else, we can surely fix it, but it's up to us to make sure we're no longer a punchline in vladimir putin's rue teenchts love the idea, mr. ames and look forward to learning more about it. that does it for us. i'm dylan ratigan, and "hardball with chris matthews" is up right now. drop in stock. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight -- fear. the stock market was having a tough time the last couple of week. today we saw bad time. the dow dropped 513 points today shaving off more than 4% of its value. the dow had its lowest close in 8 months. what happened today is bad for the economy, bad, of course, for president obama. the fact that the market itself was largely about europe's debt crisis is going to be of little solace to the people running mr.

obama's re-election campaign. if they're hoping the president's political skills bus a loser republican opponent will get him through next november, don't count on it. i worked for president carter against reagan and vote letters not accept the argument had you no choice but to stick with the incumbent. it's a losing strategy. plus, how exactly did the tea party, a minority in one-half of one-third of the government, the house of representative, manage to shape the direction of the country to its will. facts, history, evidence, do not matter to them. all that matters is a commitment to ideology, and willing to risk among other things bringing down the economy if they don't get their way. senator pat moynihan of new york said you're entitled to your on opinion, not your own facts. the tea party disagrees. up in the air, 200 construction projects haumted, why? because of another quibble in congress. by an effort by republicans to make it harder foreairline

employees to unionize. it was solved today and we'll hear from the treasury secretary ray la hood, and the "hardball" strategists are with us tonight. let me finish with the economic fear which is in the land. a big drop on wall street. maria bartiromo joins us from the new york stock exchange. thank you, maria. what happened? >> well, today we saw europe really set the tone, chris. you have a debt situation in europe that is spiraling downward. the prich ral counteripheral co getting in involved whether italy will be able to pay its bill, same with portugal. a spiral going on in europe. that is one issue that set the tone. and finalizing trade in the final hour, a new focus on the u.s. economy. just you coming off a two-month stalemate where virtually -- people weren't doing much of anything. whether it's companies, corporations or individuals.

we were all worried about the debt, the deficit and we were watching what was happening in washington. the back and forth, and, in fact, it materialized in people sitting on their hands, unable to make long-term decisions on anything, and as a result that is impacting economic activity. we have a jobs number tomorrow. the employment report coming out tomorrow after two reports of last two months that were very weak. there is renewed worry about the unemployment situation. of course that being the biggest issue for the economy in the u.s. all of that culminating to create fear, as you said, and uncertainty about where this market is heading next. people sold first and will think about it later. a couple of concerns coming together today on the heels of economic data that was weak. manufacturing coming in weak recently. retail sales coming in weak and all expectations that we are failing to actually see any real sustained job creation growth. >> are we possibly -- i should say a perfect storm?

economically? whereby there's trouble in europe, there's this periphery countries like italy and i ireland and portugal looking like they're headed towards greece and our country is somewhere in that murky neverland somewhere between good and bad, and at the same time the sense of hearing the largest market in the world, our politicians are in this inability to govern because of this endless fights. how can it all work together? >> very tough, chris. that's exactly what it is, and i think the american people are tired of hearing she said she said, it's your fault, no it's your fault. people want to see leadership and the country come together. and recognize that these are real issues. we've got real hobs problems o economic and global stage, growth happening outside the united states. this is a real issue. corporations in the u.s. generating much of their growth as result of growth in china, growth in brazil, growth in india. i think -- i don't want to be

all gloom and doom. one part of this story is positive. the fact is, that the corporate sector is sitting on $2.5 trillion in cash, balance sheets are very strong post-2008, because they are lean and mean. they've cut jobs, they've cut r & d spending, and you are looking at a strong sector in terms of the corporate sector. that in and of itself is positive. the issue is, they're sitting on that money. they're not putting that money to work, because they do not have the certainty. certainty on the one hand of the regulatory environment. they don't know what their business will look like bay they're afraid of policies coming out of government right now and the second hand, afraid that demand is not going to be there, because it hasn't been there. we continue to see weakness on the housing front. that's stuck in the mud. and we continue to see the retail environment uneasy. so as a result, you're not really seeing much movement of that cash. on the one hand it's positive, because there's wiggle room there. that strength in the corporate sector eventually you hope that money goes to work in terms of job creation. hasn't happened yet, chris.

