our political director here at abc, amy walters, kind of said mitt romney came out the winner last night. had a very good debate. cool, calm, collected. didn t make any more bets. probably a smart move on his part. she said the loser pretty much was rick perry. looking for this breakout moment. he didn t get it. that s what i was looking for. looking for perry to do something. had the huge oops moment. clowning around. doing the late night circuit stuff. he didn t shine. didn t shine last night. he was the golden boy a few weeks ago. he was the man. interesting how the twists and turns. see what iowa decides to do in a few weeks. the federal government will stay open this weekend and for the next nine months. congressional negotiators late last night agreed to a trillion-dollar spending package for federal agencies. also signs of movement on the payroll tax deduction, a big issue the last several days. the sticking point remains how to pay for it.
and democratic congresswoman, maxine waters. good morning. good morning. thank you for getting up so early. let s talk about the extension fight. do you believe an agreement will come and if so at what cost for democrats? we have a competing proposal. the republicans already rejected two proposals on the senate side. democrats simply want to make sure that the average worker, that the middle class workers in this country do not get penalized, and be caused to pay more taxes in the year 2012. if we don t pass the extension of the payroll tax deduction, that s what they will have to do. they are going to have to pay more taxes. the republicans want to add this controversial pipeline. again, dealing with big oil,
defending her husband for the first time since she was accused of molesting several boys. she insists those allegations are untrue. an attorney for one of sandusky s accusers says dottie will be a subject of discussion in court next week. i believe at the preliminary hearing we will likely hear more information specifically from victim four as to mrs. sandusky, and what information mrs. sandusky may have known about the actions of her husband including sexual assaults. sandusky s preliminary hearing is set to begin on tuesday. all accusers, as many as ten, are expected to testify in court. now to washington, where the senate has shot down a presidential priority, extending the payroll tax deduction for the fourth time in a week. president obama says he won t go away for christmas and congress shouldn t either until the extension is a done deal. house republicans want to tack on an agreement for an oil
whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement. that speech was a clear rebuke of republicans especially the tea party, and music to the ears of democrats who too often find their president too timid. their philosophy is simple, we are better off when everybody s left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. i am here to say, they are wrong. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is here to up his game today. clearly framing the campaign. why today? reporter: that s right, he is framing the campaign. and it s because essentially it s heating up now, and he has to get in he has to get in campaign gear before the frame is set for him, john. the republicans that you know are on the campaign trail every day trying to make this a referendum on the president s leadership on the economy. they think they ll win if it s a referendum on how the economy is
he is due to speak this hour, site of the 1910 address by roosevelt. you re looking at the live picture of the podium where the president will speak. the sticking point with republicans is how to pay for them. you ll hear the president live at 1:55 eastern time right here on cnn. overseas the pressure on the eu eurozone is growing, ahead of another summit, standard and porr s is threatening to down grade the credit ratings, including france and germany that now plan to call for enforcement caps on deficits. greek bonds are already junk. gop presidential front-runner mitt romney has more than newt gingrich on his back. according to a report, the former massachusetts govern ers s office spent $100,000 in state funds to remove records from his four years in office. the money was used to replace computers in his office months before romney launched his unsuccessful campaign for the nomination back in 2008. in addition, his staff had e-mails and other communication from state