you know, they did a focus group the other night, asking people who would they most like to hang out with on vacation. the clintons won overwhelmingly. obamas came in second, then palins, then mccains. the clintons are doing pretty well with her as secretary of state. the people seem to have warmed up more than before, even. >> i found that fascinating. that's a hard choice, if you could, between the obamas and clintons for dinner. i think that the comeback is pretty interesting in her story, in the true -- in this clash -- >> apparently they're looking

more to hang out with him than her. >> america's first fun couple. >> one said he's a party guy. >> it's more of a party, also you might be able to eat more and not have to worry about healthy eat iing. >> they're not in the firing zone anymore, not taking the heat, doing the heavy lifting, barack obama is doing the terrible heavy lifting on the economy, health care, et cetera, on the west bank, he's taking the heat and it's showing. >> and maybe more of a party. you have both of them who are still known -- mrs. obama is very careful in guarding her image, and i say this seriously, she would be a terrific dinner partner. i would -- anyone should be happen to have dinner with her, gu not as well known. >> new fine couple. thank you, roger and lynn.

you get a year off in this business and you're popular again. join us again tomorrow. right now it's time for "the ed show" with ed shultz. i'm ed schultz, this is the ed show. live from 30 rock in new york, it's "the ed show" on msnbc. tonight president obama is showing america how to do conflict resolution. right now he's defusing the tensions between the cambridge cop and harvard professor at the white house over a couple cool ones, but get this. the cop shows up with his union rep and his attorney. come on, and we're hearing he's going to hold a press conference at 7:30. how disingenuous.

i'm down on this cop's program. that was wrong. moving forward, we have airhead america on the way. sarah "barracuda" palin may be hitting the air waves. sources say she's been testing the water. i've got an offer for you, former governor palin, you might not want to refuse. it's coming up tonight on "the ed show." and democrats have struck a deal on health care. folks, barney frank, and jay rockefeller going to be joining me in just a moment. get your cell phones ready. our text survey is coming up, but first tonight's op-ed. progressive democrats, oh, gosh, you knew it had to happen. they are finally getting after it, and it's about time. nancy pelosi is on the offensive tonight again the insurance industry -- immoral.

she's go backup this time. she's got backup. progressive democrats who want a public option are digging in with the blue dogs that was taking place last night. folks, it is orchestrated to fail. insurance companies just pass the cost on to consumers, that's you and me. the whole reason we need a public option is to keep the cost down. progressives, they're putting their foot down. finally they're rallies the members to vote against the blue dog compromise. this is the first time they can say with confident that the democrats seem to be willing to draw a line in the sand. so how fierce is this fight? joining me tonight right here is congressman barney frank

congressman good to have you here tonight. >> thank you. >> what's the beef, what is causing the ruckus can your side of the caucus? >> in my case, i don't recall it as a betrayal. look there are conservative democrats closer to us than the republicans on some issues, but differences on orders. the deal that was made today, three committees have voted on this. they came out with bills that we on the liberal side support. no with you is bound to it, include the blue dogs. what we have is kind of a philosophical disagreement, though i have to say it's an odd one.

if you accepted their views, we wouldn't have medicare, so there's a disconnect in people's minds. what people tell me, i respond that in my experience as a member of congress, the single most popular form of medical care that's administered is the department of veterans affairs, which is wholly government. the bottom line here is that -- is of the caucus willing to draw that line in the sand and say, look, you conservative democrat it is, you blue dogs, you've got too far, and congressman, do you think your side has given in too much? >> no, on what? i'm going to put a big through that has the most severe restrictions we've seen in a long time. i think we put through some other important things.

