with 15 minutes of debate, a $900 billion money bill, appropriations bill, which was full of pork barrel projects, earmarks and not one single amendment was aloud. i identified $3.5 million of pork in the defense part of the appropriations bill. and usually, in crisis like this, the president leads. i have served now, this is the fifth president that i have served under. every other president, republican and democrat, if faced with this kind of an impasse, would be calling the leaders over the white house, sit down and iron this out this. president goes shopping to get a toy for his dog. the president should be leading and he s not. he is exploiting this issue for short-term political gain. yes, the american people have every reason to be frustrated. i believe every incumbent is in danger right now. and every incumbent should be. greta: two other issues.
change the culture, who cares? like that is not what we re focused on right now. martha: here is why i think it does matter. when you talk about the stimulus package for starters, the criticism of that was that he sort of handed it over to congress and a lot of people s pork barrel projects in the pipeline what went through as a result of stimulus instead of really substantive things that could have helped the economy. that doesn t change the culture. look at relationship with wall street for example, which he talks down to a lot and still, accept as lot of money from wall street investors in the campaign. that doesn t sound like changing culture. so very specific things with regard to the economy, what has hurt the economy and what could help the economy don t seem to be, you know, on the agenda necessarily when it comes to that issue of changing the culture. well go ahead. martha: kirsten, go ahead. we ll come back. i just feel like the idea that somehow with the stimulus for
his own white house run, and who now plans to host a republican debate, after christmas. then there is ex-candidate herman cain whose endorsement could go to gingrich eventually. though he now says he s going to take his time. stay with us, we ll bring you those comments live at 1:45 eastern time. also, president obama, we are told, is going to have some sort of statement or briefing in the briefing room of the white house. the subject is going to be taxes. a lot of talk of that up on capitol hill. we ll hear what the president has to say this hour. and what does first class mean to you? to the debt-laden u.s. postal service it would mean two to five days instead of one to three days. trying to help trim $20 billion a year from the postal service by 2015. it would mean closing more than half the agencies 463 mail processing facilities across the country. going to mean a lot of layoffs, too. i ll have some questions for the post master general in our face time segment
unproductive investments and the pork barrel projects and we will be less productive. neil: will the president ever be in sync with the business community? guest: no, i don t think is. the president as far as i can tell, does not believe to free markets. he believes in the government criminalling the economy. he has shown that over and over and i don t think he, i think he is at loggerheads with company c.e.o. s. by the way there are many c.e.o. s who are not free market types they like government control and the government keeping their foreign competitors away, and they like government subsidies so there are many c.e.o. s who don t believe in free markets. but i believe that the president will never be in tune with businesses. his philosophy is at right angles to what business needs. neil: there goes your christmas invite from the white house, but, always good to see
defend medicare, at all costs it will be really hard to cut into it. if you put a conservative republican from a state that has a navy base, or something, they will not want to dip into the pentagon. so you will have to find the right balance and it will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination but the signal we get from top people at the white house is they want to make sure to give the leaders on the hill room to make their pick and not have the president interfere. they want people who are ready to work in the new age of transparent not the same old pork barrel projects. otherwise, the country is going to be right back in this same problem and on the education of default not too far down the road. shepard: haven t the president and others used this, from both parties, used this i scratch your back you scratch my back, way of getting things done? it was the back scratching that got important legislation pushed through time and time again.