12340e9s ♪ ♪ >> good morning. what do you say? tuesday, tuesday april 17th. good to see you today. thank you so much for joining us. welcome to the full-court press, the bill press show, your new morning show here on current tv. so good to be with you, and so good to have you on board as we tackle the big issues to see here in our nation's watchtol around the globe. how about this? the romney campaign announcing it's going to spend 1 billion with a b $1,000,000,000 this

fall trying to defeat president obama, making this the most expensive campaign ever in history. you know what that means? of course, mitt romney knows he can't win on the issues. so he is going to try to buy the white house like he bought the car elevator and the mansion in la hoja. we will take he will that issue and a whole lot more. first let's get the latest from the our good friend jacki schechner. >> good morning, bill. good morning, everyone. we have got new polls out this morning. the first from reuters and ipsus saying president obama still out in front of mitt romney but his lead shrunk to four points. it used to be 11 points about a month ago. obama is up 47-43, 53% of registered voters still saying the jobs and the economy are their number one issue and mitt romney has a slight two point lead in that arena but that is within the margin of error. now that we consider the general election underway we start the gal-up daily tracking poll.

each candidate has the majority of support in their respective parties which is good for mitt romney, that republicans are coming around for him. independent are breaking for mit romney. >> that's 45 to 39. but again, these are daily polls. so they will change, of course day-to-day. on the issue of the economy, bloomberg is reporting this morning that the five banks that were considered too big to fail two years ago are even bigger than they were before. j.p. morgan chase, bank of america, citi-group,wells fargo and goldman sachs held $8 trillion in assets at the end of 2011. >> that's 56% of our nation's economy. they had a 43% share five years ago. among criticism that the obama administration has not done enough to break up the big banks, timothy geithner says the u.s. financial system is stronger than it was a couple of years ago. the president and vice president will meet with timothy guiterrez

today in the online. chat with us online at current.com/bill press. we will be we will be right back

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through the clutter. my show is the most important show in the world. ♪ ♪ >> across the nation on radio and on current tv this is the bill press show. >> romney likes rich people. they gave him another tax break last night, voted down the buffett bill, the buffett rule. what do you say? hello, everybody. it is tuesday, april 17th. great to see you today. this is the full court press, the bill press show coming to you live coast to coast from our little radio factory t.v. factory and book factory here on capitol hill in washington, d.c.

great to see. lots to talk about on the homefront here in washington with the house and the senate back in session around the country and around the globe. we will bring you the latest and take your calls at 866-55-press. >> that's our toll-free number. 866-55-77-377 good to have you with us as you are getting up, having breakfast, whatever. start your way the liberal way with the full-court press and our team in place here in washington, d.c. ogburn. >> hi there. >> flying the 747 with the co-high co-pilot dan henning. >> hi hip. >> cyprian boulding send it out to you by pictures here on current tv. our videographer. what do you say? the weather has been so weird. >> totally weird? >> 142 tornados according to abc

news over the weekend. tell me there is no -- nothing is going on with the weather. washington 80 degrees yesterday. >> it was warm. >> warmer than that. it got hot yesterday straight-up hot. >> crazy still april. boston marathon so hot, 300 people didn't even show up because it was too hot. >> 4300 people did not finish. >> wait. did not finish? >> did not finish because of the heat. >> because of the heat. and one of the organizers talked about how they had to protect those. >> we have air conditioning in the tents supplied by fema. we've got ice bath did. >> fema. >> did you hear that? >> fema brought in air conditioning. >> they are bringing in air conditioning, sit around and drink cape coders afterwards.

no joke if you were part of that and the other extreme, in chisolm, minnesota, they had a foot of snow. >> i was amazed april 16th we could get this much snow. it was kind of crazy. >> i like school, but it's nice to finally, have a knowsnow day. >> in april >> i'll take a snow day in april. absolutely. it would have been nice. yeah. so lots, lots going on today. pulitzer prize hand the out yesterday, one to our good friends at huffington post and one to our friends at politico he. >> it is tuesday tuesdays with faiz, faiz shaqshakir.

and fred wertheimer will be in studio with us we need it more after romney announcing the bill yon dollar campaign today. >> first. >> this is the full court press. >> on this tuesday, the headlights making news big break drive-thru for good morning america, the early nielsen ratings for last week's morning show revealed it topped nbc's today for the first time in 852 weeks. >> that's 16 years. matt lauer was on vacation but abc had the full morning team in place and they won by a slim 13,000. last time gma won a week in the ratings game was in december of 1995, charlie gibson and joan london hosted it. >> all i want to say is i am glad they are enjoying their moment in the sun, but now the full court press.

>> we are on our way. >> is a morning a lot terptive. so watch out. we are taking on gma and the today's show, both. >> former baseball pitcher roger clemens is being tried again for lying to congress. >> you think i can get as much money as matt lauer. >> you should try. >> if i beat matt lauer. >> 25 million a year. >> did you hear that? current tv, did you heartha? >> former baseball pitcher roger clemens is being tried again. u.s.a. today -- >> i am over this. come o it's like the john edwards trial. >> his legal team interviewed prospective jurors yesterday. his first trial ended in a mistrial because federal prosecutors mistakenly introduced evidence that had been previously excluded from the trial. it's possible he will not be the only big name in this trial.

andy petit, jose canseco and jorge poseda. >> they take drugs. i think they are all taking drugs. >> this is the worst witch hunt. >> will not let it rest of the these guys aren't playing anymore? right? >> right. >> they are out. so, good. move on. not you. yes, you, too. >> there is a new member -- >> wow. >> move on he says. everybody out. >> there is a new member of the kennedy family, politico reporting patrick concerned and his wife wedged allison, owen patrick kennedy weighing out is the 6 pounds 15 ouncesn born in rhode island. >> good, child and wife. thank you, dan. well, they are at it again. i have got to tell you. i just can't believe this republican party. look, all right. i am a democrat. i admit it. and but, you know, some of my best friends used to be

republicans. and it used to be a time when even the republican party, there were some good things you could say about it. i don't know what's happened to the republican party. i don't get it. maybe you can help me out. 866-55-press. i don't honestly see how anybody could be a republican today. i will tell you the latest. all right. the latest, of course, is first, the buffett rule last night. so it comes up. how can you present yourself to the american people as a party that really wants to do something to help most americans, to help average americans to work -- pardon me -- to help working families where here is a bill that simply says, after taking all of your legal deductions and everything that you can legally take, you still have a million dollars of taxable income that you ought to pay a minimum rate of 30%. that to me is such a no-brainer 72% of the american people in the latest cnn poll agree with

that and yet it came up last night for a vote and republicans killed it, blocked it. you know, of course, they used the filibuster to block it because if they ever debated it on the floor if they ever actually had to vote for it on the floor, it would have to pass. there would be enough democratic votes to let it pass. they got away with the filibuster one more time. they needed 60 votes. democrats could only round up 51 votes. there was only one republican, susan collins who voted for it. every other republican, even old scott brown, oh, yeah, we think he is such a moderate republican. baloney. he is as right-wing as all of the rest. all of those guys. lisa murk on youski. olympia snowe, reputation of being a moderate. no. every republican except susan collins voted for it. and one democrat. i don't get this. mark pryor voted against it. he is go to go have to go home

and explain this. i mean it's just insane that 72% of americans say, yes, it's fair. this is just about tax fairness. republicans killed it. here is the only good thing about this is, they are going to have to live with that. they are going to have to live with it. they are going to have to explain it and defend it and those republicans up for re-election this year are going to have to go out to town hall after town hall after town hall and say, i don't give a damn about you. i don't give a rat's ass about you because you are making less than half a million dollars a year. i only care about the people making more than half a million dollars a year. that's what that vote means. but if you thinking that's bad, let me tell you what is coming up next. i went to a special i went to a special background briefing at the whitehouse. i can't tell you who gave the briefing. it was a briefing fore a selected group of reporters with senior administration officials but they were talking about one of the next things coming up on the

agenda that the white house is going to be focusing on this week and the president will be holding some event this week to talk about it is reauthridesation of the violence against women act. okay. violence against women? now, this has got to be something to prevent violence against women. and to help victims of violence women victims of violence i mean you would think this is one issue that would not be a partisan issue. the violence against women act, some of you may know, it's been around for a long time. it was first authorized in 1994 with huge bi-partisan support. it has been reauthorized twice with vast bi-partisan support. never a partisan issue. and what it did was say it increased the penalties, federal penalties for violence against women and it gave points to those organizations or shelters out there who help women who have been victims of domestic

violence. it's up for reauthorization this year. and again, you would think people would say okay. here is one. no. put party politics aside. this is one we can all agree on because it's compassionate, helping victims, and it's also tough on law enforcement making it easier for police to go after these men who beat up their wives or spouses or husbands or whatever. i mean or girlfriends or whatever. so it's up for reauthorization this year. no. no. no. no. republicans in the senate are blocking it again. led by chuck glassly from iowa all eight senators when it came up for a hearing a month ago in the senate judiciary schmidt, all eight republican senators voted against -- against reoaths rising the rye -- -- reauthorizing the

violence gimagainst women act. you remember chuck grassley that old hick from iowa who i mean talks like a hick from iowa. >> i was a factory worker for 10 years, and i was a farmer for that period of time. and farm with my son now. so if you are trying to make a case that i have lived off of the public tit all these years, i think you are saying correctly the years i have been in the congress but not for the years before i came to congress. >> see i wouldn't talk about the public tit if i were leading opposition to the violence against women act. so it's the leader of t republicans have all voted against it. it's coming up for a vote to the floor. senate and they are going to vote against it again and they are going to vote it down. and the reason is -- you tell me this makes sense 866-55-press. the reason they say -- get this -- if the act has been changed a little bit, there would be a couple of things -- three things added to it. one is extends provisions of this to make sure native american women on reservations

also have that kind of protection. it extends protection to victims of domestic violence, women, who happen to be gay or less bean or or lesbian or trans gender and it extends the act to people who are undocumented who happen to be in this country who are beat up by their boyfriends or spouses or whatever and who agree -- get this -- who agree to cooperate with the ins and law enforcement agencies so that they can get these undocumented people that beat them up and send them back out of the country. so because it extends the violence against women act now would extend to trans gender gay, lesbian, to native american women and to undocumented women, republicans are blocking the violence gim women act. i don't get it. i mean i have got to tell you, as a party, i just think they are committing mass political

suicide. i don't understand how anybody -- i said it before. i don't understand ithow anybody could be a republican today or vote for a republican today. i am that's extreme, but they are asking for it. 866-55-press. help me out here. i don't get it. how could anybody support a party that would oppose the buffett rule and the violence against women act. 866-55-press is our toll-free number. join the conversation here on the full-court press. it's tuesday, april 17th. ♪ >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show. now, on current tv. building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it.

we will not settle for easy answers. (vo) the former governor of ny eliot spitzer, joins the new news network. >>every night we will drill down on the days top stories in search of facts that inform. >> we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious, and not based on simplistic answers. >>we're here because we're independent. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> this is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv. >> hey, you've got it, 24mins after the hour. happy tuesday. good to have you with us today. and peter, april 17th is a good day to go to our website at billpressshow.com and sign up for our book party. we are having a party a virtual book party, very very exciting. many of you have joined up. the obama hate machine. you have heard mere talk about it, the lives, distortions and personal attacks on president obama and who is behind them. so with our virtannual book party, you tell your friends and neighbors about the book. tell them, hey, listen. i've got it. i have got a copy of it t you ought to get one, too, and with the virtual book party, we will keep track of all of the books you are able to sell & depending upon how many friends you line up, the more you will get, golf caps and mugs and the top winner

will get an all-expenses trip for 2 to washington d.c., airfare, hotel, come in the studio, see the show some morning the we will go out to fort worth, texas fast at ted's bulletin, one of the president obama's favorite stops. he took his staff there for lunch. you have got it, the virtual book party. billpressshow.com or/book party. go to the website and follow what we are talking about. the latest they are lining them up. republicans lining up, you know and just saying, yeah, okay. here is a another dumb vote. last night, we voted down the buffett rule. next we are going to vote down reauthorization of the violence against women act. why is this political smart. no only are they on the wrong issue. their politics is suicidal. lorna down in florida. what do you say? >> i agree with you. they are haste of. they are not happy. they are not loving. i could never be a republican. >> why would they do this?

>> i don't know. >> by the way, there are republican women who get beat up, too, and need some help. right? >> yes. it could be a sister. >> exactly. yeah. >> this is complete lack of compassion. >> i don't -- i don't think they think it true, and i don't know how they can defend it. >> yeah. haste of. they are haste of people, and i say i will never be a republican. >> all right. good now lorna. hang in there. sadie is calling from glen mil, georgia. hi sadie. how are you? >> i say forget it. women should go on strike. there will be no sex. women have been taken out of the conversation. let's take our bodies out. >> well, that's the ultimate weapon, i think, sadie. right? >> that's a nuclear option. >> that's a nuclear option. yeah. you know i don't understand.

it just seems to me that women should really organize around this issue and say hell know. right? >> amen. >> you lead the fight, sadie down in glenville georgia and in may son city, iowa hello, scott. >> hi. >> what do you think? >> i am from iowa and i think grassley has been in too long. this thing against women, he is going to be 83 years years old when this term is done his thinking ain't right any more. it's ridiculous. he is not a farmer either. trust me. and he this 83-year-old fart is leading the fight against reauthorization of the violence against women act. why do the republicans follow him him? why do the republican women senators not break ranks with the republicans over this issue.

i just don't get it. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ the ted conference held here every year in southern california is an event designed to bring the brightest minds in the world together to share their most powerful, influential and creative ideas. the speakers share a common goal, making the world a better, smarter place through innovation, technology and the power of big ideas. peter diamendes is the co-founder of the singularity university, an academic institution which strives to address one issue. computers are getting really smart really quickly. so, what are us flesh and blood types going to do about it? human brains haven't

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♪ >> listen and watch the bill press show on your favorite radio station and now on the current tv. this is the bill press show. welcome to the spin room. >> thirty-three minutes after the hour. it is the full court press on tuesday, april 17th. great to see you today. the bill press show coming to you live coast to coast from our nation's capitol and brought to you today by the internet -- by the laborers international union of north america, the good men and women, building a better

america under president terri o'sullivan. go to the website at liuna builds america, liuna, liuna builds america.org. boy, before we get to your calls against the violence against women act and what republicans are doing, why they are trying to block this i just saw a headline here this morning from the "new york times," 21 -- latest report, 21% of new yorkers are living in poverty. you think about new york city being, you know, this great place with upper east side and all of the big hotels. land lloyd blankfein making goldman sachs $12 million last year. the disparity income and income inequality,t is worse than any place else in the country. almost one out of 4 americans.

>> all right. now, really is. more calls. we want to talk to michael calderon about the pulitzer prize yesterday. but the spin room, he was back in town, herman cain. he wouldn'tn't go away. he has husband bus and he is going to ride his bus as long as he can. he on a local radio station here endorsed -- let's see. he hayess made two endorsements previously in this race. who did he endorse this time? >> i thought he had a shot. not now. he doesn't have a shot. so i would say to newt let's go ahead and clean this up so we can start focusing on beating barack obama in november. >> herman cain endorses mitt romney and tells newt to get out of the race. if you are keeping score, this is herman cain's third endorsement in the primary. peter and i were there in south carolina when he endorsed we the people.

>> the american people. >> as then he turned around and endorsed newt gingrich and yesterday he tells newt he threw newt under his bus and said, get out of the way. we are all going to get behind mitt romney. >> you know what happens next? >> he will endorse obama because he is going to see the latest poll. he is following polls. newt had his surge and he endorsed newt and now romney is the indicates. endorse romley. when it's clear obama is going to beat romney he will endorse obama. >> big announcement jut today the pulitzer prize in journalism announced. michael calderon brings us up to date on who walked away with the big surprise did. michael, why didn't you win one? >> i wasn't nominated. >> you weren't? >> could have been right up there. for some reason, just didn't make the cut.

>> michael cal der own media reporter for huffington post but huffington post did. congratulations. >> thanks. it was a huge thing, an incredible series. first ever pullitser price for huffington post. >> it was, i thought, well deserved. it is it was a great, great series. maybe better for some of the quick-moving, fast political stories but this was an in-depth piece of reporting, worthy of any great newspaper. >> great. it there has been a change at the huffington post. i have been there around a year and have seen dozens if not 100 reporters and staff and people like david wood. you know, david has had a four-decade career in journalism covering the military. he's been in war zones for, you know, for much of that period an incredible reporter. as he got the opportunity to do

a series he really wanted to do which was to look as what happens when these soldiers are off of the battlefield. he covered them on the front lines for decades and from march until october, he did an incredible amount of reporting, at a 10 part along with great video we had and other multi-media. it came together. actually, it was a really great honor for him. >> it documents what happens to the veterans our troops when they come home. right? >> right. yeah. and their family as well because, you know, the impact hits family, especially young men and women as loved ones are coming home. >> at one time, you were also on the staff of politico and politico won its first pullitser yesterday. >> that's right. another big day for another young news organization matt

worker who is a political cartoonist. he has been nominated twice before. he has been a big part of politico ever since the beginning because, you know, all of the drawings you see on the front page of the website, you know, he has done all of the caricatures for staff members including myself when i used to be a staff member. he is a great cartoonist and a great guy and really well deserved and i think, you know, seeing how things with politico and huffington post winning pull itzers, the work stands up with just about anyone out there. >> he is sort of the david levine, i think, of politico and again, very important part of the publication and it's great to get that recognition. how about some of the veteran organizations that won the pullit zers? where did they go. >> the associate press won for their series this year on the

nypd surveillance of muslims in new york city, in neighboring states and in universities, you know, it was an incredible series and one that had a lot of impact here in new york and in new jersey when it was discovered that the nypd was doing a sort of surveillance in newark. and you had a real clash here among new york politicians mostly who will line up with the nypd and then you have on the other side, you know, peel like corey booker chris christie who have been critical of thewhat the nypd has done. they have taken criticism saying they are going after the nypd but they are putting this out there and they opened up a real debate. >> the "new york times"? >> won two pulitzers, both for reporting in their attack series and international reporting.

one of the most interesting prize yesterday was local rotting, you had certain sara with the penn state and jerry san did you have aniy. she is 24 years old. it's incredible work she has done at such a young age. >> there are great honors in journalism and it is so exciting to see our friends at huffington post and politico walk away with their first. con grantedlations to the whole gang. thankful, michael, the media reporter for huffington post. he didn't get one this year maybe next year. we will have to be sure he is nominated. we have been talking about the fact on the political front that the latest for republicans having killed the buffett rule last night supported by 72% of americans, they are now poised to kill the violence against women act. yeah? how do you explain that?

an anna from irvington new jersey. how are you. >> good i want to congratulation you. i used to watch morning joe but now i am a fan of the bill press show. >> man, that is so good to hear. thank you. tell all of your friends about morning bill. >> totally against the ruling on the buffett planned, and also on violence against women. >> who do they think they are, the republican snort who do they think they are, you know? serving. >> what happened to the republican party? they used to be good republicans now, they are like ever since they came into power with the tea party, they are just lost their marchbles. >> it's not the republican party you and i grew up with? >> doechl. >> one time, if you will confession, my first job in

politics was working for a great republican state senator in california, and his name is peter behr. there are no republicans like that any more. there is no room for them in the republican party. anna, welcome to the full-court press. so good to have you on board and thank you for the call. up in pawtucket, rhode island. >> i am doing good. what's going on. >> i switched from morning joe last week. i have been walkingtching for about a year. you have a dynamite show going on. >> great. spent a lot of time up there in providence and pawtucket. my wife is from providence. i know that area pretty well. what do you think about? what are the republicans up to? >> i have no idea. they are showing their own true colors right now. going against the buffett rule. they are showing they just don't

want to -- they are showing their bias towards working people and with the -- >> with the violence against women act? >> yeah. with that. they are just showing their bias against women and minorities. >> yeah. i don't think there is any way to describe it. i don't get it. appreciate hearing from you. it is tuesday, april 17th. so the republicans, oh, yeah, boy, we sort of alienated 72% of americans by telling killing the buffett rule. now let's alien 8080%, 90% of americans by refusing to reauthorize the violence gim whence act. yeah, that was really smart. isn't it? ♪ >> this is the bill press show. a spine. >>determined to find solutions... >>we need government to ensure that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth...

>>what's really going on? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct. is on the new news network. >>it is an independent progressive voice and i love that. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. a former two term governor. >>people like somebody who's got a spine. >>determined to find solutions... >>we need government to ensure that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth... >>what's really going on? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct.

>>just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real.

♪ >> this is the bill press show. >> john haggerty is the president of the national post postal mail handlers going to be in the studio with us at the top of the next hour to talk about some of the problems facing our great postal workers around the country, people that i support very, very strongly. i am sure you do too. right now, we are taking your calls about the republicansw decided having killed the buffett rule that their next goal is to try to kill reauthorization of the violence gim wicket act. political suicide if you ask me.

a look at the political scene. diane sawyer had a chance to sit down yesterday in boston with mitt romney and his wife, ann and did an extensive interview with the two of them. one of the comments we have heard most of dush -- you might have heard this where she asked, mitt romney. okay. what message would you have for president obama? >> i had a chance to ask the romneys: what message they would send to the president and mrs. alabama about november? >> start packing. >> that's what i would like to say. >> ha-ha-ha. start packing. they are thinking of putting this guy on "saturday night life live"? she did ask him. what about this saturday night live? are you considering it? mitt romney says, i will consider it as long as -- get this -- as long as the skit they have in mind is funny.

no, mit, that's not the way it works. no. no. >> you are the one that's got to be funny mitt. >> the saturday night live skits they do, i appreciate the ones where they really sit down and just talk about, you know, like the duealty of man and nothing funny at all. all of the skits are funny. at least they try to beity of man and nothing funny at all. all of the skits are funny. at least they try to be. >> if somebody can pull it off? >> right. >> what is the one central issue romney hopes to deliver on? >> i understand america's economy because i lived it t i can connect with america's economy because i know it. i don't connect with president obama because he doesn't understand the economy. he doesn't understand what it takes to get jobs for the american people. >> romney keeps saying that. >> that's what he wants to run on. but the facts prove that he doesn't know what the hell he is

talking about. he has given you the indicators. creating well over 100,000 jobs in many cases over 200,000 jobs a movement i sawyer a report yesterday, retail sales are up. corporate profits are higher than they have ever been before. the economy is not booming, but it's getting better consistently every single month and every single month mitt romney's case gets weaker and weaker and weaker. anyhow, pretty pathetic. he is going to need that billion dollars even to have a chance this november. but even with a billion i don't think he has a chance. let's get back to our topic here in the hour, reauthorization of the violence against women act is the next big vote and republicans are united in the united states to block it in the senate judiciary committee. every one of the eight republicans voted against reauthorization of the violence against women act. try to explain that to me.

arnold, our roving ambassador down in tampa, florida. hello, arnold. what do you say. >> sadie, my wife watches this show. ease up. take it easy. >> that depends upon where you are on this issue. >> i am 100% for the thing, not like the public. i can't believe they don't care what the results are on voting against these things buffett bill. 72% of the american people want that to become a reality. how many points do you need? we want people love the medicare, the social security program. they want to wipe that stuff away and go against what the american people really want. they have no fear in the american people. i hope the american people come out this year in november and really show them where the door is at awes they are get okay my nerves. that mitt romney what he just said about the president.

when it comes time to debate the president, he better learn how to talk and stop these sound bytes. >> all the president has to do is say here are the facts here maybe you don't recognize the facts. arnold real quickly here is joe from alexandria, virginia. hi, joe. >> good morning. how are you doing? >> good. thank you. >> i believe unless i am badly mistaken -- i have been known to be that way before. the reason that the right-wing of the republican party is fighting this reauthorization of the violence against women act is that it covers the gay and lesbian community. >> i missed that. >> i'm sorry. i missed that point. >> that's all right. >> i believe that's why solely and totally, they just will not, you know, why it would matter to them if someone is being beaten on by another person and it involves them, i don't understand why they care. >> yeah. >> other than their own weird, you know... >> it's total homo phobia.

it doesn't make any difference. these are women who have been battered and beaten. it doesn't matter whether they are gay or straight, whether they are native american or documented or undocumented. i mean come on. heartless republicans.

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>>i'm a political junkie. this show is my fix. [[vo]]this former two-term governor is ... ♪ >> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. >> yeah, we just mentioned mitt romney and saturday night live from our facebook page, a lot of

comments on whether or not he should do saturday night live. scott henderson says definitely. they could do a frankenstein skit as he already has the flat head, pale skin and clunky shoes. >> oh. >> that's not bad. >> wow. >> wow. yeah. bobby dunn says, that's a good question. i say, yes, then he can show everybody what a buffoon he is. if i were him, i wouldn't it. nina gaspy says i am sick of any politician of any party showing up on snl. it's usually more embarrassing than funny for all concerned gary walcott says he ought to do it. they could do a spit based upon the rat movie from the '70s "willard". >> that's his name. >> it is. mit matthew huff says: should we

watch, pain? it would be the same thing. >> this is the bill press show.

♪ >> a great good morning to you. it is tuesday, april 17th. good morning. welcome to the full-court press, the bill press show coming to you live coast to coast, here on current tv u new morning show on current tv. good to have you with us this morning. great to see you and we've got a lot to talk about of news happening here in our nation's capitol, around the country and around the globe and how about this? mitt romney was heard by reporters speaking behind closed doors to a group of supporters

telling them there are certain government agencies he is going to shut down but he won't say which ones until after the election. also, there are certain tax loopholes that he might close but he is not going to say which ones before the election. of course, he only released two years of his tax returns. the question is: what else is mitt romney hiding? what other secrets is he keeping? we will get into that in a lot of other issues let's get the latest with the current tv news update with jacki schechner. >> good morning, bill. good morning, everyone. citizens against government waste is going to release it's 2012 congressional book today am. >> that's good fun. it's a compilation of the most egregious pet projects in the federal government. there is going to be a bunch of republican members of congress on hand for that press conference including senators john de-cain, demint at 10:00 eastern today. speaking of spending today is tax day, there is a new cnn poll

out, people thinking they were paid four 5 saying they are too high and 43% say they are too well. no word whether the re% comes from the 1%. more than two-thirds believe the tax code favors the rich and is unfair for the average worker. the senate republicans have blocked the buffett rule and they are not going to let it come to a vote or debate open debate on the floor. that would have guaranteed millionaires pay at least a 30% tax rate. democrats, nine votes short of what they needed. republicans in the house are going to introduce new legislation on thursday or vote on it on thursday, rather, which would be a tax-cut for businesses. that money is going to cost the treasury or that rule rather is going to cost the treasury the same amount of money that the buffett rule would have raised. abc reports that later today, voters, taxpayers and members of the "occupy" movement are going to rally in the streets outside the irs in d.c. to demand the

top 1% pay their fair share. join us in chat current.com/billpress. we will be back. sir... excuse me, excuse me... can i get you to sign off on the johnson case... ♪ we built this city! ♪ don't let food hang around. ♪ on rock & roll! ♪ [ orbit trumpet plays ] clean it up with orbit! [ ding! ] fabulous! for a good clean feeling... eat. drink. chew orbit.

as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct. >>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting

through the clutter. my show is the most important show in the world. ♪ >> broadcasting across the nation on your radio, and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> all right. fassen your seat belts. here we go for hour number 2 of the full-court press here on this tuesday, april 17th. so good to have you with us today wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours. we are there with you on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv your new morning show. great to be with you. thank you for joining us. we talk about the hot issues of the day here in our nation's

capitol, around the country and around the globe. most importantly we get you involved in the conversation, save a seat here at the table for you. give us a call if you want to weigh in at 866-55-press. 866-55-press. coming to you live in our radio/t.v./book studio on capitol hill. see john haggerty the president of the national postal mail handlers union, one of our great labor leaders. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> lots to talk about with the post office. a lot of questions with the post office. you are the man. >> thank you. >> our team the rest of our team here, peter okay burn dan henning. videographer cyprian boulding there, bringing in pictures live from around the world. good to see you. we have been talking the last hour about the violence against

women act coming up for reauthorization this week. also, pretty soon coming up for reauthorization is going to be the 21st sent tree postal services act which will be a big vote, john. >> sure is yes. >> and this is to reauthorize or provide the funding for the postal service for the next what? year? five years? >> that's not exactly how it works. the postal service doesn't get any funding from congress generally. we generate our own funding through the sales of postal products. what the bill attempts to do is grat financial relief to the postal service for overfunding the pension plans and also to allow them to slow down the funding of another over-funded fund, the retiree health care. >> so the postal service can continue to provide service it does? >> that's correct. there are billions of dollars involved in these. >> we will get into that. take your calls at 866-favor 5-press but first: >> this is the full court press.

>> on this tuesday, other headlines making news, we will not see president obama pitch for the washington nationals any time soon. the baseball team's manager spoke with radio station wjfk in washington about the game two years ago where the president threw out the first pitch. >> mike rigo said he was warming the president up and was a bit worried with the president's appeal level when asked how the president's arm is. he said, well he is a really great basketball player. his pitch that day did make it to home plate. >> as i recall, it wasn't a great pitch. >> was not a great pitch but the catcher didn't have to lunge too far for it. >> but, you know, i guess with the president, they do it once and then that's it? right? they don't do it every year? no? >> they do it a couple of times, i guess. >> george bush nailed it. >> he did. he had a great arm.

>> that was the only thing he was good at a. >> despite last week's twitter threat to leave nbc alec baldwin says he is returning to 30 rock for one more san. the washington post reports in a speech about arts funding, he says he is a fan of nbc even though he was angry with the today's show looking for a stalker. he did make it clear next season is 30 rock's last. >> alec baldwin. >> it was tough earn normal to tackle the boston marathon as runners had to compete with something not normally found, record high temperatures with temperatures in the 80s, wesley career, a native kenyan said he used his biology degree to remind him to hydrate which is what helped him win the race. >> that's almost 10 minutes behind last year's winner because of the heat. >> no kidding. wow. >> the second slowest boston

once since 1985. >> how many me didn't finish? >> 4300. >> because of the heat. >> too warm. >> in boston. >> yeah. >> over 80 degrees in boston in mid april. >> they will have to move it farther and farther north. >> portland north pole. thank you, dan. >> john hagerty again is president of the national postal mail handlers union. john, so most people believe right, first -- let me go back. i am a big fan of the post office. i think it gets bad reviews from too many people who don't know what they are talking about. two days ago, carol and i had to get something to a lawyer in sacramento overnight. went right to the post office. not ups, not fed-ex. right to the post office. >> right. >> yesterday two big envelopes full of tax returns to get to the irs. right to the post office, right down the street here. >> yeah. >> and they do great service.

but a lot of people feel first of all, that they are losing money and that our tax dollars are just not being well served. what is the cost to american taxpayers of the mail service. >> zero. it's fully funded through sales of stamps and products and shipping. >> so we don't support -- i mean, our taxes not at all? >> none. trucks going around and the mail handlers and postal offices that you see are not paid for by -- >> that's correct. >> that they are not is very very important. are they making or losing money? >> they are losing money but not at the rate that has been reported in the press. they have an obligation to fund a retiree health benefit fund for future retire easy 75 years out and they must do it within 10 years. >> that's costing them

5.5 billion a year. >> congress required them -- >> yes. to fund these pensions 75 years out? >> it's not pensions. it's for health care. >> 75 years out? >> correct. >> they had to do it within 10 years. >> yes. >> which has cost them $5,000,000,000 a year? >> 5 and a half to 5.yeah. >> . >> if they didn't, would they have make money. >> in 4 out of the last 5 years they would have made a profit. there is $46,000,000,000 in there right now in that fund. >> what are you asking congress to do then? >> we are asking congress to slow that down to do a study there has been several studies done on that fund. senator bernie sanders requested a study. that study found if they left the 45 billion or 46 billion in there now and let that accrue at a decent interest rate that no more funding for that retiree health care would be. >> he has been a champion of the postal service, out there raising this issue when a lot of

people haven't at all. what happens if congress doesn't? so we hear right, we are going to get -- stop saturday service close all of these different services. are you saying that would not be necessary if congress had not put this extra burden on the postal service? >> we believe it would not be necessary. there is also an extra $10,000,000,000 right now in the federal employees retirement system that the postal service has over funded but there is no mechanism in the law to get that money back even though everyone acknowledge it's in there. >> 866-55-press, our toll-free number if you want to join the conversation. it's like the weather. everybody has got some opinion about the postal service. i am a big fan. and i think they've gotten raw treatment on the part of -- on the part of congress. we are hearing more about it from john hegarty. what about most people talk about jobs, jobs jobs. one of the biggest jobs programs

in this country is the postal service. correct? >> yes. it absolutely is. we have right now about 550,000 postal employees nationwide. >> that's actually down 200,000 from six or seven years ago. but if these cuts go into place as you mentioned five day delivery and other cuts in service the postal service planned to release 210,000 employees off of the roles. >> this would cost 200,000 jobs ? >> if their plans to make the service cuts they want to cut. >> what are the different -- your the mail handlers are the people who sort the mail? is that right? >> we work in the big processing plants around the country. we load and unload the tractor-trailer trucks when the bulk mail comes in. some of the machines we run. some others run. we drive forklift trucks and move the mail around the big processing plants. >> and then there are at a time

mail or the guys that deliver the mail? right? >> the national association of letter carriers, they deliver the mail in the cities. and then the rural letter carriers deliver the mail out in the rural areas. >> the people who work at the counters? >> the american postal workers' union. >> there are four? >> four major postal unions. >> i have to tell you, i think it is a miracle today even at $0.45 that you can put a stamp on a letter here and it's going to show up in california in a couple of days. i mean i don't see how that is cost effective. how does the post office manage? if people complain some about the cost of postage being so high, i am atownsendstounded that it can still be as low as it is. >> it's a very efficient systemtiously our efficiency is at all all-time high. it's based on volume 1,608

billion pieces of mail last year. that number is dropping. the internet, online banking, online bill paying has affected us. it's helped us in another area where people are buying things online and having them shipped. 168 billion pieces of mail last year, with 200,000 less geesbreght than we had six or eight years ago. >> how badly has the postal service been hurt by competition from ups and fedex? >> generally they are in the package business. >> it's a post office? >> they are. the first-class mail we handle they don't hail. so first class letters. >> that's where we have taken a big hit in recent years as far as the money side of it is that people paying their bills online and sending e-mails, et cetera. but in general we actually deliver mail for fedex and for ups in areas that they don't want to deliver for a fee. so we are actually working with them now. >> is that right? they actually use the postal service to get to places where they can't get?

>> that's correct, or they don't want to go because it would be too expensive and we are going there every day. we deliver to every address in the country six days a week. >> i guess the postal service is as old as the nations? >> tpings. one. organizations, the only one specified in the constitution. we behind the nation together. >> john hegarty is the president of the national postal mail handlers, can we take a couple of calls here? >> absolutely. >> 86655-press. >> camille? >> hi, this is camille. >> camille. >> i'm retired from the post office. thang god, i was 30 years in las vegas. i worked 21. i want to tell we need to sell privacy and mailing. no one has -- everything is open wide, on the international. we could snatch that back

privacy in mail. sell it. no one has it. no one is saying it. we should have done this 15, maybe 20 years ago. >> you know, i never thought about that. >> yeah. >> that's a good point? >> i am retired. i am pawu a union member. i have one more thing to say. i am from the east coast. they would not give me a job. i went out west got hired. reagan put a freeze on government jobs in 1980. in 1983, march, i got hired and i got -- i am saying i have a retirement now because of the union. >> that's ants important selling point, that, you know, e-mail really is wide open. anybody can crash into your e-mail system. but privacy in the mail. sure. obviously i don't pay my bills on line. i am the president of the union. we encourage our members not to do so but when you look in the

news accounts of accounts being hacked mastercard banks being hacked it does indicate that the privacy of the mail is more important. and you agree with camille 100%. people should pay their bills through the mail and should do that -- >> haven't there been some cases of mail being, you know -- . >> occasionally a case like that. many times it's temporary employees, not the career employees because a career employee has their job at stake. it's not worth rifling through someone's mail to throw away a career appointment. occasionally, you will see that. >> john hager itty is our guest -- hagerty is our guest. we are talking about the issues surrounding it including the fact that they are under this gun here forced on them by congress and that's one of the reasons that they have been losing money and now the opportunity for congress to fix it, votes coming up on the 21st

sent tree postal service act. we will come back and take your calls here on the full-court press, tuesday april 17th. ♪ >> on your radio, and on current tv, this is the bill press show. ♪ and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv. vaccinations save lives. >>we are very committed to the safety of our products. >>but are mandatory shots doing more harm than good? >>i see children injured every day. >>the controversy has gone viral. >>how many are being sacrificed? >>see "the greater good" on current tv sunday at 4/3c. >>and while you watch, join the live chat at current.com/greatergood. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv.

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we're here because we're independent. ♪ ♪ >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show, new on current tv. >> we are talking post office postal service and back to our conversation and your calls. but first, just to remind you one more time, if you are one of the americans and there are millions of americans who feel they can't quite make ends meet at the end of the month and are

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president of the national postal mail handle erps. ken from stockton calf, john. >> hi, ken. >> hi, bill. hi john. >> hi. >> i would like to know what we can do as individuals to affect changes in the set aside laws. >> good question. good question. >> first thing i would do is go to our website www.nphu.org. we have action alerts on our legislative site, link on there. in fact, last week we encouraged our membership to meet with their senators while they arewere back in their home states and, you know, ask for changes in the senate laws. there are fact sheets on the website, alternates more than i can get into but detailed and this afternoon we are creating

with brothers and sisters in leave letap /* did he have leafletting. it's informationat leafletting. we are handing out a fact sheet for tax day. >> website again is npnhu? >> the initials of our organization national postal mail handlers' union. >> check it out and again, we scratched the surface here today, but there are all of the back-up fact sheets people need to make good arguments to write a letter to congress. >> yes. >> or make a phone call but the timing, this vote is coming up maybe even today, the first vote. right. the first vote may be today. there are actions that will be required in the house. they would have to reconcile those two bills. this is an ongoings effort. ken, i appreciate you taking anective role at the grassroots level.

get more mail handlers and other postal workers involved. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ the ted conference held here every year in southern california is an event designed to bring the brightest minds in the world together to share their most powerful, influential and creative ideas. the speakers share a common goal, making the world a better, smarter place through innovation, technology and the power of big ideas. peter diamendes is the co-founder of the singularity university, an academic institution which strives to address one issue. computers are getting really smart really quickly. so, what are us flesh and blood types going to do about it? human brains haven't gotten all that much smarter in

hundreds of thousands of years. computers by contrast, in the last half century, have doubled their computational power every two years. a future where computers can no longer be controlled by us could be pretty dark for humanity. or, it can bring untold breakthroughs. some futurists beleive that humans will be able to achieve immortality by downloading our brains into machine bodies like files on a hard drive. either way, diamandes says he'll be ready. scion: what moves you.

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spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help. ♪ >> this is the full court press. the bill press show live on your radio and on carpetweedsurrent tv. >> thirty minutes after the hour, tuesday, april 17th. the full court press coming to you from urination's capitol brought by the american federation of teachers good men and women under the president randy winegarten making a difference every day. check out their good work at aft.org. out on the campaign trail it's

still going on the primary's not over yet even though rick santorum suspended his campaign and you don't hear from newt gingrich or -- i'm sorry ron paul any more mitt romney is out there trying to do the job and round up all of the delegates he needs to go into tampa with a nomination secured and wherever met romney goes, nia malika henderson is not far behind. and all the way to pittsburgh where we find her this morning. good morning nia-malika. >> good morning, bill. >> we prefer having you in studio here but we understand. you have got your job. >> yes. soon enough, i will be back with you, hopeful. >> okay. good. so mitt romney making a little noise, a little news lately. i understand he's already started the search for his vice presidential running mate? >> that's right. he appointed one of his top

aids setting setting myersh myers this is a popular question he gets on the campaign trail, who his vice president is going to be. he gets his question at town halls and last week in providence rhode island, he said everyone is on his list for vice president. so, bill you know that could include you. you probably want to get all of your papers and taxes together because he says everyone is on that list. >> i think i have as much of a chance as ricksan santorum does. >> rick santorum seems like he might be ready to endorse at some point. i guess it would be good for him to do this before pennsylvania to make it look like he is delivering. >> but look, not to engage in the speculation but everybody else is doing it.

isn't a slam dunk that you it's going to be marco rub i can't. >> i am hearing it's go to be ron portman. marco rubio is doing what every potential vp is saying. >> oh, my god. >> absolutely not going to do it. but you are right. jeb bush when he came out to endorse obama, he said, marco lenkyes would be great. >> that's what you hear from everyone. huckabee said that recently as well. but the dark horse seems to be rob portman who has admitted and who would essentially be a ticket reenforcer not add any diversity in terms of helping him with hispanics but would be a steady number 2. >> that's what i am hearing in washington now. >> so mitt romney, other night, you might have been one of the reporters at a fundraiser. he was behind closed doors with his supporters and just talking candidly and what reporters were

able to hear, he said a few government agencies that i might cut, maybe housing. his father was head of that agency but i am not going to say until after the election and there are some tax loopholes i might close but i am not going so say that until after the election. has this much problem ton an impar asment to the romney campaign? >> i was not there. i think was two reporters and a lot of fundraisers he has are absolutely closed press. >> right. >> i think that's probably going to change in the next couple of days if not -- if for the thursday, to have a fundraiser down there. but it certainly is in that vein. if he has been making that point that obama is the one who has the plans that he is not -- that he is not telling anyone about. so here he goes again. goes behind closed doors and reveals his plan. i think it just goes to the narrative that democrats are trying to build about him, one that he is sec rainfall. one thing he is arguing is he

has these tax returns he has not revealed and possibly he has a better tax rate. sure, he does, than most folks. so i think this is just another argument, and narrative they are trying to build that you don't know what you get with mitt romney. >> yeah. >> so we will see going forward if they are able to hammer that home even more. >> it kind of plays into that narrative. i mean the -- i am sure you saw the coming out of the dnc and the obama campaign yesterday was was: what else social security mitt romney hiding. >> right. >> the fact is he released two years of his tax returns. he has not yet paid his taxes for last year, filed for an extension, but when he was being vetted by john mccain they got -- asked for and got 23 years of his tax returns and so like if he gave them 23 years, four years ago, why is he holding back now? >> exactly. this is something you are going to hear democrats say for, you know, until he releases more of

these tax returns. they also have this narrative, which is mitt romney thinks he doesn't have to play by the rules. he thinks there is a special rule book written for really rich guys. er there is a tradition of presidential candidates and vp possible picks releasing tax returns at least so the people who are vetting them his own father released 12 years back in the 1960s, when he ran. so here again, he is saying that he is absolutely not going to release them. remember in south carolina when this came up, that was a big deal. >> yeah. primarily primary newt gingrich. >> nia malika henderson is the reporter for washington post joining us by phone from pittsburgh. you can follow her on twitter at niawhappo. at niaat wappo what the staying power is of the big debate that we talked so much about, too.

hillae rosen and her comments to in response to a comment mitt made and ann romney tried to turn this kind of into a war on raising children as opposed to her comment that -- hillary's comments that ann rosen -- what am i saying here? hillaryses comments that ann romney never had to work a day in her life. is this going to remain an issue now that hillary has apologized? do you think it's going away? how do you read it? >> i don't think it's gone away in the sense that i think democrats are in some ways able to do is extend the out-of-touch argument from mitt romney to ann romney. that's something probably that in some ways even though it was an ugly fight and they threw hillae rosen under the bus very quickly, in some ways, i think it's it benefits them. i was thinking, no it's going to be horrible for them. i don't necessarily think so

will ann romney get out stump? she was at this fundraiser as well saying it was like a birthday gift. >> yes. >> she said it was an early birthday gift from hillary rosen. >> i think you certainly are going to hear conversations among women at this point, a, saying: why are they trying to drive us back to the mommy wars but, also, saying, you know maybe ann romney can't real estate to the average woman because she hasn't worked outside the home whereas most women do have to juggle all of these, house and all outside the home. >> yeah. i just want to move and play that clip for, for our listeners where diane challenges her on this basic notion of being out of touch and here is ann romney's defense. >> for me, financial security has not been a huge issue. but that does not mean i am not

compassionate. that does not mean i have not had different challenges. >> so mit is saying, i keep in touch with average people through my wife. >> uh-huh. >> but the fact is it would be hard for ann rom network argue like most american women that she has had to get out and work to pay the bills at the end of the month. right? >> that's exactly right. >> she has had a really pampered life. >> she has had a really really pampered life. i think when she gets out there and talks about the economy and she talks about jobs now every time she does that there is the underlying fact that she is has never had to worry about any of those things because she has had a blessed life as she described it on that it will be an under current of her time so i think it's bad for romney that here is ann romney who is seen as

apolitical. >> that's what you want any political spouse to be. now her big debut is part of the mommy wars and cultural wars. i don't think ultimately it's going to be to her benefit. i don't think it will be that damaging but i don't think ultimately it's good. >> mit romney, a few months ago, he said he would veto the dream act. just a couple of days ago, i think it was at that same fundraiser down in florida he said he would sign the dream act or a version of the dream act. is this another etch-a-sketch moment? >> yeah. that's exactly right. the democrats must be loving this, i am sure, because again, this is the argument that they are making. what is mitt romney? who is mitt romney? which mitt are you going to get depending upon what day? and here he is feeding into that story line that he's been feeding into for much of his

political career he has tried to pivot on the dream act. in some ways the way he tried to get so much to the right on immigration, get to the right of everyone especially rick perry. he knows that has been very damaging to him. now, he is trying to back pedal and reverse course for the general because he know house important latinos are going to be. >> we saw herman cain yesterday by the way, and he says he misses you. >> kind of hard to believe. i kind of miss herman cain, too, though. we have seven more months to go. i was thinking back, i was out with donald trump around this time, and then jon huntsman so only, you know, wow. this is my life. >> if you started at huntsman you are going to be known as the candidate killer. >> that's right. >> thanks, nia malika. always good to talk to you. come back and see us

>> will do. >> follow her on twitter at niawappo, at niawappo. that's it. her twitter handle. we will be right back here on the full-court press. >> this is the bill press show. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv. vaccinations save lives. >>we are very committed to the safety of our products. >>but are mandatory shots doing more harm than good? >>i see children injured every day. >>the controversy has gone viral. >>how many are being sacrificed? >>see "the greater good" on current tv sunday at 4/3c. >>and while you watch, join the live chat at current.com/greatergood. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv.

>>i'm a political junkie. this show is my fix. [[vo]]this former two-term governor is ... ♪ >> this is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv. >> okay. 12 minutes before the top of the hour. hour. i'll take your calls on ann romney and mit romney in just a second here if you are in the market and thinking about, you

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your home in 20 minutes with the help of blinds.com. get free color samples, free shipping, no sales tax in most states and expert installers if it turns out you need one. go to blinds.com for prices that absolutely crush home improvement store prices. blinds.com is the place to go. blinds.com again, blinds.com on ann romney, beverly calling from out in illinois. >> hi, bill. >> i am good. thank you. what do you think? >> well first of all,ed i will say this -- fall of all, i will say this, i am a damn proud democrat. second of all, i love your show. we are glad you are on current tv. ? >> i am, too. thank you. >> after that interview with dye an sawyer who i admire greatlydian sawyer, who i admire greatly i thought not only with both of them arrogant but they

acted like they were entitled and they didn't even respect the president. he wasn't even worthy to be an opponent to them. their we are white better than you are attitudes ann, i may be rich. i have probably had 25 nannies but i am still compassionate. >> bull crapola. please. she doesn't have any idea about life as an -- i am a widow. and lit me tell you it's hard. >> it's hard for a lot of women out there who have to work single moms and moms who have to work just to try to help make -- pay the bills at the end of the month. >> a shortcut. my husband want even buried in the ground. i got a phone call from the people of the reverse mortgage and they told me i had less than 90 days to pay off $64,000. i hadn't even buried my husband.

i was dressing for the funeral. >> my god beverly. millions of stories like that and ann romney has no connection at all. hey, beverly, great to hear from you. susan out in seattle washington. great to hear you. >> >>. >> why is mitt running from president? i don't get it. what does he want? >> power? >> he has money. now he wants power. >> really? >> kind of creepy? >> but you make a point in this sense: judgei don't know that anybody knows why mitt romney is running for president and really what he would do if he were president because all he does is say, you know, keeps repeating that barak obama knows nothing about the economy and doesn't

understand the economy and jobs. mitt romney hasn't told us what his plan is, what agencies he would cut, what taxes he would cut what other programs he would put in place. he doesn't say how he would create any jobs. i don't think he knows t i think it's just an anti-obama thing that he is riding susan and not telling us, you know, who he really is. >> weird. to me, that's really weird. i mean i don't understand it. >> i don't either. i don't think most americans understand it. but, you know what? republicans are stuck with mitt romney. they are going to have to package him as attractive as they possibly can. it's. >> speaking about obama he has a busy day today. got a new notice from the white house about something else the president will be up today. we will tell you all about it when we come back here on the

full-court press. >> this is the bill press show. look, i don't play 'bout my facial hair. but if i grow this out a little bit i look too much like an english country gent... naaah. a little this way and i feel like i'm from outer space. this and i feel like a viking... [ roars ] not my style, man. [ male announcer ] master your style...

even trimming, a close shave and accurate edging... with the new gillette fusion proglide styler. every inch of hair needs to be on point. ♪ ♪ so, you guys grew up together. yes, since third grade... what are you lookin' at? not looking at i anything... we're not good enough for you. must be supermodels? what do you model gloves? brad, eat a snickers. why? 'cause you get a little angry when you're hungry. better? [ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry™. better. [ male announcer ] snickers satisfies. eliot spitzer joins the new news network. >>we will drill down on the day's top stories in search of facts that inform.

♪ >> heard around country and seen on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> okay. tuesdays with faiz faiz shakir with think progress. and then we will be joined by fred wertheimer to talk about campaign finance reform. important issue. on the president's schedule, he is meeting with his -- getting his presidential daily briefing that is, at 10:15 this morning. and then just announced by the white house, the president will be making a statement in the

rose garden this morning at 11:10 a.m., making a statement announcing a plan to increase oversight and crack down on manipulation in oil markets. right to the issue of gas prices, of course. and then back in the oval office, he will meet with 7 ario advisors at 11:30. at 2:00 o'clock, he meets with secretary tim geitner and then at 4:50 this afternoon, big event out on the south lawn. the president will welcome tony stewart and the 2011 chase for the nascar sprint can you be series drivers to the white house. out on the south lawn, they will have the cars there and the teams and the drivers and that's going to be a big nascar day this afternoon. i have got to go down there for that. >> that's going to be fun to see and try to get some pictures we can put up on our website for you tomorrow. fred wertheimer and faiz shakir and all of you on the next hour.

>> this is the bill press show.

♪♪ >> it is tuesday april 17th, good morning, everybody. welcome, welcome to the full-court press, the bill press show, your new morning show here on current tv. i am bill press. liberal and proud of it, bringing you the big stories of the day from the nation's capitol, around the country and around the globe. what about this for starters? the romney campaign announcing it is going to spent $1,000,000,000 this fall in trying to defeat president obama. that makes this the most expensive campaign ever in

american history of course and it means mitt romney knows he can't beat barack obama on the issues so he is going to try to buy the white house like he bought the mansion in la hoja and the car elevator and those cadillacs. we will talk about campaign finance reform. one of the issues we will take he will. the latest with the current tv news update from los angeles here is jacki schechner. jacki? >> good morning, bill. prime day for gabrielle giffords. there is no challenge on the democratic side. it's going to be ron barber. he was the former district director for giffords and he has her endorsement. it's doing pretty well in raising money. he was injured in that january 8th shooting in 2011. on the republican side there are four people who are running for the seat and even though barber has giffords' endorsement

and it's looking good, that district tends to swing republican. so historically, we will have to see where it shakes out. dick lugger has a primary challenger for the first time in 36 years. the indiana senate is 86 years old running against senator more mordock. outside forces consider his state a battles ground now but detractos say he spent too much time in washington and is out of touch with the state. polls have him ahead but the primary is may 8th. there is a little bit of time on that one. on the presidential front, rick santorum is playing hard to get when it comes to endorsing mitt romney. he has he has spoken to newt gingrich and may not meet with him until after the pennsylvania primary on april 24th. he is not going to necessarily release his delegates to whoever he endorses either saying he wants them to go to the convention in tampa and have their say. you can have your say online

current.com/billpress. join us in chat, and we will be right back.

as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct. >>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting through the clutter.

my show is the most important show in the world. ♪ >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> well, republicans must really like rich people because they gave them another tax break last night, killing the buffett rule at least denying a vote on the buffett rule. here they go again. going against the will of 72% of the american people according to the latest cnn poll. what do you say? good morning, everybody. welcome. it is the full court press, the bill press show. we are coming to you live all the way across this great land

of ours from on your local progressive talk radio station, god bless them and also on current tv, the new morning show here on current tv. so good to see you today and thank you for joining us as we do our little round robin look at the issues of the day here from our nation's capitol where you will find us on capitol hill right down the street from the united states capitol building. take a look at the issues around the country and around the globe. of course, take your calls at 866-55-press. it is tuesday, you know the great book "tuesdays with morey." faiz shakir, at the center for american progress. >> i like that. >> tuesdays with faiz. >> thank you for having me back. i am four for four. you have been on the air for four weeks. i have been here four weeks. let's keep it going. >> it is a miracle. >> doing something right. >> what happened here? >> it's great. i hear the ratings are

wonderful. of course they should because this is a great show to wake up. >> thank you. >> especially at this hour on tuesday mornings. >> yeah. hi everybody. >> and the check is in the mail. all right. and we have faiz here we need the rest of the team on the show here. >> we could leave. >> peter okay burn and dan henning and cyprian boulding. >> everybody faiz we had a great moment last night on national television. bob beckle who is the in-house liberal, of course, at fox news was on hannity, one of the co-hosts now of the five but he has probably been a fox contributor for what? ten years. >> as long as i can remember, yeah. >> just shrugging it-- slugging it out. they take a commercial break. even during the break, he is

arguing with the right-wingers on the neil boreson, some woman for americans for prosperity the operation. koch operation. they came back from the break but somebody forgot to tell bob bechel. >> you don't know what the (bleep) you are talking about. >> ooh. bleep. what are you doing? >> failure. >> i can't stand right-wingers going on all the time. >> we apologize. >> i don't apologize. >> yes, you do. >> i am not going to apologize. >> i apologize for you. >> we are not on the air. >> yeah, we were on the air when you just cursed. >> we weren't on the air. >> yeah, we really were. >> i hope we weren't on the air. why were we on air? >> we were on the air. >> why are we not on the air now? >> we are on the air right now. this is live television. >> okay. good. good. good grief. you know, i try to put signs up

and help. >> i didn't know we were on the air. >> why? i said -- you weren't listening to me. you guys were fighting in the break. >> do you want to say you are sorry? >> i am'm sorry about using that foul word, yes. >> thank you. >> i love that. >> they set him up. you come back, it's clear we are coming back. >> yeah. and they come back and there is this random talking. >> you don't know what the (bleep) you are talking about. >> keep saying we are not on the air. we weren't on the air. we are not on the air right now. >> how hard is it to be like, hey, we are on the air. >> yeah or we are coming back. >> guys, so you know. we are on the air right now. >> we are on the air right now. >> hold on. >> whoa. so it does sound like they set him up. it's easy to set bob up. he gets going, fired up. >> fired up. >> okay. so faiz shakir lots to cover.

good work at think progress and fred from democracy reform. but first: >> this is the first court press. >> other headlines, they announced pulitzer prize, huffington post for challenges faces wounded soldiers and politico for best editorial cartoon. tuscaloosa news for breaking news of tornado coverage and, also, other winners, the associated press, "new york times," philadelphia inquiry and chicago tribune, interesting to note the washington post did not win a pulitzer. >> uh-huh. the nor did the bill press show. i don't think we will ever be nominated. >> a boy can dream. >> ellen degeneres had fun with michelle obama. ellen got a hold of her high school prom photo. mrs. obama wore a split on the

dress. it was quite high and indeed a bet riskque. >> i didn't see that picture. >> it's pretty good looking for back in the day. and jeopardize -- -- jeopardy is having a power players taping this weekend. contestants will compete for charity those on teenage will include robert gibbs anderson coopers, thomasfriedman kelly o'donnell and chris matthews kareem jewbar jubar. >> those journalists and kareem jubar. >> winner gives 50,000 bucks to charity. >> great, dan. thank you. so think progress is the name of the site, thinkprogress.org. great work. keep us going.

keep us supplied with lots of ammunition for our show every day and faiz shakir, the director. >> editor-in-chief. >> with us every tuesday. one thing that caught my attention, your story about joe walsh and tammy deckworth -- >> go for it. >> i don't know. about five years ago or so i forget which of my books came out and i was doing a reading in silver springs, and at a big bookstore and a woman comes up to me to get her book signed in a wheelchair and i was just struck by her and found out she was from walter reed nearby tammy duckworth and she starts telling me her story. here is this woman, a helicopter pilot in iraq, shot down lost both legs one arm she can barely use and yet she had such

spirit. i was in tears talking to her. i was so impressed by her, had her on the show here since then and then she was a candidate for congress and them then she became assistant secretary to the veterans administration and a guest on our show as well and now she is running for congress again. right? now you take it from there. >> yeah, tammy duckworth, when she came back from war, she continued to serve her country. she was the head of the illinois department of veterans and here served in the department of veterans affairs as the model government servant and model for our nation and our kids. right? >> to come back for everybody, you know, that happened to her. >> so her opponent joe walsh, is that guy. he is that guy who all people think of when they think of the worst qualities of a politician. even his personal forral fabric, he has been late on child payments and that kind of stuff but then on public policy, this is the guy you may remember from a few months ago was screaming at his constituents at a town

hall saying, don't blame the banks. i don't want to hear that crap. that was, i think, a direct crap from him because his constituents were upset about the corporate influence of our government this is the guy we are talking about. he has been on a tear against tammy duckworth for her service, said, she is a female veteran. get over it. you know who cares? and nobody that doesn't deserve anybody's vote and nobody should even be talking about this. he sees it as a political liability that his opponent is somebody of great moral upstanding. so he is taking it to another gleeful. >> he said she lost both legs. well, what else did they do? i mean it's hard to believe somebody is that calloused. >> that guy. this last weekend on friday, he issued a call to tammy duckworth to say, i want to debate you. duck worth has been debating him he says i will be at a town hall on sunday. be there or you are a basically is the statement on his website.

tammy duckworth can't make it because she serves in the army national guard. what was she doing? she was on duty. >> she was on duty. >> she was on duty. and, you know, so this came to light. my good friend john salts who is the head of that let me know that he was on duty, himself, john was. he called tammy and said aren't you on duty as well? they were. he said, this is outrageous. so we made sure that everyone was aware of the fact that joe walsh, who should have known this. we are not sure if he did or did not. but he certainly should have and now he does. and i think it would be right for him to apologize. >> but have you heard any apology? >> no. >> joe walsh is not that guy. >> not only was she serving our country on duty in the national guard, but by rules or law or whatever, she cannot appear at a political event? >> right, the uniform code of justice you cannot when you are in uniform. >> i would have to say, you know, the biggest jerk on the

planet, joe walsh, republican from illinois. last night the senate had a chance to stand up for working class americans. the buffett rule up for a procedurally vote. right? here we go filibuster. >> yeah. >> they could even debate the real merits of the bill. 51 to 45. one cran, susan collins voted for t one democrat voted against it. >> those kill me when a democrat can't even stand up with the caucus on behalf of a vote that we know is going to lose on basic prince for fairness. it was mark pryor from arkansas who doesn't seem to have too many millionaires in his state. wal-mart is quartered there. jobe joe lieberman issued a statement against it. >> other republicans who are supposedly moderate republicans, the republican party as a bloc voting on the leadership of mitch mcconnell? right? not to allow a vote on the

buffett rule. >> this is the issue of the election. it's about who is fighting for whom. who in your priorities. republicans made clear this isn't something they care deeply about, whether millionaires are getting off at the lower tax rate than their secretaries. president obama has taken a stand, he has a 20.5 tax rate and. >> he says i am living proof why we need this. >> mitt romney in the 20 plus million dollar last year played 13.9%, i think, tax rate. tremendously low. it's below the cap gains rate of 15%. shows you how little he is paying. he is not concerned about this whatsoever. >> no. you know, on a related issue, today happens to be -- i know this only from think progress -- today is equal payday. day. >> what you are telling us is men -- women are still not making -- >> $0.77 on the dollar for what

a man earns for the same job for same work. >> that's the definition of equal pay? right? you get the same pay for the came same kind of work. women on the whole are making $10,000 less each year than their male counterparts who do exactly the same duty. $10,000. >> that's a significant difference. bloomberg news did a wonderful survey looking into this and found it's not just like lower income teachers and that kind of professions. this is all the way up the scale to wall street, wall street has a huge disparity amongst their male and female and even in the lobbying profession, itself bloomberg news reported there is a huge disparity in what women earn with respect to the men. >> reading from your material here 2010, the last year we have full records for the median, full-time working man took home 47,715 in earnings. for the same job, the median

full-time working woman, 36,931. $10,784 less. this is no way to defend that. >> no. and i mine mitt romney has had an opportunity to talk about this because we passed lilly ledbetter fair act and pay check fairness act to make this stronger and bring some equity into this picture. romney was asked on the interview with diane sawyer doesn't feel that in the moral fiber of his being. >> she was asking: would you sign, have signed the lily ledbetter? >> i am nothing go to go back and talk about trough... it's not an issue. your study proves it. it's an issue today. >> right. >> right? >> he won't take a stand on. faiz shakir think progress in studio with us. your call is welcome at 866-55-press. we are just getting started. ♪

>> this is the bill press show. because we will not settle for the easy answers. we're here because we're independent. network. >>this show will be unique because we will not settle for the easy answers. we're here because we're independent.

>>this is outrageous! [[vo]]cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>the rest of the media seems like, "ho-hum, no big deal." we've have no choice, we've lost our democracy here. just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real.

♪ >> this is the full court press, bill press show, live on your radio and on current tv. >> what is that music? >> this music? >> yeah. >> the pixies one of the greatest bands of all time. >> of course. i thought it was. i wanted to be sure. >> peter, you know, i was at the nationals game and i was thinking of you, thinking hitters when they go up to bat, maybe i can coordinate with you. >> we will have to talk. yeah, exactly.

they will they all have their individual. >> we have to talk. it's a little more complicated. >> twenty-five minutes after the hour the full court progress. thinkprogress.org, our guest in studio, faiz shakir and fred wert heimer from democracy 21. important issue. always gets swept under the rug. gail calling from new york city. hello, gail. good morning. >> good morning. i love your show. i normally watch msnbc but i couldn't take joe any more and i wanted to shoot him half the time. >> good morning,. thank you gail. >> i work for a major new york city company. and because of the union, men and women had equal pay. a lot of people don't know this because because of rovnld ragnald

reagan had a thing with wall street. he busted the unions. once he busted the unions pay began to have a large disparity. everything stopped. for labor unions. because of where i worked, we lost our first major contract. not only did we lose our contract firefighters policemen, transit authority, and i worked for the lighting company. i can't say its name but i worked with them. everything went downhill. unions lost everything and then after that all of the sudden the disparity started. this has been going on for 35 years. >> yeah. gail, i appreciate the call. thank you. tell your friends to watch, too. so that's a big part of it. isn't it? >> yeah. >> the disparity particularly in non-union jobs. >> absolutely. when we think of unions, we think of the fact the quality of work for union employees gets

better. they get better benefits at work and fair labor conditions but it's certainly true also of pay that they bring parity to pay conditions not only amongst males and females but the seniors and jr. members of the team. >> we have more calls for people but running sure. i en couple you encourage you if you haven't gotten through. mitt romney, why is he leasing two years of his tax returns. >> there is a lot of rules he wants to know about. we learned that he continues to earn millions of dollars of bane on a resid annual every situated annual -- residualt. >> that's the big question of the day. what is mitt romney hiding? faiz shakir, we will see you next tuesday. >> thank you.

keep up the good work. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ it takes people with real knowledge to build and maintain a race car. polymers, hydo-carbons, thermal plastics, math and science? you bet it is. many kids don't understand how important these subjects can be that's why time warner cable developed connect a million minds. to introduce kids in our communities to the opportunities that inspire them to develop these important skills. how can my car go faster? maybe your child will figure it out. find out more at connectamillionminds.com [ male announcer ] cookies with smooth caramel and chocolate. ♪ ♪ hmm twix. also available in peanut butter.

