>> the president's idea of a negotiation is roll over and do what i ask. >> these students have had to take on more and more and more debt. >> this is the biggest job in the world, and i've never seen a president make it small. >> it holds back our entire middle class. >> this is beneath the dignity of the white house. to try to make this a political issue is pathetic. >> i'm putting my faith in you. >> ifs and ands and buts are like candy and nuts. if that were the case, every day would be christmas. good afternoon. at this hour we are watching a severe weather system in the midwest. the greatest threat for tornadoes once again in hard-hit oklahoma, with extreme conditions stretching into arkansas and missouri. and we will be bringing you any developments live and a full forecast just ahead. but, we begin with the latest effort by the president to get congressional republicans to do some actual legislating and help the american people.

this time, the president's focus is the nation's young and hopeful college students who will face much higher loan rates if congress doesn't act. and backed by students under sunny skies today in the rose garden, the president offered plenty of encouraging signs for their bright future. >> the good news is today our businesses have created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months. the housing market is coming back. the stock market has rebounded. our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. so we're seeing progress. >> we are seeing progress. the question is how to see that progress going for the duration. and education is absolutely crucial. >> we know that the surest path to the middle class is some form of higher education. so we cannot price the middle class or folks who are willing to work hard to get into the middle class out of a college education. we can't keep saddling young

people with more and more and more debt just as they're starting out in life. >> among other things, those saddled with heavy financial burdens will put off buying a car or a house and, thereby, hurt the entire economy. and unless congress acts by july 1st, that burden will grow even heavier. rates now at 3.4% will double to 6.8%. with an average student now graduating with over $26,000 in debt, that's no small change. but instead of getting onboard to extend rates for another year, republicans decided to see if they could inject a little end of week scandal dazzle. so house speaker john boehner's spokesman took up the charge. "picking a fight out of thin air where there's policy agreement isn't going to get the white house out of trouble." as for the house plan, it would change rates annually with the market and would eliminate protections for low-income

students. in fact, the white house says it could actually cost students more than doing nothing at all. and letting rates double on july 1st. and the president, well, he had a few words about that. >> the house bill isn't smart and it's not fair. i'm glad the house is paying attention to it, but they didn't do it in the right way. >> well, that just about sums up all of the republican obstructionism right there. let's get right to our panel. lehigh university professor james peterson joins us from pittsburgh. and in washington, the great dan a. milbank, political columnist for the "washington post." professor peterson, if i could begin with you, republicans charge that the president wants to divert attention away from scandals by focusing on students today. but isn't it republicans who are silent on anything that smacks of progress? whether it's house prices up almost 11%, with consumer confidence rising, with the stock market reaching record

highs. it's speaker boehner who wants to talk about nothing but scandal. >> it is. and, in fact, martin, as you know, they have a whole network entirely dedicated to staying with those nonstories for as long as they can. and listen, it's important to get to the bottom of all of them, but it's also important for people to begin to acknowledge the news we're talking about here with respect to the economy. one because not because it necessarily puts a feather in the president's cap, but because an economy is a behavioral process and people need to understand kind of where we are. the student loan piece is really interesting, and it's important for us to note here at the rising cost of higher education is a serious challenge for the future of this economy. the president's plan here is important. i actually support senator elizabeth warren's plan which talks about giving students the same rate that we give to big banks. but clearly we do not want interest rates on loans to be tied to the so-called free market. because, remember, it's not really a free market, but what happened is certain lending institutions would lock in rates

and they'd be able to price those rates higher and unfairly for students just getting out of school and trying to make a life for themselves. >> and as an educator, yourself, that would presumably have a deleterious effect on the kind of student that would be able to come to your institution. >> it already is, martin. we're already seeing the fact that higher education, particularly of predominantly white elite institutions, is only going to be able to serve people who can ain ord in ordef. up to $50,000 a year. imagine having to pay that for your children to tgo to college >> it's horrendous. dana, is speaker boehner refusing to harold any of the positive economic signs because he knows that he and his caucus cannot claim an ounce of credit for anything good that's happening because their entire stance has been opposition to absolutely everything? >> well, they can claim as much credit as they want to, martin, but fact of the matter is the voters will not give them credit for it, and that's not just in

