Transcripts For CNNW Starting Point 20130102 : comparemela.c

Our starting point, what on earth just happened . Financial markets up, but it took one fractured vote to make it happen. Lets recap. Late last night, the house of representatives passed the senates fiscal cliff bill. The final tally, 257167, and while 151 republicans voted no, it is worth noting its speaker, john boehner, voted yes, so did paul ryan, by the way. Here is the deal that took over 500 days to seal. No tax hikes for couples earning less than 450,000 a year. Itemized deductions, and Unemployment Benefits extended and alternative minimum tax adjusted for inflation. Here is the deal. What the deal doesnt address is federal spending. Drastic domestic and defense cuts have been put off for more than two months. Looking ahead that could get messy if this is an indication, think about that. And also the debt ceiling this is the end of february this is now at 16 16. 4 trillion and by e way, we just blew past that this week. The president drawing a line in the sand for that upcoming battle. I will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already wracked up. The congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time. And the consequences for the entire Global Economy would be catastrophic. Far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff. So that was the president , lets talk to Brianna Keilar. Covers the white house for us. Live this morning from washington. Brianna, we ran through the biggies there in the bill. I want you to run through whats not included in this bill. What you just mentioned, the spending cuts that are only in police for two months and then have to be dealt with, and the fact that the debt ceiling is going to be hit. Right now, the treasury is taking extraordinary measures so it doesnt. But ultimately, congress will have to act in late february or early march. Those are the things that congress has absolutely no choice. There is a deadline. Have to deal with it. But democrats and republicans in the white house have also said they want to tackle longterm deficit reduction. That was the whole point of the fiscal cliff. That was supposed to be the incentive for tackling longterm deficit reduction. How are they going to do that . Entitlement reform. Republicans are bigger fans of, and tax reform. These are the things that Congress Wants to tackle, kind of needs to tackle, but isnt that hard and fast deadline. And it will be attached to spending cuts and debt ceiling sort of to give everything a deadline. This is big stuff. This gets to the fundamental disagreements between democrats and republicans, hold on to your hats and glasses, folks, it will be a wild two months. Holding on, holding on. You mentioned between democrats and republicans, key splits in the ayes and nays. Run through the winners and losers in the fiscal cliff fight. There are obvious ones. As a couple if you make 450,000 or more than 400,000 as an individual. You will see tacks go up. If you itemize duck duckses and making more than 300,000 as a couple, 250,000 as an individual, you will see a cap phased in. There are less obvious winners that maybe you didnt know about. Milk sugar and peanut producers, they have a tax cut. It has been preserved in this. Longterm unemployed will see benefits extended. Thats obviously very important. And doctors who might have seen payments from medicare reduced, they wont now. Also the alternative minimum tax. Having covered washington, were always talking about the amt fix, they have to fix it, because its not indexed for inflation. It now is permanently so it doesnt hit the middle class. Thats important. Brianna keilar, thank you very much. Its amazing to think this fight might have been the easy one and we have three more in the next two months. Lets talk about this fight. It was a doozy overnight. We want to know whats going on behind closed doors. Well bring in a reporter from the National Journal following the action behind the scenes in our washington bureau. Chris, this was not a smooth ride. What did it take to get the deal done . Thats the understatement so far of the new year. What it took to get the deal done was a late tagteam effort between Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell and Vice President joe biden. A story coming out online a little later this morning that will take readers behind all these scenes. Let me give you one example. The Senate Republican leader felt like harry reids democratic counterpart wasnt negotiating in good faith, trying torepublicans to the edge of the cliff. He called Vice President joe biden as an end around. Mitch mcconnell walked to the Senate Cloak Room sat down and said socially, look, joe, a lot of these guy s are very smart people, but i dont see the trip wires. Ill call you back with an offer, thats how this start ed 30 hours later, a deal was done. Sitting in the phone booth in the cloak room. Thats amazing. For all of the talk on the Vice President and senate side, so much drama overnight on the house side. Speaker boehner voting for the bill. And eric cantor voting against the bill. The house whip voting against the bill and paul ryan voting for the bill. This is a real split. It is. It shows the schism and a real good demonstration of why it was so difficult for Speaker Boehner to negotiate a bigger, grander deal with the president. He was unable to get his own deal through the house a few weeks ago, and the negotiated deal that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 89 votes in the senate, didnt get the majority of the republicans in the house to sign on. What you are seeing is the difficulty played out for everyone to see of how difficulty it is for Speaker Boehner to get these kinds of bills passed through the house. Quickly, given the schism that you outlined, this is the last day of the 112th congress and tomorrow is the big day for john boehner. How is it looking for them . I think it looks fine for him. A lot of grumbling among folks. He allowed everyone to vote their conscious. No one got forced into voting for something they didnt want to. We avoided the fiscal cliff. It doesnt seem like there will be a late comer. There were a lot of political levers being pulled over the next six days. Thank you so much for joining thus morning. Good stuff. Thats the politics. What about the politics and the money . What does it mean for everyone. Money, money, money. Your tax rates are not going up unless you are rich. For 98 of americans, but paychecks will be smaller, thats because the 2yearold payroll tax holiday is over. It expired. Its done. The rate you pay out of your paycheck to Fund Social Security goes back up to 6. 2 . Here is how it affects your bottom line. Making 30,000, you will pay about 50 more a month in taxes excuse me. If you are earning 50,000, you will give 83 more a month to the taxes that fun Social Security. If you make 113,000 a year, you will pay an extra 189. This was a measure to get the economy going, stimulative measure, Treasury Department, picked up your toab. It cost us 120 billion a year. A perk to every working american that went away. So your taxes did not go up, but your paycheck will likely be smaller. A twoyear thing. Got to enjoy it for two years, now its over for everyone. And the president saying middle class taxes will not be raised. We are seeing tax goes up. They are. And, look, one thing so interesting about this. We shouldnt be messing with Social Security mechanisms that bothered people in both parties quite flankaccordingly. You will have less money in your paycheck. Asap. U. S. Stock markets dont open for two hours, but stock futures are up sharply now that the house has passed this doozy, to quote you, the fiscal cliff legislation. What about reaction around the world when it comes to the markets . Richard kwis quest quest, live. How are Global Investors reacting to this . Lets take your theme of money and money makes the world go round. And on this side of the atlantic, what you did on your side overnight has given a rollicking strong move to the markets. Looking at the major markets, the london ftse, up 2 this morning. And in frankfurt, the dax up 2. 2 . All the major borses in europe are up strongly and although i mean, its hard. The critics and politicians and they all may say they didnt like what was done in the United States, but it has been the certainty that is now created the impetus the phrase you will hear excuse me. The phrase you will hear people use is risk on. And heats what were seeing in the markets today. We know the markets like certainty. You look ahead and looking down at the calendar of upcoming crises, the debt ceiling, sequestration, a couple issues in a few weeks, do you anticipate a little bit of change and uncertainty globally . I have no doubt that as the twin peaks of debt ceiling and budget talks continue in the United States this spring, the enthusiasm will abate. Are you basically left on both sides of the atlantic deep uncertainty. A euro zone crisis that seemingly has no end, and u. S. Budget deficit crisis that seemingly has no end. So on this new year, ladies and gentlemen, in new york, just celebrate the fact that you are up 2 on the european markets. Okay. Richard quest. Im celebrating the fact that nothing else this fiscal cliff, two of the best financial minds, Richard Quest and Christine Romans singing. Dow futures up 200 points. You will be singing more later. Moving on to other news. Secretary of state clinton and her health. That close call. Doctors say the blood clot could have been fatal, caused a stroke or led to seizures or epilepsy. Shes being treated with blood thinners, should make a full recovery. Former president bill clinton and daughter chelsea scene visiting her yesterday. Students from Sandy Hook Elementary School return to class tomorrow this is for the very First Time Since the horrendous massacre three weeks ago. But the children wont be back at sandy hook in that building itself. They will attend an empty Elementary School a couple of miles away. Newtown and how about this . Irving pinsky who sought to sue the straight of connecticut, 100 million, has withdrawn the suit for now. Part of the reason . The outcry, too strong. Pinsky represents the parents of a 6yearold survivor. Well have him here on the show in the next hour. Really controversial. A lot of people have a lot of questions for the attorney. In los angeles, a photographer killed last night trying to get a shot of Justin Bieber. The man snapped pictures of a sports car that he thought the popstar was in. The photographer struck and killed while crossing a freeway to return to his own car. In a statement, Justin Bieber said he was not in the sports car, but his thoughts and prayers with the family of the victim. A huge highspeed chase earlier in the year, and if the councilman says this could really have a tragic ending, and sadly a photographer passed away. Still ahead, the fiscal cliff deal passes, but the bruising battle to get there, leaving some political scars, certainly. Also angaer over congress failure to help Hurricane Sandy victims. And armed guards . A controversial decision in one school system. Well talk about that. Youre watching starting point. So i switched my Car Insurance to state farm. Saved 480 bucks. You know what that is . Yeah. Dont say it. So you know what it is, right . Yeah, yeah, dont. Thats a lot of dough [ male announcer ] switch and you could save 480 bucks with state farm. Another lastminute vote. The house passed the fiscal cliff bill around 11 00. 