>> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communications and "politico," reporting on the legislative, executive, and political arena. >> the third agency of government i would do away with -- education, the -- commerce, and let's see, ican't. sorry. oops. >> this week on "inside washington," the brain freeze heard round the world. >> i said, "what are you doing?" >> i don't even know who this woman is. >> herman cain fights more allegations of sexual harassment. >> when you get bored, you have to admit and shake hands of the

folks -- when you get beat, you have to admit it and shake hands of the folks. >> in italy, it comes due for la dolce vita. and the fall of a legendary football coach. >> joe paterno is no longer the head football coach effective immediately. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> i think it is fair to say that debating is not rick perry's strong suit. i don't think i'm being a role here. at wednesday night passed a republican debate in michigan, he said he would eliminate three departments -- >> commerce, education, and what's the third one there?

>> five. >> ok. commerce, education, and that -- >> epa? >> there you go. >> seriously? is epa the one you are talking about? >> no, sir. we were talking about the agencies of government -- >> you cannot name the third one? >> no, he could not name it. it was the department of energy, and one of the centerpieces of his campaign. those of a certain age can sympathize with gov. perry -- i do. but i wonder if this is it for rick perry, charles. >> he went on a one-day tour, including letterman, to make light of it, which takes the sting out of it is the problem is that there is an axiom in washington that an incident only

counts if it reinforces an existing stereotype, a stereotype of a guy who was not nimble intellectually, maybe a light weight and is not up to the big leagues. that reinforced it. i am not sure he survives. >> mark? >> charles is right in this wonderful under instance. >> -- wonderful and rare instance. >> two weeks away and -- >> good to have you back. [laughter] rick perry's stumbles have related to his debate performance. bill clinton, when he gave a keynote address and went too long, could go on the late show's and say, "that was not the best hour of my life, not the best hour and half of my life," but that was not seen as his achilles' heel. that is the problem with rick perry. i don't know if he can recover. >> nina?

>> there are three reasons he cannot recover. the first is that he did not know this in his inner core, and the second and third i cannot remember. >> colby? >> this is one of those situations where i can say there but for the grace of god go i. i write a column, three pairs of eyes look at it before it gets published. and of course, this show was spontaneous, but every now and then we go time out. in his situation, i ache for him. i am not going to say he is gone. >> well, here's the problem -- rick perry is a very effective retail politician. when he meets people in groups of five, eight, 12 people.

that requires time. if he had a year, 11 months to spend in iowa, i have no doubt he could meet a critical number of voters. the problem is is a wholesale experience. everybody saw this. there is no way it is rebutted. >> the other thing is that people say of him that he is such a gifted retail politician, but there isn't substance there. this was the test of the substance and he has not passed the test. >> herman cain continues to nine deny he ever harassed anyone at any time and will not quit the race, period. >> as far as the accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race, ain't gonna happen. >> as for the accusations of

sharman pilate, cain says he never met the woman. >> the democrat machine has brought forth a troubled woman. >> cain's numbers are still up and at the campaign says the contributions have increased in the wake of allegations. how long is this going to last, mark? >> i don't now. -- i don't know. it is the democrat machine i understand, the rick perry campaign, it is the liberal media. this is a man who has been victimized by all sorts of an incredibly powerful forces. say something factual here. this woman came forward after 14 years, true, but there are two people to him the rest on a suspension -- restaurant association paid $45,000 and the other $35,000. that is a fair chunk of change and they did it contemporaneously with the

complaint and nobody made a part up. that is a fact. >> one other thing that ain't gonna happen. jan yamar 20, high noon, 2030 -- january 20, i knew, 2013, or herman cain will not be sworn in as president of the united states. the other thing is that herman cain will not be the republican nominee for president of the united states. >> ok, so clear sailing for mitt romney for now what? >> let me say this isay something about cain -- when you have to he said, she said, you can be humble and say there is no way we can now even though logically one person is lying and the other is the victim, you have to extend it mitchell said the, since you will never know who was the victim and who was a liar. what bothers me about cain much worse is the weight he conducted

himself in the debate. every question he got he answered with 9-9-9. to me that as a much more serious allegation, a much more serious indictment, because on the other issue, we will never actually have a real knowledge. >> is that in the back for mitt romney? -- in the bag for mitt romney? >> no, it is not. polls consistently show that a majority of republicans are not supporting his candidacy. perry getting a good chunk, cain getting a good chunk, gingrich coming up. romney has a serious problem that ruth marcus captured very well in "the washington post" on friday, the flip-floping. he is a serial flip-flopper. >> he is consistent in the flip-

