chaos on wall street, the president jets off on luxurious vacation on martha's vineyard is that a wise move? >> you have this 21st century plantation that's been out there where the democratic party has forever taken the black vote for granted. have you established certain black leaders who are nothing more than the overseers of that plantation. >> should black americans blame the democratic party for their problems? congressman charlie rangel. [sigh] >> will respond to the serious accusations. and a factor exclusive. while many americans are struggling to make ends meet, some members of congress are raking in the dough. we have the list of the richest ones. >> laura: caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone, the factor begins right now. captions by closed captioning services

>> laura: hi, everybody, i'm laura ingraham in tonight for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us. let's get right to our top story. it was another awful day for the american economy. the stock market dropped about 420 points and americans have lost trillions of dollars in wealth just over the last month. they are losing their money and education retirement funds. their life savings and investment portfolios. simply put, average americans are getting clobbered in the obama economy. there was also more bad news on jobless front. claims are up to 408,000, the highest in a month. despite the dire situation, president obama isn't worried about another recession. >> i don't think we're in danger of another recession, but we are in danger of not having a recovery that's fast enough to deal with what is a genuine unemployment crisis for a whole lot of folks out there. that's why we need to be doing more. >> laura: however, today morgan stanley said that the united states was, quote, dangerously close to a recession and you are calling whom to believe.

joining us now from washington fox news business analyst tobin smith and here in new york kelly evan, a columnist for the "wall street journal." >> kelly, my first question to you morgan stanley comes out with this report in these series of comments. it was pretty ugly, pretty dire. the market went down further when this was released. why is morgan stanley coming out with this now. >> what is interesting is that morgan stanley has been the more optimistic on the street. they saw treasury yields and economy doing better in the last couple of years. to me and investors it really indicated this isn't something bearish on the economy yellow flag. san begin we have got to admit risks have got tonight point looks at or near recession. not just talking u.s. talking worldwide. >> laura: the president gives that interview yesterday and he says no we're not going into another recession. when i heard that i said that's the obama jinx. that must mean we are going into the recession. the market goes down 400 points. >> the jinx is my aunt martha

calls me and says she selling all her stocks when she did today. the fed are the people giving the forecast that is he following. frankly, the fed's forecast, they have admitted have been dead, dead wrong. we are at stall speed right now, laura. we do a lot of research into demand. we have not fallen off a cliff. we have, if you look at truck loadings or fedex or u.p.s. or other indication how the economy is turning we have not fallen off the cliff. we are at stall. this august meltdown in the stock market takes the top 20% of income earner who's do all the discretionary purchasing in this country really and that puts them back on their heels. so you are going to see a slow august which means you will see a slow september. that means we are right at a negative quarter. >> laura: kelly, how important is this with back-to-school shopping? people are in the stores every store, clothes stores, book stores. we need people to be shopping now for this economy. >> back-to-school the second most important season for retailers. important itself. important for holiday retail

this season is back end loaded. what they were hoping because remember they have to push through price hikes. they were pushing for consumer in a better position. what we see now is a consumer on its a hotel. consumer sentiment lowest we have seen in several decades. the problem with the falling stock market once they sense not one or two day declines it goes on top of falling home prices. two most important things for household wealth. it does have a knockdown on spending. show up in the next couple of months show up in the economy. >> laura: sense of gloom, sense among people we are in a prolonged period of economic stagnation, recession, whatever we want to call it today. and, when that happens, a plan or the announcement of a plan, is that going to be enough? if it's not, the president saying you know something? i'm bringing in entirely new economic team. geithner is out. we have x, y and z in place. something different. more bill clintonish but i don't see that happening. >> you don't see that happening because they put themselves in a box. look, it took us 20 years to get