85 republicans voting for the measure. He was disappointed he wasnt more it was a grand bargain, according to the president. Unfortunately, there wasnt enough support or time for that kind of large agreement in lame duck session of congress. And that comes with a cost as the messy nature of the process over the last several weeks made business more uncertain and consumers less confident. But we are continuing to chip away at the problem. Step by step. Congressman steve israel, a democrat of new york, chair of the Democratic Congressional campaign committee, voted in favor of the bill. Congressman, i should say it was quite a night on capitol hill. Your thoughts . Well, look, i voted for it. Elements of the bill i did not like. But at the end of the day, House Democrats injected some adult supervision, some pragmatism and solutions. Thats what the country wants. I voted for it. Falling off the clip isnt an option. I wished the republicans produced more votes. Best they could do is 85, 86 votes. They have the majority in the house of representatives, it was House Democrats who stopped us from going off the cliff. I hope we can find some way to work in a spirit of compromise and cooperation. There is plenty of criticism from the left. What would you have liked . More deficit reduction. Democrats joined with republicans and cut spending 1 trillion in the past so we got that locked in. We have 600 million in revenues. Wish there were more deficit reductions, every time we tried to offer a compromise on broader deficit reductions, even giving them some of the things they wanted, they would move further away from us, up until 11 00 last night. Congressman, let me jump in. One criticism, just jumping on this, the president ran on the promise for the middle class with extending cuts for folks, making 250,000 or below, we know that number is right around the 400,000, 450,000 ballpark range. We know how it went in the senate. Eight no votes before it went to the house, including democrat senator tom harkin, take a listen to what he said. If we are going to have some kind of a deal. The deal must be one that favors the middle class. Those that are making 30,000, 50,000, 70,000 a year. Thats the real middle class in america. And as i see this thing developing, quite frankly, as ive said before, no deal is better than a bad deal and this looks like a very bad deal the way this is shaping up. Congressman, do you agree . Was this . Is this a bad deal . I have a ton of admiration for senator harkin. Middle class is relative. 250,000 may make you wealthy in some areas of the country. It doesnt necessarily make you wealthy in areas like new york and other high cost of living areas. I have been advocating a higher threshold, i am pleased we were able to arrive there. Not the perfect deal but a better deal and a superior deal to going off the cliff, where ch is where we were headed. Were off the cliff, but a whole bummer of series of dates ahead of us, between the debt ceiling vote, sequester issue to deal with by march and fun the government. So there is really three votes ahead of us over the next two or three months. A lot of people think the president may be in a worse, not better negotiating position here. Shown republicans willing to give at the end. Look, i think the American People have had it with games there, are challenges ahead of us, new votes. House democrats showed an ability as i said before to inject pragmatism, and compromise. If we quit playing games with the deficit ceiling and quit the road runner mentality and finding a cliff for every member of congress, got to get this done. You represent part of new york, and congressman, we know what happened on the floor. We know the house will not be voting on sandy aid. 60 billion that the Senate Passed last week. Take a listen to what happened on the floor. The leadership just walked away. Without the courtesy of saying it didnt have time to deal with the millions of people whose lives have been affected. But maybe mr. Speaker if you can remind americans just watching that maybe they should call and ask the congress and ask the speaker, please reconsider. To ignore the flight of millions of american citizens, unprecedented, disgusting, unworthy of the leadership of this house. They should reconsider or hang their heads in shame. Everybody played by the rules, except tonight when the rug was pulled out from under us. Absolutely indefensible. A moral obligation to hold this vote. Peter king, slamming his fist, congressman israel, are you angry as well . Absolutely. I hope i dont get peter king in trouble, but a grow with him. Just when we avoided one cliff, the House Republicans threw us over another. We rushed to aid in cab sxul baghdad when they had damage, but when it comes to aid to new york and new jersey, the House Republican leadership decided we werent worth it. It is indefensible. Thank you for joining us. A crazy night. Glad you made it to the other side. What it was like to be in the room with the republicans voting on this. Reaction from Marsha Blackburn of tennessee. Also ahead, 22 minutes past the hour. With the fiscal cliff deal in place, what about you . What about your 401 k . What could happen on wall stleet . Well talk with that ahead. When kids arrive back in school. They will be greeted by a new site. Armed guards. The new normal its being called. Thats next. Youre watching starting point. So as you can see, geicos Customer Satisfaction is at 97 . Mmmm tasty. And cut very good. People are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. So were taking you behind the scenes. This coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. Its not real. Geicos Customer Satisfaction is quite real though. This computeranimated coffee tastes dreadful. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on Unemployment Benefits<\/a> extended and alternative minimum tax adjusted for inflation. Here is the deal. What the deal doesnt address is federal spending. Drastic domestic and defense cuts have been put off for more than two months. Looking ahead that could get messy if this is an indication, think about that. And also the debt ceiling this is the end of february this is now at 16 16. 4 trillion and by e way, we just blew past that this week. The president drawing a line in the sand for that upcoming battle. I will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already wracked up. The congress refuses to give the United States<\/a> government the ability to pay these bills on time. And the consequences for the entire Global Economy<\/a> would be catastrophic. Far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff. So that was the president , lets talk to Brianna Keilar<\/a>. Covers the white house for us. Live this morning from washington. Brianna, we ran through the biggies there in the bill. I want you to run through whats not included in this bill. What you just mentioned, the spending cuts that are only in police for two months and then have to be dealt with, and the fact that the debt ceiling is going to be hit. Right now, the treasury is taking extraordinary measures so it doesnt. But ultimately, congress will have to act in late february or early march. Those are the things that congress has absolutely no choice. There is a deadline. Have to deal with it. But democrats and republicans in the white house have also said they want to tackle longterm deficit reduction. That was the whole point of the fiscal cliff. That was supposed to be the incentive for tackling longterm deficit reduction. How are they going to do that . Entitlement reform. Republicans are bigger fans of, and tax reform. These are the things that Congress Wants<\/a> to tackle, kind of needs to tackle, but isnt that hard and fast deadline. And it will be attached to spending cuts and debt ceiling sort of to give everything a deadline. This is big stuff. This gets to the fundamental disagreements between democrats and republicans, hold on to your hats and glasses, folks, it will be a wild two months. Holding on, holding on. You mentioned between democrats and republicans, key splits in the ayes and nays. Run through the winners and losers in the fiscal cliff fight. There are obvious ones. As a couple if you make 450,000 or more than 400,000 as an individual. You will see tacks go up. If you itemize duck duckses and making more than 300,000 as a couple, 250,000 as an individual, you will see a cap phased in. There are less obvious winners that maybe you didnt know about. Milk sugar and peanut producers, they have a tax cut. It has been preserved in this. Longterm unemployed will see benefits extended. Thats obviously very important. And doctors who might have seen payments from medicare reduced, they wont now. Also the alternative minimum tax. Having covered washington, were always talking about the amt fix, they have to fix it, because its not indexed for inflation. It now is permanently so it doesnt hit the middle class. Thats important. Brianna keilar, thank you very much. Its amazing to think this fight might have been the easy one and we have three more in the next two months. Lets talk about this fight. It was a doozy overnight. We want to know whats going on behind closed doors. Well bring in a reporter from the National Journal<\/a> following the action behind the scenes in our washington bureau. Chris, this was not a smooth ride. What did it take to get the deal done . Thats the understatement so far of the new year. What it took to get the deal done was a late tagteam effort between Senate Republican<\/a> leader Mitch Mcconnell<\/a> and Vice President<\/a> joe biden. A story coming out online a little later this morning that will take readers behind all these scenes. Let me give you one example. The Senate Republican<\/a> leader felt like harry reids democratic counterpart wasnt negotiating in good faith, trying torepublicans to the edge of the cliff. He called Vice President<\/a> joe biden as an end around. Mitch mcconnell walked to the Senate Cloak Room<\/a> sat down and said socially, look, joe, a lot of these guy s are very smart people, but i dont see the trip wires. Ill call you back with an offer, thats how this start ed 30 hours later, a deal was done. Sitting in the phone booth in the cloak room. Thats amazing. For all of the talk on the Vice President<\/a> and senate side, so much drama overnight on the house side. Speaker boehner voting for the bill. And eric cantor voting against the bill. The house whip voting against the bill and paul ryan voting for the bill. This is a real split. It is. It shows the schism and a real good demonstration of why it was so difficult for Speaker Boehner<\/a> to negotiate a bigger, grander deal with the president. He was unable to get his own deal through the house a few weeks ago, and the negotiated deal that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 89 votes in the senate, didnt get the majority of the republicans in the house to sign on. What you are seeing is the difficulty played out for everyone to see of how difficulty it is for Speaker Boehner<\/a> to get these kinds of bills passed through the house. Quickly, given the schism that you outlined, this is the last day of the 112th congress and tomorrow is the big day for john boehner. How is it looking for them . I think it looks fine for him. A lot of grumbling among folks. He allowed everyone to vote their conscious. No one got forced into voting for something they didnt want to. We avoided the fiscal cliff. It doesnt seem like there will be a late comer. There were a lot of political levers being pulled over the next six days. Thank you so much for joining thus morning. Good stuff. Thats the politics. What about the politics and the money . What does it mean for everyone. Money, money, money. Your tax rates are not going up unless you are rich. For 98 of americans, but paychecks will be smaller, thats because the 2yearold payroll tax holiday is over. It expired. Its done. The rate you pay out of your paycheck to Fund Social Security<\/a> goes back up to 6. 