>> "inside washington" is brought you in part by the american federation of government employees, proud to make america work. for more information about afge and membership, visit afge.org. >> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communications and politico, reportg on the legislative, executive, d polical arena. >> a guy called mitt romney wants to know whether we are ready. are we ready? >> this week on "inside washington," mitt romney's not

so excellent london adventure. >> my experience with regard to the olympics is it is impossible for no mistakes to occur. >> preside obama backpedaling fast on business. >> those ads are flat out wrong. >> after the colorado massacre, the gun-control debate again. >> we see the power of the nra around here. >> the widespread view is that somebody that on balance will find some way to do harm. >> the tax-cut debate again. >> the only thing that spending and the way of middle-class tax cuts are house republicans. >> the house will stop the tax hikes. >> penn state takes a huge hit for the sexual abuse cover-up. >> i feel bad for the university, i feel bad for the family of joe paterno. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> it was a natural. mitt romney, credited with saving the salt lake city olympics, goes to london for the 2012 gam. he launcs a arm fense, only to find, as one "daily telegraph" columnist put it, what he said is to avoid a charm and mildly offensive. he dared to say what everyone knows, that some of the things leading up to the olympics are screwed up. not all bad for romney, though, because this opponent, a campaign ad where he eats his own words. -- thedn't build that" president tells us that he did not mean what his opponents see he is, anti sma-busess. how is ronny doing so far, mark? >> it has not gone according to

plan, but he has taken too many cheap shots. this does not rise to the level of "corporations are people," or "i like being able to fire people ." let the gaffes began. >> nina? >> hviolated a cardinal rule, that it just does not get to criticize the british. having said that, i don't think this is that big a deal. i just not as if he committed a cardinal sin. >> americans may not think this is a big deal, but the british and do, charles. >> he missed a gimme. all he has to do on the trip abroad is say nothing. he chose three countries -- britain, poland, and israel, because ea ofhem s a history with this administration of being dissed.

all he has to do is show up -- woody allen said it is 80% of life --, and show friendship and affection and he will be a contest to a bomb. and what does he do? inexplicable what he did. he blew an opportunity. >> colby? >> even before he set foot in london, his staff got him in a sticky wicket talking about getting together with the british because of their anglo- saxon -- >> wait a minute, who said that? >> an anonymous person on his staff, and let's not have a debate about whether it was said or not. then he does the other thing that is unforgivable, that he mentioned having a meeting by name with mi16, which you don't do. that showed amateur speaker. -- amateurish behavior did you probably will follow charles'

advice. >> how many america freed british newspapers -- read americabritish newspapers? >> it is all over the american airwaves. >> it was on an nbc news interview with brian williams. this place into a negative perception of romney is a problem, and that the campaign has not addressed. asked in the abc news-"washington post" pohl, who would do better on the onomic fortunes of americans -- romney over obama. i cite that because he is with his wife, and it is wonderful -- divorce and wonderful -- and there it the horse is wonderful and therapeutic for her, but dressage is not a shot in the beer guy.

>> i have to agree to all the sports -- i know she uses it for her therapy, and i spect that, but is the course disappnted if he is not entered in the olympics? if he wins the presidency, he can take the horse on the presidential yacht. he can make the horse a senator. but the idea of doing it in the olympics went it is the most upper-class sport there is does is not exactly smart. >> charles is right, but for my money, the most bizarre thing he did was add these fund-raisers with bankers, all from are involved in the libor scandal. if they get a picture ofhat, that will be uleant f him >> president obama helped him this week. >> of course americans built their own businesses. every day, hard-working people sacrificed to meet a payroll and create jobs and make our economy run. >> that ad is airing in six

battleground states. it is the direct response to republican attacks on what the president said in roanoke, virginia on july 13 -- "if you own a business, you did not build a that." why would y run spot like that? y no have the soviets say you were taken out of context and taken out -- surrogates say you are taken out of context and take it out on romney? >> they obviously found it was hurting . the place the obama campaign got a boost was an unlikely source, "the union leader," an avatar of conservative journalism, when doubt that the guy romney used in -- pointed out that the guy romney used in their ad got $800,000 worth of tax credits and the state of new hampshire and in addition to that was living off of a federal contracts.