where we were with the financial disaster. the financial disaster happened, we know from history, laura, throughout the last 500 years when you have a balance sheet recession, which is what was -- what we have, it takes 8 to 10 years to work through it. now, no one wants to tell you that to your face, but that is the fact. to shorten that time frame, laura, we would have needed to see some massive changes. massive changes in terms of incentives to get back in investing. instead, we got massive incentives not to invest. that's what's taking taken a bad situation and made it worse. >> laura: my friend marty ryan bought counter tops. family businesses. he said we were just starting to see a real upturn -- uptick. and now these people are screwing it up. he says look i'm not just a business person. i'm not into politics so much. business person. this is the sentiment from business. >> weak sentiment is a problem. it's a problem and i think in order to overcome it you really need to see clarity on the

outlook both in terms of growth and in terms of the policy side as well. >> laura: great to see both of you. directly ahead a gallup poll says americans have no confidence in the way president obama is handling the economy. we are going to show you she's numbers. they are disturbing. also, set your dvr's to the most controversial segment of the evening. a day after republican congressman allen west says the democratic party has treated african-americans like slaves. congressman charlie rangel responds. you are not going to want to miss this coming up. my whole body hurt. it was an ongoing, deep pain. i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it asibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of overactive nerves

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>> laura: only 11% are now satisfied and it hasn't been that low since just after president obama was elected in december 2008. and americans don't seem to to be happy with how the president is handling the economy either. check this out. only 26% approve. that's a new low. down 11 points since may and way below his previous low of 35% in november 2010. 71% of americans disapprove. and it doesn't get better from there. only 24% support his handling of the federal budget deficit with 71% disapproving. only 29% approve of his job creation efforts. 65% disprove. with us now the man responsible for the poll, dr. frank newport, gallup's editor in chief. those are some brutal numbers. >> pretty depressiving.

those are pretty bad numbers. a lot of numbers to throw at people at one time. tell us what you know historically this means for incumbent sitting president? >> excellent question. the key is his overall approval rating. which is 40% today. the president wants to have probably about 50% to get reelected. we have had 10 presidents since world war ii who have tried to get reelected. seven were re-elected three weren't. george w. bush had approval rate -- basically 10 points higher than where he is now. >> laura: when bush left office 2006 republicans lost all those seats and 2008 more seats. president's approval rating then was at about, what, 36? 38? >> weighs down in the 20's before he left office. >> laura: great? how did i forget that. >> george w. bush left lisping out of office. he wasn't there when he got reelected in 2004. in september of 2004 he was at 50%. he was right at the cusp and he beat john kerry. >> laura: right now the economy

is the number one issue for everyone. when you look at the numbers, specifically your numbers, tracks other polling numbers as well out there. consistently. how he has handled the economy. that is what has really taken a nose dive. even the handling of let's say afghanistan. that's dropped precipitously since bin laden's killing back in may. >> that's right. although the may reading was art -- not artificially but higher than it had been previously in the obama administration for obvious reasons. if you look at his whole term he has been about where he was in afghanistan previously. you are right the economic ratings are bad. but the americans see the economy as in terrible shape. almost anything we put in front of them right now that relate to the economy, bush, congress, obama, anybody we mention we're going to get bad numbers on the economy right now. number one problem. consumer confidence is terrible. american public is saying we are in bad shape. >> laura: remember, talking to the bush folks in the last couple of years of his second term, and consistently it was well, we don't look at the numbers. the numbers go up, the numbers go down.

by point to them consistently was, you know something? you lose influence. when your numbers are where they are. you are not going to have the influence you had before when you say look the public is with me. i'm riding pretty confident right now. you're diminished as a president in those particular areas where your ratings aren't high. i don't think you can keep saying i'm not looking at the numbers. do you think obama is not looking at these numbers? >> of course he is looking at the numbers. of course karl rove looked at the numbers for president bush. teddy roosevelt. history shows presidents, as i think they should be, are very much aware of where they are in polling. pay attention more what the public is saying. there is a lot of wisdom out there in john and jane dough across the land. >> laura: very sour on afghanistan for years. ron paul was pretty much saying pulling more quickly out of afghanistan. >> that's right. at the moment that's way down the list of priorities.

