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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  December 22, 2011 3:00pm-4:00pm PST

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there she is. she's delightful. haz "hardball" -- or soft-day-old ball for now. politics nation with the reverend al sharpton starts right now. >> welcome to "politics nation. "well-begin with breaking news. house republicans cave in. minutes ago house speaker boehner has agreed to a deal on the senate payroll tax bill. boehner made the announcement within the last hour. >> senator reid and i have reached an agreement on the payroll tax relief on behalf of the american people. >> you know, sometimes it's hard to do the right thing, and sometimes it's politically difficult to do the right thing. we were here fighting for the right things. it may not have politically the smartest thing in the world, but i'm going to tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. >> his reversal came just hours
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after meeting the press this morning where he said he was determined to fight the payroll tax cut that passed the senate with 39 republican votes. the pressure was coming from all sides all day long. late this afternoon, two tea party freshmen congressmen, rick crawford and sean duffy broke ranks and told boehner bring this sucker to a vote. and a shocking moment. mitch mcconnell also telling boehner to get in line. and john mccain warned boehner he's damaging his own party. >> there's no doubt this hurts the republican party. that bothers me a great deal as a republican. all that came today from the right, and president obama threw another left hook today. >> this is an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree. has this place become so dysfunctional that even when
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people agree to things, we can't do it? >> make no mistake about it, it's a cave-in and a defining moment for this house and this speaker. we're all over it tonight. luke russert is nbc news capitol hill correspondent. contingentm congressman, and former chief economist for vice president biden. luke, what a day. >> reporter: indeed, reverend al. we woke up this morning with the house gop having a press conference at 10:00 a.m. announcing they still would fight. they would fight this to 9 bitter end, because they thought a one-year extension was the way to go, but surely that's not the case. >> tell me why did boehner cave in? from 10:00 to the white flag going up tonight, what happened? >> what really induced boehner saying that he was going to go
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along with harry reid's idea was the fact that mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader gave the house gop no cover. he basically said they should pass the two-months extension and harry reid should appoint conferrees to work out a long-term solution only after we pass the two-month deal. why? he was one of the chief negotiators of the senate deal that got 97% of the votes in the senate. 89 senators, 39 republicans. he wanted to see that thing move forward. really, honestly, reverend al, john boehner had nowhere else to go. when you had the "wall street journal," when you had mitch mcconnell, when you had john mccain and karl rove all saying that boehner was going in the wrong direction, hurting the party in the long term, hurting the party's 2012 opportunities, and remember, mitch mcconnell said a year ago he was in congress to try to maim barack obama a one-term president. quell, the actions of the house this past week definitely made
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it so barack obama has a better chance of being a two-term president, because for lack of better words, this may be the worst week in john boehner's speakership. he sauce an insurrection by members of his own house. he got no cover from his friends on the republican side, and president obama heading into the christmas holiday, was able to look like a defender of the middle class, and stayed to d.c. before going to vacation, so they couldn't even make a snide hawaii remark at him. >> and congressman, he didn't blink, the president didn't blink. what happens now? what's the mood in the house? >> the president didn't blink, because he understands what this is all about. the republicans opposed this tax caught when the president put it in place a few years ago, and because they really want tax cuts at the wealthier end. what the president's policy was to make work pay. if you're going to work every day, and you -- that that's the group of people we need to be
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helping, so 160 million people who pay the payroll tax. republicans have been trying to tell you that 50% of the people who earn an income in our country don't pay any taxes. the truth is they pay a lot, through the payroll tax. not necessarily all of them through the income tax. so when obama puts in place the payroll tax, they wanted to get rid of it. they wanted to get rid of it. that's why they've been fighting so hard. what the president insisted upon, and he didn't blink at all was that we're going to extend this, because it's helping our economy. we've got 43 states, unemployment has dropped the most in eight year, we've got car sales up to 13 million. homes are selling again. a major increase in home sales, apartment buildings are being built, you know, so the economy is moving forward. >> slowly, but moving in the right direction. luke, let me ask you a capitol hill political question. could this be the end for speaker boehner? >> well, it seems like he still
