[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >>. >> good morning, everybody. what do you say? it's wednesday august 8th. so good to see you today. welcome to the full-court press here on current tv. lots coming this up morning. lots to talk about. we will tell you what's going on and take your call at 866-55-press. meanwhile, the koch brothers are at it again. yes, the obama hate machine is out there spending $25 million in a new -- in new attack ads

against president obama. what i want to know is: why? koch industries oil and gas conglomerate is making more money than ever before. why do they hate president obama? could it be maybe because he is % black? the first black president? just asking. we will talk about that and a whole lot more here today on "the full court press." first, today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa. good morning. >> hi, bill. good morning everyone. it's just about 90 days left before november 6th. we are starting to see a new phase of the election season one of incredibly bizarre nicknames. we will get to the that in just a second. first, a little bit on the candidates' schedules today. president obama's first stop is in denver colorado where he has chosen a new surrogate but a familiar face to introduce him. sandra fluc will be doing the honors, the georgetown law student attacked by rush limbaugh for supporting access

to contraception. mr. obama no doubt chose fluc to introduce his outreach to women voters. then the president speaks in grand junction and he then heads today pueblo to spend the night. as for mitt romney he is spending the day in iowa and new jersey and he will face some pretty tough hurdles from here on out. i am not talking talk being policy or negative ads but his personality. he has the lowest popularity ratings we have seen in nearly 20 years at least for a candidate at this point in the race. according to the latest abc news/washington post poll romney's favor apparently is at 40% and the president is at 53. those any more names, it's a bout of romneyhood versus obama loney. i guess that's baloney. okay. let's say we take it for now. that would appear to be romney's far-fetched comeback to attacks

this week. he said the president is serving up a dish incontrad dix. sorry for you baloney lovers out there. more after the break. see you then. i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press show ". >> well, in a scientific study that says -- guess what. what we all knew. all of this hot weather, this horrible drought, it's climate change. it's global warming, and it's here. good morning everybody. happy wednesday. it's wednesday august 8th. good to see you today. this is the full court press. we are coming to you live all

the way across this great land of ours starting off the day by bringing you up to date on all of the big stories of the day. we are coming to you live from our studio here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. booming out to you on current tv, of course, on sirius xm this hour, only and all three hours on your local progressive talk radio station. good to see you today and good to haveyou with us. thanks for hopping on board. as for our discussion of the issues of the day, wherever it's happening, here in washington, d.c. outer space, around the globale, we will tell you what's going on and give awe chance to join the conversation. your calls welcome innocent at 866-55 press. this is this interactive town hall every morning here, and you are part of it. 866-557-7377. lots to talk about today. so we drag the whole team again in this morning with the exception of peter ogburn who is off for a little few days r & r.

but dan henning stepping in to apply -- ably fly the 747. good morning, dan. >> good morning. >> with the assistance of stevie lee web. >> also good morning. my best impression. >> and cyprian bowlding our videographer. hi, cyprian. just a quick olympic update before we get into other stuff. i saw that rafalka did not make the cut. >> he did not. he did not. >> she? >> he. >> i am not sure. >> it. >> it did not make the curt. >> no. >> not going to be in the finals but ann romney overjoyed with how well the horse did rafalka, probably on his way to a glue factory in france right now. >> come on. they are not going to fly it all the way back to the united states. >> yes, they will. it's on a barge to france.

>> they are going to put it on top of the 747 and get it back here. >> they influence it back. marvin hamlish, one of the great composer of all times of popular songs dead yesterday at the age of 68. we were him maybe mostly for one of the greatest musicals of all time, "chorus line." [chorus line] [chorus line music. >> i think it's a tie for that or barbara streisand's theme song. ♪ memories ♪ >> they she taught it was too basic. marvin hamlish says i think

this is a good song now barbara. he had to convince her persuade her to sing it. >> no kidding. >> it became her signature song. incredible song. marvin hamlish. that song written bywith marilyn and alan bergmann from los angeles, good friends of mine. we have a great line-up today. marvin hamlish, we salute you sir. >> governor eliot spitzer joining us host of the"the view" on current tv. >> from knees weak daily beast in as a friend of bill and we will talk to joe rome about this new study on climate change but first: >> this is the full court press. >> on this wednesday, other headlines making news, another big milestone from the mars rover yesterday. nasa officials received the

first color photograph from curiosity. up until now, they had only gotten black and white photos of mars. a blury photo of the north wall and the gal e*trader kicked up from the landing. they we want up there with windex but u.s.a. today tells us once the robotic arm is functional, it will clean the dust off of its own camera. >> they had to have thought about that. >> absolutely. >> yeah. >> the next ones will be clearer. but a pretty big celebration yesterday. >> damn right. >> when they got the first photo. the founder of the 80's musical, the jay giles band is suing known for the one hit, centerfold. john giles is suing the other members of the group for using his name without having him. he said the other members planned and confiredspired to exclude him. he is seeking full rights to the trademark band's name since it is, of course, named after him.

