philosophies of the two parties are at odds with each other. president obama wants jobs, republicans want to cut spending right now. don't kid yourself, this is the name of the game and both sides intend to win it. that is hard ball thanks for being with us, "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening americans, welcome to "the ed show." tonight from new york, conservatives have found their anti-mitt, trying to rally troops around rick santorum. romney is falling in the polls, big time. down by 15 points in michigan. unfortunately for mitt, he can't buy votes like he did at cpac. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. well, you have to talk to the romney campaign how many tickets, we heard all sore of things. >> rick santorum accuses mitt of buying the cpac victory. new numbers show santorum ahead of romney.

r.t.rybak and howard fineman are here on the state of the race. the president outlines his political priorities as he sends budget to the congress, and calls for more stimulus. >> when our economy and growing and creating jobs we have to do everything to keep this recovery on track. >> plus republicans are caving on the payroll tax cuts. we'll have the latest with bernie sanders. >> this this country the government doesn't tell you or your organization what your religious views are. >> the republican war on women's health continues. as they misrepresent the president on anti-religion. >> this issue won't go away until the administration simply backs down. >> joan walsh and krystal ball way in on the potential blow-back. tonight, we're taking a look back at the storied rise and tragic fall of whitney houston. the grio's joy-ann reid is here.

thanks for watching. rick santorum has been hiding in plain daylight for conservative voters. they finally are getting a good look at him and like what they see. the average of recent polls gives santorum a slight lead over mitt romney for t michigan huge. santorum now leads romney by 15 points, according to public policy polling. romney was born in detroit, his father a two-term governor in the state of michigan but santorum has surged while romney has lost momentum. on this chart, santorum's trend is almost a vert cal line. look at that. how many politicians do you or races go like that? last tuesday was a big day for him. he caught the attention of michigan voters last week. he also has the attention of the country's biggest conservative leaders, richard vigry said rick santorum really is the last conservative standing and it's

time for the base to rally around him. >> the train is leaving the station, you can see by the hour, more and more conservatives coming on board, realizing we cannot make the mistake as conservatives that we did in 2008. we did not unite behind a candidate. >> he told me he doesn't know four conservatives who are supporting mitt romney. if conservative leadership gets behind rick santorum, and motivates the grass roots, this race could change permanently. a lot of top conservatives are starting to cast doubt on mitt romney's inevitable path to the nomination. even the former half governor of alaska thinks a brokered convention would be a good thing for the republican party. >> people who start screaming that a brokered convention is the worst thing to happen to the governor, they have an agenda, they have their own personal or political reasons, their own candidate who they would like to see protected away from a

brokered convention, anybody who starts saying can't allow that to happen, that is part of competition, part of the process. >> sarah palin says she is not convinced about romney's conservative credentials after he won the cpac straw poll on saturday. a republican source told romney's camp bought registrations at cpac to insure victory at the straw poll. they will do anything. >> ron paul's campaign is questioning romney's win in the maine caucuses. several were cancelled because of a snow storm but the state gop says it will not include late votes? santorum didn't give romney any time to celebrate his victories, according to santorum, it's a one-on-one fight from now on. >> that is two-person race, if you look at the results from maine, we didn't spend any time there, we did much better than we expected, cpac again we felt very good two-person race, other

two candidates were far behind, i think michigan and arizona will show the same thing. >> ed i tors of the conservative national review, told newt gingrich to drop out of the race, the proper course for him now is to endorse santorum and exit. we have seen 11 candidates lead the national polls for the republican nomination, each time, mitt romney managed his way back up to the top. so far, the conservative base has really not valid behind one candidate the way they are starting to co aless behind santorum. you have to believe he's the last chance for republicans to run against barack obama, the president of the united states, from the far right. the train is leaving the station, according to many, we'll see. the michigan primary in two weeks, will let us know just who is jumping on board. get your cell phones out, want to know what you think. tonight's question, santorum surge, is rick santorum's surge the turning point for conservative voters?

