governor romney has made his choice, and now it's your turn. does the selection of paul ryan change the conversation in an election that continues to be focused on the economy? i'm poppy harlow, and this is "your money." ali velshi has been away, but he is warning us of an economic storm that could hit our shores. since romney tapped ryan to be his running mate, it seems like the conversation on jobs and the economy has been overtaken by a debate on entitlements and budget cuts. that's odd because when it comes to the u.s. economy, president obama has a lot to answer for. take a look at these numbers.

it's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, and it has fallen steadily from a far more healthy 4% in the final quarter of last year to a very sluggish 1.5% in most recent readings. those figures are consistent with how americans are feeling. a recent cnn-orc poll, you see it here. it found that 63% of respondented say the economy is doing poorly. that's an increase of 6% from april. jobs, nothing is more important to our recovery than creating jobs. unemployment remains high at 8.3%, but the even more important number that you should look at each month in this report is how many jobs were created. in july 163,000 jobs were added. that is an improvement, but tell that to the 12.8 million americans still out of a job and looking for work. so while mitt romney made his choice, it's now up to america to make its.

>> paul ryan and i believe in america, and we believe in you. in this election we're offering americans a clear and honest choice. >> obama-nomics is not working, and you know what, the recovery starts november 6th when president obama is not working in the white house any longer. >> the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth in november is going to have an impact not just on your lives but on your children's lives, your grandchildren's lives for decades to come. this one counts. >> steven moore is an editorial writer with the "wall street journal", and i have to tell you, you know, one word i haven't heard all week is bain capital, but other thing i haven't seen, frankly, is a focus on jobs and the economy. does the ryan selection take voters' attention away from an economy that is still very, very much struggling under this president? >> well, poppy, let me just first say full disclosure, i have been friends with paul ryan

for 20 years, so i have a personal bias. i just love the guy. i think he was a great pick for republicans. you know what, i think that the impact of paul ryan being on this ticket, poppy, is that it kind of raises the stakes and makes this campaign even more so about big subsidies. >> can they not take on issues one and two first? >> because, poppy, i think the case that paul ryan and mitt romney have to make is these are all tied together. that just as you need a strong economy to get the deficit down, we do need reform in these entitlement programs. we do need reforms in our tax system if we're going to get back to that 4%, 5% gloet path that we should be on. you know, paul ryan, whether you like him or don't like him, he is very conversant in these issues. there's almost nobody in washington who knows the kind of back rooms of the budget and those numbers better than he does.

i think this is going to be kind of an education of the american people about the budget. >> i don't think anyone is avoiding the budgets. i want to bring in the chief political strategist with a monday partisan think tank in washington. greg, conservatives got a vp pick in paul ryan that they can certainly -- many of them agree with on policy and on vision, but, you know, it's interesting. there was this fascinating politico article that came out on monday, and it showed that a lot of republican strategists are very much questioning this and whether they feel good about this choice politically, you bring up the point that republican congressmen and women in some pretty hot contests right now think this could hurt them. >> it could. you know, poppy, paul ryan is like my friend steven moore. great guy. very knowledgeable on these issues. at the same time, it might be a little too bold for a lot of american voters. to me the name of the game is getting 270.

270 electoral votes. i hi this pick makes it tougher to win florida. i can't see romney winning the election without florida, so that hurts, and the other thing that you mentioned in your question to steven is that instead of talking about obama's very mediocre record on jobs and the economy, we're now going to talk about entitlements. i think that takes away a more, say, lucrative, fertile battleground of welfare. >> ben white, let's talk about it. when you talk about this issue, when you talk about the president, president obama, if had he to sell his economic record to voters without mentioning bush and what he was given, without mentioning romney or ryan, could he do it? >> he has had a hard time doing it. that's why you see a lot of attacks against mitt romney, talk about his tax concerns and bain capital and all that stuff. what he has to say is that things would have been a lot worse if we hadn't done what we did, which was pass the stimulus act and keep us away from a great depression. >> people don't --