>> what a clear picture. thank you so much, maria bartiromo from cnbc for coming to join us this tough night. the fear about this economy, the biggest obstacle facing president obama right now. i surely think it is. writing about the headwands facing the president in police coe today. and "new york" magazine, a big cover about the republican fight. john heilemann first. the perfect storm. europe in turmoil, countries on the periphery of hell waiting to drop out, inability to pay their debt. the united states going day-to-day basically in a clinch, a non-decisive clinch, was the smartest guy on the block mitch mcconnell saying i'm not going to let the republicans be blamed? this is all obama's baby? let him have it. >> i think it was. you mentioned before working for jimmy carter. the last time we've had nine consecutive drops, was february 1978. the memories should are strong for you of this kind of thing.

i think that what we had was, we managed this week to avoid a debt ceiling default, but i think the markets saw over the course of the last three months and month particularly the last three week as political default on the part of both parties, and they're reacting to a lot of thing. obviously, a lot of economic data in europe. bad economic data here, but also to this notion, as you put it, a clinch, a political default, that there is no -- that the government and the united states now is incapability of doing anything ksignificanty avoiding the worst possible catastrophe. the market is reacting. a huge problem for president obama going forward because republicans had done pretty well in laying this at his doorstep. >> let me go to -- i'm pretty pro-obama in many ways. alike the spirit of his administration and in terms of responsibility what it stands for in our country's history, but i wonder about the jobs program. right now let's talk job. the two toughest opponents he'll probably face and faces either

one is romney and the governor of sex, rick perry. all they talk about is jobs. the president can't play that game. he can't get on a bus and drive around like he's pawlenty saying i'm going to create job. he's got to do it, jim. how can he say i've pivoting towards jobs and get on a bus? what's going on? does he have a program? >> that's his problem. he doesn't have a program people are buying into. government will not stimulate the economy. the economy doesn't need a nudge, it needs a jolt. the $ trillion businesses are sitting on, $2 trillion, we'll have stagnation until then. that's bad for him. we have to articulate a plan a strategy for creating jobs. maybe tax reform, lowering the corporate tax rate, free trade deals through. he's got to convince bins there's stability and some predictability in this market going forward. if he doesn't do it we'll could not having this cycle. business, hate, instability. we learned in the default,

congress might do something nuts to default at some point or might not do the right thing in getting the balance sheets in order. they're looking. looking for signs. nervous about what's oversea, nervous about what's happening here. >> you know, i look at this, look at what the president's done. sign on to a debt ceiling bill that reduces spending. going the wrong way, you could argue. talks about creating jobs, green jobs, perhaps with korea, something to do with infrastructure and none of it sounds right to the me. the word bunk juank jumps out a. that's not a solution. what, another commission? john, seems to me he's got to decide, like a kid riding a bike up on the curb. either go into the ditch, into the sewer when, what do you call it, the sewer drain, or stay up on the sidewalk. he's riding along the edge not doing anything. we've all been in that situation. i was a paper boy. reminds me of a guy on the bike afraid to do anything but go straight and eventually he's going to go over the side. why doesn't he come out with a big jobs bill?

the deficit's going to go up anyway. it's going to go up because of unemployment. bring the deficit up positively by calling for a real 2 million persons jobs program. everybody working. make a list of everything that needs to be done. put pick colors on tv of the dangerous bridges, pothole-ridden roads. show what it looks like that isn't getting done and call for tr to get done and call for boehner to sit on his hands and say no. why doesn't he call for something to be done about jobs? >> because he knows he will fail. >> because republicans would say no. >> i understand that. i'm trying to explain. i think that president obama, one thing we've seen over the course of 2.5 years of barack obama's administration. he is averse to hand-to-hand combat. he does not do that. many liberals and progressives who want the president to do various thing. wanted him in a debt ceiling fight to brandish the 14th amendment and push republicans into the corner. we could talk a long time whether that's the right or wrong thing to do or what you

suggested is the right or wrong thing to do. president obama is no a kmpationalist. at heart, his entire career even before politics, a guy who does not want to fight in that way. and you can ask him to try to be something else but you're asking him to be not barack obama when you ask him to do that. >> do you you agree, jim? never do a public works because it would require hand-to-hand combat? >> i think it's the only option he has right now to come out with something bold and try to fight for it. truth is, you can't get the things you're talking about with let's do short-term stimulus. not happening. not in this congress. 240 way in hell after the fight he just went try debting democrats up to re-election to do more spending. everybody in congress is convinced with the exception of liberals it's bad politics now. bad policy, to be doing more spending. especially when independents have -- the idea of more