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has control of his conference, reverend al, in the conference call he didn't allow his members to speak. he essentially sell thor at a timetively this is how it's going to go. remember why he's in this position is he wanted that deal that mcconnell made. he wanted it to be done earlier in the week, but there's a lot of apprehension to accept a two-month deal. eric cantor the house majority leader was very vocal behind closed doors, i was told, in opposing the two-month deal, into you he thought that would not be able to be sold to the rank-and-file members. is he in a precarious position? probably not. if anything, this could strengthen him behind closed doors. it appears he had the right idea, he wanted to accept this deal, but by trying to fight the senate, by trying to fight the president, it ended up being a terrible week p.r.-wise for house republicans, so perhaps now the 53 freshmen, about 40
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who have never held office before, will listen to the more experienced vet van, per boehner. that's what you would think would happen after this, but this conference has been extremely unpredictable this entire year, reverend al. >> we all understand some of the politics, jared, but the economics of it, i'm sitting at home, trying to understand what this means to me now, and what could it have meant had not boehner and republicans in the house caved in? >> what this could have meant is the expiration of a payroll tax cut that contributes 2% to 160 mill qulon workers' paychecks out there for the average person making $50,000, you're talking about another $1,000. that's real money. aggregate it all up, attached the unemployment insurance benefi benefits, so important in an economy with four job seekers
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per every job, you're talking about $150 billion, about a percent of gdp. there were numb with us forecasters who argued if this didn't happen, we could have easily slipped back into recession. one very important thing, this is a town with a lot of amnesia, you know that. let's not forget it was back in september that president obama proposed a year-long extension, so any of this nonsense about him not being behind a year-long program -- >> he proposed the year first. >> exactly. obviously that's phony, but the other -- >> congressman -- >> one other thing quickly, rev. on the economics, we shouldn't let this go. for the last week or two, we have heard republicans, including john boehner deeply endorsing keynesian stimulus. they wouldn't call it that, but that's what they've been doing. congressman fattah, when does the speaker call congress back? how does he get his members back
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and beat this deadline? >> what will be done is that the bill is going to be voice voted. members will not have to come back to washington. once you have unanimous consent among the leaders, it will be wrapped up and done. that's why the house is still open for business, the senate is open for business. it will be done before christmas, and the president and the entire country will be able to celebrate the holidays. we have more work to do, but let's be clear. this economy is moving in the right direction, and it would be moving even more quickly if the gop would help rather than hinder, and what we are moving in the right direction, we have to keep going, and we're going to come through this holiday and work to create more jobs. we have to work to make sure that when people are working, that their work puts them in a position to pay their bills. that's why this -- that's why this concept of a tax cut is so important, because you're providing relief to 160 million rather than to the 400,000
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millionaires in the country. that's the difference. >> luke, let me ask you something. when we look at a poll that's come out on who deserves the most blame for not fixing problems, the republican congress, 56% president obama only 36%. this is an nbc/"wall street journal" poll. now, let me ask you -- how does the rpg even spin to their constituents that they held up -- had us all at the brink of these payroll tax cuts not extended, and for what reason? how do they even spin this, luke? >> what's hard about this, reverend al, is you usually when republicans go to battle like this, they're completely unified, and able to go to their constituents and say, look, we put up a heck of a fight, this is the best we could do, but we're changing the culture in washington. the problem with using that argument on this issue is that
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half the republicans said this was really stupid, this issue should have been figured out on saturday and done away with, free market economy guys, the karl rove and such, and the more tea party element wanted to fight this, because they didn't like the idea of the payroll tax cut in general. they wanted to stop uncertainty. how is it sold? it's difficult to see how this can be sold as a victory. john boehner is saying we didn't want uncertainty, we wanted a whole year, but when everyone else, including mitch mcconnell said no, we should have done the two-month deal and then had this argument, this is one thing i think they're going to try to sweep under the rug and make believe like it never happened, because it's a difficult thing to defend when half the party was not on board with it. >> jared, the president walks away, at least now, with a victory. the american people more importantly walks away with a victory. this is the first of many fights going sfwoo this election, and
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if it's a two-month extension and -- >> that's an important point, revere reverend. the president, i think, ever since that speech in kansas has positioned himself well. you're absolutely right, the victor are the american people. but these guys come back in a couple weeks and start arguing about the full-year extension, that comes right down to the pay force. there's no reason why that difficult argument argument becomes easy a couple weeks later. i think you'll hear a lot of jockeying how we pay for this, and we'll have another big fat. thank you for joining me tonight. >> merry christmas al, and to all of your viewers. >> merry christmas. >> take care. the house gop caves.
