the republicans really seeming to screw this thing up, according to the rules. but for every republican who delighted in orly taitz and arizona secretary of state and all these birthers, trying to kick president obama off the ballot, you can file this one under medicine, comma, taste of your own. and for the libertarians, you can file this one under neenor, neenor. now it's time for "the last word." have a great night. okay, if mitt romney and paul ryan will stop lying about president obama, i'll stop telling the truth about them. >> akin is defying the head of the ticket, the leader of the party. >> he really has nothing to lose here. >> he has nothing to lose. >> the problem is, the republican party has a lot to lose. >> establishment republicans will just have to put up with todd akin. >> akin will not be ignored. >> this is not about me. >> he's doing the morning talk

shows. >> this is not about my ego. >> he won't go away. >> paul ryan going on the record about todd akin. >> rape is rape. >> trying to distance himself from akin. >> paul ryan. >> i'm proud of my record. >> believes that abortion should not be available. >> the romney campaign want nothing to do with paul ryan's budget. >> the gop numbers are upsidedown in our poll. >> nothing to do with paul ryan's legislation. >> the headwinds that mitt romney has to face are the republican brand. >> there are some dark clouds over florida, and it sure looks like a storm's come toomgpa. >> tensions within the gop hitting a boiling point. >> they're doing everything they can to shoot themselves in the head. >> the most conservative platform in modern history. >> why are we arguing this? >> mitt romney on abortion. >> this has been a tough one for mitt romney. >> mitt romney supports legislation that would criminalize abortion. >> i kind of feel sorry for the republican party at this point. >> this is not about me. >> this guy has made a joke of them. >> this is not about my ego. >> he will not go away. >> akin will not be ignored.

>> an act of mutiny within the republican ranks. >> these guys are just nuts. >> my presidency will be a pro-life presidency. >> do i believe that the supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? yes. >> i was a severely conservative republican governor. ♪ some of our older viewers will know who i was paraphrasing in my opening line tonight. if you know who inspired that line, tweet me the answer. but first, with 76 days until the election, president obama had this to say just moments ago about pat-crap crazy republican congressman, todd akin. "this is an individual who sits on the house committee on science and technology, but somehow missed science class. and it's representative of the desire to go backwards instead of forwards and fight fights that we thought were settled 20 or 30 years ago."

i actually thought the fight about where babies come from was settled much longer ago than that. even ann coulter has finally found a republican she hates, todd akin. >> it's going to be a huge problem for republicans. now i officially hate him. >> todd akin has still not heeded mitt romney and paul ryan's calls to drop his missouri senate campaign against senator claire mccaskill. today, rush limbaugh explained, perfectly logically, how that makes mitt romney and paul ryan not nearly as powerful as rush limbaugh. >> i never did order him to step down. i was very -- i hope he does pull out. and i tried to make the case why it was the right thing to do, pull out. folks if i had demanded akin drop out, he'd be gone.

any had demanded that akin quit the campaign, he'd be gone. >> that was sick, deluded, ego maniac rush limbaugh. today, paul ryan made the mistake of allowing reporters to ask him a few questions on his campaign plane. >> congressman, you co-sponsored abortion-related legislation with congressman akin. do you regret that now? >> that bill passed i think by 251 votes. it was bipartisan. i think we had 251 votes, 16 democrats. i'm proud of my pro-life record. >> knowing that more questions on his abortion record were coming, paul ryan tried to make his escape before being stopped for a question on the difference between ryan's and romney's policies on abortion. >> i'm proud of my record. mitt romney's going to be the president and the president set policy. his policies for exceptions for

rape and incest and the life of the mother. i'm comfortable with it. >> bloomberg news reports that paul ryan has co-sponsored 38 anti-abortion measures, including some that make no allowance for rape. akin co-sponsored every abortion bill supported by ryan in the almost 12 years the two republicans have served together in washington. paul ryan also co-sponsored, with congressman akin, a bill that describes something he called forcible rape. paul ryan is now trying to pretend that that never happened. >> you sponsored legislation that has the language "forcible rape." what is forcible rape as opposed to -- >> rape is rape, period. end of story. >> today, todd akin left open the possibility of leaving the missouri senate race. >> i am never going to say everything that could possibly happen. i don't know the future.