government. >> but, jim, then he's done. if he has to be a faux republican harks to act like his main goal is debt cutting he's just a sort of a watered down conservative. doesn't he have to be an activist democrat to have a go shot as being a leader of this country otherwise he's following the tea party not fighting it? >> it would require a radical switch from where he's at. they made the decision after the election they're going for the center. win back independents and somehow navigate this country wsh died move with less spending. you saw where his heart at is at the beginning of the negotiations on the debt ceiling. e wanted to do something big, get entitlement and get to tax reform. low, the corporate tax rate is something that the administration believed they could support that would get those businesses to start hiring. witness they start hiring, the atmosphere changes. politics changes. you can start to readjust. until that happens, he is locked. he is a princer in of this economy. he's a prisoner of a congress

with no appetite whatsoever for more spending. >> this business community, john, has built up its treasury of $2.5 trillion in cash by firing people. by not hiring people. by squeezing those who are working. they've done it in every corporation i know anything about. that's what they do. remove as many as they can of permanent employees, hire temporaries, hire part-time, whatever. they don't -- they do overtime and don't like to hire people. why do you or anybody think that cutting corporate taxes, giving business more of a break will get them to do what they know doesn't make money, which is getting rid of permanent employees? >> chris, there's a logic to tax reform in general. the argument would be that if you could get a broader -- cut taxes across the board after getting rid of a lot of loopholes and flattening out the code it would drive consumer demand and you add consumer demand, that go up, it creates a greater demand of products for american corporations and be able to produce more and

therefore would have to hire more to produce more. that's the logic. i'm not endorsing it, but that's the logic of those who believe that kind of tax reform would ultimately lead to more and better jobs in america. >> it's your -- if you're right, we're in a lot of trouble here, if you believe the companies don't want to do any hiring. government's not going to create the jobs in the next couple of year. there's no appetite. if e don't figure out how to get businesses to do it, it's not going to lap. there has to be some kind of compromise, some sort of concentrated effort by both parties to get business doing what it needs to do help grow this economy. >> i think we disagree. i think the american peeple people have to be confronted with a choice. do you want the government to zing to nothing or create jobs? i think they'll say create jobs. the worse this number gets. tomorrow, more reason to think about it. sadly enough. if that number goes up here to 10. thank you both. coming up, how did the tea

party manage to take over this country? how's that for a question. they control less than half of the republican party. how did they get control of the whole government? they don't seem to care about history or facts. only slashing government and are willing to risk wrecking the economy, we've seen that, if they don't get their way. how come? maybe i answered that. they're willing to extort. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

he needs some gellin'. yeahhhhhhh. gellin' is like having a teeny tiny foot masseuse in your shoe. you like ? nice ! dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles. outrageous comfort, all-day long. while americans don't like the deal of raising the sdet ceiling, a gallup poll finds 46% disapprove versus 39% who approve. one in five said a step towards addressing the growing national debt and ironically democrats favor the deal far more than republicans despite republicans got nearly everything they wanted in the deal. 58% of democrats approve only a quarter of republican dos. a third of independents. we'll be right back. kraft singles. we're rich in calcium to help build 'em up strong. ooh, watch out, bad guys.

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back to "hardball."

it wasn't long ago harry reid predicted the demise of the tea party. so much so, so much for that prediction. how has a small minority of political people amassed such following? a big cover. and you start, your column. i'm asking you now to do something you didn't do in the column. update it to right now. a 513.drop in the dow. will that quince the tea party they were right or the enemies of the tea party we took more than we can take? >> everybody will be guilty. i wrote in my story, we have a situation where everyone that sees their own truth. right? you know, daniel patrick moynihan would say you're entitled to your own opinion and own set of facts. the tea party cease their own set of facts as they want to see it. not the same facts everyone else sees. more specifically, the tea

partiers would say they didn't like the deal in the end. they brought the debate in their direction quite successfully ultimately, the michele bachmanns of the world opposed it, weak tea. and in part of fact washington wasn't getting serious about the deficit. a lot of people disagree. >> it's not the overseas markets? that caused this? it's the weakness of the deal. >> that's what they would say. >> dictating your own acts. there was not global warming no default of any significance, and also, michele bachmann, who is actually the leader thinking, would say things like, the founding fathers imposed slavery and dictate who the founding fathers were, going 30, 40 years later, the founding fathers. >> yep. >> am i answering my own question? they make their own facts up? >> you give me a segue, i agree with michael. everybody in washington points fingers at everybody else. expect that.

