[ female announcer ] trying for a baby? only clearblue advanced digital ovulation tests can identify your four best days to get pregnant -- two more than any other test. maximize your chances of getting pregnant. hello, disrupters. i'm karen finney. we have a great show from a winning strategy of democrats in 2014, saving veterans' pensions to saving our children in extreme gop policies and the leader of a duck dynasty that thinks black folks in the field weren't quite singing the blues. >> 2014 needs to be a year of action. >> a year of action! the president laid out the first step. extending long-term unemployment benefits. >> republicans have thrown unemployed americans under the bus. >> unemployment insurance is a lifelong. it can make the difference between temporary hardship orca it is a to fee.

>> if you extend it, you do a disservice to the workers. >> we can become a society where the net majority is takers not makers. >> causing them to be part of the perpetual unemployed group in the economy. >> teach a man how to fish, he can feed himself for a life. don't simply feed fish. >> a special time of the year when a man with a big white beard makes a bunch of homophobic remarks and gets kicked off the show. >> they were from his heart. >> freedom. free speech. >> the left wants to be the thought police. >> there's an assault from the left of anyone that disagrees with him. >> defending him should be ashamed of themselves because they're trying to make this political. so christmas is the time of year when we think about the people who matter most to us. but when you listen to the gop

rhetoric about makers and takers it is easy to forget it's not just adults impacted but the kids. too many of them are having their futures stolen by policy that is are aimed at punishing parents with no thought as to how it will affect their children. our children. consider this. when unemployment insurance expires a week from today, it won't just impact the 1.3 million americans who rely only it to make ends meet while they look for work. it will also affect millions of kids whose families forced to cut back right at the height of the holiday season. here's how president obama described it. >> because congress didn't act more than 1 million of their constituents will lose a vital economic lifeline at christmastime. unemployment insurance only goes to folk who is are actively looking for work. the mom that needs help feeding her kids sending out resumes or a dad that needs help paying the rent. >> this is how real it is for the kids. in 2012 alone, unemployment

insurance responsible for keeping half a million children out of poverty but you know what? here's how one gop congressman thinks we should be treating the kids. >> instill there's no such thing as a free lunch or maybe sweep the floor in the cafeteria. >> now, let's think about the child who lives in a state where their governor isn't expanding medicaid. that's going to make it harder far parent who doesn't make a lot of money to get covered. low-income children whose parents don't have insurance are three times as likely to be eligible and also uninsured. say in the same family a parent is about to lose unemployment insurance, faces year around food insecurity and made worse by cuts to s.n.a.p. program and forget about head start. taken toegether, it is a war on our children and our futures. what lesson does the congressman think he's teaching? joining me is a political

analyst and a manager editor of the greo.com and analyst of msnbc and help me break this down. all right, ladies. you know, i wanted to kind of come at this in a different way, joy, because, you know, i think we never really have the chance to look at when you layer these things on like i was just saying in the opening, kids take the brunt of it. >> no. it is interesting because we're now familiar with the kind of makers and takers language, the view of the world that we do soo from the libertarian right and the tea party right. this sense that people who are poor or low income immoral, their moral failing is they don't want to contribute and a drain on the rich and the rich need to be protected from them. we haven't up until now seen it applied to kids. you see jack kingston, the congressman there, you are starting to see the sense that it isn't just that the adults have a moral failing that makes them poor but the children are

being reared on dependence. >> right. >> we need to break the back of the dependence on government and the nanny state from childhood so if we have children sweeping the cafeteria floor and then they would learn responsibility. they would learn they're a second-class of citizen that is essentially an serf class under the others. >> 5-year-olds are takers? look at the faces of these sweet children! >> i think one of the things that doesn't get talked about enough is at the end of every one of the cuts, food stamps or unemployment benefits, there's a person and most likely a child. it is not fair, moral or christian to use their language. they're supposedly, you know, to operate with christian values. and there's nothing more clear in the bible than the children, right? we take care of our children. no matter who their parents are. >> just used to be in this country at least one thing we

all agreed on. we could disagree on lots of things but kids we hold harm unless theory. i want to talk about unemployment insurance because i have a full screen of households with children who have at least one unemployed parent. in 2011, 3.2 million. that is an incredible increase, joy. you know, again, this idea that congress just left town without even dealing with this problem, not even thinking about the fact that, you know, three days after christmas. so what do you think that christmas is like for those kids? >> the point is that they don't care. this is not a concern. they're mostly concerned about their getting home to their children and the irony is a bipartisan agreement. a lot of war on poverty programs, the anti-poverty programs that bob dole used to support and food stamps, that are both an agricultural subsidy to farmers families and seen as not so much subsidizing the adult but the family and allowing families stability.