floping. >> i thought he had a strong debate performance -- >> he had a strong debate performance every time and gets stronger every time. >> colby, you mentioned to you with markets column trade she quotes him addressing an editorial board saying, "i am as consistent as human beings can be." i don't know if you want to call attention to yourself -- >> having done that, she was able to document his inconsistencies on a series of issues, and they are not frivolous questions. where does mitt romney stand at his core on anything? he deflected a question at the debate the other day when he cited his longstanding marriage, his commitment to his fate, as if that is an example of his consistency. >> let me play devil's advocate -- don't we admire to some extent a certain flexibility in leaders? the ability to adapt and

empathize? >> when he acknowledged "i was wrong, and this is how i changed." he does not do that. he says, "i have always been consistent on climate change, immigration, abortion." >> i think that in the long run he has been a remarkably successful candidate wwith time. he does not look smarmy compared to the mitt romney of four years ago. i was talking to a top democratic operative who says that in 2004, george bush was pretty much in the same position that obama is now. what karl rove did then was to focus on what are called anger points, the things that make people mad -- gay marriage, blah blah blah. what the democrats have to do this time with it separate,

"independent" groups, is to focus on the anger points and drive up the negatives of whoever the republican nominee is. that is what we had a lot of lately, and it does not please me -- >> republicans have a heavy arsenal in that area. >> on romney, i want to point out one small moment that was largely overlooked. when perry was drowning in the 52 seconds, looking at around for anything, who threw him a lifeline quietly off the side? who suggested epa? nobody else help him out -- >> i heard it -- >> romney had no reason to do it. he is the top rival, perry has all the money and everybody has said he is the one who could challenge him to at that moment he suggested epa, and it was not calculated.

>> that could also be the smart aleck in the room -- perry i would say, "yes, d.b.a.." >> -- "yes, epa." >> somebody will emerge as a challenger. that is what the statement on wednesday night about his inconstancy of faith, constancy of -- his constancy of faith, marriage -- that was a shot at newt gingrich, who has been at three times married -- >> serial husband. >> that was a clear shot. i just think that romney does not excite republicans. he is getting 87% of the

republican vote against barack obama. a republican, in order to win against barack obama, fast to get well over 90%. >> as election day approaches next year -- >> i will say -- i said is based on nina's point about the kind of campaign -- if they have the kind of campaign of george bush ran in 2004, remember what a disaster the second administration was. >> interesting election results around the country this week. >> it is clear that the people of spoken, and my view is that when people speak in a campaign like this, a referendum, you have to listen when you are a public servant. >> that is ohio gov. john kasich after voters repealed the collective bargaining law, which would have limited the rights for teachers, police, firefighters. you are in ohio recently. did you see this coming?

>> i was, and this would have replaced collective bargaining with collective begging. it was a real overreach. by including firefighters, teachers, and police, they put a new face of organized labor in ohio. the question now is not why do public employees have health and pension benefits, but why don't private workers have health and pension benefits? the overreach it was they included into a provision, fair share -- i don't belong to a union but it does the bargaining for me. i am responsible to pay at least part of the bargaining cost. they were going to repeal that. the republicans were open about it -- they when it to defund organized labor and democrats. >> this was a split decision, charles. >> the same electorate that as

mark indicates will womanly approved a return to the status quo with the union rights, at -- overwhelmingly approved a return to the status quo with the union rights, they overwhelmingly approved a measure that would outlaw a obamacare by prohibiting the individual mandate. to me it is interesting. here is the state traditionally democratic, traditionally union -- unions in decline, obviously, in wisconsin, and you had an opposite result with the republican attack on unions succeeded. i think it is interesting to. here is a state that says, "lay off our own or arrangement with unions, but also, lay off our health care." i am not sure there is an ideological conclusion you can draw if you are a democrat or republican as to how ohio will go next year. >> there was very little public

debate about that. the way it was framed, that proposition, down ballot, it was very misleading -- i am not sure how much that had. to do. it >> is into the supreme court trying to decide whether to tackle this issue? >> they well, and it will not matter whether the state says yes or no on the law. >> you had other indications of overreach in mississippi, with the right to life -- >> fertilized egg it is a person. >> it did not pass in mississippi, probably the most conservative state in the union. >> terrible man, a terrible way to do it. -- terrible amendment, a terrible way to do it. if you are a pro-life person, that is the worst way to enforce it. all the power is in the hands of the judges, which is what a conservative it does not like -- all on the second -- hold on a

second. secondly, medically, is ridiculous. it was such a flawed and amendment that it was -- a way was -- >> nonetheless, haley barbour, the governor, voted for it. >> one conclusion is that a substantial portion of the pro- life movement is now an anti- birth control also. that is a real killer for the pro-life movement, no pun intended. >> what conclusions can draw from the elections? >> let me dissent from charles' polemic, exposition, that ohio is a democratic state. oil has voted for the winning -- ohio has a motive for the winning presidential candidate in the last 12 elections. as far as the health care plans the, democrats cannot deny the