it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process. >> here is the advice todd akin is getting from sarah palin. >> i'm suggesting that he get out. maybe todd akin needs to learn a little lesson from me. you need to know when to step back and wait to be invited to participate, and not invite yourself to the party. >> yes, yes, yes. the great teacher about quitting, sarah palin. senator claire mccaskill soldiers on in missouri. the only person, the only person standing tonight between todd akin and a seat in the united states senate. senator mccaskill has survived the bombardment of negative attack advertising financed by karl rove's super pac. and she is still standing. mitt romney cannot stop todd akin. paul ryan cannot stop todd akin. ann coulter cannot stop todd akin. karl rove cannot stop todd akin.

the only people, only people who can stop todd akin from going to the united states senate now are the voters of missouri and their senator, claire mccaskill. joining me now, msnbc's joy reid and richard wolffe and michelle goldberg of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." let's listen to what rush limbaugh had to say today, advising republicans how to handle this issue. >> for any and all of you republicans, when you are asked why you don't have a rape exception in the party platform on abortion, don't answer it. don't get into the substance. don't answer the question, republicans. don't go anywhere near it. it's a setup, it's a trap. you turn it right back around on them, and you ask the reporter if they've asked the democrats about the extreme aspects of their position.

>> joy reid, yet another example of why rush limbaugh could never spend a day as a political candidate himself. of course, there is nothing extreme in the democrats' position on abortion. but rush limbaugh clearly thinks, now, that politically, at least, the no exception for rape provision, that is their official party position, he believes that is a serious political liability, and what he's at least saying there, it is so dangerous, we can't even talk about it. >> lawrence, actually, i love this debate. because the truth of the matter is, the conservative base of the republican party, particularly the evangelical base, has been getting rolled by the polls and by the party hacks in that party for 20 or 30 years. they promise them they agree with their conservative beliefs and if given the opportunity and given political power, they will give those beliefs the force of law. but the minute actual movement conservatives say anything, the

pals and the hacks, and that includes the elected people like paul ryan and the media hacks like rush limbaugh, run away from them like they have ti typhoid. this is what happens, election cycle after election cycle. we're just getting to watch it in realtime. >> richard wolffe, you've spent realtime over the years tracking down candidates and getting these questions in front of them. it's a crazy dream of rush limbaugh's that he actually thinks republican candidates can just refuse to go near this question. >> there's so many things that are crazy about rush limbaugh, where do you begin? yes, his press advice is as crazy as everything else that spews out of his mouth. but the reason this is hard to move beyond, even for overstressed, you know, over-tired reporters on the campaign trail, the reason that this is so easy is because republicans haven't just fallen into this as a setup or some kind of stray comment. this has been their policy for

years, for convention after convention, no exception. this has become mainstream for republicans, to the point where they were prepared to send the federal government and its credit rating over the edge, because of abortion and that debate. so they've made this a priority, at a time of economic hardship, at a time of historically high unemployment, at a time when they had got power in the house by saying they were going to concentrate on jobs. they've had abortion votes. they've tried to go after what was left of federal funding for abortion. and as a result, because of this crazy obsession, they've had to try to redefine rape, and weaken protection for minors. and it's just caught up with them. finally, we're paying attention. but it was going to catch up with them some time or other. >> let's listen to paul ryan in 2000, when he was trying to earn his stripes, as it were, in the house of representatives, as a hard-core abortion opponent. let's listen to what he had to say then, about the health

exception for abortion. >> the health exception is a loophole wide enough to drive a mac truck through it. the health exception would render this ban virtually meaningless. >> michelle goldberg, that kind of talk has been on the house floor for many years. i don't think mitt romney understood, when he chose paul ryan, that he would be bringing it right into this presidential campaign. >> and to be fair, he probably couldn't have predicted it, because this talk has been so prevalent, it's been in the platform, you know, year after year, or cycle after cycle. and usually people don't pay that much attention. i mean, that was in certain ways the favor that todd akin did all of us, was by really highlighting what it is that the modern republican party stands for. you know, the party has gotten used to being able to speak with two voices, or it's gotten used to being able to kind of play this double game, where it says one thing to its base and says another thing to the general public, and it kind of hopes