it wasn't like he just started his crotch and it on lunch hour late at night. -- started his garage and did it on lunch hour late at night. >> it captures the essence of obama's view of the economy and of society. he is very clear but he says it watakeout of context. the context of this makes it worse. he starts by saying that if you are wealthy and successful, you did not get there alone. and he says, you think you are so smart? a lot of people are smart. you think you worked hard? a lot of people worked hard. he is discounting the brands and ingenuity and how works of those who are successful, and what really put you where you are is government has done. that is a reasonable argumt, a very old argument of left and right, b it presents a government-centered view of what

success and the economy and the american system is about. but that is a minority view in the united states, and that is why he had to cut the ad, because if that becomes the perception of what obama believes, he loses this election in a center-right country. >> let me say two things. first of all, jon stewart took a romney speech and took little excerpts of it next to the ones that obama from that speech, and they were almostord for word the same. no. 2, obviously, the romney people thought that this was working, using negative adds, and the obama people conclude the same thing. you don't do something this defensive and this fuzzy "i was taken out of context" business unless you think i.t. is hurting you. >> colby? >> the romney camp to that

remark out of context. if you read the total remark, it is clear that he is suggesting that -- he is not suggesting an individual initiative cannot succeed, is not important. he does say that. he talks about other things -- infrastructure -- and he discusses and other speeches as well but they did that, took it out of context, and if obama said nothing, somebody on the right would say, "he has nothing because he has no response." >> i jusgaveou the context. fr where i a wrong. >> preferred the context in which i was discussing it, in which he discusses individual initiatives. >> that paragraph begins with his mocking treatment of people who think they are responsible for their own -- >> i read in a mockery -- into mockeryi reas -- i read no

mockery into that. >> democrats are much less enthusiastic about this election thn four years ago. republicans, 51%. romney may not be the guy of their dreams, but it will turn out because they tend to vote at higher rates. >> democrats did have the enthusiasm it in 2008, and even in 2004 at this stage of the campaign. the bush campaign, to their credit, maximize turnout. they had ever wrote in the country turned t to the pol. this election will be determined by suburban women, women who went to college, whewomen under the age of 50.

they hold the balance of this election. >> the real danger for obama is that democrats are already less enthusiastic, and the way this campaign is unfolding, the negativity only makes them less enthusiastic. >> according to prosecutors, 24- year-old james holmes opened fire in an aurora, colorado movie theater showing the new batman movie, killing 12 people and wounding 50 market president obama says he believes in the second amendment guarantee to bear arms, and mitt romney does not support new laws in this country. nobody will mess with this in this election cycle. >> is election cycle or nt elecon cycle, unless politicians develop intestinal fortitude and goes against the nra. who uses assault weapons? do you hunt rabbits were pigeons

or deer with an assault weapon? >> what interests me is how politicians are staying totally away. >> i talked to two fairly senior people in congress this week, one a democrat, won a republican, both genuine gun supporters, and they said that as a result of the nra's ter, something very dangeus is goingo haen i this country. but then they went on to say, , i willarquote me never speak to you again." >> this issue was decided in 1994. >> there was a perception by many democrats that they lost the house in 1994 when they passed the assault weapons ban. i would point out this -- the assault weapons ban d cover the weapon ud by james holmes

in aurora and limited magazines to 10 bullets. he had 100. if not for it jamming, he would have killed twice as many, three times as many. one other point -- why is it that after katrina, we say that we have to do something about levees? after 9/11, we agreed we had to do something about security and terrorism. but something like columbine, something like aurora, virginia tech -- no, no, we are helpless, pitiable giants. >> charles? >> the reason we cannot do it is not because of a lobby but because of the court is of the democrats. we don't have a debate on gun control in the country. we have it on talk shows, but not in congress. if you have a debate, one party on one side, the other party on the other. the democrats will not speak up to a democrat would not even

give his name in nina's quotation here. ifou want to blame itn the lobby, you are barking up the wrong tree. it is a minority that the majority would oppose its they cared or knew about it. it is not nra representing a minority. the reason is speech in everybody this is because democrats and republicans and the majority of the public -- it is a reflection of public opinion and that is why there is no debate on it. >> that is not the k street they intimate politicns oboth sides, bh paies. >> if people are on the side on the issue, there would be no intimation. >> when it was lopsided, 70%, they have enormous power, great clout -- >> try once to plan the democrats instead of one outside

of the. -- blame the democrats instead of one outside lobby. >> republicans are not? >> republicans have a position and democrats want to oppose a it. [laughter] >> do you like that position? >> i of the spoken on this program for 20 years, i'm not an opponent of gun control. >> so republicans are wrong, sir? >> the reason this is not happening is because of a consensus among the majority of americans. >> we have a terrific police chief here. ask her where she stands on gun control, asked mayor bloomberg, y chf in the countr >> they know what it is like to go against opponents. i want to go back to what speaker boehner said -- any deranged person -- >> that was mcconnell.