text a for yes, b to no, to 622639. go to our blog, we have the results later in the show. i'm joined by howard fineman, nbc political analyst and editor and director of the huffington post media group. great to have you with us, howard. >> hey, ed. >> rick santorum says mitt romney is desperate. we're going to see how desperate he is in the next couple weeks. what do you think romney will do in michigan now that the numbers are out and that is a healthy lead for santorum, what is the game plan for romney to turn it around? >> first, let me tell you about the santorum game plan, they're going up with a tv ad in michigan, and they haven't had a lot of money for tv tiadvertisi such as a big state in michigan. it will be interesting to see how they play it. i think it will be a gentle comparative ad, not a hard-hitting anti-romney ad, but

comparative ad on this being a two-person race. real significant thing that happened over the weekend, ed, newt gingrich didn't do particularly well at cpac. that may seem like a minor point, but it reenforces rick santorum's notion to shape this as a two-person race, that means mitt romney will have to go after rick santorum and go after him hard, but there are fewer things for him to aim at than there were in the sprawling and confused and contradictory record of newt gingrich. >> it will be interesting to see how romney does it because he can't go further right than santorum. he can't do it. and those old reagan democrats if they are still around, there might be a few walking through michigan, this will be an interesting event, what do you make of that? >> well, yes, you have to look at the history of michigan and the republican party, ed. conservative catholics matter in

the republican party, one of the first northern states for that to be the case. back a generation ago, pat robertson, the preacher from the bible belt aligned himself with pro-life catholic in michigan they turned the race of the 80s against george h.w. bush. rick santorum is not only a catholic, but somebody who wears his catholic political identity on his sleeve. that will mat ear lot in michigan, and that is tough for mitt romney to go after. mitt romney is going to be invoking the image of his own father, except that rick santorum is the one with the working class background out of pittsburgh to match up against mitt romney's dmad in that stat. >> if richard vigry is right and conservatives are swirling around santorum, i know he's well connected, what does that mean, could this be a turning point? is this next two weeks, i know we have super tuesday coming up

march 6th, but this next two weeks seems to be very critical, maybe more for santorum than for romney, what do you think? >> it's important for santorum organizationally in terms of money. in terms of money he'll never catch up with mitt romney if only because if mitt romney runs out of money he could lengthed for his campaign, he can open up his treasure chest, go to the caymans and get his money to spend. what rick santorum has to do is get the grass roots and troops of the party behind him. richard vigry has been around a long time but knows a lot of people. james dobson has been around for a long time, knows a lot of people. a younger generation of activists that rick santorum has to tap. if you looked at newt gingrich's dream team from cpac, put out a poster with the dream team had figures that don't count for a lot. had herman cain, jc watts.

santorum has to get those people behind them. the big thing is not just michigan and arizona, right behind that or the 10 or 11 states in super tuesday on march 6th. if rick santorum doesn't get the money and organization together to compete across the board on super tuesday, that will be a missed opportunity for him, that is what he's really aiming for after michigan and arizona many. >> howard fineman great to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> r.t.rybak, behind closed doors i would think there is entertainment going on for the obama team, what do they make of this surge by santorum and how do you view michigan playing out versus the president's position in that state? >> will, the bigger challenge santorum is the more you wonder where romney goes but he can't go further right or he will fall off the flat earth he's pretending we live on.

he can go more negative. that is why it's important to people to go to barack obama.com, send e-mails, use facebook, twitter, getting the message out what the president has done so we don't have romney once he's done smearing everybody on their end take all those many many millions of dollars and try to smear the president. >> r. 2679, can the president win the economic conversation in michigan? it's about jobs, and how much is the automobile turnaround going to play for the president in michiga michig michigan? >> you will hear a lot about the auto turnaround. the auto industry is the number one backbone of our manufacturing sector, always been. in fact it was how the romneys made their money. >> you think the president can win that conversation in michigan? >> absolutely. the question is clear. when the auto industry was about

collapse, mitt romney said let it go. barack obama took the hit, we made a million more cars this year than last years because the president led. we can't do that under president romney who would have let it go. >> new polls showing the president fares well against mitt romney and rick santorum how do you maintain that? >> watch a republican debate that is all it takes me to get excited about the fact we have to work hard. >> there will be one more debate before michigan and arizona, will the dnc change the strategy and begin rick santorum like a possible opponent in the general? how about that? >> i think we're going to treat everyone seriously, the fact is romney is sitting on a lot of money, has made and unbelievable series of erroneous statements, we'll correct them. the main thing is talk about the president's record. he's created jobs, 23 straight months of private sector job growth, when you hear the

republicans talk they seem to be cheering against the american economy. the president is leading it, delivering on promises and we'll talk about that. that is how we win. >> cnbc's jim kramer had this to say about support for mitt romney in the business community. >> business leaders see he created companies, they recognized he would encourage hiring, but i have to tell you, no one is enthusiastic as i thought they would be, people are talking about obama again. >> are you hearing the business community get behind the president? >> absolutely. there are different part of a business community but when i can be here in minneapolis at a community college last friday, people training to be prepared to go in the manufacturing sector and a small business that suddenly has a welder trained and now ready to go, that helps. when you see the fact there are exports that are picking up, that helps. we'll make our case. this is the president who created jobs. >> r.t.rybak, always a pleasure. answer the question at the

bottom of the screen, share thoughts on twitter @edshow. the president released a budget today, republicans are attacking it. senator bernie sanders we'll ask him how he feels about the numbers. this weekend widespread sadness over the death of whitney houston, details her death are coming in and the tributes to her talent have been in earnest. we will be right back. with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back.

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coming up, president obama lays out new budget and the gop caves on the payroll tax extension. senator bernie sanders on the latest from washington when it comes to the numbers. scott walker, well he took a shot at collective bargaining at the cpac convention on friday night. very interesting things about his recall election. we'll show you highlights. we'll look back at the life of whitney houston and her struggles with addiction with dr. denny kareese. highlights from the grammy

tribute with joy-ann reid. share your thoughts on twitter #edshow. we're right back.

congress needs to stop taxes from going up on 160 million americans by the end of the month. if they don't act, that is exactly what will happen. the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy has to be over. now is the time for action. >> president in virginia unveiling the budget and slamming republicans on the payroll tax cut. and the end of the month taxes at the end of the month, the

taxes are scheduled to go up on 160 million americans. but just hours after the president made that speech, the republicans caved in a statement, they will agree to extend tax cuts for the middle class without paying for them. big move there. two months ago republicans wanted to pay for the tax cuts by slashing spending on the middle class. democrats wanted the ultra rich to pay more, the two month compromise is about to expire and republicans seem to be caving. bottom line, republicans showed today they would rather add deficit than ask wealthy folks to kick in their fair share. the president wasn't done thumping republicans this morning in virginia. he also released his budget for 2013. a vision for america, the economy, and of course requires the rich people in this country to start pulling their fair share in weight. >> warren buffet is doing fine trks i'm doing fine. we don't need the tax breaks, you need them.

you're the ones who see your wages stall. you're the one whose costs of everything from college to groceries has gone up. you're the ones who deserve a break. >> let's turn to senator bernie sanders of vermont, member of the senate budget committee. senator, good to have you with us tonight. here are some of the highlights and the headline should i say of the president's budget. $350 billion to encourage job growth. that is stimulus package. it would implement the buffet rule, repeal bush tax cuts for the wealthy, also tax dividend income over $250,000 as ordinary income, it would end oil subsidies and reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. what is good about the budget, senator, what do you like or don't like? >> all of that stuff is good stuff. look, the fact of the matter is

the united states today has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major company. wealthiest people are doing well, they are effective tax rate is lowest in decades. if we are serious about two things, ed, number one the need to create millions of jobs, making vestments, in our energy system, transforming energy, rebuilding infrastructure it is totally appropriate that we ask the wealthiest people in the country to pay more in taxes and that is where the buffet rule comes in. second of all what the president has said, most americans agree, we have to end the bush tax breaks for the wealthiest people in the country, he's absolutely right on that. thirdly, what he also said is that we have to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies. we have had companies in recent years, exxon-mobil making billions in profits, paying nothing in federal income tax, that is absurd. i think all that stuff is right.

we have to reduce the deficit, we have to create jobs and the wealthiest people in the country should be asked to play a role until that. >> senator, these numbers, do they add up, would it reduce the deficit over the next ten years? would it do four trillion over the next decade? >> from what i understand it would. i would go further in one area, ed. we need tax reform, corporate tax reform, what the president is saying he wants to make it budget neutral. he wants to end some of the loopholes and exemptions and he wants to lower corporate tax rates. i think you have so many outrageous loopholes, you have a situation where we're losing $100 billion every single year, because of the tax havens, i think we can raise substantial revenue while we make a simpler, more progressive corporate tax code. >> we know paul ryan's budget would cut taxes for the wealthy and end medicare as we know it. today he called this budget

dishonest. what is your reaction to that? >> well, i don't think it's dishonest. i think it is a serious budget, trying to deal with the issue of fairness. i think clearly what ryan is about is continuing the republican effort to engage in class warfare. who in their right minds could support a proposal which says more tax breaks for the wealthiest people and yet we'll cut medicare and immediatemedic. >> here is mitch mcconnell on the senate floor today. >> the president's goal isn't to solve our problem but ignore them for another year which will insure they get worse. once again, the president is shirking his responsibility to lead by using this budget to divide us. >> senator, is voting on the payroll tax cut separate from the extension of the unemployment insurance, that is a mistake in. >> i don't think it should be separate, ed. you have two huge issues,

clearly i'm not a great fan of the payroll tax holiday, but the middle class needs a tax break but at the same time we cannot forget that long term unemployment in this country is very, very high, and we also need to make sure we don't cut drastically the reimbursement rate for doctors who serve medicare patients. >> back to the budget for a moment, i have to say i thought it would have been a bigger number now that we will be winding down. i thought it would be six or seven trillion instead of four. when you saw that number, what was your reaction? >> the president's budget is a recommendation to congress, that is all it. we have to go from here and i agree with you, i think with the infrastructure that is crumbling, potential to create over a period of time millions of decent paying jobs, roads, bridges, rebuilding the rail system, water systems, et cetera, we should make a very very heavy investment and i think the president has put

money in energy conservation and sustainable energy we could do more. >> senator, thanks so much. bernie sanders of vermont on "the ed show." wisconsin governor scott walker went do cpac to beg for money. to fight off a recall election, you won't believe how he did. the shock and sadness over whitney houston's death and the amazing tributes later in the show. stay with us. we're right back. ♪ i will alys love [ leanne ] appliance park has been here since the early 50s.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is one. most overlooked cpac speeches which certainly caught my attention, embattled wisconsin governor scott walker is the poster for attacking middle america. walker tried to whip up the crowd by talking about the importance of his upcoming recall fight. >> now, many project there will be as much as $70 million or more spent on the recall election against me come this next late spring or summer. that is what is at stake here because you see the big government union bosses understand this isn't just about who the governor of wisconsin is. it's not just about what the momentum or impact will be on the elections will be. those are factors. >> governor walker told the crowd if he loses will send shock waves across the political

spectrum. >> when we prevail it will send a powerful message to every politician in america. that if you stand up and do the right thing, if you tackle the tough challenges, make the tough choices, there will be men and women in every state and every part of the country who will stand up shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm with you. lord help us if we fail. i believe fundamentally having looked at this more closely over time. if we fail and i'm not planning on it if we were to fail this sets aside any courageous act in american politics for a decade if not a generation. that is why we must not fail. >> walker has enough savvy to make his recall election bigger than himself. the freshman governor needs to raise a ton of money outside of the state to cover his backside because he destroyed the rights of working men and women in wisconsin by radically changing collective bargaining. walker's problem, he doesn't see collective bargaining as a