this particular situation. that's always the case for an incumbent president and his party. it, in a way we're sort of reliving the late '90s here when the republicans were talking scandal, scandal, scandal, and that was certainly a more salacious scandal than anything we're looking at now. >> of course. but meanwhile, the economy was improving. >> exactly. the president's poll numbers held up and the republicans kept scratching their heads saying, why is the president so popular? the president's popularity is tied to the economy. if the economy continues to improve, the stock market, home prices, consumer confidence, it's going to be a very different kind of a midterm election next year, and that's why you see it's actually the republicans continuing to inject scandal into every other aspect of government right now. >> professor, case in point, let's focus on the lone issue. while speaker boehner claims there are only small differences, it's the white house plan that limits repayments to 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. now, that is a real benefit, but

i guess it's one that speaker boehner, again, would rather not discuss. he doesn't want to talk about the substantive differences between his proposal and that that's being proposed by the president and the administration. >> that's right. the pay as you earn piece of that proposal to me is the strongest piece of it which is it limits what you have to repay to 10% of what you earned in the prior year, so it actually gives students, recently graduated students, an opportunity to get on their feet. martin, it also calls for a cap where 20 years into the loan, if whatever's not repaid can be forgiven. i know for some folk that might sound strange, but you have to really understand what college education means to our economy. it means more folk moving to the middle class, but it also strengthens our economy because those are the people who are buying cars, buying houses. they're consuming things. they feel more comfortable and more confident in doing that when their student loan debt is being managed in a much more proficient way. and so this is a really, really important piece. it serves the future of our economy to bring more people

into it, but it's got to be managed in way we're not overburdening students with debt. that piece of the president's plan should get a little bit more play than it has gotten. the pay as you earn piece is really, really important. >> thank you for doing that. dana, this obsession with the justice department's pursuit of journalists, i thought republicans hate the lamestream media. so where did their sudden love for investigative journalism come? scooter libby? >> i think we should enjoy it while it's here, martin, that the right wing is finally supportive of the mainstream media. look, a couple reasons. one is james rosen is a fox news journalist, so they're recognizing that. and two is obviously they'll take any excuse to go after this president. now, you know, i think this is a very legitimate issue in the administration and particularly attorney general holder have gone way too far in going after journalists here. but there is also some hypocrisy on the republican side. a lot of the reason this justice department is going after journalists in the first place

is because republicans on capitol hill were howling about leaks and pressuring this administration to go after journalists in the first place. >> exactly. exactly. professor peterson, final question to you. "the new york times" today reports on gop hoping that the so-called white house scandal will drive voters into their arms in 2014. but former republican senator olympia snowe says this. i'm quoting. "the american people want more than just negativity about president obama. if you can't make that important pivot to what republicans stand for and how they've gotten the message, i think there will be even more damage to the republican party." referencing what dana just said, she's right, isn't she, professor peterson? >> absolutely agree with her here. i mean, your party has got to stand for something. you know, where is your legislation? where's your movement? if the party is going to be about these so-called scandals, that is not going to rate so well with the american public. and part of the reason why, martin, it's not just that the

economy is doing better. it's that the american people are tired of the ways in which politics are conducted in this nation. we're tired of pay to play. we're tired of the sort of overuse and leveraging of certain media outlets to try to get across political opinions. and we're very, very tired of a congress that seems to be almost incapable, if not absolutely incapable, of doing anything on behalf of the american people. so people are beyond fatigued with that. olympia snowe is absolutely right here, and i think the republican party knows this. it's just so appealing to them to be able to attack this president. it's hard for them not to do so even in an environment where it's antithetical to their goals. >> it is remarkable. professor james peterson. dan a. milbank, thank you both for joining us. coming up, we'll have a full forecast on today's severe weather threats. first, the american woman is taking an increasing role in the workforce. what could possibly be wrong with that? >> as we look at biology, look at the natural world, the roles of a male and a female in

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if you're a single mom, breadwinner of the family, and you get pregnant, aren't we pushing toward more abortions? it seems like we are. >> three quarters of the people survey recognize that having moms as the primary breadwinner is bad for kids and bad for marriage. and reality shows us that's the truth. >> some male conservatives, particularly on a certain cable news network, would appear to be harboring a secret desire to be stripped, spanked, and

humiliated in public. that's a conclusion one might reach after witnessing how they relish the negative reaction to their opinions on a new pew poll about women in the workforce. that poll shows that women are becoming the breadwinners in their families. but also that single mothers are struggling mightily to feed, clothe, and care for their children. those findings are what caused the risible reaction you just saw. you would think the overall negative reaction to those opinions would give these men pause to think. yet, "redstate's" erick erickson, the second man in that clip writes that "many feminists and emo lefties have their panties in a wad over my statements." indeed, it does seem they quite enjoy being whipped by women. >> to ignore the fact that we have marriages breaking up, shattering in this society, and we know that that reduces by at least -- >> why are you attributing that to women in the workforce?

