which party do you want running the country? tonight, the gop hammers the president on jobs. but they have no plan and have no plan to have a plan. and, are they the clone rangers? rick perry may seem a lot like george w. bush, but the truth may be worse than we know. plus, the cost of failure. why republicans want to get rid of government. look what that ideology has already cost us. one in five american children living in poverty. a sober reminder it's time to work together. and will dog days of summer. a time for the beach. barbecues, and if you're the right wing, criticizing president obama's vacation. you won't believe who's piling on this time. welcome to the show, i'm al

sharpton. tonight's lead, job number one for the american people. today the white house announced president obama will unveil a new jobs plan next month. and essentially dare republicans in congress to block it. but gop lawmakers are still talking about cuts instead of jobs. today john boehner and eric cantor wrote an up ad in usa today saying, quote, the american people elected the new house republican majority with orders to stop washington from spending money it doesn't have. wrong. the american people elected you to help create jobs you campaigned on this, mr. boehner. that's what you promised, your own pledge, to america, said, quote, joblessness is the single most important challenge facing america today, end of quote,

your quote. yet you've done nothing. the republican house hasn't passed a single jobs bill since boehner took the speaker's gavel in january. and the gop candidates aren't doing any better. in fact, none of the top three contenders has a proposal for comprehensive job creation. though romney's website says they're working on it. i can hardly wait. but these republicans are certain about one thing, protecting corporations. >> we have to lower the tax rights. >> we need to take that rate and drop it down to being one of the lowest in the industrialized world. >> when people say raise taxes on corporations, they are raising taxes on people. >> well, again, you know what i feel about him feeling that corporations are people. but would all of the rhetoric,

would all of the attacks, we must change the conversation to where we're in the conversation. american people need jobs. we need to bring down the unemployment statistics and the only way to do that is not playing with numbers, not positioning and posturing, but providing jobs. and we need washington to start hearing what the american people has to say. not attacking each other. not taking different postures and positions. people can't provide for their families. do you hear me? people are having problems connecting their lives and providing for their children. do you hear me? it is not enough to give us empty slogans, empty promises and attacking each other.

we don't care who's got the best soundbite. who has the best job plan and who can bring it in to be. that's what americans want to hear and we should accept nothing less from nobody speaking. talk jobs or shut up! let's listen. to the president speaking in illinois. >> it's not supposed to be to get attention, so you get interviewed on cable tv. it's not supposed to be so you have a fancy title. you're supposed to be in public service, to serve the public. that means that -- yes, you don't get your way a hundred percent of the time. it means that you compromise. you apply common sense. and that's what i'm hoping that everybody takes from visiting their district again. getting out of washington for a while.

i can tell you, nothing's more inspiring to me than the kind of trip i've been taking over the last few days. you know, you were driving on this big bus and it is all -- you can't see out except when you are standing in front. so i'm in front and, you know, having breakfast in the diner, and going to football practice, and you're passing rows of kids with flags and grandparents in their lawn chairs. and mechanics out in front of their shops. farmers waving from their fields. it inspires you. because it reminds you about what makes this country so great. why i love this country so much. and why we've got to be doing every single thing we can, every minute of everyday. to make sure that you can continue to achieve your american dream and pass it on to your kids and grandchildren.

that's why i ran for president. that's why a whole bunch of you voted for me to be a u.s. senator and then to be president. so i need your help, everybody. thank you. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> joining me now is ryan grim, washington bureau chief for the huffington post. and joe madison talk show host of sirius xm radio. let me thank both of you for joining me. ryan, let me start with you. the president has said that right after labor day he is going to lay out an extensive jobs plan and challenge the congress. what can you tell us is going to be in that plan or do we know yet and what do you think the likelihood of getting that plan through congress? >> the plan is still being crafted. but you can hazard some guesses

at this point about what he's going to present. first of all, you can guess that he's probably -- and this is what i'm hearing, that he will probably push for some significant amount of infrastructure investment. not only does that help create jobs immediately, but it is overwhelmingly popular. it is hard to find people out there who oppose investment in infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools, et cetera. the other thing he will push for very early on is extending unemployment benefits. right now , you have, and you hinted at this at the beginning of your show, more than 6 million people out of work for more than six months. that's a staggering figure 6 million people. >> that's right. >> and 2 million people longer than 99 weeks. that's almost two years. being unemployed for a week or two is heart-breaking, soul-crushing experience. two years is devastating. >> we are talking about the