right. >> collective bargaining is not a right in the public sector, collective bargaining is an expensive entitlement. >> so we have a big ideology fight. collective bargaining is the reason most workers have 40 hour work weeks, and 8 hour work days, overtime, pension, paid vacation, weekends, holidays, breaks on the job, safety standards in the work place, health insurance and sick leave. unions have fought for those rights for over 100 years aamerica especially in wisconsin. scott walker and his allies all invested in his survival, if walker wins, the attack on wage earners will explode. if walker loses, the radical attack might get stopped dead in its tracks for a while. is it alcohol? is it marijuana? is it cocaine?

is it pills? >> it has been at times. >> tonight, we're looking back at the life of whitney houston, and the issues that could have led to her death. dr. kareese of the phoenix house and joy-ann rid are here. republicans in congress are promising to continue their war on women's health. >> if we have to overcome the president's opposition by legislation of course i would be happy to support it. >> krystal ball and joan walsh join to us discuss how women will respond.

♪ for the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪

a very memorable moment in the career of whitney houston performing the star spangled banner for the super bowl xxi years ago. her death brings to mind her incredible talent as well as her struggle with drug addiction. she was 48 years old. houston was discovered in her bathtub by a member of her staff, at the beverly hills hotel saturday afternoon. she was under water and unconscious, first responders were immediately called but could not revive her and she was pronounced dead at the scene. according to assistant chief coroner winter, there were prescription drugs in her room, but less than usually present in cases of overdose. it could be weeks before the coroner's office completes the toxicology tests to determine the cause of death. police do not suspect foul play. houston attended a party in los angeles thursday night where she

drank alcohol, but did not seem disshoveled. she was dancing, kelly price said. houston was in town for the grammy party of her long time mentor, legendary music producer clive davis. houston's funeral will be held in newark, jersey later this week. joining me tonight is the chief clinical office at the phoenix house, a leading addiction center. so sad, isn't it? >> very sad. >> all too often we see big stars struggle with drug addiction. what is it? is it the pressure? is it the visibility, the money, not knowing how to handle the fame? just so many of those things. >> i think one of the things if we could answer ed, we would know what to do, how to help. i think that celebrities have more pressure in many ways, i think there are less likely for people to confront them about missed appointments, but i think that it's an equal opportunity illness and addiction hits

everybody. you hear about it and see it when it's celebrity, you see it when they relapse, not doing well. >> some of the pictures of whitney houston before she died, a lot of people around here, and it didn't look good. it looked pretty sad. what kind of pressure is on peers to help her out? >> she looked disshe haveled. the first 25 times, people help, they show up and they are fine. the next 25 times or so they say i'm worried about you and the person is basically fine. finally oh they're doing that again. and people forget it takes one little switch to really -- >> they get used to seeing it and don't intervene the way they should. >> yeah.

>> seems like everybody in america knows someone with a problem. do we have a problem when it comes to intervention, are we as a people afraid to step forward and do something? >> i talk to people every day afraid to say something, what i'm wrong, they won't like me or be angry. i say you have an obligation if you care about somebody to say i've noticed that you're having difficulty with things that used to come easily for you. i've noticed it appears your eyes are shut or you are groggy all the time, is something going on. >> we don't know exactly what happened. >> that's right. >> she may have had a heart attack, we don't know, there is a lot of speculation out there. but a long trail of addiction, there are some folks that just can't be retrieved, is that the truth? there is some people that can't be turned around, not that was whitney's issue. >> i think at the very least some people can't be turned around in time. what the big problem we have is

we can't predict who it is. so a lot of people tell me they have been through treatment three times it didn't help. that is not a predictor they won't get better the fourth time. >> she seemed to be doing well, completed a movie, there were positive things happening and then all of a sudden. >> i think it's important to know when you do drugs, particularly cocaine for a long period of time it changes your brain. it changes the way your brain responds to normal stimuli, you have cravings, no matter how long they are sober, they are not as intense, they don't have it as much, there is that piece your brain has changed you have to deal with that on a daily basis. >> doctor, thank you for joining us, appreciate it so much. up next, the stunning tribute to whitney houston and the other notable moments from last night's grammy awards. stay with us. [ tires squeal, engine revs ] ♪ ♪