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what does it mean for the obama reelection effort? we'll talk about it. plus there's some serious skeletons about to fly out of the willard's multimillion dollar past. and shocking developments from the ron paul camp. new video surfaces, paul talking about his racist newsletters. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. i take an omega for my heart. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum
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john boehner and the house republicans caved. so 160 million americans won't see taxes go up this christmas. what does this mean for obama 2012 efforts? that's next. ♪ i don't need anyone else in my arms ♪
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we're back with our breaking news. speaker boehner and the house republicans caving and agreeing to a deal on the payroll tax bill. boehner's fold comes after a nonstop assault from president obama. >> on tuesday we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week. richard from rhode island wrote to tell us that having an extra $40 in his check buys enough heating oil to keep his family warm for three nights. for others $40 means dinner out with a child who's home for christmas. a new pair of shoes, a tank of
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gas. a charitable donation. these are the things that are at stake for millions of americans. the people standing with me today can't afford any more games. they can't afford to lose $1,000 because of the some ridiculous washington standoff. so what's the political fallout? joining me now nbc news political analyst ed ren democrat, former dnc chairman and pennsylvania governor. governor, thank you for joining me tonight. >> my pleasure, al. >> how big a moment is this for president obama and for speaker boehner? >> this was truly a tko, and the ref stopped the fight in the first round. it wasn't close, it was lopsided. the republicans dug their own hole, but the president did a good job driving home the point. but you know, victories are short-lived. we'll play this out again in two
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months when the issue is we're going to extend the payroll tax cut for a year, but how will we pay for it? that's where where the president will have to continue to show leadership for working americans. that's where the house republicans are faced with an uncredibly difficult choice. if they try to do this on the cheap, if they try to do it by laying off federal workers or by shortening the time that unemployed people can get benefits, they'll dig appear even deeper grave for themselves. i think this is not only helping the president, al, but helping the democrats recapture congress. >> this will come back in the middle of the republican primaries. if the republicans and it is house are obstinate, they are really at a time that voters are beginning to really pay attention and really playing with their own reelections. that could make them being more extreme and desperate, or they
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could have a breakout of some common-sense epidemic in a republican caucus, what do you think? >> again, it depends on how the speaker and the leadership deal with recalcitrant members in that you are caucus. there are people out there who don't care, they don't even care about their own party, don't care about staying in power, they just want to blow up the american government and don't care about the american people. the big burner today was 160 million americans, but these folks in the extreme part of the republican caucus, they don't care about anything other than destroying government, and as they destroy government, they're hurting average americans. so it's a test for them to control their caucus. it will be a test for the republican presidential candidates to send a message. "wall street journal" has to continue to send a message. they've got to do the right thing, and the right thing means getting this done, compromising, and keeping americans on
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unemployment insurance, because if anybody thinks it's easy to find a job out there, let them resign from congress and try to find one. >> now, governor, you were the chairman of the dnc, and you know there are some in the democratic party, the president's own party and base that's been warning him to fight, not appear to compromise. this has to be a big psychological boost to those of us that wanted him to show his tougher side by him not blinking, even though it may be a short-lived victory, it's got to be a psychological boost to those that wanted him to just bring them all the way to the brink and see who blinked first. >> absolutely. a great victory for the president. i think it's something that will restore a lot of enthusiasm for the base, but again two months from now he's got to do it all over again. >> when you look at the polls, president's polls approval numbers are up five points since
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last month even before the day, and more americans trust him on taxes, up seven points since october. and he has a huge margin on republicans when it comes to protecting the middle class, 50% to 35%. these number clearly probably only grew tonight. >> no question about it. and i'll bet you if you took a national poll tonight and tomorrow night, the president's favorability would be back over 50 march. >> now the question is, what do you think the republican strategy and the opponents of the president -- or potential opponents, because one of them will be, what would their strategy be to try to regain? and did we see any of them step out and take a leadership position in this? because i heard "wall street journal," i even heard car rove. i didn't hear one republican candidate for president step into this and take a stand. >> and again it's because
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they're all frightened to death of the tea party. it's pathetic see. they're a bunch of wusses, and when they know it's right, they can't even speak out, because they're afraid of alienating that 25 right-wing base. guys, there are some things worth losing for. by the way, the american people are looking for leaders, and the best argument the republicans are is that the president hasn't effectively lid, but you have to show leadership qualities yourself and none of them did. they'll have a chance two months from now to show leadership ability, and urge everyone to get together and pass this, and put pressure on the house caucus, but they've got to act. >> governor ed rendell, thanks. >> it's a good night. >> have a wonderful christmas. >> you too. >> ahead, ron paul says he had nothing to do with some racist
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newsliters in the past. so why was he promoting them on tv in 1995? and just in time for the holidays, wisconsin's scrooge governor scott walker now wants everyone to get along. nice try, governor. that's next. ♪ ♪
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2011 was a year filled with radical republican governors. it started with wisconsin's governor scott walker attacking workers. and it spurred other governors to follow with assaults on the middle class. that led to a progressive revolution, started by the people of wisconsin who marched and protested against walker. now he's on the verge of being recalled. so he and his wife have released this holiday greeting. >> the holidays are a time for us to give thanks, and to reach out to those who are struggling. it's a tough time for many families, but in wisconsin, we have a long tradition of helping our neighbors. we're grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of wisconsin. in this season of peace, our hope is that we can put or differences aside and move forward together. >> from our family to yours, blessings of the season.
