ugs [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> good morning, everybody. it is thursday august 9th. good to seale you today. welcome to "the full court press" on current tv. good to have you with us because we have lots to talk about, lots happening around the country around the globe, even outer space with the rover "curiosity" up on mars. we will give you a chance to sound off on the issues of the day by giving us a call at 8

since 6-55-press. how about this? president obama, the nation's number 1 boy scout says that the scouts are wrong to discriminate against gays but the boy scouts insist they are still not going to change their discriminatory policies. but the question is: should the honorary president of the boy scout's, president obama, resign from his position? of course, he should. we will talk about that. a whole lot more here but we get today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa. good morning. >> hi, bill. good morning. good morning everyone. remember yesterday when they said the campains were starting to get a little bit ridiculous? well, let's just keep that same theme going today. shall we? keep watching because we have some video that we want to show you here, but first off, let's talk about what happened in colorado yesterday. president obama is on a two-day swing through the state. remember back in 2008 when he showed up at mile-high stadium in denver and was cheered on

bytentions of thousands of people? well t sounds like rob portman tried to emulate that yesterday. he made a stop to distract from the president's visit. the romney tour bus rolled up to the same statement where he gave a rousing address to: 50 people, in the parking lot, which is not paved, but nice try. a for effort. president obama will continue campaigning in the state today with stops at the colorado state fairgrounds at publeo and colorado springs. romney made for quite an interesting campaign day yesterday. usually, your wedding day is supposed to be all about you. but that wasn't exactly the case for one new jersey couple. the two were posing for pictures outside when romney's motorcade rolled by and men began chasing them. see them through the car window there. to be fair, we are not sure if these were wedding guests or just other members of the jewish

orthodox center but it was not all bad for the couple. romney met with the bride and groom andposed with them for pictures. they say he doesn't have the jewish vote. we will be right back with bill. see you then. 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...

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taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

>> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> all right. how would you like to get paid $174 a year for doing absolutely nothing? and the less you do, according to the new republican creed, the better you are. >> that's the john boehner rule for congress giving us the least productive the worst congress in history, keeping track of how much congress gets done. you tell me about it. 866-55-press. bob in sant jose california. good morning. >> good morning. i can tell you i think they actually have two offices.

their second office, we should state privately, they are quite busy over there, dialling for dollars. >> they do have a second. you are right. on capitol hill. the republicans have a place and the democrats have a place and spend hours every day dialling for dollars. that's right. >> that's not working for us either. right? >> no. they are working for another paycheck. >> yeah. >> the paychecks, i think, are bigger than the ones they get from their direct employer. actually, maybe it's the other way around. >> the other thing, bob and i should have mentioned this maybe. they claim -- they claim that when they are not in washington they are back homeworking their butts off in their district office, holding town meetings and doing all kind of events. i don't believe that for a second. but just to put it up there, that's baloney. in fact, many are on what's

called their breaks to go on what they call codels or congressional delegations which are lux your would you say trips all around the world supposedly, fact-finding missions. yeah yeah. let's see where members of congress are going. >> studying the economy of aruba. >> exactly. do they get paid one dime during that whole trip? they go on military planes stay in the best hotels. they've got security. they have limos everywhere they go. uh-uh. don't believe it. william calling from amelia beach, california. good morning. >> good morning, bill. thank for taking my call. >> gradlad you are there. >> i watched you 30 years ago when you were on abc in los angeles? >> oh, my god. that was a long time ago. >> i have to tell you although i rarely agreed with you, i will still defend you're right to say

it no matter what? >> all right. >> last week, you really uncorked on michael moore who i have no use for but my feeling is, it took more courage for him to say he doesn't think barack's doing a good job. >> well, okay. first of all, we are talking about congress right now. but since you raced the question of michael moore, my point is this, and i am a liberal. and i haven't been totals satisfied with everything that barak obama has done but i am not satisfied with everything my wife does. all i am saying is the point i was making is: it's time for liberals like michael moore to get off of their ass and stop grousing and stop complaining and stop whining and realize that everything we believe in is at stake in this election year. we can't be half-assed and half-hearted in our support of barack obama. we have to work as hard in 2012 as we did in 2008 or we are going to get stuck with mitt romney. gosh. don't let that happen.

>> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] will have achieved their end of basically shutting down the government. they're anti-government which means i think we're anti-the 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?

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is.

i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> on your radio, on t.v., the bill press show, new on current tv. >> hey, here we go. it's 33 minutes after the hour. and welcome back to the full-court press coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours from our studio in capitol hill in washington, d.c., heard on your local progressive talk radio station, on sirius xm radio this hour early and all three hours on current tv. good to have you with us. last night n london a big, big night, of course for misti mae

treanor and kerri walsh, third gold medal in a row in women's beach volleyball. watching the scene for maybe, i think, christine brennan has been at as many olympics as i have been at national political conventions. >> way back. >> she had more fun than i had. u.s.a. today sports columnist, a good friend, on the line from london. >> hi, bill. how are you. >> good morning our time. >> good afternoon. yeah. it is afternoon here that is true. so good morning here what am i talking about? i think the game -- it's time to come home. i can't tell if it's -- it's 11:35 here it is officially morning in jolly old england. >> overall, from this perspective, looking at the olympics, i think mitt romney might have been wrong. i think the brits have pulled off a spectacular game. >> they certainly have. these are some of the best i have ever covered.

i have covered every one since la in '84, this is my 15th in a row, 8 summer games. it's terrific. what they have come bond is the best of many of the games that people remember and like. the wonderful party fun atmosphere of sydney in 2000. the beautiful scenes because london is london after after all, using these iconic places in history and anyone who has ever traveled here bill, the way barcelona did a little bit of and in athens, when the marathon started in marathon and using the ancient olympia. athens is the winner on that category. but loanedndon can be a close second there. beijing four years ago where you never saw any street scenes because they told people to go

home. you know, they unplugged the big t.v. screens and sent them home. they were afraid people gathering. it's complete opposite here. >> the shots of london and i know they have been knocked for it but i think nbc has done a good job with their coverage. i have watched a lot of it t i don't know what -- i don't know what the word is over there. >> yeah. well, i certainly heard a lot about it but i have not seen one second. you know, the ratings are really good. and they will make some money or not lose as much as they thought. they are paying so ex or bit atly for these games. >> of courseorbit atly for these games. >> of course. shame on nbc for showingnot showing this live. it is sports and a big part of our cultural history to. think this is the ozzie and harriet days when the whole

family gathering around watching from 8:00 to 11:00: they gave us tom brokaw and david brinkley to treat the big news event as though it should be tape to live. >> i have seen surveys that people's television habits have changed and having live during the day would not take away from the rebroadcast in the evening as well. >> i think so. i should say by the way that i work for abc world news and, also, pbs. i am saying that not because anyone cares but because i am a competitor of nbc. it's just a way of full disclosure, that said, i think so. i mean, it sounds like to me me -- i mean, i am tweeting and putting everything online and we are all blogging and doing all of this. it seems as if it's even hansing it. >> absolutely.

