own also, that would provide the buffer to make sure the hits were always taken by the shareholders, not the taxpayers. so could they account for regulators to account? that does it for us today. i'm matt miller. next up is chris miller. "hardball" starts now. >> let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews. in washington leading off tonight, mitch got a name for his pain: bain. has mitt romney caught heat for his time at bain capital? the superpac is jump sbug the fight, hitting romney on bain in five swing states with this. >> he's promised us the same thing he's promised the united

states. he'll give you the same thing he gave us. nothing. >> nothing. the obama campaign's goal is to make this a choice election and make mitt romney unacceptable. also, jp morgan chase's $2 billion losses, a lot of people saying, i told you so. barney frank, as in dodd/frank, has been fighting the republicans for years saying banks like chase need to be regulated so we don't have to bail them out. barney frank joins us tonight. plus the filibusters is a routine use by republicans to get something done. in other words, getting nothing done. and mitt romney gets a very low key endorsement from -- can you keep a secret? w. that's in the side show. we begin with mitt romney and bain capital, however. susan page, bureau chief of usa today and the director of the

"washington post" media group as well as the political analyst. yesterday we showed you the obama campaign ad going up in five swing states where the obama superpac action is dying down. with this new adective was to make money. whether the companies they came in and worked with made money or not was irrelevant. bain capital always made money. if we lost, they made money. if we survived, they made money. it's as simple as that. he promised us the same things he's promising the united states. he'll give you the same thing he gave us. nothing. he'll take it all. >> he'll take it all. susan, this is rough stuff. this is hitting the guy on the first play of the game. the campaign began -- all that talk about gay marriage but the campaign really began at the campaign last weekend, and they hit with everything they've got. >> here is the obama campaign defining mitt romney before mitt romney has a chance to define himself, and they're saying he's

rich, he doesn't know anything about your life, he doesn't care about you? these are very effective attacks. >> i think romney has defined himself, and i think people do know who the guy is, by the way. he's been running for office for years now, we've been covering those campaigns, we've looked deeply at the guy, and what we've seen is a guy who basically runs a campaign on not the other guy. he's never wanted to focus on him. anyway, what do you think of this ad campaign? does ehe want to define himself? i'm not sure he does. >> i was at the obama campaign the other day, and it's clear to me their overriding strategic doctrine in addition to the gay marriage stuff, they don't want to run away from it, prit marry doctrine is to go after mitt romney. they want to meet him on the economic ground and they want to, as susan said, try to define him more. most people really don't know that much about mitt romney. they really don't know the details of his business career. and what the obama campaign is

dedicated to doing is to unpacking every negative detail they can find about mitt romney's time at bain capital, about his time as governor of massachusetts, even his time running the olympics in salt lake. >> let's be fair -- i don't want to say let's be fair. let's get the whole story. he doesn't want that kind of focus, does he? >> i think what they're saying is, hey, pal -- the obama people are saying, you want to focus on the economy? you want to make this all about the economy? you want to say you don't matter and it's just about obama's record? we're not going to accept that. this is a two-person race and we are going to throw it right back. >> if this guy wanted us to know about himself his way, the so-called mitt, the real mitt. never goes on "meet the press," never does the sunday shows, ids over this in fox land where he gets the reviews he wants. he doesn't want to talk about his religion, okay, that's his call, but i know why he doesn't want to talk about things like that. it seems like all he wants to do is look at the gdp, it's not

growing fast enough so put in the relief pitcher. don't even ask who the relief pitcher is. by the way, santorum is no good, newt is no good, so you have to take me. it's all about process of elimination and he's the last man sitting, but don't look at it him. so when he makes it as president someday, we have to look at him. my god, he made president because he's the only alternative. >> the obama campaign is determined to not let that happen. >> obama is a president running for reelection. the first step is a referendum on him. mitt romney, people want to win that debate. >> here is some of the new numbers in your usa today gallup poll. here it is going on offense for trying to attack romney's business records. u.s. voters polled two questions. would the economy improve in four years under a mitt romney presidency, and would it improve if president obama was reelected? 57% said if mitt romney gets

