>> cenk: aah you're a liar, rush. you're a liar "viewpoint" with eliot spitzer is next. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpoint." on january 19, 2011, house republicans passed the "repealing the job-killing healthcare law act." the first of 32 votes to repeal all or part of the affordable healthcare act they loathe. all bills with no chance of passing the senate, much less being signed into law by president obama. with that record of futility behind them, today the house tried again with number 33. >> i introduce this legislation on behalf of my colleagues, so that we may all be on record,

following the supreme court's decision, in order to show that the house rejects obama-care. >> we're giving our colleagues another chance to heed the will of the american people. >> take away the republicans say, protection for children with pre-existing conditions. take away prescription drug savings for seniors. take away coverage for young adults take away preventive health services for women. take away the no-lifetime limits. >> you know what we should take away? we should take away this albatross in the economy. we should repeal it. we should replace it. >> we have a repeal with no replacement. no alternative. no protection offered by my republican colleagues, not one. >> the control of healthcare and healthcare decisions belong in the hands of patients and families and their doctors. obama-care was a big government takeover of one of the most personal aspects of our lives.

>> welcome to groundhog day in the house of representatives. this majority needs to stop working to put american families to risk. start working to our economy healthy. >> eliot: the final tally one one only a groundhog or a republican could appreciate. the bill passed 244-185. just like the last time, all the house republicans voted for it. this time around the republicans picked up five democrats. last time they only got four. robert andrews was not among them. he hammered his republican colleagues for thinks hypocrisy in the repeal that gives average americans the same healthcare rights that congress enjoys. >> members of congress are permitted to have our sons and daughters on their policy until 26, but our constituents can't. members of congress cannot be

charged more for their age or gender, but our constituents can. if you believe in the law you're going to vote for today then live under it as well as. >> eliot: for more on the healthcare as far as, let's go to congressman, thanks for joining us. >> thank you governor. it's great to be with you. >> eliot: so you're living groundhog day over and over again in the same as far farce the same vote. what is the possible reason to be voting for the 33rd time for the republican effort to repeal healthcare reform? what is this all about? >> i wish i knew. i think we should be working on jobs bills for the country get small businesses hiring again. i think we should respect the supreme court opinion up hold the law. but these guys have an obsession with this, governor, and they're going to keep doing it until i guess election day when the voters have their say. >> eliot: if our calculation is correct, 1 out of every 14 votes

done on the floor of the house of representatives is a vote to repeal healthcare reform. this is insane. it has cast the house of representatives in a negative light. are you sensing people are looking at you and saying, do something that matters. >> i probably interacted with 5,000 people this fourth of july and i would guess eight of them talked about the healthcare reform bill. five positive three negative. most said, my daughter can't get a job. my bank is laying off again or my house is worth three-quarters three-quarters what it was worth three years ago. this is an obsession and they they are hurting themselves playing

out this obsession. >> eliot: you made a statement out on the floor. what was the reason for that? what were you hoping to english. >> basically it says that we should live under the laws that we create. if we're going to take away the pre-existing condition for the public, we should take it away for a ourselves. if we take away the fact that you can't be charged more premium us because you're female, we should take it away for ourselves. if congress writes a law we should live under laws we wrote. i think every republican voted against that proposition which i find to be mystifying. >> eliot: you're not suggesting that it would be new for the republicans to have a certain latent hypocrisy in the way they act and the way they vote, would you? >> this is more blatant than usual. it says do as i say, not as i do. i think if you ask conservative republicans or democrats congress should live by the same rules that you create for everyone else. they would say yes. to see that turned away today

was surprising to me. >> eliot: at a very personal level this has obviously caused attention between members of the house and the public. is there tension on the floor of the house between members of the two parties now as you look across thite and the aisle and say, why are you doing this? why are you forcing us to live this way? >> a lot less than you would expect. we fiercely believe in our views, and we fight for them. i would say most members are collegiatal and friendly. i count all of them as my adversary, but i count none of them as my enemy. >> eliot: a mature perspective. you said something a few moments ago, you said over its 5,000 people you encountered over the weekend, only a handful wanted to talk about healthcare. this is the issue that i do have. when i do want to talk about healthcare, the folks who don't