chronically unemployed. and joe madison, when he talks about how the idea of an infrastructure building program is popular, let me show you the data in the recent poll on what is important to americans. 62% said, create jobs. this is a new york times cbs poll. as where as 29% talk about cutting spending. and i think that this president would serve the country well, forget the politics of the moment, if he came back with a plan, that not only rebuilds the infrastructure but an immediate rebuilding of the infrastructure, i like the plan that progressive caucus has come up with, called fast. the building of schools. rebuilding of schools, providing a jobs and dealing with the fact that people need to be put to work. we are dealing with all this posturing and inside baseball

and beltway stuff while people are sitting on you out there needing work, joe. >> january of jan of illinois, the state the president was just in, also has a bill where they talk about job corps for inner city kids. look at that, 16 to 24. these are immediate positions. policemen and rehiring, rehiring. now, not new teachers, but rehiring teachers that have been laid off. i think the key phrase you played of the president is in the end. this is what everybody should hear. i need your help. because i'm afraid that whatever plan comes forth, it's doa with the republicans and the tea party. it is really up to us to mobilize the unemployment, underemployed, middle class, those of us who are dipping into our own pockes to the help family members. who need a little extra. i mean, all that is going on in america right now, al.

and i think that you're right on target. we need to come to washington. and surround this tea party and these republicans and let them know. now, finally, i think the president's plan has to be bold and i would focus on the districts of the republican and tea party members and say, here's a bridge. here's a school. here's a firehouse. here's a construction job. and dare them to vote against their own constituents. >> ryan, i see you nodding. what do you say it that? how do we get that kind of plan through? >> well, reverend, the plan that you mentioned fast, which is about fixing the schools, you know, it's the type of thing that would be extraordinarily popular. you know, whenever you drive by a school, whether it's an urban school or rural school or suburban school, you can take a look at that school and see where it needs to be fixed up. >> that's right. >> can you immediately think of

people who are ready to fix that up. and that's construction broadly, but it is electric al workers, plumbers, painters, roofers. it's architects. it's designers. so all of a sudden, you are immediately putting these people back to work. then they have money that they are spending in the community and that creates jobs as well. and that raises tax revenue which you can use it pay down the deficit. it is not like it's an either/or thing here. the irony, if you take the spending cut route and the economy spirals downward, you will have less tax and more deficit. >> on august 27, with the march as part of the king memorial weekend, ewe should send people into the districts after that weekend to show them will schools. because i think that bill is the right bill. but let me show you this. what people don't understand, we hear a lot of talk about the

downgrading from the republicans and how this president brought america for the first time in the downgrading, read in the downgrading, in the language itself. >> that's right. >> it says, our revised base case scenario now assumes that bush tax cuts due to expire by the end of 2012 remain in place. we have changed our assumption on this, because the majority of republicans in congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenue. what they are not telling the american public is by their taking this inplexable position in revenue, is part of what was factored in the downgrading. >> that's right. and that is exactly, and i think you found it on page four, if i'm not mistaken. and i have folks who argue with me on the show, saying i couldn't find that.

how dare you get on tv and say they blame the republicans. reverend, al, you just showed it. i did want to add one other job for construction. and that is, what us older folk don't understand, but young people do. you got a lot of i.t. people out here. and guess what? you rewire public schools. it is not just a matter of building roofs and stopping leaky pipes. but you also have to now upgrade the schools because kids are taking ipads to school. we are now going into the 21st century. >> there is all kinds of opportunities out there if we take a real mission and will to do it and determination. and the people have got to come forward now, and change the claimat. >> that's right. >> coming up, george w. bush's clone is coming to an election near you. rick perry looks, acts and

sounds like w. there's some major differences. >> and as august, time for the right wing to start attacking president obama from going on vacation. but mitt romney, he is criticizing? that's rich. stay with us. 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.

president obama is still speaking in illinois. he says after labor day he will lay out a jobs plan. what do we need in the plan to give immediate end log standing relief to the unemployed? we need to know what should be in the plan. that's next.