2 . Here is how it affects your bottom line. Making 30,000, you will pay about 50 more a month in taxes excuse me. If you are earning 50,000, you will give 83 more a month to the taxes that fun Social Security<\/a>. If you make 113,000 a year, you will pay an extra 189. This was a measure to get the economy going, stimulative measure, Treasury Department<\/a>, picked up your toab. It cost us 120 billion a year. A perk to every working american that went away. So your taxes did not go up, but your paycheck will likely be smaller. A twoyear thing. Got to enjoy it for two years, now its over for everyone. And the president saying middle class taxes will not be raised. We are seeing tax goes up. They are. And, look, one thing so interesting about this. We shouldnt be messing with Social Security<\/a> mechanisms that bothered people in both parties quite flankaccordingly. You will have less money in your paycheck. Asap. U. S. Stock markets dont open for two hours, but stock futures are up sharply now that the house has passed this doozy, to quote you, the fiscal cliff legislation. What about reaction around the world when it comes to the markets . Richard kwis quest quest, live. How are Global Investors<\/a> reacting to this . Lets take your theme of money and money makes the world go round. And on this side of the atlantic, what you did on your side overnight has given a rollicking strong move to the markets. Looking at the major markets, the london ftse, up 2 this morning. And in frankfurt, the dax up 2. 2 . All the major borses in europe are up strongly and although i mean, its hard. The critics and politicians and they all may say they didnt like what was done in the United States<\/a>, but it has been the certainty that is now created the impetus the phrase you will hear excuse me. The phrase you will hear people use is risk on. And heats what were seeing in the markets today. We know the markets like certainty. You look ahead and looking down at the calendar of upcoming crises, the debt ceiling, sequestration, a couple issues in a few weeks, do you anticipate a little bit of change and uncertainty globally . I have no doubt that as the twin peaks of debt ceiling and budget talks continue in the United States<\/a> this spring, the enthusiasm will abate. Are you basically left on both sides of the atlantic deep uncertainty. A euro zone crisis that seemingly has no end, and u. S. Budget deficit crisis that seemingly has no end. So on this new year, ladies and gentlemen, in new york, just celebrate the fact that you are up 2 on the european markets. Okay. Richard quest. Im celebrating the fact that nothing else this fiscal cliff, two of the best financial minds, Richard Quest<\/a> and Christine Romans<\/a> singing. Dow futures up 200 points. You will be singing more later. Moving on to other news. Secretary of state clinton and her health. That close call. Doctors say the blood clot could have been fatal, caused a stroke or led to seizures or epilepsy. Shes being treated with blood thinners, should make a full recovery. Former president bill clinton and daughter chelsea scene visiting her yesterday. Students from Sandy Hook Elementary School<\/a> return to class tomorrow this is for the very First Time Since<\/a> the horrendous massacre three weeks ago. But the children wont be back at sandy hook in that building itself. They will attend an empty Elementary School<\/a> a couple of miles away. Newtown and how about this . Irving pinsky who sought to sue the straight of connecticut, 100 million, has withdrawn the suit for now. Part of the reason . The outcry, too strong. Pinsky represents the parents of a 6yearold survivor. Well have him here on the show in the next hour. Really controversial. A lot of people have a lot of questions for the attorney. In los angeles, a photographer killed last night trying to get a shot of Justin Bieber<\/a>. The man snapped pictures of a sports car that he thought the popstar was in. The photographer struck and killed while crossing a freeway to return to his own car. In a statement, Justin Bieber<\/a> said he was not in the sports car, but his thoughts and prayers with the family of the victim. A huge highspeed chase earlier in the year, and if the councilman says this could really have a tragic ending, and sadly a photographer passed away. Still ahead, the fiscal cliff deal passes, but the bruising battle to get there, leaving some political scars, certainly. Also angaer over congress failure to help Hurricane Sandy<\/a> victims. And armed guards . A controversial decision in one school system. Well talk about that. Youre watching starting point. So i switched my Car Insurance<\/a> to state farm. Saved 480 bucks. You know what that is . Yeah. Dont say it. So you know what it is, right . Yeah, yeah, dont. Thats a lot of dough [ male announcer ] switch and you could save 480 bucks with state farm. Another lastminute vote. The house passed the fiscal cliff bill around 11 00. 85 republicans voting for the measure. He was disappointed he wasnt more it was a grand bargain, according to the president. Unfortunately, there wasnt enough support or time for that kind of large agreement in lame duck session of congress. And that comes with a cost as the messy nature of the process over the last several weeks made business more uncertain and consumers less confident. But we are continuing to chip away at the problem. Step by step. Congressman steve israel, a democrat of new york, chair of the Democratic Congressional<\/a> campaign committee, voted in favor of the bill. Congressman, i should say it was quite a night on capitol hill. Your thoughts . Well, look, i voted for it. Elements of the bill i did not like. But at the end of the day, House Democrats<\/a> injected some adult supervision, some pragmatism and solutions. Thats what the country wants. I voted for it. Falling off the clip isnt an option. I wished the republicans produced more votes. Best they could do is 85, 86 votes. They have the majority in the house of representatives, it was House Democrats<\/a> who stopped us from going off the cliff. I hope we can find some way to work in a spirit of compromise and cooperation. There is plenty of criticism from the left. What would you have liked . More deficit reduction. Democrats joined with republicans and cut spending 1 trillion in the past so we got that locked in. We have 600 million in revenues. Wish there were more deficit reductions, every time we tried to offer a compromise on broader deficit reductions, even giving them some of the things they wanted, they would move further away from us, up until 11 00 last night. Congressman, let me jump in. One criticism, just jumping on this, the president ran on the promise for the middle class with extending cuts for folks, making 250,000 or below, we know that number is right around the 400,000, 450,000 ballpark range. We know how it went in the senate. Eight no votes before it went to the house, including democrat senator tom harkin, take a listen to what he said. If we are going to have some kind of a deal. The deal must be one that favors the middle class. Those that are making 30,000, 50,000, 70,000 a year. Thats the real middle class in america. And as i see this thing developing, quite frankly, as ive said before, no deal is better than a bad deal and this looks like a very bad deal the way this is shaping up. Congressman, do you agree . Was this . Is this a bad deal . I have a ton of admiration for senator harkin. Middle class is relative. 250,000 may make you wealthy in some areas of the country. It doesnt necessarily make you wealthy in areas like new york and other high cost of living areas. I have been advocating a higher threshold, i am pleased we were able to arrive there. Not the perfect deal but a better deal and a superior deal to going off the cliff, where ch is where we were headed. Were off the cliff, but a whole bummer of series of dates ahead of us, between the debt ceiling vote, sequester issue to deal with by march and fun the government. So there is really three votes ahead of us over the next two or three months. A lot of people think the president may be in a worse, not better negotiating position here. Shown republicans willing to give at the end. Look, i think the American People<\/a> have had it with games there, are challenges ahead of us, new votes. House democrats showed an ability as i said before to inject pragmatism, and compromise. If we quit playing games with the deficit ceiling and quit the road runner mentality and finding a cliff for every member of congress, got to get this done. You represent part of new york, and congressman, we know what happened on the floor. We know the house will not be voting on sandy aid. 60 billion that the Senate Passed<\/a> last week. Take a listen to what happened on the floor. The leadership just walked away. Without the courtesy of saying it didnt have time to deal with the millions of people whose lives have been affected. But maybe mr. Speaker if you can remind americans just watching that maybe they should call and ask the congress and ask the speaker, please reconsider. To ignore the flight of millions of american citizens, unprecedented, disgusting, unworthy of the leadership of this house. They should reconsider or hang their heads in shame. Everybody played by the rules, except tonight when the rug was pulled out from under us. Absolutely indefensible. A moral obligation to hold this vote. Peter king, slamming his fist, congressman israel, are you angry as well . Absolutely. I hope i dont get peter king in trouble, but a grow with him. Just when we avoided one cliff, the House Republicans<\/a> threw us over another. We rushed to aid in cab sxul baghdad when they had damage, but when it comes to aid to new york and new jersey, the House Republican<\/a> leadership decided we werent worth it. It is indefensible. Thank you for joining us. A crazy night. Glad you made it to the other side. What it was like to be in the room with the republicans voting on this. Reaction from Marsha Blackburn<\/a> of tennessee. Also ahead, 22 minutes past the hour. With the fiscal cliff deal in place, what about you . What about your 401 k . What could happen on wall stleet . Well talk with that ahead. When kids arrive back in school. They will be greeted by a new site. Armed guards. The new normal its being called. Thats next. Youre watching starting point. So as you can see, geicos Customer Satisfaction<\/a> is at 97 . Mmmm tasty. And cut very good. People are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. So were taking you behind the scenes. This coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. Its not real. Geicos Customer Satisfaction<\/a> is quite real though. This computeranimated coffee tastes dreadful. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on Car Insurance<\/a>. Someone get me a latte will ya, please . Alriwoah did you get that . And. Flip yep, look at this. It takes like 20 pictures at a time. I never miss anything. Isnt that awesome . Uh thats really cool. You should upload these. I know, right . That is really amazing. The pictures are so clear. Kevins a Handsome Devil<\/a> that phone does everything search dog tricks. Okay, see if we can teach him something cool. Look at how lazy kevin is. Kevin, get it together dude cmon, kevin take 20 pictures with burst shot on the galaxy s3. Good morning. Im Christine Romans<\/a>. U. S. Stock futures up very sharply. Dow futures up 175 points. That suggests a big rally when markets open here in the u. S. European, asian markets also rallying. A pretty good way to start 2013. The s p 500 gains 13. 5 . Thats the best indicator of the stocks part of your 401 k . On the heels of the fiscal cliff deal, a big rally expected at the opening bell in the u. S. The Congressional Budget Office<\/a> has scored the bill. It says the fiscal cliff deal will decrease sorry. Increase deficits by nearly 4 trillion over the next decade. The bulk comes from extending bush era tax cuts for almost every american. This is relative to where deficits would be if we fell completely off the fiscal cliff if congress had done nothing, let the bush tax cuts expired. Allowed big spending cuts to come into effect. Under this scenario a 2. 2. 