there is a scientific paper for that. he knows what he is doing. i love my job. time for "the last word." have a great night. >> the holiday political truce is over. can democrats help bring help to the unemployed? can those on minimum wage get a raise? new signs are pointing to 2014 as the year of the liberal. >> i -- >> do solemnly swear. list push. >> the new direction for the democratic party. >> new progressive direction in new york. >> bill de blasio -- >> the 109th mayor of new york city. >> has many hoping for an era of progressive governance in gotham city. >> de blasio, a progressive champion. >> it's been about inequality.

tale of two cities. >> the democratic party. >> what will 2014 bring in terms of actual governing. >> president obama is expected to make income inequality. >> a fairness issue. but it is an economic issue. >> the administration is going to make a push on minimum wage. >> tell a tale of the inscum -- income problem. >> a progressive shift. >> a new direction for the democratic party. >> our march towards a fairer, more progressive place. >> shared opportunities. shared responsibilities. >> it begins today. >> i'm joy reid in for lawrence o'donnell. 2014 its the year of the horse, but will it be the year of the liberals. "the new york times" reports, president obama and congressional democrats are

supporting legislation that would raise federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2015. mr. obama planning speeches across the country focussed on improving wages for workers say aides. many timed to coincide with key minimum wage votes planned in congress. income inequality likely to play a prominent role in the state of the union next month. the democratic led senate will vote on a bill to extend unemployment benefits, retroactive to december 28th when benefits expired for long term unemployed. the senate will hold a final vote monday to confirm janet yellin as the chair of the federal reserve, will put elizabeth warren's preferred candidate into one of the most powerful economic policy positions in the world. in new york, bill clinton swore in mayor bill de blasio with a nd to america any most successful progressive. >> the mayor is taking the oath on a bible once used by president franklin roosevelt. it is altogether appropriate

that he should do this. >> in his inaugural address, the mayor vowed to take dead aim at greg inequality. and looked for, to fdr and france is perkins as progressive visionaries who started in new york and went on to change the nation. >> we are called to put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love. today we commit to a new progressive direction in new york. nearly a century, ago, al smith waged war on unsafe working conditions and child labor. it was franklin roosevelt and francis perkins who led the charge. it was fiorella la guardia, enacted the bill on the city

level, battled wall street and championed a progressive income pack. it was new yorkers who challenged the status quo. who blaze aid trail of progressive reform and political action. who took on the elite. who stood up to say that social and economic justice will start here and will start now. let me be clear. when i said i would take dead aim at the tale of two of cities. i meant it. and we will do it. >> joining me now are msnbc senior political analyst, david axelrod, and former vermont governor, howard dean, former head of the democratic national committee. governor dean attended de blasio's inauguration.

governor dean, i will start with you. fascinating to hear litany of new york figures, liberal figures, storied liberals from the progressive movement. francis perkins, al smith, fdr. i recall you back in the day, coming from the democratic wing of the democratic party had some trouble convincing democrats that it was good politics to go back to that era, to be the kind of democrats that fdr and la guardia were. do you see this as an era, where democrats want to take back in that direction? >> first, it's not just new york. eric garcetti, is progressive, mayor of los angeles. two biggest cities in the country which are really setting the stage for a progressive comeback. i think that is good. a lot of this is, not just about progressionivism and, working for the little guy, a lot of this is a new generation coming to power. that's what started in my

campaign. i wasn't successful. all of the tech people that started all this. went on to work for president obama, two of the best campaigns run in the history of the country. a lot of the people, i was at -- bill deblasio's private inauguration, a lot of the kids. not kids any more. worked mine -- worked in my campaign. not about me. newt generation. the new generation is coming to maturity. >> david axelrod having been a very big part of one of the greatest scam pains in history in 2008, you are familiar with the dlc wing, that says the way for democrats to win is to go far to the center to stay away from core liberal issues, this new, to governor dean's point, ascendant, unabashedly liberal wing, do you think the centrist wing, dlc wing has a chance of having a party, or do they need to get with the program and move to the left?