>> excuse me. let me just finish what i'm saying, if i may, oh dominant one. the fact is -- >> excuse me. >> -- that three times as many people -- >> joining us now is democratic congresswoman gwen moore of wisconsin, shaking her head, understandably. good afternoon, ma'am. >> good afternoon, martin. >> let me read to you the reaction of fox news' own greta van susteren to the comments you just heard. "have these men lost their minds? and these are my colleagues? oh, brother. maybe i need to have a little chat with them. next thing, they will have a segment to discuss eliminating women's right to vote?" that is a joke, ma'am, but there's a kernel of truth in that joke, isn't there? >> well, yeah, you know, i don't totally dis agragree withe eric erickson. we talked about understanding the science of male/female

social station. maybe what he ought to realize is the biological definition of survival is to change when circumstances change. and to the extent that there are more women in the workforce, women who are becoming the primary breadwinners, maybe in some of those families where there are marriages, men need to take over some of the caretaking for the children because erick erickson commented on how families were breaking down, the children were being harmed. maybe guys are going to have to come off the golf course or the tennis course or give up that wednesday night poker game to help their kids with algebra, because working women are also doing the -- they're also the primary caretakers as well as primary breadwinners. >> yeah, indeed. i don't want to go into the facts like the fact that divorce is actually on the decline at the moment, because there's no point in addressing those individuals with science. but is there any empirical st studstudy that you are aware of which

suggests a correlation between women in the workplace and a rise in women seeking terminations and abortions? >> well, you know, if that were the case, we wouldn't have such an increase in single female head of households in cases where women were never wed. if those women were, in fact, choosing to have abortions. women are finding themselves pregnant and alone, and they are being heroic in trying to rear those kids. and unlike the families where there are two parents, they are struggling. they are earning below median income. sometimes as little as $11,000, $12,000 a year. so it would seem to me this is the best argument if we want to see families stay together, to work on programs like head start and continuing to provide food stamps. because these are women who are opting not to have abortions. they're of tpting to have these children and deserve societal support. >> indeed.

and in the interest of complete fairness, ma'am, we should also point out that the men, these men that we just heard from, they represent a view of society that has, of course, successfully pushed for transvaginal probes, the cutting of food stamps, the sequester, the slashing of the provision of head start to something like 70,000 children. >> exactly right. i mean, you can't have it both ways. you can't decide that women need to stay at home, women to not have abortions, women don't need to work, women need to provide the majority of the caretaking. it just doesn't work out with that biological scientific view of survival. in fact, most families do need two wage earners, and to the extent that they need two wage earners, there needs to be shared responsibility in taking care of a household, the kids, and an alternative to abortion is certainly folk like erick

erickson stepping up and supporting those programs that would give these kids good health care, give these kids good nutrition programs, and some support for these women who are trying very, very hard. >> they are, indeed. representative gwen moore. thank you for joining us this afternoon. thank you for standing up for women. >> oh, absolutely. >> thank you, ma'am. coming up, a full forecast on today's severe weather threats. that's right ahead. stay with us. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away.

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here in the northeast, temperatures are soaring well into the 90s. but it is the midwest and plains states that once again are facing down an afternoon of possible tornado activity. so let's get right to our expert meteorologist dylan dreyer who joins us again. dylan? >> well, martin, we are going to see the threat of your strong storms in the plains states, but a little later than when they occurred yesterday. it looks like the timeframe would be late this afternoon into this evening central time. for right now, though, we are keeping an eye on the potential of very strong storms. in yellow from wisconsin to michigan, right down into texas, that's an area we could see very powerful thunderstorms that could produce torrential downpours, dangerous lightning. we could also see some very large hail and wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour. so even though we are so focused on that area in oklahoma for potential tornadoes, the storms we're going to see out ahead of this cold front that is slowly moving eastward are still a very big concern. that yellow box through