that people won't listening to each other's conversation. todd akin, you know, said what he said to a national audience, instead of just to a kind of republican base audience, that probably wouldn't have found it particularly objectionable. and now, with meanwhile, you have the republican party running away from its platform, or at least a republican candidate running away from its platform, infuriating a lot of anti-abortion activists. you know, i talked to people today who are absolutely livid at romney's refusal to back todd akin, and people are coming forward with a lot of money for akin. he's on track to raise $100,000 today. >> let's see what senator claire mccaskill gets at the same time. the next reports are going to be very interesting. because, obviously, her candidacy has noted had this kind of attention since this campaign began. let's quickly listen to what todd akin, how he amended his apology today on the "today" show. >> while i apologize for the misuse of that word, at the same time, i don't apologize for the

fact they am strong in my belief of pro-life. >> joy reid, where does akin go from here? >> well, i mean, the thing about it is, akin has absolutely -- you know, there's no incentive for him to really play ball. the party didn't want him to be the nominee. he became the nominee over their objections. but he knows, and paul ryan knows that there's really not a difference between their views on abortion rights. he's the one representing the authentic views of the base, and now the party leaders, quote/unquote, mitt romney, who no one actually believe's in charge, is refusing to stand by their base. it will be interesting to see if romney can assert himself as the leader of a party who doesn't agree with anything he says and doesn't trust him. >> joy reid, michelle goldberg, and richard wolffe, thank you all for joining me tonight. >> thank you. coming up, what does the akin controversy mean to control of the united states senate? we will see what the missouri race means in terms of what will happen to the plans of power in

the senate after this election. also coming up, mitt romney continues to tell more and more lies about the president. tonight we'll look at his welfare lie, and of course, his medicare lie. even conservatives are saying that romney is lying now. and house speaker john boehner is in the "rewrite" tonight. we have new "off the cliff" information from cbo about just how much pressure is going to be on congress if, if we go off the cliff in january. that's coming up.

mitt romney is a truly extraordinary liar as a presidential candidate, but lying is an old republican tradition. we'll show you how old and how long democrats have been complaining about it, coming up. and also, we're going "off the

cliff" tonight. another "off the cliff" segment. john boehner's added something to where we stand in the "off the cliff" drama that we're headed for on new year's eve. that's coming up. [ engine idling ] [ engine revs, tires squeal ] [ male announcer ] more power. more style. more technology. less doors. the 2012 c-coupe. join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes.

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. this selfish swine, todd akin, is going to hurt the republican party. >> why does ann coulter call todd akin a selfish swine? because todd akin's bat-crap crazy ideas on rape are going to make it so much harder for republicans to win control of the senate. right hour, democrats hold 51 senate seats, republicans 47,

independents, 2. republicans would need to pick up four seats to gain control of the senate. they would need only three seat ifs mitt romney actually won the election, because then the vice president, paul ryan, would be able to cast a tie-breaking votes. here are the ten democratic-controlled states republicans think they could pick up senate seats. nebraska, missouri, north dakota, montana, wisconsin, virginia, florida, ohio, new mexico, and hawaii. joining me now, jonathan capehart, editorial writer for "the washington post" and msnbc contributor. and michael crowley. he is the senior correspondent and deputy washington bureau chief for "time" magazine. michael, what is -- what are republicans thinking akin is doing to their overall campaign to take control of the senate? >> blowing it. i think, to put it pretty simply. blowing it not only because this state was one of their best shots at a pickup, but sort of

infecting, you might say, races around the country. elizabeth warren is already jumping on this issue in massachusetts, making a lot of hay out of it. and you know, it's going to really help, i think, energize female from-choice voters in a lot of the states that are competitive. and look, it was not going to be easy for republicans to win back the senate, but they had a chance to do it, and i think now that chance has really shrunk. and so, you know, i think they were on the cusp, and they couldn't really afford to take a step back and they have. so right now they're thinking, this guy's blowing it. >> and jonathan, michael brings up a good point. i didn't even mention the massachusetts race. what i was showing there was, here were the seats that prior to this week, the republicans were aiming at, thinking, we have really solid shot, you know, at these ten. we've got to be able to pick up what we need in there somewhere. but also makes it more difficult to hold on. for example, in massachusetts,