agree with them, i'm not able to persuade them. are you able to persuade people that the healthcare and what it does. >> listen, if the guy across the street from you can afford health insurance but chooses to buy a motorcycle instead. if he winds up in the emergency room who should pay his bill. him or you. obviously it should be him. well, you support the individual mandate. that's what it's about. i think you can put it in those terms and change people's minds. >> eliot: i hope that's the case. to the extent that this is an issue that it does carry forward, we do have to make that case and make it persuasively. the mantra for the republican party was repeal and replace. they've certainly been going through this charade and this

fake effort to repeal. is there anything on the table to replace it? is there anything tangible that they would present to the public? >> nope. 19 months ago they said they would report out bills pre-existing conditions, and end lifetime policy limits and help seniors with their prescription drugs. not a bill. not a word. not a vote. not a clue. nothing in those 19 months. i think that's speaks volumes about their lack of commitment to this issue. >> eliot: congressman, you said many things that i think are wise and thoughtful. the phrase i like best is not a clue. it does, in fact describe the republican party on this issue. new jersey congressman, thank you many times for coming on the show tonight. >> i appreciate it. >> eliot: democrats spoke out strongly today against the house republicans bill to repeal the president's healthcare act. not as strongly as this excerpt

from a florida speech in september 2009. >> if you get sick, america this is the healthcare plan. die quickly. that's right. the republicans want you to die quickly if you get >> democrat alan grayson was a forthright speaker when he served in congress. and he still is today. it's a pleasure to welcome to the program former florida congressman alan grayson. thank you for joining us. you've seen what the house of representatives has been doing today. do you, in fact, really want to return to that chamber? >> yes, because i still have hope that we can collectively make our lives better, that we can solve the problems that our country is facing. i do understand that not everyone feels that way. i do understand that there are powerful forces that tries to prevent that but i do have home that things can--i do have hope that things can be better.

>> eliot: hope springs eternal and i applaud you for that. watching what the house is doing, sometimes there are moments of despair. you're in florida, from florida. your governor rick scott is one of six governors in the southeastern part of the country going out to texas saying we don't want to participate in the healthcare reform act even if the federal government showers us with money. rick scott was an executive of a company mireed in healthcare fraud while he was there. what is his logic? >> he's trying to force poor people to go to his healthcare clinics and hand over whatever money they have over to him. it's just naked cruelty and corruption. nothing more than that. it's something that is becoming more and more closely associated with the right wing and the republican party every day. >> eliot: i'm glad to see congressman, you have not lost your capacity to go right to the

matter. pull in punches. call it as you see it. something that endeared to you many but not everyone who was the target of your slings and arrows and forthright comments. the question, and we've had this conversation just a few minutes ago with one of your former colleagues. when the 20% goes to the hospital and gets care, who pays for it? >> the fact is that they can't get that care. if you have cancer, there is no hospital in the country that is going to give you free chemotherapy. it's just not going to happen. all across the country there are 40,000 people every year who die because they don't have health coverage. there are 3,000 in florida alone. we have the third highest rate in the country. frankly, a lot of those people would be getting the care that they need if people like rick scott would cooperate and stop picking fights with barack obama at the expense of the people of

florida. there are thousands of people who will live if medicaid is expanded in florida and die if it isn't. and their blood is on rick scott's hands. >> eliot: you're the first to put the context to the healthcare denied and the cost in terms of health, that they'll suffer the consequences of not getting the healthcare that they need. those individuals who go to an emergency room and do get care when they're uninsured that cost is borne by the hospital and the state. states turn down their involvement in the participation of the healthcare program, and they're giving away and sacrificing huge amounts of money and taxpayers in florida will have to pay for that bill. >> in part. but many people will not get the care they'll need. and they will die. many people will remain sick. and many people will not be able to get healthy again because of the problems they face. bear in mind the first three

years the federal government is picking up every single penny of the cost to expanding medicaid to 15 million poor people who can't see a doctor when they're sick. the federal government is picking up every of that cost. in the following seven years 97% of the cost. on account of the simple fact that they don't ike like obama and therefore they don't like obama-care, they are engaging in a sadistic form of public policymaker of denying people their care. >> eliot: i think the number in florida would benefit to the tune of $20 billion in federal expenditures to cover those healthcare costs that you're talking, about which are more important than the dollars is the care to individuals who desperately need it. i think it would create 65,000 jobs in florida alone. something that is important to state. what does rick scott say and this repeal mantra we now how