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>> blessings of the season. where were those blessings months ago? all of a sudden you want to reach out to those who are struggling. it is a tough time. maybe you should have thought that before attacking middle-class workers. you're fighting for your political life, so all of a sudden you care? sorry, governor walker, but we got you. sfwhoo a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.
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welcome back to politics nation. ron paul has a lot of explaining to do. this week newsletters surfaced saying that ron paul was the publisher in the 1980s and 1990s. and after they were unearthed, we found they were filled with racist and bigoted rhetoric. in one article, the unnamed author writes -- i think we can safely assume that 90% of black males in washington are
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semicriminal or entirely criminal. and another unnamed author questioned whether the 1993wards bombing was set up by the israe israe israeli mossad. there are dozens of newsletters filled with racist anti-semitic and homophobic rhetoric. ron paul is denies he ever wrote or read them. >> everybody knows i didn't write them inch i also put on a business-type newsletter, and it covered a lot about what was going on in washington and financial events. >> your newsletters were about business and investments?
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doesn't pass the smell test to me. joining me now, jonathan capehart, opinion writer for "the washington post" and an msnbc contributor. and bob franken, king featured syndicated columnist. thank you both for being with me tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> jonathan, do you believe paul's take on these newsletters? >> no, i don't. the interview he gave yesterday where he pulled off his mike and said i didn't write them, i disavow them, i've answered these questions, let's move on. sorry, it's not good. it might be good enough when you're congressman ron paul or dr. ron paul, but when you're a candidate for a major political party and dao theoretically technically speaking be president of the united states -- >> a front-runner in iowa. >> yes, he is, and if you're going to be that person, then you have to withstand the scrutiny that comes with it.
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and when you have to answer for the things that are under his name, he has to do more than just say, well, i disavow it, and let's just move on. it's not good enough. >> i think -- i was on "morning joe" this morning, bob, and we talked about it, many of us have said things that we either felt was distorted or that we had to say we were wrong, but he's not saying it. he's saying i didn't know anything about it after he did know about it, and these were printed under his name on his newsletter where he made money from them. so you're not even dealing with whether the statements are bigoted and clearly they are. he's acting like he had nothing to do with them. >> well, first of all if he didn't know about something that was being put out in his name of such an inflammatory nature, chances are one would question his qualifications to be a chief executive or executive of a janitor service, for that
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matter. that's number one. number two, if he didn't write this, he had an association with people who are calling themselves paleolibertarians -- that's even hard so say the point is -- and they're disavowed by libertarians in the mainstream, if there is such a thing, and the fact that ron paul would be associated with these people then and now raises questions about whether he's socially up to this time in history. >> jonathan, two points here. let me show what was on these newsletters, because it's not just one or two, this is line some of the most ugly things you could think of. when it came time for plaques to
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pick up that you are welfare checks. israel is an aggressive national socialist state. aids patient should not be allowed to eat in restaurants, because aids can be transmitted by saliva. if you've ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet of foot they can be. i mean, on and on and on. he says he doesn't know anything about them, he didn't read them. he's not identified. who wrote them if he didn't. i mean, and let me show you the poll. because people might say why are you talking about this, reverend al? because he's the front-runner in iowa. and according to this poll, iowa state university gazette, kcrg poll, ron paul is at 28, newt gingrich at 25, mitt romney at 18. he's a front-runner in a caucus