plus damages. >> sounds like it. >> president obama saw the latest batman movie and he is a big fan alta fundraiser in connecticut, the reviewer in chief gave "the dark knight rises" two big thumbs up. in attendance was ann hathaway who plays cat woman. obama said she was the best thing in the film. that got her a big beaming smile. >> she was tremendous. she really was. when does a president have the time to watch -- spend three hours watching "batman." ? >> he has his own movie theater. >> he does but still it's three hours. and a six-hour round of golf. >> it was his birthday. >> on his birthday. >> what do you want? >> here is where we start today. we start today on welfare. welfare. yeah. this is a new big political controversy right now. boy, it broke out yesterday.

let's put it this way. it's just a few days ago that rince pribius, the incompetent, feckless national republican chairman called harry reid "a dirty liar." we found out who the real dirty liar is. it is not harry reid. it is mitt romney on this issue of welfare. it all started when the romney campaign came out yesterday morning with a new ad attacking president obama and accusing president obama of ending a requirement that is part of the welfare reform passed by president clinton back in the '90s requirement that people can only stay on welfare so long. then they have to move. they must move from welfare to work. >> that's the phrase. it was always conservative measure, made a lot of sense. and president clinton adopted it. now, romney is accusing romney

of getting rid of it. here is what the ad sounds like. >> in 1976, work for welfare, but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work retirements. under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work or train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. welfare to work was back to being plano welfare. mitt romney will restore it so it works. >> they are saying now according to president obama's new regulations, people can just stay on welfare forever and ever and ever, and they never have to apply for work and they never have to move from welfare to work. mitt romney, himself campaigning yesterday picks up that theme and makes the accusation. >> that's how they do it. put the ad out and then mitt romney follows up as he did campaigning in illinois yesterday. >> and by virtue of that

bi-partisan effort that put work back into welfare, you saw the welfare case load cut in half, and you also saw the enough people in poverty come down year after year after year. that was a great accomplishment. i hope you understand that president obama in just the last few days has tried to reverse that accomplishment by taking the work requirement out of welfare. >> that's wrong. if i am president, i will put work back in welfare. >> you see. there is the issue. there is the charge. used to be could only stay on welfare a certain number of months and then you had to move in and get a job. if you didn't, you were off welfare. president obama's going to ends that, says mitt romney. there is only one problem with that. it is dead wrong. it is a big lie. there is no truth to it whatsoever. politifax, the guys that take a

look at ads or things that politicians say and it goes from trues totally true to the worst they could rank it is "pants on fire." liar, liar pants on fire. they ranked this ad pants on fire. and jay carney in some of the strongest language i have ever heard at a white house briefing his first question yesterday was about this ad and, well, the first one is about syria. then the follow-up was about this ad. and boy, he was ready for it and he blistered romney. >> let me say that this advertisement is categorically false, and it is ambulance blatantly dishonest. this will give the states the opportunity to employ more effective ways to help people get off welfare and into a job. under this policy governors must commit their proposals will move at least 20% more people, more people from welfare to

work. >> so there are the facts. right? the fact is this new policy of president obama's tells states, if you don't want to follow the federal guidelines, you can opt out of the federal guidelines as long as you come up with something better. maybe mitt romney didn't read the whole statement. maybe he didn't read the whole -- maybe his staff didn't read, you know, all -- everything that hhs put out there. but carney goes on to say: not only do states get this option as long as they can move 20% more people from welfare to work. got it? but it was republican governors who requested this waiver. jay carney: >> now the ad is particularly outrageous as governor romney himself, with 28 other republican governors supported policies that would have eliminated the time limits in the welfare reform law and

allowed people to stay on welfare forever. >> yeah. just ahead of ourselves. that was when romney was governor of massachusetts. he would have let people stay on welfare forever. but carney did also point out that two republican governors, the governor of utah and the governor of nevada both of whom are romney supporters they are the ones who requested this from hhs. so that's what we've got here. you've got bill clinton's policy, adopted in 1996 that says you can't stay on welfare forever. we have to get people off of welfare into borkwork. you have got republican governors today who say, you know what? i see those federal requirements, but we think we can do a better job than that at the state level. and then you've got hhssponding to the states,sponding to republican governors, and saying, okay. we will let you off the hook. we will let you do it your way as long as you can move 20% more from welfare to work.

those are the facts, and then mitt romney totally distorts it totally turns it around and accuses obama of ending welfare to work. you know what that is? >> a big, fat, dirtyly. don't take it from me. take it from politifax. how does romney get away with this? 866-557377. legal me tell you what burns me about this. politifax says it's pants on fire. nbc, to their credit, said dubious claim by romney on welfare. that was their head line. but look at the washington post this morning, headline in the washington post this morning, romney attacks obama. romney attacks obama ol welfare reform -- on welfare reform. it ought to be, the headline romney lies about obama welfare reform. not attacks.

