Hardball Briefing for Wednesday, December 1

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Welcome to the first day of December, which marks the beginning of a month of cheer and the end of unemployment benefits for 800,000 Americans. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House will vote Thursday to extend the Bush-era tax cuts only for the middle class--then the Senate's Republican caucus declared that it won't allow a single measure, including relief for the unemployed, to pass until tax cuts are extended for the wealthiest citizens. Tonight on Hardball, we'll talk with Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) about the gridlock in Congress.

Plus: Debt Commission Chairmen Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles released their report today, along with a tough-love message to America's ailing economy. But Republican's don't want tax hikes and some Democrats don't want spending cuts. Join us for a Hardball debate tonight with the AFL-CIO's Thea Lee and the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore over the answer to our country's fiscal instability.

Then: It's only been a day since the President's bipartisan White House summit, but Obama has a long way to go to win both parties' favor. With Republicans calling him a socialist and Democrats faulting him for ceding liberal ground, is it time for the President to take sides? And then: Oklahoma passed a constitutional amendment banning Islamic Shariah law from the state courts. A federal judge had the sense to strike it down. What were they thinking? We'll talk to former State Rep. Ryan Kiesel (D-OK City) and try to find out.

Erin Delmore wrote the "Hardball Briefing�? from Washington, D.C.