>> well, look, i think rather than looking backward, we ought to look at where we are and where we are going? the fact is that for decade now, we have seen economic changes in this country that have marginalized large numbers of people we have seen stagnant wages. we have got the highest poverty rate, since, since the late 60s. and, a lot of it has the to do with changes in the economy that necessitate a strategy for, for empowering people to go out and find opportunities to make a living. i think what you seep is the emergence of people that recognize the challenge. bill deblasio's challenge was to provide universal preschool for children, after school programs. as the you said yesterday, that will give them, a greater advantage. in terms of, of, growing it to, to productive, successful, people. that's an important part of

this. i don't think the dlc folks should object to that. to give people opportunity. what the dlc is about. people need to seize the opportunity. >> you know, governor dean, you talk universal prek, something president obama talked about wanting to see on the national level. just as bill de blasio's agenda has to go through albany, legislative bran. in new york. on a national level you have a legislative branch. one half. house republicans are dead set against investments in the e skn -- economy. looking for cuts and deficit reduction. how resonant is a message like inequality, a message flattening the income divide on a national scale when you get outside of a city like new york obviously a more liberal city? >> when you look at. i agree with david. i don't use, dlc is long gone. there is a penchant. not an old generation, a new

generation. they do want fiscal responsibility. they talked about that yesterday. we do have to balance the books. one thing the young generation. more conservative than the old left wing of the democratic party. not about social issues. a fight we are well on our way to winning exempt for the rear guard action against women that the supreme court took the other day. but we are going to win that fight. but now we, we do have to be fiscally responsible as the we go forward. but we have got to make sure that the field isn't tilted towards those people at the top which it has been for the last 20 years. we haven't seen wages go up for the bottom 80% for 20 years in this country. that's what has the to change. >> david axelrod. what's interesting. a lot of messages sound a lot like barack obama before he was president. right? somebody who seemed or felt to be more of a progressive at his core, who obviously in trying to compromise with republicans in a lot of ways disappointed the

liberal base. you know, barack obama, abut as -- about as well as anybody. is the core of the person who sits in the white house more like a de blasio than he has been able to show as president of the united states? >> i think that, he is some one who cares deeply about the issues that i raised earlier. if you go back to -- through out his political career. activities and rhetoric. how do we create an economy. people who are poor can work their way up. middle-class is growing, thriving. the central theme of his political career. i would argue he has done within the context. a lot within his presidency to promote this. health care reform itself is part of that expanding pell grants is part of that. refundable tax credits. child care tax credit. all part of that -- certainly.

his push for minimum wage. early childhood. for prekindergarten. is part of that. so -- i don't think that, he, he, i don't think there is any hidden agenda there. he has been overt about it. now the question is, can, can he persuade the congress to go along. i think on some of the key issues, minimum wage being a prime one. he has a good chance to do that. >> minimum wage fight is brewing on capitol hill. but you hatch this extension of unemployment benefits. governor dean what do you seep as prospect of republicans giving on an issue. extension of unemployment benefits. a popular issue. a volt monday. do you anticipate a fight out of the republican party on the issue? >> a tremendous fight in the republican party. republicans are in the minority. they're in the minority even, even in the minority technically in the majority in the house. really they have a million and a half fewers votes than the democrats did.

so, they don't represent the majority of americans. in fact they represent an ever -- ever slinging -- minority of people in this country. they're not for the average person. they're not for increasing, benefits. they're not for, health care. the republican governors have denied health care to people, to 4 1/2 million people in their states. that could have gotten it for free. not a party that cares much about the little guy. i think they understand in the leadership that they have to start caring about ordinary americans to win elections again. i do think, that the president is going to make some progress on immigration reform and minimum wage. there is a hard right group of people that john boehner has to deal with that wants to stop that at all costs. and the coke brothers and others like that. >> last word, david axelrod, is there a chance because republicans are more sensitive to the issue an movement can be made, will the statement of the union result in any actual policy that can pass through the senate more importantly the

