♪ >> the gold medal goes to the world number one. welcome to politics nation. i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, mitt romney's taxing situation. today in a rare q&a with reporters, he hit back at senate majority leader harry reid for accusing him of not paying taxes. >> harry reid really has to put up or shut up, all right? so harry, who are your sources? let's have harry explain who that is. now let me also say categorically, i have paid taxes every year, and a lot of taxes. so harry is simply wrong.

that's why i'm so anxious for him to give us the names of the people who have put this forward. i wouldn't be surprised to hear the names are people from the white house or the obama campaign or who knows where they're coming from. >> romney is dragging the white house into it, and he says he paid a lot of taxes. we only know what he paid for one year. that's all he's released so far. romney's 2010 tax returns show he just paid a 13.9% tax rate. that's less than half the rate that a worker making $60,000 a year pays. it's enough to make you wonder how much romney paid other years. it's why senator reid hit romney for his secrecy. >> if a person coming before this body wanted to be a cabinet officer, he couldn't be if he had the -- he did the same refusal mitt romney does about tax returns. the word is out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years.

let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn't. let him prove -- >> now let's put aside for the moment whether public officials should have made his statement on the senate floor. mitt romney's got a long history of calling for other people to release their tax returns themselves. when he was running for senate in 1994, romney challenged senator ted kennedy to disclose his taxes to prove he quote, had nothing to hide. but romney didn't release any of his own tax records during that race. and eight years later when he was running for governor, romney's campaign pulled the same stunt. romney's top adviser eric fehrnstrom accused shannon o'brien of playing dirty because she didn't release her husband's tax returns. fehrnstrom said quote, her hands aren't clean. she can't claim to be disclosing

anything until she discloses the returns of her husband, the enron lobbyist. what is she hiding? but while romney's campaign was screaming and yelling for opponent spouse's tax returns, guess who was refuses to release their own? >> i believe very deeply in my personal privacy what limit amount is left. senator kennedy when he was against me i said you've got to release those income tax returns of yours. he said i value my privacy. i think he was right and i was wrong. as a result i do share his view on this. i'm not going to release my income tax returns. >> he insisted his opponents release their returns, but he was above doing it himself? his democratic challenger shannon o'brien called him out on this at a 2002 debate. >> i think this is another case where mitt romney says one thing and does another. his spokesperson said my husband was a bad person for not

releasing his taxes but mitt romney was doing it out of princip principle. this is an issue of doing one thing and saying another. >> another case of him saying one thing and doing another. doesn't seem to matter how many years go by, romney's still the same secretive candidate he was nearly two decades ago. joining me now is jonathan corn, senator editor of the new republic. and ana marie cox for the guardian. thanks to both of you being here tonight. >> nice to be here. >> jonathan, why is the harry reid challenge that romney might not have paid taxes for ten years, why is it gaining such traction? >> well, you know, let me say it first. let's put aside the question of whether harry reid should or shouldn't be throwing the allegation out there. i hope if he is he has basis for

it. this is getting traction because mitt romney is not putting up or shutting up. he has not told us what was in his taxes. this is a man who has proposed to cut taxes for the very wealthy to create more ways for the wealthy to get out of paying for more taxes. as we found out earlier this week, his plan calls for higher taxes on the middle class. here we have a guy coming out here and saying i think the middle class needs to pay more taxes. i want to lower taxes for the rich. i think people naturally want to know what does this guy know about what it's like to be middle class? what kind of strategies does he use? this is actually a way to talk about mitt romney's view of the world, what's right and what's wrong and who needs to pay taxes. >> and by the way, we'll be talking more about that romney tax plan later in the show. but ana marie, it's interesting to me that when he was running with governor he challenged his opponent to release their

spouse's tax returns. he won't release his. now he's using john kerry's wife as his. defense for not releasing his tax returns in 2002 and last month. listen to this. >> i'll be real surprised if senator john kerry's wife teresa is releasing her tax returns. john kerry ran for president. you know, his wife who has hundreds of millions of dollars, she never released her tax returns. somehow this wasn't an issue. >> i mean, it's do as i say not what i do. i mean, what are we looking at here? it's almost dizzying. >> it is. i guess asking for the wife's tax return, being the wife of an elected official is the only way politicians are comfortable with women in government. so there's that. then there's the problem of him saying that he has paid taxes. which i'm certain is true. he's probably paid a sales tax,

a property tax, an airport tax. who knows? he's probably paid multiple kinds of taxes. but we don't know what kind of income tax he paid. and it is curious, you know, the amount of energy the campaign is putting into not releasing these returns. this would be a great opportunity for them to show up harry reid, to make harry reid look terrible if they released these returns and they were fine. right? >> you're right. it would be a big fish they caught. the sales tax and as you say property tax and other taxes. the only thing wrong with that statement is i wish i had thought of saying that myself. that was very, very good. i never thought of that one. let me go back to you, jonathan. the pew poll. when you look at the pew poll's favorability, unfavorability. romney is suffering in this area. only 37% see him as favorable.

52% see him unfavorably. if you're getting pounded by the senate majority leader -- wouldn't you pull it if you could shame someone as big as harry reid, as big as he is in the democratic party? >> absolutely. i mean, the fact that romney is not at this second out there with his tax returns i think tells us there must be something in there. they are getting killed on this. this issue keeps coming back and people keep saying, look. presidential candidates, this is what they do. this was a transition that mitt romney's father george romney started. he made it clear. he said you can't just release one year of tax returns because that could be a fluke. we really want to know who you are. they've held on to it for this long. who knows what's in there? maybe he did pay very few taxes. maybe he's sheltering it in strange places.

maybe he's exploiting some very bizarre loophole. at this point you've got to think there's something embarrassing in there. if there wasn't, we'd know it by now. >> ana marie, aside from the release of tax returns, three top house democrats now penned a letter to treasury and to the labor departments asking them to investigate how romney has written 20 and $100 million in his ira. it's interesting their letter. it reads, we are alarmed to learn that wealthy taxpayers may be taking advantage of tax subsidies that is designed to provide for retirement to instead accumulate massive amounts of tax sheltered assets. the strategy has been cited as one explanation for how presidential candidate mitt romney's ira is valued at between $20 million and $101

million despite the annual contribution limits that apply to tax-preferred retirement accounts and plans. now, we've heard people say that his tax plan was mathematically impossible. given the limits in which you can invest in an ira plan, how does he have his ira plan valued at $20 million to $101 million? now, that's some real innovative mathematics there. >> or there's the possibility he's very, very old. that's the really only other explanation i can think of. this is also something that's going to hurt him. people understand iras. a lot of people have iras. i have an ira. i struggle to get in the $6,000 a year, but people understand what the limits are. to see that amount of money being -- i don't even want to use the money squirrelled away. i don't know what kind of animal collects as many nuts as romney

has in his ira. it's disturbing to people. i think it's the same with the releasing the tax returns. everything we're talking about here just underscores how different romney is from a normal person. the way that wealth makes you able to play by different rules, basically. and that's the thing that romney has to struggle against. that and the fact that he doesn't have any real policies he's talked about. >> don't forget, ana marie, corporations are people. ana marie cox and jonathan cohn, thanks for your time tonight. coming up, the historic achievement of gabby leads to gold on the world's biggest change. and it's a story of struggle and sacrifice. a story to inspire a whole nation. >> gold medals are made out of your sweat, blood, and tears and effort in the gym every day.

sacrificing a lot that you have to do. and today's word of the day is poppycock. yes, poppycock. it's a golden oldie from the romney archives. and it blows the lid off his attacks on the president. all that plus robots getting busy on the dance floor. that's ahead in your summer break. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too.

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folks, have you checked us out on facebook? the "politicsnation" conversation is going all day long.

our fans couldn't get enough of gopwot today. that's gop wasting our time. so what's the biggest waste of time? dale's sick of the constant attempts to repeal the affordable care act. while john notices they spent an awful lot of time eating chicken sandwiches lately. folks haven't been able to get enough of olympic gymnastic champion gabby douglas. lilly says each time i see her picture i smile and get misty eyed. diane says she's poetry in motion. we want to hear what you think too. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts.

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welcome back to "politicsnation." an interesting headline caught my eye today. it said quote, washingtonians are most likely to swear at the office. that's right, folks. the nation's capital is where workers are more likely to curse on the job. why d.c.? what's behind all this cussing? i think i know what it is. maybe it's because of all of gopwot. that's right. i've said it before and i'll say it again. the gop is wasting our time. today's installment of gopwot has a capitol hill rally against the president's affordable care act. because obviously the 33 votes

to repeal weren't enough. house republicans also announced today they're going to file a civil lawsuit against attorney general holder over fast and furious. more gopwot. that is what the republicans have time for? job legislation? nope. a tax plan to help the middle class? no dice. this is absurd. so absurd that moderate republicans are calling out their own party. >> anybody that doesn't understand that in a split government you've got to find a common ground way out of it. it's not going to be your way or the highway. is nuts. >> he's not cussing. at least not on tv. but that's a man fed up with gopwot. joining me now is joe madison, nationally syndicated radio host of "mornings with madison." thanks for coming on the show today. >> i'm allowed to curse on satellite radio, but i usually

try not to. there's a lot to curse about when you think about what's going on. >> obviously, joe, we're having our fun with the term gopwot. but on a serious note, how does wasting time and angry republicans help us? are they tone deaf to the politics of this? >> i think it goes by what we've been saying for a long time. i'm disappointed they're leaving and not staying and fighting. we've been saying since 2010 that the adults in the party have to speak up. these are the people because what's going to happen is the extremists are going to destroy the republican party. and if that's what they want to do, they're well on their way. so this is what we're really talking about. i'd rather they stay and fight. i'd rather they get on programs like yours and talk about the compromises that they're trying to reach.

can you imagine having a rally today, reverend sharpton, where you are opposed to the health care plan where the insurance companies now aren't allowed to charge women more than they charge men for the same coverage. can you imagine being -- >> and they're rallying against that. >> and rallying against it and also preventable care like mammograms and other prostate cancer checks. who would be opposed to that? >> but they're breaking up their party. buzz feed reports that gop is starting to crack up. moderates are sick and tired of being forced to do the tea party's bidding. let me read this. quote, the decision by majority leader eric cantor to schedule several votes on abortion reaffirming the nation's motto is in fact in god we trust and other social issues has angered moderates for more than a year. they are pushing their own party to the brink here.

>> that's right. and it's like a firing squad. then accuse the employment records. how can you be opposed to progress? you know, i watched the olympics today. first track and field event. the long distance runners, you know what they did? they lapped. they lapped these folks. why? because they were consistent. they kept moving forward. you know, the same analogy, what president obama has done, he's actually lapped george bush's eight years in creating jobs in three and a half years. he's lapped him. and that ought to be celebrated, and a gold medal i hope we get in november. >> the fact is you brought up about adults in the room, when you look for leadership in the party to really kind of put these people, the extremists, in check, it's not there.

governor romney was -- for example, he was asked to comment on michele bachmann's muslim brotherhood claims. take a listen to his response? >> i'm not going to tell other people what things to talk about. those are not things that are part of my campaign. >> i mean, that's not showing real leadership. >> and that's because, reverend sharpton, they can criticize you, me for things we do. but the one thing is, we're centered in what we believe. if you notice anything about mitt romney, he's not centered in his belief. he will say whatever it takes to get elected to any group he's in front of. that's exactly what he does. he's not centered in his principle. and he showed that earlier today with the taxes. it's hilarious to say that harry reid who's not known for being,

you know, saying things off key, it's his responsibility. release your taxes. and you are the one who's responsible for showing that you're not hiding anything. if you want to embarrass, harry reid, that's a perfect way of doing it. and he would do it if he wasn't hiding something. >> joe madison, thank you for your time tonight. have a good weekend. >> you too. god bless. >> and if you've got a good case of gopwot you'd like to report, let us know on facebook.com/politics nation. still ahead, what abramoff -- and the sacrifices gabby douglas did to achieve her gold medal at these games. >> we didn't know if it would pay off, but she was committed.

and she told me that from day one. she said, i know i can do this. >> we'll have new reaction to this inspiring story. stay with us. this is new york state. we built the first railway