we did lose out in the senate to three republicans who reduced the economic package by $25 billion, but that was because of that silly filibuster rule, but we are definitely -- i don't think they would be able to get the bill that came out of energy and commerce through the house. could you ever embrace that? >> no, i'm for single payer, as i think medicare as shown is the best system. when the conservatives say the public option may lead to a totally pb plan, they're conceding our point, which is that people find a better level of care there. i don't think that the plan that passed energy and commerce -- and i understand what they needed to do, would not pass the

house. >> congressman franks, thanks for your time tonight. the hero so far for liberals in this country has been house speaker nancy pelosi. today she really went after the insurance industry. speaker pelosi said that they are acting in an immoral way and they are sticking it to the american people, and we are not a healthier country because of way they have been treating consumers. she made the comments late this afternoon. i'll tell you what, she's taken a lot of flack from a lot of people. this is why the republicans want her out. she's a great leader and i'm putting my money on nancy pelosi. for more, let's go to jerry nadler is also a member of the progressive caucus, and he joins us tonight. let's go to him if we can wake up a bit. all right, congressman nadler,

great to have you with us on the program tonight, if we can get a few things straightened out here. good to have you on. >> good to be here. >> you're called this compromise unacceptable. why? >> basically it does a couple things, it severely limits the usefulness of the public option. it says we cannot reimburse the rates, instead, the rates will be much higher than they should by and could be. which in terms means the cost to the people who subscribe to the public option will be much higher and much less effect on, as the president puts it, keeping the private insurance companies honest. one of the major points of the public option is by being there,

putting downward pressure on hurricane company rates, because we cannot use medicare snow it's the liberal wing in the house that is going to be slowing thing down, sore is that a wrong assessment on this? >> i don't know if it's a question of slowing things down. we're upset with the version of the bill that's now under discussion, in which to which -- to what i said a moment ago, by not saves as much money on the -- by not permitting the public option to save as much money, the bill will cost more, and the blue dogs, in order to offset those extra costs are saying, okay we'll do two things. we'll reduce the subsidies and increase the premiums that moderate and middle income people pay, and secondly we will impose an unfunded mandate on

the state government. i think those are not great idea. when rahm emanuel was in the congress and during the run-up to the selection, he went out and recruited the democrats to run, because he wanted the majority. now he says you can vote however you want on this thing, isn't this shortchanging liberals that worked hard for president obama? why is it that democrats aren't willing to put it to the floorboard? first of all i think it's not clear what the administration is doing yet. they are three bills. and one may come out of the energy and commerce that leads something to be desired. those will have to be put together. a good test of the leadership in

the house and administration will be what does the final bill that we bring to the floor of the house look like? does it look more like the robust public options in the ways and means, or does it look like the weak public option that i fear will come out of the congress committee? >> congressman nadler, thanks so much. >> you're quite welcome. max bachus is working on his own compromise with republicans. roar, think killed the public option all together in that committee. they signed onto a co-op plan which i've said all along is an absolute joke. there's no successful model out there to support the basis of them signing onto a co-op. maybe i'm wrong, i don't think i am. joining me now is senator jay rockefeller, a member of the senate financial committee and supporter of a public option. senator, great to have you on.

would you sign onto a co-op? or is that unacceptable? >> it's unacceptable, and i can almost prove it. we've been in touch with the folks that represent all the co-ops in the country on all subjects, and they point out that there are probably less than 20 health co-ops in the country. one in puget sound and one in minnesota, that except for those two, they're all unlicensed, all present health co-ops are unlicensed, they're unregulated, nobody knows anything about them, nobody has any control over them. and no government organization or private organization has ever done a study on what effect they might have in terms of bringing

down insurance prices. >> so they're talking about, if i have this correctly, $6 billion in start-up money. >> that all to tell you something. look, health insurance is complex, has a long history. there's billions involved. these little tiny biggs will be starting up in states where there have never been any before. there aren't any south, they're only in the upper midwest and the northwest. they're not a good idea. they're untested, they are unlicensed, they're unregulated, they're unstudied. why would we even think about putting them in as a control on this massive insurance insurance. >> so senator rock felter, you were at serious odds with max bulk ks and kent on this. >> i guess that would be the

case, yes. >> who's going to win this fight? is it going to come out with a co-op? we're going to end up on the floor and it will be a donny bro brook and -- >> i don't think so. you've had two committees with a public option, one senate committee, the education, labor and health. i have a feeling the tide is beginning to move against the co-op plan. which that means it's moving far the public option, i'm not sure. if it moves again the co-op, by definition it's got to be having an effect. so maybe the finance becomes irrelevant, and -- >> and finally could this cost

