wants to do. if it tried hard enough, it probably could get the votes to do it. the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans expire and extend those for making $250,000 a year or less. but a good number of vulnerable democrats don't want to take the vote before the election because republicans would call it a vote to raise taxes. so the leadership punted. senate democrats had already decided to dodge the tax debate until after the elections. but what was once called the world's greatest deliberative body was in session today. notice i didn't say "at work." this is not the democracy you were taught in civics class. >> i ask you that the senate proceed to counter number 119 hr-38, the crane conservation act. >> the senator from -- >> i object. >> the marine mammal rescue assistant act. >> mr. president, i object. >> the great cats and rare -- >> i object. >> the shark conservation act. >> i object. >> the southern sea otter recovery and research act. >> i object. >> if that makes you mad, maybe it doesn't, but if it does, remember, you get to decide who works here. in 34 days, you decide whether big change will be the big theme of a third consecutive election cycle. will your votes change the gridlock that is washington? or will they perhaps make it worse? let's talk it over. amy goodman is the host of the television radio show "democracy now." er erick erickson, redstate.com. here in washington, robert trainen, the host of "roll call tv." and senior cnn political analyst gloria borger. amy goodman, i want to go to you first, because there is so much frustration among democrats outside of washington that we had a big election in 2006 that gave us control of congress, those democrats would say then we elected this president in 2008. why can't they do what we elected them to do? >> i mean this is a very important question. in fact, the one thing they did do today, james droga 9/11 act which will help firefighters, emergency workers, cops. james died in 2006. first police officer to have his illnesses tied to the toxic plume at 9/11. it's astounding that it took this long to pass, with all of the people who are suffering here in new york. and yet it was done almost entirely on partisan lines. the republicans didn't vote for the firefighters or the cop, the emergency workers, about, what, 15 of them. this is what it's come to. it is frightening. so much needs to be done to care for the people and every which way. and it's not happening right now. >> erik, wasn't you to come into the conversation, i want you to come into the conversation. first, john paboehner, the hous republican leader. he couldn't contain his outrage over the fact they punt until after the election, this vote on tax cuts. listen. >> how any member can vote to adjourn and punt this into a lame duck session i think is putting your election above the needs of your constituents. >> now, erick, can we go back to the record? do you think at all in the last two year, maybe once, twice, two, three, four dozen time, the democrats have punted a lot of big decision, but the republican, have they ever put the election above the needs of their constituents? >> that's politics. i'm sorry, i'm still hung up on the fact you've been doing this for 25 year, since before i was in high school, john, sorry, hung up on that one. you know, the issue here is listen to the list of things harry reid went through. the great cats and canids act, the seal act. i'm glad coburn objected. congress generally does nothing. >> it's not all -- you can list those bills and we can read them all and maybe we'd like some. but it's not all inconsequential legislation. >> right -- >> there would be 90 votes -- there would be 90 votes probably to pass a food safety votes, 80 votes to pass payments to african-americans in native american farmers who for decades were essentially screwed by their government that gave different subsidies to white farmers. these things are all held up because both parties think it's all about the elections and not about the people. >> oh, very much so. and that happens. the republicans have done it. both sides have attacked the other. think the last time i saw polling on the lame duck section it was rasmussen and great fear about what else would happen in the lake duck session. this gives the republicans another thing to go out with in addition to the tax cultts. >> you spent a long time working on capitol hill. you're a republican. have you ever seen it like this, essentially breathing is out of order if it comes from somebody of the other party right now? >> not as bad as this. partisan gridlock at its worst. the frustrating thing is there are millions of people at home living paycheck to paycheck that absolutely not only want but deserve some type of a tax cut. the fact of the matter is we have republicans and democrats, but primarily the democrat, not because of bipartisan background but because they're the ones in power that have refused to put the best interest of the constituents first as opposed to their political gain. that's the unfortunate thing here. >> you know, the tax cut issue itself, i mean, it came up because these are going to expire, but the whole notion of what to do about the tax cuts was a huge political issue to begin with. it ended with this kind of whimper. democrats had a billing meg mee about it, trying to decide whether it was in their own best interest to establish a fight where you had class warfare essentially and raise that old issue again, and then they punt on the vote. why? because maybe they don't have the votes for it -- >> gloria -- >> they don't want to twist any arms, but that's the point. why can't -- i know this is silly but why can't on a big issue like tax cuts that affects everysingle person out there watching? another big issue, whether it's medicare, social security, education, why can't they have a debate and then have a vote and see who wins? >> because they've abdicated responsibility here. the closer you get to an election, as you well know and you well know, the more they abdicate their responsibility and i think that's what we're seeing on both sides of the aisle. because right now it's all about getting elected. by the way, after this election, i hate to say this, it's not likely to get any