>> mitch mcconnell -- "any deranged person can get a weapon and do something like that." person is to arrange to has a knife -- is deranged and has a knife, how many people would th be le to ki? the weapon makes a difference. >> come to me in west virginia and talk to some of these guys, women out there pinetree the -- women out there. they hunt to eat. >> but not with assault weapons. >> and they don't need 100-round clips or tear gas. >> they say it is a slippery slope. you take away that assault weapon and the next step is my -- >> the day comes when a bunch of tourists come over here having what it much of this --

terrorists come over here having much of this stuff and no doubt everybody in a shopping center, what we say that? >> every time in our rich like this happens, the first thing is to talk about guns, then nothing happens on guns. but there is another aspect of this, which is, why somebody like him is out on the street. we don't know this guy's history, but we knew it jared ghner's's jared lou history. should there is not the gun -- the issue there is not the gun trade. but he was near him, students, teachers, family, knew he was deranged. there was a member of his class who left his class because she said he was so scary. the other issue we will not confront it that over the last 50 or 60 years, with such a restrictive laws on commitment

that jared loughner cannot be brought into the custody of the state until he tells somebody. that is not the way it should be. >> are we suggesting that anyone who uses a weapon to kill somebody is deranged? if so, we have a lot of strange people in this country. >> john hinckley was, jared loughner is. timothy mcveigh was not did a lot of people who are dead are dead at the hands of people who are clearly derange and we don't do anything about it until they kill. >> i want to salute charles krauthammer for his eloquent advocacy for making more available and accessible mental- health. it was easy to get mental-health treatment as it is to buy an assault weapon, this would be a lot better country. 2/3 of all deaths and in this

country, murders, and all the guns. you are -- invve guns. you are 11 times more likely to be murdered in the united states than in japan, six times more than in germany. we have accepted and control and in this country since 1934. fully automatic weapons, machine guns, have been banned t. you cannot bring a weapon into the capital of the united states, where all these pro- gun. and cancel heroes, these john wayne wannabes -- pro-gun heroes, these john wayne wannabes, from the halls. >> what about this show? you want to bring a concealed weapon on this show? >> god, i hope not. >> if you want to move this economy forward, working families need a helping hand. >> to raise taxes on 1 million

small businesses. >> senators dick durbin and john thune. this bill fa in e house, but they have to look busy. >> because they -- the democratic leaders have the majority vote -- >> mitch mcconnell allowed this. >> he got this piece of legislation passed in the senate but now it goes to the house of representatives, where it will fail, coz republicans don't want tax cuts for the rich to expire. they know that. theyre talkingbout rich ople getting to the question of how much money gets save, spend -- the fact is that republicans ought to let -- pass this bill.

>> i meant to clarify something. you lose the tax reduction and it is only an increase on anything beyond what you paid, over $250,000. the first $250,000 is exactly the same. anythi over that,ou le the benefit you got uer the bush x cu. >> t quote ronald reagan, there we go again. the joint committee on taxation has reported that 53% of small business income would come under this tax hike. we just had a report on friday that growth in the second quarter was 1.5%, which is the slowest in the history of any recovery since the second world war. at 1.5%, the economy is sliding backwards and unemploymentill rise. you want traise taxe on 53% of small business income in the middle of recession and expect we are going to kill the

economy? it is -- heal the economy? it is nuts. >> $2 trillion under george bush's tax cuts have gone back to the american people. $1.30 trillion of them have gone to people in the top 10%. the millionaire this year gets $152,000 in tax cuts. that is great if you are a millionaire. you can buy prite schools, you can buy private security, you can buy private recreation. but for those people, the vast majority of americans, who depend upon public schools, public safety, public transportation, public recreation, we have lost 100,000 teachers, and that is why this has to pass. >> more on penn state and the punishment of that school. >> we don't see this as a punishment. this is an opportunity, the greatest opportunity and state to be given -- penn state could

be given. >> he place for penn state team may not see the n.c.a.a. action as punishment, but a lot of people do. >> god bless him for saying something like that. i find myself extremely and built the lead about this. it is clear that the n.c.a.a. did this to send a message to other schools. to want toible rebuild the culture. they are not going to rebuild the culture. they are goingo punish people who dinot do anything, b theyill spend aessage to other -- sent a message to other schools. >> they are wiping out history, putting to overturn a down the list. -- putting toper turnout down list. - >> also puts the players, who got injuries playing those games, asking did i do all that -- i guess a broad brush.

this is one of the great, terrible scandals all of sports. there is not a clean wayou c do t damage could i think that what the n.c.a.a. is reasonable i don't see any better or worse way you can handle anything this complicated. >> they stopped short of the death penalty that some people were urging, to kill the program, but they or forcing penn state to do what it has to do, rebuild the program. it will take years before they will have a chance to start that. good decision. >> the only bright light for those players and their attitude and the facof versy too wh -- otherwise, it is bleak and dismal and pressing. >> in the end, there is no punishment could meet the magnitude of the crime. in the end, you just have to accept the meager substitute for any kind of justice. >> they said that if you have a

scholarship to penn state anyone to go to another school, you can play right away. >> you have got to make the team. >> they are breaking the program, as they suld. >> lt word see you next week. auro>> "inside washingto is ought u in part by the ameran federation of governmentmploes, oud ke arica work. for more information about afge and membership, visit afge.org.