fact that support for the president's plan has dropped and continues to drop. in the latest kaiser poll, it was down to 37%. on abortion, america remains totally conflicted. we are pro-choice but anti- abortion. >> will italy pasta problems become our problems? -- italy's problems become our problems? >> you can see why investors around the world are on edge. >> that is economist austin goolsbee, former chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. italy is a huge problem and he is about to go off the cliff. what happens if it does? >> it will take to the world's financial system with eight. that is why it cannot happen and probably won't happen. two things are standing in the white -- two words for what is standing in the way -- political

will. >> they do have third 38-hour work week to those things are expensive. >> you start with the mediterranean sea as the culture, you at the entitlement state -- add the entitlement state, and you get insolvency. they and put off the reckoning by adding on its debt. right now we are at the reckoning. it is ironic that we have elected a president of the united states that wants us to go towards that entitlements date, the european social democratic model, at precisely the time in history where it is imploding in front of our eyes. in the end, it becomes insolvent, and that is why there is no political will. it means that the ruling political class is going to have to impose on people, who out and raise and bred on entitlements -- who have been raised and

brought on entitlements, and tell them entitlements are over. >> there is profound difference between the united states and italy, but let's give italy credit is the seventh largest economy in the world. what they do not do right is a they don't collect taxes in italy. we collect taxes in this country. we do not collect enough taxes, but we do collect them. >> in greece, they don't pay taxes either. we should have a system that collects more taxes, but people do pay the taxes by and large that they are supposed to pay. that is a big difference between italy and greece -- >> i know you guys -- your anecdotes in your stereotypes. the average amount the government takes in europe, the

eu, the social democratic pilot of the world, is 48% of the gross national product. that is half, essentially. here we are about 1/3. they are not under-taxed. the reason the europeans are in trouble is they our over- entitled and counterproductive. -- under-productive. >> former banker here. >> as eugene robinson pointed out in "the washington post," romney talked about expenditures of health care in the united states, 18% in the rest of the industrialized world . he failed to mention that they are all on a single payer system. figure that out. >> ok, figure out. >> is it an attack on the system, but a very organized into an immense -- as an

entitlement system, but a very organized the entitlement system that is geared to cutting costs -- >> germany is doing very well, and i don't think that barack obama is following the model of kenyan anticolonial standard that was suggested by some on the right, or by the european welfare state model. >> the child sexual abuse scandal at penn state. >> joe paterno is no longer the head football coach effective immediately. >> i am out of it may be now. get a good night's sleep. study. pray a little bit for those victims. >> fired penn state coach joe turner, who says that allegations that young boys had been sexually abused by one of the assistant coaches is one of the great sorrows of his

life. this is not seeding, -- nauseating, colby. >> i read parts of it the other day and had difficulty sleeping. i had difficulty reconciling the behavior of the officials at penn state, not just joe paterno, but somebody like mike mcqueary -- >> assistant coach -- they are keeping him off the sidelines this week. >> he witnessed, he saw sandusky allegedly assaulting his 10-year-old child and did nothing. he went home and told his father. he did not try to stop it. he did not try to get the kid any help. no one seems to respond to the needs of the kids. this is as bad as anything i've heard. i've heard about the scandals of the catholic church, but this is

just revolting. >> but to me it shows how celebrity destroys our moral compass. we heard the announcement of the resignation of the coach, and the grounds and surprise and the protests that you heard from the press, kids practically rioting in the streets as a result of the firing of a coach. this isn't about a coach. it is not about his successes. it is about a crime that occurred. the whole story of paterno, is he going to coach or not, is missing the point. it speaks a lot for how celebrity culture makes it impossible for us to have a very straight, honest, and clean in judgment on the things that are rather open and shut. >> mark? >> this is about child rape. this is about robbing childhood for human beings. allof the attention oand the focus seems to be on joe

paterno and the coaches and whether it was a bureaucratic folly and whether something should be reported. this is a crime that cries out to heaven for vengeance. a middle-aged man who is raping a 10-year-old child in your presence, and somehow you are satisfied by passing it on to the bureaucratic chain of command. these are kids who are having their vulnerability exposed and exploited. >> this particular case happened nine years ago. >> this has been going on, we caknow, since 1999 -- >> 1998. >> there was a confrontation between the campus police, the mother of his children, the alleged perpetrator, saying he wished he were dead, and nothing happened after that. >> preying on the most

vulnerable kids in society. parents want their kids to get the strong supervision they needed. >> penn state grosses $72 million a year. see you next week.