>> let me bring in news nation political member ann kornbluth, hogan gibly, republican strategist, former communications director , karen finney, former communications director for the dnc. ann let me start with you, what is fact from fiction here? the president says 98% of the small businesses don't make over $250,000 so thus they would not be knocked out as some republicans have certainly implied or flat out said. what's the truth here?
>> i knew you'd start with me on the hard stuff. i believe that that is accurate and i also believe what the congresswoman said in the previous segment, too, is true, which is we're talking about faxing the first $250,000. but one point that she didn't address was the dissent among the democratic ranks. i think it's true you're seeing especially in the senate, but even prominent democrats outside of elected office say they'd like to see it go up to $ 1 million .
>> to that point, let me bring in hogan . hogan , yesterday we heard this line and we're also hearing it today from romney surrogates, that you have democrats not standing strong, at least three that i've named already, bill nelson , john tester , claire mccaskill in tough races. set that aside, if the benchmark was people who made over $ 1 million , hogan , would republicans compromise and agree to that?
>> i'm not sure. i do want to address one thing that ann mentioned, and that's bill clinton . he's a democrat's democrat. he came out and said you shouldn't raise taxes on anybody. there are deep divisions within the democratic ranks and those holding office currently and those who don't.
>> i'm not sure that's what bill clinton said. that's not quite --
>> we'll get to that. i want to stick to whether or not you believe, hogan -- not sure is i don't think the satisfactory answer because i think you know the answer is no. i'll be honest with you. i think you know the republicans have offered up the $ 1 million benchmark, the answer would still be no compromise.
>> i would probably say that's correct. i don't think that's necessarily right, by the way, for them to do politically or professionally for them to move forward to get this ball rolling forward, to get the american people on our side on this issue. but look, this thing the president did, everybody on this panel and on this show knows it's not going anywhere. it's not even going to come up. it's not going to pass. everybody knows that. it's purely political, it's not economics.
>> we know the health care repeal vote from the house republicans tomorrow won't go beyond the house, it will not pass in the senate.
>>> but that has not stopped speaker boehner and republicans from talking about it? that is, too, quote, unquote, political.
>> no question. let the message wars begin. if the president is going to try into crease taxes on everyone making $250,000 or more, he's only going to raise about $81.5 billion a year. the federal government spends $81.5 billion every eight days. it's just a drop in the bucket.
>> is it a drop in the bucket -- if the numbers are accurate and $2200 would be saved for an individual family, is that a drop in the bucket, $2200?
>> absolutely not. this is the message war. how do you look at it? do you look at it as $81.5 billion every eight days which doesn't do anything or do you look at it in terms of $2,000 per family which is a lot when the average income is $49,000 a year.
>> karen , you wanted to get in on the whole notion that bill clinton isn't standing with the president. we've been hearing that from republicans as part of the argument that the president -- by the way, senator chuck schumer came out strongly yesterday and said for those who believe he's not standing with the president on the $250,000 or more mark are wrong. he does.
>> here is what i would say on that. while there's disagreement whether it's $250,000 or $ 1 million on the democratic side, every democrat is consistent on the fact that they need to focus on the middle class , a, and b, let's move forward in an area that we should be able to agree on. that is a very consistent message from democrats. i get why people want to make hay out of the difference between 250 and 1 million . but let's not lose sight of the fact that you have republicans who have to go home and explain why they are opposed to a tax cut for middle class families. that's the shift in this dynamic here. the president has actually been very consistent. putting this out now says, look, we can do something right now. fine, republicans aren't going to do it. let's not say it can't be done. it should be an area where there should be and there is on the democratic side consistent agreement. with regard to president clinton , what i would say is -- he made the point and he was talking in terms of a strategic arrangement with the republicans . my recollection of his quote was more to the effect of maybe you let it go another year if that would mean that the republicans would cut a deal with the president. i don't think he was specifically disagreeing with the president or the idea that the bush tax cuts were meant to be a temporary fax, not a long-term solution.
>> karen , we know --
>> karen , even the video of the president himself saying -- just a couple years ago to say to raise taxes during a time like this is a bad idea and wouldn't be smart economic policy. it's just -- again, it's the mishmash of politics and the evolution of politics.
>> hogan , the brainwashing from the outside forces that the notion of letting a tax lapse is an increase is semantics. let's be honest. we're not talking about raising taxes .
>> i agree.
>> ann , we're out of time. hogan , happy to know we share a birthday. i can be pleasant with anyone. karen , thank you. up next, big
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/48139190/
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