the tea party does not have a right to absolve themselves here actually, because before the debt ceiling deadline was hit, washington people on both parties were telling wall street, don't worry, we're going get a debt creel ago agreement. when they got one, so messy, so ugly, so crazy that wall street, which strives on predictability and hates unpredictability and instability, the whole tea party helped drag things further down. >> the key, the tea party thinking about economics. rush limbaugh explaining economics, we all were taught in school, spend money when the governmenten down to offset consumers and business. what we're all taught. comes out of the great depression. hoover didn't do it, roosevelt did do it and it worked. here's rush limbaugh talking to one of his livers. >> john maynard canes, if want to know what cainien economics

is, you're living it. barack obama, massive government spending, massive debt, massive redistribution of wealth. the lie that government spending, deficit spending, can propel economic growth. they had no intention of saving capitalism. they wanted to destroy it and replace it. with socialism or marxism or fashionism or whatev i fascism. >> he lost weight. says that word all the time. the hardest for the tea party. massive spending, hemorrhaging. hemorrhaging. the stimulus program of 800 to 900 billion dollars was a waste. >> right. >> it didn't bring the economy -- they've got a good argument with that. when you have a 9-plus unemployment rate, how can you claim you turned the economy around? the crayon level thinking. it works, doesn't it, for the argument? >> sure. the stimulus was a big setback

for the economic theory. hard to explain it may have prevented things from getting worse. the rush limbaughs point to unemployment and say it was a complete waste, it didn't work. also a trademark. it's not just that this economic theory doesn't work. never mind there's a lot of date tha says it does. a lot of supporting data. this is a cover story for eliminating capitalism and big government running amok. it's a lie basically. it's a valid economic here to they rush limbaugh is turning it into. trying to hoodwink you and lie to you. that characterizes the movement. >> what do you think? the democrats want to replace capitalism with? never been able to make that connection. they raise most of their money from socialism. >> makes up facts like he often does. no, w shg, look. we didn't spend up in on the stimulus. that argument is not getting a chance to be heard. king won say that. you had a representative of gdp during the roosevelt administration. in fact, world war ii, really pulled out of the depression.

yeah, massive government spending. and a war, right? >> and industry, that's what government does. buy stuff. >> up to this year, of this recent bad report we got, of very low productivity in the first quarter, is because of all the public money pulled out of the economy at a state side and local level. a prichvate sector did a little bit creating jobs but all the money was pulled out. what's the tea party solution? pull more money out of the economy obviously more recession, possibly depression, and rush limbaugh is completely oblivious to that. >> the tea party prescription, cutting spending. you laid it out well. cutting spending, it's going to bring more economic bad times. in fact, worse. what will they say then? a new line? >> yeah. cut more spending. the government is too big. >> didn't go enough? a standard live of ap ideologue, didn't do enough. >> that's probably what would happen. and it's not that you can't find a credible main stream economist

about arcanesian theory, but rush limbaugh, presenting a conspiracy theory. a fraud. you're being hoodwinked. you get a lot of that in the tea party. a fancy story to lie to you to promote another agenda. even the global warming, another capitalism. stems from the hatred of the free markets. has nothing to do with science or -- it makes it hard to have a serious conversation that gets anywhere because people are talking didn't- >> and detroit the auto industry, largely saved by government. >> who saved capitalism in the 1930s? fdr. fdr. not a very good job saving capitalism. roosevelt i thought ended the war. roosevelt kept it on his feet until the war came. >> doesn't hurt to put more money in the economy when you're in a depression. that simple. >> the tea party needs to read history. michele bachmann, the founding

of our country, first. thank you. nobody knows all the answers. they know less of the answer. thank you, sir. coming up, something you don't see every day. a major republican politician sticking it to the full mooners in his own party who talk of this phony threat of -- i like this guy christie. watch him in action, the governor of new jersey. a real jersey guy coming up next in the "sideshow." you're watching "hardball." only on msnbc.

back to "hardball" now. to the "sideshow." first up, hidden talents. a glimpse of the non-political side of a couple of the republican candidates this week. while greeting supporters in new hampshire, jon huntsman bent down and began playing something on the piano. let's listen. >> come on. sit down and hate few. ♪