>> why not put it on. you know, put it on live show it on the different networks live and then come back with that beautifully packaged prime-time. >> sure. >> i bet you would have more eyeballs because you would have the afternoon and evening. >> you don't have to watch the whole event. you get the encapsulization. kathleen brennan, follow her on 20er at cbrennansports. what's the big excitement today? from our perspective, it looks like women's soccer. is that it in the? >> it definitely is. the brits would tell you there is more, you are, there are more medals to be won. >> in rowing. the bbc has been terrific. it's very british centric. i will say about nbc the network whether it's abc, cbs, has been criticized for being

too pro american and jingoistic. the bbc takes the gold medal there will hands down. china's t.v. took it four years ago. this is what everyone does. the brits are having a good time with it. no doubt this is happening here, too, women's soccer u.s./japan. this is a rematch from a year ago in the women's world cup in germany. i was covering that in europe here japan beat the u.s. and surprised them and the u.s. team has been thinking about this potential match for over 12 months. now they get their chance. >> wow. it's going to be very, very exciting. watching the women's beach volleyball, there is a lot of discussion here as to whether or not that even should be in the olympics. right? but misti and kerri, you have to give them credit. was it the third in a row, con something you've been that they won is this. >> yes, '04 and '08 and then '12

and now they are in their mid 30s. i think they achieved the impossible here at the olympic games, bill. and that is to make beach volleyball serious for the first time. and i am with you. this is my first time i had ever venture today beach volleyball. they started it in atlanta in '96. i had never gone. i wasn't protesting it. i was too busy with other things. i did think it was silly and we know why the ioc put it in the games, to get male eyeballs to the t.v. sets. >> i thought that was the case. it works. >> some of that makes the world go around. i am not here to complain about it. i am just saying let's just state the facts. right? >> why beach volleyball was brought into the games. what has happened hear this time is that these two fantastic athletes, veterans, both of them, injury -- kerri walsh has

had two sons between beijing. they split up and got back together for this final run and they won the gold and they are 21 and 0, never having lost a match in any olympics. they made it about sports. beach volleyball all of the sudden became about real honest good sports and athletes and bravo to them. >> that's what i wrote about today in today's u.s.a. today. >> if you can find that, of course, at usatoday.com and follow christine at cbrennansports. you mentioned this almost nationalistic aspect of the olympics and i have some friends yesterday, we got together and they said, we are ahead of china now in the medal count. so it's -- we did pull ahead of u.s.a., china, and russia. the brits got up to third plates. didn't they? >> yeah. they got up though they didn't have any gold medals at all.

there was a lot of whining and all of the sudden boom, they had a great week with women women starting out signature maybe the medal count is the most overrated thing in sports. >> that's ridiculous when you said, we are ahead. you know, i love my country. i love the u.s.a. i am so proud to be a u.s. citizen. i am sure you are as well and all of your listeners. the fact that the u.s. will win you know, either the first, you know, the most gold medals or the second most. >> that's great of the athletes. but does it change my view of my country? i don't think so. i don't think it changed the view of any of your listeners, that said, this is one thing i am not going to win on. >> okay the. >> people look at it and i look at it, too. might as well start adding them

up. people are in to, you know charts and graphs and statistics. the u.s. and china, i think we will see this kind of jockeying back and forth for medals, gold and total medals really now for the next decade or two. i don't see another country that's going to -- russia will have the winter games in '14. they are going to try to come back big time from a disappointing performance in vancouver. otherwise, we are talking u.s. and china and we have a new big red machine instead of the soviet union, it's china. >> i would rather fight with china over olympic medals than other issues. right? >> great point. >> crist seen brennan, thank you so much for joining us this morning. great to talk to you again. thanks for your great work as always. you can follow christine at cbrennansports. talk to you again, christine. >> thank you, bill, very. >> she is the greatest. i just love her. best sports writer out there,

period. back to your calls about this do-nothing congress. what can we do about it? throw the bums out. >> that's what. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

passpasses [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> radio meets television the bill press show, now on current tv. >> david shuster is joining us as a friend of bill in the next hour. we will be joined by senator sherrod brown from ohio. we are excited about that. good to talk to him again. good to talk to senator brown again and good to talk to you. your calls on this do-nothing

depression at 866-55-press. we will get back in a second but first this story caught my eye. a prominent texas cancer center down in houston has notified patients that a physician's unencrypted laptop containing personal information was stolen. that personal information on 30,000 patients now out there including their names, their medical record numbers and their social security numbers, uh-oh. you hear something like that and you realize identity theft is something i've got to be protected against. i am with lifelock ultimate. you ought to be too. lifelock monitors bank accounts as well as all other information. they can't protect you on your bank account if you are not a mer. call now and mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days of life lock ultimate identity theft production. if you are not happy, give them

a call within 60 days and they will give you a full refund. check them out and give them a call at 1800-3565967 for life lock ultimate protection. 356-5967. do do-nothing congress, this, the most do-nothing congress ever under john boehner and eric cantor. ike in south carolina what do you say? >> billy boy, i thought you would be down here for the golf tournament, setting up sanctuaries. i wish. peter ogburn is down there somewhere in charleston but i didn't make it this time. >> for the dot-nothing fillcongress, the filibuster, you have to stand up and talk. if you want to do nothing, you get your, you know you get your pay indexed to the amount of work you are doing. >> don't you think? yeah. >> to the point that they got to take a cut. and by the way --

>> to the point. i would say to the point that they owe us money. right? >> hey buddy, i have got news for you. in this part of the world you would be fired so fast you would make your head spin. whichever party wants to push for whatever they want to push for, such as the republicans want to repeal health care. let them pass it through and whichever majority party for votes on that topic, start with republicans and cut them first and see how they like it. >> you know what i mentioned this congress hasn't done anything. they did vote to repeal obamacare. not only once. not only twice. they voted 33 times. to me, that says everything you need to know about this boehner congress. they got nothing done on climate change, nothing done on tax reform. nothing done on campaign reform nothing done on immigration reform.

you know, all of these issues that they left on the table, but 33 times, they marched up to vote to repeal obamacare. absolutely ridiculous. i appreciate the call. always good to hear from you. on another front president obama out in colorado yesterday, colorado, very very important swing state and the president talking in colorado of course, about the horrific shooting at the batman screening in aurora colorado, two or three weekends ago. the president talked about guns. >> this is going to have to stop. as one american family, we are going to have to come together and look at all of the approaches that we can take to try to bring an end to it. >> it's good to hear the president say that. i must say action however, i just wish he would be tougher, more specific and talk about some action. we have been talking about gun

violence for a long, long time. we have seen too many, too many shoot shootings, too many people killed bi -- with guns too many crazy people who have no right to own a gun being able to buy as many guns as they want and as much ammunition as they want and go out and kill a lot of innocent people. we know what has to be done. we know we have to renew the assault weapons ban and you can go down the lists. mr. president, i would say we don't need a national dialogue. we need some national, and he ought to take the lead. the president also talked about the signature achievement of his first term, which is obamacare, and he said the most important thing it does is puts you -- you in the driver's seat and nobody else. >> i don't think your boss should control the health care that you get. i don't think insurance companies should control the

care that you get. i don't think politicians should control the care that you get. i think there is one person to make these decisions on health care, and that is you. you should make that decision. >> yeah, and the president said, they call it the affordable care act. a lot of people call it obamacare. he made this point before. he doesn't mind if they call it obamacare because he is obama and he accident care. >> the affordable care act also known as "obamacare." i actually like the name because i do care. >> the president said we will tell you his schedule later today. sticking around colorado for a couple of more campaign events heading back here to the white house. it's "the full court press" on this beautiful thursday, august 9th. we will be right back. >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the

bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now.

♪ this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. . >> all right. always good to hear from you on facebook, on twitter and by e-mail on whether olympic athletes ought to pay taxes on their prize money. ralph burns says, i agree with you. i don't see why olympic agent let's should get a pass on

paying taxes. it's earned income but i believe an enlisted man's pay should be be exempt from taxes. but just enlisted men screw the officers. >> mike says i like your idea on obamacare. he suggested bumper sticker that says: damn right, obama cares. i like that. yeah. >> why not. >> on harry reid mr. kincaid says there is not one democratic party member that i respect, but at least harry reid is doing something. however, poppy says, bill you are as clueless as harry reid. liberalism is a mental disorder. left wing liberal progressives is what is ruining this once-great country. you are right, man. we are in charge, and you better watch out. become a liberal or get the hell out of here. >> this is the bill press show.