house? >> again, i think the minimum wage has, has a good chance. i think it is overwhelmingly supported by republicans and independents and difference between the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance is that you are not writing checks to people when you -- when you extend the minimum wage. i think that there is, good reason to have this emergency extended unemployment insurance given. what we have been through. and the, the, the -- the pain that people have gone through. in this recession. it is harder for republicans -- for issuing checks than for them to vote for minimum wage. a bigger battle over unemployment than there will be over minimum wage. may be skirmishing over the details of it. i would be surprised if the republicans fought a minimum wage increase. >> david axelrod, governor dean, thank you both. >> thank you. >> the political controversy

surrounding the lane closures on the george washington bridge is going. subpoenas, e-mails and report tonight documents show the bridge closure was ordered from outside the port authority. >> in a year with lots of wasted time in the senate, who wins the award for chattiest senator in 2014? the answer might surprise you. >> in the spotlight, powerful message from a mom and dad at their moment of greatest pain. when most of us were celebrating new year's, claire davis was laid to rest, the victim in last month's school shooting in colorado. her parents had a profound message to their daughter's killer and a message for all of us that you should hear. we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪ oh are we early?

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use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper, sufferin mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. so don't wait. attack the flu virus at its source. ask your doctor about tamiflu, prescription for flu. >> who do you think spent more time on the senate floor talking in 2013? rand paul, 12:52 extravaganza on drones that brought us readings from "alice in wonderland." >> hold your tongue said the queen, turning purple. i won't, said alice.

>> or ted cruz with his fake film buster that lasted 21 hours and 22 and this impression of darth vader. >> mike lee, i am your father. >> that was a trick question, it wasn't either of them. it had to be harry reid. majority leader spend a lot of time at the podium. definitely was hear reid, right? yeah, no, wrong again. as the the l.a. times put it. slow and steady wins the race. a c-span analysis found jeff sessions spent more time at the microphone than any of his colleagues top 33 hours. harry reid had 30 hours total. and up next, the latest in the sago over chris christie and what he may or may not have known about lane closures on the nation's busiest bridge. ♪ love...

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than 6 pacs of the bargain brand combined. cascade. beyond clean and shine. every time. >> you guys are obsessed with this. i'm not. i'm really not. it's just -- it's not that big of a deal. just because press runs around and writes about it both here and nationally. i know why that is. so do you. let's not pretend it is because of the gravity of the issue. it's because i am a national figure and anything like this will be written about. >> that was new jersey governor chris christie before the holidays. trying to downplay the george washington bridgegate. the mysterious lane closures to the nation's busiest bridge earlier this fall. now, order, they were ordered by the port authority officer and christie's high school buddy, david wilstein.

a local paper reported the state lawmaker investigating the controversy says the order to shut down two lanes of traffic to the bridge may have come from someone outside the port authority. democratic assemblyman told the bergen record, there are documents that we received that would indicate there was somebody else who initiated this. there were words used that would imply improper motive. it came from a higher authority. >> so, i want to start, with you, steve. the record asked him if he found any evidence that the orders about the bridge closures came from chris christie. this is what he said. he said i don't want to go that far. i'm not ready to dot that i and cross that t. i don't want to jump too many steps ahead of myself. i haven't ruled anybody in or out. it seems there is a lot of smoke around christie.

his sort of first big negative news item. a lot of love from the press before this. since there is no smoking gun. how big a political issue does this become. >> let me get disclosure out of the way. one of christie's two sort of guys at the port authority. just gave some of the history there. he was my employer once. he at the time was not in politics. anonymously owned web sites covering politics. gave me my first job in journalism. always grateful for that. i have not spoken to him since this started. putting that out there. the question if the dimensions expanned -- expand going forward. when heap testifies, the question is the other port authority appointee, if they can link chris christie, if they do think chris christie to this. if they can back that up. some way. them, somebody else that can link this to christie. what you have there is not, who knows what that is. see when he shows his cards.