[ playing the theme to "charlie brown" ] ♪ >> of course, the hard part, the theme to charlie brown, but he's not the only one. rick santorum's campaign mighton scraping the bottom 69 barrel for cash, that won't stop the candidate from handing out free goodies. he told a group in iowa he and his family harvested 600 peaches from his home in pennsylvania and plan to hand out homemade jam at the upcoming straw vote calling it presidential peach preserves with a name like santorum, it's got to be good. the voice of reason. new jersey governor chris christie took initial heat after appointeding to a new jersey state bench. christie fired back as only he can suggested by someone out in the new appointment means that

shrhea wahl could be coming to his state. >> i nonenated mohammed because he's a good lawyer and outstanding human being. sharia has nothing to do with this. this law business is crap. it's just crazy and i'm tired of dealing with the crazies. >> tired of dealing with the crazies. i love it. how's that for putting the issue to jest this guy's a jersey guy. the big number. president obama announced plans for a bus tour throughout the midwest in an effort to refocus his initiatives on job creation. this pivot is not the first of its kind, however. how many times have obama announced a solicit to focus on job creation? seven times since the beginning of this presidency back in 2009. not an easy feat. up next, what's barack obama's best argument for re-election? and what's the best republican argument against it? we'll be right back. the strategists join us next. you're watching "hardball," only

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i'm hampton pearson with your cnbc market wrap. the market's worse day since the start of the financial crisis back in 2008. the dow jones industrial plunging 512 points. now down about 1200 points over the last two weeks. the s&p 500 sliding 60. the nasdaq tumbling more than 136 points. it was the european debt crisis. markets unimpressed. an effort to boost the financial rescue fund were caught by the germans and dutch. as you'd imagine, the dollar soared against the currencies. in fact, bank of new york mellon said it will start charging large depositors to hold cash

due to the sudden increase in dollar deposits. in earnings news, gm doubled quarterly results nearly and kraft beat out and announced its splitting into separate mac and grocery companies. that's cnbc, first in business news. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." terrible news on the stock market. a drop of 513 points, fresh ammunition to republicans to make the case president obama is not healing the economy. what can the president say in his defense? time for the "hardball" strategists. a big night for republicans. steve mcmahon playing defense. i'm afraid to say. take it away. batting practice for you. make the case. why the president should not get re-elected for a second term?

>> simply, you ask the american people, is the country heading in the right direction, and depending on what poll you look at, your latest poll was about 67% say, no. i've seen it as high as 75%. >> make an argument. what's your case? >> four things. jobs, the economy, spending, debt. every one of those indicators people are unhappy with the direction this president has taken the country. if that's what the question of the 2012 cycle is about, barack obama is in real tough shape. >> what's the biggest issue going for you? >> the economy. clearly. >> nair toe down. >> jobs specifically. the economy more broadly. look at economic indicators, economic confidence, in gallup, latest numbers, the lowest of the obama presidency. people don't think the economy is heading in the right direction. >> okay pup made your point. enough of you. steve? >> listen -- >> jobs? >> it's jobs, it's the economy. the question on election day, whether people feel like thing are getting better or whether

people feel like -- same thing we're getting worse. hard day. >> all elections are about the future. look at the back story. the future is the future. you got kids, wivesish children to raise. a lot of people got retirement living to get through. you need certain things. who's your best bet for president? enlightened self-interest. vote for, let say, romney. the guy from texas. rick perry? >> elections are about two things. referendum on the future and on the incumbent. >> talk about the future. >> you don't get to do that. >> why is your guy better than obama? >> when running for re-election it's a referendum on the track record whoever's running. >> pretend i'm asking the question. what does your crowd offer for the future to solve our economic problem? >> less government spending. more emphasis on private sector

growth, more emphasis through the private sector not the government. i sat and listened to -- talking about kingsian economics, it's the private sector creating jobs not the government. >> it ain't doing it. >> that's the big -- what the president believes. has democrats believe. what most americans believe, because it's true. chris raises a good point. the question, what are the republicans going to offer for a future and what, for instance, mitt romney will say about the fact that he made money in business buying up businesses, shutting them down, firing workers, moving them overseas. >> what most places do. >> it's what they do, not what people want a president of the united states to do. that's happening ne'anyway. rick perry, great in the republicans nominated another governor from texas, because it would make it easier tore the president to do when he needs to do. remind people about the last governor from texas and whan he inherited when he got -- >> that's not fair. >> you didn't ask to be fair.