minnesota and into parts of wisconsin and northeastern iowa, that indicates an area where we could see a very significant round of severe storms, but it's in red down through missouri and into southeastern kansas where we do have a tornado watch at this time until 10:00 central time. most likely that will get extended into oklahoma within the next hour or two. we also have a lot of flood watches and warnings. the mississippi and missouri rivers are already getting above flood stage, and they are expected to crest early next week. so we are seeing significant flooding in the st. louis area, and that is only going to get worse because we have a lot of rain, and with these severe thunderstorms, we will see torrential downpours. the rain is coming down at a pretty good clip back through central and northern illinois, and through central missouri, that's where we are starting to see some storms fire up. but it's the activity we're going to see within the next three hours or so, and that's when we could see very strong tornadoes. the spotters are on the ground, though. they are ready for this

outbreak. possible in oklahoma. and they'll be watching the skies for these storms. martin. >> nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. thank you so much, dylan. coming up, furious forever. it's the life and times of our attorney general, mr. eric holder, in today's top lines. stay with us. >> ted cruz said today obama does not respect the first, second, fourth, and fifth amendments. is that about right? >> i so love ted cruz. ♪ (alarm clock buzzer) ♪ (announcer) friskies. now serving breakfast.

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it's the fact that the explosive growth of debt -- >> people are upset with the irs scandal. >> i don't give a damn what these people think. >> i'll give you the simplest solution to this irs scandal. >> right wing conservative nut case. >> abolish the irs. >> is there now a smoking gun in the irs scandal? >> this is crap. >> former irs commissioner douglas shulman visited the white house, ready, 157 times. >> shulman 157 times. >> 157 visits. >> these numbers are downright scary. >> this is crap. >> eric holder? is he going to be forced to resign? >> do you think president obama should ask for eric holder's resignation? >> yes, absolutely. >> i so love ted cruz. >> resign. and resign immediately. >> while many americans don't seem to understand the seriousness of the irs situation, those who love the country do. >> are these actually watergate-esque in. >> no, they're not. >> i can't believe i'm hearing this from you. >> i was covering iran/contra during the reagan

administration. >> this is a scandal of monstrous proportions. >> wait a minute. i get to ask the questions. i'm not a potted plant. >> it's a pretty big damn scandal. >> let's get right to our panel. joining us right now is jonathan capehart of the "washington post." at the white house. and angela rye, principal of impact strategies, at our studio in washington. so, jonathan, i thought the irs thing was bad, but apparently they're still going after the president over the gang, and as you and i know, the fwagang is worse than watergate and iran/contra put together, isn't it? >> i suppose, but what is it? i'm serious. what does this have to do with the administration? and, you know, all of these so-called scandals? why are conservatives, in particular, and why is the republican party spending so much time and energy on all three of these things?

benghazi, irs, and the other one i can't remember offhand. when, you know, there's an economy to look after. there are vital laws and regulations that need to be done. >> that's a very good question. i wish i could answer it, but i'm afraid i do not have one. i'll keep asking speaker boehner. angela, the right wing has got all its knives out for attorney general eric holder, as you know. but let's be honest. this isn't new. they' they've been trying to chase him out of the justice department since the first day he walked in. >> that's absolutely correct, martin. my line for this week, i fwes it's probably going to continue well into next week and perhaps the week after that is that the scandal louse will always look for and find scandal. so here we are once again, you know, these are the same folks that came after eric holder holding him in contempt of congress for which the congressional black congress members led a walkout, and they're coming after him again. what's ironic to me, martin, is this man was once appointed by ronald reagan as a superior court judge in d.c. he began his career at the department of justice in the

public integrity section. yet they're coming after him with some type of scandal and he's involved in corruption. >> yeah, but angela, he's been corrupted by the black president, can't you understand? >> of course he has. >> he was cleansed by the white president, but when the black president came in, he suddenly became immoral. >> and not only did he become immoral, but so did two of the other black appointees with the president of the united states. >> funny you mention. that's true as well. >> absolutely. i think at some point we really have to start saying, what are the real scandals? the real scandals is that with the irs, this stuff has been happening for years. well before the first black president. with benghazi, the real scandal is these folks have underfunded embassy security for years. the real scandal when it comes to the leaks is the fact that we don't want to talk about the balancing of national security and the very cautious line that attorney general holder had to walk. he talked about it in an npr

interview that he took these things very, very seriously. he personally signed off on very few. so it's really, really bad, martin. at some point we have to start talking facts. >> john, you wanted to come in? >> yeah, just to answer what angela is saying, the reason why we're talking about what happened with the "ap" and what happened with the reporter at that other network, it's because the folks on capitol hill were demanding answers as to why national security secrets were being leaked to the press. >> that's right. >> it's not that attorney general holder got up one morning and said, hey, i think i'm going to investigate the "ap" and i'm going to investigate this fox news reporter. no, he's doing this at the behest of congress. >> yeah, but john, that's hypocrisy and that's what they do. so we'll move on. we've got the crusade against eric holder. there's the crusade against the irs for its suppression of the tea party movement. but i am getting a little worried that we are beginning to forget about benghazi. with that in mind, i'd like you both to listen to what mike

allen of "politico" said. take a listen. >> privately republicans say benghazi probably wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for hillary clinton. unlike the irs -- >> if it wasn't for her and 2016, this wouldn't be an issue. >> it's something that people don't understand. >> so jonathan, is it possible that republicans are just pretending to be outraged about benghazi, principally because they want to smear mrs. clinton before she may or may not run for the presidency? >> i'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling here. yes, of course, look, when they went after benghazi, one, it was to undermine the president during the re-election fight. then it shifted to undermining susan rice because the rumor was she was under considerable consideration for being secretary of state hillary clinton's successor at the state department. and when that was knocked out, then they focused their attention on hillary clinton and what she may or may not do in

2016. all the while totally ignoring and neglecting the real issue here, and that is diplomatic security. what happened in benghazi, we can't say whether it would have happened or wouldn't have happened if there had been, you know, proper security there, but why isn't congress focusing on that? angela hit on it in her opening answer. and that's because congress has been cutting diplomatic security. >> final word to you, angela. do you agree with john on that? >> absolutely. i very rarely dis agragree with jonathan capehart. >> jonathan capehart, angela rye. have great weekends the both of you. coming up, a candid conversation about the astounding cost of college. stay with us. >> higher education cannot be a luxury for a privileged few. >> looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college. >> well, the world needs ditch diggers, too. >> nice try.

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you will find true success and happiness if you have only one goal. there really is only one, and that is this. to fulfill the highest, most truthful expression of yourself. as a human being. you want to max out your humanity. >> advice there from oprah winfrey at harvard university on thursday, but amid the inspiration of commencement season comes heated debate. as many graduates face the prospect of maxed out student loan debt and rising costs limit those who will ever be able to finish college at all. for more now, i'm joined by m msnbc contributor goldie taylor from atlanta. goldie, i have to offer you our

warmest congratulations. as i understand, your daughter has just graduated from brown university. and we have to share this wonderful photograph of her in her cap and gown. congratulations to you, goldie. but i am assuming you know what college costs firsthand now. >> absolutely. over the last several years, i've had three children in college at once, so certainly the cost of college is something that, you know, we're dealing with on a day-to-day basis. not only when i put myself back through college when they were children, but now that they are out seeing the world for themselves and taking it on their own terms, they are in colleges across this country, and i'm footing the bill. >> you are, indeed. now, the average student of a four-year college graduates with more than $26,000 in debt. and the president pushed against a doubling of their loan rate earlier today. take a listen to what he said. >> higher education cannot be a luxury for a privileged few. it is an economic necessity that

every family should be able to afford. >> he's right, isn't he, goldie? that this isn't just about money. this is a generational crisis for people. >> well, it truly is a generational crisis. when you look at human rights in general, it's all about having access to an economy. and in this american economy, that has come to mean having a degree from an institution of higher l eer learning, a four-y college or at least a two-year degree. there are so many jobs and career specialties you simply cannot enter without having a four-year degree. so it used to be you could come out of high school, go to work at your local plant, make a career for yourself, make a life for yourself and for your family. manufacturing is all but dried up in this country, and we're largely becoming a service economy. and that means different skills. and so as we prepare a new generation of young people for that, we need to make sure that even the least of these has access to a higher education.