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>> give us a call at 866-55-press. the speculation is getting crazy about who mitt romney is going

to choose as his vice presidential running mate. insiders say it's boiled down to three boring white men: rob portman and tim pawlenty and paul ryan. come on mitt. jazz it up. we need somebody with some sex appeal. diversity. pick michelle bachmann or herman cain. make it interesting. all right. we will get into that and a lot more with david schustirin the next shower. first, the latest, todd's current news update from our own lisa ferguson in los angeles. hi, lisa good morning. >> hi bill. good morning everyone. we are seeing especially negative campaign this season. in the polls, voters have said political ads are out of control. senator lieberman rived on whatffed on what what he calls negativity. the most recent pad shows joe

salkas who works for the steel plant in kansas city that bain shut down in 2001. >> i don't think mitt romney understands what he has done to people's lives by closing the plant. i don't think he realizes that people's lives completely changed. >> that ad reveals he lost his health care when bain closed the plant. his wife became sick and by the time they found the cancer there was unfortunately nothing they could do. republicans are saying that's a bold claim that romney is responsible for the death of soptic's wife. remember romney saying he left bain in 99, two years before the company closed gst steel but soptic is saying he does not blame romney and priorities priorities u.s.a. said it's not meant to point fingers but to spark conversation over romney's long-term impact on middle class americans and it's been wildly

success. david shuster after the break and always online at current.com/billpress. 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? >>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...

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> president obama says, i don't care if you call it "obamacare" because i am obama and i do care. hello, everybody. it's thursday, august 9th. great to see you today. this is the full court press, coming to you live on your progressive talk radio station and on current tv. i am speaking of current tv. current tv's political guru -- >> maestro, wizard crazyman.

>> you name it. david shuster in studio with us here as a friend of bill. david good to see you? >> friend of bill is my favorite title. >> it's been too long. welcome back. usually when you are here, you are sitting in this chair. takes me weeks to dig ourselves out of the trouble david shuster gets us into. anyhow, so much fun to see you today, too. thank you for joining us. of course, we will take your calls at 866-55-press. we always save a seat at the table for you and give you a chance to talk about the issues that are happening here in our nation's capitol, around the country, around the globe. outer space, on mars. i don't know. wherever it is, we have it covered and you will want to talk about it. 866-55-7377. and david, the team is like sort of here, sort of not here. peter ogburn is down in south carolina. >> exercising? a triathlon? >> parents move? >> lifting boxes.

>> that's good. >> one way of getting a hernia. ouch. yeah. >> those must hurt. >> i just went through that operation. >> that's why you were here the last tight. dan henning has taken over -- capital i hope of the 747. good morning, dan. >> good morning. >> with the help of stevie lee webb? >> irrepressible stevie lee webb. >> is it okay to bicycle naked in the u.k.? >> that's one of the reasons they threw me out. one of the reasons. i am not going to reveal the rest. >> cyprian bowlding videographer. the who team. >> everything is great. >> you will appreciate this as a t.v. anchor and a radio talk show host: the olympics great coverage. >> nbc, i am one of the freak issue people who doesn't like to watch during the day so i like

to be surprised at night. >> okay. ? >> even if i know through twitter and social media who the winners are, i like to see at a time for the first time in the evenings. >> we discussed that with christine brannan from london who thinks they ought to cover it live in the day and have the special show at night, which is not a bad deal but this does take up a lot of time. >> yeah. >> it does take a little bit of time away from the local news. and if you are down in jacksonville, florida, and your local newscaster a sports caster named dan hickan you are not happy about that. >> he did it to us again. he did it again. he does it every four years. bob doesn't know that 12:00 o'clock means 12:00 o'clock. it doesn't mean 12:02. it doesn't mean 12:04. it certainly doesn't mean 12:07. bob, when it's 12:00 o'clock, you say good night. you don't care because you are sleeping right now. and in the morning, you will wake up with your strawberries

and cream at 5 star. we are on the east coast working hard for you. we are nbc family, bob. 12:07 does not work for us. >> don't you think this guy is a little bit -- >> there is an update to the story. >> filled with self importance? >> i understand mr. dan hickeyan has been reassigned to odessa texas. >> yeah. i mean we all know who bob costas is. does anybody know who dan hickan is? >> he was probably being funny but the world of nbc, it's not a wise idea. >> i think it's pretty clear he was doing it in jest. i think he was having a little fun because it was an hour late. he was doing 11:00 o'clock news at 12:00. : do you have to push it. >> i think it's a horse's ass. >> we don't talk about rafalka

because it's long gone. >> 30th place, $97,000 in tax credits t 30th place. >> you were saying something about france? >> the big question is we don't know. we haven't heard about rafalka since the dressage bust. they are not going to pay $30,000 or whatever it is to fly that horseback to the united states. um uh-uh. i am telling you glue factory in france. that horse is on a barge across the english channel. >> the french are calling up online. >> when i come on your show i get in more trouble. >> senator sherrod brown is going to join david and me in a little while here, in the next hour, tom buffenbarger, head of the machinists' union and brad

woodhouse, communications director for the democratic national committee. what a line-up. >> all-stars. >> back with david shuster, but first: >> this is the full court press. >> on this thursday, other headlines making news senator make eudall is spending part of his recess mountain climbing. he has been working on climbing the 100 highest mountains in his home seat. he has done 93. he tells the hill has climbed four or five with his wife and daughter and hopes to have all 100 done by the end of the year. he is an experienced climber the senator has climbed mount everest before. >> he has done 95? >> 93 of the 100. >> he has inspired me david. i am a californiian because i spent most of my life there. but i grew up in delaware. so i am going to climb the highest mountains 9 del aware. >> i thought you were going to

climb. >> am thousand feet high. maybe 50 feet high. >> sand dune down on the beach, that's what you are going to climb. >> ashton cutcher, the two and a half men brings in an estimated $700,000 per episode. ncis star mark harmon earned $500,000 an episode. david letter man is the top earner $28 million a year jay leno, 25 million. john jon stewart $16 million. >> i wonder how much ashton gets for each extra-marital affair. >> getting up to the current tv level. >> a huge day for the u.s. olympic track and field team yesterday. they took in seven medals yesterday alone. felix, kerri's got gold medals

and picked up two silver and two bronze, a day after they won 3 silvers on tuesday. overall, the us has more medals than any other country. 81 total to china's 77 to russia's 52. china does have two more golds than us, 36 to 34. >> overall we are beating the chinese. >> overall. and that's what the olympics are all about? aren't they? chinese and the russians and they don't have any. >> they keep them all. >> bringing up the french chinese, animal lovers. >> david shuster by the way, the word on the street is that you have some big news in your personal life. hum? congratulations? >> i gotten engaged a couple of weekends ago to a wonderful,

wonderful person. she is great. the most amazing person i have ever met in my life. >> oh, my god. great. good for you. wedding date yet? >> we do. we have one. >> okay. ? >> i am afraid of all of the lunatics out there going to crash the wedding. >> all right. here is the thing. is chris matthews going to sing? >> do we have that clip from last time around? >> dan couldn't find it. >> i would have to dig that up from the archives. >> i think that's when my ex realized this wasn't going to work with me when i invited chris matthews to sing. >> well, congratulations. >> that's great. now, it's not quite as exciting but we are expecting news any day now that mitt romney has picked his running mate. you picked your mate. >> yeah. >> romney picking his running mate and the word is that it's down to three. three boring white men.

rob portman or paul ryan or tim pawlenty. can't he do better than that or do you agree? >> i would be thrilled. mentioned yesterday with stephanie. i would be thrilled if it's paul ryan, every time democrats are able to run against somebody who wants to slash medicare in these tough congressional districts, democrats are winning. if republicans want to put paul ryan, great. go for it. it will be not about the economy but about medicare and whether americans want their medicare to be gutted or not. i think. >> >>. >> whether they wanted to get rid of medicaid and give the states some money to say you decide what you are going to do about poor people. paul ryan's original budget privatized social security. so do you want to put all 3 on the block? paul ryan is your guy. >> paul ryan is your guy.