it's not until about halfway through the article that they say that there is nothing to the romney attack. it's misleading. what's wrong with these guys? look at the "new york times" this morning. here is another one, the media is not doing its job. they are letting romney get away with big fat lies. "new york times" headline: romney presses obama on work in welfare law. no. no. >> that's not the story. the story is mitt romney is telling a big lie about barack obama on welfare. why doesn't the media do it's job? why don't they they report this stuff the way it is? why do they let romney get away with these lies? et cetera people like me and the rest of the press on talk radio on progressive television that have to tell the truth. it should not be up to us. reporters ought to do their job. if romney is lying, then tell the american people that he is lying. otherwise, people are just going to believe this yap because they see the ad on television. mitt romney, yeah, i will call

him that. he is a dirty liar. 866-55-press. tell me about it. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> 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.

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(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy."

not true! [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> the attack is dishonest. it is false. >> this is "the bill press show." >> white house press secretary, jay carney yesterday, not hesitating to say that the latest romney attack, attack ad on president obama's welfare requirements giving republican governors a waiver as long as

they get 20% more people than they would under federal regulations from welfare to work. jay carney calling it false and dishonest. but mitt romney is still at if. and too much of the media not calling romney out for a great big fatly. 866-55-press, our toll-free number. sean calling from oakland, camera. hey, sean. welcome. >> hey, bill. how are you doing? >> i am doing good. what's up? >> i just think you are the best and if om the democrats had a million more of you out there, we would be a lot better off. >> thank you. go ahead. >> i want to make two quick points. the whole republican party is a fatly. all they have been doing -- and they know they are going to lose this election, so they are, you know reaching out for anything sdpart. right now. obama is calling romney outdesperate.

right now. obama is calling romney out. romney said everything about what romney is doing, he is telling lies all over the country. >> i love that romneyhood. >> i love you. and keep up the good work. >> sean, great to hear from you, the great city of oakland, california. david is in hampton virginia. hi, david. >> hey, bill. how are you doing? >> i am good. welcome to the program. >> i enjoy your show. like other fellow, we need a million more of you. >> i do what i can. all right. thanks, david. >> what i wanted to comment on is mitt romney. i mean i am a fair person, but this guy, i am glad you are calling it what it is. it's a lie. ? >> yeah. you know, listen. i am all for a fair battle and a fair debate over the issues. but you just capital get out and lie to the american public. light right? when the media don't call him out on it, you know it burns me up. >> well, as far as, you know

americans indicatecan't wait to november until obama can cut out the lies and distortion from rom energy and we move this country forward. i wouldn't today say that. >> all right, david. i can't wait for it either. tom, we have to help make it happen. tom in huntington action west virginia. it's up to you. >> thanks, bill. i think the republicans don't want to take the money from the military complex. they don't want to have -- welcome, health care dog and pony show. but you have to pay for the military complex. and they don't want to have anything taken away from it is the matter of taking away from the military in uyour view. >> well, part of that, but of course, we have the sec questration which means the military is going to get hammered as well as domestic programs. you are right. they basically want to kill anything that would help anybody who needs a little extra government help. we can't let romney get away with a lie.

that's the point. big, dirty lies. >> this is the bell press show. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] say -- maybe it was starve the beast. i'll look it up during the break. a phrase there. 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?

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> what do you say? 33 minutes after the hour now on this wednesday morning, beautiful wednesday, august the 8th. good to see you today. thanks for joining the program. we are coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours from our studio in capitol hill in washington, d.c. and brought to you by the american federation of teachers, the good men and women of the aft under president randy winegarten making a difference every day in the lives of millions and millions of american families. you bet.

well, you know, we are a great team here on progressive radio and on current tv, and on current tv the team including cenk uygur and stephanie miller soon to include joy bahar and john pugel but our captain and coach, host of the view point every night at 8:00 p.m., 8 eastern. eliot, coach, good morning. >> what did i do to get this prom motels? >> i don't know. i decided you deserved it. >> you have more wisdom and a few more years than i have so i am going to defer to you as coach. >> okay. so, i want to ask you first of all: is there any requirement that politicians tell the truth? here mitt romney out yesterday accusing accusing president obama of ending a requirement that people have to move from welfare to work when, in fact his only requirement is if governors want

to do it differently, they have to put more people from welfare to work. what's going on? >> it is ridiculous. the level of inaccuracy and the deception in these romney ads is simply beyond what i have ever seen before in presidential campaign. i think what's happened is that the pollarizeation is so deep when they make their outlandish claims and people who have legitimate voices for accuracy say, that's false, their side of the world says you are liberal voices. we can't trust you. there is an objective reality out there in the world that seems to have been lost in this mix. it's very difficult. >> it is. what gets me, too, is -- and i am sure you have seen it, the media kind of play along with it. right? i was talking earlier. the headline in "the new york times" this morning is: romney presses obama on work and welfare law." you have to read halfway through the article before you find out that there ain't a word of truth to what romney is saying. >> there is false equivalency

