>>> welcome back. president obama just issued his latest warning about the effects of those automatic budget cuts. the president spoke as a naval shipyard in virginia under fire from republicans in congress.
>> because of the automatic cuts, about 90,000 virginians who work for the department of defense would be forced to take unpaid leave from their jobs. i just had to be honest with you. there's too many republicans in congress right now who refuse to compromise even an inch when it comes to closing tax loopholes and special interest tax breaks . that's what's holding things up right now.
>> for 16 months the president is traveling over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with senate leaders to try to forge an agreement over there in order to move the bill. we have moved the bill in the house twice. we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something.
>> what? in the senate, a few hours ago, the democratic and republican leaders took to the floor once again to blame democrats.
>> the only republicans in america that don't support this balanced approach are the republicans who serve here in congress.
>> the deal we struck was that an exchange for avoiding a second vote before the election the debt limit would be paired with spending cuts only. spending cuts only. and would not involve a tax increase.
>> joining me now live the political panel. today, strategist blake zeff. no profanity. chicago sun times columnist, washington bureau chief, lynne sweet.
>> blake, lind say gram we haham we have learned and jahmeshia discussing the sequester. pair it with what senator graham said on cnn just yet. let me play it.
>> we'll criticize everything he does. mr. president, it is now up to you to find the $85 billion in savings and we'll make it easier for you but we'll criticize the decision. this is a bipartisan problem. i voted against this deal because it would destroy defense. lousy way to cut $1.2 trillion and which is achievable. i'm willing to raise revenue, raise $600 billion of new revenue if the democratic friends reform entitlements and fix sequestration together.
>> he says fix it together but the top of the comment says every decision the president makes we'll criticize. how do you make heads or tails of that?
>> the truth is even if lindsay graham is willing to meet halfway, no republicans on the house share this point of view. you can have a meeting with president obama and be lovely, i'm sure, but the end of the day this is a republican controlled house of representatives that wants to cut spending, cut government. that's the philosophy. they're thrilled this is happening. and that's, you know, they have no desire to compromise. not going to happen if things remain.
>> to the point of republicans in the house, tea party republican senator warned today that house speaker john boehner could lose the speakership agreeing to tax hikes.
>> sure. that's what i hear from people on the hill who are republicans , long-time republican, capitol hill operative say it's an opportunity of automatic spending cuts. excited about it. republicans do not want to do anything where they have to give up revenues or tax increases when they're getting free if you will spending cuts anyway.
>> speaker boehner in the midst of a threat in his party for potential actions.
>> right. i don't think he's going to as a result of that. i think ron johnson is in the senate and i think he is accurately characterizing the view of most house republicans .
>> absolutely. lynne, i want to play what majority leader eric cantor said regarding this mixed message of republicans and highlight cantor because the president was in his home state of virginia today and look at in the one news con conference the different versions of cantor.
>> we heard the president say last week that he was going to be forced because of the sequestration to let criminals loose on the street. if he didn't get another tax cut . this is a false choice . president's off campaigning in my state of virginia . yes, we are very, very concerned about the impact on the commonwealth as we are on all states.
>> went from very concerned, the second part to beginning the president is giving false choices. isn't that the heart of problem for republicans at this point? they're seeing it i guess with double vision .
>> yes, tamron. the cantor, you know, he had to say something because obama 's at a shipbuilder in newport news in his state but there's false choices all over the place in this debate. what it really says, this is a case where obama spent a lot of his speech today blaming republicans . he needs maybe at this stage a new idea, a new idea to see if you avoid the sequester and no one thinks now could be avoided. the republicans have offered to see if there's another way of structuring the cuts so that cabinet secretaries have more discretion and by the way on the point that criminals will be let out of prisons, i don't think that is going to happen from any briefing we have gotten from the federal government .
>> criticize that portion of the president's remarks and seems to go beyond what was reasonable even in thought here but 45% would blame republicans in congress. 32% would blame the president. 13% would blame both and in december, 53% blaming republicans and 27% the president. a few more saying they would blame the president and hearing more and more people even though that support president obama expressing a sense of frustration between both the president and the similar speech and remarks heard from him now and the republicans having to now resort to even profanity of speaker boehner to get attention i guess to wake people up. they said when you can't get someone's attention say a swear word and it might help.
>> i won't use a swear word .
>> thank you.
>> though i know a few. obama is not an innocent bystander in this. he isn't a third party just making comments and how you need to pressure republicans . i think in his speech today in newport news, he was putting too much of the job on outside groups, outside people pressuring congress. he -- i would think he should have said something more and meantime i'm doing this and that. mccain and graham going to the white house today where they'll probably touch on everything, probably has more to do on coming to some bipartisan agreement on immigration than avoiding the sequester.
>> the optics is here are these people fierce critics of the president, john mccain on just about everything entering the white house , whether to talk about immigration reform or if it's to have a beer summit, they're walking in so the optics of that at least gives a view of these people having the ability to meet and talk over something.
>> well, yes. it's always giving the upper hand to whoever's the president when someone comes to them rather than the other way around. it's rare obama or any president would go to a senator's office for a meeting and they just can't go to a saloon and have a cocktail to discuss this.
>> maybe they should. maybe it would work better. thank you.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50960275/
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