the fact like with social security, the fact of the matter is, we were talking the other day about social security is solvent through 2036 and at that point, it will still be paying 78% of all benefits. if you want to solve that right now, it's $110,000 somebody making $3 million like you bill, you only have to pay social security up to $110,000. raise that to $120,000 and social security has no problem. >> no. easy to fix. easy to fix. paul ryan, you are, he is the third rail, it seems to me. i can't believe -- and there is a new yorker profile this week p a profile of paul ryan. this guy is a true believer. and republicans are following him right off of the cliff. >> that would be a kamikaze. >> don't you think we need

diversity? >> ron portman is supposed to represent fiscal responsibility now bush's budget director. >> that worked out. didn't it. yeah. >> medicare, part d, all of these things that exploded the deficit, that's rob portman's record. put rob portman on the ticket. >> i am for diversity. i want a woman. i want michelle bachmann or i want an african-american. i want herman cain. >> herman. >> can you believe it? >> michelle bachmann that would -- >> if you are going to take a white male why not donald trump? >> wow. yeah. donald trump would be fun to cover, too. david korn floated idea a couple of weeks ago and i think it was actually the best advise. i don't know if mitt romney is following it but i think john mccain would probably be the smartest move. >> why? >> i think there are still a lot of voters -- not a lot. but i think there are some voters out there who have some

buyers' remorse, maybe independent mod rats who pulled the lever for obama but like john mccain and this is like a do-over in effect. i think romney would be able to get some sent rifts and mod rats. >> do-overs seldom work in politics. don't you think john mccain has become an old grouch? >> i kind of like that about john mccain. he is a blunt-speaking guy. i disagree with a lot of policy stuff the i think he would pol bolster mitt romney's foreign policy cred inen initials. i think it could help. the problem is mccain and romney hate each other's guts. >> that one little problem. people have overcome that before, you know john fkind and lbj. as a democrat, as a liberal, as a progressive, whom do we want? i think you mentioned paul ryan. >> i like bobby jindall because

i think the republican party continue tolerate somebody who is not white scanned and they look at bobby jindall and say is he a foreigner? and bobby jindall believes in exorcism and some of the stuff so there would be a sufficient amount of crazy stuff for us to talk about and i think the republican base would be infuriated. >> think about the religious right. they would be faced with a ticket headed by a mormon and with a person of color as vice president. that would be maybe too much you know. >> it would implode. >> they put up their own ticket, i guess, right. >> i have to say publically, i think if president obama were to ever drop joe biden stephanie cutter ought to be his running mate mate. she has done an amazing job speaking on behalf of the president. i was blown away by an interview she did yesterday k she would be great. >> david shuster in studio, we are talking about whatever you

want to talk about. mitt romney's running mate. who would you like to see? 866 -- let's start there. 866-55-press. >> this is "the bill press show." i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. [ charles ] when you can make a person smile when they taste the food that you cooked, >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. [ charles ] when you can make a person smile when they taste the food that you cooked, it does something to your heart.

i think what people like most about the grilled food is the taste. the flavor comes from that oak wood. the shrimp, the fresh fish the steaks. it locks in the flavor it seals in the juices so that when you put the fork in it, it just goes through it like butter. it's beautiful. [ laughs ] i'm proud to be a grill master. i love food. my name is charles himple. i'm a red lobster grill master and i sea food differently.

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the troops love me. >>only on current tv. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> ohio senator sherrod brown here on the full-court press in the next segment thursday august 9th, current tv's david shuster, my good buddy here in studio with us this hour. david, we have been talking about the possible choices for

mitt, as his vice presidential running mate. an interesting kind of parallel effort to decide who gets a speaking slot at the convention. >> yeah. >> who doesn't. now, so far, rick santorum is going to speak. right? >> yes. >> but newt gingrich is not. ron paul is not. sarah palin is not. michelle bachmann is not. herman cain is not. what are they doing? hiding the clowns? >> maybe they are keeping sarah palin because she is going to get the vice presidential slot. >> could we be so lucky? >> you are going to identify the one who would i would say insulting is newt gingrich mentioned he is going to speak at newt gingrich university during the day. nothing happens during the day. people are sleeping off the parties the night before. >> rick perry is not speaking either, by the way. did you but ted cruz is the tea

partyer who won the republican primary in texas. the biggest political buzz of the last week and a half has been harry reid. somebody said maybe -- harry reid over the line? >> harry reid won't give up his source but at the same point, mitt romney is not giving up his tax returns. i think this is a pretty good chance there was at least one year where mitt romney didn't pay any taxes. >> i agree with that. >> i think it's like 2008. a lot of wealthy people lost a lot of money and were able to write it off and pay zero %. i have a feeling 2009 tax returns would show he paid zero. that would be a death knell. >> the other thing that would kill his campaign would be the irs a couple of years ago gave amnesty to people who had swiss bank accounts.

the irs says come clean, acknowledge you have this and weren't pay taxes on it and we will give you amnesty for whatever laws you might have broken in the united states but you are required to fill out a form if you have a swiss bank account. that form was missing from mitt romney's 2010 returns. >> which means the one year is incomplete. >> incompletely. i think if he put the form in there we would know he got amnesty for a swiss bank account. i don't think you can be elected if you are receiving amnesty or are alleged to commit a crime. i don't think that happens. probably wise to keep it buried. it's just bad for the political process. >> it is indeed. i think it's wise for harry reid to keep the pressure on. i love harry reid. we criticize him because he is not a tough enough strong enough leader. this guy is driving mitt romney crazy. >> if harry reid is wrong, release the return. >> we will be back with sherrod

brown. >> this is bill press show. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] 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 ♪ ] >> this is "the bill press show," now on current tv. >> 33 minutes after the hour on the full-court press. coming to you live across this great land of ours. from our studio in washington, d.c., where david shuster, current tv's david shuster joins us in studio. david, good to have you here. >> good to be here. >> you know, it is a rare day is not in the oval office and he is not in ohio.

he went there instead of ohio. he has been spending time with our good friend joining us by phone. sherrod brown, good morning. >> that was a good opening. i like that. >> how did you let him get out of ohio? >> yeah, he has spent a lot of time in ohio. he is going to win in ohio, i would add. >> good for you. i am glad to hear that. polls looking good in that critical state. >> we lost in this country between 2000 and 2010, we lost 5 million manufacturing jobs. a third, we lost in a ten-year period since 2010, we gained almost 500,000 manufacturing jobs. not enough but in part because of the auto rescue.

unemployment from the 10 and a half to 7 and a half. we have seen in the steel mill in youngstown new steel jobs new paper jobs, new tire jobs. it is affecting manufacturing overall. on all of those issues mitt romney was on the other side. i think the contrast is going to be increasingly clear as november comes around. you have raised warnings about our efforts to bring manufacturing back. right? >> i don't see eye to eye with everything the president does on trade by a longshot. i think he has been more aggressive than any president since reagan in enforcing trade law but they are pushing something for that doesn't have a lot of opposition and something we are going to move

forward on. but we need to learn the lessons from a decade ago with china where china was admitted in the world trade organization. we approved it. we put very few rules on what china's entry should be and the rules we put on, we had no real enforcement mechanism. >> that's a lesson we should learn because china hasn't followed the rule of law in so, so many cases. russia is not china but the lesson of china is we need reporting requirements of what china's -- what russia is doing in terms of following the rule of law. we also need enforcement requirements on russia. >> that's what i am holding for on this tntr vote which is more about scheduling. it will happen after the election. sometime in the fall orb early next winter and it's an

opportunity to dot it right. i want more trade. i want more of it. i want it under fairer terms where the u.s. and in some ways it will be some college textbook that's 20 years out of print. it's important that we do this. it's important that we -- it's not a difficult.