>> people don't want to hear that. that's why the obama campaign really wants to talk about mitt romney and what mitt romney's ideas are, and i think paul ryan helps them talk about the alternative that romney presents. >> he gives him substance. >> he gives them substance. they like talking about medicare and social security. the romney campaign is trying to go on attacks saying obama could cut medicare, and they want to talk about these issues, and ryan wants to do that. >> i want you to listen to this quick thought clearly focussing on the president. >> president obama cannot run on his record. just think about it. this is the worst economic recovery if you call it that many 70 years. he promised he would keep unemployment from going up above 8%. >> so he has a point there, and that is that it has been quite a long time since the president got elected with unemployment this high, and that's just history. >> right. it really hasn't happened since fdr, and it's absolutely history, and that's true. you look at where we came from, ask this is the narrative of the obama camp has to sell, which is a difficult sales job, but,

look, we were headed to the great depression, headed towards 10% more unemployment. they made too rosy predictions, their initial response to the crisis and the passage of the stimulus to say we were going to get below 8% unemployment. probably shouldn't have said this. it's tough to return from these financial crisises. they go deep, and it takes a long time to recover from. it puts the obama camp in a tough spot, and they need to say this is what we're going to do in the future. i think ryan -- >> steven. >> i would like to add something. i want to take you on the issue of politics of picking paul ryan. look, greg, i respect your political opinion. i read your stuff all the time, so i defer to you on this, but i think here's what you might be a little wrong on this. i think what paul ryan has done for the ticket, it is energized and electrified conservative voters who, quite frankly, poppy, weren't all that excited about mitt romney in the first place. i think the fact that you now have conservatives really strongly supporting this ticket, the intensity issue, greg, i think is important. >> so did sarah palin.

>> where were they going to go? >> so did sarah palin. energized the ticket. >> in montana you have a senate candidate who is running in a conservative state, or conservative candidate for the united states senate. he is running on his vote against the ryan budget. the fact is that the congressional candidates are running away from paul ryan and running away from the ryan budget. >> all right. steven moore, thank you very much. greg, thank you. we'll get back to both of you after the break. ben, thank you for joining us. >> pleasure. >> up next, was mitt romney's choice of paul ryan and his controversial plan for medicare a senior moment? >> my plans are to ebbing tend medicare by nearly a decade. their plan ends medicare as we know it. >> president obama on the attack, but the romney-ryan ticket firing back. a key part of the election campaign is here, and we'll find out what happens to medicare, the truth, what happens to medicare under obama-care. that's next. ♪

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zoirchlgts paul ryan's plan to limit funds for intilgsment programs, including medicare has come under intense scrutiny since ryan was named as romney's running mate. especially from seniors. since 1965 medicare has provided federal health insurance to americans 65 and older. according to the pew research center, 88% of americans believe that medicare is "good for the country." ryan's plan, if implemented, would apply to people who are now 55 and younger. in other words, it would not touch today's seniors. under it americans who reach retirement age can opt to get a federal subsidy, or a voucher, projected to be about $8,000 a year, to use to buy private insurance. seniors could also choose traditional medicare instead, but some do make the argument that that medicare system would be weaker hand it currently is. now, people talk about cuts to medicare in both ryan's plan and

in the affordable health care act, or obama-care, which is law of the land now. it is true, both plans do try to cut costs. they have to. this program, it's running out of money. it is unsustainable in the long run, but the plan that addresses cost-cutting in different ways. obama-care saves money by capping payments to health care providers like hospitals or insurers. ryan's plan would work in two ways. first off, he believes that competition from the private sector would bring costs down. take them down. secondly, his plan would cap the amount the government pays out each year to seniors in the form of vouchers. one expert told cnn money, "it's a different philosophy on who would bear the burden." let's get to the politics of it all. according to pew, 51% of seniors oppose ryan's plan to offer credit towards purchasing private health coverage. only 25% favor it. greg and steven moore are still with us, but i also want to

bring in jen, an obama campaign spokesperson and former deputy white house press secretary. thank you, jen, for joining us. >> thank you. >> we know you are very busy these days. you know, jen, the president says his plans extends medicare for almost a decade, and he says, look, the ryan budget is going to end medicare "as we know it." is that fair given the fact that there is that option under the ryan plan for seniors to opt to stay under traditional medicare? >> well, first, i'll say don't take our word for it. the arp has also said that the president's plan would strengthen medicare, would extend the sole vensy of the program and has said that the romn romney-ryan plan could undermine medicare and would pass costs along to seniors by more than $6,000. >> i know you are citing that 6, 400 number, and that's what the cbo marked on ryan's previous budget. releaseed in 2we67b. that doesn't apply to the most current one. >> well, which mitt romney said he would have signed. >> it doesn't apply to the most