after all, that really has become the toll on the road on the way to success in this country. >> are we endangered just because of the costs just completely suppressing the possibility of talented, but low-income young people, from ever progressing because they simply can't afford a life where the prospect of that kind of debt is in front of them? >> i would absolutely agree with you, but it even starts, you know, earlier than that. we're having kids who are high performers, but they're coming out of broken high schools and not equipped to deal with college-level work. and so we have to do something about our k-12 system. that has to be remedied. and preparing children to appropriately attack the college system. but on the other hand, you know, some of these more selective schools and some of these highly talented children, you know, from impoverished neighborhoods or from working poor families never get a chance to meet. the recruitment efforts simply aren't funded and aren't there, and once they are there, how do

you get that kid into that classroom with a plethora of student loans, student grants, while remaining some fiscal responsibility so they're not saddled in too much debt once they leave that institution? that is a real, real issue today. so college is becoming more and more expensive, more and more inaccessible, so, you know, if you want to break the chain of poverty, if you want to break into the middle class, it simply isn't possible because you can't afford the education. >> and so, briefly, what can be done? >> there are a couple of things that can be done. the president is proposing legislation today that will hold down the interest rate on student loans because it is students from poor and working poor families who are most likely to take student loans and be saddled with that debt after they're finished with the institution. the second thing that can be done is something the president has proposed and, you know, i really do like it, is that you tie the amount of the student loan payment that's due to your disposable income upon graduation. and so a cap at 10%.

i have friends and colleagues who are still paying student loans today and, you know, they're in their middle to late 40s. as the president and first lady said, they just recently paid off their student loans. i did the same. it is a very tough job to decide between food on the table and paying your student loan. if you don't pay your student loan, you ruin your credit. you can't buy a car. you can't buy a home. and it makes life just that much more expensive. these loans cannot be refinanced. they cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. so there's real reform that needs to happen within the student loan industry in and of itself so that we can move, you know, into a place of financial responsibility for students so that education becomes much more accessible to them. >> goldie taylor, thank you so much. again, we extend our very best wishes and congratulations to your daughter and your extended family as well. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you, goldie. coming up, the american way. you think the economy here is in rough shape? we'll gaze across the pond. you wait until you see what's happening there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 opportunities are waiting to be found in faraway places.

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our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. people's retirement savings are growing again. the rise of health care costs are slowing. the american auto industry is back. so we're seeing progress. >> for those republicans still hanging on to austerity as an economic, may i suggest a european vacation? i know, europe. but it would greatly inform how austerity is going over there. for instance, why not start in the northern ireland town hosting next month's g-8 summit? there you can see the fake stores, yes, fake stores the town is creating to make the place seem a little, well, less austere. then travel to southern europe,

and ask strangers there, they're very friendly, ask them what record unemployment feels like. finally, be sure to stop by germany and ask its officials why their country has pushed austerity the hardest but is now walking slowly back from it? and when you return home, perhaps you will be able to explain to voters why our best of a bad lot economy will be doing far better without your economics. joining us now is josh barrow, who's starting on monday, becomes the editor for "business insider." congratulations on the new job. >> thanks, martin. >> consumer sentiment today is up, but i imagine, again, republicans will be miserable about that. >> i'm not sure they're as miserable about it as they would have been in 2012. i think we went through this period of a couple of years where republicans weren't keen -- >> i haven't heard speaker john boehner mention incredible house price rises this week, announced on nearly 11% up year on year. i haven't heard him talk about

consumer confidence rising. i haven't heard him talk about any of these issues. the only thing he wants to talk about is scandals. >> the gop doesn't have an economic agenda to tout and view the scandals as being politically fruitful for them. it's partly because the economy is still not that good. 7.5% unemployment is way down from 10% where it was a few years ago, but it's still at this pace going to take us into 2016 before we get unemployment below 6%. so we're doing better than europe. certainly we could have a much worse policy mix that would produce much worse results and we're adding jobs. we should be adding jobs a lot faster than we are. i don't think it's time to crow about the economy. we should be happy things are getting better. they should be a lot better. >> james writing for the conservative "aei" says, "the gop needs to be more than the party of heroic entrepreneurs and tax cuts." what's preventing them from changing the script? the evidence is before us. unemployment in the eurozone is at a record level of over 12%.