>> senator, you mentioned china. what should the obama

>> senate, i remember four years ago, being in columbus this the weekend before the election election, three days, the republicans in ohio changed that. this time around the obama administration challenges that

saying saying, youif you are a veteran you had you should be allowed to vote early many years ago, these early voting laws were written by republicans in the majority with columbus with democratic support and this is the first time in even bill press's lifetime, as long as that is that we have seen voter laws we have seen voter rights restricted. it's always been, you know, since really world war two, the efforts have been to expand voter rights and now all over the country, whether it's voter ids or the early voting or thing like you are talking about voter rights have been restricted, it's outrageous. i was secretary of state in the '80s. we did things, expand voting rights. it worked. it wasn't fraud. we saw more people coming in. i hope the administration wins this court case. in the series of court cases because it's just campaign or

the administration, depending upon who is doing which because it's outrageous. i have seen those lines form. the more of the people who vote early, frankly you can detect fraud earlier than on election date. it's cheaper and easier and people don't stand in line so much. i remember the lines in 2004 at overland college not far from where i live. i saw that. people were waiting in line for six hours and some other places, waiting in line nine hours. students can do that but working families can't. >> right. >> it's outrageous. it's total contempt for the voting system. the same time they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in attack ads, so they are going at it. >> yeah. it's 60 plus or concerned women of america who decidedly aren't

and a bunch of other groups that don't really report where their money comes from. >> on that note, senator, because this is a very very important race and you are one of the strongest voices for the causes that we believe in, in the united states senate. how can people get -- we told them about your senate site brown.senate.gov. how can people help? >> they can sign up at sherrodbrown.com and sign a petition or help in any way they want, sherrodbrown.com. we have over a million people who have signed on and helped with theun citizen united positions and fighting back on rural post office issues but sherrodbrown.com would be helpful. >> senator brown you can take solace in the fact that i think you percentage have created more jobs in the television business because of all of the money you are drawing to the t.v. stations. they are making a fortunate because of you.

>> it's amazing. >> number 2 in the country with television ads in campaigns in terms of dollars, los angeles is first to market, eight times the size. cleveland. >> cleveland. >> the country now and the second-most dollars spent in columbus is like eight or something. it's insane. >> you better get back to work, i think, it sounds like it. senator, thank you so much. good to have you on the program. we will see you back in the studio, soon. senator shareerrod brown. people of ohio don't know how lucky they are. sherrodbrown.com. one of the most important races in the country. be part of it. >> this is "the bill press show." those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

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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 ♪ ]

>> herds around the country and seen on current tv. this is bill press show. >> eleven minutes to go before the top of the hour. david shuster, current tv, and, also this ishas his own radio show on we act radio. how do people find it? >> in washington, it's your affiliate, pwc 14:80 a.m. and syndicated on weekends in columbus, wpct in chicago, in boston, ron and kate and we are growing. also, i do noon every day for about half an hour with charles schwold on we act radio. you can find it online or on terrestrial radio. a man of many hats.

all of them empty. >> a lot on ire plate. thanks for coming in again, you know the toll-free number 866-55-press. president obama out in colorado yesterday, not far from -- certainly in the same state as aurora. i am not sure how close he was to it. so he did address the issue of violence kind of. here is what the president had to say. >> this is going to have to stop. as an american family, as one american family, we are going to have to come together and look at all of the approaches that we can take to try to bring an ends to it. >> david, we have talked about this with jay carney down at the whitehouse several days in a row, both after aurora colorado and after the sikh shooting in acoreic, wisconsin over the weekend. what the white house is saying the president is saying we need a conversation. we have to talk about all of the

different ways all of the different things we can do to reduce violence in this country but he never gets around to saying, here is what we need to do about gun control. >> there are some things the add miles per hourstration can do through executive orders. the president could strengthen and increase the regulation and the background checks that people at work at gun shops and change a little bit of the definition of certain number of automatic weapons that can be brought into this country. it used to be that for sporting purposes you could bring them in. you could change the definition of sporting purposes by executive order. i think the frustration i have with president obama is not just that he is not encouraging congress to do anything excepted talk about it but not taking some of the little steps that i think he could to try to tighten gun control. it's a shame. >> we know how powerful the nra is but you can take them on and win. they opposed president obama in 2008, said he was going to take everybody's guns away which was nonsense. he beat them.

now, they are opposing him saying, in the second term he is going to take everybody's guns away, which is still nonsense. >> most nra members support, for example, closing the gun show loophole, that people should not be able to go to gun shows and have a background to find out if you are insane or have a criminal record. >> that's logical. most nra want that gun show loop hole closed. why not do it. >> even scalia said there are some limits on the second amendment, it's not unlimited license to buy any gun that you want. but, you know, in terms of legislation the white house says the votes aren't there in congress. that may be so. but why not at least fight the good fight? the votes were not there to extend the student loan lower rate. right? but the president said i want this and he put the pressure on congress and he talked about it. guess what: the votes weren't there for health care but the president fought for it appeared

go it. it's a matter of what your priorities are. this is not a prior to for him or for mitt romney? right? >> it's too bad. i think this is one issue where they could come together and use the bully pulpit of the presidency and the platform mitt romney has and say look. here is something we agree on. we agree gun violence is out of hand in this country and we need to come up with ways to solve it. here are some basic ways that we agree or that what congress can do and they won't face political problems because they have 70% of the nra that supports doing this and doing that. it's frustrating that the white house, if they support this issue, use the bully pulpit. introduce ledge southlakes. if congress doesn't get it through but take a more proactive approach. >> fight the good fight. i love fighting the good fight with you every time you come in, david shuster. >> how much trouble did we get in? >> heyamen. we will find out from the horse lovers when we look at the e-mails. i will be back and tell you what the president is up to today. you can find david this weekend if you are lucky on we act

radio, chicago, washington oklahoma, boston. there you go. he is all over the plates. we will be right back. >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show, new on current tv. oh, i didn't mean like president obama came right out and corrected himself to make sure people understood exactly what he meant, that the private sector relative to the public dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> all right. in the next hour brad woodhouse, communications director, dynamite communications director for the dnc will be with us as well as tom buffenbarger of the machinist union both in the next hour. president obama last night spending the night in publeo, colorado. this morning, he will deliver

remarks atacam pain event at the colorado state fairgrounds out in publeo colorado. then he leaves and flies over to colorado springs where he will again have a campaign event this afternoon at about 2:25. leaves colorado springs at 4:25 back here to washington, d.c. schedule did to arrive back at andrews air force base at 9 dole 30 and back at the whitehouse in that 15-minute helicopter hop arriving at 9:45 p.m. now scheduled. no briefing at the whitehouse today. press secretary jay carney will gaggle with reporters on air force one. so the dnc on taking the lead in the obama campaign. brad woodhouse will tell us all about it at the top of the next hour here on the full-court press. hang around. >> this is "the bill press show."