being drawn between statements on either side. if one is marge ally off or one is marginally more aggressive and the other is false, they are playing the same game. the other ad that is just as problematic to me is the one in ohio about the auto dealership who is very sympathetic saying the obama bail-out cost me my job. mitt romney opposed the entire bill that would have led to a million jobs. the industry has come back since the bail-out with a quarter of a million jobs gained. so the inherent falsehood at so many levels of, a, romney opposed it. his plan would have led to millions of jobs lost none gained. and the idea that he is the one who is sympathetic in terms of preserving jobs, it's so counter-factual and yet nobody is there to say stop. this is not permissible. >> i am close to the national automobile dealers' association. i have done a lot of work with them. these dealers, first of all, they are basically all

republicans. right? >> yeah. >> but they recognize, they would be out of business today if it weren't for the auto bail-out. they know that. right? >> which is why, frankly, i wish that the obama white house would respond to this by saying, you know what? we are better at this bain capital game than you are because when we invest we create jobs and get return on our capital. when you invested at bain, you simply outsourced the jobs. maybe you got a return. but we create jobs. >> that's the fundamental distinction. better at the private equity game than you are. >> you know the voice. you know the face, eliot spitzer at 8:00 p.m. eastern, host of the "viewpoint." we got for sale good news better than we have got recently in the jobs record 163,000 new jobs in july. >> right. >> on our way back? what's it say to you? >> well, look. i wish i could say on the way back. i think what it really is a continuation of a trend line that shows that basically, 150,000 jobs net are being created. if you go back to the bumps up and down over the spring and

early summer and then the winter, it averages out to about 150. 150 is what i think economists would call tepid. it's enough to absorb some, most of the folks who are joining the work force because they graduated from college and all of the rest. but not really enough to drive down the unemployment rate which is why the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3. it's been in the 8.2 or 8.3 range for quite some period of time. it is better to be positive than negative and better to be at 150 than the prior month which, i think, was after some adjustments down to 66. but we are still not where we want to be 250 to 300 to really begin over time to show enough job growth and a tightening so forces can go up in a meaningful way. the other piece of this is that wages have been stagnant for so long. when you look at wage growth that has pretty much plateaued. >> why aren't people hiring? they have the money from everything we know? >> one statistic that we don't

focus on enough. gdp, gross domestic product is back to where it was before the economic collapse but we are producing as much stuff. all of the goods with 5 million fewer workers. what does that mean? it means that workers are more efficient, greater productivity. part is capital, part is demanding more people. employers are saying i want to get the same output with fewer people. you and i understand why. you save money. profits go up. it used to be that when that happened, some of the gain went back to workers. the plow ducktivity went up wages went up. that connection has been broken for about 20 or 30 years, which is why wages are flat. fewer people are being hired. what we need -- and that doesn't answer the question so how do we get more people hired. what we need is a demand increase. >> that's what paul krugman has been writing about since the beginning of this crisis. demand is too low. demand went up, you have to hire more people even with the increased productivity we are

talking about. so we have a demand crisis. economics, spend more, stimulus. it worked. even with all of the screaming and shouting from the other side. >> that's what we need to go back to. >> i would love to see a second stimulus, myself. i don't know if there is any chance of that. certainly not before the end of the year if anything happens before the end of the year. so you and i we have talked before about mitt romney being caught in the bind of saying i am ommingnly going to release two weeks. the anti- was upe was up this weekend, saying romney doesn't want to release his taxes because maybe he didn't pay any taxes for a few years. harry reid, do you think he is doing the right thing? or is he overboard with this suggestion? >> i will tell you, i think he may have gone a step beyond in terms of both his own stature. he is the senate majority leader on the floor of the senate.

it seems to me if he is going to say that, then he should have something he can release to say: here is why i am saying it. and here is the credible sort of sourcing of this information. he is a journalist has to have two sources for ectics. i am queasy about an allegation of that sort merely based on what should be some crank calling on the phone anonymous anonymously. i wish when somebody like that has been said. mitt romney released two years. we believe 10 years, absolutely no reason he should not release many more years. i think an allegation like that i am more comfortable when there is some credible sources. >> at the same time, there is only one guy that can answer the question. right? >> absolutely. you know what? >> only one way to do it. >> it's a response of that allegation flashings all he has to do is say, look. here is the coversheet. one line of the cover sheet that shows taxes paid. there are so many ways i can do

it or i am going to show it to this evidently board and that will prove i paid the taxes. so many intermediate positions they have drawn. the romney campaign drew a line in the stand i don't understand obviously. >> i don't either. the question i keep asking is: what did john mccain find when he looked at those 23 years of returns. it seems there had to have been something there. it's early in the morning on a wednesday morning. but looking ahead, what do ruz interested in tonight to tackle? >> well, one issue we are going to be talking about is global warming which has come back. >> thankfully. >> a lot of scientists are reaffirming what i think most of us new. we knew but didn't know it from our own science. this was from the goddard scientist, jim hansen. >> right. >> a new report that says, it's even worse than we thought. a lot of the sort of heat that we are seeing in the summer is in fact, attributable to global