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two weeks ago, and he hecht identify who wrote them, is under his name, on his newsletter that he was making money. >> all those sentiments used to be the fringe. it used to be the ideas and thoughts and people who stood on the periphery, on the edge of political acceptance. and now here we have them embodied in a man who is the front-runner in iowa. who could upend this entire race if he does win iowa. people are talking about now if he wins iowa caucuses, what does that mean for the relevance, and what does that mean for a republican party that is increasingly marginalizing itself from the mainstream of american political thought when they're going after gays and lesbians, going after immigrants, going after african-americans in all sorts of however you want to look in terms of policies and stances,
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how will they remain a relevant major party in this country if they keep nominating or keep hoisting, putting at tops of polls candidates who are on the outside of the mainstream of american political thinking. >> if ron paul goes down in a vote in new hampshire, because people will come out saying, no, we can't have this man as leader of the ticket. >> in the latter case, if ron paul does well in iowa and gets some momentum, it probably bodes well for romney in the republican primary. i i think people of goodwill in the united states will say what kind of cuckoo birds are these
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people putting out there as representatives of the republican party? we're talking about racism, flat-out racism. right now these days ron paul gussies up his points of view saying he's against any involvement by the federal government. and i'm getting into al sharpton territory here, that was the argument that the states' righters made when they were trying to maintain segregation and the argument the slave owners made when they were fighting the civil war against the north. they called it an argument about states' rights. it was an argument about maintaining slavery. unfortunately some americans haven't come much further than that. >> bob, you said it well. thank you for joining us tonight. jonathan, stay with me. ahead, willard is refusing to release his tax forms. i wonder what he's afraid of. we'll find out. christian carollers visit politics nation, but it's not
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you can say a lot of things about willard mitt romney, and i sure have. he's a flip-flopper. he's awkward. he can't connect with people. but you've got to give willard
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credit. there's one thing he's got at doing. that's making money. the problem for him is coming back to haunt him. here's the infamous picture of willard during his time at private equity firm bain capital. this week we're learning his 'still making millions. under his retirement deal, he got up to $13 million from bain in the last year alone. but willard does not want us to know it. >> i can tell you we follow the tax laws, and if there's an student to save taxes, we, like anybody else in this country, will follow the opportunity, but we don't have any current plans to release tax returns. but never say never. >> meanwhile, the associated press has uncovered more details about some of the jobs bain cut in the '90s. under bain's control, a photo album company opened and closed
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a south carolina factory where 150 people were laid off, but bain made $22 million from the company. great deal for willard. not so great for the 150 people who lost their jobs. joining me now is associated press investigative reporter jack gillam, and jonathan capehart is also with me. how does this match up with mitt romney saying he's a job creator? >> well, i think that is an important question, one thing we really wanted to take a look at in investigating his record and other presidential candidates. the big thing with bain, when we looked at a prospectus, is one of the early companies called holesen/byrnes. and when we actually got our hands dirty, mine maybe with a little too much dust in old basements, started to piece
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together a story that showed he invested -- rather his firm bain capital under his leadership invested $10 million and got about $22 million, and that in the process he had laid off about 150 people, that is holesen/byrnes did at a plant in south carolina. let me show you this out of your article that i think is very important. the economic fallout -- i'm quoting directly from your article. the economic fallout from bain's decision struck hardest in south carolina and new hampshire. early primary states that will shape the republican race and romney's white house prospects. so how does he go to new hampshire and south carolina where he headed a company that directly led to layoffs, job losses, and sell himself as a candidate that can bring jobs back to the country?