current one. i just want our viewers to know that. >> well, okay, but regardless of that, i think, you know, this is an important debate we're going to have. we know that seniors in florida are waking up to headlines across the state that are saying be concerned about the romney-ryan budget. worry about what it means for medicare. we know what the president's plan represents and stands for. he was raised by his grandparents. he knows that medicare is a program we need to strengthen and protect, and that's what he has done throughout his presidency. we're happy to have this debate. >> i want to bring instein moore. i want to show you this map. hopefully you can see it there. what we're showing you are florida. florida has the greatest proportion of people who are at least 65. that is followed by west virginia, maine, pennsylvania, and iowa. here's what our team was talking about and thinking about. could the campaign here, the romney-ryan campaign, have had a senior moment that could cost them a crucial swing state like florida? >> well, don't forget, i mean, the crucial statistic about the

ryan plan is that anybody over the age of 55 is not affected by the ryan plan, so those seniors in states like florida and ohio that are being scared that they're going to lose their medicare simply isn't true. >> steven, those seniors aren't just thinking about themselves. they're thinking about their grandkids and their kids. >> hold on, though. this is the whole point. if those seniors are really thinking about their grandkids, then the ryan plan is the only plan that saves medicare. i mean, the one point that you didn't make, poppy, that is so important for every american to understand is if we don't save money for this program, even president obama himself has said in nine years the program is going to be bankrupt. that is to say there will be no medicare because there's no money to pay for it he any longer. the costs of medicare right now are $500 billion, and in ten years it's going to be close to $1 trillion. this program is crowding out everything else in the budget. >> i want to bring in greg also. greg, weigh in on this. when i was reading some of your migt, you know, you said something interesting too when it comes to the broader markets,

which do impact our economy. that the markets wall street loves romney, but the ryan pick could undermine that. how does that all play in here? >> well, look, poppy, i'm not affiliated with either party, so let me make a cynical comment more than a political comment. we live in an era now of sound bytes and bumper stickers. let me explain how this is going to work. i'm sorry, but a lot of peoplizes glaze over. i know what steven is saying, and there is merit in any plan that would strengthen medicare, but in a bumper sticker campaign, i'm not sure this is going to play very well. i think people realize that this is the third rail. when you touch that third rail, people get burned. >> you know, jen, i do want to bring you back if here because we heard paul ryan say this week, you know, we are happy to have this debate over entitlements over medicare, but i do agree with greg that a lot of people's eyes glaze over. it's very complicated, wonky to explain it. is the president ready to take

on this battle? is it helpful for you guys, because it takes the focus off of a persistently weak economy? what's your play here? >> well, look, we would be happy to have a debate about our economic plans and our tax plans and, you know, we know that we're going to keep talking about the tax policy center report and what it has said about what the romney-ryan -- now romney-ryan plan would do by alieving the burden of extending tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires on the middle class. this is a debate they brought up. it's a debate we're happy to have. i think another important piece of this is that mitt romney and paul ryan have been very straight forward about their desire to and the affordable care act. we know we need to do more educating on the affordable care act, burt the affordable care act has lowered the cost of prescription drugs for millions of seniors by hundreds of dollars. it's helped cover people with preexisting conditions. these are pieces we'll also be talking about beyond the budget. >> i want to bring greg in and give him the last word.

i mean, where should the focus be right now, greg, because it's clearly shifrted this week. we'll see if it shifts back to jobs and the economy or if it shifts and focuses on taxes. you know, what's your final take here? >> i think it should be on the economy and jobs, but there's been a fundamental reoffering of this campaign. it's now on entitlements. we didn't even talk about social security, the idea of partial privatization that's equally explosive. i think bringing all these issues in, maybe it will succeed, but it's a risky move for republicans. >> we've seen in the past in history what's happened when you bring up privatizing social security, but that would make for an even more wonky debate, so we'll see if maybe that's next week, guys. maybe that's next week. thank you all very much. appreciate it. up mechanics, before he was picked as vice presidential candidate ali velshi sat down with paul ryan to find out which democrat he would pick to sit down with in a room and work out a budget deal. >> i would like to work with

president mitt romney and the senate that's run by issues. >> somebody who is in office right now. >> so if elected, is the guru behind the republican economic agenda capable of compromising to break the dangerous gridlock in washington? this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs.