88 trillion would have been added to the deficit over ten years. Falling off the fiscal cliff would have helped our debt position more but hurt the economy in the near term. Most economists dont expect to us fall off the fiscal cliff. Many expect them to cancel or weaken the fiscal cliff. This bill reduces deficits by about 650 billion. According to the committee for responsible federal budget. Good news, bad news, maybe a little good news. You know when were doing scores of bills from the cbo that we live in budget hell. Ahead on starting point, check this out. A man sleds into a freezing lake. Yikes his rescuers fall through the ice after him. Meet the man able to help get him out. Youre watching starting point. Ied weight loss plans. But their shakes arent always made for people with diabetes. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. And they have six grams of sugars. With fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger. Look whos getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. We replaced people with a machine. R, what . Customers didnt like it. So why do banks do it . Hello . Hello . if your bank doesnt let you talk to a real person 24 7, you need an ally. Hello . Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. [ male announcer ] the way it moves. The way it cleans. Everything about the oralb power brush is simply revolutionary. Oralb Power Brushes<\/a> oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50 more than leading Sonic Technology<\/a> brushes for a superior clean. Oralb Power Brushes<\/a>. Go to oralb. Com for the latest offers. Welcome back to starting point. It is wi7 30 on the east coast. Back from the brink. The house finally passed the senates fiscal cliff bill last night. Millions of taxpayers and Small Business<\/a> owners can take a deep breath. The bushera tax cuts on the books for most people. 257 for, 167 against. John boehner was among the yes votes. House speakers dont always vote, unless its a big deal. Want to get on the record with something. I. E. , last night. It will be interesting to find out why. In the deal no, tax hikes for couples earning less than 450,000 a year and couples making over 300 a,000 a year g itemized deductions capped. Unemployment benefits extended for a year, and the costly alternative minimum tax gets adjusted permanently for i nation. The measure doesnt deal with the divisive issue of spending cuts. Well talk about that. Lawmakers decided to kick that on down the road for the next two months. And then there is this. We talked a lot about this. What was that . Last year, two years ago . Debt ceiling, 16. 4 trillion, blown through it again. Has to be raised so we can pay our bills, and the president doesnt want another one of these bruising debates. Here he was. Apologies. Basically saying we need to negotiate, we need a balanced approach, dont need to be doing this again and again. Lets talk to Brianna Keilar<\/a>, joining thus morning in washington. And just run through, brianna, what is not in this deal . Well, the big things that are not in this deal and that you can say really the can was quicked down the road on were the spending cuts, because we have two months where the spending cuts are now not an issue. Thats been delayed. But come two months, they come calling again, and they absolutely have to be dealt with if congress doesnt want to see them go into place, and the other thing, what you mentioned, bro brooke, the debt ceiling. Weve gone past it. The Treasury Department<\/a> is able to move money around so we dont hit the debt ceiling. As for right now, the u. S. Is making good on the debts that it owes, but at a certain point, the ability to do that runs out that will be late february, early march, and congress will absolutely have to deal with that. Or the u. S. Defaults. Now, the things that congress and the white house want to do, include dealing with longterm deficit reduction, entitlement reforms and Social Security<\/a> and medicare and tax reform, those are big things and they will be attached to other things that have the hard and fast deadlines. Brianna keilar, thank you. And the president headed to hawaii will eventually be signing this. I want to talk about the markets. This will reverberate when the markets open in an hour and a half and globally. It will be a good day. Stock futures up sharply. Dow up. Off their highs, but still very strong. And europe peian markets and asian marks rallying strongly too. The rest of the world is telling us they like this resolution from the u. S. And the fiscal cliff deal. Keep in mind, an awful lot to deal do from here on out. Thats where the perils lie for stock investors. 401 k will probably have a good morning. Sometimes we see these rallies fade. Im not predicting that. There an awful lot ahead of us. The cnn money survey of Money Managers<\/a> finds a more defensive year. A grind higher, 4. 5 is the return you will see on Stock Investments<\/a> because the budgets fights ahead. The s p 500 gained nearly 13. 5 last year, so 4. 5 run this year, hey, well take it. But it wouldnt be Something Like<\/a> double digits last year. I want to bring people back to yesterday. When it looked like this deal might fall apart, a lot of people said today would be a disaster on the markets. Tarp level drops of 600, 700 points. When we talk about tarp level drops, remember, there was a bank bailout. Put together, congress didnt take it, and the stock market reacted wildly. Huge declines and weve talked to members of congress and said that memory is fresh in their minds. They didnt want to hurt people again with having their 401 k get slammed. I feel like there are going to be many more morning in the first half of the year where well talk about what are futures doing. The congress is it the 11th hour again. Christine romans, at the capital late last night. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn<\/a>, republican from tennessee, voted against the bill. Congresswoman, good morning. Good to see you again. Good morning. Good to see you. Before we get to why the no vote, take us behind the closesed doors and give us details that have not come out yet. What was the room like . Oh, we had a very spirited debate, as you can well imagine, but it was healthy, it was good and members of the house, republican members of the house decided we are done with kicking this can down the road. It will happen no more. We grabbed that can, and that can is called spending cuts, it is what our constituents want to see. What the people in this country are demanding and as we move forward, we are going to be ready to make those cuts. Are you going to you know, we think every agency in the federal government should do what House Republicans<\/a> voted to do. And that was to cut our budgets 11 . Let me jump in. I want to get to the can here in a moment. Because others are saying, heck, yeah, the can has been kicked down the road. Were talking about this again and again and again. I want to talk to you about spirited debate. Was there pounding of fists . Shouting . What did Speaker Boehner<\/a> ultimately say for this thing to get done . It was an incredibly respectful debate. And what the speaker and the house leadership did was to let the housework its will. We saw from the vote totals, republicans and democrats for and against it. The same that happened when we passed the tax extenter bill. Passing tax cuss for everybody. Bear in mind, whether it was reconciliation on may 10th. Tax extenders on the 1st, or on september 19th. The defense sequester. We have taken these actions. All that was on harry reids desk. This was a crisis of harry reids making. It was because of the inaction in the senate that we found ourselves here on new years eve and new years day taking these actions, so the house is saying no more. One last question. We are not going to put up with this. One more question on the raw polit politics. Recent tradition, the hastert rule. The speaker wouldnt take something to the floor unless it had majority. This bill did not. A majority of House Republicans<\/a> voted against this bill. Awfully perilous for a House Speaker<\/a>. You told us you didnt think Speaker Boehner<\/a> was in jeopardy. Has that position changed . Is he in a worse position than he was yesterday . No, i think people appreciated the fact that he allowed the house to work is will and allowed members to vote. Were all elected by the 660,000 people in our district. Overwhelmingly. People have said, all right, you are to get the spending under control. You are to put this nation back on the pathway to Fiscal Health<\/a>. And thats why so many members of the house. Democrats and republicans said the spending has to stop. Some conservatives said were grabbing that can. Called deficit and debt reduction, and it is going to be a component of every single battle that we have. Back to the can, congresswoman. Let me jump in and ask you this. Debt ceiling last week of february. Sequester march 2 know. Continuing budget resolution, the president coming out last night basically saying, look, we have to get along. Need to negotiate. Take a listen here. While i had negotiate over many things, i will not debate with this congress about whether they should pay the bills that they have already incurred through the laws they already passed. Let me repeat, we cant pay bills weve already incurred. If congress refuses to give the United States<\/a> government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire Global Economy<\/a> would be katcatastrophi catastrophic. Far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff. Are the days of grand bargains and compromise, is that a thing of the past . Is this sort of the harbinger of things we will see in upcoming weeks . Is compromise a dirty word . Compromise is not a dirty word, but what is, is back room deals. The era of back room deals are over. This Administration Needs<\/a> to realize they cannot continue to spend money theyve already spent. Those sequester dollars are already spent. That was the last debt ceiling hike, so, yes, we are going to have very spirited, very thoughtful debates on cutting what this government spends and right sizes this government. We have a government. We have bureaucracies, we have programs that have outlied their usefulness and trust funds that need to be stabilized in medicare and Social Security<\/a>. You know, we got to get the job done. You did hear the president say he was not going to negotiate, not trade, not barter. Are you willing to give him the debt ceiling and fight about the other issues later on . Well continue to fight about the spending and i hope its going to be a very respectful debate. The people of this country have elected us to protect the purse. Taxpayers are sick and tired of having money spent. Money that they dont have. Spent on programs they dont want, and the president may say this about paying the bills today, but what about my grandchildren . Who the president is putting this on their credit card . Our children now have 50,000 of federal debt. Okay. I hear spirited often here. Spirited debate upcoming in washington. Well watch for it well continue talking to you. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn<\/a>. Thank you. A lot of energy after being up late last night. Ahead on starting point suffered serious burns to her face, hands, and arms. But not staying in the shadows. The triumphant return of hanna storm. Think twice next time are you grilling out. Get a flu shot or get fired . A choice that a group of hospital workers faced and they got the ax. Can the hospital get aw wway wi that . Thats the question well ask. People really love snapshot from progressive, but dont just listen to me. Listen to these happy progressive customers. I plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on Car Insurance<\/a>. With snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. The better i drive, the more i save. I wish our company had something this cool. Youre not filming this, are you . Aw camera shy. Snapshot from progressive. Testdrive snapshot before you switch. Visit progressive. Com today. A quarter until the top of the hour. Some of the top stories were looking at. No sign of leaking fuel, yet, from this barge that ran aground during a severe storm off alaskas coast. The coast guard saying there is no indication the hull of this 266foot long collic was breached. This Oil Drilling Rig<\/a> being towed back to its winter home in seattle. The coast guard evacuated the 18man crew on saturday night. It was carrying 143,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of lube, oil, and hydraulic fuel. A brazen breakin at the apple store in paris. Gun wielding supports forced their way in on new years eve and overpowered a Security Guard<\/a> and janitor. A total of four or five suspects loading boxes of loot onto a truck it happened three hours after the store closed and your honor the nounder the nose of r police. This is an amazing story. Hanna storm, working again, less than a month after a propane grill at her home exploded. She was working the grill, trying to make dinner for her family. Trying to relight the flame. The sportscaster talked to abc news about the whole thing. I didnt know what to do, other than im left handed, reach and get the shirt off me as quickly as possible. Thats why my hand is so badly damaged. I yelled inside to my 15yearold daughter in the kitchen, mommy is on fire, you have to call 911. Oh. Can you imagine . Look at her. Storm suffered serious burns. You saw the bandage on her left hand. Lost eyebrows, eyelashes a lot of her hair. Take a look yesterday. False eyelashes, hair extensions, back at work. A lot of us grill a lot. Just this weekend. You do things you shouldnt to. Be careful. Think twice. Hannah storm at the rose bowl. Louisville battling Florida Gators<\/a> in the sugar bowl. Huge party in nola. I was there yesterday. Yesterday, the big day to go bowling. Florida state over northern illinois. 3110. In the grand daddy of them all, the rose bowl. A bruising battle on the ground. Stanford beat wisconsin 2014, the first rose bowl win in 40 years. Wisconsins Third Straight<\/a> rose bowl loss. 18 hospital workers in indiana have been fired after they refused to get flu shots. An oncology nurse says getting vaccinated would violate her religious beliefs. The hospital rejected her request. The new policy they say protects patients from potentially deadly illness. I have never heard of Something Like<\/a> that. A security change in new jersey. Starting today, armed and Uniformed Police<\/a> officers at every school. Every school in marlboro township. Leaders say this will be the new normal until they come up with a permanent plan. Parents divided. I think will be a deterrent of some sort, better than we have now. And probably work. The problem is bigger than just putting somebody at the front door. Last week, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie<\/a> said posting armed guards outside classrooms wont make them safer or encourage learning. Ahead, caught on camera, this botched rescue as people fall one after another after another off this broken ice, trying to save someone sledding down the hill. One man who was able to get a rope helped save the victims. The whole thing caught on camera thanks to his wife. You are watching starting point. Help protect your family with the advanced technology of adt starting at just 99 a savings of 300 plus 15 off accessories. But you must call before midnight january 2nd. More than a security system, adt can help let your family in from the cold even when youre away from home. Adjust your thermostat remotely to help save energy and money. Turn on the lights, even see that everyone is safe and secure. And with adt, you can rely on our Fast Response<\/a> monitoring for 24 7 protection against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide. The adt new years sale. It could help you save something more important than money. Call now to save 300 on adt starting at 99 installed plus 15 off accessories. Sale ends midnight january 2nd. Couple of rescuers found themselves in trouble on an icy lake just outside of los angeles. Look at this video here, how the whole thing started. You can almost hear the cracking, the ice breaking, the sledder slid down this hill out of control, boom, right into the freezing cold water. Couple of people trying to pull them out, one after another after another falling in, ice breaking. Obviously everyone needing help. One person, Mickey Herman<\/a> and his wife, they were on the shore when they watched all of this happening right in front of their eyes, mickey tossed a rope into the lake, helped call 911 and after nine minutes everyone got out of the lake and aokay. Mickey is with me from los angeles. Mickey, good morning. You know, i read that you saw this thin ice and you said im not getting anywhere near it. So take me back to Christmas Day<\/a> and what started this whole thing . Well, what happened, we got a up christmas morning, decided to take a drive up to wrightwood, california, and came up on this lake and there was maybe as many as 500 people on the shore, and you know, partly out on the ice and they were watching them sled down the hill and out onto the ice, they kept getting further and further, we pulled over and parked and my wife had gotten a new camera for christmas and she pulled it out and begin to film, playing with the camera, kind of getting used to it and what have you and all of a sudden we saw the guy go across the ice and into the water and as you can see it was obvious he couldnt swim. What did you do . I understand you threw a rope to one of the guys in the water . Yes, we saw him go in the water, i remembered i had about a 5foot rope under the seat of my car. I ran up to the car, got the rope, ran back down, uncoiled it, threw it out and coming seven feet short from getting the rope to the guy. At that point other people started running over the cargo straps tying them to the rope and i ran up to the top much the hill and called 911. Mickey, were there any warning signs, anyone there telling people they shouldnt go on the ice . Looking at this video it looks like a textbook example of what not to do when someones falling through the ice, people running over to get closer to the thin ice. They tell me that there are signs posted around the lake. Where we were, we did not see any. Yes, they were, they were coming across the lake toward the thinner ice which theres no way as you can see the wrong way to go. They were rescued from the shore. It sounds like these people are lucky you happened to have the rope in your car. Mickey herman thank you so much. Apparently the lake has been closed for obvious reasons but everyones okay. The good news everyone is okay there. Thank you for being with us, mickey. Thank you. Now that we have a fiscal cliff reprieve, what about those spending cuts . What about the debt ceiling . Can the president avoid another bruising battle with republicans . Well ask jen psaki. A potential multimilliondollar lawsuit because of the newtown tragedy, coming up well talk to the attorney behind this. You wont want to miss this conversation. It is just about 8 00 on the east coast, youre watching starting point. Our starting point a late night deal to avert the fiscal cliff. The house passes a bill with their backs up against the wall, many lawmakers say they saw no choice. If we dont pass this tonight youre looking at a 4 trillion tax increase and youre looking at financial chaos. The middle class spared from major tax hikes and spending cuts but theres still the issue of the debt ceiling and the president has a stern warning for congress. I will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that theyve already wracked up. This morning the political fallout, what this all means for you and whats next. We have a packed show ahead, join by jen psaki, president obamas traveling press secretary, economist diane swonk and Margaret Hoover<\/a> who served in the bush white house, john avlon with the daily beast, and irving pinsky. Good morning, im brooke baldwin, a special fiscal cliff addiction, were over it, starting point, roll it, starts right now. Here we go, full table, our panel today we have mr. Richard saccharides, former adviser to president clinton, chrystia freeland, Thompson Reuters<\/a> and welcome will cain with a tie, weve all been talking about it at the commercial. New year. Court date. Christine romans joining us here at the table as well. Welcome, everyone. Welcome. Our starting point, back from the fiscal abyss, in detox from our fiscal cliff addiction as the case may be. Tens of millions of taxpayers and Small Business<\/a> owners exhaling. The house passed the senate bill that temporarily brings us back from the depth of that cliff. The final vote 257 for, 167 against and you might be interested to know this, House Speaker<\/a> john boehner voted yes, so did paul ryan. Heres what the deal means for you and your family, couples earning less than 450,000 a year are spared an income tax hike, itemized deductions are capped for couples making more than 300 a year, Unemployment Benefits<\/a> are extended for a year for 2 million americans and the thorny alternative minimum tax gets a permanent adjustment for inflation. There are all kinds of battles ahead. We can three on the docket, with the biggie, raising the debt ceiling in february so the u. S. Doesnt default on its debt and billions of dollars in domestic and defense cuts have been deferred, the socalled sequestration that happens two months ahead of us, two, thank you, so democrats and republicans are forced to dare we say it, compromise again. We can settle this debate or at the very least not allow it to be so allconsuming all the time that it stops us from meeting a host of other challenges we face. The one thing hopefully well focus on in the new year is putting a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much. Want to bring in White House Correspondent<\/a> Brianna Keilar<\/a> live from washington and berman ran through whats in the bill. I want you to talk about the biggies not included in this deal. The biggies and the things that congress will have to deal with. Lets break it down. Some of these Things Congress<\/a> absolutely has to deal with. Youve got the debt ceiling, which technicalcally weve already hit but the Treasury Department<\/a> was able to move some money around so the u. S. Can pay its debts and the ability to do that expires late february, maybe early march. Congress has to increase the debt ceiling or we will default, the u. S. Will default on its obligations. That cant happen. The other thing is the spending cuts that you mentioned, theyre only now averted for two months so congress has to deal with that and then the other thing is theres sort of a chunk of things that Congress Wants<\/a> to deal with that the president wants to deal with that theyll attach to the things that have these hard and fast deadlines dealing with the longterm Fiscal Health<\/a> of the country through entitlement reform, Social Security<\/a> and medicare and tax reform. It is a lot to accomplish in the next couple of months as we look toward, down that long road, tell me, brianna, some of the winners and losers from this whole thing. This is obvious some of the losers are obvious, if you earn 450,000 or more than that youll see your taxes take a hit, 400,000 for individuals. If you itemize deductions and making as a couple 300,000 or more or as an individual, 250,000 or more, you will see your pay take or your income take a hit there. Youll see that, but there are also some winners that maybe you didnt know about. For instance the milk, sugar and peanut producers, they have a tax break that they will get to hold onto. Also unemployed americans, longterm will see their benefits extended, very key and doctors who were set to see medicare payments reduced to them, that wont affect them anymore and also the alternative minimum tax. Brooke, when you cover washington, youre always talking about the amt fix, a tax that was supposed to hit the wealthy but because it wasnt indexed for inflation it would creep up on the middle