you said it a moment ago. it's the economy. and then it's jobs. the deficit but also americans have a a lot of disdain for how congress is working in general. >> laura: congressman terrible numbers lower than obama's. that's lumped in together both republicans and democrats. republicans scoring terribly. >> that's right. after the debt crisis debacle or debate or agreement or however we want to define it congressman approval dropped to 13%, which is tied for the lowest in gallup poll history, goes back many decades on that, but, you are right, it's kind of a pox on all your houses in washington. obama gets dinged. republicans get dinged more than obama and americans get dinged. americans are not very happy with the effectiveness of how things are going on in washington. not so much a partisan concern i think right now. a lot of americans are concerned about confidence. what are they doing? >> laura: when the market dropped 450 one day and 500 the other day. people are saying what the heck is happening here. key independent voting block in the united states caught people in the middle fleeing obama in huge numbers according to your

poll. >> well, they are down. but, of course, everybody is down. so a lower tide in the harbor brings the mast of all the ships down. yes, independents are down, not as much as republicans but, that's right. if his overall approval rating is had 0 as opposed to 50 independents are going to be down. >> laura: independents are critical for both parties but he is the man in the white house now and he needs some of those independents. >> absolutely. if his approval rating were to rise back to 50. that's primarily going to be the result of the economy if it were to recover next year in jobs independents would come up with it. approval rating goes most of the time independents go with it. >> laura: i have never been polled. >> you have not? >> laura: never. >> i would say your chances of getting hit by lightning dr. george gallup head of our company polled 300 million americans. >> laura: email us with your opinion dr. any port. two are going to respond to the president's dismal poll numbers. the segment everyone is going to be talking about tomorrow. actor allen west charges the

democratic party with treating black americans like slaves congressman charlie rangel enters the no spin zone to respond coming up. ♪ [ mrs. davis ] i want to find a way to break through. to make science as exciting as a video game. i need to reach peter, who's falling behind. and push janet who's 6 chapters ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] with interacve learning solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make education a little more personal. so every student feels like her only student. dell. the power to do more. [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks.

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>> laura: continuing now with our analysis of the new gallup poll on president obama. does it indicate a collapse of confidence in the president? well, at the very least some folks are frustrated. take a look at what happened yesterday when a farmer told the president he didn't want government bureaucrats telling him how to grow his food. >> we enjoy growing corn and soy beans and we feel we do it as safely and efficiently as we possibly can. please don't challenge us with more rules and regulations, washington, d.c., that hinder us from doing that. >> if you hear something is happening but it hasn't happened, don't always believe what you hear. >> laura: that answers the

question. is it wise for the president to be dismissive of these concerns? with us now democratic strategist and former pollster for president clinton. i understood this bus tour was not political. okay i will take him at face value not political. but it was intended to put the president in a situation where he got to understand the concerns of people, working people, to empathize with their concerns. that's fair, that's fine. i think he had a concern as a farmer. he seemed like kind of a regular guy. i'm not sure -- tea party guy. do you think that answer to his point that look, the regulations are killing us basically what he said? do you think that was a wise answer, bernard? >> i think what the president needs to do and he needs to get out of washington. he needs to go out on the -- bus tour exactly what's needed. he should be out of washington all of september. what he should be talking about is the job creation plan which is cutting taxes, extending the payroll tax holiday for employees and employers to that. cutting regulation. he should talk about streamlining the patent approval process getting trade agreements

passed and -- >> laura: is he blocking the free trade agreements now. that's not exactly right how you just presented that putting that aside, do you think the president handled that particular question well? did that make the president seem empathetic to this man's concern? >> i think that the president needs to be far more aggressive in explaining that the pass job creation in this country. >> laura: that's not what the guy asked. the guy asked about regulation. the president didn't either know what he was talking about and the president didn't answer his concern. >> i don't think the president was being dismissive at all. first of all the department of transportation just announced no new regulations on agricultural vehicle. that was announced recently in the agricultural industry was very grateful for that. >> laura: if he might have said that maybe if that true is is the case, maybe the president could have said that. >> we didn't hear the whole sound. i think the president did elucidate further. >> laura: no. not to that extent. we have to be balanced here good regulations protect people and