warming. that sneeze was not. and so it is sort of ratcheting up. scientists are saying it's worse than we thought. >> i am so glad you are doing that. it is so important. we have got to keep the pressure on. there again is one area where the congress ought to be here working on that instead of off on another -- on another vacation. >> bill, they worked hard this summer. >> you know what? they've got -- i found out yesterday, they've got eight days scheduled to work in september and five in october. elliott, elliott, # how do you get how do we get a job like that? have you signed up for the first human mission to mars after all of the success this week? pretty exciting? >> you knewow, where do you get those tickets? virgin atlantic? >> probably bransom. >> this land okay mars the "curiosity" is absolutely stag

staggering. it is an amazing feat of science. i think it's remarkable stuff. >> absolutely. you know, god bless america. we got the american athletes in london to cheer and the nasa scientists to cheer, too. right? >> you know what? there is another dimension: it proves what government can do. you know for all of the anti-government rhetoric: what is government for? we don't need it. this is where scientific research comes from. think about the space program over the decades, what it has contributed at so many levels. they know you have the luddites who want to/and slash and burn everything government does eliot spitzer, the host of "viewpoint" 8:00 p.m. eastern on current tv. by the way, we are going to talk about that climate change he was talking about in the next hour here on the full-court press. how about it? >> on your radio, and on current tv, this is "the bill press

show." above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces?

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> on your radio. on currents t.v., the"the bill

press show". >> 12 minutes before the top of the hour here on "the full court press" on wednesday, august 8th. good to have you with us. daniel stone from knees week daily beast in as a friend of bill for the next hour covers the white house for newsweek daily beast and we will talk, dan and together to joe rhome for the september center of american progress tying the heat wave and the drought of this summer to global warming. back to your calls about mitt romney lying about what president obama wants to do about welfare. he's ressponding, the president, to requests from republican governors to give them a little more flexibility. romney apparently not knowing republican governors requested this is accusing president obama of gutting the whole program, a great big lie. your calls welcome "866-55-press." first, a little reminder about something you might consider if you are having trouble making

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republican governors come to the whistle white house and say we think we can do a better job and the obamastration listens to the republican governors and says, okay. i tell you what. if you show us how you can get 20% more people off of welfare and into a job, then we are doing -- under the federal requirements, you can get a waiver from the program and gives them that waiver and then republican presidential candidate mitt romney accuses president obama of gutting the welfare program and letting people stay on welfare forever. it's a great, big fatly. politifacts says it is packets on fire which is as big a lie as you can get in these political ads. mitt romney is out there lying through his teeth. mike is in middleton. how does he get away with that? mike in middleton, idaho. what do you say? >> good morning, bill. >> good morning. >> i am a first-time caller, a little bit nervous. hopeful, i don't babble all over

the place. >> settle down and talk to me. >> all right. hey, well, first of all, i really was telling your screener we could wrest away one hour from alex bennett because that's line seinfeld on radio. >> that's up to sirius xm and they made a big mistake, mike. but thank you. go ahead. >> i live in a blood-red state idaho. i work in a blood-red industry and i would say probably 90% of the people in my -- white people in my industry are republican and they don't even really realize why, buildingyou know. i can't eat in the truck stops because they always have it on fox news. i get so sick of them bashing on my president and lying. i sit there and just choke my head, read my book. i read the same paragraph over and over because i keep drifting back to the t.v. and lies.

i don't want to get caught up in a break. it's like talking to a brick wall. >> what's your point today? >> point today? i can't wait -- the debates. you know, listen to this stut stuttering waterhead romney try to debate with obama. he is articulate and every time he opens his mouth, it seems like a new lie comes out. and when he is face to face with him, i don't know. what do you think the picture is going to be like when romney tries to tell his lies right to obama's face? i am glad you mentioned that. first of all, we have to be careful to lower our expectations but still when i think about barack obama, who is very articulate and, also, a great debater. i mean he rallies goes for the jugular. he knows his facts and he knows how to fight back and doesn't take any crap. he is not going to take it from mitt romney either.

we saw how tough barack obama was in the primary debates in 2008. i think he is going to clean mitt romney's clock in these debates. we don't often hear from friends in idaho. we are glad you are out there as a full court presser in the state of idaho. i am sure you are not the only one. good to here you. we are come back and look at the e-mails today on all of the topics we have been talking about. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

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current tv, it's been all 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. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

>> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show, new on current tv. >> 26 minutes before the hour. village seventh identified as 1 of the key races in that state and a site of a possible upset against eric cantor. we urge you to watch it as well. more so than that, to give your help to wayne powell because of anything that could improve the performance maybe of congress, it would be getting eric cantor out. there. i would even take -- i want nancy pelosi back. right? but if i had to choose i would take john boehner without eric cantor. >> yeah. >> i think he is more reasonable. just based upon what i have read. obviously, he touts the i'ddeology but i don't think he actually

beliefs itbelieves it. one. problems with mr. cantor, i don't think there is a core. there is not a core of beliefs there. normally even the people you disagree with, if they believe it, you can respect the fact they believe it. as we talked about off air the other day, holding a vote about abortion in dc including people that are impregnated by rape or incest, with the next day having women obtain affordable care medical benefits which would be covered by insurance, i mean what kind of insult to women is that? >> an insult to women. >> yeah. you know i think eric cantor's core is eric cantor. debbie down in charlotte, north carolina. what do you say. >> hi. wayne powell, you have my backing. i am so upset with eric cantor ever since that debt crisis. i heard on npr, some reliable source that he bet $17,000 hedge bet that the united states would default on the debt. and then he was in a position to make it happen. now, that's fine to talk about,

you know, he's not doing nice things and so on. but isn't that treason to bet against your own country? debbie you have your question? >> i think it's un-american. actually, i took out a piece of our literature we spread around the district when i meet folks. he shorted the american treasury bonds last year betting that the debt talks would fail. therefore, his i know vestment in bonds would go up. >> that's at least unamerica. it's certainly not patriotic as far as i am concerned. there have been a few people who didn't like whent when i said patriotic. what i mean by "patriotim" is people who support the country in every way they can. >> we have a patriotic american to fight the great fight against eric cantor. wayne powell @powellfor va.com. look forward to see you you in congress. >> this is "the bill press show."

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our guest from the ploughshares fund on the "full court press." joe, never have enough time. only a couple of minutes left. we were talking cyber warfare. based on the story from "the new york times" that the united states has engaged in it successfully, it appears against iran's nuclear weapons program. where is this all going, joe? >> there is a new generation of the cyber warfare just been detected, a program called flame. apparently designed by the same people who

did a bigger program. several tens of megabytes that infected iranian systems but is spreading to other computers. very interesting. it doesn't disrupt the computers. it just absorbs information. not only from the computer. it can use blue trot technology to tap into nearby blackberries for example and dump and gather all of the information, photos address books, stuff like that. so it becomes -- all of a sudden computers look a lot more sinister than they do when apple is showing off the wonderful s things we can do with computers. >> bill: but it looks like the future of our nation now is not going to be in these brave warriors who go out and get their physical training and so tough. it is going to be computer geeks. >> increasingly, national security analysts turn to this threat. steven coe has a great article on it. richard clark has written a new book called cyber warfare, the security.

seriously. >> bill: i guess you know my feeling, too, is if there is going to be cyber warfare, i want to be at the front lines and i want to win but i also want to do it right. that's the question. we don't have any rules for cyber warfare yet. >> we don't. as we engage in these, it is talking about it. it is something we could regret later on.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] # # radio muteseets television the bill press show now on current tv. >> 33 minutes after the hour. happy wednesday, august 8th. here at the full-court press, we are coming to you live coast to coast on yourlog progressive talk radio station and on current tv, good to have you with us today. maybe you didn't know that congress is in session, is in recess rather right now. maybe you thought they were still in session. i understand why you could be confused because it's hard to tell the difference about when they are in recess or when they are in session because they don't do anything any time. doesn't matter whether they are in session or not.

an under worked and overpaid congress, arthur delaney e of huffington post, thanks for being with u.s. >> thanks for having me back. >>. >> before we get to congress, you have been writing about something we talked about earlier in the program. that is the latest charge in the romney campaigned summed up in an ad yesterday morning where romney is claiming that president obama wants to make welfare sort of a full-time cinecuer. president obama wants to get rid of the requirement dating back to president clinton's day that people on welfare have to look for a job and move from welfare to work. they just can't stay there forever. >> that's good policy. president obama wants to kill it. according to this ad by mitt

romney. >> in 1996, president clinton and a bi-partisan congress helped end welfare as we know it by requiring work for welfare. on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. underbam's plan he wouldn't have to work and train for a job. they send you your welfare check. welfare to work was plain to being plain ol' welfare. mitt romney will restore the work requirement because it works. >> i am mitt romney. >> mitt romney says president obama wants to create a whole new generation of welfare queens. i guess. what's the truth here? this has been simmering, mitt romney criticizing this hhs decision and they decided it was time to come out with a big ad buy talking about the scary ending welfare reform as we know it.