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as we've reported, the president is in illinois on the final stop after three-day jobs tour. one consistent of the trip, the president's focus on jobs. >> our biggest challenge right now is putting people to work. >> our job is not finished until every single american who is looking for a job, can find a job. let's get to work. >> he's offering specific concrete proposals to get the economy moving. >> we got the overall economy moving, if we pass the payroll tax cut -- trade deals to level the playing field for american companies -- put americans back to work all across the country rebuilding america. >> these ideas are just the beginning. we will get the president's big plan in september.

senior officials say expect a combination of tax cuts, construction projects and support for the unemployed. today, the president also said revenue will be part of the equation. >> we're going to have spending cuts. and we're going to have revenue. well have more spending cuts than we have revenue. but we're going to have to take a balanced approach and everything will be on the table. >> and if his proposals run into trouble in congress, the president wants to make sure we know who to blame. >> the only thing that'sing us back right now is our politics. traditionally that hasn't been a democratic or republican issue it's been an american issue. i need to spend the message it washington, stop drawing lines in the sand. stop engaging in rhetoric instead of actually getting things done. it's time to put country ahead of party. >> joining me now is former secretary of labor robin reich.

he is now chancellor professor of public policy at uc berkeley. his latest book is the best seller "aftershock" that is now out in paper back. mr. secretary, let me ask you, what proposal to we need to hear to get jobs fast? >> al, there are a lot of things the president has been saying. particularly an infrastructure bank that are interesting in they are on the scale necessary to do some good. my fear, is thating big. don't try to do anything big. e republicans won't support you. you will look weak and they will have more ammunition to call you a big government liberal. but the shortfall now in terms of where consumers and to the extent that consumers can spend, the extent to which businesses are not spending, because they don't have consumers, that shortfall and that unemployed rate is so high, 25 million

americans either unemployed or underemployed, that you've got 20 have a very bold and large jobs plan. >> now, let me push you on that a minute. you talked about his advisors saying, what he can get through. what are they saying and what do you believe is the reality in terms of should he be more aggressive? should people rally like we're doing next saturday? i mean, what do we need to do and what do we need to do to counter those that might be saying, let's go with something safe that may be too safe to really have impact. >> so far, the republicans had been convincing the public. and there are no good surveys on this, but they are doing a pretty good job convincing the government that smaller government means more jobs. nothing is further from the truth. if government shrinks right now, you know, putting to one side the long-term debt issue, if government shrinks that is fewer jobs. fewer teachers, fewer police

officers. fewer firefighters. fewer people who are actually providing vital social services. but it means fewer cop attracts to -- fewer contracts to build bridges, roads and schools and everything else that needs to be done. so what the president has got to do is overcome that republican lie. he has to tell the truth that we really, in the short term, need a bigger government. more spending, more investing. because that's the only way we get people back it work. even if that means civilian conversation corps to get the long-term unem plid back to work. >> i think it is cost money. if we look at somewhat of you said concretely and you can compound upon it, but the exempt poor from payroll taxes for two years. recreate wpa. civilian conservation corp programs. amend bankruptcy laws for mortgages. tax incentive for employees. these are concrete steps toward

immediate, immediate relief of paying for some millions of americans. we are talking about people that will even run out and some have run out of their unemployment insurance. >> yeah. this is an actual crisis. but can you be sure the republicans will say, just say no. they have said no to everything else. they will say no to everything the president proposes. p is better he propose something bold and large enough to do the job and even if the republicans say no, if american people know that the president is fighting for them, it is possible to mobilize and energize people and organize people around a real jobs program. even if the president can't get it through congress immediately, that mobilization, that energizing of the public will be very, very important. even if it takes him all the way through the election, al, he's got do it because that's the essence of leadership and the public needs it. >> the president is down in the polls but congress is down even further. many of these tea party

freshmen, in districts by the lack of turn out of people who have colorado have made a difference. if we take them on, a lot of them have to think of their political consequences, differently than they have with all this posturing in early summer and late spring. we need to fight. people's existence is at stake, mr. secretary. >> absolutely. fighting for something and something concrete. something that will get jobs and put money in people's pock sets something around which people can actually rally. one of the big problems we have today is that the tea party is so well organized, it is so completely bought so many members of congress, particularly republicans, and it is itself so bought and paid for, by the rich, like the koch brothers, that there is not in the democratic party, among liberals, progressives be independent, people are so

cenacle, they say,er with giving up on politics. when they do that, the other side wins. >> we can't give up because our children depend on us. we can't give up because seniors depend on us. we can't give up because we can't give up on breakfast, lunch and dinner. we've got to survive. thank you secretary reich. thank you for being here this evening. coming up, a sta tist take this should disturb all of us. a party, no matter what persuasion, one in five children live in poverty. what we must do to stop this praj di. and texas governor rick perry is all about making cuts. but he seems to find plenty of government money for his friends. that's next. [ female announcer ] kiss everything you know about cookies goodbye.