>> the next governor, rick perry, speak of the devil, gave an interview with cc bchb he se to dis republicans. less listen. >> if some state decides to do something like pass a health care plan that, you know, is kind of like this obama thing and it's a failure, then we kind of go, oh, we don't want to do that. >> what do you think of that performance? >> well, look, rick perry is a masterful politician. i say that as someone who still has bruises from running a campaign against him. if he gets in, he's going to are formidable. you don't need to be a political scientist or pollster to know that romney's health care splan going to be a major issue in the party. >> what about -- >> romney? >> nick perry. >> i think romney's probably -- >> who's the best guy?

>> i think romney matches up best, but there's a story about mitt romney you have to be told that will hurt him badly. >> you're going to tell the american people they have no choice but keep obama? your strategy? you're stuck with -- your campaign's going to be this is as good as it gets? >> elections are about choices. spend the next month or -- >> has any democrat or republican ever gotten elected -- you think i'm bad? wait until you see what's next. >> hundreds, thousands have. haven't you been watching. >> this is as good as it gets, your campaign strategy? >> the president will have to remind people what he inherited. going to have to convince people what he is doing is working. if you can't, that's a difficult thing for him and then tell people why he's a better choice for the future. >> unemployment rate comes out tomorrow. if it's up around 10, what's that tell you? >> not a happy day in the white house. more important than the national unemployment, nine states barack obama won in 2008 that george

bush had won in 2004. >> right on or taurgt. president obama must defend his territory. obama has to go back and win over voters in key ballot states he won before. look at the map right here. you can see, nine states, barack obama won in 2008, john kerry lost four years earlier, a lot of difficult turf. not naturally democrat. >> well, and to further that point, unemployment is above 8% in six of those nine states. >> yeah. >> so -- >> above 8% nationally, too. whatever the situation is nationally is going to be mirrored largely in those states, and you're right. it's a different map than it was four years ago. it's going to be a harder campaign, but they know that. they'll have $1 billion to spend, and don't underestimate the importance of that, and use it early to define their likely opponent and don't underestimate -- >> respond top that interdemocratic strategist. heard that from both sides. don't really play defense. play offense. obama knows he's got terribleic

economics on tough terrain a game fought in the mud or snow. not an easy campaign. he has to knock the other side. >> exactly right. put $1 billion behind trashing whoever the republican is, basically -- >> what does a voter do when they say they have a president that hasn't met up to their expect aces and are scared of the other day? what do they do? don't vote? >> usually in that case, either not vote or vote for the devil you know as opposed to the devil you don't. >> democrats would smart to run a real red dog campaign. >> that's what i'd do. >> you guys, what a problem, you two guys. why don't you sit down with president obama now and really try to think through some novel, imaginative ways to put people back to work ask because they don't have the answers right now. >> a lot of people are doing that. what tom and i do a little different. >> put the lipstick on the pig, what you guys do. on the other guy. >> steve has a job, i'll always have a job.

>> you guys are absolutely. >> define what the choice is. >> that's what president carter tried to do with press reagan and they said, we're going to take a chance with the other guy. thank you. the american people are an optimistic breed and tend to look for the optimistic option. they'll never pick the pessimist. i hope obama has a good year. >> americans still like president obama. >> i think they do. >> look -- the unemployment rate is terrible t.s. worse than it looks. up about 16. anyway, if you're a minority, it's worse. had a good night, but it was an easy one. up next -- see you. up next, does the deal end a partial shutdown on the faa where republicans put some 70,000 workers out of work by holding up funding pap weird side show but real for workers that didn't get to strike.

ray la hood will start all. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. any soreness, i'm not going to be able to do my job. but once i take advil, i'm able to finish out strong. it really works! [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil.