businesses. ask anyone who has salmonella how they feel about food safety inspectors. certainly they play an important role. >> laura: i wring this up because again i understand what the president and advisors said this bus tour was about. i get it, understand. both sides say it's not political. always politics in everything. i think it's a real question. does the president appear to understand the concerns of small business owners? medium size business owners? farmers how they live their daily lives? he has just landed in martha's vineyard, okay? i have been to martha's vineyard, beautiful place, nice place. nice place to go. is that the right optics right now at this time when the market dropped 450 points and people struggling? would you advise him to do that bernard? >> presidents always take vacations in august. always subject of attack. i think what we really ought to focus on is the differences between this president and the republicans in congress which are held hostage by the tea party which the tea party would sacrifice. >> laura: do you know how ridiculous this sounds, bernard?

>> tea party short-term economic gain. >> laura: democratic strategist holding up the tea party as the most transformative guy to ever run for the presidency. that's what we are told. new politics, changing politics, bringing people together. we have 9.2% unemployment. you guys had the congress and the senate filibuster-proof senate for two years and the presidency. you had two years to pass the budget, couldn't do it. so you are going to blame the tea party for the first two years, too? >> no. what we are going to talk about right now is the fact that the tea party has made it very clear that they run the republican party. >> laura: i must have missed that memo. >> absolutely refuse to pass any legislation that had an ounce of revenue increases, even if it was a 10 to 1 spending cut. >> laura: go home and be quiet? who is more in line with the way regular families are thinking about things this day the tea party or president obama. >> president obama. two thirds of the american public made it very clear they want to see a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases and the paper said no, no, no. >> the tea party's approval

ratings are just as low. they are actually much lower than president obama's. >> laura: first of all, the tea party is not an individual. okay? it's a group of people. >> they do not represent every american. >> laura: all over the country. i have met some of these guys and gals. they are different people. some people stress economics, some have views on immigration. the tea party? >> that's what they call themselves the tea party. i am referring to the name they call themselves. >> laura: if i'm sitting where you are sitting tonight, i'm thinking, gosh, this guy better turn it around. okay? because the tea party ain't going to save you guys. >> laura, you have to admit this, the president has major challenges because the republican party has made the political calculus mitch mcconnell by his own words said our number one priority is to make sure is he a one-term president. well, if that's your number one priority, then job creation should be the number one priority of the republican party. >> laura: should be we are out of time.

>> job creation. >> laura: i think it is. but they think he must go. >> voters trust 420725 over -- what other president in his third year had an approval rating where obama is ronald reagan 43% august of 1983 went on a landslide in the direction. >> laura: where was the economy going at that point? that economy was skyrocketing up at that point. >> thank you so much for being with us. wish we had more time. as the factor moves along this evening, we will take to you martha's vineyard while the president is on vacation while the economy tanks. first, fasten your seat belts, most controversial story of the night, day one after black conservative congressman colonel allen west accused democratic party of acting like plantation owners. liberal congressman charlie rangel enters the no spin zone and responds with a vengeance. we hope you stay tuned.

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>> laura: in the factor follow up segment tonight, the republican presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail hard this week. and congresswoman michele

bachmann is making this promise if she is elected. >> the day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. look at what it is today. under president bachmann, you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. that will happen. [ applause ] >> laura: meantime governor perry was greeted by unfriendly audience in new hampshire. >> ask him why he doesn't believe in science. [inaudible] >> hands off our medicare! hands off our medicare! >> laura: joining us from washington is fox news chief political correspondent carl cameron who is monitoring the g.o.p. races and from martha's vineyard that's a tough assignment fox news white house correspondent ed henry. good to see you. ed, i want to start with you.