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>> texas governor rick perry says he's for honest government. but he will make an exemption when it's helping him and his buddies. that's our con job of the day. the l.a. times reports, perry has given business contracts tax breaks and other government perks to donors who have given big bucks to his political campaign. one example, a business man named bj mccombs. he donated nearly $400,000 and now perry pledged $25 million a year in subsidies for a race track he's backing. another example, james

danonbaum. he gave perry more than $320,000. since then his firm got transportation contracts and a post on university of texas gourd of regents. then there's harold simmons who has given perry $1.12 million. perry passed a controversial law that gave simmons' firm permission to build a radio active waste disposal site despite scientists saying it was an environmental hazard. but in his 2007 state of the state address, perry was touting the benefits of honest government saying, quote, government that is open and honest will always be able to with stand the light of day. seems like everything is bigger in texas. including hypocrisy. rick perry saying he's for honest government, then rewarding donors with texas size perks is our con job of the day. [ grandma ] why do relationships matter?

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welcome back. are you like me? when you hear texas governor running for president, you start thinking you're having a nightmare? want somebody to wake you up? i mean, who is rick perry? is he the second coming of george w. bush? plenty of people are comparing the two texas governors to one another in substance and style. but perry is trying to back away from it. >> one of the quick ways to tell the difference is he is a yale graduates and i'm a texas a and m graduate. i'm not going to sit here -- george bush is not pli opponent. he is the previous president. i will give him all the respect from that. >> it'll be hard from perry to distance himself from his texas twin. here is a picture of them morphing together. can you tell where one stops and the other begins?

here is bush posing next to the plane he flew in the national guard. and here he is again. no, wait, that's rick perry next to his air force plane. so they look alike, but how do they sound? you be the judge. >> i'm a compassionate conservative. and proudly so. >> i'm an unapologetic social conservative. [ inaudible ] >> i'm not going to wait that long. adios, mo-fo. >> they misunderstand the fact we love a neighborhood in need. >> they have no presepgs of what that would look like. >> culminating in the nuclear age. >> nuclear energy folks. >> so, if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's a duck rb right? maybe not. rick perry is no compassionate conservative like bush said he was. this cartoon sums it up. bush plushe

and this headline from the atlantic, perry is bush on steroids. now that's a scary thought. joining me now is james moore, former national tv correspondent and coauthor of "bush's rain." he is also the author an upcoming book, adios mo-fo, why perry will make us miss bush. you wrote if perry and bush were born into is also a very

instinctive politician. he took a constitutionally weak office of the governor in this state and then he went and appointed his friends to run state agencies so it becomes a cabinet style government. and he becomes very strong. and when bush was around, bush cooperated with the democrats. bush, as i plengs mentioned in that article, he sat down and talked about all 181 of them. he doesn't do that. rick doesn't do compassion or conservativism. rick does kick-ass conservatives im. he demands that doctors ask mothers to hear the baby's heart beat before abortion. he is not backing off on any of this stuff. >> wasn't he a democrat? >> he was democrat, al. he came to austin as a democrat. then he ran into karl rove and

karl whispered in his ear, look, you're a good looking guy, politics are conservative, and you could go north of the red river and they would be a conservative republican. it was easy for him to make the switch. karl got him money to run for statewide office. then he became lieutenant governor with bush as governor. he was on his way. he's been tack together right very hard for many years. and he's way off on the edge of the right of the flat earth with this crowd he is following now. >> now be a lot of digging and a lot of what you guys have come up with showes a different picture. he says in his book, this, about how he hates the stimulus plan. he says, we're fed up with bailout after bailout and stimulus plan after stimulus plan. each one of which tosses principle out the window along with taxpayer money. but then, we look at texas using the stimulus plan. >> right. >> this is under him.