something linking chris christie. knew about it. once he found out about it. let's clean it up this way. so far we haven't seen that. >> so far is there any evidence, hunter in the record. lots and lots of pages of documents that have come out. is there anything that gives us specifics what christie may have had to do with closures. >> the assemblyman told me he is sitting on he estimates $3,000 to $5,000 of documents. he is being coy about what is in the documents. he did say to me that, there is evidence, in e-mails from wilstein, the explanation of a traffic study christie and his appointees said justified closures was concocted after the fact. this stuff, coming outside the port authority. it being an unnamed higher power. very mysterious. do the documents back it up. seems like we won't see any until testifying next week.

>> a pr problem for christie. reinforces the bully image. image of him governing. does it become a problem if nothing criminal comes of it? >> yeah, if he is not. there is no way off to directly implicate him. nothing that ties him to this long term. don't think this is something in 2015, 2016. one thing there is sort of like a cultural aspect to this. i think this really is like an only in jersey scandal. the extent that, chris christie is trying to appeal to voters in states that are very different from new jersey. that are culturally different than new jersey. this kind of reinforces, this is, i have two guys here at the bridge. going to screw over, that's, i think it read like, maybe this small town people in iowa or south carolina or something. it might reinforce cultural impressions they don't like. >> cultural impressions, chris christie will run in a 2016 primary. cultural issue from the northeast. that image when you get down south. to south carolina. does this wind up playing into

an image problem for christie despite the fact that he right now is popular with the base? >> you know. before this, he was sort of fashioned as almost bipartisan, my little pony. his, you know, biggest moment was hugging obama. >> the hug. >> standing here election night. he talked about hugging the state of new jersey. he was mr. hugs. this is really the opposite of that. but i think, steve is right. sort of, this is kind of the limited scandal. one thing that is interesting though, you know this has brought out more stories of christie's, allies kind of taking revenge in other instances. if we look at double down. they talk how mitt romney during the vetting saw things that scared him abut chris christie. the question, is this just the first of any sort of frightening stories. >> also brings out the inner chris christie. you see him respond as in the clip. he is responding to the press. he is chris christie at his chris christiest. doesn't this provide the opportunity for him to display personality traits that may not

be so attractive. >> the thing with chris christie. some people it comes across as unappealing. needlessly defensive. and other people. the guy we like. defined in front of the press. and there are pesky questions, the all sort of things. chris christie like a rorschach test. people see what they're going to see. and the christie/romney thing. interesting, i have been watching this since end of august, 2012. there has been this battle behind the scenes from the christie people. romney people. to be like, no, no. us, romney people didn't want him. christie, no, it what the christie. didn't want him on the ticket. back and forth. each trying to pretend they were the one that didn't want to beep together. >> all chris christie wanted was a hug. >> didn't get it. >> thank you to both of you. >> thank you for having me. >> coming up, the affordable care act is finally offering coverage to the previously uninsured. ezra klein is here to help us sort out the numbers and understand why republicans will have to accept the law likely here to stay. and the owner of home depot, is

taking on pope francis. >> the parents of the victim of a school shooting in colorado gather the strength to address their daughter's killer and deliver a message to us all. the powerful eulogy is up next. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills.

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>> while many of us were celebrating the new year, yesterday they were saying good-bye to their daughter. claire davis shot by a fellow student in colorado on december 13th. she died a week later. the gunman arrived at the school, heavily armed, looking for the school's debate coach. authorities believe claire davis was a random victim. yesterday, claire's family held a memorial. her father asked people to honor his daughter's memory. then he said something so surprising many thought it may be hard to believe. he started by saying this about his daughter. >> claire was full of life and love. she had a wonderful sense of humor and she loved to laugh. she laughed with her entire being and she made other people laugh freely and without

reserve. she was child like, but not childish. she had learned that to love is to live. she learned to love others and to respect others, to not judge, to accept herself and to accept other people's differences. she had learned that to receive she had to give. she had learned what it meant to be a friend and to have friends. she was learning to follow her bliss. she was becoming a woman of grace and inner beauty. the world was a better place with her in it. and the world has truly lost a shining light by her passing.

