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Transcripts For MSNBCW News Nation 20121213

0 wisconsin, a member of the house budget committee. thanks for joining me. >> thanks for having me, tam rochblt. >> we got word from aides, speaker boehner, going to ohio tomorrow, whether that might impact communication with the president concerning the fiscal cliff, the speaker says ohio has both cell phone service and airports so if the president wants to talk or meet, it won't be a problem at all. at this point, nothing is scheduled. what does that mean to you about the talks at this point? >> my read is the republicans and john boehner, in order to get his caucus involved, they are insisting on getting the ryan budget and the romney budget plan through by negotiation fiat. they didn't whip the election but they still want -- they want to win by negotiation fiat. i think that they are -- in order to save face, they are millennium? people were all scared and hyped up and everything? nothing happened. and this crisis has been manufactured by the conservatives to scare people so that we will do something in a hurry. >> chris, your thoughts on that comment? >> well, there is i think some real valuable concern that people should have about going over the cliff. what is the long-term economic impact? it's tough to say because my guess is the way that washington works and i have seen it work first-happened is they literally get right to the deadline and miraculously, there's a deal. so i'm still somewhat optimistic that they will get something done. but if we go over the cliff, it just sends a terrible message to the american people that our government can't work. that is not the right thing we should be sending, not the right message we should be sending. >> the polling that we have shows that people overwhelmingly, both sides you want to see some kind of compromise here. we just spoke with congresswoman moore. we have talked with a number of people on both sides of this. it seems each side has their line in the sand, albeit, not always clear. i just want to play something from this morning. congresswoman jackie speer talking about the possibility, or the lack thereof, of raising the medicare age. >> will you exchange a tax hike for the rich for raising the age on medicare, as you just alluded to, that issue of medicare? >> that's the one area that doesn't make any sense. why should we do something that's stupid? >> and we have heard republicans are holding on, if you will, as chris pointed out, there's no reality in the storyline that they will not raise tax rates for the wealthiest. so, what does that then mean for democrats who have to somehow -- reply can't be, well that's soup foirksd raise the eligibility age, there has to be another counter to it. >> right, i think it mean he is that the final package, if we get a final package to vote on in the next week on capitol hill is going to be a really unique coalition of some republicans and some democrats assuming entitlements are part of the package, which republicans don't seem to have without. i think democrats will be willing to work for a framework of entitlement cuts and some republicans able to do it but all part of the final melting pot of voters this going to need to pass this if they get a deal. >> michael, let look at some of the nbc news/wall street numbers as we point out, 61% of americans,american america americans, the newest poll, to be added into a laundry list of polls that all scream that same message, tax rates must go up on the wealthiest. why not get that portion of the deal done here when i don't know who does not agree with it at this point. >> as a political matter, republicanness don't embrace that publicly, instead of making a part of their negotiated package. if they were to do so speaker boehner embrace raising taxes for the wealthiest of americans, i think there would be a momentum shift and the white house would come under increasing pressure to put forth more cuts. your polling data also suggests that you know, the vast majority of both republicans and democrats, they want compromise. so why the rs don't take that step and i think have it to their benefit, i don't understand. >> i get all your thoughts on, this the poll shows 38% trust president obama in hand alling fiscal cliff talks. 19%, just 19, trust speaker boehner. 28% say they don't trust neither -- either of the men at this point. if you combine speaker boehner and president obama, do you thank you is a gut reaction who has their back, if you will? >> all of the above, also a reflection of the election. i hear this from callers. people do believe the president is entitled to have an upper hand, given that he just won the election. one other data that jumped off the page at me is that 56% will hold everybody accountable and blame them equally if they don't cut the deal, tamron. >> shira that is a great point that michael makes, women talk about it part of our gut check that folks in the end, they will blame someone if they look up beginning of the year and there is plenty, it seems, to go around when looking at the members of congress. >> right. absolutely. and i think one of the reasons that more people -- the people of a lower opinion of john boehner in a lot of these talks is people already have a very low opinion of congress, no wonder. they have been really incompetent when it comes to passing key legislation. this will be the biggest of it all if they cannot pass a deal at all by the end of the year. >> chris, i know you're a democratic strategist, loyal to your party, one of the reasons we enjoy having you on, you have been a fair voice as well, you have been critical when necessary. of your party, not saying put democrats in a box here, but the overall picture of congress and this inability to compromise when we saw this situation coming, it was interesting to watch the beginning of the talks, people were like, there's no way, they have got to reach a deal here, we are not going to have this 11th hour vote, as we have seen way too many times. and here again, it seems, we are headed in that direction, at least that's the storyline today. >> well, you know, party's nice but i think the one thing that's great about this country, we all kind of put our country first. the problem i think i have and that a lot of americans have the word compromise seems to be a four-letter word in washington. >> why is that? is that to hold onto power? the cliche of being, you know, i want -- it's my way or the highway and that keeps me being the sfwhos why is a dirty word when in anything else that you negotiate, if you are buying a house, heck, if you are getting married, you guys sit down and you talk about where you want to live, what you want to do. why does that seem to escape and evaporate from brains upon entering washington, d.c.? >> it is a short-sightedness. i think the consequences aren't there even in the last congress, overwhelming majority of congress got re-elected, one of the conflicts voters have can want compromise and let people in that don't want compromises in many case. what has to happen here, the republicans have to come to terms with some reality and the reality is, not only lost the election, they lost a policy argument. and the policy argument has to be solved with understanding the fact you cannot simply do this with spending cuts it is mathematically impossible. so, if they want to sit there -- >> spending cuts without being specific, what you are hearing lot -- >> exactly. >> from people at home is the focus seems to be again on those who have the least. you look at medicare or social security, look at where the cuts are to take place, you look at the data, those are not significant problems facing us. there's no conversation about defense. and there's no -- there's no specific plan coming from republicans and i think people become really offended in many cases when you start talking about medicare and social security because logic tells you you social security, that that's not the overwhelming problem in our budget. >> i think you hit it right on the head the amazing thing, you talk about entitle reforms, we are going to have sear joyce about it but not serious about tonight backs to of the people that need it to survive and live n terms of defense cut, i, for the life of me, and i remember this on the hill, i don't understand why there's not a more serious discussion about scaling back defense cuts. war savings is not a defense country. spending an enormous amount of money on defense, the largest chunk of our budget. if we continue down this road of pretending, democrats and republican does it pretend we are not going to reduce the defense budget, i don't know how we are going to achieve this miraculous spending restraint and balance we need. >> chris, thank you vet. shira, a great pleasure having you on, my first time with you on news nation. a pleasure to see you, michael. see you tomorrow. >> thank you. digging deep near our new nbc news poll, we will tell you the top three words americans used to describe republicans and not one of them is grand, old or party. plus, secretary of state hillary clinton is expected on capitol hill in exactly one week to testify about a report on benghazi and what went wrong there. it comes as her approval rating hits an all-time high but will she make another run for the white house? >> i really don't believe that that's something i will do again. what i want to do is just kick back. and you can join our conversation on twitter. you can find us and kicking back at @news nation. today, secretar

Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - MSNBC - 20121003:18:29:00

students are waking up. guests who will be attending are arriving. there's a real excitement building here. and i think it's going to be a great night. >> i think you're right y, mart. i have to talk but about the scene certificate in the political world today, the tapes so many folks have been buzzing about. first off, let start with the daily caller and drum last night putting this up headline. even michael mir is con nish was on, clicked on what was supposed to be the other race speech, supposed to show the president in some incendiary racial tone and language. turned out to be a speech from 2007, hampton university that had already been highly covered by media, by journalists from all over who there were there, including tucker carlson, who was the person who says he is revealing it all now to the public for the first time. what do you make of this? >> i think the biggest journalistic scoop since the diaries.

Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - MSNBC - 20121003:18:56:00

know your thoughts about tonight's debate go tour facebook page, facebook.com/news nation. tell us what you think and we are going to actually read some of the reactions on tomorrow' show. don't send pictures of you watching the debate. tomorrow, postdebate reaction from michael mir is con nish, ezra klein, keith boy kin and others. bring your pictures of facebook. we will upload those, too. just keep your clothes on. "the cycle" is up next. vo: tougt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers."

Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - MSNBC - 20121003:18:51:00

joining me now, mark murray, nbc news political editor. that answers the question t can make a big difference. one phrase. >> it did make a big difference when you looked a mitt romney. also worth noting his favorable, unfavorable rating still remains below water, where more people have a negative opinion of mitt romney than a positive one. when you look and the mir's ballot standing, he went from five-point deficit two weeks ago to a three-point deficit now. we are seeing some tight thing in the race the totality of the entire poll, whether it is that 47% comment or what people have actually seen and heard about mitt romney the past two weeks was a pretty negative outlook. >> as i understand it and you've noted i believe in first read today this new romney ad, i want to play tax direct answer perhaps to those people in the public concerned about that comment. let me play it. >> more americans live in poverty than when president obama took office.

Transcripts For MSNBCW News Nation 20121003

0 opposed to what kevin madden says answered the campaign would like to talking about, the priorities getting this economy turned around? is there a divide within conservatives in the party on how to fight back? >> when you are running a campaign and there's other groups doing everything, always doing something else. kevson very smart, keeping it focused on jobs and the economy and the romney campaign. and i think the only a ha is going to matter today about 9:01 when the debate starts and these two guys are on the same stage together. i think we are not going to be talking about videos or gotcha videos or anything else tomorrow or tonight or tomorrow, it is going to be about the debate it is going to be reset about 9:01 tonight. >> i don't know if that is necessarily true. we may not be talking about a ha moments but chip don't you think we are going to talk about that 47% will not come up in the debate tonight? >> i think it will come up very early in the debate. mitt romney has got to -- i think he will define the debate in this answer, whether he is going to be defensive about it or whether he is going to got offense about it. i think that will probably define the whole debate, because it is going to be about the economy tonight. >> these tapes do matter, at least one tape will matter, and that being the one at the private fund-raiser? >> tamron, what i'm talking about everybody is throwing out the videos, a gotcha moment. i think the voters that matter, the undecided, are not concerned about the videos but the direction of the country. i think at 9:00 tonight, the first time, we are going to see both of these folks on stage giving their personal views on what they want to do with this country. i think that's going to be the moment that matters. >> let me get michael n you talked to people all day around the country. some of those people, conservatives, many i imagine are independents as well. i'm curious, off situation here, i know chip said some people on the other side. but you have the drudge report, the daily caller, some of the biggest voices in conservative television and radio last night were saying this was the tape that would up-end this campaign. they, at least, thought this 2007 video of senator obama at the time, that's already been online, it was already covered, was somehow going to help mitt romney going into this debate perhaps? >> i have been discussing it the last two hours and i have heard from a number of folks who are in that gop base who are enthused about that videotape. me, i want 40 minutes of my life back, i got sucked into the whole drum, he had the flashing light on the website and tune in at 9:00. >> i want more of that you got sucked n you went on the site. you saw this, the other race speech, big headline and you clicked on thinking that -- >> i did. and then tamron, what straightened me sought that i saw that lynn sweet from the "chicago sun-times" five years ago had put the entire transcript online. in fact, i tweeted the transcript once i saw it. now, i then hear from callers who say, well, it is the intonation of the voice or it's when he deviated from the script r i can tell you, because i invested the time. the deviation of the script didn't change the overall purpose of the speech. one thing they don't draw your attention to, how often he praised, he, meaning president obama, praised jesus christ. this was very much a speech about his faith. of course, if you say that, it runs contrary to the other narrative that they put out about t. >> ab, let me get you in on this i think michael hit on something, people now looking at intonation and words that could have other meetings and that brings me to the joe biden video his comments made yesterday. he had to clarify what he meant regarding middle class people being buried the last four years. let me play what he said in his clarification and what stephanie cutter said on "morning joe." >> the middle class was buried by the policies that romney and ryan supported. as bill clinton said you all they are suggesting now when he is asked about this, and he's a the best, he made the comment, he said, what they are proposing is bush economic policies on steroids. >> if you look at what the vice president said and what he has been saying on the campaign trail, is that the middle class has been buried by the exact same policies that mitt romney and paul ryan want to go back to. >> so, kevin madden didn't want too touch that 2007 obama video but the campaign certainly wanted to touch on vice president joe biden's comments. they have got a t-shirt up now, says honest joe, applauding his comments regarding the middle class being buried. what do you make of this back and forth, ab? will it matter tonight? >> i think it might come up and the president will find a wake as he has in the past, that's joe bind, he didn't mean that and what he meant was because of the financial collapse of september of 2008 and even the beginnings of the recession we saw once before that the middle class has been buried and hasn't been able to come out from under what is the sequences of an economic downturn. i think vel to explain that away. of course, will have to answer tonight to the damage that the 47% video has done to his campaign and we see it in the polls. that's why conservatives are eager to find something to be critical of joe biden about, of president obama about, they are hunting for secret videotapes or even not so secret videotapes and that is -- that's -- you know, firing up the base at this point is also the goal for them. what republicans have the democrats don't have as we see in the new nbc poll, is that they really are more enthusiastic. romney needs to keep them enthusiase -- enthusiastic. >> bob woodward was on with morning joe. an interesting moment, eugene. referring to a conversation we had senator john mccain about what you need to present to people during debate. we know yesterday you talked about this, which mitt romney will show up tonight? ab is talking about keeping the conservative base fired up or perhaps trying to go after the other people he would need to win here. let me play what bob said on "morning joe." >> i remember in the 1990s once asking john mccain is it possible and he asked -- actually asked the question is it possible to run for president and be true to yourself? he ran for president. a lot of people would say he wasn't true to himself. i asked him a couple of months ago, what's the answer to that question? and he said, i don't know. >> what do you make of that, eugene? even senator john mccain. we saw this. the guy was supposed to be the maverick. he was consumed by the sarah palin hurricane or whatever you choose to describe that event as being what we witnessed. but he did not know or does not know. >> well, this is quite a process isn't it, tamron? >> mm-hmm. >> the environment is such that every -- every step you take, every move you make, to quote sting, is -- everybody will be watching you. it's -- everything so focus group now. we slice and dice every nothing segments, walmart moms or office park dads or whatever and you have to get them here and you have to get them there. if you get caught up in that, i think, there is a danger of losing sight of a larger pitcher and losing yourself. and i think that's what people will be watching for tonight, they don't want a pitch at office park dads. they want -- they want the candidates to speak to the country. >> but i'm curious, michael, how many people do you think are watching, not asking for an exact number, i don't think you walk around counting folks, your idea on thoughts, how many you believe, what percentage are actually watching this debate tonight to have their minds changed or to pick a candidate or are folks watching to have an amen moment from the person they have already voted for perhaps in early voting or they plan to vote for? >> i think darn few are looking who are not already decided. when you look at the internals of, for example, that most recent nbc news/"wall street journal" survey, support runs deep, people are very passionate. so, to gene's point, governor romney tonight needs to go into the living rooms of the buckeye state. he needs to reach people in ohio, in particular who, tamron, are up for grabs because if he can't turn things around in that state, it's not going to happen. >> but to michael's point, chuck todd was discussing this morning, there is a conversation of whether or not mitt romney will pull out of ohio. he is significantly behind and perhaps put resources in other states such as wisconsin. so, if michael's theory correct that he needs to focus on the folks in the buckeye state and win them over, he is down nine or ten points depending on the poll there again this is not his first time running for president and this is not his first time reintroducing himself. how does he make it different tonight? >> well, i think what they said earlier is exactly right. got to speak right to the voters. i think ohio, a pretty simple mathematical equation there t, e jobs and the economy. mitt romney has had a hard time doing from the first day of the campaign, connect with people and connect with voters. this it will be interesting tonight. the first time we have seen both men on stage. he will have a chance, the first 30 minutes, when most people are paying attention to really make a difference and really kind of change the direction of this election. he has 30 minutes to do it. i hate to say it comes down to 30 minutes. >> that is the reality of life. people are going to sit down, going to have their watching parties. going to watch it alone, whatever. get your snacks out, your mat nachos. i said that because i'm having nachos while watching t >> me, too. >> you're going to watch it. in 30 minutes, people will reside who is the winner or loser, unless there is a huge moment in the latter part of that debate, chip. >> right, and then what we will do is watch it for 30 minutes, get bored, do something else, finish our nachos, talk about what is doing tomorrow and might get our cliff's notes online. >> eugene, since you are on the ground there, what is the gut feeling, the atmosphere as we do the tick tock to the big debate? >> waiting too see what will happen. could go either way, could be a polite debate there could be a lot of friction. we are not sure which direction it will go. you know, doesn't get any better than this in terms of presidential politics. this is the big time. >> thank you, ab, chip as well, michael, we will see you tomorrow as well. thank you, guys. and there's no shortage, of course, as you heard of opinions of what should be discussed, what should be asked at the debate tonight. coming up, the questions the candidates themselves would hate to hear. we have a list of questions that could cause the big game-change moment that some people hope will go down tonight. plus, my buddy martin bashir will join us live. necessary denver to discuss the real story behind the tapes that are dominating the political landscape right before the debate. martin's take on those tapes. and join our conversation on twitter. you can find us @tamronhall, or my team at news nation. this happens to be my song of the day. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

Transcripts For MSNBC The Dylan Ratigan Show 20101027

merely to preserve of yourself. all of this despite any false claims of transparency, like the ones we heard yesterday from the lawyer who helped spark the high court's citizens united ruling. >> when a corporation or labor union advocates the election of a candidate, federal law requires a report to be filed just with as an individual. if a rich person does the same, they have to file a report. >> except, mr. bopp, here's where your case starts to run into a little bit of trouble are. the proof actually right there on the website for the federal election commission. i invite the counselor to visit it or anybody else who wants to know, you just would need your own personal lobbyist to decode t fortunately, we have one. the fec divides campaign contributions, as i have recently learned into three different categories, there are political committees there are other authorized committees and then there are individuals. but while we get to see the names of the groups, good luck finding out who funds those groups. why is that important? well, say you're a corporation who wants a candidate opposing cap and trade or maybe a hedge fund manager fighting a wall street reformer. as an individual or corporation, the amount you can donate to any candidate is indeed capped at $2400. but so-called independent exp d expenditu expenditures, they call them, from say a political action committee, americans for america is my favorite, those contributions are unlimited. and what's to stop a corporation or any group, a union, i don't care, from funneling as much money as they want through a political action committee? how much money are we talking? well, how about the record $3.6 million one-day spending spree in the colorado senate race and that was just from outside groups and that was just 10% of the nationwide independent expenditures on that specific day. here to help us understand not so much how we got here but how prevalent this is and how dangerous this is to the concept of lobbying, write publicly advocate against you or with you, who ever you may be, for a particular policy point of view. nothing wrong with that but when the process becomes secret money buying politicians, it's a sad day. our insider washington lobbyist jimmy williams in from boston, another friend of the show, former lobbyist, fred we shall. jimmy, nice to see you. why is this so dangerous? >> it's dangerous for a couple of reasons. first and foremost, because it is a massive loophole. i'm in the most transparent industry in the entire country. no one is more regulated than me jimmy williams and 129,000 other jimmy williamses out there everything has to be reported. i have said it before, i will day stai again, coup of coffee, cabs, checks we have tory write, every thing we don't, it is out there this doesn't have to be reported. why? it is reported the money is spent, reported it the fec, reported if an ad is run. the problem is no one knows who is funding the ad. what is the problem. >> the way this works is you create -- i'm a corporation, union what ever i am or person. >> or person. >> correct. >> i write a check for $1 billion because i'm a rich guy and i start a political action committee, americans for america. >> a political action committee, a 501 c 3, 501 c 4 a 527. >> that allows me then to spend that money and the disclosure is just that the name of that entity disclosed but the money that creates and funds that entity is not disclosed is that correct? >> that's right. there was an article in roll call a couple days ago, "roll call" is the capitol hill news newspaper of sorts and others, the former executive director of the dccc, the house democrats campaign committee, brian woof, now a lobbyist, just like me downtown. it said that he went out and bundled or fund raised a ton of money for house democratic candidates. at least it is out there that he did it. it has to be because he is required by law to show that money, to show that he raised that money and to show where it went, where it came from where it went. the difference here is that billionaires, millionaires, corporations, labor unions, trade associations, they don't have to show where the money came from, they just have to show how much they raise and what they spent it on that is the difference. he has to show yes got his money. i have to show write got my money. they don't have to show where they get their money. >> fred, when you look at this in the context of sort of democratic disfunction, full, a systemic failure, put this in context of anything you might criticize in the way the system functions, its opacity, lack of competitive markets, if you will. how condemning or how damning is this particular variable in the context of the disfunction of a our system? >> i think it's very damning it becomes all about money. it is a shame. the happiest days i spent as a lobbyist was when i didn't go to the hill with a pac in my pocket, that it was all about the issue, not about money. today it is all about money. look at the money being spent. look at the money being spent that we don't know about or with where it comes from. i couldn't agree with jimmy more. the lobbyist has to file and report. the so-called secret money is not healthy for our system, it is going to drive good people out of politics, good people out of running for office. it is just too much and it is distorting the system and it is going to ruin our democracy. >> the interesting thing, we have seen absolutely no political campaigning, at least i haven't, that is formidable to go to closing this loophole. i'm sure that debate will amplify after the election why are we not seeing a platform, a plank, either in the gop or the dnc that basically is saying elect me and i will stop this? >> well, there was. the house and the senate both took a vote on that this past -- this year. the house passed it the senate tried to pass the disclose act, as it was closed, sponsored by chuck schumer of new york, my former boss it is a great bill it just says, you want to spend, fine, you just got to show you that spent t and that bill was filibustered by the republicans, every single republican in the united states senate voted against that they voted for a filibuster. they voted to stop transparency. i'm sorely, that is just not democracy at its best. fred is right, if you don't get the money out of it he and i can't go to the hill or to the administration or anyone and represent our clients by talking about policy, not about money and politics. policy should be trumping ought this. >> go ahead, fred. >> well, look, dylan they want the money that's why they are not talking about it. >> right. and i think republican filibuster gave cover to many a democrat who wanted the money and didn't want to make a big issue out of it. again, they just have to spend a lot of money. look where that money is going, especially in the later however the campaign, negative tiding. not about the issue bus personalities it is sickening. >> if you were to look at the distinction, it is very easy to demonize the lob best, full, the problem with the american political system is the lobbyists. if we didn't have all the lobbyists, we wouldn't have the problem what is the distinction between the role of a lob best in at vo kating poll saint role of an lobbyist as a drug material, somebody going around, looking to turn on his friends and how do we better make the distinction between somebody who advocates policy position which you may or may not agree with but very least, articulating a point of view on behalf of the pistachio nut people, who ever it is, and somebody showing up with aing about of cash looking to buy people out? >> listen, everyone has a lob best. i have stayed this on your show before. catholic charities has a lob best. the lutherans have a lobbyist, the dogs have a lobbyist, i'm sure the kangaroos have a lobbyist, i just don't know who that person s at the end of the day is it about that or whether or not you have given to a campaign? and fred's right, that republican filibuster in the senate gave a ton of could haver to the democrats because they have to go out and fund raise, took the difference here is it should be about policy. the american people don't have faith in washington anymore, don't have faith in their local leaders, look at california, those crazies led their budgets out there the bottom line is if you don't figure out a way to get money of it, go to federally financed election or the fair elections act, the durbin bill in the united states senate, there is a companion bill in the house as well voted out of committee, those bills are a huge step in getting this money out of the system. i would like to be able to i'm a bank and tax guy and trade that's what i like that's what i do that is my specialty. i would love to be able to go up to the hill with frerkd represent a client together, walk into an office, never having written a check, never having given a campaign donation and say our client has a tax problem. it will create job it is we do this and these states, can you help us in the answer is yes or no. fine. done. no one has to sit around and think about or not talk about or don't ask, don't tell where the money is, 'cause it's not there. >> we got wrap this up but the whether the money in politics, gays in the military, investigating civilian casualties in iraq or looking at the banking industry, don't ask, don't tell seems to apply to a lot more than gays empty military these days. fred web wither, always a pleasure, jimmy, a privilege, thank you for spending some time with us. coming up here on the dylan ratigan show, tea party groups mobilizing to confront people who they suspect of trying to vote illegally. one group offering a $500 bounty if you can find an illegal voter. who exactly is hiring these people to serve as our polling police? we will mix that up. plus, state of play in the midterm election, will the gop mandate win or if they take over in washington and will they create fair and transparent elections? what do you think? we are back after this. boss: and now i'll turn it over to the gecko. gecko: ah, thank you, sir. as we all know, geico has been saving people money on rv, camper and trailer insurance... ...as well as motorcycle insurance... gecko: oh...sorry, technical difficulties. boss: uh...what about this? gecko: what's this one do? gecko: um...maybe that one. ♪ dance music boss: ok, let's keep rolling. we're on motorcycle insurance. vo: take fifteen minutes to see how much you can save on motorcycle, rv, and camper insurance. ♪ check your email messages ♪ check the money in the bank ♪ check the gas in the tank ♪ check the flava from your shirt ♪ ♪ make sure your pits don't stank ♪ ♪ check the new hairdo, check the mic one two ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm about to drop some knowledge right on top of you ♪ ♪ you check a lot of things already why not add one more ♪ ♪ that can help your situation for sure ♪ ♪ check your credit score ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ free-credit-score ♪ you won't regret it at all! ♪ check the legal y'all. >>offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage.® we begin with the race to the bottom, six days before the midterm elections. the gop needs to turn 39 in the house to turn it from blue to red in order to win that majority. today on "morning joe," election guru charlie cook made his prediction. >> we have got about 100 seats in play. >> wow. >> there were some times back in the early '90s when it got up a little higher than that but a long time since we have had anything like this happening. our sort of official range is somewhere between a republican gain of 48 to 60. >> cook's projection in line with both the hill and nate silver's 538 blog, both of whom predict democrats to lose 50-plus seats in the house. here to mix it up, democratic strategist chris kofinis, msnb contributor, dave weigle. how does the gop ex-plate this in some way beyond some payoffs to special interests that funded their campaign so that they last longer than the democrats did with their little election victory? >> a great motivator to their boat voters, something that maybe some of the more naive members of the media that died out when a.c.o.r.n. died out. wisconsin, where i just was, minnesota, north carolina, in nevada, sharon angle is still in a tight race with harry reed, republicans outright claiming voter fraud is happening and willing to independent groups following give them money or following hire you as a poll watcher to stop fraud from happening, they are not actually proving that fraud is happening. the reports we hear are kind of hard-to-confirm report tos being filled out beforehand or machine being found, tampered with, with an error when it gets to the polling place. we hear this every election day, but the way that republicans are messaging this and republicans from officials to talk radio to everyone else, a way to convince their voters the election can be a landslide if they just get out there they are playing with, you know, our faith in our elections, which is something we used to have before 2000 that has been lost. >> chris what is the beginning of the road back? in other words, is talking about the total compromise of the electoral process both with the money, the rhetoric and the campaign strategies, is there an open pathway here for a reform-minded agenda from either political party? >> i think so what is pass nating about this election what happens on election night, charlie cook is right, the third changed election, full in a row. and to me that shows and this has been an increasing dynamic in american politics, very volatile electorate that is willing to put democrats in power and kick republicans out and then just a couple years later, potentially do the same thing. i think it sends a message and wakeup call to both parties that they have to stand for something and fight for something. i think one thing the american people are frustrated with, they don't see their problems, their concerns have been dealt with in an effective way or a way that actually is going to solve the problem. i think a flaw sore mohr so on at republican bus democrats definitely not immune on that dynamic, again, a very strong message, no matter if we keep the house or definitely keep the senate, regardless of that you know, the scope of the potential change may happen is a specific message being sent by the electorate. >> the current unemployment rate in this country, rates just south of 10%. the actual number of unemployed in this country comes in, dave weigle, at one in five. special interests, whether it's caterpillar, lobbying to keep the deals with china in place, because they are long china, banking systems that don't want to be forced on the transparent markets for credit default swaps, instead they trade them in secret, we can't creep keep track of them, they lobby for. health care insurance monopoly left intact, employer based health care system ignored even though that is the blood-sucking machine destroying us when it comes to health care, promises to get off middle east oil from barack obama and i believe every president before him going become to nixon, as we watch that very same oil money given to the afghanis go through iran, the saudi family and fund terror against our own country, do you get any sense that this wave of incoming politicians is any more prepared to deal with that kind of a list than barack obama and the democrats who everybody thought might be up for the list but turns out pretend the list didn't exist and just try to add health care coverage and pretend to fix banking without actually addressing it? is the gop in any better shape to deal with that list, dave? >> no. that is the easy answer. not sure if you are looking at optimism it is hard to find. there is a collapse of faith and institutions happening generally now, it has been happening. republicans are successfully informing people that the institution they should be the most worried about the one that fails most regularly is the government. that is pretty simplistic. you mentioned a lot of institutions that are failing us, a lot of things that can't be trusd a lot of systems complex. what republicans are offering is just enormous acts that will attack this one institution that ronald reagan said was the problem, because the economy is bad right now, they think is barack obama's problem. and they are offering a very easy answer to that let's roll become all the regulation, let's roll back taxes that is going to fix things. that is obviously not going to fix things. there's lots of structural problems here, you keep enumerating them and hard to respond to them because these are things, you know, we have a government ideally that can be fully staffed up to start and dismantle some of these problems. we don't. i mean, we have a sclerotic senate. regulation bought off pretty easily. i'm optimistic about some of the people who come in here weeks dreamily blunt views of what government can do some is needed but i think promising too much what they can deliver. you can't just come in there swing an axe, expects things to get done. democrats discovered, power in the senate, power in congress is not actual power, just an opportunity to get rolled over by the special interests again. >> let's talk about some of the actual election done eering tactics. dave weigle talked about it chris. tea parties turning into polling place vij lan test, something that comes up, sometimes hugely so sometimes less so depending on the election. this time, the new york types out saying tea party groups across the country are planning to stop and question people at polls who they think who could be voting illegally. i don't know what the basis of what somebody who looks like an illegal voter looks like. surveillance squads, they are calling them, will be photographing or taping any activities they believe could be suspicious. 500 bucks on the table for anybody who is an illegal voter s it the role of the taxpayer to man the election center, meaning taxpayer money dollars used to pay for security, people to check voter i.d.? isn't that -- respect there volunteers managed by the election process or appropriate for a given political constituency, whether it is union workers, banksters or tea parties to self-appoint themselves as the election overguard? >> i don't think there is a circumstance in the world where it is appropriate for individuals to believe they can use their mutant-like x-ray powers to determine what an illegal voter is. i mean this is i think, offensive, whether with you're a republican, democrat or independent. you know, voting is one of the most cherished, if not the most cherished right you have as an american t is the strength of democrat sand the notion that folk going to somehow besmirch it by saying there is a rampant planned of illegal voting on election day is laughable, but the bigger point to this and the part i will say i'm continually frustrated by is how extreme this tea party and some of the tea party candidates are and how this did not become a bigger national narrative in this election. i mean, from the sharron angles to the joe millers and others, this should have been, i think, a much more of a defining message in this election. you get the last word here, dave. how are we going to feel on wednesday morning when we wake up from a big night of partying on tuesday? >> briefly, briefly optimistic, but the thing to watch here, not only gone through an election there is a collapse of faith in this sister-in-law the electoral system itself, see a loft republicans come in who go make war on the way elections work, tougher to register to vote, tougher to prove that you are a legitimate voter. and that, i think, is going to attack a lot of the faith already pretty weak right now in the way the system works. >> well, listen, they say it is always darkest before the dawn and perhaps when it gets this bad, the gateway for true reform-minded group, political party, not -- whatever it is, boy if there was ever an opportunity for somebody to walk into the room and say, hey what do you say we turn the lights on and stop allowing secret manipulation of the entire system, which we all obviously can see is happening? we will see. a pleasure to have the conversation, guys, thank you so much for it dave weigle, chris kofinis. up next if you want to make carving a pumpkin a little bit more of a challenge, try it with a glock. sounds like something charlie sheen might try, right? we will be right back. we need directions to go to... pearblossom highway? it's just outside of lancaster. sure, i can download directions for you now. we got it. thank you very much! onstar ready. call home. hi, daddy! i'm on my way. send to car and...done! you have one saved destination: dillon beach. would you like those directions now? yes, i would. go north on route 1. check it out. i can like, see everything that's going on with the car. here's the gas level. i can check on the oil. i can unlock it from anywhere. i've received a signal there was a crash. some guy just cut me off. i'll get an ambulance to you right away. looks like our check engine light's on. can you do a diagnostic check for us? everything's fine. oh, but you've got a loose gas cap. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. onstar. live on. [ male announcer ] when you have plaque psoriasis, you see patches on your skin's surface. but let's look at the condition's inner workings. psoriasis involves an overactive immune system. this leads to an overproduction of skin cells that rise to the surface, build up, and cause plaques. this understanding has led to treatments that help manage plaque psoriasis closer to where it starts. learn more at insidepsoriasis.com. and talk to your doctor about psoriasis. ♪ we are getting into the holiday spirit here at the dr show and as such, looking it he peculiar, extreme and hard core ways to decorate our newsroom. welcome to our gun-happy halloween. this is hicco 45 and he is the man is carving his pump win with a 40-caliber pistol. doesn't give you the artistic control some might desire who cares, you are making halloween art with a handgun. not sure if martha stewart would approve. i have a feeling that hr would likely put a ckibosh on this h scuba carving, safer than the gun exchange in the woods but enough to catch the eye of the legal department around here. as an added bonus, thick glass, aquarium glass, protects your creation from destructive adolescents. then again, carving our pumpkins with a gun, scare the kids away, too. a push on the right to weaken the separation of church and state, already the collapse of business and state. cenk uygur, hopping mad on our failure to keep the government independent of religion and business joins fuhr daily rant. also, pj o'rourke live and in the flesh. the man "time" magazine called the funniest in america, here to talk about what we should do when both parties are so bad, you just don't want to vote. but first, be are robots really the problem? no china's an issue you the banksters are definitely a predator upon the soul of our country. but don't dismiss the robots. we will be right back. 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we are breaking the robot scenario down with andrew price, senior editor and blogger at "good" magazine which covered this very topic in its latest issue. andrew, how big a threat are the robots? >> i don't know if they are a huge short-term threat but i think what we saw in this report from mit is that there is a long-term trend where over the last 30 years, automation has been undermining the skills of the middle class and i think in the current environment, i mean, people are very sensitive to the collapse of the, you know, housing market and the effect that that had on jobs but this automation, i think, is a longer term challenge. >> if you were to look at the progression of the threat, are there certain businesses, industries obviously that i would presume are more likely to feel this pressure sooner than others? >> yeah i think manufacturing has been feeling it ever since industrial robotics came on the scene in the 50s and 60s, i think that has been accelerating. also at the same time it is funny, one of the -- one with of the sort of skills that david autor points out being immune to the threat from automation is motor vehicle operation. so you know, driving cars. and a few weeks after his report came out we got news that google has had had these unmanned vehicles driving up and down california for a few weeks. so, i think it is hard to say the robotics experts don't know exactly and the economists don't know exactly either but you know, i think it will be -- well, i don't really know. it will be tasks that can be clearly defined sort of -- sort of routine tasks probably. >> did you get any sense in your reportings as to whether the policies in this country, the political leadership in this country is anymore in tune with the issues like this as they are obviously completely out of tune with their willingness to make money from american special interests to perpetuate the china nonsense, the banks to perpetuate the bank nonsense, anybody at the switch on this one? >> no, no i mean, i think it is completely off the radar of the politicians, certainly. their concern is sort of the very short-term issues and i think, you know, the average american hasn't been thinking about this probably as much as they have been about the collapse of the financial system and the housing market it hasn't been on people's minds. you look at some of the stuff going on at row boikts companies like willow garage it is fascinating research that they are doing, but i think they do have ambitions for this technician. >> willow garage is basically a nurse replacement. anything that seems hard to auto mate would be the empathy and emotion of a health care caretaker, i haven't met the row bomb. the other thing you write in your article, a japanese company called fanook limited has industrial robots making other industrial robots in a lights out factory. so these are robots making robots in the dark? >> yeah they idea for a while of lights out factories, could you have something being produced just in a completely automated factory, where you don't need people around at all. people have been talking about that idea for a few decade because few instances were it is actually, you know where it is actually happening so, there is this had company that specializes in industrial robots in japan that has a factory making these robots, you have lights out factories you don't have people around. >> listen, if i run out of things to irritate me when i go to bed, ticking between chain narc the banks, foreign oil, health care monopoly and educational system, i will throw the row bought on the hopper and it will get me hopping mad. thanks for the education, andrew, andrew price, editor/blogger for "good" magazine, the story, automation insurance, robots are replacing middle class jobs. up next, we will rage against the machine with the one and only pj o'rourke what to do when all the options on the ballot make you sick to your stomach. pj has the solution. he will solve all of our problems once and for all, ladies and gentlemen, right after this. ♪ trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. both cost the same, but only the pringles superstack can makes everything pop! ♪ hey [ male announcer ] same cost but a lot more fun. everything pops with the pringles superstack can! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t and blackberry have teamed up to keep your business moving. introducing the blackberry torch. at&t. rethink possible. [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. with new bayer am. on your next business trip, pack your marriott rewards visa card. get triple points every time you use your card at marriott. apply now and earn 22,500 bonus points when you use your card and enjoy a free night stay. so, before you know it, work time becomes well-deserved downtime. apply now at marriott.com/freenightstay. you've got staying power. i think the republican party is to blame for what happened in washington, the republicans got elect as a majority in 1994, a contract with america and slowly again to forget about that by the middle part of the last decade, republicans basically became indistinguishable from the democrats they chose to represent. >> that coming from so-called republican marco rubio. all the candidates in in the florida senate race, happy to take a wipe at the gop in tuesday's race. the democrats likely to lose in the house but not like the is country likes republicans either. they tell you you have a choice but not like a person and another kind of poison and you really don't want to take poison what is a voter to do? our next guest says don't vote, people, just encourages the bastards. that, the title of his new books offers a satirical look at the american political system. joining us now is veteran journalist and the man "time" magazine calls the funniest in america, pj o'rourke. go ahead. how is it that voting encourages the bastards? >> well, it just breeds politician, you know, you give away cat food, it breeds kittens. we don't need more politician, we don't need more politics in our life. i think that politics has gotten out of size and scope, out of pro-pores in our life. every time we have a problem, we go to politics to ask for that problem. you know what that's like? that's like saying to your wife, i want to you raise the kids, i want you to cook the food, i want you to clean the house, keep my parents happy, your parents happy and want you in something skimpy and cute when i come home from work with a pitcher of martinis plus i want you to hold a second job. >> isn't why they invented xanax? >> why they invented divorce. >> bill gross runs $1 trillion out of people co-this guy ounce mortgage bonds, fannie mace, freddie mace, the big buy side represents the retirery of this country in many ways, has the alaska permanent fund money management. he wrote this today, five, six days out of this election. bill gross. "each party has shown it can add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt with little to show for t this isn't a choice, between chocolate and vanilla, folks. it's all rocky road. a few marsh mall throws get you excited before the election but a lot of nuts to rue went aftermath." what do you think he really thinks? it is a grim assessment, isn't it? >> if you were to look -- knee-jerk thing is again, look at what bill is writing, the title of your book, don't vote, it just encourages the blast tarsd, the tea party just want to burn the place to the ground, go back out have some tea what ever their plan is, as gratifying as all these things are emotionally, just the frustration is just mapped. tee stroig the government maybe the only thing worse than having a fully corrupt government. >> i have been working on that we have a model a government run by idiots under bush and under obama, the only thing worse than a government run by idiots is a government run by geniuses. not exactly sure the answer. i got to till, i like the tea party in a lot of ways. i think the tea party is very unusual populist movement that is asking for less from government. they are saying, not good on specifics it is a big tree, big trees do attract squirrels. bring us back to the nuts theme. nonetheless, all the people in the he tea party saying i think this government is too much of it. trying to do too many different things, roll this thing back, back to basics, not a bad route. >> you disagree in the slightest. the problem is what do you roll back, who decides who rolls what back? >> boy that is going to hurt. that is going to hurt. that, of course is what we are not really hearing. see after this elections if we do start to hear it. i will be surprised if what we hear is substan at this time. >> i want to read an excerpt from your book. you say power, freedom and responsibility are the main features of our politics. we pay with our freedoms to relieve ourselves of our responsibilities, and this is how others get their power over us. what responsibilities are we relieving ourselves? >> taking care of the poor, taking care of the old, taking care of the sick it is great to foist this off on government, government will take care of it and rich people will pay for t what happens there every time you do that kind of transfer of resources, one group of citizens loses their goods and services, but all citizens lose the power that has to be given to the political system to make that transfer. so we are all losers on that plus we got the rich people who hate us and move overseas, you know? >> new zealand is recruiting rich people, i hear. >> yeah, with enrich people can escape, they got the g-5. not a problem. >> not an issue. the one thing everybody outside -- i can't get anybody inside the political system to agree to this everybody outside the political system seems to agree, while we may not know what to do, we do agree that how we are doing it is bad. and when i say that decisions that are made in opaque environments, noncompetitive environments, i don't care what the decision you're making, the opportunity to screw somebody over, the opportunity to blow it if you will, whatever that means is much higher when done in secret. >> yeah, lights on, let's see the cockroaches scramble in the kitchen, definitely. it is like financial regulation the obama administration is trying to put in. you can't outregulate these guys. our government regulator, they are solomon brothers. they are smarter than you are. if, you know, if you were as smart as they are, you would be at solomon brothers, you know, and they would be the government regulators, you can't outsmart them, you just have to turn the lights on to see what's going on there also, we got to get the lawyers out of here, all about crossing the ts and dotting the is and get the math met tickses in, who caught madoff? a guy with a math background said, mate weight a minute, these returns aren't too high, aren't too low, they are too steady this is wrong. you can't do this. >> what do you think the barrier has been, because the rhetoric gets louder, i hear it you talk to the libertarian crowd, they will say, yeah, transparency, obviously, flip the lights on, the chicanery stops, talk to the progressives, say the same nonsense. i can go to almost any political constituency and be yessed to death about transparency and absolutely nothing in the way of reform in the political process. in fact, we have more secret money than we have in the history of our country in this election. >> this is because transparency hurts the behind-the-scenes mechanics of politics. like my friend ed crane runs the cato institute. he and i have been arguing about term limits forever. ed do you, want a dog that he knows where the bones are buried or a dog that is going to dig up the whole yard? he said, pj, i tell you one thing about term limits, every politician hates them. i said, ed, you won the argument. that is what it is about transparency. insiders do not like transparency because it lets us get involved and that makes them -- they are not insiders anymore, no inside. >> listen, a pleasure to meet you and speak with you. the book, quite simply titled "don't vote, it just encourages the bastards." you should say it with that sort of intonation, by the way, more fun, pj, a pleasure. coming up on "hardball," chris matthews talks to radio host michael mir is cannish about his interview today with the president, but first, cenk uygur, his daily rant on why conservatives are attempting to weaken the wall between church and state. they have already pretty much annihilated it between business and state. cenk is here with the cenk attack after this. of the season to get you in the mood to motor... including classics like, 'thirty one days of ways to save.' 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[ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief for all-over achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. we are back with the daily rant. today's topic, taking aim at the wall between church and state. big-named tea party candidates say it's got to go, but our favorite young turk has a question for all these pious politicians. cenk uygur, my young turkish friend, the mike is yours. >> all right, thank you, dylan. so as you said here, we have got these conservative republican candidates saying they are not sure that this separation of church and state makes sense. and they are not really sure where it comes from, these guys who purport to loft constitution apparently haven't read the first amendment. first, let's take a look at ken buck, from the state of colorado, running for senator there. this is what he said last year. >> i disagree strongly with the concept of the separation of church and state. it was not in the constitution. >> all right. he disagrees strongly with the separation of church and state. fascinating. christine o'donnell appears to be equally flummoxed as to its origin. she is, of course, running for senator in delaware. let's check her out. >> where in the constitution is separation of church and state? >> separation of church and state where did that come from? the audience, of course, laughed at her when she said that. and then they are not alone, sharron angle, the republican candidate in nevada seems to be utterly confused by this issue. let's check her out. >> thomas jefferson has been misquoted, like i have been misquoted out of context. thomas jefferson was actually addressing a church and telling them through his address that there had been a bull of separation put up between the church and the state precisely to protect the church. >> but there should be -- so there should nobody separation of church and state church from taking over by a state religion and that is what they meant by that. >> well, that's fascinating view of it. she is actually half right, i will get to that in a second. first, let see if thomas jefferson was actually misquo d misquoted. we actually have the quote for you can the full quote. so let's read it here is what jefferson wrote in a letter in 1802 to the dan bury baptist. he said, "believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, i contemplate with sovereign reverence the act of the whole american people, which declared that their legislature should quote, make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." how clear did he need to be? it is right there of course, the quote that he had in there went into the first amendment, as -- to make sure that we did not establish a state religion. did you know we are the first country in the world not to have an official relimp link john which is fantastic, ingenious and revolutionary. that was the whole point of the country, saying that you are against that is honestly a little un-american. it is like saying i love america and i hate that damn freedom of speech t doesn't make sense it is like saying i love america and i love the constitution but i hate democracy. well, then you missed the whole point of the country. and you say that we should be a government run by a specific church, you missed the whole point of the country and the whole point of the revolution. it was also to protect the church because which church would you go with if you were going to establish a state religion? would you go with the lutherans, the episcopal yans, the southern baptist, how about the mormons? they had the senate majority leader in harry reid, one of the leading republicans ran for president before, probably run for president again in 2012, mitt romney, one of the leading comment taters in the country, unfortunately, glenn beck, i'm sure they would all love for mormonism to be the official state religion. the rest of the country be happy about that? how about islam, how about if we did sharia law here? my guess is that conner is vat candidates would flip out over that. we do school prayer like they want, except muslim school prayer. some places in michigan and other places throughout the country, predominantly muslims in some districts what if we started school prayer with -- [ speaking jibberish ] one specific country merged state and religion it is called saudi arabia and we don't want to be that. we are the opposite of that and when they miss that, it drives me absolutely crazy and then finally i will tell you. if you think that we with should join these religions with a state, you got to tell us, which religion, which sect and if you do, my guess is that the rest of the sect and the rest of the religions are not going to be too pleased about it. >> hey, cenk -- >> yes. >> have you ever thought about having your own tv show? >> i put a couple of thoughts behind it not such a bad idea. >> because

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