$17.4 billion of federal funds. dave, didn't we see texas using 8 billion to pay recurring state expenses? texas tribune? i mean, he is talking out of both sides of his mouth or he is talking out of his mouth while putting money in his state-run pockets. this is the height of hypocrisy. >> yeah, rick perry doesn't like federal money. so until he actually needs it. as you mention in 2009, texas would not have been able to balance its budget without federal stimulus money. just in 2009 alone, we took $12 billion, in federal money to balance our budget. and that's 12 billion out of 17 billion you're talking about. so, yeah, he was talking about how terrible the stimulus was. he was talking about how we don't want federal money, we don't need federal money in texas. he turned down unemployment funds. >> in 2009, i was just showing

the graph, he took 2.3 billion just to balance the budget that year in 2009. >> right. and so, we had a budget hole we needed to fill and when we needed to fill it, we turned to the federal government just like any state would. but you know, when it comes to rick perry and federal stimulus money, you know, the rhetoric doesn't always match the action. >> now, but dave, didn't he want to succeed from the union. i mean, why would you want to succeed and at the same time take federal money from the national government you want to leave? >> well, he said we might have to flirt with says session. that's one of the examples where rick perry made what seemed like a very controversial statement and he walked right up to the line and maybe crossed it a little bit. and seemed kind of outlandish at the time. seemed almost crazy at the time. but in retrospect, turned out to

be politically advantageous and to his political benefit to say, maybe we should consider seces si on because on tax day 2009 he was forming alliance at that point with the tea party. he was getting out front of what turned out to be a very powerful -- >> this is tax day 2009, the same year he took $3.3 billion it stimulus money to balance the budget or the state. james, karl rove has been somewhat publicly negative toward mr. perry. can carl robe bring governor perry down? >> he's going it try. he's not on the team. and he thinks perry's gone too far to the right. but you know, they -- >> wait a minute, karl rove thinks rick perry has gone too far to the right? >> yeah, yeah. because if you say the things rick perry is saying he is saying in the primary process and you get too far right, it is difficult for the main stream to

embrace you. that's what karl is suggesting. but it is more than that. their love affair ended in the early 90s when there was an opening in the u.s. senate seat. >> oh, so this is person. what happened? >> rick wanted the senate seat and perry gave it to kay bailey hutchison. rick was in a tough race against john sharp and rick wanted to go negative but karl wouldn't let him because he wanted to run up the numbers to make bush look presidential. then what happened, the last thing that happened, is karl ran kay bailey hutchison's race against perry to unseat him in the primary. there is no love who there. karl likes to play under the big feel. if rick succeeds, karl is left on the margins as a broadcasting arm of the republican party. >> so as a matter of the student taking over and going beyond the teacher and kind of overshadowing the teacher. that never sits too well. >> no, i don't think it does.

and i want to add one more thing to what dave was saying, and you commented about the stimulus package, bear in mind that it is president obama and the stimulus money that has made it possible for rick perry to balance the budget in the state of texas and to avoid raising taxes. if it weren't without this stimulus money, there's no way that he would have been able to make up that deficit without a tax increase. >> wait a minute, wait a money ut. james, you're telling me that if president obama had not done the stimulus package, that rick perry who's bragging about his executive management skills in texas, would not have been able to balance the budget? >> that's exactly what i'm telling you. >> shut your mouth, james! we can't tell the people that. >> it took the president's stimulus package it balance the budget so rick could campaign and say i balanced the $27 billion budget without taxes. >> i'm going to texas and tell you to shut your mouth again!

>> come on, now. >> thank you for your time this evening. ahead, it's annual summer classic, the right wing. attack on president obama's vacation. but, one very prominent republican is piling on and he is the last person who should be. you won't believe this one. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪ maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit.

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here's a news flach. ohio's governor is scared for his political life. back in march, he followed scott walker and signed a controversial collective bargaining bill. senate bill 5. the law drastically reduced the power of state workers, like firefighters and teachers. since that day, workers have, however, fought to repeal it. today, he offered to weaken the law. he asked the unions to set aside political agendas and past offenses. >> today we sent a letters to the unions in regard to their efforts to repeal senate bill 5, actually inviting them to the table. we are inviting them to talk. we think that would be a good thing for all of us to sit down and see if we can reach some agreement. >> but kasich's little olive branch isn't doing much. the group leading of effort shot back this response, quote, they

can repeal the entire bill or join us on voting november november 8. we are glad the governor and other politicians who passed senate bill 5 are finally admitting this is a flawed bill. kasich could have compromised back in march but that never happened. now he is running scared. the fight is working, folks. to me, this sounds like the beginning of a victory. ♪ i like dat ♪ ♪ i like dat, all right [ male announcer ] mio. a revolutionary water enhancer.