class so congress would have to be constantly fixing it. They permanently indexed it for inflation so i dont have to talk about it anymore and middle class americans dont have to worry it. Thats the Brianna Keilar<\/a> carveout. Im a winner. Brianna, thank you so much. There was so much Political Drama<\/a> late last night, twists and turns, looked like the whole thing would fall apart and it didnt, so why didnt it . Were joined by chris by the National Journal<\/a>. Walk us through behind the scenes. What were going to report later this morning is a really fun anecdote, we saw the talks fall apart in the senate between haar ray reid and Mitch Mcconnell<\/a>. Mitch mcconnell felt the democratic leader was slow walking him towards the cliff to try to get more political leverage and we learned that when the republican leader called the Vice President<\/a> , he left them a message and got on to the senate floor to vote and got a note he had a phone call waiting for him. He walked into the Senate Cloak Room<\/a> off the senate floor, sat down at the phone booth and made a pitch to Vice President<\/a> biden to work with him. He said im frustrated, i need a dance partner here and he said look, joe, you know the trip wires here, im working with smart people but they dont know how to negotiate and have your experience. Will you help me . Biden said to him, let me get back to you with an offer. That was the first offer that kicked off the back and forth 30 hours later led to the deal that we have today. So fiscal political history being made in a phone booth. Crazy. So thats where the late deal actually started. It ended last night with the house vote in that meeting behind closed doors with House Republicans<\/a>. What d one of the republicans who voted for this, paul ryan. Any intelligence on what put paul ryan on the yes side of this ledger . I think for both, it was interesting that paul ryan yes, and marco rubio no split. We had two folks who looked like they might be running for president in 2016 take different tacks on this plan, thats something theyll sell to primary voters and for a lot of conservatives in the house, a majority of the House Republicans<\/a> voted against this thing, and i think there was a frustration that there werent the spending cuts they were looking for and boehner had and relied on the democrats to put this over the edge. Chris frates National Journal<\/a> the First Talking<\/a> point of the 2016 campaign. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. We turn to Christine Romans<\/a> to talk about what this means for paychecks. For most people the vast majority of americans your tax rates will not rise but your paychecks will be a little smaller anyway. For two years youve had a break on how much you pay into Social Security<\/a> to Fund Social Security<\/a>. That payroll tax holiday is over now. Heres how the increase affects your paycheck. If youre earning 30 a year youll surrender 50 more a month in payroll taxes. Earning 50,000 a year youll contribute about 83 more a month toward Social Security<\/a>, and if you earn more than 113,000 a year youll pay an additional 189. 50 a month in payroll taxes. I never thought this was going to survive, last summer we started talking about we dont think the payroll tax holiday is going to survive the fiscal cliff and it didnt. It was a focus on the rates you pay and the investment taxes, two years stimulus for the economy, the party is over, plan accordingly. I hope you have a budget because youll two two fewer lattes a month, ms. Bolduan. Thank you very much, miss christine. President obama looked ahead to the next fiscal fight here on the horizon, this congressional vote as weve been talking to raise the countrys debt ceiling. Jen psaki, good morning, good to see you. Good morning, how are you guys . Were well and i think youre well as well with the white house and this thing going through. I am. Let me ask you, we were asking on the house side taking behind the closed doors, the question to you is what happened in the white house . Last night theyre hearing the vote was going to happen one hour, another hour, might they amend it, might they pitch it. What was happening . Well, i think theres no question that everyone in the white house, the president included is happy to have this vote in the rear view mirror. As youve mentioned this morning, there are a number of other obstacles they have that they also want to get behind them because avoiding the fiscal cliff, making sure that the country votes, that Congress Votes<\/a> to increase the debt limit is not the president and the white houses idea of a second term agenda. I think they were watching closely, they were optimistic, theyve been very careful in how theyve handled this because they want the will of the American People<\/a> to remain behind them as they emerge from these obstacles they have to go through over the next couple of months. Jen, john berman here. One of the things the president said yesterday and said over the last several weeks hes not willing to negotiate on the debt ceiling. Explain what that means. If republicans say were not going to vote for it unless you give us spending cuts hes going to say sorry, were going to default . There are a couple of opportunities in the next few months and republicans believe they have a couple different bites at the apple. Of course theres the debt limit. Theyve made no secret of the fact they want to use that as a negotiating tool for spending cuts and theres also the funding of the government, theres the twomonth extension of the sequester. What the president was saying was im not going to play checken with the debt limit. Ive learned my lesson in 2011. This impacts businesses, it impacts markets. It impacts the view of the world of the United States<\/a> economy and this isnt something we should be fooling with and again he has been very tough in negotiating and making clear to the American People<\/a> this is what the stakes are, this is whats happening and right now he still has them behind him and thats a powerful thing. You say hes been tough. There are people on the left who say he has not been tough. Quote from adam green, particularly angry with the president , from the Progressive Change Campaign<\/a> committee, he said the president remains clueless about how to use leverage in a negotiation. Republicans publicly admitted that they lost the tax debate and would be forced to cave, yet the president just kept giving stuff away. Your response . Well, unfortunately for adam green, laws are not made by simply waving a wand, and making it so. It involves compromise, it involves negotiation and thats what happened here. Theres a lot that progressive democrats, including adam green, should be excited about in this package, the extension of unemployment insurance, college tax credit, child tax credit, making the middle class tax cut permanent. Of course it wasnt perfect, but democrats have to be careful about not letting perfect be the enemy of the good and this package is good. Quickly, jen, the president is back in hawaii with the family after the debacle. Yes. Do we know when he might be signing this . I dont have an update on that. Im sure hell want to get it signed as quickly as possible given how hard they fought and theyll move on to the next fight. Jen psaki, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Happy new year. Happy new year. Doctors say secretary of state Hillary Clintons<\/a> blood clot could have been fatal, caused a stroke or led to seizures or epilepsy. Shes being treated with blood thinners and should make a full recovery. Also the governor of pennsylvania going after the ncaa here, later this morning hell be announcing this lawsuit over the stiff sanctions it imposed on penn state university, of course in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky<\/a> scandal, the former assistant football coach convicted of sexually abusing all those boys. The ncaa fined penn state some 60 million, stripped the Football Program<\/a> of 14 seasons of its victories under its late head coach, the legendary joe paterno. A photographer was killed last night in los angeles trying to get a photo of Justin Bieber<\/a>. Police say the man snapped pictures of a parked sports car he thought was the pop star. The photographer was struck and killed while crossing a freeway to return to his own car. In a statement bieber said he was not in the sports vehicle but he sends his condolences to the victims family. Police have not yet released the photographers name. Did you hear about the fact the guy was killed crossing the street and we were talking before the show, its like heres a member of the paparazzi but at the same time so many people, they buy the magazines. Thats exactly right. Its like anything like panning for gold or oil, people are going to go where the market is and theres a market for the photographs, theyre going to take the risks for the payoff for the photos. Well talk about that more in a bit. Still ahead on starting point the lawyer who planned on suing connecticut over the Sandy Hook School<\/a> shooting has withdrawn his suit at least for now. Hell join us next with why he filed it in the first place. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters . Maybe you want to incorporate a business. Or protect your family with a will or living trust. And youd like the help of an attorney. At legalzoom a legal plan attorney is available in most states with every personalized document to answer questions. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. And now youre protected. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. Excuse me, sir im gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. I think your friends will understand. Oh no, its actually my geico app. See . I just uh paid my bill. Did you really . From the plane . Yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24 7. Sounds a little too good to be true sir. Ill believe that when pigs fly. Ok, did she seriously just say that . Geico. Just click away with our free mobile app. A hybrid . Most are just no fun to drive. Now, heres one that will make you feel alive. Meet the fivepassenger ford cmax hybrid. Cmax says ha. Cmax says wheeee. Which is what you get, dont you see . Cause cmax has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that cmax also bests in mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. An attorney in connecticut has withdrawn his request to sue the state, the attorney represents this 6yearold girl who witnessed and survived the shooting just from a couple weeks ago. He says the state failed to take steps to protect the children from harm. He is irving pinsky, ivan pinsky with us this morning, forgive me, i have two versions of your name. Its perfect. Mr. Pinsky, good morning. With regard to this young girl, what is the family telling you . Why go after the state of connecticut . Thats not really their decision even though legally it is technically. The truth is, it is our legal strategy. Were not only going after the state of connecticut but we had to file a request for permission to sue them. You cant even just sue them. Thats the law in connecticut and many other states so we filed it and we got new evidence coming in, plus all the backlash of intense nervousness, so we withdrew it but reserved all rights to bring it again within the next year. Lets talk about the backlash. Toughest story ive ever covered, very tenuous and so recent after whats happened to the young people that you have gotten backlash. Why continue if you so will choose to do so . Well, its a natural reaction to get that backlash. I know that, but on the other hand, when i get called, i have to save the evidence. I cant wait for the attorney general to get their evidence or the police to get their evidence. As a lawyer, im looking for different evidence than they are. So i had to go in early and that was not made clear to the public, because theres so much of the fog of disaster. So i just was doing my job and im still doing it and ive got a year to file the request. What kind of backlash are you talking about . What did the people of newtown have to say about your suit . I didnt have any problem with the people of newtown even though im sure there was, 340 Million People<\/a> in this country, if that, youre going to have all kinds of people including some crazy people who are just going to start issuing Death Threats<\/a> left and right and also a lot of people who are going to scream the usual epithets, oh, greedy lawyer, oh, hes an ambulance chaser. What is your spoons to that . That seems like the obvious question. Well, just like you wonderful people in the media get your share of you know what . I have to hold my head down or up and go forward. But thats really a side show, right . You believe that the state of connecticut may have legal responsibility in some way for what happened and there may be others who have legal responsibility. What do you base that claim on . Well the easy answer, which is ill start with that and give you anything you want almost. Anyway, the easy answer is, look, this shouldnt happen, a crazy, young gunman shouldnt be able to walk into a school and start doing this over and over and over. The police got there in three minutes. Assume thats true. Thats wonderful but you know, there are loads of security devices and cameras and protections that can stop this way earlier than three minutes. I just saw on the news but dawn hochsprung installed the new security system, he basically shot through the glass to get in. Which was supposed to be bulletproof glass. Your gut reaction is this shouldnt happen but foreseeable, was this a foreseeable incident, thats the standard for negligence. Can you tell me this young man, mentally disturbed possibly, taking weapons into a school and shooting 20 kids was foreseeable . Thats the fairest question i could ask for and the straight up answer is it had to be assumed that this was going to happen eventually somewhere, and i cannot tell you for sure at this point, i cant tell you even beyond a reasonable doubt that this would have happened or should have happened or they should have known but my job now is to follow the evidence that comes in. I have to authenticate it, i have to make sure its credible and then i have to follow it and if the evidence shows that theres no case, i dont bring a case, but i have to try to get the evidence and i have to, more than that, and ill make this short, more than that, my mission now is to stop this from happening again. Now i know its going to happen. We all know that, dont want to admit it. Lets hope not. It hurts me but i know its coming and i know i can never stop, we can never stop it happening everywhere, but we have to minimize it and with modern technology, we can really minimize it and every day, eight days a week in connecticut and new york, the police, the courts and other people stopped it from happening somewhere. There are so many people out there with malice in them. How does your lawsuit help them stop it next time in. Because i think we can get Higher Standards<\/a> for security in the schools, and are you going to sue the nra . Ive had some great lawyers call me who im in awe of call me and say look, i dont like your case but ill help you if you want to sue the nra, for free. Thats really true, but if you Say Something<\/a> about the nra, and you got guts even to mention that, because when you Say Something<\/a> about the nra you get double bonus Death Threats<\/a> from all over the world. We could keep going, im sure we will in the commercial mr. Pinsky. Well follow up with you and see where this goes. We appreciate it. Ahead on starting point, did the rich get off the hook in the madness of the fiscal cliff . Thats todays it off call. How will the world react to this plan, Richard Quest<\/a> in london with a look at the global markets. Is that confetti . Theyre shooting confetti and clapping. Happy new year. Our touf call the fiscal cliff deal, the rich got a 20 , from the 15 . Henry blodgett great news americans, Congress Just<\/a> raised taxes on workers while saving investors billions. The tax deal that Congress Just<\/a> agreed to will raise 125 billion from increased payroll taxes from all working americans while saving the richest americans at least 20 billion in dividend taxes. To the panel, should rich people this morning have a little extra pep in their step . Absolutely, its a bullet dodged and henry hits it exactly right. Think about to make it really specific, think about how people were really surprised at mitt romneys low tax rate. Its not for really rich people. Its not about the income tax. Its what happens to your dividends and your Capital Gains<\/a> and that was a huge win. Its a little bit tougher than it was in 2012 but it could have been so much worse. Its actually a relatively new notion that Capital Gains<\/a> and dividends should be taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. This is entrenched with barack obama and democrats saying theyre with that. Hes talking about the payroll tax going away. On the one hand a de facto tax increase for all americans because the payroll tax went away but it was a big bullet dodged, it could have been much, much worse for the richest american investors. We have to keep an eye on the big picture, overall this is a good result for the American People<\/a>. I mean i think compromise is very difficult in washington, these days. Lot of republicans did not want to make a deal with president obama no matter what the deal it was unless they got what he wanted. In retrospect he played his cards pretty well and got a deal that is fair in a very broad sense of the word. Youre not one of the progressives attacking the president . The good news is for all of us who like to talk about this, three more bites of the apple and three more cliffs coming in the next two months so we have to hold on until then. Ahead on starting point, the fiscal cliff deal passed but does it still kick the can down the road . Economist diane swonk is going to talk to us about that next. Also this pilot sees a burglary in action from his plane, and you wont believe who is getting robbed, that story is just ahead. From the plane . From the plane. 28 minutes past the hour. You are watching starting point. A heavy burden has been lifted for millions of americans after a brief trip to the bottom of the fiscal cliff, the house delivering taxpayers a reprieve passing the senates fiscal cliff bill by 257167 vote. No tax hikes for couples earning less than 450,000 a year, couples making more than 300,000 see their itemized deductions capped. 2 million americans will have their Unemployment Benefits<\/a> extended for a year and the refund minimum tax gets adjusted permanently for inflation. What is not in the plan like spending cuts at all, those have been put off for two months. Then there is the debt ceiling, now at 16. 4 trillion, we just blew past it next week and next Month Congress<\/a> has to vote to raise it or what happens . The u. S. Defaults on all its debts. How will the markets react . I think the story really is today versus down the road, we expect of course a lift, maybe temporarily in the markets because of this fiscal cliff deal or doozies we were saying now done. Alison kosik is live at the new york stock exchange. What are we expecting . Reporter pretty much exactly what you just said. The opening bell ringing in about an hour. This is going to be the first chance for u. S. Investors to react to this measure passing, to the fact that were going to go ahead and avoid these Immediate Tax<\/a> hikes and spending cuts. So right now dow futures are pointing to a 200point, are pointing higher by 200 points. Thats going to be today. Whats going to happen a week from now, its a completely different story because of whats to come, the negotiations over spending cuts and over the debt ceiling, in fact one analyst telling me with the debt ceiling negotiations happening in about 60 days, the smart money knows the bullish sentiment will be shortlived with this analyst telling me the lesson for investors here is buyer beware. Brooke . Alison kosik we hear you loud and clear. Thank you very much for us now from new york. What about the rest of the world, the foreign markets have been open for hours so what are Global Investors<\/a> saying . Lets go to cnns Richard Quest<\/a> for that. Good morning, richard. Good morning, john. Lunch time in europe, just coming up to 1 00, 2 00 in london and Central Europe<\/a> and the markets are extremely cheerful, ill run around, up 2. 5 in london, about the same in paris and in frankfurt and the reason is just sheer unadulterated relief that the worst didnt come to pass. As i was saying to you last hour its borrowed time because no sooner does any analyst tell you how pleased they are that the cliff didnt happen, they immediately go to the other side, ahh, but theres still the twin peaks of debt ceiling and budgets and spending cuts to come. Richard, at a minimum, im glad we can give you a happy lunch. Richard quest in london this afternoon over there, thank you. Lets talk to one of the analysts to see is relief on borrowed time, diane swonk, chief economist for mesereau financial. Good morning. Is this a yahoo for the markets and then back to messy times . Well i didnt even pop champagne corks on new years eve so i guess my view, this is about as short of a stop gap as we can possibly get. We have two months to figure this out. We still have to do deficit reduction. Richard mentioned the debt ceiling debate but the rating agencies are saying we want to see deficit reduction, longterm tax and spending reforms that get our fiscal situation back into place over the next decade or less. Thats sort of nowhere in sight at the moment. Weve not seen any compromise on that and certainly not in this fiscal cliff patch whatsoever, it was a marginal step into the pond of really what could be quite treacherous waters in terms of debates as we get into the next couple of months and uncertainty surrounding those debates could dampen growth, thats one of the things were worried about. Whenever we try to get some certainty out there, Congress Seems<\/a> to bring it back with a vengeance. Diane, one thing i read that has me concerned is from an economist at citi the process was so chaotic and outcome so unsatisfactory were likely to see a further u. S. Downgrade at some point. Do you think theres a real risk of that . I think theres an extremely high risk of that. Both moodys and fitch warn if we do not get deficit reduction they would downgrade us. This political brinksmanship that spurred the first downgrade, that was controversial with Standard Poors<\/a> but nonetheless it was the first move. The downgrades theyre threatening now are real, measurable downgrades, not just on the fringes and the Collateral Damage<\/a> for the rest of the country, from cities and states to corporations trying to raise money is substantial and going to keep the fed on edge in holding the base rates down in the u. S. And treasury bond rate down to counteract any downgrades we might have. This is serious stuff especially over time, it accumulates. Diane, could i ask you one question about those downgrades and their impact. What has been interesting for me is even as the threat of those downgrades has become more pronounc pronounced, weve sort of lived through the previous debt ceiling debacle, we still see the u. S. Being able to borrow at extremely low rates. So how significant is this really . Well i think theres a false sense of security. Remember, we were sort of as some people put it the cleanest shirt in the dirty shirt pile. At the same time we got downgraded the Federal Reserve<\/a> was counteracting the downgrades with massive movements to buy Treasury Bonds<\/a> and the massive flight to safety. The u. S. Was looking bad, it was looking better than europe was and Financial Markets<\/a> in the u. S. , because we are a reserve currency, weve gotten the benefit of that for some time now. The question is when do you hit a Tipping Point<\/a> . What i think is important about downgrades is even if they dont have an initial impact on the treasury market, what we do know and a lot of people ignored was the Collateral Damage<\/a> they had on other parts of the market, things like Municipal Bond<\/a> market, things like cities and states trying to raise money. They had to pay a higher spread and had more trouble raising funds. Thats the part that gets ignored. 