better. in fact it could get worse. >> -- even more, it's about power and being weak-kneed. weak-kneed politicians afraid to stand up and say, i may lose the election in 30 days from now but i want to do what's right for the people. it's also about power because they're drunk and addicted to power. >> the president was out in iowa today. he knew this tax cut debate was bubbling up here in washington. he was at a backyard event trying to talk about the economy. his point of the tax cut debate is the republicans want to say, extend all the bush tax cuts but they don't want to put on the table in the president's view enough to offset the $700 billion hit that would take on the deficit. let's listen to the president. >> we can't pretend that they're short cuts, that we can cut our taxes, completely have all the benefits that we want, and balance the budget, and not make any tough choices. that's -- you know, i think more than anything, the message i want to be communicating to the american people. >> amy, very passionate president last night on the college campus. much more sober president there. he's essentially trying to make the point out in the country that, look, we're going to have a campaign and the republicans are going to say oh, the democrats want to raise taxes. he is right on this point, that most americans have actually seen a tax cut over the past two years. many of them probably just don't feel that way because of all the ads they're seeing on television. >> it really astonishes me that the democrats can't figure out a way to explain why it is that they don't want -- want what the highest, the 1% of americans who make the most amount of money, that at this point in time, in dealing with the deficit, that they should not get a tax cut. but that most americans, more than 95% of americans, will. why is this so hard to understand, when people are losing their homes, their health insurance? when people are in such dire straits? the fact that the republicans have been able to frame this debate so well is not a comment really on the republicans, it's a comment on how -- how problematic the democrats -- the problems democrats have in, expressing basic truths. >> it's a great point. when clinton won the presidency, he campaigned much as obama did saying he was going to come to office and raise taxes on the rich. clinton looked people in the eye and say, i'm going to raise taxes on the rich. this administration seems shy about saying this is what we're going to do. >> yes, they're very shy about it because they know when you talk about taxes you're really in the republican wheelhouse. it's easy to say this is going to be the greatest tax increase in american history, which is what republicans were saying. and i think their problem also is obama had a promissory note he gave to the american people which is "bipartisanship" and guess what. >> robert, hold the thought. when we come back, the president says he doesn't get caught up in the cable chatter but the same president says one thing about one cable network and his spokesman says something very different about another. what's destructive and what's invaluable? stay right there. sometimes you feel sad to be left out of a big debate. this is not one of those sometimes. in an interview with "rolling stone" president obama voiced the opinion that fox news is a destructive force in our society. on the other hand, obama spokesman bill burton said the president believes msnbc commentators keith olbermann and racial msh rachel maddow provide an invaluable service. according to the president this is destructive. >> everything getting pushed through congress, including this health care billing are transforming america. and they are all driven by president obama's thinking on one idea, reparations. >> he's bankrupting the country. he is the most incompetent president to ever hold that office. >> and, again, according to the white house, this is an invaluable service. >> what we're seeing out of this governor of new jersey is just go to the money, cut whoever you have to cut, there is no ramification for any of this because he's a cold-hearted fat slob. >> in short, in scott brown, we have an irresponsible homophobic racist reactionary tea bagger against politicians with whom he disagrees. >> let's check back with our panel on their thoughts on how the president defines friend and foe. why do you think the president of the united states -- the president went after fox in an interview with "rolling stone," it was his spokesman, bill burton who drew a delineation, saying when the president says he's mad at the left, it's not with msnbc, it's more with people in the blogosphere. >> one of the striking things in the interview, it was talking about fox news world view. mr. president, a whole lot of people watch that station. in fact, take glenn beck, for example, a couple weeks ago, more people were watching glenn beck than any other show on cable at that time. if you got a problem with that world view, you got a problem with a massive a. american people. he may not like that. this is the great thing about our democracy. we have something called the first amendment. people can watch fox. people can watch cnn. people can watch msnbc or none of the above. at my house, we typically are watching disney or nick jr. >> nick jr. so you're surprised i'm old, you're surprised i'm wat ed youg nick jr. gloria, what happened to this? this is the president of the united states, may 1st, university of michigan, giving the commencement speech. trying to tell americans of all political persuasions "listen to each other." >> if we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line with our own, studies suggest that we become more polarized, more set in our ways. >> i think he's describing what's happening in this country right now. >> i think he's right. in that commencement speech, he's right. >> but right now he has a tough midterm election and is playing base politics. he's trying to get his voters out to vote. and if he's got to talk about fox news, he'll talk about fox news, because his base doesn't really watch fox news. his base would prefer another network. >> i'm shocked. >> but there's two sides of that coin. the more he talks about fox news, i bet you tonight and tomorrow