it's go time. what time is it rob? oh, then it's go. go. go. go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. go time! ♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show."

i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill, very happy to be with you for the next couple of hours. we'll be taking your calls all morning on governor romney's campaign, the film innocents of muslims not coming to a theater near you. arthur is calling from us long island. >> caller: good morning. first of all i'm a huge fan of your work. and i took some notes of the occupy wall street movement. i'm a big fan of them but after a year i see there is not so much stuff going on with them. i know they are still working, but i think the media is not bringing any at attention because of the elections, but also i think because they don't keep a clear message. >> john: i agree with you.

i am a big admirer of the movement, i went to visit dozens of movements last year on my tour, and got to see a lot of really fine americans protesting and sleeping in tents to protest how bad things are in america, and they are getting called lazy. what do you think they should do. >> caller: they didn't support any democratic candidate because they said everything was bs. and also citizens united they didn't want to participate in that. and the media doesn't give them any attention. i just see through my facebook account or tweeter how many people are protesting but you

don't see it on the media. >> john: i think the media is not covering it as much because it is no longer a novelty. i was at the villages in florida i was very impressed that even fox was carrying it when it first began. i think the media is biased for profit. but the messaging is what matters, and we'll talk about that. felicia is calling from illinois. good morning felicia. how are you? >> caller: i'm good. i definitely agree with arthur and what he said about occupy chicago, occupy new york occupy all of it. i definitely agree with their movement but they have lost force.

this is my point. if the tea partiers can make a movement and get [ inaudible ] democratic house and do all of these things -- >> john: yeah. >> caller: -- all of these thins and wondering how in the heck we're not thinking about how we can move the democratic party forward by knocking on doors and getting people out there. if we think it's a joke the way it is ran right now let's get peopling acknowledging on doors. >> john: couldn't agree more. it's all about occupy can't do it for you, you got to get out of there. we'll be taking more of your calls when we come back at 866-55-press. this is the "bill press show." taking your calls all morning. i'm john fugelsang, thrilled to

be joining you. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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...

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i am john fugelsang, happy to be filling in for bill with you all morning. what a pleasure to be back in bill's underground compound here in our nation's capitol. there is a mini golf course right next to the studio and a nice smoothie bar as well. it's a pleasure to be with you,

and we're taking your calls at 866-55-press. i have a lot of respect for occupy, and have visited over a dozen encampments over the year. if they would boil down their message to three simple things. number 1 bring back glass spiegel. bring back the wall between banks and casinos, and never let this happen again. it's a message that is a win-win all the way. the repeal of glass spiegel was obviously one of the biggest reasons for the housing crash. and number two, fair taxation and three, arrest some of the

wall street criminals who helped crash our economy. if occupy could do that they would bring republicans over. milton is calling from frankfort, illinois. >> caller: good morning, john. i really appreciate listening to you, because your thoughtfulness when you talk about the president, you notice he has a bigger picture to deal with than the most of us. >> john: i agree he not going to pass anybody's purity contest. he is playing a long game and i think it's really about grand wall improvements more than massive reform and that may be the most realistic goal we have. >> caller: right he sad to do this four years to get to the next four years, and he'll probably do a little more in the

next four years. but the occupiers, they didn't no backing like the tea partiers did. the koch brothers backed the tea party. >> john: i agree with you. people complain that it smells in those camps. and it's because they weren't bussed there in air conditioned buses. >> caller: i agree with you. and they need more progressives because those blue dogs and new demes, i had never horde of them before -- >> john: i think the fact that the occupiers refused to endorse a candidate. and as lock as the media is

going to be smearing the president, that helps them. >> caller: i guess that's neither here nor there, but if they wanted to make a point to make a movement they got deflated with the professional left -- >> john: that's what the white house called them. and i think the so-called professional left is a way of insulting your base. you know, you want to show that you are moderate you are not extreme partisan so it is in the interest of a democratic white house to app feel be as middle of the road as possible. >> caller: and that's what he

tries to be. >> john: he does. thank you for the call. patrick is calling from my hometown if i ever get back there. good morning. >> caller: good morning. everyone has the whole picture twisted, because we're screwing this country up, because democrats figure that they only have to vote for the president. once he is in there, you are on your own buddy, see you later. >> john: uh-huh. >> but he is getting attacked by the republicans. the thing is is that you -- you know, basically the republicans they get out there and vote their right-wing crazy people into office and then we have to deal with it, and then we want to cry democrats won't do this or that but when their hands are tied because you only voted for the president and he has to deal with all of the other republicans being voted in the local elections and whatever so -- so then everything gets