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despite the problems facing millions of americans, too much talk in washington is just about politics. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> if we are able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. >> with your help, we will make barack obama a one-term president. >> but for all this talk, we need to remember that policy is

what really matters. there's a shocking study out today that reminds us of that fact. it finds that nearly 15 million children in this country are living in poverty. that's one in every five kids. and it's a number that skyrocketed in the past ten years. since 2000, there are 2.5 million more kids living in low income homes. poverty levels have gone up in 38 states. policy matters. for these 15 million children, and while the statistics are scary, there's even one even more frightening. this year alone, the republican house passed proposals that would end food assistance for as many as 450,000 low income women and children. women and children. this is not about republican

democr democrat, these are american children. our future, being cut off. being given no hope of survival, no nourishment, developing in homes of poverty. while we play political posturing giames. that's not the america we should have. joining me now, someone who worked tirelessly to fight poverty. congressman barbara lee, democrat from california. she's the founding co-chair of the out of poverty caucus. how are you, congresswoman, lee? >> i'm good to be with you, reverend sharpton. thank you for inviting me. these are some very difficult times for so many people. >> i mean, this is stup stunning. you and i have fought on a lot of battles, but every once in a while, something comes along that makes you stop and say, wait a minute, this is sobering.

how do we even hear a rational from your colleagues that would vote to dismantle programs that would put children in this kind of predicament. >> reverend, one of the reasons during the bush administration that i founded the out of poverty caucus is because we knew o the bush policies would end this n this. the most tragic part of this is the increase in children's poverty. when you look at america and its benefits and its bounty and its power and its wealth, it's really a tragic and moral disgrace that poverty rates are what they are now with children. and these are a direct result, political decisions and policy decisions and economic decisions that were made by the previous administration. and that is why the out of poverty caucus has grown. we have 39 members now. poverty should be an issue that brings democrats, republicans, independents and tea party

members together. this is rural poverty, urban poverty. look at african-american children, 36% of african-american children live in poverty. 35%, 31% of latino children and 13% of asian pacific american children. this issue around poverty should really call our conscience to do something. >> you said the preceding administration, look at the ryan plan. the ryan plan, nearly two thirds of proposed cuts on the ryan plan comes from low income programs. $2.9 trillion comes from programs like medicaid, pel grants, food stamps and low-income housing. it is amazing these plans that these people are advocating would only make matters worse. >> the ryan plan and ryan budget is a continuation of the

republican economic policies. this is a continuation of their effort to dismantle government and to harm the least of these at the most vulnerable. that's our children, the poor, low income people, working people. this is a republican effort. and that's why i say it's a continuation of the george bush economic poll policies because we see this now, the next chapter of what is taking place. these budget cuts are horrific. the caucus has been fight against them. we actually during the debt ceiling debate, we wrote to the president and our leadership and the senate leadership to tell them whatever decisions that are made, please look at the impact on the poor and we don't want middle income people now falling into the ranks of the poor which is taking place. so we better come together and do something quickly. >> i've got take a break. thank you congressman barbara lee. we'll be right back.

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it's become an annual summer tradition. republicans trashing president obama for taking a vacation. >> president obama is going to martha's vin yrd tore ten days. >> he ought to cans cans the vacation. >> he should cancel his cape cod vacation, call congress back into session and get to work on this. >> this line of attack is pretty funny. considering how much our last president liked vacations. during his presidency, bush visited his texas ranch 77 times. and spent at least part of 490 days there. 409 days. more than a year's time. but what's really rich is that mitt romney is jumping on the bandwagon. >> the president this week is in three states on a bus tour. campaigning. then he's going to be going on vacation to martha's vineyard to

ten days. a lot of democrats in martha's vineyard. i don't know why. i wish the president were in washington calling back congress and dealing with the challenges we have. >> that's interesting. considering that during the debt debate, romney wa $8 millionew hampshirelake house. but the real kicker, the real kicker, is while president obama is vacationing with his family on martha's vineyard, romney is holding a fund-raiser, you won't believe it, on martha's vineyard. and it cost $2500 to go. mitt romney, the common man, you said there's a lot of democrats there. let's see who's spending $2500 to see you in martha's vineyard. thank you for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now.