taxes for the middle class and john boehner keeps shooting spit balls. the latest on the stalemate and the democrat's upper hand. mitch mcconnell gets ridiculous with his demands to weaken medicare. one of the architects of obama care responds tonight. house republicans pass an immigration. bill democrats say is divisive and inferior. tonight, congressman javier pasara on why the latino community won't. be fooled. the first fast food strike is historic. what you need to know about the lowest-paid workforce in the country. good to have you with us. thanks for watching. president obama knows his opponent is on the ropes and he's not letting up. the president took his tax plan agenda on the road today. he e went to a pennsylvania toy factory to focus on the people who will be hurt if the tax rate extensions are not passed for the 98% of americans. >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. every family, everybody here. your taxes will go up on january 1st. i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. that's like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> president obama has been consistent in his message and demeanor. the republicans look more unreasonable each passing day. >> if we can just get a few house republicans on board, we can pass the bill in the house, it will land on my desk. i have a bunch of pens ready to sign this bill. >> while the president was turning up the public pressure on the road, nancy pelosi plaid a card of her own. she gave republicans until next tuesday to vote on tax cuts for the middle class. >> if the bill, if there's no announcement of scheduling of the middle income tax cut, which by the way has tremendous support in the republican caucus, i think we would get 100% vote on it if it came to the floor. if it is not scheduled, then on tuesday we will be introducing a discharge petition, which you know if we get 208 signatures would bring the bill automatically to the floor. >> this is getting good. a discharge petition is a way to bring the bill to the floor for consideration without house leadership. circumventing john boehner. feingold was kick started by a discharge petition. gun legislation has also been passed thanks to discharge petitions. pelosi found a way to get republicans on the record whether they like it or not. next week they will have to take a stand. it's no wonder republicans are freak out. >> this is not a game. we're not interested in playing. we're interested in trying to solve the problem for the american people so that we don't see taxes go up on anybody, so we can engage in tax reform and get the economy going again. we're being serious that offer yesterday was simply not serious. >> cantor was speak iing antd t deal presented by treasury secretary timothy geithner. today the white house released details about that deal. in spite of republican claims of $400 billion in cuts, the deal proposed $600 billion in cuts. $350 billion in medicare savings and $350 billion to other programings next year. john boehner basically lied yesterday when he said the white house had not offered specifics. today he complained about those specifics. >> the white house spent three weeks trying to develop a proposal and they send one up here that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, calls for a little -- not even $400 billion in cuts and they want to have this extra spending that's actually greater than the amount they are willing to cut. i mean, it's -- it was not a serious proposal. and so right now, we're almost nowhere. . >> boehner offered the republican counter to the white house plan. >> our original framework still stands. instead of raising tax rates, we can produce a similar amount of revenue reforming the tax code to close loopholes and lower tax rates. >> no, no, no. republicans are not getting the mitt romney tax proposal. time to move on speaker boehner. republicans are furious about the white house proposal. mitch mcconnell told the weekly standard he burst into laughter when he received the deal. the new second ranking republican in the senate john cornyn also disparaged the deal. >> that's a crazy idea. i'm amazed that secretary geithner had the courage to float that yesterday. hence the laughter from senator mcconnell. that's the kind of response it deserves. >> they are laughing in public, but they are panicking behind closed doors. conservative writer matt lewis, writer for "the daily caller", the notion that republicans have leverage is silly. it's the same kind of happy thinking that led to some boldly-predicting a romney victory. he said republicans are so screwed. this is why president obama is playing to his strengths. the president has never had a problem rallying the american people to his side. >> understand this was a central question in the election. maybe thee central question in the election. we talked about this a lot. >> republicans are furious because they can't control this conversation. americans know where they stand on tax fairness and republicans are on the losing end. it's been a rough week. get your cell phones out. tonight's question, who has the upper hand in the fiscal cliff negotiations at this point? text a for president obama and b for the republicans to 622639. you can go to our blog and leave a comment. we encourage you to do that. i'm joined tonight by sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post." don't you dare give me a hard time about the packers. who is winning the conversation with the american people? what kind of week was it on the hill? >> you can say the president is winning this conversation at this junction. these things change. a lot of this is posture. when you look at the circumstances that play here, it seems clear to me that democrats would be more comfortable going over the fiscal cliff. you have republicans not just sort of modern republicans, but real conservative republicans saying we got to do what the president wants to do on taxes and debate the other issues later down the road. i don't see democrats doing something of similar hair si on their side. the president controls the game. >> why are the republicans disz i dising a $600 billion cut? why do they say that's not a credible proposal? >> it's laughable, in some respec respects, that they think the administration would come at them with something in the middle ground. that's what they did with the stimulus. they said from the get go, we're going to give republicans what they want. we expect them to meet in the middle. republicans are going to do the same thing. this is not a serious proposal. along the way, they are going to meet. it's going to be a proposal that doesn't have a trillion dollars in tax rates. >> some conservatives are encouraging republicans to go off the cliff. >> they obviously expect republicans will cave on everything. i think republicans ought to simply walk away. >> limbaugh said the same thing as well. is this political suicide for republicans? who would really pay the political price before the state of the union and on into the spring if they don't have a deal? >> republicans. i think matt lewis and his column got it right. they would pay the price. what they are saying is because we want to protect -- and it's more complex than this. but it would be framed as we want to protect the tax rates for the top 2%. we're willing to go off the cliff for that. i don't think there's a way you can spin it effectively enough that you end up winning the public relations war. that's why you're going to get some form of deal before the cliff is hit. it might not encompass all this stuff, but they will come to the table. >> the discharge petition, nancy pelosi is going to be taking a petition around to every house member and saying, are you with us or not on this? this is theater right here. >> sure. >> will she get the signatures? >> that's a great question. we'll see. but this is part of a broader effort by democrats. the reason they put out that offer to boehner, the timothy geithner offer -- >> do they have the votes? >> no. they want republic republicans to come with their own offer. they want them to detail what they will cut. the same is holding true with pelosi si. they want to see them record a yes or no so they have to pay some sort of political price for their position. they are avoiding getting into the details. >> the culture of this, you get a couple signatures and then it starts to steam roll. the media is on it it. >> what happened with the payroll tax cut. you remember this last year. republicans were like, we only want a two-month extension. suddenly it snowballed and you had a mess on your hands. john boehner had to say this is a tragedy for us if we continue. >> your prediction is she won't get the 218? >> i'm not going to go on a limb yet. >> wouldn't it be something if she did? >> of course. it would resolve a huge chunk of this issue. the senate is sitting there and they have passed a tax cut extension program that the obama administration wants. it would essentially lay the groundwork for a quick fix to this fiscal cliff. >> sam stein, "huffington post," good to have you with us. >> go giants. >> stop that. >> had to do that. >> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. coming up, mitch mcconnell saying raising limits. we're talking about what will happen if the parties don't come to a deal. a record number of filibusters. john boehner is fighting to keep it that way. we'll tell you what that's about. fast food workers stage the largest strike in their history. we'll show you what they hope to accomplish here in the big apple. and later the white house releases the first beau obama christmas video. it's much better than the old barney camp videos and we have the tape to prove us. share your thoughts on facebook and twitter. we're coming right back. of ta. it's changing the conversation. ♪ or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use. it's the ultimate combination of speed, small size, and low-cost printing. welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. republicans want democrats to do their dirty work when it comes to medicare. we know president obama offered $400 billion in cuts to medicare and other entitlement programs over the next ten years. here's andrea mitchell trying to get an answer from jason shabbets on where he has a problem with it. >> is your problem that it's not specified? or do you have to produce a laundry list before he comes up with his? >> that's what's unfortunate. speaker boehner is on the right track. i think he's shown a willingness to talk about things that we haven't been able to talk about before. they need to sit down and hash this out. >> isn't that interesting. republicans won't answer the direct question because these aren't the kinds of cuts they are looking for. if an interview, mitch mcconnell offered his wish list. higher medicare premiums for the wealthy americans and an increase in the medicare eligibility age. he wants to slow the cost of living increases on social security. social security is off the table. on medicare, though, one part of the president's savings would come from increasing premiums to the wealthiest americans so there might be some agreement there. but raising the eligibility age for medicare recipients is an absolute nonstarter. the idea is unpopular and it's also inefficient because it increases the cost to seniors without creating much savings to the government at all. here's the bottom line in all of this. house republicans have voted for paul ryan's budget twice. which turns medicare into a voucher program. that's really what they want to do. if they had the power, that's where they would go. the idea is deeply unpopular with the american people in polls. and that has been shown time and time again e. republicans want these kinds of cuts, but they would rather pin it on president obama than to take the blame. i say bring it on. it does pencil out. let's turn to dr. zeke emanuel, chair of medical ethics and health policy at university of pennsylvania and one of the architects of the affordable care act, which is now obama care. thank you for being with us tonight. sort this out for us. the $400 billion on the table with obama care or with medicare that the republicans deny cuts. who is telling the truth here? >> well, the real issue is whether you're cutting things to beneficiaries or using those cuts to really transform the system to make it more modern. and i think as they did in the campaign, they are trying to say this will harm beneficiaries. but you can make cuts without harming beneficiaries. we released a report where we had $385 million in cuts to medicare and without taking it out of beneficiaries. . >> so this is a valid proposal of savings of $400 billion, but republicans deny that. >> the president has put on a bold proposal. the important thing i would say is, there's one way of cutting. you just whack the system. take money out. make what you pay the doctors or hospitals less. but the real interesting and important thing is to try to transform the system going forward so that we're not spending increases well beyond inflation or the growth in gdp. that's going to be the key. >> so part of the transformation here would be to allow medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices the same as veteran programs? >> that's one possibility. there's various ways to bring drug prices down. >> what would it do? how much money? >> i'm not exactly sure what you could get, but we know, for example, there's over $100 billion by getting payment for drugs from medicare beneficiaries who are e eligible for beneficiaries eligible for medicaid instead of the part d program. >> dr. emanuel, what happens if we don't have an agreement in washington and we go off the fiscal cliff? what happens to medicare? what happens to the beneficiaries? >> well, we're going to have a very big whack at the system. the important point is it's not going to be strategic. that's not a very good thing. it's not just medicare benef beneficiaries. in the sequestration, lots of other programs get hit. so you've got to be very careful, here, plus the republicans constantly say we don't want to become like greece. what's driving off the fiscal cliff look like? it makes us look completely irresponsible as if we can't control our own spending and put in order some priorities. >> so some health care will be suffering? >> that's absolutely true. we want to incentive doctors ask hospitals to keep people well. not to just do procedures. and that's the key to really transforming medicare. >> i want to show you a map of the states that are refusing to implement the insurance exchanges. it's rather interesting. the other states are either implementing the exchanges or haven't decided to do that. if states don't decide to do it and the federal government comes in and sets up the exchange, isn't that kind of a win for the move towards universal health care because the infrastructure will be there? >> i think it provides people an option whether governors are refusing or not. that's the most important thing so they can get access to insurance products. also i think, you know, it takes away the claim that the federal government is u surping health care. states forfeited their option to do something. i also think we're going to have an interesting set of experiments. california, colorado, maryland and other states that are going to do this well will show the country. can you save money? can you improve health outcomes? can you give people options they like? i would look to those particular states because they are really working on developing an exchange, running it well, the case of colorado interestingly enough, it's pretty bipartisan. you have people who want to make it work on both sides of the aisle. these could shame other states to come in. i also think we should be honest. out of 2014, there may be some bumps in the road. but this is for the long haul. out of the gate, it may not be perfect. but lots of software is not perfect out of gate, but we use it and love it and it helps us. the same is going to be true here. it's going to help millions of people get better insurance products that are cheaper. >> thanks for coming in. coming up, some senate democrat cans are trying to change the filibuster rule and house speaker john boehner issues a threat. republicans make their first post election attempt at immigration reform. and just what did they do? they voted to limit legal immigration. xavier bah is a ra will weigh in on 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