messed up. >> john: but didn't that kind of the nature of human existence. the status quo is always going to be more organized. you are go to radical reform now and then, but all progress in this country has been very very gradual. it's nice to think about getting radical massive change and advances to go forward, but the reality is, it's a game of inches, and don't you think that people are unrealistic to expect the president to deliver a unicorn the first term? >> caller: yes, they are. but everything they accuse the president of doing, the republicans are actually doing it. >> john: amen to that. >> caller: rick santorum said if you go to school, a higher

education, they are going to brainwash you. actually the republicans are doing that. because that's where all of these people are becoming conservative, from the university. and that's what is messing the whole country up is these conservatives, and especially working class people. that's like a black person came over to you and said hey, you are a member of the kkk. >> john: yeah, i agree. non-millionaires who vote for republicans are like cows voting for burger king. barack obama is a lot like occupy wall street or the bible. i do think we're seeing that this year turned up to 11. there's a lot of folks out there

who are social conservatives who are fighting really really hard to make sure that mitt romney gets another tax cut. so i thank you for the call. fox news to me is like for futal lords and the surfs that love them. roy is here on the "bill press show." good morning. >> caller: good morning. i think we have to keep in mind with occupy it's more than a slogan it's a process. the entire world in many languages is now aware of this imbalance of wealth is what we're really talking about. jl uh-huh. >> caller: i think it's a mistake to start getting into the minutia of the party that believes they can make the word move backwards instead of forwards. and that's what they are finding out.

they want to turn back the clock. they want to undo 2008. the most pathological and impossible way of doing it. that's what they think they can live. mitt romney is still mad a rafalca that she lost. >> john: i think he is very happy that she lost because known is talking about her anymore. >> caller: yeah. but these are unbalanced people. and their pathology is coming to the service. so i think the movement has done a tremendous job without the resources. but you have got to believe everyone is aware of it. we need to be aware of the overwhelming power of wealth that banks can charge you fees and they should wear masks actually. they just do whatever they want.

the republicans want uncontrolled market place for them to get all of the wealth they can. >> john: absolutely. i agree with you, they want to bring things back although in a way they want to keep things right where they are, where the deck is stocked in favor of the aristocracy. it's the struggle of our nation from the beginning of our founding fathers. it's an age-old struggle. we're a part of it today. i'm glad you are a part of it. please give us a call at 866-55-press. i'm john fugelsang. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. ♪ shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk.

election, but they can't steal democracy.

health matters to all of us. that's why lysol has started a mission for health. with new mom programs, lysol healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang. thrilled to be joining you. coming up later, dave ziron sports reporter. dean obeidallah, one of my favorite come immediatance. arthur delaney of the "huffington post" and your calls as well at 866-55-press. this is the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang.

bill is one of my favorite journalists and one of the best guys in media i have ever ever met. you call bill or hear him on the radio, and you think he seems like a nice guy, but he probably beats hookers, and steals his neighbors netflix. not true. >> of all of the people i have worked for in radio, he was the only one to apologize for punching me in the face. >> john: that's good. we want to know your favorite mitt romney lie about the president. what is your favorite right-wing false mean about barack obama. my favorite is that barack obama

goes around the world apologizing for america. lots of americans have go around the world apologizing for george bush, and lately mitt romney. i think ann coulter had it right, when she said that if mitt romney is picked the republicans will lose. yeah, he is trying to buy the election, he just happens to be unelectable. and the first victims of citizens united are not liberals, but republicans.

those who may have liked rick santorum or newt gingrich and their votes didn't matter because they were buried in this competition. it's the social conservatives who are the first victims of citizens united. i telecom medians what i tell republicans. i know it's not the guy you wanted, it's not ideal, but you are stuck with him. if mitt romney is going around saying things like barack obama is apologizing to america, and last week saying that barack obama was apologizing for the attackers. and reince preibus, you know

what you get what you take the vowels of reince preibus. pncprbs. >> no. >> john: maybe it's not a lie. it's just ignorance, but they made barack obama look terrific last week by coming out and saying that the house with was apologizing. once more on september 11th anniversary, we don't know what prompted these attacks. was it outrage of this despicable film "innocence of muslims" promoted very heavily by an ultra conservative tv star who is a cheikh and at this point being an al-qaeda number

2, if that is your job, you don't need to work on your resume. every time an al-qaeda number 3 gets promoted it will happen. but was it specific al-qaeda attack against our bases. it was an unnamed staffer at the cairo embassy who tweeted out that -- this is no time to have disrespect for our muslim brothers, and this sort of film was deeply offensive, and we don't like things that are insulting to the muslim community. and this is just good business. if you were inside the embassy, with a couple of thousand

muslims wanting to blame you for this crappy film? you would tweet anything. 10:00 pm the obama administration said we have no connection to this statement. 10:00 pm on 9/11 is also a very important time. because mitt romney and barack obama agreed to suspend negative advertising. 10:00 pm mitt romney sent out mess aim but said you can't send this out until midnight. so did barack obama win the week over this? we want to know your thoughts and what your favorite right-wing fall about the president is give us a call at 866-55-press.

it's the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. ♪ that's why at devry university we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

♪ >> announcer: taking your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: we are taking your emails on the best best show. i want to thank you, peter for giving me the most hate-filled ones. >> sorry. >> john: no this is the best

proof that darwin may have been wrong. you are a traitor to the bill of rights, a soulless and intolerant moron and not so good looking. i'll agree with you on the moron hah the not good looking part but i am a big fan of the bill of rights. but thank you for avoiding specifics. [ inaudible ] writes hate dip-ish, f-u islam is a cult of violence, and pig, something, go screw. wow, you are like jackson pollic, you are just busting it wide open. and [ inaudible ] writes in to

say that the inners of america has talent are all --

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show." on current tv and on your radio and computer. i'm john fugelsang billing in for bill this morning, taking your calls at 866-55-press. what a huge morning for news. elizabeth warren is up by 6

points in pennsylvania. gary johnson is on the ballot in 47 states. and the only way to make sense of this is to go to the brilliant lisa ferguson. >> hey john. good morning, everyone. chicago teachers will stay on strike today and students will not be back in class until at least wednesday, but the mayor says he'll force the teachers back to work. the chicago teacher's union says it needs more time to consider a contract deal with school officials and are extending the protest until they can make a decision. mayor' manual is calling the strike illegal and says he will take the teachers to court. he is saying the terms are instrikable, and the strike is endangering the health and safety of chicago's children. in pennsylvania the new voter id law is proving stuff for those who do not drive a car. because those without a valid

drivers license or official id they could be ineligible to vote. the "washington post" is now with a new article showing this law will affect plenty of people, and the dmvs are quickly filling up. cheryl takes a bus and chooses not to have a bank account or a credit meaning she has never had an id and at a 54 years old, she is finding herself ineligible to vote. if the law goes through it could spell pad us in for president obama. as john mentioned earlier he is up 11 points in the state right now according to a new poll but that will not matter much if his supporters cannot make it to the

voting booth. stay with us. ♪ now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang. thrilled and honored to be sitting in for the great guy that is bill press. taking your calls all morning at 866-55-press, so much to go through in one morning. mitt romney abruptly shifting campaign strategy and changing from whatever it has been to one about status quo versus change.

mitt romney who wasn't want to do anything but bush and cheney thinks that barack obama represents the status quo and he represents change. i want to discuss a bit about the mideast situation. there is nothing i like better than talked to reasoned seasoned veterans on the islamic relations, and i can't get anyone like that so i go to comics. dean obeidallah is the star of the muslims are coming comedy tour who went to the deep south last year. good morning. >> good morning, john. i notice your tone is different. when you are on stephanie's show you are louder but i guess you

are afraid that people's are just waking up. >> john: with stephanie's show you actually have to do a few hits of meth to match her energy. i'm realizing i'm so exhausted because it's really like 2 am in l.a., and i went to public school, so i'm not good with math. senator mccain says he doesn't believe these attacks were motivated by the film at all. he believes they were very, very organized and scheduled terrorist attacks in light of the assassination of the latest al-qaeda number 2 last week. and he is not alone on this. i think a lot of the folks in the crowd may have come because of the film. but it seems like as john mccain

pointed out, you don't bring rocket propelled grenades to a demonstration. that's an act of terror. what is your take on it? >> i think he is likely right. we may have more intelligence information than we have. but the only violence has really been people getting hurt in the protest. it hasn't been like rocket launched -- or bombs or really even gunfire -- >> john: there certainly was in libya, dean. >> right. i'm saying that libya is the exception. so it seems there probably is some truth to that. the attackers could have been using it as a cover, using religion as a reallilying point which is not unique in the middle east, it is used as an

motivator around the world, so terroristing or government official using religion is very very powerful. i was emailing you last night in lebanon, the head of hezbollah has called for protests on monday. that's when you have an organic protest you call for it four days later. the organic outrage by some muslim [ inaudible ], but fit was a truly outraged by the muslim community they would have been in the street instantlies. instead the pope had been there for three days and they were very respectful, so now they say we're going to have a big protest across the country today. that attack in libya seems to be a terrorist attack calculated and i believe there were some

attacks earlier on un sites in libya earlier in the day. so this might be their way at getting back at the us. >> john: we talked before about how this conflict -- i find the most interesting thing about this conflict is seeing how right-wing extreme conservative christians are deeply offended by right-wing extreme conservative muslims. that's really where it is. and what we're seeing now more and more is that i -- i'm sensing that there are a lot of people who want more violence. let's talk about the liz

-- islamic leaders. you need to get your power consolidated. so is that what we see so often in the middle east. when i look at iran we here all about the horrible things the president said my guess is they found this guy on a craigslist under a sale for i hate jews. they don't want world war iii, and how much of this is actual religious furvor? >> i have never been to iran but have been across the middle east many, many times, i was in georgia for a show and saudi,

and egypt, and lebanon, and dubai all over. i think we view the leaders of middle east countries as being inferior to us they are not smart enough or their culture may be weak. that is wrong. you need an enemy to rally people against. you can use religion social issues, whatever you want. we have seen it in american history used by leaders over there. they are not stupid people. even when they are born into power, i have had the pleasure of having dinner with the king of jordan, because i produced a comedy tour there. well educated in the u.s. and oxford, but these guys -- most

of them are educated. president morsi went to school in america. they understand what plays in america and back home. the muslim brotherhood were going to have massive protests they said -- >> john: over -- >> the film. and then the state department and president obama called them and they said okay. we'll just a demonstration and that's it. is there really not this kind of hatred overwhelming to people? are more people going i don't like it. i hate it, but i don't think that much about it until they are told to go out in the streets and protest it.

50,000 indonesia muslims bought tickets to a lady gaga tickets, or 7,000 protesters. when you nut -- the media in this case is reporting accurately, and there are to nations where they are protesting. the numbers go literally 50 to 700, to the biggest i have seen is 2,000 in yemen out 2 million people. and many people are using this film as a way to say that's what america is really about. both sides use it for their own political agenda. >> john: having said that 2,000

protesters in yemen is a lot to hold off. you brought up something really interesting when you mentioned how president obama called president morsi, who i have admired since the left the smiths. but egypt is in a strategic economic relationship with the u.s. and israel. egypt's number 1 industry is tourism, and economically they are linked to us and israel. thank you, jimmy carter we have had 30 years of this. i don't think we'll see egypt fall into some sort of

islam-a-foeb frenzy. yes. >> there is a group that did pretty well in the elections. and the muslim brotherhood is a counter balance to them. when seem know about shari law is. it's not what the muslim brotherhood is saying as much although they are a religious party based on law. it is similar in a way -- i know people on the right are going to get upset, but it's almost like the christian right they don't want all law based on the baseball, but they want our laws to comport the bible. they are not saying let's literally go back and impose the old testament. >> john: i have people in my family who want to do that. [ laughter ] >> john: but you are right.

it's interesting the people who are so against separation of church and state here are so in favor of a separation of mosque and state there, and thats goes against everything that fox has been telling us. >> they had a history of terrorism in the 60s, and i don't want the muslim brotherhood to run our policy in america, but if the people want to elect it that's the first democracy. our democracy was dark in the beginning. rich white, essentially protestants who owned land that could vote. and it took time to get pour

white people women, and then black people were last. and president morisi he signed when he was elected because he said i'm president of egypt not part of that party. >> john: we don't see -- >> it's interesting. but it's another day, and there are more protests and getting back to the ties to the christian right. the people on the right who talk about muslims want to impose shari law, they truly believe that, because they want to improse christian law here. so it would make sense because that's what they want to do.

we don't really have muslims in america, it's like 1% how we're going to overpower -- >> john: in oklahoma. >> it's only christians saying they want our laws to comport with the bible, so it makes sense to them that muslims want to impose their laws in the government. >> john: we know there is never going to be shareal law in oklahoma. and again, it's all about using fear. i say this about mitt romney all the time about homophobia. i think he is pretending to be a homophobe to get the homophobe vote, which is even worse.

i think these people will exploit the mislawmaker phobia to get the support time and time again. there are a lot of similarities to al-qaeda and the ku klux klan. society is not taking care of these folks, and we see this in the middle east all the time where it's a couple of corporations with their own flags called nations. if you have this suffering and ignorance and then thing on a figure to come in and tell them who to blame, you are going to see violence and people rallying behind the figure. this is what i have to say all the time to our christian fundamentalists, you take care of the poor, sick prisoners,

and you don't go starting fights. couldn't you make the same argument of shari law. it's supposed to be a religion of love? >> it is supposed to be. one of the five [ inaudible ] of islam is charity. and that's one of the pillars, going to mecca, and [ inaudible ] romdon. so it's something from day way it's an islamic virtue. so caring for people in need is a big part of it. and that should be defining it. and what would romney have done? use it background to deal with al-qaeda. i think he would have a corporate takeover and outsource all of the muslims --

>> john: all right. dean how can people follow you? >> i'm on twitter of dean of comedy.com. and i'm on my tour called dean obeidallah for president. and i'm in san francisco, boston, and new york. >> john: dean you are a very funny guy even at 7:00 in the morning. >> thanks, john. >> john: we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ >>only on current tv.

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his is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way

as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >>since when do you get to say stuff like that on tv? >> listen, if you'd read your email once in a while, you'd know i have a new show. >> sometimes i feel like i don't even know you. >> just stay on your side of the screen, ok? [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on

current tv. >> john: when you are casting your actors on craigslist, maybe you are not exactly doing spielberg's work. actually that's how he got daniel day lewis. >> is that right? >> john:. i'm john fugelsang. taking your calls at 866-55-press. melanie sloan for citizens for responsible -- responsibility and ethics in government. sorry, that's a pretty long logo. arthur delaney of the "huffington post," and we want to know what you think about the biggest right-wing lie against the president. is that obamacare is socialism and take over of the health care

system. i'm john fugelsang. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill, and one of the biggest stories really politically of the year that we have sort of overlooked in the cast couple of ways is that on friday a wisconsin judge overturned scott walkers law taking collective bargaining right away from

school teachers. my feeling on scott walker is i would respect him if he walked into a police precinct and said you union thugs have no right to collective bargaining units. he is only picking on teachers. the workers of wisconsin care about recalling scott walker. of course that didn't work and it seemed like rights for teachers were dead in that state until a judge came through this week. collective bargaining rights for teachers hurts a deficit, but tax cuts for gazillion ayers doesn't. and here is a little quote. >> the department of justice have made a very compelling case. we believe other challenges

[ inaudible ] ultimately we're going to see this be upheld. >> john: what a hero. taking on all those powerful teacher's unions. what is your favorite light-wing lie against the president. mike is calling from my mom's home state of virginia. good morning, mike. >> caller: good morning. john i wanted to talk to the mvp of current tv. >> i'm like the jimmy ohlson i know. i'm the scab de jour. >> as a fellow entertainer and stand-up comic, i have so much respect for you. >> john: thank you. it has been nice to come here and see what they are trying to do, and they really are going for something independent, they welcome critiques of the democratic party and the president.

they are not pretending to be unbiased, but they are also refusing to be in the pocket of the dnc. >> caller: i think the biggest lie i can't stand from the rnc is, hey, we're just trying to help. >> john: they are trying to help. they just don't say who. >> caller: exactly, yes. >> john: when i hear them talking about the war on poverty, then i'll take them seriously. >> caller: yes. i'll originally from virginia but i'm calling from vest virginia, but that was not redneck enough for me. >> john: you are right. would love to see governor romney balk about the poor and

the middle class. >> caller: yeah, it's scary. this really, really i'm certain -- i don't think you can treat running for the office of presidency as entering for a job at bain. >> john: i agree. and i don't have anything against rich people. i have never met anyone who hates rich people. i have never met any liberal or progressive who hates the rich. i have met a lot who hate greed, and that's what i fear what the rnc is turning into. shil, baby shil. i would submit that occupy wall street cares about you way more than john boehner and fox us in. >> caller: yes, because it's an issue of fairness. there's words they don't use like fairness sympathy love.