>> good to see you. >> laura: optics being seen by some and this often by president taking vacation in difficult times. the stock market took a big nose dive today. the numbers from gallup are terrible for the president. what's the new news on this visit from martha's vineyard. anyone rethinking it? >> well, no. they are saying he is going to go ahead and stay for the entire 10 days. it definitely is risky politically. i think we do have to add the context of the fact that look i was in crawford, texas when the pakistani prime minister was tragically assassinated and president bush had to interrupt a vacation. i was in honolulu with president obama when there was an attempted terror attack in detroit on christmas day a couple years ago. that vacation was interrupted. so my point is that presidents can't get away from the presidency. so, he is still going to be working at least a little here. is he going to have an economic aide here briefing him every day. he is going to have a national security aide john brennan briefing him and making sure he is on top of national security. the optics are very difficult for this president right now. the last thing they wanted was on the day that he lands here

for the big dow dive because that certainly hurts on the optics. i think the comparison might be, look, people largely look the other day when george w. bush vacationed a lot. a lot more than this president by the way. it was relatively calm economic times. president bush's father h.w. bush was in awful economic times. weighs vacationing kenny bunk port near here and he paid a price in 1992. >> laura: think this news is what it is and you are in a place like martha's vineyard not like crawford texas, the rich and famous go there and hobnobbing. let's go to what happened in the campaign trail. bachmann and perry. bachmann promises low gas prices very low. perry getting hit by that mom who was coaching her child to ask questions about the age of the earth and so forth. perry tell us about it. >> perry picked up on it immediately. the young boy asked how old is earth? perry said he didn't know. and then said to the young boy i think what your mom wants to

know is about evolution. and he went on to say that evolution is a theory and in texas they teach creationism. and as the boy and perry were sort of parting company you can hear the mom say ask him why he doesn't trust science? ask him if he believes this science? typical new hampshire mischief mom and son going after the candidate. perry has had a mixed reviews from campaign trip. and attempts at retail on the streets of porth smith which is a liberal part of new hampshire he got hit by a group democratic activists part of an organization that actually said they were going to go there to demonstrate against him. bachmann we have reached a point where some of her misstatements and video sin crazies video sin crazies. >> she was in south carolina today to capitalize on the big win at the iowa straw poll.

by capitalize cash in. put the money in the bank. working on bundling operation to wrack in big bucks. she, too, has had whether it's gas prices at $2 which is going to be a hard promise to keep or some the anizations that her security has been too rough on reporters and actually kept her away from the peeps on some occasions. >> laura: we have seen the reports wearing big knee on t-shirts with security on them. i'm not sure that's that big of a story. come on, carl. you can take rough stuff. >> has nothing to do with her quality to be president, either. >> laura: exactly. talking about surrogates for obama who is already out there. the president is vacationing. arne duncan secretary of education. he gave interview it's going to air tomorrow. we have a clip from it. he talked about texas and texas education. let's listen. >> you have had no harcher critic than governor rick perry of texas. how does texas stack up over the last 10 years in education? >> texas has really struggled. i feel very, very badly for the

children there texas may have the highest high school dropout rate or, i'm sorry, the high -- the lowest high school graduation rate in the country. far too few are actually prepared to go on to college. >> laura: ed, obama might not be talking a lot about perry. well, he just hit the campaign trail. i will be easy on him but the surrogates are out there. >> they are. in fairness he was responding to a question. this is energetic education secretary who has been working pretty hard. i interviewed him before. evidence is all over this issue. you are right in the sense that, you know, he could have maybe not hit back quite as hard. and not engaged but, he decided to do that. and i think it's clear, it's amusing because i have heard so many people in the obama world saying we're not engaging with any of these kinds. we are not going to get into it. later on in that interview secretary duncan just saying i feel bad for these kids in

texas. it's not about the governor. i think he is a sincere guy at the same time i think there was some crocodile tears there because if they can dump on rick perry they will. >> laura: i feel very very very badly for the kids of texas. we appreciate it thanks. next up most explosive segment of the east coast. as charlie rangel responds to accusations from conservative congressman allen west that the democratic party treats african-americans like slaves. right back with it.