>> now what michael davis said next made headlines around the country. he talked about forgiveness. many have been reluctant to use the gunman's name. but michael davis said this. >> the young man that shot claire had a name. his name was carl pearson. for reasons most of us or all of us will never know, carl allowed himself to become filled it anger and rage and hatred. that anger, rage, and hatred blinded him. he blindly followed a path that led him to do something that no one should ever do. he took an innocent person's life. he took our daughter's life. claire's last words are poignant and profound. she said, "oh, my gosh, carl, what are you doing?"

the fact that carl was so blinded by his emotions that he dent know what he was doing. in her most innocent and precious way, claire tried to shine a light on carl's darkness. my wife and i forgive carl pearson for what he did. because he didn't know what he was doing. we would ask all of you here and all of you watching to search your hearts and also forgive carl pearson. he didn't know what he was doing. carl's no longer with us. so it is no longer our

responsibility to pass judgment. as each of us will do one day, carl has faced the infinite alone. unchecked anger and rage can lead to hatred, unchecked hatred can lead to blindness, loss of knowing, a loss of humanity. the last thing that desiree and i would want is to perpetuate this anger, rage, hatred in connection with claire. claire would also not want this. as citizens of our community, the state of colorado, our nation, and the world, we must strive for kindness, compassion, peace, and love to maintain our humanity. we can't allow anger, rage, or hatred to take root now or ever. and as we all move forward with

our lives, we would like to ask you to join us and honor claire by forever showing compassion and forgiveness and using whatever is within your power to reach out to those around you that might need the light of your love, to help guide them through the darkness. we can all realize claire's last word in our own lives by asking ourselves, in those times when we are less than loving, gosh, what am i doing? it would honor us deeply if you would consider this. death has an attitude that all is lost, yet the truth is otherwise.

desiree and i are working to make this experience serve us by keeping love alive and vital in our lives. the essence of true forgiveness is to repeatedly to choose love consciously. and to make love more important than hate, despair, or fear. by expressing love, compassion, and forgiveness, in our daily lives we will honor claire. and keep our hearts focused there. perhaps as a community, we can consciously choose to raise the bar of our individual standards and create a positive and empowering meaning to this and all of our experiences. this is our heartfelt commitment. ♪

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and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ >> what does the pope owe the rich? now that might seem like an odd question given that the traditional religious formulation is to ask what the people owe to god and then to allow religious leaders like the pope, leader of the world's 1.2 billion catholics to sort out god's claims on us. the current pope has take in up the mantle in a really amazing way. pope francis has washed the feet of prisoners including a muslim woman, refused silk slippers and guilded apartments and given his own car. he has talked about being less judgemental of people who are gay. stories of francis sneaking out of vatican city to minister to the homeless and gifts of international phone card to 2,000 immigrants in a shelter in rome so they could reconnect with their namelies for the holidays have made him a rock star.

more than 6.6 million people have attended events with this pope at the vatican since his election in march. all most three times the number who came to hear pope benedict in all 2012. what pope francis has done most of all its refocus the church's emphasis towards caring for the poor and addressing growing inquality. and the pontiff has backup. for the poor will never cease from the land, therefore i command you, saying, you shall open your hand wide to your brother. to your poor. and your needy in your land. first john, 3:17. but who ever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him. how does the love of god abide in him. not clear whether the bible speaks specifically as to whether giving to the poor depend on how much love the giver receives in return from the church. but don't tell that to billionaire, ken langone, who

expressed, critiques will turn off rich donors. langone helped to raise $180 million to restore st. patrick's cathedral. told colleagues one potential seven figure donor we talked to was in danger of walking away, offended by the pope's criticism at a culture of prosperity. he suggested all the papal talk about unfairness and inequality could leave rich folks incapable of feeling compassion for the poor. langone said he raised the issue with cardinal dolan, telling him you want to be careful about generalities. rich people in one country don't act the same as rich people in another country. here's how cardinal dolan responded. >> well, that would be a misunderstanding of the holy father's message. the pope loves poor people. he also loves rich people. so i said, ken, thank you for bringing it to my attention.

