against the superstorm sandy relief funds. maybe some of the reason is the 67 individuals who voted against the basic $9 billion that only dealt with fund insurance. it may be some within the republican party who are so mean-spirited that they don t want to move forward to help individuals who happen to be, maybe some say, because those are blue states. they re still playing politics. robert, what do you make of that characterization there by representative meeks? were the republicans who said no to sandy aid, were they mean-spirited or just playing politics? i can t speak to that specifically because obviously i haven t spoken to them. i assume what they re saying is of course we care about these flood victims, of course they re hurting, and of course we need to do something for them, but let s have a larger conversation here about how do we pay for this? i assume that. let me just back up for a second. obviously, our hearts go out to the individuals in tristate area of new york
the problem here is i think that republicans in the house are dominated by a group of extreme ideologues who really don t care about the consequences of their actions. there s plenty to talk about in terms of bargaining chips, cutting billions in wasteful spending and military programs and corporate warfare that are needed, addressing means testing of medicare so the wealthier beneficiaries who don t need the help don t get as much help. there s plenty to be done. i think the problem is you have a group of republicans in the house who really aren t interested in governing the country so much as destroying the government. before we go to christina, i m going to ask you, robert, as the ranking republican on this panel, your reaction to what doug just said about the small group of gop ers? it s a small group. i think we have to underscore that. there s a vast majority of republicans, who most likely came out and voted for speaker boehner, who are moderate, who are reasonable. we keep
power panel time magazine s karen tum multi. karen finney and republican strategist robert trainham. now with alex wagner is coming up. we have a spicy enchilada today. lawmakers are channeling their inner publicists in the fiscal cliff negotiations. that pr aside, are we any closer to common ground? and it if all this sounds familiar, it is. we will talk deal making and deja vu with ben jaman wallace walls, and the ranking member of the house budget committee congressman chris van hollen. plus liz wet bar ren s return to washington and her role as a wall street enforcer and activist kerry kennedy joins us for a discussion about human rights and her father s legacy when now starts in a mere 180 seconds. want to try to crack it? yeah, that s the way to do it!
let s bring back the panel beth and tracy and robert. right to you, tracy, we mentioned that hillary clinton is not going to be secretary of state and what is she going to do? she is going to watch a lot of hg tv which i support entirely and if anyone is deserving of a vacation, it is her. and beth, do you think she vacations or runs? well, she will take a vacation and somebody said to me a political strategist, you don t make a decision like that unless you are tanned and rested. so i think that she will get to that point and then make the decision. it is obvious she is the most prominent person in the country, and she will run. and now a good or bad thing for the republicans? eight years ago you would say it is a good thing. it is a good thing for the country to have that conversation and good thing for the republicans.
let s see if we have that conversation. and shameless plugs, beth? i will plug my colleague who is getting a gig for correspondent on the news and it is a well deserved job. arrested development, and let s get premier in d.c. i agree. and jason bayman are you listening? tracy and i no biggerer fans. tonight on sirius radio, i will be having a gab fest about politics. you can find politics and pint this weekend and if you want to wear headphones and listen to robert and karen, more power to you. that is it for this edition of the daily rundown. tomorrow chuck is life in cambodia where he is traveling with the president. and next on msnbc, it is jansing & company. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough.