after a terrible fumble. >> do you know what percentage of those joks lost were lost by women? over 92%. >> that seems impossible. >> that didn't work. will a manufacture controversy? >> he is not doing well with women voters. why do you think that is? >> people haven't had a chance to listen to us or hear us. >> yes, let's listen to mitt with women. >> a very busy thursday. george zimmerman, the man now accused of murdering trayvon martin, has just made his first very brief appearance in court. and we'll bring you the latest on that developing story in a moment. but we begin with the war for women voters. and less than 24 hours after democratic strategist hillary rosen blew up the political discourse over women's issues by criticizing ann romney for having never worked a day in her

life, rosen apologized to mrs. romney for her poorly closen words. i apologize to ann romney and anyone else who was offended, rosen said in a statement. let's declare peace in this phony war and go back to focus on the substance. that after the white house was forced to issue its response to the remark this afternoon. >> i think we can all agree, democrats and republicans, that raising children is an extremely difficult job. we should also focus on where we disagree. why did it take president obama entering office, being sworn into office to have the fair pay act become law? because republicans overwhelmingly opposed it. >> now all of this is in reaction to what miss rosen said last night on cnn. >> what you have is mitt romney running around the country saying, well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues. when i listen to my wife, that's what i'm hearing. guess what. his wife has actually never

worked a day in her life. she has never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the we will in this country are facing. >> and at a moment when mitt romney is desperate to catch a break with women voters, that line never worked a day in her life, was blood in the water. touching off a feeding frenzy online and on television. and leading ann romney to blast out her very first tweet. i made a choice to stay at home and raise five boys. believe me, it was hard work. >> we do believe her. and as the media frenzy reached levels of near hysteria, both women took to the airwaves today with rosen defending her comments and mrs. romney defending her husband. >> this is not about ann romney. this is about the waitress at a diner in someplace in nevada who has two kids, whose daycare funding is being cut off because of the romney-ryan budget. and she doesn't know what to do.

this isn't about whether ann romney or i or other women of some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise kids. most women in america, let's face it, don't have that choice. >> if maybe i haven't struggled as much financially as some people have, i can tell you and promise you that i've had struggles in my life. and i would love to have people understand that mitt and i have compassion for people that are struggling. >> indeed. you can see why mitt relies on at-bat as such an effective surrogate. but it was a little later in the interview when ann made the more telling remark. >> mitt romney is a person that admires women and listens to them. and up grateful that he listens to me and listens to what i am telling him as well. what women are facing right now. >> you see that's what rosen was

talking about all along. >> i wish ann were here, for a lot of reasons i wish she were here. i wish she were here to answer that question in particular. she says that she's going across the country and talking with women. and what they're talking about is the debt that we're leaving the next generation. >> well, our political panel is here with us now in washington. msnbc political analyst david corn. the author of the new book," showdown." and krystal ball and in minneapolis, ana marie cox. let me start with you. you are our working mother on the panel. the romney camp is deeply desirous of making this an attack on ann romney and all stay at home mothers. and of course there has been democratic outrage as well. wasn't rosen really criticizing the policies with mitt romney with admittedly a very poor and

albeit bad choice of words. >> i'm very sensitive to this sort of comment because i face similar attacks during my run for congress in 2010. i don't really think that what she said was, say, as offensive as rush limbaugh calling sandra flick a prostitute. but i think that it was somewhat disparaging of women who choose to stay at home with children. >> we appear to have lost krystal there. i wonder if i can bring you in. the fact is mitt romney has repeatedly referred to his wife as his source of information on women's concerns. it is that two degrees of separation problem that you keep writing about and that we keep watching with mitt romney. that's it, isn't it? >> yes. it is like she is his ambassador to humanitarian. not just women. but she interprets this look

that we use that has emotions in it, that has passions in it. she explains to it him probably using ones and zeros. i think that's the real problem. both ann and mitt have not faced the kinds of problems that people struggling in america have faced and mitt romney has said that he does not care very much for the very poor. and i think that given time, that's what we're going to see more of. because mitt romney cannot seem to hide what his true nature is. he is a techno democrat. and his apology do not favor worg mothers. >> i'm assuming that you also would be critical of anybody disparaging a woman for choosing to work at home in bringing her children up, as opposed to working outside the home. >> right. to raise children is a job and it's a job that is not been considered work for a long time. and only recently in this

century has that really been considered something that women do that is an equal part of our society. it is something that is a choice for only a few women of only women in a certain class these days have the choice of being a stay at home mother. i think the policies that romney, and the ryan budget in particular, put forward make it harder and harder for women to do that kind of work. instead, they have to outsource it to daycare centers and kindergartens. and that kind of thing is actually, i would say that i would prefer a society where women could be with their children as much as they want to be. >> as they can choose. >> that's not a paul ryan society. >> david, while the twitter sphere runs wild with rosengate, republican money man foster freese is famous for saying women should put an aspirin for birth control in his day. he was out saying this today on fox business. listen to this.

>> there is a lot of things that haven't been hammered at because rick and mitt have been going at each other. i'm afraid, i hope president obama's teleprompters are bullet proof. i probably shouldn't have said that. >> how did a man with such inadequate mental faculties become so rich? >> only in america? probably be. you can probably do that in other countries as well. >> talk about an ill tempered remark. what ril ril said, and i've known him a long time. the second half of her statement that ann romney is a poor person to speak for the financially struggling women of america was dead on. spot on. and was more to the point and in context, her remarks are far less outrageous than someone out

there making jokes about sass it in , assassinating the president of the united states. >> let's not forget that foster friesse is now hall offy fledged support he of mitt romney. >> where are the denials and the denouncements coming from the romney campaign the way you saw themselves from hillary's remarks even though she is not a paid adviser to the dnc or the obama campaign, as far as i know. >> i'm still waiting for those. hillary rosen has now formally apologized. and the form he first lady barbara bush says today that we should forget it. but that still leaves the problem for mitt of how does he win female voters? we know according to the latest polling, the very latest, that he concedes something like 18 to 19 points to the president when it comes to women.

if that i had answer, i would hire myself to the mitt romney campaign. certainly they have the money to pay me for it. i think that's the only way they would get that advice from someone who is not already in the campaign. that campaign is full of people who are very bright, very well paid, and who have been working to get mitt romney elected president for years and years and years. for eight years if not more. and they still have this problem. and i do think that speaks to something fundamental. it is not just about tone, not just about his awkwardness. not just about whether he likes women. it is about the policies that he favors. those policies are in and of themselves detrimental to working women and women who want to have the choice to raising their children at home. and i don't think there's any amount of spin or rosie pictures with his family that can do that. >> we note in the paul ryan budget, 400 people would lose

pell grants. and something like another 400,000 teachers would have been employed. it is problematic. while we accept what hillary rosen said it was ill advised and poor use of language, it still leaves the problem that mitt romney is locked in with the budget which he has referred to as marvelous. >> as you noted, when hillary was talking about that, she called at this time romney-ryan budget. i was talking to the strategist yesterday who was saying that romney should pick paul ryan to be his running made. then you would really have the romney-ryan budget. i don't think the budget works well with independents and democrats. women or men. there are some male teachers out there as well and there are men who would see construction jobs, infrastructure jobs cut back as well. so i think ana marie is correct here. ultimately this will blow over.

hillary is not important to the obama campaign. this is only working for the romney folks because the cable people like us can talk about this for a day or. two but this fight can't sustain itself. ultimately romney will have to sell romney and romney's ideas which are now paul ryan's ideas. he kind of rented out paul ryan whether he puts him on the ticket or not. >> good luck with that. >> we'll be fighting about it over and over again and it won't help him with women or his association with republicans who want to mandate ultrasound examinations and you talk about a woman's right to choose her career. and another right to choose that he is very bad on. >> thank you all for joining us. next, trayvon martin appears in court while his defenders baby at a loss on what to say next. >> what happened before? in the state of florida, you cannot use this defense if you are the attacker. who initially started the

physical alter indication? >> i spoke with mr. zimmerman's father and i did speak to mr. zimmerman. i'll keep that conversation private. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] choose the same brand your mom trusted for you. children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade.

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george zimmerman made his first appearance today in court with his attorney. a brief exercise which set his next court date for may 29th. zimmerman who had been in hiding turned himself in on wednesday. he faces a potential life extension on a second-degree murder charge in the killing of the unarmed tarnlg, trayvon martin, six weeks ago. today his lawyers said he looks forward to the facts coming out in court. >> obviously it was a horrible

intersection of two young men's lives. and it ended in tragedy. we have to figure out how it hampden. why it happen. and who might be responsible for it. >> the developments mark a turning point in a case that has sparked a nationwide conversation about race and also about florida's stand your ground law which allows someone to use deadly force anywhere that they feel threatened. it is one of 25 such laws that have sprung up around the country. fiercely promoted by the national rifle association. and indeed, that very group begins its annual meeting today in st. louis, missouri. registration is just underway, we understand, with mitt romney, rick santorum, roy blount, even rick perry all set to attend tomorrow. in the morning, attendees can hit the wall of guns raffle. the pyramid air gun range. or attend the firearms law seminar including topics such as how to help a client who has

been disqualified from gun ownership. with me now here in new york is jamie floyd, an attorney and managing editor of the global world report. and back with me, david corn. if i can start with you, jamie, were you surprised that mr. zimmerman's attorney did not seek bail for his client today? >> i was but i think, martin, i've just fallen prey to everyone, the same thing everyone else has. i was listening to the media reports and we heard that he would be asking for bail so i quite expected it and then didn't. i will expect he will do so at the hearing in may. as we learned, open discovery. there will be a lot of information forthcoming to the defense in this case where it might not be in other states. once he gets more information, he'll be able to do a lot more with this case and perhaps he'll ask for bail. this may be a case where mr. zimmerman doesn't want to be

out. as he whole lot safer there behind bars than he is out on his own. although he can assist in his defense a lot more if he is out. because he can cooperate with his attorneys if he is free to see them at his will. >> we know that this case will in some way pivot on this issue of stand your ground. >> almost entirely at the beginning. >> so how difficult will it be for prosecutors to prove that mr. zimmerman was not doing that? >> i'm so glad you asked this question. it gives me a chance to clarify something that i said yesterday when i talked about the burden that prosecutors have in this case. this is an affirmative defense. that means that mr. zimmerman will have to show that he was defending himself. and in florida, this requires a stand your ground hearing. a hearing before the judge, before the case ever gets underway, in which mr. zimmerman and his attorneys will try to cloak mr. zimmerman in immunity.

it means, you say to the judge, judge, we don't even need to have a trial here. i was acting in self-defense. >> dismiss the charges. >> dismiss the charges. there's no case to be had. he may or may not win that. if he does not win and we go to trial, that doesn't mean prosecutors are freed from this burden. self-defense continues to come up even if there is a jury in the box. >> many people across america are calling for the repeal of florida's stand your ground law. and hoping to repeal them in other states as wemd earlier. something like 26 of them exist. repealing a law that is strongly backed by the nra, i dare to say, is almost impossible, isn't it? >> the nra is this gigantic political force within our nation, within our culture. and they've been out there working on this level. and in terms of getting guns back into the people who have lost their rights to own guns, as you talk about earlier. that's one of the seminars at

the nra convention. we see them often every couple years when there is a big fight in congress, over, say, the assault weapons ban or cop killing bullets. they've lost a lot of those in the '90s under the bill clinton years. they've been at the state level on all these things, on conceal carry laws. bringing guns to national parks. bringing guns into bars. bringing guns into churches. whatever. and it is hard to fight them in 50 states. the gun control groups just don't have the same clout or the same amount of political dollars that they have. >> okay. tomorrow we're going to see mitt romney, rick santorum, newt gingrich and a who's who of other republican leaders telling at the convention and they'll decry the president as their bogeyman. yet the reality is, you and i know this president has done absolutely nothing in relation

to guns. >> i tell you, i get an e-mail a day or every other day from some right wing group saying that barack obama is just a nano second away from taking your gun from you. and there is no reason to believe this. he has not made -- gun control advocates wanted more from him after the tragic tucson shooting to take this up as a policy matter and he has declined. it has had bad politics for democrats over the last few years. it's been very hard for them to win on this front. & david makes the point following the shooting of gabby gifford, there was an expectation or a demand and nothing. >> i worked on the brady bill. i worked on the assault weapons ban. those were clinton administration initiatives and laws. since then, much of what happened in those laws had been gutted. they had sunset provisions. with all due respect to the obama administration, the priorities have been elsewhere. as david points out, highly

politically detrimental for any democrat or obviously, republican, who might want to take that on. a handgun of the sort used in this case is intended for one purpose and that is to kill people. this isn't about hunting. unless you're hunting people. and so it is incredible to me that they're having this convention in the midst of this nationally discussed tragedy of trayvon martin. and i do wonder what they'll be saying tomorrow, martin. >> look at the gabby gifford case. one of the reasons was the magazine which is not used again for hunting. it is a gun nuts preferred choice of ammo. we couldn't really have much of a debate over even legislating the sales of those. >> david corps and jamie floyd. next, the gop leadership cries out, out. >> my experience in history is it is not over until it's over.

>> iceberg straight ahead!

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that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. sadly for newt gingrich, yet another woman is getting out of his life. his deputy press secretary is doing something that he should probably do himself. moving on from a campaign that is sinking even more quickly than the titanic did 100 years ago. captain newt is declaring, dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead. newt is still in it to win it. >> i think i am getting it tattooed up here. all the way to tampa. >> getting a tattoo for something or someone you love never ends very well. you as a man on your third wife should know that. with a bounced check, the low poll numbers, you see must see

the massive iceberg on your own political horizon. you've made it clear that you love your country. i hate to tell you, america is just not that into you. abandon ship, mr. gingrich. it's time for that life boat called lobbying. you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. guys. come here, come here. [ telephone ringing ] i'm calling my old dealership. [ man ] may ford. hi, yeah. do you guys have any crossovers that offer better highway fuel economy than the chevy equinox? no, sorry, sir. we don't. oh, well, that's too bad. [ man ] kyle, is that you? [ laughs ]

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so who made the list and who bounced the check? here are today's top lines. tag, you're it. >> it was ill probable as any race you will ever see for president. >> really? were you alive in 2008? when a black guy named barack hussein obama beat a 48-term war hero senator? >> senator santorum dropped out of the race. would you consider him as a vice president candidate? >> everybody is on my list. i actually don't, i don't have a list. >> if it will help convince folks, we could call it the reagan rule instead of the buffett rule.

>> people intent on jealousy. >> he calls him out of touch. how many of you all have a swiss bank account? >> your check bounced. this is one of those goofy things. snf do you know what's most embasing, spending your last $500 to go up against mormon mitt romney in utah. >> did you and santorum finally speak? >> we've been swapping voicemails. i'll have to get to him when i'm done with you. >> we're having ourselves quite a game. >> i would like to move up. >> hey, tell us how you missed that putt. >> oh, republicans are waging a war on women. >> is governor romney opposed to the lily ledbetter act? >> we'll get back to you. >> the first time you were on my

show. you were not the first lady. now you are. do you ever lord over the president the fact that you're more popular than he is? have you endorsed him yet? are you prepared to do that? >> i am prepared. he's my man. >> let's get right to our political panel. joe williams is white house reporter for politico. and steve, behind the first lady on colbert as we just saw last night and this firestorm surrounding ann romney, is it right to say the wives are as important as the husbands? >> i don't know if they're more important but politically, they're more delicate. that's the lesson of this. if you look at what hillary rosen said last night and you consider it in its full context. in the rell of politics, it is not that inflammatory. when it is the candidate's wife like mitt romney weighs wife who

is generally well like, who has tried to stay out of the political limelight, it makes it very easy for the other side to turn around and say this is a vicious political act. >> joe, take a look at this. the first lady's approval ratings are 15 points better than her husband's at this point, according to a maris poll. do you speck her to do a lot of campaigning? >> consider where we were with michelle obama four years ago where people were sort of skeptical that this african american woman who look like, who didn't look like all the other first ladies would be as popular as she is. yes, she will be deployed quite a bit more. yes, this will be something they hammer home to have a powerful strong first lady who is assisting the president in so many ways. she is definitely an asset. they will deploy her more and more. you're already seeing that happen. >> how long do you think we'll be about ann romney's decision

to stay home and raise kids? or does it help romney to dig his way out of the mess he's in with female voters. i'm asking. do you think he'll use this as long as he can? >> what time is it. we have about another 12 hours in the news cycle. i expect it will carry on at least until the end of today or tofrl it is a long way from where he is now with the female vote to where he wants to be. there is a lot of counter pushback on the ann romney story and the fact that she is the wife of a wealthy husband. he has money to spare. they can afford whatever help they need to raise the children. versus the working class women who have to struggle and scrape and work jobs along with raising children. so i think the outrage factor will siller down and the real issues will take root. >> it is not just women the obama campaign is targeting. vice president joe biden hit the trail in new hampshire to coin a new phrase, the so-called romney

rule. take a listen. >> that's another trillion dollars in tax cuts going to the top 1% in taxpayers. i don't blame her for crying. she is going -- she is going to inherit it. she is going to pay for it. that's one smart baby. that was the vice president referring to the fact that if romney supports the ryan budget, that's exactly what will happen. is this an effective take, do you think? >> sure. it's funny. you had that clip at the beginning where you showed newt gingrich and you look at all the people mitt romney ran against. and i will say he was clearly the best general election option for the republican party. but there is one area he is vulnerable. that's this. the democrats and the obama campaign and biden want to make tax fairness a central question. they're talking about

specifically, what they really want to use the highlight that. the loophole that allows very rich people who get most of their money from investments to pay a lower tax rate than the average american. mitt romney is the poster child for that. he paid an effective rate of 14% because so much of his money comes from investments. so in that sense, he plugs directly into what the democrats want to accomplish this fall. >> both individuals who have elevators in their buildings but not for their cars. thank you very much. and a reminder to catch the ed show tonight when ed will have an exclusive interview with vice president biden at 8:00 p.m. eastern. only on msnbc. next, communists in congress? a united states representative with a very serious cry for hi, i'm phil mickelson.

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i'm here as the modern day harriet tubman to lead people on the underground railroad into a case of sense and sensibility. >> if you're unfamiliar with congressman allen west, by all means do become acquainted. the florida congressman's comments are typically too unmoored to do anything but stare in disbelief. his latest assertion certainly fits the bill. >> i believe it is about 70, 80 to 81 members of the democrat party that are members of the communist party. >> joining us now from minneapolis is democratic congressman keith ellisson. the mexico of congress to which mr. west was referring. good afternoon. >> good afternoon thank you. . >> i must ask you, are you now or have you ever been a communist? if so, do you draw your links

from which branch? >> i have never been, nor 50 ever known anyone in congress who is a member of the communist party. the fact is that it is really sad that we would have to deal with these allegations. if you look at florida, they have a foreclosure crisis. they have a high unemployment rate. they have all kinds of problems there. to think that their member of congress is wasting time throwing nasty names about his colleagues is actually quite shocking when you consider all the serious problems that need to be dealt with. >> all kidding aside. you know congressman west makes incendiary comments about people including muslims. he is just stofrt person the gop house leadership wants more of. is recruitment of this kind of candidate the reason the legislative process is so broken and discredited?

>> absolutely. the fact is that the, this gentleman and people who resonate with him are not there to solve problems. as i said, florida is sort of like ground zero for the foreclosure crisis. and clearly, unemployment is high. we have national debt issues. we cannot move an agenda. these folks tried to have america default on our debt obligations because they were so ideologically committed. and not at all focused on trying to solve serious problems americans are facing. i've had many constituents say why can't you get along? look. we are here to compromise and boring out problem for the american people. when this is who you have to deal with, it really impossible. >> what is it, sir, about you yourself and your progressive colleagues that would provoke someone like allen west to accuse you of being a a

communist. >> i think what would make him say such a thing as that, is that he has a need to vilify and demonize the other. when you talk about debbie wasserman schultz who is his colleague from florida was talking about how they need to have a solid front for seniors, and so on medicare, she pointed out that he wouldn't support that. he did not debate her on the issue. he personally attacked her and said, she was not a lady. this guy is a serial insulter. he does this because i think to focus on what the job of a member of congress is is to solve problems, is something he is not interested in doing. i hope the people of the 22nd congressional district of florida take note about how he is always in the middle of one outrageous controversy or another. and that he never seems to get around dealing with the problems that they face on a daily basis. >> yet in all seriousness, sarah

palin believes that allen west should be at the top of mitt romney's list for vice president. >> well, that's telling about where she's coming from, isn't it? here's the reality. we need americans who really are focused on getting kids to cool and putting food on the table to step up and understand that there is a whole group of ideologically committed people who are way outside the main stream of american life, who would take power if we don't step up and get active. get engaged and start organizing people. the fact of the matter is, is that there are people who would want him to take a greater leadership role. that's scary to me but the reality is that they are there. and you've got to wonder what the world would look like if they got their way. the only answer is get busy, get active. i think that the people of the 22nd congressional district of