>> i thought wasn't the republican party about family, family friendly? >> one would think. >> i think i heard that somewhere. >> from them. >> exactly. their talking point. so we talk about head start, sequester cuts, 57,000 children cut from head start. and they want to cut another 40 billion from s.n.a.p. when you look at the impact that's literally having very directly on children's lives, again, to your point, it seems immoral and yet we have been having this discussion for weeks and weeks and weeks talking about s.n.a.p. paul ryan -- i got 70% of what i wanted. really? you didn't want to help protect kids? >> i think he's a pretender. the idea that he now is taken on poverty as an issue is a big lie, right? big lie is that people on unemployment or take food stamps are not working. that's the big lie. >> right, right, right. >> most of the people underemployed and also, too, the people unemployed, there's three

people to every single job available. so these people have been looking and looking and looking and not being able to get employed. nobody wants to be on welfare and on food stamps. we want to work and provide for our families. republicans, all of this is going to come to bite them eventually. >> in the -- >> yes. >> here's part of what strikes me and talked about this with conservatives. if you have never experienced what it's like to be on one of these programs, i mean, my mom had to go on unemployment insurance and i can assure you she was not getting the nails done every day. >> exactly. >> she was doing everything she could to make sure that my life was as stable as possible and she went without stuff. but if you've never had that experience, it is so much easier to pontificate in this makers and takers kind of world and sort of, you know, lay blame essentially. >> absolutely. if you have never struggled.

we have had our lights off. we had to live with that. you have an empathy. i think that is what's missing. there is a gap in empathy because you have by and large very wealthy people in congress and talking about people like paul ryan and despite the fact that the family wealth came from government programs and government contracts, they don't see that as the same thing. even for the tea party and getting medicare, there is a gap in empathy and you see it in some of the polls. the sense that now republicans a plurality believe that poverty and unemployment is fault of the person, this it's a failing on their part rather than an unlucky break and what people used to believe. they no longer believe in the premise it's a condition that falls upon you. they believe it's something you do to yourself. >> part of what i find just to be rank hypocrisy and paul ryan is the budget guy. he is also supposed to be a good catholic, pope francis is talking about these issues. >> right. >> we took a look at some of the states particularly red states and we wanted to take a look at, okay, say you're in a state not

doing the medicaid expansion or talking about unemployment insurance and guess where the worst states are to be a kid. just happens to be predominantly in the red state south and yet those are the republican governors who are saying, do it our way. our way works. >> right. and they're wrong. right? so, you know, not to like mince words. they're completely wrong about this. but also, too, i think that eventually republicans will have to go back to the food stamps are not a partisan issue. unemployment insurance is not a partisan issue because i think the american people after the recession they understand it could be me out of work and not somebody else. a person of color. it's my family that's being affected. >> for the rhetoric that we hear about, you know, our children's future and the deficit -- >> right. >> what about our fchildren's future if their parents can't take care of them? >> absolutely. if you don't care about that, just say you're a hard hearted

person that believes that the poor are a burden on the back of the rich. >> sure. >> let's just say you believe that. there's also a business case for that. that same map, those are also the state that is are the poorest and have the worse business environments in the sense of an elect rat or a cohort of people, a big cohort of people that can't afford to shop, you can't have business that is are pros pous. look at california and new york that actually read in and have a robust state that supports people financially, all the money that comes in the poorer you are, every dime of that goes back out to small businesses, walmart, going to the grocery store. spending all of your disposable income and supporting somebody of low income you help business. >> that's exactly right. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> that was fun! all right. next, phil robertson loves a song, a spiritual song but has he stopped to listen to the words of the song sung in the field? "duck dynasty" when we come

back. >> mr. dynasty reminisced about how much happier he recalled black people in the pre-civil rights and none of them in that time upset and cheerfully singing in the fields and no one was singing the blus. forgetting, of course, that was pretty much where and when the blues were invented. i don't just make things for a living i take pride in them. so when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis was also on display, i'd had it. i finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, he prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections,