elected, the economy will be better. 44% say it will get better if obama is reelected. >> so people have greater faith than they do obama in handling the economy. >> why? >> because the economy has been so tough. >> why do they have more faith in him? >> because they see him as a business ceo, and that's why his record is focused not on the business in massachusetts, they focus on his calling card, which is his business sense. >> it's the same thing w. did to kerry. you're a soldier, you're a hero, you're a patriot in south vietnam, we're going to nail you. >> i think the obama campaign understands they have to destroy mitt romney's superficial reputation now as a great business manager, or at least an effective business manager, if they're going to win the election. because it is going to be about the economy, and if they don't destroy mitt romney's credibility on that basis, it's going to be a very, very difficult race to win.

>> somewhere the president said that in the last couple days. he said, this is what the election is about. it's about this ability to create jobs and whether his opponent has it or not. >> ferstrom went out to rebutt the ads. >> i think this issue to move away from his own economy. we know from our own 401(k) investments that not every stock we buy, not every company we invest in turns out to be a winner. but over the long haul, obama has had many more successes than failures, he's learned from both experiences and that's what makes him so qualified to lead on jobs in the economy. >> let me just critique that performance. first of all, they put the guy in these one-liners. i used to write these things. the biggest smokescreen.

this is what you do, you come up with these little, ridiculous, over the top metaphors. this is my favorite. we all know from our 401(k) investments, romney can't do that. he has to put on the surrogate to do it. he can't say, as we all know from our 401 -- he doesn't have a 401, romney. he's a quarter billionaire. so he has to put a guy on the show, a substitute, to explain american life. could romney say, look, we all know from our own sorrow -- come on. >> in fairness, could president obama say that? >> he could have when he was running the first time. >> he can't say that now, they're both rich guys. okay, romney is extra rich. >> do you know why? he wrote his own book. >> the attacks on mitt romney are not only on his business record, they're also on his values.

because what that very affecting steelworker was saying was he didn't care about us. and that's -- he could be a very successful businessman and still not care about average people. >> susan is right. you have to tie the two together and that's what the obama campaign is going to try to do. when you talk to the romney people, as i did in boston last week, stevens is the top media guy for romney, he said, you can't convince people they're dry when they know they've gotten wet. and his point is that somehow, their faith somehow, is that the overriding feeling of the american people of concern about the economy is, in the end, going to turn the obama campaign into a kind of house of cards that's somehow going to collapse at the end. and that may or may not be folly, but that's their view. and the obama campaign is going to do exactly as susan said, attack mitt romney's business record, business management, and tie it to its values, tie it to

his character, tie it to the idea that he's a guy who doesn't care. >> you said something before we came out here, and you're so brilliant sometimes. you really are brilliant sometimes. you said he won the primaries by saying nothing about himself, but i'm not santorum, i'm not newt gingrich, and he wants to win the general election by saying, i'm not barack obama. who is he? is he a guy who is going to look out for the country. >> yes, he's trying to win by the process of elimination, as you say. >> you said it. >> axelrod said you can't win an election by the process of elimination. >> but is that true? >> i don't know. >> you figured it out -- >> i don't know. and they're saying -- axelrod says, no, it's about two people, two candidates and the level of trust and understanding u with those people.

>>. romney is a very family oriented guy, a very religious oriented. and he doesn't tell us much. >>, it's not enough to do it by the process of elimination. the second step is. >> this is what i always say. >> that's the barron ald reagan got over in 1980, he will then have to face that so that people won't say, is is the pitcher going to do that? >> they're trying to drive him so deep -- romney so deep into a hole now that he won't be able to recover later. >> does that work? games won at the beginning of

this season. >> it worked with dolly. >> give us that chair. howard feinman, hanging on for his life. be sure to go to the nbc app featuring our daily trip sheet. we have state of the art, we just don't have kleenex. he lost a whopping $2 billion. so the most -- we're talking about we need a fix. don't go away. this is "hardball." that's three times more than me!

twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! ♪ [ male announcer ] no one just hands you the title, most advanced technology in its class. it needs to be earned. earned with smartbeam head lamps. earned with vented temperature control seats. earned with an 8.4-inch touch screen. and if you're driving one, you know what it means to earn something. ♪ if you're hoping to find somebody other than mitt romney out and about, you'll have to

wait for another four years. the group was hoping to get on the ballot in all 50 states through an on-line application process. both democrats and republicans are worried what a third party like that would do to the election, but they said their efforts had failed. that's honest. we'll be right back. o know the unique aspects of your business. we can recommend financial solutions that can work for you that have helped millions of business owners save time, reduce expenses, and maximize cash flow. as the number one small business lender for nine years running... we're with you when you need us. so you can be there for your customers. wells fargo. together we'll go far.

this is why we passed wall street reform. the whole point was even if you're smart, you can make mistakes. and since these banks are insured, backed up by taxpayers, we don't want you taking risks where eventually we might end up having to bail you out again. because we've done that, been there. didn't like it. >> a strong voice there by the president. by the way, welcome back to "hardball." president obama on "the view"

making a strong case in light of the $2 billion trading debacle of jp morgan. he said this will be a driving force of the election. catch this line. >> this, again, is going to be part of what the election is about. we've got real differences here. because governor romney, some of the republican members of congress, and the financial industry, have been arguing that this is unnecessary, that this is impeding capital formation, it's making it harder to lend to businesses, et cetera, and what i've said s look, we want a successful financial industry. that's always been one of the hallmarks of america. but what makes us the best financial industry is transparency, accountability, rules. >> wow. barney frank and robert rice, author of the new e-book, "beyond outrage, what is going

on with our economy and our democracy." over the years, i've watched people like you and mr. dingle and henry waxman, you've devoted your careers to do one thing, try to keep big capitalism tamed for the average person. it seems to me that romney is saying, don't do that. it just seems to me he and jp morgan say, leave us alone, let us make some money, stay out of our way and the country will be better off. >> he has said that explicitly. he said we should repeal the financial law. frankly, the bill isn't as tough as i want it to be in a couple derivatives. it's still tough enough, but romney said we should repeal it. he was saying consistently we should repeal t. a week ago

after the jp morgan screw-up, he amended that to say it should be repealed and replaced. that is in the latest of what i call a series of remits. a remit is when romney has to change his position because he's in a different political place. as we talk now, as of a week ago, the republicans put it through the committee, of which i'm now a minority leader, that would have removed any regulation over the type of trade that jp morgan was engaged in at all, whether it was done by a bank or not. we should remember, these derivatives are dangerous when they're done by banks, they're also dangerous when they're done by others. aig was not a bank, but there was a republican pending bill that went through our committee over democratic opposition that says -- i'm not kidding -- if an american institution conducts derivative transactions overseas to a subsidiary overseas, it's not subject to american regulation. that's the jp morganchase case.

before the world came out they lost 2 billion, they were prepared to say not only did it happen in a bank, but there would be no regulation of that whatsoever. >> let me get to secretary rice. it seems to me just in terms of the people who don't understand all of this, they love it on wall street. the more complicated the better. haven't they seen all of the movies? haven't they seen played by bill hurt and others saying, these guys are ruthless sob's. they'll do anything to make money. don't trust them. keep the lights on them and keep them regulated and watched. by the way, there was a begging ball. take care of us now. come take care of our billions. they're very big on big government when it comes to saving they're keesters. yet don't they have any shame? that's my question. these guys. >> they have absolutely no shame, and i think most of the public is distrustful and

careful. that's where the tea party movement came from, the bailout of wall street. taet party movement hates wall street as much as -- >> then why are they republican? >> because they feel like the government has been taken over by wall street. they're all in cahoots -- what jp morgan's jamie dimon has been doing and wall street as a whole has been trying to erode the dodd/frank bill, trying to provide even more license for what they were doing before. the so-called boca rule under the dodd/frank law is sort of glass steigle act, the old glass steigle from the 1930s, separate commercial investment banking, it was thrown out in 1989, and a lot of people felt it had to come back. the dodd/frank act is a great