we have got to correct to make sure this gentleman, who is, the only one i have heard, understands the holy father's message properly and then i think he is going to say, okay, if that is the case, count me in for st. patrick's cathedral. >> we are talking about charitable giving which is by its nature supposed to not be reciprocal. does the head of the catholic church owe a donor something in return for their generosity or even to get them to feel compassion? that's some pretty thinly felt compassion. and isn't god's love for everybody kind of built into the whole thing without the need for a special shout out to the plutocrats, the rich in the country are different. since the 70s, the top 1% in the u.s. have doubled their share of the income from 10% to 20%. that's the single largest gain of all of the developed countries. of course, many of the rich are undoubtedly incredibly generous.

giving millions to charity. but according to the 2013 world giving index, america isn't ahead by that much. a lot of our giving isn't million dollar checks. ordinary people, giving off to a stranger volunteering or church, synagogue, mosque. most people don't expect the high five from god's vigor on earth in exchange. should pope francis scrap the verse, being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for rich man to enter the kingdom of god. some of the rich in the country have expressed a level of entitlement. wall street bankers whining the president calls them fat cats. but the idea that the pope needs to show rich people the love, or they'll refuse to follow the biblical injunction that supposedly the basis of their faith has got to be the most ironic sense of entitlement ever. we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪

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yesterday the state became the first in the nation to allow legal purchase of marijuana for

recreational use. at least 24 shops in eight towns, opened up for shoppers at 8:00 a.m. the colorado department of agriculture has adopted that state's first rules for hemp production. producers can begin registering on march 1st. up next, with affordable care officially up and running have republicans lost all hope of repealing it. i'll talk about that with ezra klein. [ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. hmm? [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. thanks for the tip. [ male announcer ] no problem. oh...and hair products. aisle 9. [ inhales deeply ] oh what a relief it is. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place at 315 chestnut street. the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia

and the dusty basement at 1406 35th street. it is the story of the old dining room table at 25th and hoffman avenue. the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ...and the second floor above the strip mall at roble and el camino. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. ♪ so different and so new where those with endless vision and an equal amount of audaciousness believed they had the power to do more. time and time again. ♪ and then, it happened at dell, we're honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. stories that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- # 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪

nearly four years after president obama signed it into law, the affordable care act is finally here. americans can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. there are no more annual or lifetime limits to benefits you can receive. and all health insurance plans must meet minium standards. in other words, no more junk policies. according to the white house, so far more than 9 million americans now have health insurance because of the aca. with 6 million people signing up through the exchanges or becoming eligible through medicaid expansion and 3 million young adults now getting coverage through their parents' plans. but despite the numbers, republicans continue their fight against the aca. house majority leader eric cantor in a letter to the republican caucus there will be more votes on affordable care act in 2014 with the first next week. this all comes as supreme court justice made a last minute decision to grant nuns temporary exemption from the mandatory contraceptive coverage provision.

joining us, ezra klein, msnbc policy analyst. ezar, the administration is really touting that beg number. the 9 million. what we don't know is the mix. demographic mix. what is the threshold of young healthier invincibles that need how to be on exchanges or into the aca for it to be a success. >> back in may, june, talking to the administration what they saw as success? year one. they stead 40%. they said whatever level they had. they didn't care whether they had 5 million or 7 million or 15 million people in the exchanges in year one. what they cared about was how many of them were young and healthy. they needed 40%. now it is also the case that, the affordable care act has a couple of different policies built in to protect it from not getting enough young people in for the first couple years. one policy, a big one, called risk corridors. if insurers don't get the kind of young person signup they were expecting, the federal

government will in the first couple years of the law cover the extra cost. keep premiums lower than possible if they don't get enough young people. if they don't get enough young people. year one, two, three. over time you get into a problem. premiums go up. and as such. near one they need 40%. if they don't have it they have some that can blunt the impact. over the first couple years. policies run out. they do need to get to the 40% >> ezra, you have written about disincentive and incentives for young people to soon up? in a nutshell what are they? >> the disincentive is cost. insurance is expensive. often times folks need it in a year, month. week, they don't think they will. similarly people might end up thinking, you know what i am

going to do it later. they forget and forege disincentive not that they don't want it. young people want insurance as much as anyone else. disincentive, not being able to afford it. in addition to subsidies we have had very, very low health care cost growth the last couple of years. still the case, america's cost growth, spending on health care is twice as high as it is in other developed nations. we have incredibly insanely atrociously expensive health care system. reasonable for people to seep costs. there are subsidies to help people get in. a good deal for a lot of them. there is the individual mandate after the first three years will mean you pay about 2.5% of your income if you've don't sign up for insurance not getting anything. if you make $50,000 and paying more than $1,000 to the individual mandate and can't go see a doctor for a reasonable rate you might decide it is a better deal to get insurance and pay a little more for something worth having.

>> speaking of paying for something you aren't getting at all, taxes for the country, for 25 states. people cannot get expanded medicate even with the 100% match from the federal government. i am wondering how that skews the cost to the country at large, of health care under the affordable care act? >> that's just a horror show, the fact that all of the people are not going to be able to getten insurance they would be entitled to. doesn't skew the costs we are talking about too much. one thing, couple things. each state will have a risk pool. the risk pool everybody is worried about. not the medicaid. the government due to the way it negotiates medicaid payment. drives the price real low, probably too low. for folks. insuring people on medicaid is a whole lot cheaper than insuring them on private insurance. the reason people end up getting insured on medicaid tend to be in income. doesn't collect by health, sickness. you are really dealing there

with income. people get locked out. kind of the same. they're a demographic mix. what we are worried about the risk pool, so-called insurance exchanges or market places which is where people are buying private health care insurance. buying it not because they're get a full ride from the government as medicaid is. they're getting enough subsidies, little built more they have to pay is worth it or the individual mandate is forcing them in. the group where you could see people choose not to pay for something they feel is too expensive. if that happens you would get this sort of adverse selection, spiral, get to see higher premiums. medicaid i would say, a humanitarian disaster. not actually policy disaster. for at fordable care act. >> speaking of policy disasters. republicans are still talking about the idea of voting to repeal affordable care act, do you foresee as a political matter, republicans actually willingly choose to do another big fight in the senate, finance, senate finance committee and go through all of this again to put forward their own probably going to be unpopular health care plan. does that make sense? >> ridiculous. i think something important

about politics here as of january 1, the politics changed utterly. everything the republicans have done is blaming affordable care act for taking away things people have. taking away insurance. obama said it wouldn't. taking away your choice of doctor. more complicated. it isn't taking away like death panels. what is the aca taking. had political traction, finding places real, or arguably real where that is happening. this is going to be a transition. you have 6 million. soon you will have many more. getting insurance through obamacare. every repeal vote. every time, republicans attempt to, to repeal or, dramatically overhaul the affordable care act they will be threatening to take insurance away from upwards of 6 million people. that will get higher real quick. by the time republicans get potentially the white house.

could do anything about it. it would be 2017. talking tens of millions of people. they become the folks taking something tremendous and dramatic and valuable away from folks. they're not going to want to get into the buzz saw. >> ezra klein gets tonight's last word. thank you for watching. follow me on twitter, at the reid report. and check out the work we do. is the country about to make a left hand turn? let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm michael smerconish in for chris matthews. starting off tonight, the wind isn't just blowing to the left. it's gusting. practically overnight elizabeth warren gained folk hero status thanks to an anti-wall street message. and her allies showed political muscle this summer by taking on the white house and winning. the issue, president obama's top