her unique mix of comedy and politics to current tv. >> it's like a reality show, they're just turning cameras on and we just do our thing. >>politically direct to me means no b.s., the real thing, cutting through the clutter. i'm energized to start my show everyday because it's fun, because i care about what's going on in this country, rather than some sort of tired banter it is actual water cooler talk it's the way people really talk about these issues. we've always considered ourselves a comedy show. let me just say i am not ready for my close up. i think it's important to laugh. i think it will be exciting, because you can't script three hours of radio. what is going on? i can't tell you how many times right wingers call the show and say, "i don't agree with anything you say, but your show

is funny as hell." the only thing that can save america now, current tv. can i say that? ♪ >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. >> thirty-three minutes after the hour now. here we go on this edition of the full-court press life from our -- live from our nation's capitol, good men and women the sheet metal union, a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. you bet. find outed more about their website smwia.org. as we talked many times and many of you have made the point in your calls and e-mails there is

no more important issue than campaign finance reform because it underlies everything else and colors everything else we try to do and so many cases, trying to do the right thing, the money gets in the way, and nobody monthmore out in front of that than the president of democracy, 21, fred wert heimer. thank you for joining us and coming in. >> good to be with you again bill. >> i want to start out with this morning's "new york times." romney backers set a goal to raise $800 million by the fall. the new york reports this will be a total of $1,000,000,000 they plan to spend to defeat president obama. you have to figure obama is going to have the same amount or more? >> yeah. they are going to be roughly parity, even. the presidential race both candidates will have more than

enough money to make their case. i don't think the presidential campaign will be decided by the super p.a.c.s and secret money coming in. i think in the general election it's going to have marchfar more impact on congressional races. it has the impact of allowing the super rich to play a disproportionate role in our elections and to buy influence and corrupting influence by playing that role. >> this will be by far the most offensive presidential -- expensive presidential campaign. >> it will and every presidential campaign is the most expensive we have ever seen. >> that's correct. >> well in 2008, president obama had a huge advantage then

and about $750 million for their primary and general election. you know, the history of campaign financing is a lickcyclical history. you have scandal, excess reforms, reforms that work. people push the envelope. they break through the reforms if you don't have enforcement of the laws, which we don't have today. you get excess and the cycle starts again. this has been going on forever. we are in a period of scandal and corruption. the supreme court decision in citizens united has dramatically changed the landsca of american politics. >> maybe we will get to another reform, but in the meantime in this age, we also have something that citizens united i guess triggered with the presence of all of these super p.a.c.s. we have never seen anything like

that before? have we? >> no. that was triggered by the citizens united decision and a subsequent court decision based on citizens united. these candidate-specific super p.a.c.s we have seen in the presidential election. >> foster frees for santorum and shareman alingdzson for newt gingrich. >> you have close financial backers but they are run by former campaign or policy associates. they are arms of the k578 campaigns. what they are used to do is to bypass and eviscrate the limits on contributions to candidates. i could give policyresident obama or mitt romney 2$2,500 for their primary and 25 for their general election or if i had it, which i don't, i could give a million

dollars to the super p.a.c. super p.a.c. supporting them onlying money for them which is runporting them, onlying money for them, which is run. so it is really a item to eviscrate limits that were enacted to prevent corruption. >> that's what makes the super p.a.c.s so dangerous. >> there is no doubt. i think i heard you just say, there is no doubt that campaign and the super p.a.c. are coordinated. >> they are closely tied. we have written to the justice department six times now asking for investigations of these groups because we believe they are legally coordinating under existing laws. we have drafted legislation that will eliminate the kind of super p.a.c.s that are being used by candidates in the campaigns. wigo onto the justice department because it's controlled by three

commissioners who don't enforce the laws. we have got a real -- we have got a huge problem with what citizens united did. we have got a huge problem in the fact that we don't have enforcement of the campaign finance laws and out of that, we are ending up with a system where millionaires and billionaires have what they think is a play toy. >> is there any limit to what the super p.a.c.s can spend in any given race? >> no. there is no limit on what they can spend. there is noliment on the amount of money they can accept from any entity except a foreign entity. they can't accept foreign money and the only limit is they are supposed to be acting independently from the candidate and the candidate's campaign. everyone who looks at that realizes that that's a joke. >> and they don't have to report when are their money is coming

from. >> super p.a.c.s have to report. we have a second prop. we have these tax exempt groups that under tax law don't have to disclose their donors. but have limitations on how much money they can spend in campaigns. they are being abused. karl rove's brain child crossroad gps is a tax-exempt group that raises president's has a group as well. that is secret money being injected by very wealthy people once again. in the history of secret money and the history of unlimited money is a history of scandal and corruption. it was at the center of the

watergate scandals and it will be at the center of our new scandals. >> as i understand it, the super p.a.c.s now, they have as you pointed out kind of two arms, one reports. the other doesn't report. the one that doesn't report even. >> campaign related activity. we believe they are not entitle under the tax law though these -- to claim this tax exemption. >> nobody is taking them on? >> we have gone to the irs crossroads gps but we can't get the irs to move. if they were not he will eligible for this tax exempt status, they would be in a position where we would probably wind up getting disclosure of their donors. so you can't underestimate the lack of enforcement and the

impact it has on what is going on today fred wertheimer, you can follow their work at democracy21.org. so what impact, fred do you think that all of this money and the stories has on the democratic process in this country? >> well, it has an extremely. this picture beingpated of the super rich playing this huge role in the e elections is one of influence buying at the expense of the average citizen. >> they feel they don't have the ability to influence the process? >> they feel it's a rigged system. they felt that for a while. now, it looks totally rigged to them. that undermines people's confidentions, sense they can get a fair shake and undermines

government and the credibility of elected officials. >> that's one big problem. the second problem is, you are allowing a relatively few handful of individuals and potentially a number of corporations to have an undue influence over our election results and that is not small-d democracy. >> that's a corruption of our democratic citizen. and, third, you are allowing individuals, corporations, other entities to use political money to buy influence and results over government decisions and that is abhorrent to our system our democratic process. >> yeah. no doubt. so what is a possible way out of this? your questions and comments for fred wertheimer. we save a seat for you at the table here at the full-court press. take that seat by giving us a

call at 866-55-press. we will we will be back to talk more about this talk of cam pace finance reform. is there any hope? tuesday, april 17th. >> on your radio, on t.v. the big press show new on current tv.

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1-800-356-5967 for ultimate life lock protection, identity they have protection 1-800-356-5967. so in public financing, fred the answer, the private money get it out of it and have campaign taxpayers for it. >> public financing is an important answer but we can't get private money out of it by prohibiting it. what we can do is give candidates an alternative way of financing their elections and empower citizens if you have a system of small contributions being matched by multiple amounts of public funds, say a $200 contribution matched 5 to 1, it makes the small contribution more important. it provides public funds and gives the candidate an option to run for office without

influence-seeking. he said, no i am going to raise all of the money i can rather than take the public option. >> he did. the system was broken at that time. he made a political decision. he also said at the time that he would make it a priority for the presidential financing system that worked well for decades. he did not fulfill that commitment. he hasn't done really anything to try to fix the presidential system and so we are left with a system where there are no options, no real options but all of this private money. we have to do a number of things. we have to get disclosure for the secret money. we have got to shut down these super p.a.c.s that are evisc eviscrating contribution limits. we have to get to a system where

candidates who want to run for office without being handcuffed by their donors have an option to do so. >> without being multi-millionaires like a mitt romney have a chance. let's say hello to john. john is calling from out in illinois. welcome. >> hi. appreciate your show and thinking through what you have been saying, a voter out here and a citizen, i have very little power. yesterday, we saw with the buffett rule such a wide disparity or wide support for that so it's clear even on our democratic side there is a lot of control. you have seen that. >> what's your question, john? yeah. >> i guess it's just what do we do? i think you are talking about it but i wanted to say that it rings true everything you are

saying. it's kind of held in place. what do we do? >> i hear a lot of voice like that. thanks, john. >> i think there is growing concern. there is a growing constituency in this country that recognizes going back to citizens united, the supreme court decision that that was just dead wrong and its opened pandora's box. i think if this campaign grows there will be more anger, more concern and more of the national constituency to start changing this system. i have never seen more coverage of money in politics in 40 years of working on this than i have in this election. >> you work closely with former senator russ feingold. he was a guest here and he said he feels that the public sentiment is growing and demanding change that even the

supreme court will some day feel that demand for change. >> i don't know about these five justices. i have no doubt that the citizens united decision will not stand the test of time. it is just a completely flawed and wrong decision. >> the justices have a light for corporations to spend this money. again, if you look at history it doesn't start or happen in washington. it happens out in the country and the pressure forces washington to respond and i agree with that point. i agree with senator feingold who was a terrific leader of a campaign finance issue when he was in the senate. i think people are going to demand change and the opportunity is going to be there. these are hard fights and we are going to have to fight for change. but i think it's going to come. >> if you want to join the fight, go to democracy 21.

democracy 21.org and join fred wertheimer and become part of fred's army for campaign finance reform. >> good to see you. >> thank for all of the good work we are doing. i will be back with a quick parting shot. >> on your radio, on t.v., the bill press new on current tv.

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it's completely inappropriate for television. ♪ ♪ >> the parting shot with bill press, this is the bill press show. >> on this tuesday april 17th, my parting shot for today, brought to you today by wrigley's orbit gum, eat, drink, chew, orbit gum.

two political parties in america, the party of average americans and the part of the elites. they have has the contrast been more clear. the party of average americans looks to everybody to play by the same rules and have a fair short. the party of elites, those making over half a million dollars a year screw the rest of us. that contrast was never more clear than in yesterday's vote on the buffett rule supported by 72% of the american people still republicans gather together to defeat that bill 51 to 45. at least you know now all senators are on record and every senator up for reelection like scott brown of massachusetts will now have to go out and explain and defend that vote. and i don't see how they can defend it. as our parting shot for today, congressman ted deutsche.

come back tomorrow. we will see you then. >> this is the bill press show.