fraudulent that is because there is no replace plan. does rick scott have anything to replace the healthcare reform act? >> i said more than two years ago the republican healthcare plan is don't get sick. if you do get sick, die quickly. it was true then. it's true now. and it always will be true. they just don't give a damn. it's that simple. >> eliot: you're running for election in a new congressional district. you're out there campaigning very hard, that is your nature. does the public understand this message that you're artic could youing?couldarticulatearticulating? >> yes, most people are in favor of what it called obama-care. we have 20% of the public in florida that does not have health insurance. 40% much latinos cannot see a-- a

doctor, and in a has to end. >> eliot: rick perry is is ridiculous in not participating. congressman alan grayson, thank yo the real world and politics collide on "the gavin newsom show". this week: can a futurist really predict the future? find out on "the gavin newsom show". only on current tv.

in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps remind you that the highway

might not be as desolate... ...as you thought. ♪ ♪ >> eliot: i may not always agree with senator susan collins but the republican from maine always does her job. hence the number of the day 5,000. this week collins will cast her

5,000th consecutive vote in the senate. she has not missed a single vote since taking office in 1997. one time she literally twisted her ankle running in high heels to get to the senate florida on time. but collins does not just cast votes. she gets things done. sometimes by doing the only thing that really works in an evenly divided congress, crossing the party aisle. but therein lies the irony. collins has expended all this work ethic on a congress that doesn't actually accomplish much. it has done even less than the fabled do nothing congress of the late 1940s. the woody allen quote, 80% of life is just showing up. for our current congress, it's like 99% when they show up at all. in the remaining 1%, maybe when

they pass a bill. but senator collins is just what politics needs. even when i don't agree wititititititititititititititititititititititititit >> this court has proven to be the knowing, delighted accomplice in the billionaires' purchase of our nation. >> and you think it doesn't affect you? think again.

it's go time! >>every weeknight cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>the guys in the middle-class the guys at the lower-end got screwed again! i think you know which one we're talking about. >>overwhelming majority of the county says: "tax the rich don't go to war."

i just wanted to clarify. >> eliot: it has become an interest in an election year for the republican presidential candidates to speak at naacp convention knowing full well they won't receive more than 10% of the african-american vote. normally the candidates tailor their speeches to avoid embarrassment. but not mitt romney. he stuck to his standard stump speech. even by the n standard of awkwardness that mitt romney has defined, this was as awkward and uncomfortable as this could be. [ organ music ] >> i do love that music. i have to tell you i do love listening to that organ music. i believe that if you understand who i truly am in my heart and if it were possible to fully communicate what i believe is in the real enduring best interest of african-american families,

you would vote for me for president. i'm going to eliminate every non-essential expensive program i can find, and that includes obama-care. and i'm going to work-- [ booing ] >> romney: my agenda is not to put in place the series of policies that get me a lot of attention and applause. if you want a president who will make things better in the african-american community, you are looking at him. [ boos ] you take a look. >> eliot: he does read define awkward. joining me now is representative sheila jackson lee democratic congresswoman from texas. thank you for your time tonight congresswoman. what do you make of his performance at the naacp? >> eliot: first of all >> thank you eliot.

the naacp is being hosted in my hometown in houston texas and i had the privilege of speaking earlier in the week. these are people who have been through the valleys of despair, discrimination for 103 years. no other civic organization has the historic history of naacp. and governor romney did what they have done for years. but voters in that hall are thinking voters, and voters who themselves have experienced discrimination and hardship and also victory by standing their ground. his speech, of course, was a message, i believe to the larger audience of independent voters.

i remember his father, governor romney and he is okay. that is the only reason and message that governor romney appeared. when you ask an audience if you want what is best for the african-american community for president, you're looking at him. and then shortly before that you say you're going to repeal obama-care when we recognize one of the hardships of our community has often been access to healthcare opportunities to engage in the medical profession, our seniors with the poverty that sometimes strikes seniors and the need to overcome the issue of the prescription drug and also medicaid for nursing homes. when you realize that, then you would wonder whether or not the presidential hopeful mitt romney was really serious in the presentation that he made to these very iconic persons who have lived their life in the civil rights movement.

>> eliot: congresswoman, i think you're exactly right. the speech was not directed either to the audience in the hall, or in my view, even to the larger african-american community. this was a speech, as you said, that he had to make. he could not shun the appearance. he had to be there to say that he could theoretically be inclusive, but towing a strict, conservative line he was talking to a different demographic. not african-american voters either in pennsylvania ohio virginia, florida perhaps, he was almost using the opportunity to say to those voters, look, i will stick to my guns and put my finger in the ideological position that the naacp has taken. does that make sense to you? >> i think it does make sense. and he had a dual role. his dual role is just that. you know the red meat in that audience was i'll repeal obama-care. but for those who was just

passing a television screen and get wind of the fact that he was actually there, he will say to themselves as independents, possibly, he may be okay after all. but to that audience, eliot for him to come as governor who had the lowest job creation in massachusetts when he was governor, for him to come and not make mention of any opposition to voter i.d. laws which will suppress voters, many of them in the african-american community. for him not to acknowledge the journey that the naacp has traveled in breaking the laws of segregation. for him not to acknowledge, for example, that he has blocked the jobs bill--when i say he has blocked, he has not advocated for the passage of mr. obama's jobs bill that the democrats want to pass, to put together teachers many of whom are african-americans, police officers and firefighters, then these realistic voters who really understand the economics

of job creation understand the toiling of fighting against discrimination probably really were a fixture in a stop that the campaign wanted to make. let me just say this, eliot. this is a group that knew megqar ,vers. his wife served as the first woman chair woman of naacp. these people know reality of what happens in this country. they want a great country. they want to fight for a great country but they look for a presidential person who will have empathy and have at least know the pain that they experience. >> eliot: congresswoman, you could not be more correct. in fact, when i was going through the three issues that were most significant to the audience, it was healthcare, voter i.d. and tax issues.

governor romney is 0-for-3 across that trilogy of issues, and the most volatile is the voter issue that has been in front the naacp efforts in the last couple of days. did he not even make reference, address it, and eric holder called jim crow incarnate. did governor romney say anything about that? >> we were engaged here in washington on a non-serious effort of repealing the affordable care act maybe to some known as obama-care. but all of the reviews that i have secured not one time was the vital intrinsic dna-based issue of voters rights ever mentioned. he mentioned martin luther king jr. he quoted frederick douglas again a historic icon that

nothing is gained without a struggle. he quoted those individuals, but he did not acknowledge the pain of the recognition of what happened in 2000 when voters were stopped from going to the polls in the florida presidential election or the presidential election. he did not acknowledge the case in federal court here in washington the texas i.d. law. he was in texas we've taken the basis of the denial of rights of latino voters. he did not acknowledge that voter i.d. laws in many states such as pennsylvania represented voter suppression when a 95-year-old woman who voted all her life, an african-american, would be denight her right to vote because she did not have access to her birth certificate or driver's license to get a state voter i.d. you're right, when we kicked off the naacp convention in houston i was there saying, along with others, that this is our mission

for 2012. not picking a presidential candidate because they are nonpartisan, but it is to fight for the right of every single american to cast their vote. mitt romney, the presidential hopeful, did not mention that at one moment to even calm the fears of those who were in that room. >> eliot: yes, congresswoman you could not have been more eloquent on an issue that we've been talking about every night. it goes to the heart and soul to democracy. congresswoman jackson lee, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> eliot: joe

>> eliot: still to come, corruption in the financial section. but first steve ducey thinks that american olympians should go topples and when it doesn't fit anywhere else, we put it in

the viewfinder. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> it was wonderful for children, by the way having your grand pop your great aunt, uncle, for real. those walls were awfully thin. i often wonder how my parents did it, but that's a different story. >> should the american team bewaring a beret? why not a baseball cap? why not a cow hat like we had when we went to calgary. why not something very american and go topples. >> i can't believe jenny mccarthy is naked in this thing--again. >> and gary oldman with a passage from r kelli' news book. >> let the cat say rap and be living different parts of the planet, but i don't see it that way. i see us all coming together. you feel me? >> this whole idea of romney as a job creator makes me laugh.

this is the guy who likes firing people. >> only someone who didn't understand business would say that. that's really, really dumb. >> oh, my god. >> romney: i can't say anything about the vp process. you know that. if i did i'd have to, you know, i'd have to come with you with my men in black flash light and erase your memory. >> what is mitt's secret? vision and leadership, but mostly people are responding to magic myth ♪ it's raining mitt ♪ it's raining mitt ♪ >> mitt romney, happenin' for america. >> eliot: that's an ad that might actually get him some votes. the big story about corporate corruption is that it's no start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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>> eliot: the world's biggest banks are manipulating numbers falsely reporting the true value of their company's worth and misleading the public to the tune of billions of dollars. no, i'm not reading an old script from 2008. it's just that this story has not changed. back then it was worthless mortgages being packaged as if they were triple-a rated resulting in a public bailout to the tune of billions of dollars. and now it's toying with the interest rates which affect millions of people throughout the world and according to the transparentcy international an anti-corruption walker watchdog, most americans actually believe corporate corruption has increased since the financial crisis. i've said it before, and i will say it in no longer have to, why has nothing changed? here joining me now beth my