>> right. >> taking the bill clinton catch rephrases phrase turn it on its head. the policy is a little different from what the ad suggests. >> i would sale a lot. i would say like the opposite. right? yeah. a lot different. >> so thebam administration said in july that it would allow states to apply for waivers from some of the federal rules that govern the temporary assistance for needy families the formal name for welfare after it was reformed. what the add doesn't mention among other things is that the reason the administration is saying they will allow states to lay ply for waivers was states had asked for the waivers, in particular, a couple of republican states . >> you that you and nevada . >> you uthah and nevada. gary herbert, a republican put out statements saying -- you

know, defending utah's request for waiver saying this isn't going to undo welfare reform. the whole idea is we need to help people have better working outcomes. the romney came pain is going full-steam ahead saying welfare reform is over. it's saying as you point out, you have asked for a waiver. we will give you the waiver as long as you can show us you can get 20% more people moving from welfare to work than you could under the federal requirements. >> right >> in the announcement, hhs said you have to show us your plan. it has to be good.

you can't reduce cash assistance to people by doing this and you've got to make sure your employment outcomes are improving. then in another letter responding to members of congress upset about this kathleen sell eastbound selbius said you have to do 20% better. >> politifacts, bill adair from bpolitifact rates them from 100% true to pants on fire. things in between. sometimes mostly true, mostly false, dah dah. pants on fire is as bad as you can get. it means there is not a shred of truth. they looked at this ad and rated it pants on fire. in other words, it's a big lie. right? so here is what gets me is, so what -- how does the press deal with this?

romney tells -- we might call it a dirty lie, you know, to use a phrase. right? what's the washington post headline this morning? romney attacks obama on welfare reform. romney wins. why don't they say they lie? >> i would say that's a pretty cautious head line. having read a lot of the coverage of it, most of it was pretty skeptical of the ad. even this story -- >> you, you read the whole article, you know, i seet's a misleading headline. i am on a tear about this this morning, i think reporters have a responsibility to tell the truth. >> our headline at huffington post was that romney attacks -- criticizes obama for welfare policy he supported as governor.

this is something the romney campaign has been disagreeing with but in 2005, the republican governor's association lobbied congress in favor of a senate bill that did not ultimately become law but that did include demonstration projects that are, you know, wheretates will apply for these in much the same way h ht in july but it would be broader. it wouldn't have been just the work requirements. it could have been time limits as well. >> uh-huh. >> so the romney campaign says that's not true, but from bill clinton, on down, people are saying the author said mitt romney is not telling the truth which is in response to requests from republican governors pairs

lines what they have done with the no child left behind rules. a lot of republican governors even though it was george bush's policy thought it was too strict, arnie duncan says you can do it different ways in states as long as you meet our goals i am sure newt gingrich would not agree with president clinton but there are stories from ron haskins, a key senate house stamp at the time during welfare reform now at the brook inc.'s institution is saying basically agreeing with the democrats saying this is not romney is telling a big fat lie about welfare. i want to get to congress because you talk about -- you have written living large on capitol hill members of congress have it sweet? >> the sweetest. >> starting with their salary? >> the salary is a 6-figure sal

occur 174,000 for rank and file. i would like to say this story was the cover story in friday's issue of our new ipad magazine called huffington. it's now free. it used to cost money. we have made it free. so if you are fortunate enough to have an ipad like everybody in congress download it. it's nice to read. it's online in its entirety. >> like president obama, there is a picture of president obama walking with his ipad. what is the app? >> huffington magazine. >> huffington mag sdpreenn green. >> with a period. >> huffington like forward with a period. >> yeah. >> exactly like that. >> let's put that up on our website, dan so people know where to find it. >> in the appear store. >> they have $175,000 a year. what else? >> they get, if they manage to serve for five years, which is will he is than one senate term or if you are in the house, then

three elections, you get a pension for life. the longer you serve, the bigger the pension is. if you make -- >> pension for life after five years? >> right. most workers in america no longer get defined benefit pensions. members of congress still do. the rest of us get 401(k)s, which are dinky and can be rocked by the stockmarket. congressional pensions are pretty generous. get up to 80% of your salary if you serve 30 years. this is the health benefits which gold plate is like you heard a lot during the health care reform debate. that will change, though the health care reform law is going to make members of congress jump into the exchanges like amies. an irony of all of the votes to repeal the health care law is they would repeal this element. members of congress could keep their sweet healthcare. >> they work their ass off. you have to admit that. right?

>> well, you know, even when they are on vacation, they say they are working. there is no time when they don't say they are working. >> baloney. >> yeah. they haven't -- this congress in particular hasn't done a lot, hasn't pastsed much legislation which to a conservative might be a good thing or maybe it reflects a divided electorate but if you look at the polling, they have had historically low approval ratings. in february this year, the lowest approval they have ever had in the history of the gallup poll like less popular than big a.m.y and really unsaferingy things like the bp oil spill is more popular than congress. >> less popular than gonnorhea. >> if they polled gonnorhea, maybe. >> arthur delaney e in studio with us from huffington post. we are talking welcome and romney's charges and the do-nothing congress. >> that's what harry truman called it.

i hope president obama is going to call them that, too. take your calls at 866-55-press. continue our conversation when we come right back. i.q. will go way up. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to

destroy our economy." not true! [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> on your radio and on current t.v. this is the"the bill press show." ". >> all right. twelve minutes now to go before the top of the hour. arthur delaney e is with us from huffington post on the new ipad appear huffington period.