night, fox news ratings will go up and talk about rallying his base, the republican base going to get rallied more. this is red meat to both sides. mathematically, fox news, as erick mentioned, has much more red meat on their side than the democrats do. >> amy, i also want to pick up on a point we talked about last night. after the president's speech on the campus, we talked about why -- the vice president says the left is whining and the president says it would be irresponsible for any liberal democrat not to get out and vote. there's a lot of commentary about this on the blowings go sphere by people who see themselves set up. she says, notice nobody actually running for office is scolding them like a bunch of children. no, this isn't about gotv, get out the vote. it's about setting up a narrative for who will take the blame for a disastrous election. once again, the white house doesn't care if they make matters worse in order to deflect responsibility from obama. is that's what's happening here, amy? >> well, i think it's very clear that the white house is in trouble, right? a number of candidates don't want president obama, though they'd love michelle obama, to come to their rescue and they'll take other candidates, because of, really, what we're seeing now in washington, so little getting done. and i think right now we need to have a big discussion. the media needs to serve as a forum for that discussion. in terms of journalism, i think it's our responsibility as journalists to hold those in power accountable, whoever they are, the democrats, the republicans. we are not supposed to cover for power. we're supposed to cover power. we're not supposed to -- we are supposed to be the fourth estate and not for the state. and that's a really important tenet that all journalists should remember, we're not supposed to be cozying up to power. >> do you take offense when he says things like this, this is from glen greenwald writing in salon.com. he says, they're apathetic because they see what has happened in their own lives over the past two years and see little reason to work for those who have been in power during that time. fair? >> that's right, he's talking about the democrats. he's talking about the republicans. what we really need to talk about is the amount of money that's being poured into all these elections that really captures democrats and republicans together. some can call it one corporate party. i think mainstream america is really being left out at this point. >> i got to go unfortunately. thank you. we got to take a break. a lot more to come. when we come back, an interview we tried to bring you last night until the live event, the president on campus took much of our time. bo biden. the son of the vice president. he was going to run for that senate seat. is he kicking himself he didn't get into that race? host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? 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[ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? welcome back. let's check in with joe johns for the latest political news you need to know right now. >> a new cnn/"time"/opinion research poll indicates alaska's senate race is a dead heat. miller's 38% lead over senator and write-in candidate murkowski is within the sampling error. florida's three-way senate race where rubio is clearly ahead. in california, boxer has opened up a nine-point lead over fiori fiorina. democrat brown is ahead of republican whitman in the governor's race. whitman's campaign says there's no merit to the allegation she ex-plotted her former housekeeper because the woman was an illegal immigrant. she's now represented by celebrity attorney gloria allred. >> it was a nightmare and the way that nicky was treated by her employer, miss whitman, cause heard to feel exploited, disrespected, humiliated and emotionally and financially abused. >> whitman's campaign says the former housekeeper lied about her legal status and labels the allegations as the politics of personal destruction. the house keeper trap. how many times has that happened in american politics? >> let's talk about that. jessica yellin, dana bash. whitman is running this campaign, in a tough race, in a state that has traditionally been democratic. the last thing she wants to talk about in the final weeks of the campaign is this but -- >> all the documentation that we had said that she was legal. she had a 1099 on file with the employment agency, driver's license, social security card, we had no reason to believe that she was not legal. no one could have been more stunned than i was when she came to us on that saturday in june and said i'm not here legally. >> at the moment, jess, she said/she said. we'll probably have more back and forth on this one. i think the bigger point is a candidate who is trying to run on i'm the right person to fix a bad economy is now talking about something different. >> it goes to both her immigration position, which is let's crack down on employers who hire illegals. if it's so hard to verify in your own home, what does this say about the whole policy? she says you need a tougher e-verify system. and brown has hit her on credibility. this is the narrative they're harping on. it's another attack on her. you know, she spent the entire day answering questions about this, not what she wants to be doing. >> i remember early in the clinton administration zoeier baird was the nominee for attorney general and that one became a big issue, nanny taxes i guess we called them back in those days. do women get treated differently on this issue than men? >> i think historically there's no question that women who have had -- people who have had this issue tend to be women. perhaps it's because women have to deal with nannies. but i know, just because we know a lot of people in this town, men and women, people who think that there is any chance that they would run for office or sit before a senate committee to be confirmed for a certain post, they try to make darn sure that all of their -- all of their records are in order that this doesn't happen. if there was a chance she was going to run, you have to think maybe she's telling the truth when she said she actually did ask -- >> the campaign released lots of paperwork. the 1099 form,