act as far as it goes, but it did not resurrect glass steigle. wall street has been trying to get rid of the boca rule, and now i think there is a political possibility -- barney frank knows better than i do -- but i think there is a possibility to come on much tougher at least for democrats and the obama administration to say, now is the time to bring back glass steigle. >> you are avil villain to the guys, i think. do you feel like that, that the big business tycoons that love as much cowboy license as possible, to make as much money with as much risk as possible, who are you to them? >> chris, i came to be the greatest fundraiser candidate of anybody in america. i raised several million for myself but i raised several

million for my opponent. the republican who ran against me announced he filed his sc forms. until the primary in september, for about a year, they only raised thousands of dollars. as soon as he was a nominee against me, he raised several million dollars in six weeks, couldn't keep track of it. but yes, the boca rule enforced, and i believe that we have the rules in there -- we have the one that would allow what jp morgan chase did to make it legal, but it's not enough. they weren't derivatives back then. there wasn't securitization where backs made the loans and sold the loan and didn't care who borrowed. even if jp morgan chase didn't do the derivatives, they're still dangerous. remember, aig was an entity that got into serious trouble with derivatives and they couldn't pay off and they were in the

bank. so yes, the boca rule -- >> explain the boca rule in the english language. >> if you were a bank and received deposits and because of that you get positive assurance from the fdic, you may service your clients but you cannot engage in trading on your own account. you can lend money -- banks are supposed to do that. they're supposed to take money from people who have excess capital, bundle it up and give it to people who will produce goods and services. if you're a customer, a money manager, you can do things for your customer. that's the customer's money. but you can't take the money that the federal government insures and get into these bets. by the way, interesting point that the chief of staff on the committee of my side pointed out to me on this floor. you're going to cut their profits, but hedging isn't

supposed to be a profit-making operation. >> exactly. >> let me go back to bob again. bob, let me ask you this about your book and what you think this election is about. bottom line, what's it about? this whole question of fairness, of power, what? >> it's about whether we want a society in which a very small -- in fact, a getting smaller group of people are going to treat it like a plutocracy in which they run our economy and they run our democracy. this is where we're heading right now. mitt romney is the poster child for that kind of plutocratic society. i think what democrats need to do is not only link mitt romney to the character issue, he's the kind of person who, as a private equity manager, did this, i think they ought to link him to the entire derivative in society controlled by a smaller group of

plutocrats. >> it's getting to be more like latin america was two years ago. good luck with your book. it's called "beyond outrage" and it's a e-book. up next, george w. bush finally gets around to endorsing mitt romney. that's weird. maybe he didn't want the endorsement. it's so short, it's like a doorway type thing. ugh! all work and no food is making lorenzo very snippy.

oh! seriously?! ♪ [ male announcer ] hunger getting to you? oh... [ male announcer ] grab a ritz crackerfuls. made with real peanut butter and whole grain. mmmm [ male announcer ] get hunger before it gets you.

you know that comes with a private island? really? no. it comes with a hat. see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it? but that won't happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline, anytime. hey, i just said that. after all, isn't traveling hard enough?

ow! [ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? uh, it's ok. i've played a pilot before. mitt romney, presidential presumed nominee for president, mitt romney once lost $2 billion. $2 billion. then he found it in another pair of pants. oh, there's my other pants. $2 billion. >> back to "hardball."

this is side show and david letterman said what we hear so orch from mitt romney, he just fails to come across as your average american guy. inside the actor's studio thinks he has the solution for mitt romney. here he is speaking directly to romney. >> let's start with your laugh. >> i live for laughter. ha, ha, ha, ha. >> it isn't working. it's inert. it just doesn't come across as genuine. worst of all, it's mirthless, which is to say, while you expect us to be amused, you're not the least amused yourself. i would advise those of you watching to freeze the frame and then put your hands on the lower part of your face and look at

your eyes. there is no pleasure there. >> is that powerful stuff? james lipton getting to the heart of the matter or the lack thereof. next up, former president george w. bush gave his endorsement of mitt romney today in washington. wonder how you missed the big speech? you're not alone. there was none. in fact, here's how word of the endorsement got out. quote, i'm for mitt romney, bush told abc news this morning, as the doors of an elevator closed on him. after he gave a speech on human rights a block from his old home -- the white house. although given the backhanded shows, the support we've gotten from other candidates and other republicans, it's quite in sync we've been hearing, the lack of enthusiasm in those endorsements. finally, i was in jeopardy last night my third time out, and let's say things evened out. i came within inches of winning the second time. this time out, i had some stiff

competition. at times brilliant robert gibbs and the great lucy o'leary from cnn. they were good. i was not. >> $200 for this category. >> at blank, soldier. four letters. >> at ease, soldier. what is ease, soldier. >> full name of the u2 pilot shot down over the soviet union in 1960. chris? >> who was gary powers. >> we need the full name. >> who was gary powers? >> lindsay? >> who was francis gary powers. >> yes. full name. lindsay selects. >> what are you going to say, francis. okay, i can say it now. let's leave it at that. anyway, up next, who is going to win those critical states come november? we're going to talk about it here, the place for politics.

high schools in six states enrolled in the national math and science initiative... ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%. just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions.

fedex. solutions that matter. [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx. this is the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. they fly just a liiiiittle bit higher... [ man ] he hits it! [ morgan ] ...go just a liiiiittle bit further... [ woman ] a perfect 10! [ morgan ] they can even be perfect. and when we come together... to cheer...as one... [ chuckles ] ...we know what happens. [ crowd cheering ] visa. proud sponsor of the olympic games for 25 years.

join our global cheer.

i'm hampton pierson with your cnbc market wrap. the dow slips 7 points, the nasdaq at 7, s&p loses 8. and they allow them to remain both ceo and chairman. facebook shares are now expected to sell from between 38 to $48 a share later this week higher than its previous range. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide of t. now back to "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball." we're less than six months away now from election day with both candidates with a sliver of votes and a handful of swing states. here's what it looks like right now. democrats have 231 electoral votes in votes that are solidly or leading democratic. the pattern is pretty strong there. republicans are leading in states with 197 electoral votes. president obama leads in nevada by eight points. in pennsylvania he's up by seven, in ohio by five, in virginia by four. florida it's a total toss-up at this point. governor of mississippi also served as our nc chairman. gentlemen, i want to hit you with the question that jumps into my mind if i were either of these candidates or their top campaign advisers.

what would be the screwy things i would be worrying about between now and november that are under the control of god or whoever else but you have no control over. first off, haley barbour. >> first i don't worry about things i have no control over. i think what these guys in their campaigns are focused on, yeah, are some variables they'll have to deal with, but they're not worried about things they literally have no control over. obama wants to make this election not a referendum on his record, not a referendum on his policies or the results of his policies. you'll see their advertising, as you all talked about a little earlier in the show. they're advertising is going to attack romney's character. he's a bad person. he doesn't care about people like you and me. he's selfish, he's greedy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. romney, on the other hand, will be very negative, but it will be obama's policies that made it harder to create jobs, obama's policies that made the economy worse, obama's policies that made gasoline prices double,

obama's policies are going to make health insurance and health costs go up. >> i agree with you except he's never said his character, he just said what romney did for a living was basically predatory. his private equity firm is basically a chop shop that doesn't care about jobs, it cares about the wealth investment of the company, not the companies they take over. >> there's a lot of companies in my states and other states that were failing. somebody came in and infused some capital in there, and maybe they did have to reduce the work force 10 or 20%, but the other 80% are still there working. >> yeah. okay. let me go back to sam stein on the same question. i want to get back to the uncontrollables out there. i pick up the newspaper every day and see effects going on about our economy. why is american business sitting on 2 trillion bucks? that may be more important than the billion they're spending trying to destroy this guy in advertising. they read the paper and they say

