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Capitol Hill Payroll Tax Spat

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  • Description

    Has the tax holiday impasse been blown out of proportion?

  • Duration 3:40
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House and the senate.

Pass that deal that two month extension of the payroll tax cut.

After.

Some drama and some nonsense.

If I'm allowed them to realize just a little he on Capitol Hill the deal is done.

And as I said it just pass through the house -- in the last half hour or so we're gonna talk about that.

The ramifications of the drama what it means for speaker Boehner -- whether he can hang on to his speakership after.

Some real struggles over the last several days.

And let's get right to a with a former congressman Joseph stack as a former democratic congressman from the great state of Pennsylvania the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and he joins us live this morning.

Good to -- a congressman always nice to talk to you.

He's saying here it.

Good to -- so move what do you make the last several days up on the hill with this tax cut nonsense.

Well I think you said it pretty well at the words -- it.

Most Americans use is just one more demonstration of the dysfunction.

Washington DC up on the sides of both parties I would argue in this case.

Republicans dug themselves into a hole because it was a group there.

That believe in an ideology and not.

It just disregarded the facts and I think eventually the right compromise came about once more we just keep it down the road for two months.

You know -- overall.

I would argue.

When Americans are yearning for this Christmas.

Is actually have some sort of pragmatic leadership reappear in Washington with the might -- if you titans.

You say you know what I'm willing to do principled compromise based upon the facts.

Where I'm willing to say -- the benchmark she got -- hit.

And by the way hold me accountable to that and I think that's why you see Americans this holiday season having very little faith or trust in the US government.

Now that you -- out of congress I'm wondering if your perspective has changed a bit you have a little bit of distance.

You're looking in -- the process but you know how it all works.

-- did things get.

So this point where every single agreement that need to be made.

Every single compromise that needs to be reached when it comes to -- funny in the government or extending this tax cutter that attack that it comes down.

To the last minute and admit what it -- the fact that they're gonna reach a deal.

That's always sort of a foregone conclusion but like yeah why does -- have to be like this.

You know when I first came down.

To congress set to 31 years in the military.

In a discipline and we had to make decisions every day and be accountable for them I was kind of struck by the Hatfield and mccoys atmosphere.

I went into the Republican cloakroom just off the house -- looking for Duncan Hunter.

Who was the minority leader of the house of armed services committee to work -- -- a couple questions that we might work on an issue.

Everybody looked up in the Republican cloakroom I didn't know.

As a new represented -- -- Democrats just didn't go walking into the Republican cloakroom I felt we -- -- in the House of Representatives all American.

So the last couple years particularly when I ran against my party.

Because and I get and it took on senator Specter.

-- felt that to a large degree this atmosphere.

Pervaded both houses I was given a wonderful book.

About the fall of Jim -- I would argue the last speaker of the house not the speaker of the Democratic Caucus not the -- the Republican Convention but the speaker of the house.

And you could see how in his fall.

There was all this smoke and they turned it into fire and I would argue talking to people who are in that book written back in the mid eighties.

That that's where it began to -- one side must win.

For the out party and the other side must to lose and therefore America is winning falls through the cracks.

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