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♪ and i will always love you ♪ i always will love you >> every american captivated by that. that was jennifer hudson paying tribute to whitney houston at the grammys last night performing one of houston's signature songs. last night's ceremony was notable for the classy treatment of houston's passing, including a prayer at the beginning of the show. singer adele swept the awards

and sang for the first time since her throat surgery. the beach boys reunited, each of them between 69 and 71 years old, they are still young! and they are great! and bruce springsteen sang his new patriotic anthem to americans coming together. ♪ >> let's turn to joy ann-reid, msnbc contributor. first of all, jennifer hudson, fabulous, perfect. >> you know, there have been some people who criticized the performance because she didn't do the whole key change, the big piece of the song and it was a truncated version, i thought it was under stated, emotional, you

could see her emotion, could you see in her face she was struggling to complete the performance, i thought it was beautiful because it was so simple. >> it was on short notice, obviously, how did they handle all that behind the scenes, the selection, all of it? >> it was difficult. chaka khan was supposed to perfo perform. people you would expect dionne warwick, people were in shock. jennifer hudson stepped up to the plate and with all the pressure that was on her, people waited the whole telecast for that tribute and it took a long time. if i had one criticism of the way the grammys handled it, almost took too long. by the time she stepped up there the weight of the world was on her. i thought she did a good job. >> this is an unusual situation, i can't remember someone of star power as whitney houston passing away hours before the grammys. they have to be commended how they handled it and on top of that it was a fabulous concert,

it was one unbelievable act after another, taylor swift, just tremendous. >> it was a big night. you have to say nikki minaj put on an interesting show. that is what the grammys is about. it had over the topp performances, they waited too long to get to the whitney tribute but it was beautiful. >> what about springsteen's opening number? kind of paralleling that of clint eastwood of the super bowl ad, american message, we'll get it done. >> you can't hate on the boss, bruce, a lot of great performers. bruno mars was great, very up tempo, you can't absolutely can't hate on the boss. >> i found it interesting in the twitter world, there are kids out there that don't know who paul mccartney is. come on. >> then the muppet show made sure i understand who glen campbell was.

>> i was surprised. >> apparently he has alzheimers, he remembered his songs. i thought that was remarkable. i thought respect to him. >> the world was rooting for him, no question. >> all in all i thought absolutely fabulous. thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. the republican party is about to make a fatal mistake with female voters. senate minority leader mitch senate minority leader mitch [ male announcer ] you love the taste of 2% milk.

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we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. the big finish the republican party is i think skating on thin ice with female voters on the contraception issue. mitch mcconnell and his buddies in the senate want to deny all american women the right to coverage for birth control. on friday we told you about republican senator roy blunt, he has an amendment which allows any employer to deny contraception coverage to any employee based on moral convictions. this has nothing to do with religion anymore, but senate

minority leader mitch mcconnell is still spinning it this way. >> the fact the white house thinks this is about contraception is the whole problem. this is about freedom of religion, you can't miss it in the first amendment, right there in the very first amendment to the constitution. the government doesn't get to decide for religious people what their religious believes are. >> bob schieffer asked the gentleman from kentucky if he supported blunt's amendment. >> yeah, if we end up having to try to overcome the president's opposition by legislation i intend to support it. >> republicans and catholic bishops muddied the waters for a week. it's clear this isn't about religious freedom, this is nothing more than a frontal attack on president obama and any woman in the country who wants coverage for birth control. it's 2012, why can't we get this right? i'm joined by democratic strategist krystal ball and editor at large for salon.com, joan walsh. great to have both of you with