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>> laura: thanks for staying with us. i'm laura ingraham in tonight for bill o'reilly. in the unresolved problem segment tonight, a huge reaction to a segment we did last night on the factor about frustration in some parts of the african-american community with president obama. as we mentioned, the black unemployment rate in the united states is now at about 16%. which is a lot higher than the overall unemployment rate which is about 9%. we spoke with florida republican

congressman allen west who leveled some very serious charges against the entire democratic party. >> you have this 21st century plantation that has been out there where the democrat party has forever taken the black vote for granted. and you have established certain black leaders who are nothing more than the oversearing of that plantation and now the people on that plantation are upset because they have been disregarded, disrespected, their concerns are not cared about. look at the devastation in the black communities. you look at what has happened to the inner cities of chicago or detroit. >> laura: with us now to respond new york democratic congressman charlie rangel, a long time member of the congressional black caucus. congressman, it's great to see you. i know you watched last night. you have some thoughts. what are they? >> i'm really surprised at congressman west going back to harriett tubman who was historic figure during slavery time and i know he is new and is he a

freshman and -- before you get before an election is very important. he doesn't come from a political party ha can ridicule plantations and that type of thing. i really think at this time with the unemployment that you have recently shown it's not just blacks even though we doubled the national average, but it's every american. they are fed up with us down in washington fighting each other. all we have to do is come together on job creation, then we can go on and fight. there is plenty of things to fight about. >> laura: there certainry are. you are saying that congressman west, african-american, cannot use a plantation analogy? he is not allowed to use that? i'm trying to figure out what words we can use and can't use. >> what do you mean we can't? are you confused about whether or not you can use plantation black republican? >> laura: substance what he says very clear. walter williams, tom seoul, i guess they are not authentically black either they can't say that

they also made similar analogies. let me finish, sir. >> okay. >> laura: basically said the war on poverty might have been started with a great deal of good intentions has been an utter failure for many minority communities in the united states in the inner city and the school system. we have seen increasing problems. both within the family, within unemployment, across the board problems. has the war on poverty been a success in your mind? >> now, this something entirely different. >> laura: no, it's actually all tied together. >> you were talking about harriett tubman and plantations. >> laura: it's a criticism. it's a substantive criticism. >> i don't care what he says. if you want to deal with the fact that something worked, then you are 100% right. we can talk about unemployment. >> laura: has it worked? >> no. but why. >> laura: is liberalism working for the black community right now. >> i swear i wish i knew. you got a whole lot of different things. if you want to talk about the empowerment zonel which i passed

and we have them all over the united states. that has worked. >> laura: you won't answer the question. >> no. a liberal congressman can serve. >> laura: brought about a number of larger government programs that promised empowerment to the inner city. poor people, minorities, did it work? it's an objective question. did it work? >> listen, you -- this republican wants to talk about plantations and. >> laura: he is missing the point. >> he is now you want to make the point about lyndon johnson war against poverty. we are going through a period of today of high unemployment. >> laura: what has liberalism done for you lately? what pass president obama done for the black community in two and a half years? i think that's a very serious question. i think it's an important question. >> you haven't asked that. have you asked a half a dozen questions. >> laura: you seem to want to quarrel with the wording of questions instead of get to the substance of the question. i'm really delighted you came on. >> listen, i'm glad i came, too. >> laura: let's try to start

over. >> okay. now, forget all the tubman plantation and all of that. >> laura: al ledge west was making a very provocative point. people have used colossal language on the left and the right. both have. maxine waters is clearly very fru frustrate with the president. she let loose on him yesterday saying look he is not coming into any black communities. coming at it from her perspective. allen west is coming at it from his. i would ask you, has the president's economic plan, have they panned out for minority communities especially? >> heck no. because the republicans made up their mind and as soon as he got elected. >> laura: okay. >> laura: would. >> thank you so much. your countries sound like little mini questions. >> laura: maybe you don't get real questions from real people i don't know. >> this your show but what about real answers? >> laura: had you a democratic house, a filibuster-proof senate and white house in democratic

