about this country than i do about a 20-year-old pledge. we would certainly highlight who has kept their commitment and who hasn t. if the president s willing to accept 80% of the bush tax cuts for 98% of the american people, and make them permanent, i think that is a point we should agree on. if congress does nothing,
scrambled politics. grover norquist as an unusual way of describing republicans who might abandon his anti-tax pledge to avoid the fiscal cliff. no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. they ve had some people discussing impure thoughts on national television. we would certainly highlight who has kept their commitment and who hasn t. well, things got personal between senate majority leader harry immediate and minority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday. mcconnell is angry about reid s plan to end filibusters on so-called motions to proceed done before any final debate. shutting off our right to express the views of our constituents as is being proposed would effectively shut these people out of the process. he will break the rules of the senate in order to change the rules of the senate. americans believe congress is broken. once again, the only ones who disagree with mitch mcconnell
today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years or something. no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. they ve had some people discussing impure thoughts on national television. the same thing with other people who are elected because they made that written commitment to the people of their state. that sounds like a threat. why does he keep making this romantic sexual thing? don t make it sexual! impure thoughts? romance and marriage? he s really sad. he s a little heartbroken here. he s had a lot of his life in this sacred oath, and they re discarding it like it was nothing. dan, two grover s point, you know, are those republicans having just impure thoughts as he put it, or are they willing to move away from the pledge and actually when it comes down to it not just increase revenues
bigger issue to me. it is not necessarily about grover norquist or a pledge and what you run on as you head to congress. some of these speeches and we have all heard them and been to the rallies. they make promises that are virtually impossible to keep and that s the problem with the governance, the mind of not moving the ball forward in the current congress. you can t make promises you can t keep. these types of i will never do this and always do that, that s a bad way to start things off and you re seeing that now because they re having to change the rhetoric. i want to play sound from grover norquist. let s play it and i want to talk to you about it on the other side. take a listen. no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. you have had people discussing impure thoughts on national television. we would highlight who has kept the commitment and who hasn t. interesting. the two most prominent voice that is have come out in opposition to norquist s pledge,
horror, break with their sacred pledge to grover norquist. i m not obligated on the pledge i made tennesseans aware is just elected that the only thing i m honoring is the oath that i take when i serve when i m sworn in this january. there s a lot that has been said about this pledge, and i will tell you when i go to the constituents that have elected re-elected me, it is not about that pledge. it really is about trying to solve problems. when you re $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming greece, but i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country only if democrats will do entitlement reform. sounds great, doesn t it? only one problem, this apparent kiss-off to the anti-tax guru appears to be pure lip service. as mr. norquist himself expressed this morning in somewhat colorful language. no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase.