Page 381 - Third Rail News Today

Third rail. and, by that i mean if he gets up and says the same thing he had been saying in front of the tv cameras every day, he was only working in the best interest of the people of illinois. if he does that, it will be immediately countered by the mountains of testimony it takes, that show he was in the frenzy of raising funds and trying to hitch his cart to president obamas wagon and when you consider the fact there was testimony he worked two hours a day, aides couldnt find him and made ma...

Good things they are doing. then you have hoyer and james clyburn, democratic house leadership who have suggested that maybe raising the retirement age not out of the question. john boehner saying the same thing. at least we are discussing it and we are not acting like it is the absolute third rail and you cant disut it at all. you might actually have this understanding, this bipartisan agreement on something thats a really icky issue that nobody wants to talk about. >> bill: icky issue. reitera...

Good things they are doing. then you have hoyer and james clyburn, democratic house leadership who have suggested that maybe raising the retirement age not out of the question. john boehner saying the same thing. at least we are discussing it and we are not acting like it is the absolute third rail and you cant disut it at all. you might actually have this understanding, this bipartisan agreement on something thats a really icky issue that nobody wants to talk about. >> bill: icky issue. reitera...

I want results. day we get results, everyone can go home. >> taking on the teachers union. governor christie what many believe is the third rail of politics and lives to tell about it. [ woman ] alright, so this tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours. but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. do you remember when taking a bath and going...

Sound. >> mike, he certainly laid out problem, but has he laid out any -- any weight -- or proceed politically? theres no indicationta theyre about to make this the kind of priority, the kind of issue that health care was for them. >> reporter: right, and andrea, part of that is because its sort of become the new political third rail of washington politicians. it is an issue that is so volatile that it cleves both parents right down the middle. you know back in 2006 under the administration of g...

Going to be a big issue and it wasnt. do you think theres a misperception among your colleagues how much of a third rail the issue is. >> youve hit it right on the money. we saw what happened in 06 and 07 when senators tried to tackle this issue. they were barraged by faxes, e-mails those against doing reform to fix the system. they became all these voices against reform became bigger than life. yet, when it comes to elections in most cases those folks dont have the impact that they seem to have...

Saying, ive heard it before. >> and were going to have to change social security and medicare and you never hear it. >> neil: we did, we did hear from marco rubio one out of seven folks gets a social security check and all he said in florida, if my memory serves me right, i think we should look at younger workers having to work a little longer. >> right. >> neil: and there was hell to pay. im not saying thats why he fell back further in the polls again, but i am saying that, thats the third rail...

Columnist also msnbc political analyst and author of "13 american arguments" out in paperback. good evening, howard. >> hi, keith. >> since this death panel passed, it worked for her, what the heck. each day weve had a couple more republicans who have endorsed it, a couple more perhaps bigger ones who have disavowed it. is there a policy on that side of it? is there a divide? or is the majority keeping silent so as not to touch this third rail? >> i think theres a growing divide and i think the ...

Magazine senior editor, political columnist, also msnbc analyst and author of "13 american arguments" out in paperback. good evening, howard. >> hi, keith. >> since this death panel passed, it worked for her, what the heck. each day weve had a couple more republicans who have endorsed it, a couple more perhaps bigger ones who have disavowed it. is there a policy on that side of it? is there a divide? or is the majority keeping silent so as not to touch this third rail? >> i think theres a growin...

Howard fineman, "newsweeks" magazines political columnist and also an msnbc political analyst and author of "the 13 american arguments" out in paperback. good evening, howard. >> hi, keith. >> since this death panel passed, it worked for her, what the heck. each day weve had a couple more republicans who have endorsed it, a couple more perhaps bigger ones who have disavowed it. is there a policy on that side of it? is there a divide? or is the majority keeping silent so as not to touch this thir...