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>> well, i think those are some questions that people are asking, particularly when i was down in gaffney, south carolina, i'd say about an hour's drive from charlotte. at the time when the jobs had come in, eventually wrapped up to about 150, people were pretty excited about this one guy i talked to said it was a pretty good deal in town, the state of the art photo factory. new hampshire was excited to get some of the jobs, too. as we said in the story it's fairly coincidental that this happened in south carolina and new hampshire, but certainly something that's been on folks' minds. others have said, as former governor romney has said, you know, part of the job creation process includes losing sp jobs and overall he's made a net of tens of thousands. >> jonathan, there was a report this week about he still makes money from bain, maybe as much as 13 million, and the last year
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he's still refusing to disclose things, all candidates, major candidates other than maybe seven that we could find releases their taxes, no matter what it is. i fought with tax people, resolved a lot this year. i had to disclose things when i ran. why would he not want to release his tax -- >> remember, though, if my understanding is correct, there's no legal obligation for him to release his tax returns. >> no, there's not. >> abouts there's a moral obligation. >> what do you think is the reason he would even let it become an issue by not doing it. >> that gets to the point i was going to make. when you're running to be president of the united states, folks want to know who you are. if you're a multimillionaire, they don't begrudge you making all the money you make, but they do want to make sure that you are not benefiting off of someone else's pain, someone else's misfortune, or making your money illegally. i do think the american people are well within that are right to want to know the sources of
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income that has made mitt romney a wealthy man. >> if you disclose like -- or whatever, we showed only seven candidates having it -- he would have to then show what his gross amount was, and net, and then people would know whether or not these reports about bain and others, at least from the figures, would tell us whether or not he is still reaping money from this company that he's playing is long ago in his past. >> we would want to know the sources of income. we know how much he's getting from bain capital from his retirement, but we want to know other sources of income. that's all we know, is bain. he's a multimillionaire. he's got other pots of money, other sources of money. there was stories this week about his blind trusts not being so blind. we need to know these things to ensure that if he does -- let's
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say he beats president obama and becomes president romney, that he does not benefit from president of the united states financially because of all of the tangled web that you could possibly imagine his finances being, since he's so wealthy. >> jack gillam, great article. thanks to you and to jon that that capehart for joining me tonight. >> thanks. we'll be right back with some special visitors to "politics nation." it's not what you expect. that's next.
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everyone believes in keeping their promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow.
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another long day battling these right-wingers. let me relax and get a bit of tv in. >> corporations are people, my friend. we can raise taxes -- of course they are. everything corporations earn
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ultimately goes to people. >> corporations are people? come on, willard. wow. these republicans never cease to amaze me. >> really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working. >> no habits of working? get real, newt. sometimes i wonder what these republicans are talking about. i mean, sometimes i wish i could just talk some sense into these people. ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ ♪ we wish you a right wing christmas ♪ ♪ our good friend al. >> it's the right-wing christmas carolers. what do you got for me? ♪ i'm dreaming of an american-born president ♪ ♪ just like the ones we used to
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have ♪ >> what? just like the ones we yield to have? what are you talking about? that doesn't even make sense. you've got anything better than that? ♪ oh obama ♪ just go back to your country ♪ and bring us back a real proof of your birth ♪ >> proof of birth? you've got to be kidding me. don't you songbirds remember this press conference? >> we do not have time for this kind of sillyness. we've got better stuff to do. i've got better stuff to do. we've got big problems to solve, and i'm confident we can solve them, but we're going to have to focus on them. >> we do have better stuff to do. that's why the president released his long birth certificate this past april. i take that song out of rotation, carolers.
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only donald trump carolers like those songs. surely you have something else ♪ we need you to show some i.d. ♪ ♪ we need your photo i.d. ♪ we need you to show some i.d. ♪ ♪ or we won't let you vote >> if that's not off-key, i don't know what is. these are the jim crow laws of our day. can you try another tune ♪ we need tighter voter laws ♪ there's widespread voter fraud t ♪ ♪ you should need a photo i.d. -- >> let me stop you right there. there's no widespread voter fraud. that's simply not factual. here are the facts. since 1997, there have only been 311 voter fraud convictions. meanwhile, there were 593 million votes cast.
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that's 0.00005%. you singers are giving me a headache. got anything else? ♪ don't tax the rich ♪ don't tax the rich ♪ just tax the poor ♪ and the middle class ♪ don't tax the rich -- >> slow down. those tax cuts haven't trickled down at all. this shows just how much the income gap has spread sing ronald reagan and his massive tax cuts. the bottom 20% of this country have only seen the income grow by 18%. that's top 1%. their income rocketed by 275%. say it with me, right-wing carolers. tax cuts don't trickle down. got anything else? ♪ christmas will die if we don't stop ♪ ♪ obama's godless reign
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♪ his ornaments are only aluminum self-portraits ♪ ♪ there are no jesus things ♪ there are no jesus things ♪ there are no jesus things >> just hold it right there. i'm a minister, and i can tell you one thing. this president likes christmas. can you songbirds serenade with the real christmas carol? ♪ just hear those sleigh bells ringing ♪ ♪ come on ♪ it's lovely weather for the -- >> i'd like to thank the carolers. their sketch group is called politics subversity -- political subversity. go to their website for more information on the upcoming shows. don't forget to tune in tomorrow night for the reffie awards. have a merry christmas to you and your family. thanks for wahi

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