europe couldn't do anything, egypt couldn't do anything. what's go on in this crazy world? your thoughts. >> i was in chicago with my great colleague harry feinman yesterday. they readily acknowledged they can move the margins a couple points here and there, but that would all be neglected if a financial crisis hit europe again and the credit markets dried up. there are things outside their control that they are worried about, and i think the governor is right that there is little you can do about it special well this congress. there is very little that the president can pass now that might stimulate economic growth, but there is a lot that could go wrong, and i think they're all just waiting to see if there is another domino to fall. >> what did you think about that joke we just played from james lipton who does acting? everybody likes that stuff. he says the guy doesn't have an authentic laugh, he's basically a performance artist who isn't really that guy he's showing us to be. not even his laugh is real. >> let me confess, i was walking into the studio so i didn't see

it. >> let me ask you about this because you're a personal powell. >> i think romney is a genuine person but he doesn't connect with people like bill clinton, he doesn't connect with people like ronald reagan. >> or you. >> he doesn't have those candidate skills. but he is a very capable guy who is for the right things, and we talk about $2 trillion sitting on the sideline and obama can't do anything about it because of this congress. well, the $2 trillion is sitting on the sidelines because of the government he controlled when he wanted to give them the highest tax increase in the country fell primarily on employers. it was a plan where you put every budget he proposed -- >> bush is living under a tax program right now. george w. bush's tax regime is what we're under right now. all the tax cuts that bush

wanted are still in place. we're living in a world designed fiscally by george w. bush and obama hasn't been able to change it an inch. >> just a quick point. obama gets attacked on occasion for extending the bush tax cuts, and then we turn around and get people like the governor who says he's done a lot to raise taxes. there is a great bloomberg piece that says regulation is down on obama. he gets attacked as this regulatory dictator. i think the facts sometimes get in the way of these attacks. but it is a truth that the republican congress has sometty the legislation, and i think they have very little legislative authority for what's going on, so that's the wish thai been pushing for a couple months now, the problem is they

just can't move congress. >> when the president had congress totally under his control, even the democrat congress would pay us all the tax increases -- >> why is it ruined? >> because he keeps coming back and saying, i want a few more. >> the republicans control the house of representatives. the house of representatives sets tax policy in this country. there is no way they wouldn't being under the control of boehner. >> do you think they won't see what happens after the election? do you think they -- a tax increase he's been asking for since the day he got into office. >> let me ask you about something i know you're good at. certain policy politics. is there any way obama can pick a running mate with a little

more color? for example, would you go outside the box for people like mickey haley, or would you just be blunt did it. ryan, soon -- would you go with excitement or personality or go with someone who fit more in the ibs business mode at romney? >> kerry, a big statement we wouldn't otherwise carry. unite the party. >> do the work. who would it be? >> if you're trying to. do you need rubio to carry florida? nobody thinks you're going to

resuccessful. >> it's not going to work, there's no big game change perz here. some stein, thank you. up next, a disagreement over policy. why does it take over 60 votes to get anything done in the senate? because they're making filibuster routine. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. and we are talkingren about activia. i've been eating activia and i feel great! i'm used to having irregularity. i feel like that's normal.

if you are not feeling like trying this on, that's not normal. activia helps with occasional irregularity when eaten 3 times a day. feeling regular to me was a new feeling... i came to find my 'new normal' and i love it! ♪ activia and try new silky, fruity activia harvest picks. another way to enjoy activia. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. is it time to kill the

filibuster for good? back with that after this. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

all right, sir, i guess i'll just have to speak to the people of my state from right here. i tell you one thing, wild horses canteraren't going to dr out of here to hear what i have to say even if it takes all winter. >> that might be the most romanticized scenes on television. the center doesn't even have to remain on the floor to hold up senate action. the republicans have taken the

action to extremes. since 2007, just five years ago, democrats have been forced to break or try to break republica. that's almost one every five days. the result is near paralysis in the u.s. congress for anything to get done. there needs to be a super majority of 60 votes, in other words. and many say they have had enough of it. senator tom andes and ezra klein, who i'm falling in love with every time he writes. ezra, your column was brilliant. he killed the motion to -- to move the previous question. which all you had to do was get 50 votes, move the previous questioning with stop the bs, they got rid of that in the early 19th century and since then they had the growth of the mayhem of the filibuster. your thoughts. we only have a few minutes here. are we better off without the

filibuster or with it? period. >> i think without it. you ask, should the majority be accountable for what they have done? what the filibuster does in its current form, the minority that holds up action, and then the public, which is not composed of congressional, the public judges majority on what the minority kept them from doing. in the end, the fundamental dangers breaking down the accountability because people don't know why things aren't happening. and that makes them angry but they don't know where to put their anger. >> coming out of this election, you can say the president, if he is re-elected will have 52, at the most, senators, if he's lucky. 51, 52. if he loses and romney comes in, he will have 50, 51 senators. well have enough np but no one will have 60. therefore nothing will get done again for another two years. how can anyone defend the 60-vote rule that the filibuster

entails some. >> i don't think you can defend it. i think that the reason we need filibuster reform. we led the fight last time. 46 votes to change. if we had 51, we could have changed the rooul rules and i think we would have a much more responsive institution. the senate could be working on doing the things the american people want it to do. >> why can't you just pass a motion to bring back the motion to move the previous question, end debate, and forget the other rules. just bring that rule back. >> well, you could do that. there are a variety of things. the important thing i think would be to do what i would call a talking filibuster. where, like jimmy smith, jimmy stewart and mr. smith goes to washington, you got to put some effort in, in order to do the delay, let the american people know why you are holding everything up. >> why didn't previous senators hold up that rule. you got to go in the bunk beds in the back room. i remember how it used to be, they brought the bunk beds in.

go around the clock rotating senators that were fill busting, had to be talking. why did they get rid of that, the real filibuster? >> well, we could do that today. if we had the will, to require people to come in and go through the debate. the problem is, it is very one-sided. majority has to produce 51 senators to be on the floor at all times and the minority only has to have a couple of senators there. that really is a one-sided contest. and when we have tried it, when we have tried it, they have ended up caving in. and allowed certain things to move forward. but the central issue here is, harry reid has now said that the agreement, the gentlemen's agreement isn't working. and that's big. because it's normally taken leaders to get reform in the senate and what -- >> last word, last word. we got to go right now. sorry. last word, ezra.

any chance this will be declared unconstitutional? >> i don't think it is very likely. i don't think it'll be likely in the short term. but one real quick thing, if romney comes in with republican congress, remember budget bills can be protected from filibusters so the ryan action can be passed with 51 votes but you couldn't do immigration reform that way. >> it is written in my commentary. we'll be back in a minute. there can't be positive government because of filibuster but republicans can cut, cut, cut using reconciliation. if you want to be negative, keep the filibuster. thank you senator for coming on. ezra, great column writing. we need to junk the filibuster. keep it simple and get rid of it. cer ] knowing your customers is important to any successful business. which is why at wells fargo, we work with you to get to know the unique aspects of your business. we can recommend financial solutions that can work for you that have helped millions of business owners save time,

reduce expenses, and maximize cash flow. as the number one small business lender for nine years running... we're with you when you need us. so you can be there for your customers. wells fargo. together we'll go far.

[ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge!

let me finish to night with this. i want the american government to work, obviously. i want elections to matter and have congress act on what people decide in the voting booth. i want this congress to be alive with new ideas, approaches and yes, experimentation. we have problems like out of control unfair immigration policies, long-term debt, plight of inner cities. but it is a doable list, don't you think? so let's try to get working on that list. let's set about fixing these challenges. we never get to them. there's no reason it believe this election will change things. if obama wins, democrats may keep hold of senate by a vote or

two but won't have anywhere near the 60 votes necessary to kill a filibuster, so nothing will get done. another two years and nothing will clear the senate. they won't be able to deal with anything like passing an unfair immigration policy. republicans will have a house and could have the senate as well. that would give them just enough power. all they need really to push through a big tax cut for wealthy and big cut in soek social economic programs. they can do it quite simply through reconciliation. this is the difference, the big reason why democrats should junk the filibuster. it is good for not doing anything or for cutting. if you want it do something, it is a towering or stek al against you. 60 votes, to deal with them, you have to deal away with the margin of success. look at the stimulus package, the healthcare bill. think of what obama could have done with 60