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folks -- folks, there's been so many conservative theories about voter i.d. laws out there, but there's a new one that could prove to be the most ridiculous yet. >> according to a brand new study from the national center for public policy research, blacks and the poor are the most common victims of voter fraud and would be protected by voter i.d. laws. >> blacks and the poor would be protected by voter i.d. laws. really? well, thanks, but no thanks. this theory would be funny if it weren't so sad. and that brings me to the man behind it. read cooper who wrote the report. back in 2009 mr. cooper was indicted on corruption charges. those charges include accepting

gifts from jack abramoff. the disgraced republican lobbyist who spent nearly four years in prison for corruption and fraud. and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge. admitting he didn't tell ethics officials about the gifts he received. cooper got three years probation. this is the guy who's behind the big shiny new gop fake voter fraud theory. aside from cooper's own troubles, his report also makes some serious misleading claims. he credits the success of voter i.d. laws as the reason for increased black voter turnout in states like georgia from 2006 to 2010. this truth is georgia did see an increase in voter turnout during those years. but in north carolina, a state

without voter i.d. laws, black turnout at the polls was more than double the increase in georgia. voter i.d. laws depressed turnout, not the other way around. so this is one of the experts supporting voter i.d. laws? nice try. but we got you. with our babysitter. no. these work, right? no. all right. mom! look what i found in the shed! no! no! no! ♪ ew! were you guys just making out in here? what? no! is it okay if i quit my job and start a blog? no. really? cold cuts from a package? yes. [ male announcer ] in a world filled with "no," it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects deli meat. the tastes you love and no artificial preservatives. it's yes food.

the people standing behind me should not have to pay more just so the wealthiest americans can pay less. that's not just top down economics. that's upside down economics. >> president obama today making his values crystal clear. the way to build the economy is by helping out all americans. >> you grow an economy from the middle out and from the bottom up. the last thing that we should be doing is asking middle class families who are still struggling to recover from this recession to pay more in taxes.

rebuilding a strong economy begins with rebuilding our middle class. >> the president's tax plan would give a break to 98% of americans helping the economy continue to grow by putting money into people's pockets. and the economy is growing. slowly but surely. today's jobs report shows we added 163,000 jobs last month. that's 29 straight months of job growth. but incredibly, mitt romney called the latest report a quote, hammer blow. remember president obama took over the economy that was cratering under bush. look at the job losses in the final months. now mitt romney wants to attack president obama even when there's 29 straight months of job growth? today an amazing tape surfaced from 2004.

it shows that what romney used to think and that romney thought it was crazy to blame a slow economy on the president. >> the people of america recognize that the slowdown in jobs that occurred during the early years of the bush administration were the result of a perfect storm. and an effort by one candidate to some how say the recession and the slowdown of jobs was the result of somehow this president magically being elected, people in america just dismissed that as being poppycock. >> poppycock? poppycock? who says poppycock anymore? romney sounded like a one percenter back in 2004. maybe that's why he defended president obama. and maybe it's why he attacks president obama even though the job growth since he took over is as clear. my response?

poppycock. joining me now is hilda soli. and economist for joe biden. thank you for coming on. >> thank you. >> mad dam secretary, let me stt with you. what are you seeing in today's jobs report? >> i see a solid report that almost across the board in sectors in manufacturing in the leisure hospitality and business professions also in the health care industry, we see growth. we're seeg more growth in manufacturing. and in fact, it hasn't been since 1989 that we've actually seen such a good, solid increase. since 1989. we're talking about under this administration about 500,000 jobs added in manufacturing. and about 250,000 came directly in the automobile industry as a result of president obama's

investments in trying to focus in on the middle class jobs in the automobile industry. which is part of our history and our culture. >> jared, we could have different opinions, not different facts. there is no doubt 29 straight months jobs have been added. we'd have liked a lot more, but they've been there 29 consecutive months. >> that's right. >> there's no doubt that this president inherited a disastrous economy. now, mitt romney was the one that said in 2004 when he was talking about poppycock, he also was the one who said voters shouldn't change president midstream while jobs are being created. listen to willard. >> every indication is the economic policies adopted and pursued by this president are creating jobs at a very high pace. and so the people of america have to ask do you want to stay with a president who is

rebuilding the economy, who is creating jobs, or do you want to stop midstream and find someone new? >> i think that's a good question today, don't you? >> i think it's an excellent question. interestingly, if you take those kinds of graphs you were showing. you were showing payroll job changes over the last few years. you could do the same thing with gdp. just the overall growth in the economy. and you draw a line where the president not just took office, but where some of the key interventions took place. think about the recovery act. what you'll see is the rate of job loss began to diminish. the rate of gdp shrink an began to diminish. that the economy was expanding so starting in 2010 we were adding jobs. you're right. it's not a fast enough clip. the president has suggested ideas to help make things faster and he's run into gridlock. i think the point that -- i

think there's one point there that mitt romney made that i think is worth paying attention to. which is about what you inherit. secretary solis is there. i was still there at the time this president inherited a nightmarish downturn and worked very hard to get the momentum back in place. >> now, this week, madam secretary, glen hubbard wrote in the wall street journal that mitt romney's plan will add 12 million jobs in his first term. i mean, is that even a realistic projection given his policies he's proposing? >> if we continue down the same path he proposes which is to give tax breaks to the wealthy and not close loopholes or look at the desire of bringing jobs back home and making those good investments in our safety system because we -- you know, i just don't see us going down a good

path. i think we stick with the president's plan that he's offered, president obama. and we get the congress to act. we have proposals that have been sitting there for ten months that could create a million jobs right now just through infrastructure development alone. and putting money back in for our teachers and firefighters. those are good middle class jobs. i've heard nothing elaborated by romney about particularly looking at the most vulnerable. that's the middle class families that have been hit the hardest. >> now, the thing that strikes me, jared, is that hubbard who wrote the piece as an economic adviser to romney who wrote the piece in the wall street journal, he was chairman of president obama's council on economic advisers. now he's working for romney. >> right. >> but remember the private sector lost 673,000 jobs under push. i mean, should we believe anything this guy's got to say about job creation? >> so i was trying to figure out where that 12 million comes

from. as best i can figure out, that's actually the projection that you'll get if you look at any kind of standard long-term forecast about how the economy should generate jobs when it's operating normally. if you actually look back through history and try to find when that happened, you have to go back to the bill clinton years. if you look at the bush years, you don't get anything like that. but those numbers are much like what clinton got. about 25 million over eight years. so you ask yourself, were the economic policies in place under clinton versus those under bush, which ones are more like the ones under romney? of course they're the double down, trickle down under bush. as you say, that is not associated with that job growth. >> secretary of labor hilda solis and jared bernstein thank you for your time. have a great weekend. coming up, what's gabby's medal mean to young athletes

across the country? . but first, what happens when a bunch of robots decide to get funky? your summer break is next.

we're back with a pause from the political battles of the day. a time to rest, relax, and

recharge. that's right. it's time for the "politicsnation" summer break. what happens when robots get loose? they bust a move. they get jiggy with it. these guys were programmed to dance for a global competition held in china. they were actually separate categories including ballet and street dancing. check out those moves. but are they ready for horse ballet? and that's today's summer break. time out. sweet. [ female announcer ] with charmin ultra soft, you can get that cushiony feeling you love while still using less. charmin ultra soft is designed with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent and you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ♪ ah. [ female announcer ] we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft.

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yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. last night people around the world were riveted by the olympics gymnastics competition. and the star of the night was 16-year-old gabby douglas. just watch.

>> it was an inspiring performance. gabby was dominating all night long. but the moment of truth came when the final scores were announced. it was a tense moment. >> and with that, gabby douglas became the first african-american to win an individual olympic gold in gymnastics. a moment she and many proud

americans will no doubt remember forever. was this one. [ playing star spangled banner ] >> gabby is a young star who worked so hard to get where she is today. and who's broken barriers on her way to a gold medal. joining me now is liz clark, sports writer for the washington post. and goldie taylor, managing editor of her own blog the goldie taylor project. liz, let me start with you. what can you tell us about gabby douglas? >> oh, boy. i mean, she is a star as i think 37 million americans saw last night. she is an exceptional gymnast.

she is 94 pounds of just solid granite when it comes to will and determination. she is fierce. she is a beast when she competes. but she is the most elegant limber, elegant, graceful performer and has this magnetic charisma that draws people to her. and she has been in charge of her career. she's the one who told her mother when she was 14, you know, i need better training. i need to push myself. i need to move away from home and work with a world class gymnast coach. and her family didn't want her to go. and she loves her family. she made her first real difficult heart rending decision at 14. yeah. it's been less than two years and she is the reigning world champion. she has two gold medals in two days and may have four by tuesday, by the end of her

games. >> goldie, liz mentioned her mother talked about the sacrifices gabby's family made for her. watch what the mother had to say. >> it was a big push having to allow her to move away from home at 14. it was really, really difficult. and i didn't know if it would pay off. we didn't know if it would pay off, but she was committed. and she told me that from day one. she said mom, i know i can do this, but i have to have the opportunity to have that coach, coach chow. >> goldie, many of us can't imagine what it takes if the family support and discipline the athletes have to go through to achieve something. >> absolutely. at 16 the only barrier i had broken was the speed barrier in my mustang. she is absolutely to be congratulated and celebrated for the poetry she literally wrote

across those uneven bars. for the way she soared higher than anyone has or could. so those things app salutely have to be celebrated. the thing about gabby is at 12 years old, she was watching the 2008 olympics and said to her mother, i can do that. her mother believed her. being a single mom myself with daughters, being able to invest in your child's passions are the things that we want to do. this single mom made that investment into a sport that i've got to tell you is incredibly expensive. it is expensive for the lessons, the coaches with and for her older two daughters to come away and say mom, we're going to help you do this. help her get to the best coach imaginable that she could find in iowa and live away from her parents. that was an important and critical step. but at the end of the day, this is about gabby's belief in herself. this is about gabby's belief in her higher power. this is about gabby's training. she's got to be celebrated today. >> and it's about those that

supported her and believed in her, liz. it's an american story because even though i stated she's the first african-american to get an individual gold medal in gymnastics, she actually moved to iowa and lived with a family that was not african-american who became like her family and they helped push her. and everybody celebrates as gabby wins. this is the family she was with that became like her family and as much as it hurt her to be away from her family, they became the family that helped push her as well. >> that's an excellent point. absolutely. and gabby will tell stories about how she'd ask her -- i guess she calls her her foster mom. missy parton is her name of the mother who takes care of her in iowa. they all skype to make sure all the moms are on the same page of what gabby can and cannot do.

she also has a third mom in shawn johnson who is quite young, but shawn was the 2008 silver medalist -- all around silver medalist who was based at this same gym trained by liang chow. she has also been a mentor and she was in the stands. so gabby in effect had three moms and a coach of chinese decent. so she is just an international product, but quite a self-made and self-possessed rare talent. >> everybody has some investment and identity in this, but let me look at a bigger picture today. today august 3rd marks the 76th anniversary of another great moment in olympic history and african-american history. when jesse owens won the first of four medals in berlin where hitler talked about superior race jesse owens in his face won that race.

what does these victories mean to americans back home when we see these breakthroughs? >> i think this victory really speaks to the greatness of the diversity that is this america. you know, this the absolutely a great story about a young woman who happens to also be african-american but is also an american. and this is the embodiment of the american dream. this is what happens when it all comes together in just the right way. and so it is possible. you work hard and you catch the right breaks and it is possible. and she showed what happens when we give the kids just the right break. >> well, liz clark and goldie taylor thank you both for your time. goldie, i know some people were tweeting craziness about gabby's hair. we need to worry about their head. we'll be right back with a big setback for republican governor who's trying to shortcut

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today the michigan supreme court temporarily suspended that state's radical emergency manager law and ruled that voters will decide the issue in november. this is a victory for democracy. it restores the right of citizens to have a say so on their city and who will run it and who gets to make those decisions. the law was signed by republican governor rick snyder in 2011. it's let the state take over financially cities and giving control to a single individual and emergency manager. that one person has the power to throw out elected officials and

cancel public employee union contracts. under this law the state has already taken over school districts in flint, pontiac, benton harbor, and ecorse. he told what his o role really is. >> it's being portrayed as an act that takes the election -- the right to a ballot away from the people. that it takes power away from elected officials and hands it over to a tyrant, if you will, a dictator. how is that wrong? where do people get it wrong? >> well, i don't know. i guess i'm the tyrant in pontiac then, if that's the way it is. >> hey, i'm the tyrant. too bad for you. opponents of the law organized a petition drive to put the law on the november ballot for citizens repeal. their petitions were rejected because the papers didn't have th