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>>> all fronts. they’re leading a budget slashing offensive in washington and a war on union rights in a number of states. progressive lawmakers are getting frustrated president obama isn’t making the counter statement enough. defazio wants to see more back poen. the problem is the negotiator in chief and where he’ll end up and whether we can put some steel in his spine. i assume he caved on tax as it in december because he was blackmailed on the treaty with russia with nuclear weapons which was critical but that’s pretty pathetic, also. wow. those are strong words and that’s going to leave a mark. congressman wiener says, quote, we spent a lot of time waiting for godot when it comes to the obama white house and we have to some degree internalize that’s probably not the way to go. we have to start initiating some of this. if you watch this show on a regular basis, god bless your heart. we appreciate it. seco secondly, you know i couldn’t agree more with that statement. today the house voted to defund npr and, of course, partisan vote of 228 to 192. congressman weiner pointed out the budget threat on the house floor today.
>> this is click and clack. they talk about master cylinders. it’s kinky. i’m glad my republican friends are finally getting to the bought the ohm of this and then with all the giggling and snorting they do every weekend on their show, it has to be a code. they’re clearly talking to the russians and the chinese with all that giggling and snorting. it is why i am so relieved we had this emergency session that we waived the rules of the house that a require 72 hours so we finally get these guys off my radio.
>> of course congressman anthony weiner is joining us now. on the republicans, they’re complaining obama is filling out brackets when there are so many more important things going on. we have the japan situation, not-fly zone and the threat of npr.
>> that’s the summary. they are adrift in their own right because they’re pretty good on what they’re against. they know they are against a health care bill, they know they’ve already achieved one of the things they wanted to do which is giving tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. beyond that they’re kind of wandering trying to figure out what to do each day so the idea that they’re finally crack iing down on wait, wait, don’t tell me and morning edition and click and clack, i guess they found their cause for the week.
>> congressman, there’s been some tough quotes. dennis kucinovich had another tough quote. is the impression president obama isn’t showing up enough to fight on these issues?
>> i very much want the president to be a success. i’m going to work hard to make sure he serves a second term. his record of success has been remarkable. the counter thrust, what they would say to people like me and did i fazio, yeah, you may not like the way we’re proceeding, you want to see more fight but we’re getting a lot of things done. the problem is when we’re having this debate about the budget it can’t just be to the american people about numbers. it has to be about what our values are as a party and what it is we’re prepared to fight for and that’s what we need more from the president but, you know, i think you have to realize you have to make a distinction. you have people like senator mcconnell who wake up every morning thinking about how they make sure the president fails and the rest of us in the democratic base who really want the president to succeed and i think the problem we have now is we’re all watching this debate over budget numbers in washington. we know clearly what the republicans stand for, smaller government, less taxes, reduced deficits and things like that. the democrats have to articulate in a much better way what it is we’re fighting for, medicare, medicaid, the environment, education. these are things we’re not going to give on.
>> you see, congressman weinor, the problem is and you know this, on the tax cuts the republicans got what they wanted. the president gave away $40 billion, got no credit for it on the cuts, the heating oil, et cetera, et cetera. $4 billion was the second cut. $6 billion the second cut. still republicans haven’t moved an inch. how do we get the white house to realize this is not the right way to constantly give in?
>> it’s important to know that a lot of the things the president is doing, he has some good things to fight on. over the summer he said he wanted every federal agency reduce its waste by 5%. that’s a big thing. the budget he proposed for 2012 is the smallest since eisenhower. it’s not like he doesn’t have good things to go out to pitch and sell and fight for. i think we can’t see these budget negotiations as being transactions and i think the president needs to understand one of the things that gets us all fired up and gets us in congress, in a place that we can defend the things we care about is that he leads us and that’s what we’re asking him to do more of.
>> i couldn’t agree more with that. thank you for your time tonight.
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