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> good morning, everybody. good to see you today. it is thursday august 9th. this is the full court press coming to you live on currents t.v. across this great land of ours, to bring you the big stories of the day, of course taking your calls at 866-55-press. and big news today, the nation's number 1 boy scout. i am talking about president obama. he says the scouts are wrong to discriminate against gays. first time he has spoken out on this issue. but the boy scouts insisted yesterday they are going to

stick with their policy of discrimination. so the question: should the hornary president of the boy scouts, president obama, resign his position? of course he should. no doubt about it. we will talk about that and a whole lot more on this first hour of the full-court press today, but first, let's take a couple of minutes out to get the current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa. good morning. >> hi, bill. good morning. good morning everyone. more news on the republican national convention this morning. and sadly for newt gingrich he will not be getting his own speaking slot. the "new york times" is reporting he will instead lead a series of workshops called "newt university ". we have been telling you about the increasing negativity in the campaign, the latest romney add such # is no different blaming president obama for starting a war on reledgeon. >> president obama used his

health care plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith. mitt romney believes that is wrong. >> that's, of course, referring to the fact that the affordable care act requires contraception coverage even for religious institutions. it's also an interesting choice of ad for romney considering the importance women voters will have on this year's election. this ad will likely not bode well for the chances he will have there. president obama, for his part, is ramping up his campaign with women voters. he is in colorado today where he has been touting his health care reform and that increased access to contraception. a big leadership shake-up is coming from the susan gkomen foundation. >> that's the country's largest breast cancer foundation. president liz thompson and nancy brinker will both be step down. this comes after the fallout from komen's position to stop funding planned painthood's

breast cancer screenings. we are life. current.com/billpress. >> we talk a lot about the influence of money in politics. it is the defining issue of this era. the candidate with the most money does win. this is a national crisis.

oil oil [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press president obama says, "i am honorary president of the boy scouts but i disagree with their policy about discriminating against gays. boy scouts say, hey, we are not going to change. there you go. at least the president has spoken out. good morning, everybody. it's the full court press here on current tv and your local progressive talk radio station. on a thursday, thursday august 9th, good to have you with us today. thank you for being part of the program as we bring you up to date on all of the news of the day, particularly the political

news from our nation's capitol around the country around the globe. hell, we have mars covered. we have the curiosity up. we check on it every once in a while. look who is in studio with us? he has done a great job for the democratic communications. even busy? >> thanks for having me. >> it is august? >> it is only august but we are 88 days, 88 days away. it's unbelievable. i mean it will be here. we will be voting. i mean even early voting if you canman, at the conventions or three and four weeks away. >> you will be early voting everywhere except in ohio where they don't want you to vote. >> there are some other states where they have cut down on the early voting. >> that's right. >> one of the most unreported stories of this season. >> that's true. >> about the voter suppression on the part of republican governors state after state after state. >> but we are organizing to get

ready for that. we are educating people. we are not going to let that stop us. we will win this election despite their efforts to stop some voters. >> president obama, i will tell you one thing, he is not taking anything for granted much he is working his but tee-off yesterday. he really is. i am amazed at the guy's energy and he loves getting out of the white house, particularly the swing states. it wasn't ohio or virginia yesterday. it was colorado. >> that's right. >> yesterday. and again today, and the president at every stop now talking about his signature achievement, which is universal health care. we talked about it for a long time. >> right. >> he delivered on it and talked about it yesterday. >> i don't think your boss should get to control the health care that you get. i don't think insurance companies should control the care that you get. i don't think politicians should control the care that you get. i think there is one person to

make these decisions on health care, and that is you. you should made that decision. >> that's a critical point which, by the way, romney called obama care and he is obama and he cares. he says you are in charge. >> that's the point he was making in colorado. colorado is also -- we were really talking to women yesterday. i mean this is a really important issue. i mean mitt romney has another ad up today completely full of lies, like most of the ads he runs. this one is saying that, you know, the president has a war on religion over this issue of contraception which is a complete falsehood to begin with, but it tells you about mitt romney's approach. mitt romney wants the health care of women dictated to by insurance companies and by their employers. if their employer's insurance companies say you can't have access to contraception, he is absolutely fine with that. >> that's not what women in america want.

they want control over their own health care. mitt romney would take it away. >> by the way, i thought it was a great move to have sandra fluc intrusthe president. she has been here in the studio sitting in the chair where you are. she is a tough, tough and very -- n. >> she is fabulous. >> tough and committed and i mean this is, you know this is a woman who, look took on rush limbaugh or actually rush limbaugh took on her. and he lost. >> uh-huh. >> you can't play that very often for, you know for rush limbaugh. she is tough. she represents the women in this country who, you know, want to have access and freedom over their own bodies and their own health care and mitt romney, you know, has a 1950s attitude as it relates to women, particularly women's health. >> "we will decide what's good for you"? >> that's exactly his opinion. >> a lot to cover with tom woodhouse and tom buffenbarger

president of the machinists' union. a lot going on here. your calls welcome at 866-55-press. talk to politics of the day with brad but first, dan has the latest headlines. >> other news making headlines on this thursday congratulations to michigan congressman sandra levin, she secretly got married last month. the detroit free press reporting last week, the house ways and means ranking member 80 years old married pamela cole. he met her through his late wife who passed away four years ago. they got married in a small private ceremony and had a large party more recently ol martha's vineyard. >> good for congressman levin. >> love that man. he has done so much to protect social security, to protect medicare. >> his brother carl levin? >> good friend. >> he was at the wedding as well? >> i would hope so.

another night, the hill reporting the secretary of state showing off her fun side showing she is doing a lot more. in the south africa, first on the dance floor and started shaking her hips when a jazz singer belted out tunes. >> she was having a good time. she is a fun person. >> she is a fun person. she has done a fabulous job. and, you know, in this work, bill, sometimes you have to put your hair down. >> let loose. >> or you will go crazy. >> nascar fans will no longer see any cars made by dodge on the racetrack. chrysler announcing this week they are pulling out of car racing on both the sprint and nationwide circuits. it has been speculated this day would come as they have been unable to lock in a winning team after penske racing said it was switching to ford-built cars next season. having cars on race tracks helps sell cars. "the wall street journal" says it's too expensive for dodge to

be racing right now. >> they haven't had any winners. dan, we thank you. >> can i add a headline? >> yes. >> the nationals have the best record in major league baseball and have won three in a row down in houston. houston is a too many they should be beating anyway. but this is a great test. right? winning close games, a great test for what we hope is a play-off team. >> but there is a nationals -- we talked about this a little bit earlier. there is a nationals fever here, but, you know, cyprian, who worksthe games when they are in town and dan and peter, they are afraid we will jinks it if we talk about it . >> i am not over lee afraid. >> but people are now saying -- and dan, you were saying the nets have this deal. >> yeah you by tickets now sclfrnlths. >> season tickets for next year, you get first up for post-season this year.

>> look at the selling points. >> it is pretty incredible that we would be at that point. there is some 25 games, i think above 500. there would have to be a helping of heck after collapse but maybe we should stop talking about it. >> the nets are way out in front. here is a segway. why isn't president obama way out in front? friends of mine keep asking me this. he is so good. romney is so bad. why are the polls so close? >> first of all, let's take a look at the polls where they counted, in the battle grouped states. romney has made very little move in the battleground statesnd states. romney has made very little move in the battleground states. the president is ahead in virtually every battleground state. he is about tied in north carolina. but then the real clear politics average, he is ahead in every state that is battle ground. >> ahead except not in colorado.

>> with all due respect, we are not going to say every poll had a has romney is bad and the president is the good n colorado had 38% seniors only 15% turned out in the '08 election. it had 9% latinos, 10% turned out in the election. there were problems with that. >> ohio florida, virg he is up? >> that's right. >> all of these races are relatively close. we know the race is going to be close. mitt mitt romney has out raised us for the past three months. he and his super p.a.c.s have out spent us for the entirety of this election, since he has been the presumptive nominee and he hasn't moved the needle. his favorability needle has learned. the more they learn about mitt roamney, the less they like him. the more they learn about his policies and private sector career where he was laying people off and destroying their lives and as they learned about what he would do, you know what he would do as president and what he did in massachusetts.

his favorability. and i thought this was interesting, you know, an interesting piece out of the part post poll which showed him upside down on favor ability and the president right side up. and that's not a bad place to be. it's a get place for the president to be 88 days down. >> mentioned his record at bain capital capital. >> sure. >> the priorities priorities u.s.a., which is a super p.a.c. supporting president obama out with a new ad which features a steel worker whose company was shut down by bain capital. he talks about the fact he lost his job, lost his health care. >> right. >> his wife later was diagnosed with cancer. they are without health care and she dies of cancer. republicans are now saying oh, my god president obama is accusing mitt romney of killing his wife. yesterday, andrea sol is the spokesperson fo-obama. she was on fox news for romney.