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what phil was saying in -- he was reciting a part of the gospel. the liberal left must feel that the gospel then is insulting and offensive because phil was just repeating what is in the bible. >> no, governor palin.

this is not about being insulted by the gospel. did you actually read everything he said? this isn't about religion at all but the right is trying to cast it that way as a defense of the indefensible. most on the right completely ignored the patriarch's offensive comments on race. let's read what he said. i never with my eyes saw the mistreatment of any black person, not once, where we lived was all farmers. the blacks worked for the farmers. just pause on that for a moment. got it? i hoed cotton with them. i'm with the blacks because we're white trash. we're going across the field and they're singing and happy. i never heard one of them, not a one black person say, i tell you what, these dog gone white people. not a word. preentitleme preentitlement, prewelfare. you say were they happy? they were godly. they were happy. no one was singing the blues. here's the thing. were they happy? the negro work songs that were the blues were talking about a yearning for a better life after

death, not about being happy and peppy hanging out with the master. okay? we'll have more on that later. also, the tearful, sinful members of the lgbt community. he said, start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. beast yalty, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. that's a lot of sleeping. and then he paraphrases, don't be deceived. neither the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slander slanderers, they won't inherit the kingdom of god. comments like those are what got him suspended by a&e and then the rush to his defense. you heard sarah palin. senator ted cruz wrote, quote, the reason that so many americans love duck dynasty is because it represents the america usually ignored or mocked by liberal elites. phil expressed his personal

views and for that he was suspended from his job. and, of course, possible 2016 contender governor bobby jindal weighed in, as well. >> i think there's an ongoing assault for those right now speaking up for the religious beliefs and an assault from the left of anybody that dares to disagree with them and not so politically correct and not agree with the orthodoxy of the left. >> he spouted this after republicans were thrashed in the last election. >> we've got to stop being the stupid party. and i'm serious. it is time for a new republican party that talks like adults, time for us to articulate our plans and visions for america in real terms. it is no secret we had republicans that damaged the brand with bizarre and offensive comments. we have had enough of that. >> sounds like you haven't had enough of that because the same week you and your fellow republicans defended robertson's comments president obama announced he's sending a u.s.

delegation to russia including three openly gay athletes and on friday a judge ruled utah's same-sex ban unconstitutional. i personally disagree with everything mr. robertson said but i will defend his right to say it and i actually prefer to know where people stand and what they really feel. but as "the new york times" columnist charles blow put it this morning, quote, robertson's comments conjure the insidious mythology of historical southern fiction, that of contented slave and benevolent master, gleeingly abiding by the oppression happily accepting their social stations. this mythology posits that there were two waves of ruin nation of culture. the civil war and the civil rights movement that made blacks get upset and things go downhill. joining me now is two guests. i said that wrong, right? >> it's a tough name. >> i'm always sensitive to

names. >> thank you. >> i wanted to start because there's conversation obviously about these comments over the last few days but, danielle, i started to kind of -- i just, you know, i did a just little reading on the googles and looked at some of the old negro spirituals from about the time that i think, you know, we're talking about here. and the words -- i mean, if you just pay attention to the words, they say things like i'm going to tell god all my troubles. when i get home, i'm going to tell him the road was rocky, when i get home. when they -- home in that instance is not your house where you live. home is heaven. because the whole concept of the spirituals was that life on earth was so unbearable that you had to have hope that it would be better once you got to heaven. >> right. you know, i think maybe, you know, they need to see "12 years a slave" for more historical references behind him and sort of falls into the same category of paula deen with the plantation party that is she