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this is a lose, lose, lose situation that can be equally resolved if congress gets back into town and does its job. the house and senate through a procedural agreement said they'd review this with unanimous consent and have the fight they want to have when they get back. >> right. that was president obama yesterday calling for congress to take action on the faa shutdown before the end of the week, and it looks like it worked. senate majority leader harry reid says there's a deal to end the partial shutdown of the faa that put more than 70,000 workers off the job. for more let's bring in secretary/treasurer ray la hood who joins us live. thanks for joining us. the thing's over. what was it all about? why were we having trouble with our airline situation? >> chris, let me say a special thanks to senator reid, senator kay bailey hutchison and the

president. we had meetings at the white house every day. med and instru his staff, stay on this everyday until you get it solved, until these people get back to work. so the president and senator reid, senator rockefeller, senator kay bailey hutchinson and senator baucus, there is an agreement so people can go back it work on monday, as soon as the president signs the bill. faa workers go back to work and it was more about some members of congress letting their own agendas and their own egos get in way of hard-working people right smack dab in the middle of the construction season. this is not the time to lay people off. chris, you heard the speeches. jobs, jobs, jobs. people give a lot of good speeches. the way it create jobs is not to have legislation that lays off

70,000 workers. now because of extraordinary leadership from the president and four senators, folks are going to go back to work and are going to get paid. >> was there a piece of this dealing with organized lanor sh. >> not really, chris. it was talked about. it was more about essential air service. our point was pass a bill and can you get back to the table and fix the labor issue, the essential air service issue and some of the other issues. that should not stand in the way of 07,000 won struks workers right smack dab in the middle of the construction season. this is their bread and butter season. this is when they make their money. and to have a few little items like this stand in the way of all these people, hard-working people, who have to make a mortgage payment, a car payment, their kids are about ready to go back it school and all tho goes with that. so boy, senator reid really got it done. the president really stepped up here. and the other senators that i

mentioned, and on behalf of hard-working people, i'm grateful that this agreement las been reached. >> when will we have airports that look as nice as cape town or joeburg or around the world. lax is a dump. when are we going to have -- it is almost as bad as penn station in new york, which is a rat house. why do we have such terrible infrastructure, especially in airline industry, where airline is state of the art? >> we haven't had a transportation bill for two years. we are on the two-year extension right now. we need people in congress who think big. who want to do big things. creative things. and want to put the money behind it. that's what we need. if you look at the president's vision on transportation, $550 billion over six years, that's more money than has ever been proposed by a president. the president has a big view on transportation. let's do big things. you know what, chris, if the president passes a

transportation bill, that equates to a jobs bill. a transportation bill puts people to work and does it in projects where people can really think big. >> i think you're right in new york city, down at the bottom of penn station, it is a rat hole. you should arrive like a prince. new york, the great empire city. you go there and get to the big apple and it's a dump down there. you look at -- it used to be a beautiful building. lax is just so out of it, so yesterday, so smelly and old. i can't believe these airports. pittsburgh, there's a great airport. even anyway, secretary ray lahood. when we return, let's get to the biggest problem facing president obama right now. fear, no jobs. you're watching "hardball." bili. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites...

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let me finish tonight with a reality check. this is as clear as the closing bell. people are scared. scared enough to pull their money out, stack up their dollars where tle can see them and nobody can get at them. fear. that's the reality out there today. the question before the president is, what's he going to do about it. it's time to recognize, i think, isn't it, that he should recognize this. we are in a period of recession. corporate america isn't hiring. they are finding every way they can not to hire people. even a modest pick up, doesn't mean a modest job creation. wau on to the bet on something? bet on the job less staying in the 9 category.

and companies finding any way they can to make money without hiring full-time employees. the kind that want a good income, healthcare and retirement. part-time, temporary, overseas, whatever it takes to keep from hiring americans, this is what the president has been up against. this is the back story to the current loss of faith. why would anyone have faith in the jobs market today? give mae reason growth is stimied? even if we head upwards a bit, the people making hiring decisions are finding ways ton hire. you know why we don't have inflation? because there aren't any shortages to drive up the prices. no labor shortages either. we have unused capacity and work force working under employment to unemployment. that's the way it is. it doesn't make stout hearts for shopping sprees. people are sitting on their money and thinking how to find a deeper hole, a stronger safe it lock it into. it is up to the president to lead us out of this. if he is counting on corporate

america to come to the rescue, he has been looking at his hope poster too long. he is counting on the board room it make it easier for him stay in the oval office web is completely diluted. republicans don't think democrats belong in the white house. and most business people are -- service jobs wbs public works jobs. the deficit is high. it will get high fer this jobless rates keep going higher. your only close is if you want people thrown out of work and put to work. i recommend the latter. seeing people thrown out of work spreads dread. seeing people being put to work spreads confidence. that's "hardball" the stock market plunges. hey, republicans, now are you ready to get serious about jobs?