all of those things scare them. if i give a friend of mine a big hug and said hey dude, i love you, there is some controversy. >> john: well, if you hold too long there is. >> caller: right. >> john: governor romney who didn't work and made all of his money off of investments paid 13.9% in taxes. and every time i see some lame stream media liberal journalist interview governor romney they bring this up and he said rich pay most of the taxes in this country. and that's true. yes, they do pay more but they

pay a lower percentage in taxes and i will respect liberal media when they actually hold his feet to the fire on that point. good morning, anita, you are on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning, i'm really looking forward to your show. >> john: stephanie is not going to be there, it's just me and hal sparks and there will be a lot of testosterone. [ laughter ] >> caller: the lie i hate is that obama doesn't care about our country the way we do. i'm not sure who we is, but i have a suspicion that it's white folks, but -- >> john: it's all code words.

it's us and them and that's the essence of all of the other lies about the president. he's not really an american. he doesn't born here birth certificate, yadda, yadda. they will do whatever they can to attack his religion background, economics, all to make him seem like he is other, just not one of us. >> caller: and are quietly celebrating overturning act 10. >> john: why quietly? >> caller: we're very excited. >> john: i got to say for all of the back and forth the folks of madison have really been heros to a lot of folks in america. and i look forward to seeing you

on the 6th in madison. >> caller: thank you. >> john: thank you. steve is calling from franklin wisconsin. good morning, steve. you are on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning. one of the ads that congressman paul ryan is running in his reelection campaign is doubling down on the misstatement that he made at the rnc convention. >> john: can you narrow it down a bit, steve? >> caller: yeah, he's talking about the closing of the janesville general motors plant. >> john: you mean that one that happened in 2008 under the bush administration? >> caller: yes, and he shows president obama talking payments

about wanting to keep the plant open. and then he shows that the plant closed, and the date it closed was in 2009 and he omits that george bush was president when the decision was made to close the plant. >> john: he is still doubling down on this? >> caller: yes, i saw it last night. >> john: i'm surprised about that. but he said goal is to get 51% of the people to vote for him. >> caller: i didn't think people pay at attention to the dates on the ad. >> john: that's why you have the phrase lying ryan he is punching his own ticket on this.

it's like governor romney saying that -- when we see nancy pelosi god bless here coming out and saying, we all know romney is not going to win. i think you run a real risk of saying state home. why bother to vote. >> caller: let's hope that doesn't happen. >> john: yes, and especially when your state and local elections in my opinion are way more important. this is the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang. we'll be taking more of your calls when we come back after this. >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." ♪

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it's go time. it's go time. it's go time. go time. you know what time it is. go time. it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? then it's go. go. go. go. go. go. go. go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. go time! only on current tv.

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill this morning, here in washington, d.c. thank you for spending your morning with us. we'll be taking your calls at 866-55-press. our question of the day is what is your favorite right-wing lie about barack obama. mitt romney has been spending the whole campaign coasting, thinking he can win on the economy. recent polls show that may not be the case. the new fox news poll show both tied on who would better create

jobs and improve the economy. and the post poll finds obama and romney 47-45, another statistic call tie. and a rasmussen poll finds obama at 47% and 45% on who is best of the economy. it turns out that mitt's advantage on the economy does not seem to be an advantage anymore. kirkland is calling us from georgia. good morning, sir. >> caller: okay. the biggest right-wing lie i can think of is that obama is a muslim. according to the bible you are whatever your mother is -- whatever religion your mother is, that's where you are. >> john: where does the bible

say that. >> caller: jesus, his mother was a jew. but we can't say that god was a jew. >> john: right. >> caller: but his mother is a jew, so that's what makes him a jew. >> john: i think it's what you choose to be and what is in your heart. but go ahead, please. >> caller: okay. and so jesus is a jew. >> john: he was a jew the whole time. >> caller: president obama's mother is a christian, so they can't throw religion or fate out there like that. and they don't even know what the definition of muslim is. it's not the following of the teaching of mohammed.