wants to do. charles blow hit it right on the head. glorification of this time that never really was and honestly he said that nobody ever told him anything. what makes him think that people working for him or just working with him but see him as part of the quote/unquote ruling class of course he doesn't complain to them. it's completely ridiculous. for the politicians so quick to defend him, i can't believe they didn't read the entire article before they did. >> right. you know, dean, the other thing about this is that it strikes me, i mean, obviously, if you read the words, if you're paying attention or listening to what people are saying, i'm going to feast at the welcome table is one very famous song and the welcome table, that's about having -- being able to sit at the same table. that's about, you know, having self esteem and being treated like a human being and what i found so shocking about the comments is there was not even an opening for him to be wrong or for him to say maybe they

were thinking something different than what i assumed they were thinking. >> it was beyond to think that the african-american community having time of their life. in 1953, the first bus protest against segregation, baton rouge, louisiana, in his own state. two years before rosa parks made national news so you're saying a man growing up in louisiana is unaware of this momentous moment and they lost that night in 1953 and years before the buses were integrated. maybe to him the idea that they couldn't use the same drinking fountain, work in the same places was fine. >> they were happy. we were perfectly happy. >> come on. they were singing. >> but then there's a plitd call element and pre-entitlement. pretime of america helping people in distress. >> you know, danielle, that's a really important point is that

to sort of underscore this part of the conversation that is -- that talks about, you know, what we call entitlement programs but the programs we pay for out of our paychecks, social security, medicare, medicaid. the idea being, you know, you're not in this alone. we are helping one another. that was part of the american story, the american values. and yet, part of this mythology is that somehow everything got screwed up for black folk once, you know, they got just, you know, addicted to these programs. >> right. once they could actually partake in the american process and once they could partake in the labors helping to produce and when everything sort of went downhill. >> right. >> it feeds into especially what you see on the right and talking about, this rush to blame, you know, poor people for being poor. you know? blame, you know, all black people for whatever problems they have. comes from the civil rights movement, being entitled and not a desire to look at really what

happened and understand. you know, look, our history is complicated. it is ugly. >> yeah. >> but it is our history. we need to own it. you know, i have to say, like, if there's a silver lining out of this, it's that people understand there are a lot of folks who feel this way and they think this way. >> that's such an important point because -- i have an experience in my own life. my grandfather who was white didn't allow me in his home until i was 16 because she was ashamed and when we were able to have a conversation about it, he, you know, initially said, well, the bible tells us one thing and then he kind of as he got to know me as a person got to know he was wrong and having a conversation and part of why i said, dean, it is so important and you wrote about this this week -- >> yes. >> i don't want him to not say it if that's what he thinks and feels. >> sure. >> but as you point out, that doesn't mean we won't react, right? >> you have every right to say whatever you want. you have the freedom of thought. the supreme court said freedom of expression, the first amendment, is not just freedom to speak.

it's to think whatever you want. but if you say your thoughts out loud, you are held accountable for it. that's called personal responsibility. something ronald reagan who the right loves talked about so much. >> right. >> you are responsible for what you say. if i say something hateful or demonizing, i deserve to be countered and perhaps it's going to affect my income or my job. first amendment doesn't apply. ted cruz knows better. this is not government action but a&e to decide. >> they can decide. >> we don't like this. >> the last point to you, danielle. going back to kind of a little bit where we started. i'm sorry. i thought we were trying to not be the stupid party. right? that's what i thought -- bobby jindal himself would be the guy who said, let's not be the stupid party. but you notice whereas people kind of left the racial comments aside, they were, you know, right very quickly to jump on and it's i guess still okay to bash gay people. >> right. we're, unfortunately, at the end of 2013, i feel like we're still in this place where, you know,

gay people unfortunately are the last people it's okay on the right for the right to bash them and hide behind religion and as a religious person myself i find despicable. >> absolutely. thank you so much. >> thanks. coming up, a look at how congress just scrooged over america's veterans. and how an income inequality could be a battle cry for a new movement in american politics. president obama is no president bush. stay with us. [ male announcer ] this is jim,

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call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. jishs it is time for "it's a fact." all right. this week saw the return of a false narrative comparing the obama presidency to that of george w. bush. but as columnist wrote, the bush comparisons state or imply broader forces at work than mere sagging approval ratings.