florida deserve better than what they're getting and i hope people are taking careful note and at everything he says so they can feed it back to the voters at the proper time. >> keith ellis son who is not a communist. >> thank you. coming up, super pacs, hot air and the truth about gas prices. first the cnbc market wrap. >> good afternoon. it's a pretty good day for the u.s. stock market. you can thank europe this time. we were blaming europe a few days ago. now some optimism that may be the solution to europe's problems is a little closer than we had thought. you have some optimism that china may not have a hard landing. the dow jones industrial average up 175. if you don't like the weather, stick around for a few minutes. we'll see what tomorrow brings. today is a pretty good day. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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even though it is now widely acknowledged that the president of the united states has little control over the price of gas, republicans still want to blame him. american crossroads is out with a new ad placing all the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the president. not surprising, of course, that the amount of money being spent by super pacs is not only spreading discourse, it's spreading gas rumors. good afternoon to you. i have to ask you about republican congressman alan west. he says that between 78 and 81 members of the caucus are card-carrying members of the caucus party. you've always struck me as an honorable member of the house, but are you a caucus member yourself?

>> i'm in the progressive caucus and i heard my friend describe it pretty good. alan west, it's a money maker for him. are you a rabid communist? >> i'm not a rabid communist, as disappointing as that may be to alan west. >> continue with your answer, sir. >> where are we on gas prices? >> mr. west's outburst. >> here's the thing with him. he's got a group of people that supports that kind of rhetoric which is obviously dead end. it doesn't solve a lot of problems or even define or explain them. i think it's an effective fundraising strategy for him. some of the folks in congress who say really outrageous things then go on the internet and there's enough loopy folks like loopy billionaires that will write checks the more in secendy

the comments. bottom line, it might be a fundraising ploy for mr. west. >> let's go to what the "washington post" has called selective math. does this all come back to the citizens united decision, and how on earth is this going to be changed unless there is a clean sweep of democrats through the house, through the senate and the presidential election victory? >> well, ate zecitizens united really a crossroads in american democratic life. this is the first time corporations have been defined as people. the supreme court made that decision 5-4 saying that corporations are people and have the same rights and political speeches as individuals, and it's really opened up the floodgates. citizens united can only effectively be changed either with a 5-4 reversal in the supreme court, and that's the long, tough law. this has a detrimental impact on

the debates. american crossroads has $200 million ready to attack president obama, and they're going to blame him for not flipping that switch that they pretend is in the white house that the president can just flip in order to lower gas prices, which obviously, is kind of crazy. but this is $200 million that they are going to spend, supposedly, the super pacs have no connection to the candidates. but ed gillespie, of course, is now going to be leading the charge here at american crossroads on this attack against obama, and he's been a major adviser for mr. romney. so, you know, americans, i suppose, if we want, we can choose the option of being naive about the connection, but that's not a requirement, and it's pretty clear that super-pacs in the main campaign are hand in glove. >> i wish we had more time, but thank you for joining us, sir. and we'll be right back. >> thank you. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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time now to clear the air. with rick santorum's sudden withdrawal from the race, mitt romney is set to fight the president in the election in november. but what we've heard from mitt romney is consistent with what we've heard from the republicans through the years. cut taxes, and wait for the benefits to trickle down to everyone. the trouble is, the facts don't really point to the assertion. the income of the top 1% in america grew by an average of 275%. this meant that on average, the income for the top 1% went up by more than $700,000. fabulous. but what about the rest of american society? did everyone else benefit? not quite. during the same period, 60% of americans in the middle income bracket saw their income go up by just 40%, so that's 275%

versus just 40%. but here's the most disturbing statistic of all. the bottom 90% of households actually saw their pre-tax income go down. yes, go down by an average of $900. so if these are the facts, why does mitt romney keep asserting that his approach actually works? i have a suspicion that mr. romney may be confusing trickle-down economics as it applies to broader society with trickle-down economics family style. you see, mitt romney has been the beneficiary of an extremely successful household. his father was the president of general motors and the 43rd governor of michigan. he was even a candidate himself for the republican presidential nomination in 1968. and, of course, any child growing up in such a family becomes the beneficiary of a whole host of advantages. but that's trickle-down economics family style. now, contrast romney's

experience with that of the president. the president's father had very little to do with him, divorcing his mother after just three years of marriage and returning to kenya. that's why, when he was speaking at florida atlantic university, he highlighted the importance of providing assistance and support to young students as opposed to simply exposing them to the vag vagueries of the market and their family's circumstances. we know this is going to be a close presidential election, but let's not confuse the facts. mitt romney has been the beneficiary of trickle-down economics family style. the president has not. and that's why he said this: >> this is not about a few people doing well. we want people to do well. that's great. but it's about giving everybody the chance to do well. [ applause ] >> that's the essence of america. >> and that's the