mclean. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> this is the same sort of manipulation and corruption that has been going on forever. >> it is. it's shocking and amazing that the gap of time between scandals is shorter. there is a fascinating survey that came out last night that was buried in the papers that said 25 person of all street executives believe they have to lie and cheat in order to subject. >> eliot: bethany, i want you to know that number was not totally lost. it was our number of the day. we made it our number of the day last night on the theory that it shows how pervasive wall street is the mentality that if you don't cheat you won't get ahead. another number hidden in there only 30% think that the sec does anything useful. they think they have to cheat and the sec does nothing so

they think they have to cheat. >> astounding. and the news about the sec is incredibly discouraging. they're scurrying around trying to do something. >> eliot: i've never been able to understand what they did. was this debt market so easily gamed by barclays and other banks. >> the fact that it could be game, it was a shock but just somethin' somethin' that is so actually so important could be a made-up number at the women whim of traders and banks, and then the trust in regulators to come up with this number, they don't have any respect for it.

those two things are stunning. >> eliot: i think that the major fact that i'm waiting to see develop here is the relationship between the banks and the new york fed in particular. what was known by the new york fed, tim geithner, the minutes of those meetings, i'm almost terrified to think that the fed was aware of this and did nothing. this would be so diminishing to such an important institution. >> there has always been a lot of talk about the financial crisis and the regulatory forebarrens, regulators looking the other kay because theybecause--looking the other way because they were too close to the institutions under their watch. i think this could end up perhaps being one part of that larger story. but i think the libor story has so many repercussions that it's just going to be fascinate to go watch it develop. one of the interesting things to me are all the civil suits filed

against the banks. the banks seem to feel that they're on great good legal ground that it will be hard to prove collusion, but you'll love this, they call it a possibly eliot spitzer moment for the banks. >> eliot: i'm not sure what my relationship was in that, but it will cost them money. actually i think they have the legal analysis wrong. to prove them collusion will be easy. but to prove damage may be more difficult. that is something that we'll spend time on. i want to read something to you that was written yesterday or today. they're equally ridiculous whenever they publish them. it goes to the heart and attitude on wall street. it says the regulators were worried that those contracts and loans tied to libor might stop trading or working but that hasn't happened. suggesting that for now this

scandal is largely an excuse for politicians to beat up on greedy bankers. is this an opportunity for us to talk about bankers in an ugly way? this matters right? it goes to the heart of the integrity of the market. >> it absolutely goes to the heart of the integrity of the market. one, it's at the whim of the banks. two, that they would not be honest about it, that they would manipulate it. i think that's shocking. there were a couple of lines in that wall street journal op-ed that stood out to me. people kept using it. i wasn't aware that people had a choice. that's the strangest lines. when you are given a mortgage, do you get to say that i want it based off libor or something else? no. >> eliot: you're absolutely right. we do not have a choice. libor has always contained a

degree and element of fudge. the wall street editorial page typical why there is a public acceptance of what it going on there. time is out. bethany mclean, thank thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks. >> eliot: can women have it all? our nextttttttttttttttttttttttttttt if you missed joy behar one week only... >>hey, time flies when you're having fun. >>don't worry because she'll be back. >>where are the lefties besides on current tv? >>joy behar is getting her own show coming to current tv this fall.

>> eliot: republicans say there is no war on women. what do you call the abortion fight in mississippi. first, let's go to "the war room" and check in with jennifer granholm. good evening governor, what have you got for us tonight. >> jennifer: eliot, you're doing a great job and we hope to follow you in style. we're going to talk to our

on-the-ground source at the naacp convention at mitt romney delivered his speech. we've got richard cordre, head of the new consumer financial protection, and we're going to be looking at the secret ways that karl rove is funding his gazillion pro romney crossroads gps ads all and the radar. and we'll cover the news today with christine pelosi whose mom was in rare form. >> eliot: you always do it in style. and richard codre is doing a bang up job. they're going to do real things to help real