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i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. governor milt romney picked a numbers guy in paul ryan. ryan, who is the republican chairman of the house budget committee, is pretty much the architect of the gop's economic agenda these days, but some say that could hurt rather than help the party's chances come november. ryan is a washington correspondent with "the new yorker." he really rote the definitive piece on paul ryan that was published just a few days before ryan was selected to join the romney ticket. i want to read the tweet that you put out there. you said, "he is a very nice guy, talking about ryan, but i would be flabbergasted if romney picked him as the vp."

what stood out to me in your piece, ryan, is you said when people envision what republicans would do come november if they win the election, you don't need to understand romney. you need to understand paul ryan, and, frankly, he has so many more details out there in his proposals than we frontrunner romney. romney's camp has been shy on any details. do you sense that ryan is all concerned that his proposals, his budget proposal, for example, could hurt romney? does he have that concern? >> i don't think he does. when i interviewed him a couple of times in july, there was this debate in republican politics. do you run the safe campaign and just wait for obama to sort of collapse because the economy is so bad and then you're just standing there as the default alternative, or do you run a big, bold, ideas-driven campaign and make the campaign not just a referendum on the current president, but a choice between two visions of america, and ryan was arguing to me that that's

the kind of campaign he wanted romney to run. >> so compromise. compromise is key to getting anything done, no matter who wins, but compromise is not something that we're seeing in washington right now, and so you want to see that for whom ever you're going to vote for. ali velshi sat down with paul ryan back in april, and they talked about compromise. take a listen. >> could you and the president sit in a room like this or a starbucks or a room we provide and hammer out a budget? notwithstanding -- >> i would love to try, and the president has given us four budgets, and he has never once attempted to do that. i mean, usually you have to get an invitation from the white house to do such a thing. i have always wanted to do that. i have always wanted to try. when i first put budgets out, i literally -- maybe i was naive. i thought if i put this budget plan out, then others would put their plans on the table, and then we'll start debating each other's plans and then we'll get to a consensus. the problem is we put our plan out there, and nobody followed suit. now what we've found is the president decided not to put out

a plan to solve the problem. the senate hasn't passed a budget over 1,000 days. they waited for republicans to offer our solutions and then just simply attack it for the election purposes. >> a lot of things that you have said zoosh i just don't see that kind of leadership from this president. if we were going to get this leadership from this president, we would have got ten by now. >> ultimately, you have to deal with this before that. >> i don't think the president -- if the president wanted to have a budget agreement, then he would have given us a budget that attempts to solve the problem and harry reid would be passing budgets. harry reid has decided. >> who -- if we can put you in a room and you have three days to work it out, who on the other side would you like to work with? i'll try to get you to that person. >> i would like to work with president mitt romney and the 123459 that's run by -- >> can you choose somebody who is in office right now on the democratic side? i'm asking you, who on the democratic side do you think -- >> yeah, see -- >> has the wherewithal. >> it's not about the people or the parties but what are the best ideas to save the country. medicare and things like that. >> no answer. no answer for a single person

across the aisle that he would sit down with. this is a very smart man. a man who is respected from people in both parties, whether they agree with his policies or not. well liked. do you get a sense that paul ryan is part of the problem in washington or part of the solution? >> i mean, to be very honest, he has not had a background in forging bipartisan agreements, and the last few years you look at his record on these budget issues, he was a part of simpson-bolles. that was part of the bipartisan commission that put together a plan to deal with the long-term deficit issues. >> he was -- he was a disenting vote on that bipartisan plan. boehner and obama, they were this close to having an agreement inside the republican caucus. this is less well known. this is less well known. inside the republican caucus ryan was, well, along with eric cantor and other conservative members were telling boehner, we don't like this agreement.

let's take this issue to the american people, win the election, and institute our budget in 2013. >> so no agreement so that the president doesn't get re-elected. >> that was his arguments. that was paul ryan's argument. he is not known as someone who is forging bipartisan consensus. he is known as someone who is deeply conservative, has very set ideas about the budget, and wants his ideas to prevail. nothing wrong with that, but there's no reason to assume that he is -- if he is vice president, is he going to be good at building bridges to the other party. >> the record shows votes very much along his party lines. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> all right. don't go anywhere. we'll be back with you. coming up next, the hometown that shaped a world view. janesville, wisconsin, home of paul ryan, it's a town searching for an are identity years after an ool plant closing put thousands out of work. i went to janzville to find out how it could play into the presidential election. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix,