they suggest a presidency that's hit a new inflection point beyond which its credibility is severed and its agenda broken and that conclusion falls apart because it completely misses how power works in the obama era. so let's take a look at the facts. it's a fact that president obama had only four months of a filibuster-proof senate and from day one has faced unprecedented republican obstruction. president bush, he enjoyed republican majorities in congress for the majority of his two terms. now, it's also a fact that while bush was chief executive, democrats supported a numb bore items on the legislative agenda including no child left behind, pepfar, medicare part d and. t the t.a.r.p. it is also a fact that still today long after leaving office, 50% of americans still blame him for the economy's problems. now, it is a fact that despite

inheriting the bush recession, president obama surpassed bush's 1 million jobs in the first term and by the third quarter of this year we have seen more than 2.5 million jobs created in his administration. now, for those who liken the two presidents falling numbers in the fifth year, don't forget at this point in his term, president bush's polling numbers pre-katrina taking a dive for quite sometime due to the war in iraq and privatizing social security. and what obama has going for him are the facts. his signature achievement the affordable care act is improving in public opinion polls especially in the moderates, independents and younger voters. now it is also a fact that part of the reason comparisons to katrina or president bush and the iraq war are just bogus is that while lives were lost and changed forever in painfully awful ways, the affordable care act is allowing millions of americans access to health care that could save and improve

their lives. is america ready to hold politicians accountable for rising inequality? we'll look when we come back. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. mm. now he's totally huggable. i wash everything with tide plus downy. makes his clothes soft and clean... just like one of my teddy bears. more like a grizzly bear. a teddy bear. that's my tide. what's yours? a teddy bear.

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and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. issues like job creation, minimum wage, and unemployment insurance are going to weigh on the minds of voters far more than obamacare by the time the 2014 elections roll around. >> that was senator chuck schumer laying out the message of economic populism. why? because guess what. jobs and the economy are still the number one concern for american voters so like many other progressives i was very surprised to see this headline on a "wall street journal" op-ed from third way. economic populism is a dead end for democrats. what? that's odd.

it was a winning message for new york mayor-elect bill deblasio. the op-ed sparked a bit of a curfuffle if you will in that modeling people like deblasio and warren disastrous for democrats. now, for starters as was pointed out, economic populism long been a core democratic policy and values. not talking about a progressive splinter group that just made this up. this is at the heart of what democrats stand for, supposed to be. america is in big trouble and guess what america is in trouble. our middle class has been so weakened. we can't afford not to talk about these issues. median wages today are actually lower than they were in the year 2000 and americans are desperately worried about what the future holds. third way says the message won't

resonate outside of new york and massachusetts but they seem to have forgotten someone who ran a national election on a platform of reducing inequality. do you remember this guy? yeah. joining me now president of the center for american progress and adam green, co-founder of the progressive change campaign committee. thank you both for joining me. >> good to be here. >> thank you for having us. >> nera, there was a front page in "the new york times" today that i think directly spoke to this issue and it was that said deglass owe's tale of two new yorks inspires liberals beyond city. clearly, this idea has spread beyondy dallas owe. >> president obama had a speech honored by cap and talked about economic inequality and lack of mobility and i think one of the

reasons why this is such a central issue is because of the facts, facts you say and not just an issue for democrats. independents are concerned. abc news with a poll this week that showed almost 60% of independents are very concerned about the wealth gap in this country. the fact there's a chasm between, you know, the wealthy and well connected and the rest of us. so i think that's really why this is a conversation that's driving a minimum wage conversation in kentucky. grimes campaigning on the minimum wage in kentucky. it is not just a blue state issue. this is a red, blue, purple state, american issue. >> adam, it's just an american issue at this point. i mean, i know third way kind of went after warren for her proposal to increase social security benefits but guess what. turns out that even people in red states like that idea.

if you look at taking expanding social security in kentucky, 51% of people support it and in texas 56% of the people support it. so to some degree i think their argument that this is some of the issues as neera saying blue versus red, i think it's much broader than that and you have had some experience with that. >> absolutely. in red state of texas it is popular by three to one and kentucky two to one. there's an undecided in the middle f. you're a mother and a father in kentucky or in colorado or my home state of new jersey, you have similar concerns. and you're not rooting for wall street to get away with illegally foreclosing on the neighbor's house. >> right. >> not rooting for corporate profits to be through the roof while employees have stagnant wages. if your neighbor is working three jobs you're not rooting for them to have health care out there for the family or food for the family. so, you know, this is a thing that really unites america and

elizabeth warren is in many ways showing the way to democrats a fen they follow her not only millions of people but a successful 2014 and 2016 election year. >> particularly, you know, the politics of the minimum wage, of course, rush limbaugh weighed in with his wisdom. we'll take a listen to him and talk about it on the other side. >> when you arbitrarily raise the minimum wage, the owner of the business is not sitting there with a pile of money in the back closet. many of them are going to fire a person or two or more in order to have the money to pay the remaining employees the new mandated minimum wage. >> now, neera, the majority of americans support an increase in minimum wage and rush doesn't know what he's talking about. there's evidence to prove what

we're saying here but what strikes me for third way and others to suggest a wimpy idea concerns me with these kinds of numbers and not just democrat or republican. independents. but sort of across the board in terms of support for raising the minimum wage. >> yes. if you look at minimum wage support, as you say, you have a strong majority of republicans, even stronger independents and, of course, even more democrats supporting the minimum wage. i think that's because, you know, i don't think we should just think of this in political terms. the fact that we have declining economic mobility is a real problem that americans are facing. the point i made in the "new republic" article is this is a challenge of the country and will hurt politicians to ignore it. >> right. >> i think we have seen politicians across the country really respond. jerry brown campaigned on raising taxes in wealthy californians to close their budget gap. they have now a surplus for the first time in decades.

>> right. >> his popularity is increasing so i think the argument that economic populism or addressing inequality or worried about economic mobility is a problem is wrong and what makes people attracted to the democratic party in the first place. >> adam, final word to you, briefly. take off the table any suggest this is not a good message for democrats or frankly any smart politician and i hope they mean it and do something if they get elected and progressive change campaign, this is something you focused on quite a bit resonating with people. >> absolutely. you know, it's not hypothetical. working with candidates to promote this message on the campaign trail. we're happy that just this past week a wonderful woman running in wisconsin actively called out her opponent for saying that he struggles to get by on $174,000 and kelly westland said she will

be out there fighting for increase in the minimum wage and something that we expect to have resonance in places like wisconsin, the heartland and again if democrats follow elizabeth warren's lead on these issues, not just helping millions of people but smart polit politics, as well. >> democrats, i hope you're listening. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. let us know what you think. you can find us on facebook. stay with us. we have much more ahead. [ female announcer ] 1 hour to go, 1 hour to whiten. when you don't have the time, there's new crest 3d white 1 hour express whitestrips. removes years of stains in just 1 hour. whitening without the wait. now get the best 3d white deal of the year at selected retailers. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor

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a lot of our men and women in uniform are still overseas and a lot of them are still sending their christmas far away from their family and friends, some cases still in harm's way so i want to close by saying to them and their families back home, we want to thank you. your country stands united in supporting you and being grateful for your service and your sacrifice. we'll keep you in our thoughts and in our prayers during this season of hope. >> that was president obama in his final press conference of the year on friday afternoon honoring our nation's heroes and families while thanking them for their service. the president and family headed to hawaii and congress jetted home for the holidays leaving legislative business at a stand still for weeks and while many were frustrated by the lack of progress, there was a congressman who went home just pleased as punch. >> they insisted on turning off

all of the sequester and getting rid of it entirely for the next year and a half. we keep 70% of the sequester. they got 30% of what they wanted. i got 70% of what we wanted. no tax increases. no stimulus spending. no 13th extension of the emergency unemployment provision. >> hmm. 70% of what he wanted. now, of course, that didn't include helping the long-term unploemu unployed and children make it through the season. it did include cutting retirement benefits for our veterans and according to an anonymous source this is something that ryan pushed for. the bill will cut the automatic increase that is veterans under age 62 receive known as cost of living adjustment. the wars are responsible for the deaths of nearly 7,000 american soldiers and created roughly 2.6 million veterans including