>> john: sure it is. >> caller: islam means he who submit his total devotion to god. somewhat like what moses did. he brought the word from god. >> john: what if he was a muslim, kirkland? >> caller: it doesn't make a difference. >> john: i know. the fact that the man's middle name was hussein has been shoved down our throats all the time. but it makes me proud to be an american. >> caller: exactly. >> john: if they are going to put hussein on the menu we're going to come back with a whole

lot of willard. tamia from grand rapids good morning. >> caller: good morning. the lie that bothers me is that he is weak -- >> john: tamicah can you turn your tv off for us. >> caller: okay. >> john: and i think barack obama would respond ask osama bin laden law weak he is. >> caller: exactly. >> john: we know he is a very hard-working man. but they want to try to make it seem like he has done nothing right? and yeah it's a lot of code language exactly. under this administration they have gone from a dog whistle to

a wolf howl. are there any other lies about the president that have irked you or is that the big one. >> caller: that's the big one. i can't believe people want to vote for him because he wants to make the middle class even pourer. that's what is going to happen. these people don't have a heart. they are very cold. how can you vote for somebody like that? >> john: i think it's more about tribalism. the more bill clinton went to the right the more the right hated him and the more the left loved him. believe me bill clinton can tell ya, these guys can go a lot

lower than they have gone. tulla from wisconsin good morning. >> caller: hi, john. i'm 67 years old, and i am a vietnam era veteran -- >> john: thank you for your service. >> caller: -- the biggest lie is that he is not a united states citizen. >> john: uh-huh. >> caller: they have an ad in milwaukee about women's rights and how the president is going to take it away and that's another great lie about what the president is going to do for our daughters and stuff, and if people would have watched the convention and all of the women that spoke and the different things -- >> john: exactly.

>> caller: -- they know that this president is very compassionate and he is strictly for women. >> john: right on. thank you so much for your call. we'll be right back on the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ from silver screens... to flat screens... twizzlerize your entertainment everyday

with twizzlers the twist you can't resist. you've heard bill's views, now let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. 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. ♪ >> announcer: on your radio, on tv. the "bill press show," new on current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show" on current tv. i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill press.

let me read some of your tweets. please write me. you have to be able to spell fugelsang, rocky mountain mike says obama has given into the terrorists because they pretend to be martyrs. that's true. skip says i think the most mean-spirited lie about obama is that he isn't a u.s. citizen. and sum and coke party says the biggest gop lie against obama is that he has raised taxes, and sacrifices babies on a voodoo

alter. i have not heard that one.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> john: good morning. this is the "bill press show" on current tv, i'm john fugelsang filling in for bill all morning from our nation's beautiful capitol. thank you for being here we'll be taking your calls and talking to melanie sloan in washington about the most corrupt members of congress. but right now, it's time for another current news update with the brilliant lisa ferguson. >>ment, lisa. >> hey, john good morning,

everyone. infighting at team romney could be partly to blame not only for his poor performance at the convention, but also from a recent downturn in the polls. top romney strategist stewart stevens hired peter waner to write romney's speech for the convention. he worked for the last three republican white houses and did write romney's speech, but just eight days before the convention stevens threw it out. so they threw together a grand new speech from scratch, and in the process they overlooked a few things. he made no salute to the troops did not mention al-qaeda or afghanistan. without a full speech clint eastwood's empty chair speech

became the highlight. several romney insiders said they are not comfortable with stevens. of course stephens is not all to blame, romney is ultimately the one who has take to take responsibility for his political gaffes and campaign decisions. now the gop is left with little excitement or faith with their candidate, and it is starting to show in the polls. president obama is up 5 points in virginia, up 11 in pennsylvania according to the philadelphia inquirer. in philadelphia over the weekend, d.j. diamond cuts made a push for obama. she is one of dozens of d.j.s the obama administration is recruiting to get young people to get out and vote. more john fugelsang is coming up

after the break, and he'll be arthur delaney of the "washington post." >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i am john fugelsang filling in for bill press all morning, and bryan fischer of the american family association has attacked mitt romney for a lackluster campaign and putting a bag over the head of vice presidential nominee paul ryan. that's not true. you are confusing that with an eld munsters episode. thank you so much for taking your calling all morning.

i'm very very excited to welcome our next guest. every year i look forward to the crew, and they take a respectfully bipartisan look of the most corrupt politician. what are elected officials doing this? shocking? i'm very pleased to be joined by melanie sloan. thank you. >> my pleasure to be here. >> john: it's a pleasure to be here. how much work goes into creating a list of the most corrupt members of congress all year. >> it's a very in-depth process. we comb through all kinds of

information to find out who has done what wrong, and once we have those facts we apply the law. >> john: it sounds like a very depressing gig to me. you have to spend your time seeing how democracy is bought and paid for and sold to the highest bidder yet it seems like you enjoy your job. >> i do. there are 20 people on this list, and there are 535 members of congress. so that is good news. but there are fewer and fewer newspapers, and this is the kind of thing that folks need to know. >> john: do people get offended