>> right. >> clear about that. she was on fox news yesterday of all places. right? and here is what she has to say about that. >> president obama we want to washington saying he would change the culture there and the dirty politics have just gotten worse. he has no rational for reelection. he has no positive record to run on. so instead, he is launching personal character attacks at governor romney and, frankly, blaming him for things in a disgusting way. dirty politics? >> give me a break. this guy has an ad up right now hitting us on what he says we are taking away the work requirement and welfare that will newt gingrich this morning said there is absolutely no proof of. it is a blatant falsehood. they have an ad up today saying the president is waging a war on religion. how low could you possibly go bill? this is a campaign. they know, by the way, they deal with super p.a.c.s on their

side. they know that we have no control and the president has no control over the content of super p.a.c. ads. we have to be completely legally -- >> right. >> there is a complete and absolute firewall and they have often said that they don't have control over the ads that their super p.a.c.s were running and then they say president obama should be held accountable for what our super p.a.c.s are doing. let me say this: we had no control over that add. we don't know about the contents of that add. but i think it is dispickable that the romney campaign is attacking this man, blaming the victim. this man believes his life was ruined by mitt romney and bain capital when they came in and destroyed this company for their own profit and left people high and dry without health care. this is what this man believes. they are attacking the victim. i mean it's like they are backing the truck back up over him after they ran over him the first time. it is horrible character assassination. he believes this story. he beliefs, you know, this is

partly what led to the ruination of his family and his wife and her health. and for them to attack him is below the belt. >> well, also, as bill burton head of priorities priorities u.s.a. and a frequent guest on the program as well the he question he was asking today i saw is: what is factually inaccurate about this ad? the country was -- the company was shut down. joe, the steel worker did lose his job. his wife did get cancer. she didn't die of it. he lost his health care. he lost his pension. what's the lie? >> the republicans satisfy she had a job. she did not have it at the time. >> at the time. >> and, you know, had this company still been in business and joe working for that company, he would have had the coverage to cover her. the point is that mitt romney took away people's health care took away people's pensions

took away people's rooirmentsz, took away people's jobs. in all of those cases, say, well, you know, companies fail. companies succeed. he always succeeded, bill. he always had health care. he always made money. he always got millions. he never suffered in these deals. >> never in his whole life? >> never suffered in any of these deals. and never lost any money, got paid fees. i mean look, you know, it seems unbelievable to me they would borrow money to pay themselves fees and then the company can't pay the money back so they shut the company down. >> yeah. >> i mean -- yeah. it's unbelieverable? >> that was the mo of bain capital the now you know why he has the job that he has. communications director for the dnc. brad wood house. if you have a question for brad at 8 since 6-55-press, we will be right back. >> this is the bill press show.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

ctive. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show, new on current tv. >> tom buffenbarge, president of the machinist union of america, here in studio with us. we are visiting with brad woodhouse communications director for the dn. c anything brad doesn't have time to say here in his time with us you can read and find out and follow at democrats.org. brad, we talked about you mentioned briefly the welfare ad. this add where mitt romney has

opposed president obama of trying to end the welfare to work. the "new york times," mr. romney hits bottom on welfare. just one sentence from the editorial. the claim is blatantly false but it says a great deal about mr. romney's increasingly desperate desire to define the president as something he is not. ouch. >> it is low. it's below the belt. he has hit the bottom. the polls are close. this is going to be a close election. but i believe they see what we see in the battleground states. mitt romney is not connecting. i mean he is not contacting in places like ohio. so now, he wants to try to say, well, you know, i might not connect with you but look at this guy. he want he wants to send checks to welfare recipients willy-nilly. it's a lie. there is a completely. there is not one word that says the president wants to relax.

>> it's the opposite? >> it's theopposite. >> he says states can have a waiver if they have 20% more. >> here is the other thing lost republican governors asked for these waivers. mitt romney asked for waivers, more liberal, more to the left of what he is complaining about than, you know, when he was governor of massachusetts. and, look. not to get into all of this back and forth but mitt romney was handing out cars to welfare resippiants, no strings attached in massachusetts and he wants to hit the president? it is beyond the pale. and i think it shows they have tried this economic attack. they have almost done nothing for the past year but say things about the economy that weren't true. >> right. >> one economic attack after the other. >> that's not working. so now, they are trying these hot-button issues. >> 45 seconds left. let's be honest. just you and me.

just us talking. >> okay. >> did you tell harry reid to attack mitt romney on his taxes? >> no. not at all. not at all. i am not the secret. i am not the secret source. i have to tell you the republicans genuflecting on this has been unbelievable. tell your guy to release his tax returns. if he wants to make harry reid look back and if it's not tryue release the tax returns, man. pull the scab off. >> that's the only way to do it. >> pull the cab off scalp /* scab off. it's not going to work. he gave john mccain 23 years of returns and he picked sara palin. >> right. >> wonder why. brad woodhouse glad you are on the job. glad you are there. >> thank you. >> thanks for coming in today? >> absolutely. >> come back again soon. we will be back with tom buffen barger and talk jobs jobs jobs. >> this is "the bill press show."

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?

[ music ] >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show". >> all right. i know how this radio works, mtv. here is a camera. here is a microphone. it's 33 minutes after the hour now. here on the full court press, on current tv, and your local progressive talk radio station coming to you live from our nation's capitol brought to you today by the international association of machinists good men and women of the machinists union across the country, sharpening america's edge on the global economy under president tom buffenbarger. look who is here in studio. tom, great to see you today. thank you for coming in?

>> glad to be here and thank you for the invite. it'sez a pleasure to come here. >> follow their good work at their website, goiam.org. tom, the secretary hilda solis was sitting right where you were sitting on monday. we were talking to her about the jobs numbers that came out last friday. 163,000 new jobs in the month of july. so we are back. is that the answer there? >> well, those certainly, bill, those numbers were an improvement by far, by about 100,000 over the previous one. >> right? >> that's a nice trend if we can sustain it. but it's still about 100,000 jobs a month short of what this economy needs to say we are moving forward again. so i applaud at a time president for the efforts to put america back to work. certainly the efforts of

secretary solis. i think she is one of the finest, if not the finest secretary of labor in my lifetime for the job she is doing. we are still short, bill. we can't be satisfied with these numbers until we get to that quarter million, 300 jobs a month figure. so there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of -- a lot of talk to be had about why we can't achieve that number this far down the road from the beginning. >> mitt romney and the other republicans, boehner and others were rightly -- jumped on it right away and said, you know which is true, not enough new jobs. not enough. this is not good enough. everybody says that. right? these are the guys who have killed every bill that's gone in front of congress to put people back to work whether it's construction workers or public employees or a manufacturing sector. >> absolutely. >> they have shot down. they shoot the bill down killing

jobs and complain there aren't enough jobs. >> they are playing politics with people's lives and jobs. i hope america is awake enough now to see what's going on. when mitch mcconnell and john boehner get up there and they say, the jobs number was higher than the previous month but the unemployment rate increased, well that happens when more people start to look for work thinking there might be something around the corner. every opportunity somebody sees to improver the jobs opportunities in america these guys and their party find a way to douse those hopes and kill off those opportunities. america needs to pay attention because if we continue this and then we find ourselves, god knows what the impact of what happens in europe and how that affects our economy. we seem to be so skittish now we have got problems cropping up

now in asia. we could find ourselves in another world of threat over global economies. >> that's going to douse people's confidence and optimism in the future. when the people get too down and lose all opportunity and enthusiasm for the future, this country is in trouble. >> tom buffenbarger, in studio with us. one thing congress has not done. they are on a 5-beak recess. wouldn't you love to have it? they scheduled eight work days in september when they come back. not bad, getting $175. >> i want those terms in our collective bargaining agreement. >> whoever is doing the collective bargaining agreement for congress are doing a pretty good job. under worked and overpaid, the opposite of most persons. right? >> when you think about it, bill, you begin the show coming live from our nation's capitol.