you can read his story, living large on capitol hill. before we go to the calls, arthur, you were saying during the break, so they get this big salary, the pension. they get the health benefits but maybe the real pay-off comes had they leave congress. >> this is the biggest. >> of course they take this stuff with them. right? but then they have an open door to big bucks. right? >> right. like i was telling you, i am not working on a follow-up story: my quest for the only poor former member of congress. so far, i haven't found him. but the idea is -- >> you are not going to. >> nobody who comes to congress and resigns or is voted out becomes poor. you can become a lobbyist or a consultant, which is the same as a lobbyist only you don't have to register is the narrow definition of the law. but basically, members of congress from the moment they get here, they are too big to fail. >> and i mean if you become a lobbyist, you are talking not

$175,000. you are talking about what? >> if you are an influential committee chairman or long-serving senator, you are getting a 7-figure salary for sure. i would be surprised if chris dodd and tom daschle are making anything less than seven figures. >> you report t. let's say hello to joyce a caller from chicago. hi, joyce. what do you say? >> two quick things. when you say about mitt romney about this lie he got out about the president with this welfare he signed on to it as well as about the military. so this is nothing new for mitt romney. he lies about everything. the first ad he took out about the president saying if we talk about the economy, we will fail john mccain said that. it's a natural known thing mitt romney is a lying cheat in waiting. as far as the congress goes i keep hearing you say this is a do-nothing congress. they have done quite a bit. they have done quite a bit for not to do for this country, kept the country from going forward.

they have kept people from going back to work. they have kept transportation bills in hold. so they have done a lot to not to help this country. so say it like that. >> okay. thank you, joyce. i don't know how we say it like that. >> joyce makes -- >> a do-wrong-thing congress. >> there is a compelling argument. yes get into it in this story but people say they have been a big drag on the economy. at one point in particular, when the debt ceiling showdown happened, that's when the economy started going off track. maybe it's a coincidence but not everyone thinks it is. >> in other words, they have done a lot to hold down the economy and to -- well the word uncertainty. right? to create more uncertainty, and, therefore, they are partly one of the reasons why the -- the economy hasn't recovered faster than we have. >> it's something democrats have argued for a while. that doesn't mean it's not true. >> yeah.

well-said. john in sycamore west virginia. >> hey, bill. in the congress thing, two quick things, i believe you check the gdp and other economic indicators, and you will see toward the end of 2011 when that congress got in there and started obstructing, those numbers leveled off and steadily started to go down some. >> that was arthur's point again. >> our media, you guys will always always, no matter how big a lie romney tells and he tells whoers, you guys try to find something in there for him. i just don't understand it. no matter how big of a lie it is, he is searching over it, trying to find something for him. >> john, first of all, i take your point. i just want to say, i don't. authur delaney doesn't. too many people in our business do. and i have been making that point all morning. i go back to the headline in "the new york times" or in the washington post and in "the new york times" about the welfare thing this morning.

you know, arthur yesterday, jay carney said something at the briefing, a message which i think will be ignored, but he said to my former colleagues because he was a front-row reporter in the white house briefing room at one time, he said, i think you should report on not just whether an ad is politically working or not but whether an ad is true or not. we don't do that enough. that's that's john's point. i think it's an important point. >> even in stories that aren't about politics like the poverty numbers, the first sentence will be, the poverty rate has increased, underscoring difficulties for president obama in congress. the difficulties are for the poor people, not the people in congress with cushy jobs. >> thank you. i think it's a reminder. when they are caught in a lie, we have got to make sure people understand they are not telling the truth. arthur, great work.

don't forget the appear is huffington, period, for your ipad. meet arthur's work at huffingtonpost.com. >> thanks for having me. >> i will be back with a quick parting shot. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] 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.

um, miss ? you have hard water stains and that cleaner's not gonna cut it. you need lime-a-way. it's 4 times more effective at removing limescale than the leading bathroom cleaner. lime-a-way is specially formulated to conquer hard water stains. for lime, calcium and rust... lime-a-way is a must. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> the parting shot with bill press. this is "the bill press show." "on this wednesday, august 8th, my parting shot for today, oops, two days after rnc chairman called harry reid a dirty liar the dirty liar is mitt romney

out with a new ad accusing president obama of cancelling a requirement that referrals recipients move from welfare to work. there is only one problem as nbc reports: it's a totally. as politifacts says it is liar liar, pants on fire. the truth is, the obama administration offered republican governors a waiver from federal welfare requirements only if they could move 20% more people from welfare to work. so mitt romney caught in another great big dirtyly. why doesn't he just stop lying and release his tax returns instead? tomorrow, what a line-up. david shuster from current tv, senator sherrod brown, brad woodhouse and to have buffenbarger. join us again tomorrow. >> this is "the bill press show."