hands. you had that for the first two years. can't blame republicans for those two years or can you? >> we can say what the man inherited if you would permit me to say it. >> laura: those two years you were fully in charge no republican house. did it work out? >> we had two wars that we shouldn't have been in. >> laura: bush's fault? >> let me say this that bill o'reilly told me he had a secret weapon. i didn't know it was just a pretty girl that he would bring in. >> laura: that's condescending sir. a pretty girl. these are serious questions. >> you have asked me 50 questions. >> laura: right. >> i'm begging you. >> laura: let's hear an answer. you are not answering any of the questions. >> i'm begging you to leave on the plantation stuff and this. >> laura: we have moved beyond the plantation. >> leave out johnson and the poverty program. >> laura: that's actually a serious question. >> and just ask me one question at a time. >> laura: i have asked four questions and you haven't answered. >> the last question that we had a democratic president who inherited a heck of a deficit.

and he inherited a couple of wars. and then after we lost the majority in the house, i think it's safe to say that the republicans took the position that their primary objective was not to work with him but to get rid of obama. even while we wait now waiting for the vacation for job program. >> laura: should the president have taken a vacation? >> we have a dozen dozen bills that we have brought out. >> laura: you guys haven't passed a budget, sir in 600, 700, 800 days when the democrats had the opportunity to pass a budget. >> i want to let you know one thing. people in america who are unemployed aren't thinking about your budget. they are thinking about getting a job. >> laura: i'm not in congress. you are in congress. >> people out of work. lost their homes. >> laura: maybe they are looking at washington. >> this is how the republican. -they did then 00 republican thing. this is what happened.

this is what we inherited. >> laura: congressman, at some point does the buck stop at the white house? >> it does but we can't say that we didn't inherit a lousy economy. high unemployment. a hi def sit. >> laura: why was he elected? he was elected because he had ideas. >> you bet. >> laura: you lost in the mid terms like it happens. people are up. people are down. no doubt about it. >> there was an assumption that republicans would put the country above their politics. it was clear the polls see it clearly that republicans would rather this country go down in detaught and international obligation. >> laura: you are questioning their patriotism. >> i'm questioning the fact that they were prepared to allow the country to go and they admit this and they were on television saying it. >> laura: who is they? >> they are the candidates that are running against obama. >> laura: congressman actually in the end the debt ceiling was raised and the president signed the bill, sir. >> did you see any of the 10 candidates he asked them. >> laura: talk about the candidates. you will not answer a simple

question. has obama worked for the inner city? >> no. >> laura: good. that's a great answer. that's a truthful and good answer. >> and the country hasn't worked for the country either. and it's not just the inner cities. we have got white people, middle class people whose dreams have been shattered. >> laura: i agree with you. >> i'm not talking about the bush administration or the obama administration. no one cares which administration it was. america is made of people who dream and have hope that they can have a better life. that was snatched interest them and obama has not restored that hope that was taken from them by george bush. >> laura: thank you, congressman. >> i have to quit? >> laura: i wish we had the whole hour. >> i would love to come back. i'm sorry that i said you were attractive. i withdraw that completely. >> laura: i was going to make a joke about the condo in the dominican republic i didn't make that out of respect for you. he should have taken your condo instead of gone to martha's

vineyard. >> the condo actually wasn't worth that much money. >> laura: name names even though they wish we wouldn't. what a fun segment next.

>> laura: in the back of the book segment tonight a factor exclusive, which members of congress are living large and worth tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. we have brand new list exclusivery from our friends at "roll call." in the top ten there are seven democrats and three republicans. coming in at the top of the list is g.o.p. congressman from texas michael mechanical. is he worth mccall. $294 million. darrell issa number two about $220 million. john kerry is number three worth nearly 200 million but mostly his wife's money.