the only live people hadare the people who work every day to make this country move and you and i. and it's a shame with all of the problems we are facing these guys are awol. you know, when we have struggles and troubled times with our employers and within the union we do the work necessary to turn it around. and yet this is symptomatic of where congress has taken us under republican leadership. >> they have left a lot of stuff on the table haven't tackled it at all. one est most important issues is what to do about the debt and the deficit and the fact that unless they act there will be $1.2 trillion in drastic cuts across -- half of it in the pentagon and half in domestic spending programs january 1st. right? the impact now you have been part of a study as to what the impact that will be on american jobs. >> in 2013, the impact will be

1.6 to 1.91.06, 1.09 million jobs evaporate. that will have a devastating. >> are these government jobs. >> this is the cumulative total from government. certainly a big hit there. but the biggest hit actually comes in the private sector from the companies and the people who makes the things our government needs in the defense side. not just the defense bill. >> that's also all of the tack-on things. the companies that support the companies that support the government. so the roll-up effect takes over a million jobs. that will drive the unemployment number up to above 10% again. of this is lunacy to have people worried about this. stop and think: this is the

pressure we are under. this is why machinist union and our employer base working hand-in-hand on this issue, we believe in jobs. we want our companies to be successful success. when our members have something to make our a service to provide. now, when you take a cut that big and you implement it overnight, these companies then panic. now, to solve the panic problem a number of years ago, congress with the support of the labor movement created a law that provides for a warning notice to people when companies expect a big especially negative event to occur to give them 60 days' notice of pending lay-offs pending doom. >> this is -- >> this is the law of the land the warren act. >> warren act. >> so what happens is that 60 days kicks in the end of october. in a state like new york that has a 90 day requirement, 30

days more than the federal law which we kind of like that kicks in toward the end of september, first of october so anybody who expects that this event called sequestration the first of the year, they must notify their workers. so up to a million pink slips are going to be delivered to american workers just before election day. >> this is great news. >> well, think about the prac if i can cal side about it is i tried to stay in touch with our membership. i am how i would feel. i am going to be po 'ed and i will probably vote against whoever the incumbent is. this will be truly a bi-partisan result of this. whoever the incumbent is who is responsible for not doing their job, making decisions to adjust economies and national budget that result in my layoff, i am going to vote them out. i am going to vote whoever the

next devil is, in. >> yeah. i mean it's worth reminding ourselves and our listeners and viewers is the reason we are in this mess is the republicans refused to go along which is a routine thing of raising the debt ceiling. they say we have to have these cuts so we are going to form this super committee and to make sure the super committee, whatever they call it, does its job, we are going to put this hammer over their head called the sequestration. congress decided all of this so the super committee failed. now, you've got the $1.2 trillion in cuts and congress is saying, oh no. look what president obama did to us. they did this to themselves. >> they did it to themselves. this is a republican-designed plan, and everybody kind of fell into this hole. to dig ourselves out will require some courage some intelligent thinking, inclusion of all vested parties in the

problem problem. and nobody is asking those questions today. >> also, obama should require them to come back to town? >> it would require work. i can't imagine that. i wish we could give some pink slips. you know, when something like this occurs, i wish congress -- we would lay off 24% of congress then for not being able to deliver and be protective. >> john boehner, here is your pink slip. i will deliver it myself. >> i get that claim because he and i come from the same area of ohio, and same high school and everything else. >> i will give it to you. i can takeric cantor. tom buffenbarger from the machinist's union. your calls welcome at 866-55-press. >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ] delighted accomplice in the billionaires' purchase of our nation. >> and you

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[ music ] >> radio meets television, the bill press show, now on current tv. >> thirteen minutes before the top of the hour, we are talking labor issues and jobs with tom buffenbarger president of the machinists' union. follow their good work at goiam.org. right? >> correct. >> give aus call at 866-55-press. back to president buffenbarger in just a second. first, here is good advice for some of you having a hard time making ends meet at the end of the month. you might check out incomeathome.com, america's leading work-from-home business doing business in over 80 countries today and offering you an opportunity that you can do no matter your age education, or experience. you can literally earn money on your own laptop from your own kitchen table 24/7.

need a little extra time and good advice and training you will get from income at home.com. so if you are sick of living paycheck to paycheck worried about your retirement or job security, looking to earn extra money from home, part-time or full-time, at least check out income incomeathome.com. they are giving away a thousand bucks today to somebody just for checking them out. that somebody could be you. it's incomeathome.com. >> that's incomeathome.com. tom, the last time i saw the machinist union in the news was about an action against cater pillar. now, this has, in illinois, i believe. >> yes. >> caterpillar, a great american company. what's going on out there? >> well, it's -- at this certainly got a very notable name. it's been around for a long time. >> right. >> everybody knows what caterpillar yellow looks like. they see all of that heavy-duty

construction equipment around the world. in the plan in joliet illinois they make the hydraulic stems for caterpillar equipment. our members are in the 10th week of a strike under these terms. they would like to have a pay raise. they haven't had one for six years. they would like to improve their lot in life meaning give some time off -- get some time off to spend with their families without being told when and where to report. under the current proposals, they may work all year and never get a day off. this is regressive bargaining. this company has -- actually the slaves had better conditions 150 years ago than what they are proposing today. they want to diminish the value of pension and health and welfare plans, health care. this comes on the heels, of the

two best years in its history. they have made billions in profits. they have been able to reward the executive did handsomely for the work our members do. it's a result of working hard delivering for your employer to make that success happen. they are punishing them because they have made their company successful. the proposal going into the future is no wage increases for six years more and lessen benefits. they said we have to keep you at the market rate like we are some sort of chattel or piece of equipment. but i would like to see if those executives work at the market rate for what they do. i think there should be a study of that. in any event -- >> are they freezing benefits solary increases, in the executive suites? >> they rewarded themselves with millions of dollars of bonuses

and pay incentives. >> this has been going on for -- >> about 10 weeks. >> about 10 weeks. are they at the table now? >> no. >> trying to resolve this? >> no. their intent is to act up be tough and send a message that they can do what they want to do. washington post steve pearlstein did a very in-depth and a very hard article but i thought it was pretty accurate about caterpillar and the attitude of american management now really goes against the grain of what happens in the rest of the world. caterpillar had to settle a contract in germany because imatal did very there because labor and government and management are part of the system of making sure people earn enough they can live a quality life and have benefits and a little bit much a future to look forward to.

caterpillar knows in the u.s. they can get away with acting in a regressive way. it's going to cause us to now look at new means and methods. >> isn't this reflective of what's happening to not just union members but workers around the country today in the sense that people are trying to pull governors and everybody is trying to pour on their backs all of the burdens? >> they want the work force to take the burden and the executives get all of the gravy out of this, so to speak. yes, that is what's happening. it is not -- ironically i don't understand really where the philosophy comes from. if you -- you can't assess it to a republican or a democratic issue because abraham lincoln had great statements on the value of labor. other -- dwight eisen hour had great -- teddy roosevelt had great respect for labor. even the popes have come out on the side of the working people and yet the people at the top of

the corporate food chains at wall street where a lot of this gets driven, their -- their god is the dollar bill. and we are taking america down a pathway that's not what this country is about. nor, it's not about the principles we were founded upon. we are hard work and determination, taking opportunity opportunities when they come should reward people for their efforts. these folks are trying to figure out how to subjugate humans again. >> it's a war against working persons today. one of the people who is helping families every day, tom buffen buffenbarge. we will have to come back soon. thank you for coming in today and for helping us out with the program, being a sponsor a long time. we really appreciate it. >> bill, i appreciate the opportunity, and you've got great listeners out there and a bunch of them happen to be

members of what i think are the greatest union in the world, the international association of machinists and aerospace workers. thank all of you brothers and sisters. >> you have got it. i will be back with a quick parting shot. thank you. >> this is "the bill press show." >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!