with elizabeth warren running. so that's what it seems to me all this panic is about, from ann coulter and everyone else. >> well, that gets to the point that michael just made, that, yes, he -- akin has blown it from the republicans' perspective, blown the senate race in missouri, but it's sort of the infectious nature of other race, and keep in mind, the very first sitting senator to jump out there and say that todd akin needed to get out of the race, needed to resign from the race was scott brown. and the moment i saw that come across, you instantly thought, oh, he's -- that's right. he's running for re-election in a tight race against elizabeth warren, and you better believe that she and the democrats were going to use that against scott -- against scott brown in that race there. the republicans are in a whole world of trouble here, which is why you're seeing the entire republican establishment just unload on congressman akin. but the problem that they're having is, they're beating up on him for having positions that

they say are offensive and wrong and demeaning, but they were perfectly fine with all of that when he didn't open his mouth and actually say what he actually believed. and so, you know, if you're todd akin and you know that not only are you right in your beliefs, so you believe, but the republican party platform backs you up, why would you get out of the race? especially when you won the primary with no backing, you -- no money, and you still won the race with the votes from missouri republican primary voters. >> you know, it's clear that the republican establishment wants akin out of there. what i've been quoting rush limbaugh tonight, and ann coulter, to make the point that even the crazy edge of the republican party is panicked about this, in the same way that the establishment party is. and here's ann coulter's latest idea about how to handle things in missouri. she says, this selfish man has decided to play a game of chicken with the republican

party. it's time for a nuclear bomb. republicans should stage a write-in campaign for a popular republican, such as kit bond, former senator from missouri. michael, that is the state of desperation that republicans find themselves in. i can't think of anything more hopeless than that idea. >> no, that doesn't seem too promising. i guess lisa murkowski, you know, tried that in alaska with some success, but i just don't think you're going to get somebody who's out of the political game. you're going to have to talk them into coming back in. it's not somebody who's still in the public eye. in the case of bond, i think it's a real long shot. and i think democrats have just got to be thrilled about this. and by the way, let's just zoom out for a minute and think about the states here, lawrence. we talked so much about the presidential candidates and campaign, we don't think about the control of congress. the president is not an emperor, of course. they can't pass legislation by fiat. now, even if obama -- if obama's

re-elected, the republicans will be able to filibuster his agenda, and i think he'll have similar problems to the ones he has now. but romney, if they can get control of the senate, number one, they set the agenda, and number two, there is the possibility of making big changes through reconciliation, doing an end run around democratic filibusters. you only need 50 votes for that, so the stakes are huge. >> jonathan capehart and michael crowley, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. >> thank you. coming up, another episode of "off the cliff." republicans are starting to get really scared that the democrats are ready to go off the cliff, the fiscal cliff on new year's eve. that's in the "rewrite." [ mrs. hutchison ] friday night has always been all fun and games

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republicans on capitol hill, john boehner included, are starting to get really scared of going off the cliff. that's right. another "off the cliff" segment coming up in the "rewrite." and, you know, things have gotten really bad when even the conservatives won't defend mitt romney's lies about president obama. that's next. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's,

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you'll inevitably find yourself on a desolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind-spot monitor... [ beeping ] ...that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... as you thought. ♪ since 1996, welfare recipients were required to work. this bipartisan reform successfully reduced welfare rolls. on july 12th, president obama quietly ended the work requirement, gutting welfare reform. >> in the spotlight tonight, mitt romney's big lies. now, i know that doesn't exactly narrow down the subject we are about to discuss, since he's told so many big lies, but specifically tonight, we are focusing on his lies about

welfare and medicare. first, the welfare lie. a former republican congressman who actually voted for the 1996 welfare bill, just can't take it anymore. he can't take mitt romney's lie. >> i was talking to a very loyal republican over the weekend, and usually the republican will say, hey, you know, joe, you've got this wrong. mitt's this and mitt's that. and so, i said to him, i said, can you help me out on something? because i've been looking for a week and a half to try to figure out the basis of this welfare reform add. like, what is -- he goes, that's completely false. >> the romney/ryan about america's new protectors of medicare isn't working either. >> with regards to seniors, those are people who are today 55 years of age and older. today's seniors, if you will.

my plan presents no change. the plan stays the same. no adjustments, no changes, no savings. the president's plan cuts medicare -- excuse me. well, let's see. i've got to -- there we go, by $716 billion. >> despite mitt romney's best efforts at the whiteboard, the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows president obama with a 16-point advantage on medicare. when asked whose plan for medicare do you agree with, 50% said president obama's, 34% said mitt romney's. and "new york times" today exposed romney's medicare law nightly in this headline. "patients would pay more if romney restores medicare savings, analysts say."

the times correctly referred to the $716 billion as medicare savings, not medicare cuts. one economist quoted in "the times" piece called romney's pledge to restore the savings both puzzling and bogus, while harvard health expert john mcdonough said this. "there are only two explanations, either they don't understand how the program works, which is hard to imagine, or there is some deliberate misrepresentation here, because they know how politically potent this charge is." well, actually, both things are possible. they cannot understand medicare and know that they're lying about medicare at the same time. today, in nevada, president obama explained what motivates mitt romney's lies. >> less than 11 weeks, not that i'm counting, but -- we will, we

will see the other side spend more money than we've ever seen on ads. and, you know, these aren't like positive ads, where they're putting out their plan, because they don't really have a plan. and the plan they've got won't work. >> mitt romney is a truly relentless liar, but he is really just the inheriter of an old republican tradition of lying about democrats. 60 years ago, the last democratic presidential nominee from illinois, adlai stevenson, said this. if republicans will stop telling lies about the democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them. joining me now for more truth about the republicans, robert reich, former labor secretary under president clinton, now a professor of economics at the university of california berkeley, and author of the book, "beyond outrage," which will be in stores next week, and

jared bernstein, a senior fellow on the center of budget and policy priorities, and an msnbc contributor. he is the former chief economist to vice president biden. robert reich, adlai stevenson's old words could not be more relevant to today's campaign. >> exactly right. but, you know, there has been a change over the years. i've been involved in about is six, possibly seven presidential campaigns. i've never seen such bald-faced lies as i am hearing in this campaign from republicans. i mean, there are obfuscatioobf there are sort of -- and politics is riddled with half-lies and half-truths, and there are mendacious statements, but these are actual bald-faced lies and they're doing them repeatedly. i think the reason they're doing them is they know they have so much money. they've got $1 billion, and if you tell a big lie over and over again, even though the mainstream media, even though everybody else who knows the facts are trying to get out the

facts, it doesn't matter. you tell the bald-face lied over and over again with $1 billion behind you, then some people are going to believe it. and if they believe it, they might vote for you. >> let's listen to the latest message that mitt romney has approved about medicare. >> some think obama care is the same as free health care, but nothing is free. obama is raiding $716 billion from medicare, changing the program forever. taxing wheelchairs and pacemakers, raising taxes on families making less than $120,000. free health care comes at a very high price. the romney/ryan plan will store medicare funding and protect and strengthen the program for the next generation. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> jared bernstein, i'm going to give you equal time to respond to that message. >> thank you. the thing that -- one of the things that caught my ear there is the suggestion that by

putting that $716 billion back in, you -- mitt romney will extend the life of the program. it's exactly the opposite. those dollars, that $716 billion, are extra costs that are currently in medicare, taken out by the president in the affordable care act, that are engaged in things like overpayments to private insurers, excessive reimbursement rates. when you take those out, according to that very groovy guy, the medicare actuary, you actually extend the life of the program by eight years. and this was quite clear in all of these factual rebuttals. by putting that money back in, he's actually shortening the life of the program by eight years. this is the hospital insurance trust fund. so that's completely upside down. the other piece of that, that i think is outright false is that the suggestion that those dollars actually come out of beneficiaries.

as i just stated, and the reason it extends the life of the trust fund, is because those dollars come from inefficiencies on the delivery side, nothing on the beneficiary side. in fact, the affordable care improves the benefits of medicare. >> let's listen to the president's own defense against mitt romney's welfare lie. >> my administration responding to the requests of five governors, including two republican governors, agreed to approve giving them, those states, some flexibility in how they manage their welfare roles, as long as it produced 20% increases in the number of people who are getting work. so in other words, we would potentially give states more flexibility to put more people back to work, not to take them off the work requirement under welfare. >> robert reich, that's what the truth sounds like on this issue.

>> again, it's exactly the opposite of what romney has been saying. and the president responding -- you know, the republicans for years have been saying, we want more flexibility at the state level for a lot of these programs. so what the president does, he turns around and he says, okay, states, you have some more flexibility, particularly if you're going to put more welfare recipients to work. then romney turns around and says, what the president did is exactly the opposite of the truth. the president actually says romney got rid of the work requirement. i mean, nothing could be further from the truth. just like as jared said, with regard to the medicare reform and the affordable care act, which actually pushes providers, gets excessive reimbursements down, and helps beneficiaries, and helps extend the life of the program, what romney is saying, it actually takes away from the program, and it's going to take away from beneficiaries. what romney is doing, again and again and again, with the help of huge amounts of donations

from billionaires is basically telling the american people the exact reverse of the truth. >> lawrence, if i might, i actually went to the health and human services document that romney's ad was based on. and this is where the government itself is going forth and saying to the states, here's how you can apply for a waiver. here's what it says. you can ask for new, more effective ways to meet the goals of welfare, particularly helping parents successfully prepare for, find, and retain employment. prepare for, find, and retain employment. does that sound to you like you're ending the work requirement? >> not to me. robert reich and and jared bernstein, thank you both very much for joining me tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. coming up, john boehner accidentally exposed one of the republican lies about government spending. that's in the "rewrite." and first lady michelle obama is more important on the campaign trail than ever.

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i said at the beginning of the show that some of our older viewers might know who i was parapraising in the very first line of tonight's show, so i did not expect the winner to be miss morgan fairchild, who actually was the first one on my twitter feed to realize that i was paraphrasing adlai stevenson at the beginning of the show. he famously said in 1952, if the republicans stop telling lies about the democrats, we'll stop telling the truth about them. and moregan remembered that. the "rewrite" is next. yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number?

♪ in tonight's episode of "off the cliff," the congressional budget office rewrites its estimate of just how bad the economy will be if we do go off the cliff, the fiscal cliff. today, the cbo updated its economic outlook for the future, which is really hard to do these days, because there is so much uncertainty about what government spending will look like next year, and what our income tax rates will be next year. current incomes tax rates, so-called bush income tax rates, are scheduled to expire on january 1st, and go back up to

the clinton tax rates. you remember the clinton tax rates. they're the higher income tax rates with we had in place when the economy was soaring in the 1990s. and thanks to a crazy deal that republicans made with the president to raise the debt ceiling, on january 1st of next year, large automatic spending cuts will go into effect, half of which would be in defense spending. and the good news/bad news affect, according to cbo, of all of that, is that the projected deficit for next year would be cut in half. that is, obviously, the good news. the bad news is that the economy would fall back into recession, with most of the damage hitting the economy in the first six months of next year. unemployment would go from just above 8% to about 9.1%. this news provoked a

sensible-sounding response from the republican speaker of the house. "instead of threatening to drive us off the fiscal cliff and tank our economy, in their quest for higher taxes, i would urge president obama and congressional democrats to work us." there are some fun things to unpack in what john boehner said. first, boehner sounds like he believes democrats are willing to go off the cliff, as i have been urging them to do, since that is the only way to bring republicans to the negotiating table quickly and get any kind of reasonable outcome. boehner's use of the phrase "tank our economy," is also important, because he's accepting cbo's description of what would happen. boehner is admitting that the spending cuts that will be triggered on january 1st, unless congress negotiates some other agreement, will help tank the economy, along with an increase in the income tax rates.

but, remember that republican orthodoxy now, which is to say the republican lie now, the republican economic insanity now is that government spending does not affect jobs in any way. doesn't create jobs. but there's boehner saying that cuts in government spending will tank the economy, just as cbo says it will, and will increase unemployment. of course, we will not go into recession if we actually do go off the cliff on january 1st, because what will happen is congress will immediately go into emergency negotiations to pass a package of new, lower-income tax rates, and the democrats should then have enough leverage to prevent the top tax bracket from being lowered along with all the other rates. and congress can also simply agree to vote to eliminate the drastic spending cuts that would tank the economy, or dramatically reduce those spending cuts and stretch them

out over a longer period of time to minimize the negative economic impact. no one is saying we should go off the cliff and stay off the cliff. i'm not saying that. i like john boehner, except the cbo scenario that says that would probably tank the economy. but that cbo projection is exactly what will force a very quick agreement on taxes and spending as soon as, but not one minute before we actually do go off the cliff. republicans can save us from going off the cliff right now by simply agreeing with the president, that all tax rates should be kept low, except the top tax rate, but democrats will not be taken seriously by republicans as negotiators if they don't find a way to scare republicans. if they don't find a way to make republicans feel like democrats.

in other words, if the democrats don't make republicans feel that they are dealing with people, who are crazy enough to actually go off the cliff. crazy enough or brave enough to take the risk, even the brief and very temporary risk of going off the cliff. republicans have thought that only they get to use crazy scare tactics on only they get to threaten not to raise the debt ceiling. but now, john boehner sounds like he believes the democrats just might use the scare tactic of going off the cliff. john boehner's starting to sound scared. and so is mitch mcconnell. and scared is exactly what we need the republican congressional leaders to feel for a change.

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that when they hit that job market, their skills will be rewarded. >> that was michelle obama today in florida, proving once again to be an invaluable asset to the obama campaign, especially with family and women's issues at the forefront of the campaign this week. she also had a candid chat with ivillage reporter, kelly wallace this week, where she talked about some surprisingly personal family issues. >> i have to say that i know that his ability to ultimately kick the habit was because of the girls, because they were -- they're at the age now where you can't hide. it's clear, and he would have to start having those conversations, because we discuss all the time, we talk about drugs, we talk about sex, we talk about smoking, we talk about it all. i mean, our -- >> so you've had the talk? >> we've had all the talks there are to have. i mean, malia is very

inquisitive and open and our view is that, you know, you've got to approach kids where they are. and when they ask a question, you know, our reaction and how open and how comfortable we are with the topic really affects their willingness to share. for him, he had to go and get it done. so when i knew that he was trying -- we just didn't talk about it. i mean, i didn't think having additional pressure of, how you doing today? is it hard? did you smoke? >> it's so hard. >> just let him, you know, develop his system of coping and work it out, and it was probably a year out that he was able to talk to the girls and say, i've quit. that he felt comfortable saying, dad quit. i think open -- being open and honest with kids -- because the truth is, we're not perfect adults. and i don't want my girls to feel like they have to be perfect, because they think i'm perfect. >> right. >> and my mom was good about this with us. i mean, my mom was very good about being honest and open about her imperfections.

and i don't think my mom has too many vices. she's a smoker herself, grew up in -- i remember my brother and i, we used to hide their cigarettes and dip them in hot sauce, and break them up in the little packs, and my mom's pretty stubborn about doing what's in her own mind, but she also recognized that this is a fault. you know, she never talked to us in any way other than, don't smoke. but, you know, her thing was, don't follow me. be better than me. >> absolutely. >> you know? so she taught us that you can be open and honest about your own shortcomings, and it doesn't necessarily mean your kids are going to adopt them, those shortcomings. it may mean that they embrace knowing those faults and they can move beyond them. >> joining me now, nia-malika americanson, "washington post" national political reporter. nia, i can tell you there's nothing like having a 14-year-old girl in the house to make you keep it real, as we've just heard.

>> that's right. that's right. and i think that -- you look at that clip and you understand why the first lady's approval ratings are so high. they're 65%. she is the most popular democrat in the country. certainly the most popular democrat in the white house. and she's able to, on the one hand, out on the stump in florida and talk about policy, but then again, talk about what it's like to be a parent. what it's like to be a wife of someone who's struggling to give up smoking. so i think in those personal ways, she's very much able to come across as very accessible, especially to women, especially to parents who, as you said, are dealing with the difficulties of being 14. i sure remember being 14 and i was no walk in the park. >> and then we start at the beginning of the segment, she giving this speech with serious policy items in it that that same person who can sit there on the sofa and be so real can also -- >> with her shoes off, right? >> yeah,