over this? >> there is certainly some resentment and people do indeed love their own congress person? july a gallup poll showed it was the second-most important issue for voters going to the polls this year ethics. so that's second only to jobs b above terrorism and all kinds of other things. >> john: it's 20 every years? >> no it depends on how many members are engaged in this conduct. >> john: all right. 13 republicans, 7 democrats. who is the most egregious offender? >> we don't rank them in order, because you can get a new fact

tomorrow that says this is even worse, but there are three who i think are particularly worth noting. >> john:. >> and two of them happen to reside in florida -- those are the people who have been under criminal investigations. and the dave riveras scandal just keeps growing. right now there's even a bigger scandal, which is that he fielded a shall doe candidate in the democratic primary for his political seat. he was a hotel worker that was

never involved in the political process before, and suddenly david riveras was spending out moneys and envelopes -- >> john: congressman rivera is it really all that new for candidates to run -- you know, shall doe candidates in a race. a lot of us are still scratching our head over alvin green, wondering who is bank rolling that campaign. so he didn't want to run against a real democrat so he got a hotel employee. >> yes. >> john: where did the money come from? david rivera. >> yes.

as soon as this news broke, there was immediate criminal investigation. but it was definitely clear that rivera made a phone call to at least one consultant who does mailings, and he sent cash-filled envelopes open to this guy filled with $100 bills. >> john: i think a lot of times confuse what a shall doe candidate is. ross perreault, certainly ate a lot of votes. but we're talking about actual phony candidates. the opposition hand-picked them

to run against them. and the 20th century is ripe with these incidents. and paying them to drool in public and allowing the incumbent to keep their job. >> yes, that's exactly right. this hotel worker made a $60,000 loan to his campaign. and david rivera said oh i have nothing to do with this. >> john: and do they just think they will never get caught? the bubble is so tight that no one will notice? >> i think so. powerful politicians just think they are above the rules. greg meeks from new york took $40,000 from a developer, and failed to disclose it as a gift

and only when the fbi started asking about it did it get reported as a quote, unquote, loan. he said i needed stuff -- i needed stuff for my house. he had just gotten a sweetheart deal from a real estate -- >> john: you know this goes back to what i think of nixon getting money to buy his house on seaside, so he got the house somehow, and then more money has been funneled to congressman meeks? >> yes, the house he thought he made $833,000 for it. >> john: is this where we bought the house from a loan from an

indicted new york businessman. >> no that was from a developer, butten in he got a loan from another developer. and loans can, of course be gifts under house ethics rules. but in any event. it really did look like a gift. a loan can be a gift if you are getting the loan because you are a member of congress -- >> so they are just like us then? >> yeah, we have seen a lot of people get in trouble over the loan problem. >> john: so rivera meeks, and vern buchanan. >> we have been focusing on him since 2006. he is one of any richest members of congress and owns several car

dealerships, and in order to get the campaign contributions he needed he coerced people to contribute and then he repaid them. so it's completely illegal. we had -- he had documentary evidence of it. >> john: why do they do it so brazenly? >> i think that there is -- there are a lot of people who do get away with this kind of conduct and we have a department of justice that has been loathe to take on government officials ever since the debacle of ted

[ inaudible ]. it's very hard to explain what they do. because then they took the john edwards case and failed hugely. >> do you think that was more or less the holder white house trying to show they are not partisan? and they are willing to go after this onetime favorite son of the democratic party. >> i think that is right. i think the holer justice department didn't want to be seen as protecting the democrats. >> john: i am impressed by the

way at your diversity that you have a white guy, black, guy, and latino as your top three egregious offenders this year. i applaud your values. i want to ask you about there tends to be more democrats than republicans this year. i'm john fugelsang. this is the bill press. we'll be right back with melanie after this. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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♪ w." now on current tv. >> john: where does the time go? i'm john fugelsang thanking you for spending this early morning with me.

couple of quick announcements i'll be part of the sexy liberal comedy tour along with hal sparks. we're playing the paramount theater in seattle, washington. i'm doing a show with hal sparks at the barrymore theater. and the sexy liberal liberal tour will be hitting new york city on the 27th of october. and you can watch on current tv to see the new documentary. i seem thrilled to have had a chance to fill in for bill press and i want to close with this quote, we will never have the immediate you on our side in this country, or the elite smart people on your side. you are right, sanatorium because they watch bill press, and they are not buy what you

are saying. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire ♪ [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]