and democrat jay rockefeller from west virginia with a name like rockefeller you have to be rich he is number four with almost 82 million. of course, he didn't earn that he inherited it from his family who made a lot of dough in oil. joining us now from washington is paul singer, the associate editor at "roll call." paul, people love lists. the list issues always do really well. tell us how michael mccall made his money. most people don't know who he is tell us about him. >> sorry to tell you it's a result of his wife. his wife is the daughter of the founder of clear channel communications. and what has been happening is mccaul shot to the top of the list this year they have been inheriting chunks of this money overtime. five years ago he was worth maybe 12, $15 million. going up by big chunks this year. this year it zings to the list of 12 of 50 richest. >> laura: a lot of your numbers

are going to have be revised downward after the last month of the obama economy. >> keep in mind all these numbers are ridiculous. the fact of the matter is they report them in large sort of bland categories that don't tell you much. something might be listed between 1 and $5 million. some might be listed as over a million. that could be a billion. we think john kerry is probably the richest guy in congress. you don't see it because of how it's reported. all of his wife's money. she doesn't have to report the wife's detail. >> laura: people watching this might be surprised most of the people in the top ten are democrats. seven democrats, three republicans, right? >> yeah. well we did the top 50 and it's 31 republicans and 19 democrats. the top 10, as you said is 7 democrats and 3 republicans. again, because categories are sort of amalleable, it's hard to put anyone in any specific spot. these are all minimum net worth. they could be -- >> laura: who is the oddest story? is there anyone of the top earners or inheriters who have

con conventional path to wealth? >> one of our favorites is herb kohl is usually listed as the poorest member of congress because liabilities outweigh the value of his basketball team. jared from colorado who became internet millionaire with blue mountain greeting cards online. basically most of these people made their money the old fashioned way. he they inherited it or married it. >> laura: how about darrell issa. >> he made his first million in this automobile protection, you know, the car alarm, viper. but he is now converted his money into real estate. and you'll see this year his apparent wealth has basically doubled. and the reason is, again, he had a bunch of it in one big pile before, now he has gone out and moved some of those piles into various littler piles they add up to more. a bunch of buildings in

california. >> laura: how many women in the top 50? >> that's a really good question. i have never done the math that way. again, does it count that teresa hynes has all of john kerry's money? >> laura: yes. >> john kerry's name on the list but its his wife's money. hard to sort out how many of these people the money travels through the wife instead of the husband. >> laura: a lot of these people who are wealthy. my view is we want everyone to be wealthy. so i'm against demon mizeizing people who are wealthy because we want more people to be prosperous. they are not going to be out there flaunting their money in the country is hurting because you want to look like you are able to connect with the people. a lot of people are hurting and they see a lot of, you know, fat cats for lack of a better word in congress. >> we have done this for 20 years every year. you will see some fluctuation in value as the stock market comes and goes. >> goes up and down. >> members of congress tends too

to do better than the rest of us does. >> laura: pinheads and patriots next. guy called the situation on the jersey shore? no. coming back. ♪ the front-row tickets you never bought. the lucrative investment you never made. the exotic vacation you never took. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus rx. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer.

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the imus crew on fox business debated it. >> they should be happy. he's a well groomed dude. he's got his hair clipped, tanned up, clearly looks waxed. >> more people hate those low lives than like them. he's hurting their bran. >> why are you they watching the show? >> more people don't watch than do watch. >> you can say that about almost any television show. they have the best demos. >> casey anthony wore abercrombie & fitch you think they would be happy? >> let's put them in the same -- >> everybody is watching. >> please a child murderer and some guy trying to make the world a better place. >> laura: i love the imus crew those are my pepps. attention abercrombie part of what peeks the situation the situation is he normally doesn't wear much clothing at

all. for cheap publicity the abercrombie folks are total pinheads. >> now something very patriotic. the bolder fresher tour. the show on long island this weekend. for more information on bolder fresher.com. monday premium members will see exclude sieve video from the tour. while you are -- considering that, consider buying my new book five weeks on the new york times best seller list. available at lauraingraham.com signed. thanks for watching. i'm in for bill o'reilly. remember the spin stops here. we are always, always looking we are always, always looking out for you. closed captioned by closed captioning services, inc.