nearly 1 million who were wounded in the line of duty. seems to see these brave men and women will be forced to survive on less as a result of this provision. it's a shameful breach of trust not unlike the cuts across the country as pensions are hit by budget tear issues. now, having put on the uniform of the united states of america as a friend of mine used to say, our veterans and families particularly those who served in combat, they've already paid and it's really that simple. joining me, iraq war veteran, former congressman patrick murphy and louis shelly, legislationion leader. thank you and thank you for your service. >> thanks, karen. >> i want to start, patrick, with you because, you know, when you take a look at when's in the bill, we are talking about, you know, $6 billion in cuts. and so, that's over ten years. you know, 1% cut in cost of living increases in military

pensions for early retirees and strikes me that there are some assumptions made about who that population of people are in terms of, you know, that if you retire at 62 you go off and have another career but that doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to need your pension. >> that's right. and karen, you are talking about some of these folks are disabled veterans which is hard to reenter work force. the policy of this is atrocious. it's basically the country not keeping the promise, breaking faith with our veterans who have given 20 years of their life, so for a sergeant first class who gives noncommission officer, 20 years of his life to the army, he leaves for the next 20 years this may cost him or her $80,000. it's wrong. so the politics of this it's like your segment began with. paul ryan said i got 70% of what i want. eric ericsson, i never thought i would say this on msnbc.

columnist conservative said paul ryan and john boehner have to own up to the veteran cuts because it's their idea an it's wrong. it's absolutely wrong and you're seeing members of congress, republicans in tough swing districts like mike fitzpatrick in bucks county trying to do the cya. i voted to cut them and not right now. i didn't want to shut down the government but i voted to do it. >> i may have done it anyway, right? >> exactly, karen. >> when we have the kinds of policy conversations, i have someone dear to me in afghanistan and i think about what he would be thinking seeing this kind of thing. if you are in theater and serving and what you're hearing is that, you know, if you get your 20 years in, you then are looking at a reduced pension potentially. i mean, how does that make people feel when they're actually in a combat role? >> well, i believe they're feeling betrayed. they're feeling betrayed by the

system. by our government. you know? i spent 22 years on active duty. my back is twisted. my hips are shot from running physical fitness for 22 years. my lungs are burnt from breathing in chemicals and i just want to go on to the second career and be left alone. i don't want to have to finance the debt of the government based on my pal tri retirement play. about $24,000 a year. the amount of money that accumulated over the course of the lifetime of the retired veteran is somewhere around $70,000 or $80,000. that's three years of my pension and not fair we're the only class being targeted. and i beg to differ with mr. ryan. it is a tax. it is a tax on veterans and it's a tax on retired veterans. >> patrick, we looked at alternatives to save $6 billion, right? >> right. >> how about corporate tax

loopholes, accelerated depreciation programs? there are other ways to save this money. we know that when congress comes back it's expected to do a fix on this but it just strikes me the fact it was in there in the first place and nobody said wait a second is not in line with the values. >> right, karen. they said, oh, doesn't touch disabled vets or this and that. they were wrong. you know why? because the house republicans rushed this through against their own rules saying they should do 72 hours and everyone could read it. they didn't read the bill. what kind of message does this send to the 47,000 troops who are still in afghanistan and including your loved one who are now basically getting their pensions cut? usually in american history we wait to carve out the veteran benefits. now it's shameful. >> it is. i thank you. merry christmas to you and the viewers. >> thank you.

>> thank you, merry christmas. >> please don't forget to share your thoughts. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 eastern. my mother and my grandmother are very old fashioned. i think we both are clean freaks. i used to scrub the floor on my knees. [ daughter ] i've mastered the art of foot cleaning. oh, boy. oh, boy. oh, boy. [ carmel ] that drives me nuts. it gives me anxiety just thinking about how crazy they get. [ doorbell rings ] [ daughter ] oh, wow. [ carmel ] swiffer wetjet. you guys should try this. it's so easy. oh, my. [ gasps ] i just washed this floor. if i didn't see it i wouldn't believe it. [ carmel ] it did my heart good to see you cleaning. [ regina ] yeah, your generation has all the good stuff. [ daughter ] oh, yeah.

when disaster strikes, every second counts. >> get out. somebody grab him. >> and every decision matters. >> there's a little girl! >> daring rescues from land, air, and sea. lives on the line with only precious seconds to spare. "caught on camera: nick of time."