the highest ever. >> right. and then to the extent we're having this -- >> yet paul ryan continues to propose the ryan budget which is stop austerity again. >> because the alternative things that the republican party could propose that would address the concerns of the middle class are not things that conservative the want. i mean, you can look at the list of proposals he put with that post. most of which were fairly small. some of them are good ideas. one of them is promoting job sharing programs which germany has used with success, where basically you encourage employers instead of laying people off to have every worker work a few less hours a week. >> right. >> those are good ideas, but they're not big ideas that will do a lot to grow wages, to grow middle class incomes which have been basically stagnant for the last 14 years. some of the ideas he's pushing would be counterproductive for people with middle and low incomes such as lower minimum wages for certain classes of workers was one of the items on the list. so i think the reason the republicans are stuck in this message of tax cuts, less regulation, that was successful

for them in 1980 when that was a better prescription for the economy than it is today, is because they can't come up with an alternative that is both food for the middle class and something conservatives actually want to do. >> and so is that why every time there is a discussion, it's repeal the affordable care act, but there's no alternative. >> right. >> it's don't have any more stimulus, but there's no constructive alternative. that's the position. >> absolutely. i think something very instru instructive happened this spring in congress, republicans tried to put up a small alternative to obama care that would have helped a few people with pre-existing conditions to get insurance by diverting a little bit of money from obama care. >> right. >> they had to pull the bill because they couldn't get enough republican votes for it because there were too many republicans in congress saying even that is too much government intervention in the health care market and want the answer to obama care to be nothing. there are certain policy wonks on the right who have alternative ways to expand

health care coverage. some are good ideas, most of which are not good ideas. at least they're proposals. there's not interest from actual elected officials in pursuing that path. they want to go back to the pre-obama care status quo. >> josh barro, monday, political editor of "business insider." congratulations and thank you. >> thanks, martin. >> and we'll be right back. withe premium steak. it's a steakover. it's tender. good flavor. it just melts in your mouth. mine's perfect -- man! we're actually eating walmart steaks. are you serious? fantastic! that was a good cut of meat. [ earl ] these are perfectly aged for flavor and tenderness. i would definitely go to walmart to buy steaks. walmart choice premium steak in the black package. it's 100% satisfaction guaranteed. try it. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+.

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music... it's time now to clear the air, and you have got to hand it to the republican party. they never stop obstructing and circumventing everything this president tries to do. even before he stood in the rose garden this morning and pleaded with congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling next month, speaker john boehner's spokesman accused the president of trying to "change the subject from the growing list of scandals." that comment actually gives away the lie because republicans want to divert attention away from anything that smacks of real progress. and here are a few examples. on tuesday, standard & poors

home price index posted the biggest rise in seven years up by almost 11% over the last 12 months. but republicans never mentioned this critical corner sw eercorne americanm meconomy. instead, they only want to talk about the irs. >> my question isn't about who is going to resign. my question is, who's going to jail over this scandal? >> so verbally constipated when it comes to really positive news on the housing market, but a nonstop stream of affluent when it comes to sending people to jail without due process. there's more. also on tuesday, consumer confidence reached a five-year high according to a consumer board report with big improvements in americans' thinking on their current and future economic prospects. but, again, republicans are silent on this. instead, mitch mcconnell prefers to release a campaign ad that is disgracefully untrue and

slanderously suggests that the president was involved in targeting the tax returns of his political opponents. >> i don't know about you, but i think the leader of the free world and his advisers have better things to do than dig through other people's tax returns. >> you couldn't make this stuff up, but mitch mcconnell can. so if you're wondering why republicans only want to talk about scandal, here's a quick summary of the things that they like you to ignore. >> today our businesses have created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months. 500,000 of those jobs are in manufacturing. we're producing more of our own energy, we're consuming less energy. and we're importing less from other countries. the housing market is coming back. the stock market has rebounded. our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. >> you see, if anyone is trying to divert your attention, it's not the president. it's mitch mcconnell, speaker boehner, and their scandal

machine that rolls ever onward, hopefully to oblivion. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. it's the economy, stupid. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with that very point. it's the economy, stupid. everything i've seen in politics tells me this. we can argue issues every night here, but i know from experience it's how people feel about their own circumstances, whether they're working or not, how prices are doing, interest rates that determine whether they get to take the family out to dinner on friday night or get to buy new shoes for the kids. whether they get to go intsomewe fun on vacation.