20 seconds, a lot of people still unemployed, what about jobs . How does this deal affect jobs . The issue is does the uncertainty were surrounding in the next several months further suppress growth. Thats where the key issue is. What we need in the economy is certainty and kicking the can down the road doesnt give us the certainty we need to plan and for companies to ramp up instead of hesitation. Hesitation is our enemy right now. Diane swonk we appreciate it. Thank you so much. Didnt make me feel better at all, thanks, diane. At least she answered the question. We appreciate that candor in the morning. The 11th Congress Ends<\/a> today and not expected to pass the 60 billion to help victims of superstorm sandy. Republican leaders took no action on the sandy relief measure last night, angering new york area lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Everybody played by the rules, except tonight, the rug was pulled out from under us, inexcusable and indefensible. We have a moral obligation to have this vote. The Senate Approved<\/a> more than 60 billion for sandy relief. Back to the planned story, talk about your eye in the sky, this florida pilot doing a flyby over his house spots this burglar trying to break into, of all places, his own home and steal his trailer so the pilot tracks the suspect from the air in his cessna, lands the plane, calls police, who then find the guy, they arrest this alleged thief on the interstate some 40 miles away. It sounds crazy. Its crazy but if i say it, its true. You know what . That is in fact the case. It was a parade stopper and a tear jerker. An Army Sergeant<\/a> deployed to afghanistan stepped off a parade float, surprised his wife and little boy three months early. Army Sergeant Eric<\/a> pazz told his wife she won a contest. So nice to see. Ahead on starting point a story not nearly as happy a photographer died after trying to get shots of Justin Bieber<\/a>. Has paparazzi finally gone too far . Now the republican controlled house passed the fiscal cliff deal. Who came out on top . Margaret hoover and john avlon are just ahead with the winners and losers. Stay with us. Youre watching starting point. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Meet the 5passenger ford cmax hybrid. When youre carrying a lot of weight, cmax has a nice little trait, you see, cmax helps you load your freight, with its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. As we reported earlier a papparazzo was killed friday night, he believed Justin Bieber<\/a> was sitting inside a parked sports car. That photographer was killed trying to race back across the freeway to get back in his own car. Justin bieber said or actually i should say he was not in the sports car but his thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim but its the kind of thing where you hear about the stories and you have the paparazzi. I dont live in los angeles but apparently theyre everywhere and this guy is running across the freeway. You sometimes see them in new york, too, in front of these very expensive restaurants i sometimes will walk by. I dont actually go in. I happened to live in the neighborhood but i dont go in. This is a little misleading because Justin Bieber<\/a> was not in the car, and the guy was not killed taking the photograph, he was killed running across the highway after he took the photograph but still a very troubling incident, people should be careful. I dont think theres anybody to blame except some carelessness upon either the photographer or the driver driving the car but running across an interstate is crazy. It has nothing to do with taking a picture. It speaks to the aggressive nature of the profession, which is that you have to be willing to run across a crowded highway to get a shot. To get a photograph which people buy, which people buy. And maybe it speaks to in our own lives we should be thoughtful that the risks we take are proportionate to the work that were doing. Its one thing to risk your life if youre that guy the soldier in afghanistan or if youre one of those heroic teachers in newtown but think how horrible it is for his family, he died trying to take a picture of Justin Bieber<\/a>. He died crossing the interstate. Its easy to villify the pop ratsie except the end consumer, theres a lot of us apparently like celebrity photographs and create a market for it. Still to come, it looks like the fiscal cliff deal say victory for the middle class, who are the winners and losers . Well break it down as far as who came out on top and who did not. 46 minutes past the hour here on a wednesday. Youre watching starting point. Again . Its embarrassing its embarrassing we can see you carl. We can totally see you. Come on youre better than this. All that prowling around. Yeah, youre the king of the jungle. Have you thought about going vegan carl . Hahaha you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. How happy are they jimmy . Happier than antelope with nightvision goggles. Nice get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. We asked total strangers to watch it for us. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Ill be right back. They didnt take a dime. How much in fees does your bank take to watch your money . If your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. Ten minutes to the top of the hour. Top stories in colorado crucial preparations today for the accused Movie Theater<\/a> shooter james holmes. Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys<\/a> meet to make sure both sides are ready for holmes preliminary hearing, that is next week. You know the story, hes charged with killing 12 people at that midnight showing of the dark knight rises. In maine, high winds and cold weather forced authorities to call off the search for three missing snowmobilers. They went into a frigid lake sunday and they are presumed dead. Look up in the sky, early tomorrow, not right now, berman, to review a Natural Light<\/a> show, this is called the quadrantid meteor shower, really cool stuff. Nasa says the best time is between 3 00 a. M. , perfect, just when were waking up through the time zones. The light of the moon could interfere with some visibility. Sort of serves you right for having to pronounce that making fun of me. The house voted to approve the fiscal cliff deal. House republicans initially seemed to reject the whole thing because of lack of spending cuts but in the end they cleared the way for a straight up and down vote on the senate version. Joining us is Margaret Hoover<\/a> and john avlon, senior columnist for newsweek and thedailybeast. Com. Winners and losers politicians wise. Who comes out looking good . Mcconnell and boehner, the adults in the room. When harry reid gets nudged out sorry, biden, i just mispronounced that two or three times. He files things under letters so he has b, boehner, biden, interchangeable. Exactly true, something my wife would know. Joe biden the fact he has three decades in the senate. He was the butt of all of the jokes from republicans during the campaign, joe biden, a lot of democrats stopped respecting him . Why doesnt washington work the way it used to, senators, congressmen knew each other person personally, they knew how to sit down in the bargaining table. Theyre vestiges of washington. George w. Bush this enshrines and makes permanent his tax policy apart at the very top. We see a lot of bushies saying we won, Ari Fleischer<\/a> and others. Paul ryan voted yes on this measure. Heres what happened. Lindsey graham, republicans are all over the map on this one, many different republicans saying different things. Lindsey graham said to the house, just vote on this and save your powder for another day. Wait for the fight, youre going to have another fight in six weeks. What do you think paul ryan is doing today . All of the republicans who didnt vote for this are gearing up for a spending fight because they have another opportunity in six weeks and i wouldnt be surprised if you have biden and mcconnell at the negotiating table and paul ryan at the house because they trust him to get the spending done. Fast forward to 16, i hate to talk about it bring it on. The world will change before then but marco rubio and rand paul in the senate were among the few against the bipartisan plan. That clearly is a calculation about future ambitions. Most folks voted against it. The ratio 2 1, almost 2 1 republicans who voted against this deal who voted for it. They believe this is a liability in the primary. John boehner said his speakership was weak but getting this floor vote on the floor toe doing. He does still have power. Hes been weakened, the Republican Caucus<\/a> is in disarray in many senses. We talked to house members and House Offices<\/a> yesterday disenchanted by boehners lack of leadership but nobodys challenging him for the speakership. Cantor doesnt want that job. Who wants to be that guy who every single night is just taking income from every direction . Thats the word on the street but speaking of losers, the House Republicans<\/a> reputation is the problem child in washington has been solidified by this whole lastminute scramble and that is a serious problem. Theyve always been the least popular cohort in washington, never popular to begin with but seen in their own conference as the problem. As winners the democratic party. What was interesting to me is they behaved with real discipline, they behaved like real adults and they actually behaved like the party which never happens. Speaking of acting like an adult can we go on the colorful fourletter word, this happened last friday in the white house, steps from the oval office and you have john boehner, to harry reid go bleep yourself. Not since the days of rahm remanuel has that language been heard. Never forget politics at the end of the day is people in a room, personalities and how they work and sometimes things get ugly and how things go off the rails. Harry reid was nudged out of this negotiation in the 11th hour by that back channeling between Vice President<\/a> biden and mcconnell, but that bad blood is an indication of why were in for a rocky time especially in the next two months but also the next two years. We found the secret formula, the Biden Mcconnell<\/a> alchemy works, the president and john boehner simply cant get it done together. Lets talk about joe biden again. His role was enormous and central in the last fiscal discussions that ended up getting through, too. What kind of player is he over the next three years and bring up 2016, how does it position him Going Forward<\/a> . Biden in 16 is one of those unknown unknowns. Hes a guy with endless energy, a high degree of ambition but there are few hard core biden e bidenites. This election he was more important than 2008. He had three decades of experience in the senate, could get a deal done. The president started running for president after hed been in the senate for two years. Biden has the seaterity and credibility on the hill to get things done. Is shows People Like Us<\/a> like to mock politicians and tell us how weaselish they are, they are, nonetheless it does actually show that professional politicians can be really important for making political process work. Sure. You have to have people know how to make the sausage. It may be ugly but its good. Our end point is coming up nekts. Will cain gets the first end point because he wore a tie. Professional yes. 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