us. joan, will this issue have an impact with female voters this fall or will this subside between now -- this is something women voters will remember for the long haul? >> i think so, ed. i'm very grateful they won't let it subside, they walked into a trap. i want to thank the catholic bishops, you and i talked for a long time how some of the provisions of the health care reform bill didn't take effect right away, they weren't too clear to the american people. i have talked to more women in the last week about the fact that regardless of the church controversy, their contraception will be free with no co-pay. everything that the bill did for women's health equalizing the playing field, we've had a -- that is the other thing i think is important now women are realizing what they have got, and then these guys are saying they want to take it away. i think they are making a huge

mistake. >> they certainly have spread the net out a lot further here with this blunt amendment. krystal, is the republican party don't de tone defense, first to say it's a religious issue then say any employer could branch out and deny this i find amazing. >> makes it very clear what this is all about. and even before the president offered his compromise, two-thirds of women supported the loss as it stood. so women are absolutely on the side of the president here, and let's remember, republicans are not exactly doing that great with women to start with. last time around in 2008, president obama got 70% of unmarried women voted for him and the numbers right now are are looking the same for the gop field. mitt romney right now is beating the president by 5 points among men, among women losing by 21 points. so this just doubles down on a losing strategy for them.

>> what amazing me, joan, the republican party doesn't seem to understand that women that exercise birth control are doing it for medical reasons, okay? they take the medication for medical reasons, other than getting pregnant. why can't they get that right? >> because they don't want to, ed. they just don't want to. they want to make this about sexuality, they are stuck back in the culture wars of the 1980's, they think this is a winning hand for them, they don't see what krystal said, they are alienating huge swaths of the population. i would like to say it's not just about women. if we're having sex and need birth control, there is a man involved, you know? there are husbands and fathers and partners all over the country who are benefitting from this as well, so it's a national issue. and they botched it. >> here is what paul ryan said about the president's compromise

on sunday. >> it's an accounting trick. forces the insurance company they have to pay to do the coverage. so instead of of making the institution itself it reinforces the insurer and a lot of catholic institutions are self-insured. so it's a distinction without a difference. >> krystal, what do you think of that? >> let's be clear this, is not about religious freedom. it does not mean your employer gets to impose their beliefs on you. health insurers know it's cheaper to pay for birth control than abortions or pregnancies. this is a cost-less thing. what paul ryan is saying doesn't make sense. they have a base that is not enthusiastic, this is one of the ways they keep the working class and middle class folks who are voting against their own self-interest economically with the republican party, they use

this as a culture war tribal clip to keep them in the party, frankly. >> today both of maine's republican senators broke with mcconnell on this issue, joan, what do you make of that, both susan collins and olympia snowe. >> i expected it, frankly, i think it's terrific. i'm excited for elizabeth warren, because scott brown announced today that he is supporting roy blunt's ridiculously broad legislation. he did a great favor to elizabeth warren. >> does she run commercials on that issue, do you think? >> i think so, yeah, i do. >> can i just point out one other thing here? the importance of having more women in office, i think it's notable that the two republicans who are breaking ranks here are two women! and right now we have 83% of the legislature is men and that is not to say women always vote the right way, but having those

voices at the table makes a real difference. >> you think --. >> womjumped out last week to defend the president. >> both of you comfortable with what the president did, did he handle it properly? >> wonderful. >> absolutely. i think the american people will say the president is being reasonable and republicans are being unreasonable, as usual. >> great to have both of you, joan walsh and krystal ball, great to have you on the program. that is "the ed show," listen to my radio show on sirius radio monday through friday, 12:00 to 3:00. follow me on twitter #edshow. like me on facebook. just a quick show note, six days since sean hannity promised to release his tape of president obama saying he didn't want to get osama bin laden. ezra klein is filling in for rachel maddow, ezra, good to