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of about 64,000 people and home to the presumed republican party's vice presidential mom knee, paul ryan. it's a town that is still reeling from the closing of a mass i have gm plant that employed thousands of workers. i spent time in janesville this summer. folks there told me it's a town that's, frankly, searching for an identity. janesville is also a town that traditionally votes democrat. it was very union-by assed town. that could change in this upcoming election. ted rolands reports. >> tobin ryan says it's hearted to believe that his little brother, who he shared a bedroom with, could be the next vice president of the united states. >> we're still coming off of a cloud, and we learned about the acceptance, you know, friday night like most everybody did. >> reporter: it really hit home, tobin said, at sunday's rally many wisconsin when paul, his wife, janna, and his mother teared up with emotion. >> you see paul and janna and the tears on their face. it really dawned owes that we're

at a special moment many time. >> reporter: at 42 paul ryan is the youngest of four children. his father, paul sr., an attorney, died of a heart attack when paul was 16. >> he is the one that found his father, and he was home alone at that time. i think he grew up a lot faster than he otherwise would have. >> reporter: tony hummel runs an on-line television company in janesville, wisconsin. he has known paul ryan since elementary school. he says his friend comes across as mr. serious, has a great sense of humor. >> he has this witty side of him that not a lot of people get to see. >> reporter: some of that comes across in this interview hummel did two weeks ago with ryan for a local comedy program sfwloosh you have a beautiful family, janna, kids. >> i do too. you do too. >> thank you. which one is your favorite? >> all of them. that's pretty good. >> one of my most vivid memories were 27 years old we sit down. he goes i'm thinking of running

for congress. we both just laughed. i mean, are you kidding me? what? >> reporter: ryan's run for congress did not surprise his high school government affairs teacher. >> which one of those kids that you could pretty much predict that he would go places. >> sam says he has kept in close contact with ryan every year before retiring he took his class to washington to visit ryan and was ryan's guest for the 2001 george w. bush inaugural. even though they're such good friends, he says ryan knows he will never get the vote of his former teacher. >> there's no doubt about it that he is a great guy, great family guy, cares a lot about the community, but we just don't see eye to eye on politics. >> reporter: sam says that he is a life-long democrat, so he won't be voting for his former high school student or mitt romney, but he says along with other people here in janesville, wisconsin, that he is absolutely proud of what paul ryan has been able to accomplish. ted roland, cnn, janesville, wisconsin. >> great piece by ted rolands

there. we've both been to janesville. this is very much a working class town. as you say in your piece, the ryan family is an established well known family there. you know, certainly not blue collar. i mean, they did run a construction firm, but very well off. you know, it's interesting, right, you hear the criticism from the left that ryan's proposals are proposals that break the back of the elderly and the poor and help the rich. this town and his formative years don't seem like a town that would do that. are the attacks misguided on that point? >> well, look, i think -- i think his ideology comes out of a belief -- this is what he said in the first budget he put out. that the only way to be truly free is to take as much responsibility for yourself as possible. >> right. >> so i think that's as clear a statement of his ideology and what drives him as anything. so if you believe that -- you know, he got into libertarian

philosophers at one point in his life, and if you believe that freedom is inherently tied to how much responsibility you take for yourself, then your view of the social safety net and your view of government programs is very, very different. >> one other question. you know, through 2007 before he renounced earmarks, paul ryan got a lot of earmarks like most congressmen and women do for his district. everything from highways to retraining for autoworkers, and you pointed this out, tim, when you talked to him. that a lot of what helped his hometown was government spending. how did he square that with you? >> janesville is recovering from a dramatic loss of a major gm plant, and all of the success stories in janesville right now are directly tied to some federal money, some state money and some city money, but it's all government money. that's what -- there's an economic development thing happening there. >> there is, yes. >> it's all about partnership between the private sector and

the public sector. it's unavoidable. you mention, i mentioned this to ryan. i said, come on, this whole campaign now is about the role of government and the economy, and you guys are hammering president obama for his argument that, you know, he didn't build that. i went to janesville, and the government is building stuff there. you know, he said, look, that's just a character of who i am. i am not a government fierce libertarian. of course, i believe in the government. of course, i believe that it should provide infrastructure and airports. that was his response that the caricature of him is not quite right. >> he is the one in 2008 that helped push through banning ear marks. >> he did. you know, his -- he is pretty pure now on earmarks. that is the process by which special process m ledge laifsh process where you put in legislative language like, okay, janesville about get $100,000. he stopped doing that. a lot of the businesses in janesville aren't that happy about it.

he has had tough conversations with people back olymphome abou that. he has done a new version of earmarks which as a congress person you write a letter to the administration and you say government bureaucrat x -- >> he will say he doing his job for his constituents. >> some say it's a more transparent process. you know, you're not writing it into legislative language, but you are lobbying for it. >> very interesting. fascinating stuff. good inside look at a man we're all just getting to know. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> coming up, it's wall street versus hollywood in a battle for campaign cash. we'll tell you where the billions, yes, billions of dollars, are going. that's straight ahead. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing.

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the economy is still the number one issue in this election, and we hear both candidates talk a lot about your money, but the real politics of this campaign seems to be campaign cash. open secrets.org says the presidential race will cost, get this, $2.5 billion, so we hit the streets here in new york to ask how much is your vote worth? >> i don't really think it's worth much. >> not too shoor. >> thousands, wron. >> maybe $1.30 or something. >> $25. >> $50. >> at least $75. >> $500,000. >> it's priceless. what else can i say? >> my vote is worth everything to me. >> it should be worth everything to you. both president obama and governor romney are drawing millions from donors. romney raked in $101 million in july. the president pulled in $75 million last month. where is the big money coming from? well, governor romney has wall street, and it looks like the

president has hollywood. romney's top five donor groups are all from the financial sector. from goldman sachs to morgan stanley, to bank of america. to be clear here we're talking about people who work at those companies, not the companies themselves. meantime, some hollywood a-listers are backing the president. one event at producer harvey winestein's beach front home where doneors reportedly paid more than $38,000 a plate for some face time with the president. jeffrey katznburg are tyler perry are also big bundlers, george clooney, tom hanks are also donors as well. both campaigns seem more than 90% of the money they brought in during july came from memorial folks. folks donating $250 or less. we asked you if you had $250, would you give it to the obama campaign, the romney campaign? would you keep it? what would you do? >> i would definitely keep it for myself. i'm not going to lie. >> keep it to myself. >> split it between me and obama. >> i probably would give it to

the obama campaign. >> i'll do half and half. >> first of all, i don't think they need the money, so i'll probably keep it myself. >> i would keep it myself too. i think. i'm joined now by will cane, a cnn contributor and sheila freeland, the editor at thompson rite reuters. dying to jump in here. >> i love the guy whose vote is worth $500,000. it's not priceless, but it's not cheap. that man is honest. >> we know millions coming in each month. billions is the projection at $2.5 billion campaign. will, i'll start with you. what do donors get for this money? >> well, the most obvious thing is influence. they get influence over all of us and who we choose for a candidate. that will go towards advertising trying to convince us who we should vote for. we have to say first and foremost and it's influence, and anything beyond influence now we're projecting. you know, bribery, selling votes and the politician doing quid pro quo, that's against the law, and we have to peer behind the curtain if we're going to say what do these votes give donors from politicians.

>> both of you clearly see this. it's a huge switch from what it was in 2008. obama had the backing of a lot of the folks at the big banks, and now he doesn't. frankly, a lot of that likely comes down to rhetoric and the tone towards wall street. that's your point. >> i think that's one of the main things wall street is banking on getting for their donations. they want a tonal change from the white house. they don't want to hear any more about wall street being the source of what many see as a lot of our problems. jp morgan chase, ceo, jamie diamant has said he is barely a democrat. the point is he is certainly displeased with what he is herring coming out of washington. >> i agree with you, pom poppy, that this shift of wall street money is really huge. it's a big deal in this campaign. it says a lot about the obama administration. definitely you talked to the guys on wall street, and the first thing they'll say is we hate the tone. you know, why are we the villains? why are we the bad guys? some of them say to me now my kids say that they're embarrassed that their dad is a

banker, but i think that it's about more than tone. i think that it is also about fear of more intrucive regulations. >> policy. >> real fear of dodd frank and the voelker rule, and it's also partially worries about taxes and the truth is there is a clear divide between obama and romney and the truth is also if you are a wall street millionaire, your taxes will be significantly higher if obama is re-elected. that is a real personal reason to support romney. >> i want to take a look at the top donor groups for the president because the president has a lot more than just hollywood on his side. take a look at the top five contributeors to his campaign. microsoft, university of california, the law firm dla piper, google, and har vrd university. what's your read on that in terms of individuals of those institutions giving to the president? >> well, i think, you know, we do have to remember romney is out raising obama, and this is really significant, and if you look at the super pacts, it's an

even bigger deal. they're not on equal footing, and that is really significant because incumbents usually outraise challengers. i think the people who are backing obama, it's hollywood, it's technology, and it's what you might call the liberal intellectual class. people who really socially identify with the president. >> it's more about social issues and that group in your opinion? >> the support that obama is getting for sure because these are people, you know, the rich donors to obama are in some ways voting against their own personal pocketbooks. >> it doesn't say as much because these are pretty traditional liberal idealogical institutions. it doesn't say much about what the -- >> you can't read it as clearly. >> christy, stay here. will, stay here. both candidates say they are care about the middle class. they hammer away at it, but how do they plan to actually help those in the middle class? we'll be right back with that. this man is about to be the millionth customer.

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♪ and she flew and she flew, into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ powered by intel core processors. see lioutdoors, or in.ight. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. vsp members can save on all authentic transitions lenses, including our new transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. there aren't a lot of things that most americans would

agree on especially in an election year. a survey shows 95% of folks say they are working, middle or upper middle class. what people don't agree on is which candidate puts the middle class at the top of the list of priorities. only 18% feel obama favors the rich. 42% say he favors the middle class. more than 1/3 say he favors the poor. for romney middle class gets 27% and 2% think guv romney favors the poor. focuses heavily on jobs. more drilling for oil. secondly, plans to train and educate workers. also, changing trade laws to benefit american goods and services. fourth, cutting taxes and spending, basically shrinking the government and finally supporting small business and

all in an effort to put more money in people's pockets. let's bring back in will cane. the plan sounds like a plan that everyone would want. it also sounds like -- don't we need more details? >> you do need more specifics. there is a specific political purpose. i feel that conservative economic philosophy is always going to leave you wanting more. i realize it is oversimplistic. conservative economic philosophy is a bit like planting a garden. a farmer tills the soil and hopes for sun and rain and hopes the economy grows from the bottom up. the plants grow from private business in the free market. that is opposed to an economic view more like a constant

gardener that you can prop up wilted plants, that you can plant adolescent plants like green energy companies. >> here is the issue. with your philosophy in terms of lack of details and tilling and planting and hoping, that's a lot of hope and questions. it does give you on the alternative side if you do sort of put the plants in as you are saying democrats are doing auto bailout you get stories you can tell on the campaign trail. you can go to michigan. you can go to ohio and point to specifics. >> i think actually the auto bailout is turning out to be probably the most politicly valuable act of the obama administration and turning out to be particularly useful in the swing states where obama really,

really needs to win in order to win the election. going back to will's garden analogy which i love, my dad is a farmer so i'm particularly close to that although farmers don't till anymore. there is a no till revolution. what i think it gets at and what i think is really valuable about this election is there is a very clear, very sharp idealogical contrast and mitt romney has chosen to embrace that with the selection of ryan as his running mate. it comes down to what kind of society you want to live in and what approach you think is most likely to create economic growth. >> do you believe that a small state with with low taxes and in particular actually low taxes on the rich because you want them to have as much money in their pockets as possible in order to invest, that would be the

conservative view, or do you believe that you need government? you need government to regulate and you need government to invest in businesses like education, like roads and actually where it comes to the rich i think the contrast is sharpest because i think the democrats would say we need to tax the rich more than now. right now romney pays 13% and all of us probably pay more than that. >> i do want to let will jump in here. >> i don't totally disagree with anything. we should say for the choice of the audience neither of these guys, president obama nor mitt romney are pure avatars of these economic philosophies. >> more than in most elections i think we are seeing quite a sharp and quite a clear difference which they are embracing and i think that is a good thing.

>> i think voters deserve details from both sides on how things are going to get accomplished when you are deciding going to the polls who you are going to vote for and so many people are still struggling. that conversation has gotten away this week. it needs to talk about what matters most to people right now in addition to the future. >> tilling. >> for the record i thought they tilled, too, and i'm from minnesota. thank you very much. appreciate it. you have heard the arguments from both sides of the election on this show. now it is your turn. i will show you how to get in on the action. that's next.

does governor romney's pick of paul ryan as the running mate mean the election conversation as changed? does president obama benefit in this struggling economy because we talk less