max baucus his chairmanship? there's a lot of democrats that feel they've been unserved or underserved by his leadership, because nobody was talking about a co-op, and they're talking about changing the chairmanships every couple years. would you go along with that? >> i would, but not because of max back us. i think people ought to review me every couple years and decide whether to keep me on, but i would knock max. i think he's been wrong in his approach on this, but he's certainly sincere. he's work harder than anybody i've ever seen. i just don't want a co-op taking on the big insurance companies. i don't want that. >> senator rockefeller, i'm with you, i don't see this co-op doing anything at all. great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> if you're one of those people that can't get enough of sarah

palin, radio industry sources are saying she's shopping a deal to get heron syndicated radio show. hey, sarah, i have an offer for you. i'm going on assignment and we're looking for a fill-in, so i'm cutting you a break, because clearchannel has already said they don't think you can cut it.

is. sarah palin is looking for a radio gig. i thought i would offer her a big break. she can host my show next week. i want to know what do you think? should she accept the offer to fill in on my radio show? text qux a" for yes and "b" for no. coming up, a couple longtime professionals to see if caribou barbie has the chops. (music playing) well, this is new...

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welcome back to "the ed show. quest we're getting our first video of the beer summit at the white house. president obama, professor henry gates, and sergeant james crowley sat down at the, he's hoping a couple cool ones will -- now, some people think that this president's beer diplomacy is a bad idea. well, guess what? tonight the cop shows up with his union rep and an attorney. just thought we'd throw a few more folks in the party. we'll debate it at the bottom of the hour with social critics

reverend marsha dyson and our panel on "the ed show." an attempt by president obama to cool everything down. all right. sarah palin has said what her plans are now that she's not running alaska anymore, but rumors are surfacing she's trying to get a new gig. clearchannel has already refused to syndicate sarah palin on the radio. they don't think she can carry a three-hour radio show. sarah, i have a proposition here. i'm going to be off the air next week, i'm going fishing north of the border, why don't you host my radio show? you know, test the waters, see if can you make it on a three-hour radio show. i think you can, one day. let me bring in some experts to weigh on this. radio talk show host lionel, and also stephanie miller, who is known in the industry as naming

sarah palin as caribou barbie. now, stephanie, you know, she could get it done for one day, couldn't she? but the question is could she get it done for one week? two weeks is it a month? what do you think? >> i can't think of a more soothing voice to listen to for about three hours. i think she should take your offer. i think you could cut a hole in the ice for ice fishing. where you fish up in minnesota, north dakota, i think that could come in handy, is all i'm thinking. >> lionel, where are we on this? >> well, we're here, ed, but more importantly i can't believe the disdain you have for your legions of fans. that's like a pilot say, i'm going to take off, you in aisle 3, come up and fly the plane? you see the you betcha, you know where that comes from? shooting caribou for years. it stuck. i would love to see her try the first 20 minutes.

she would have to have call screening that would making getting a tarpload like a walk in the park. people like me would call up and destroy her. without the blinking and the "you betcha" she's nothing. >> stephanie, would it be a good business model to take sarah palin on the road, doing a nationally syndicated radio talk show, and she sells out the place, gets a lot of people, she raises a lot of money, i mean, there's stations out there, you know, that might raise their visibility if they were to put her on. wouldn't there be a business opportunity here with her visibility? >> you know, ed, i think lionel is right. a, wimping is kind of lost on the radio. b, if you look at the difference between her indicatie couric interview and speech at the convention, she's fine when you write it for her. you can't get it written for you in radio. if she's got to talk -- look at the indicatie couric interview, you have to hear three hours of

that? plus that voice, ed, seriously, garage doors flying up, dogs screaming, it's really -- >> her show, ed would be similar to the famous tony schwartz daisy commercial. everybody was on one time, that's it, pull it. irwin cory i guess is busy, but wouldn't everybody america be glued in for the first 20 seconds, before somebody came out and said, all right, that's enough. to be turned down by clearchannel, bless your heart. glenn beck, no problem. sarah, you don't cut it. >> ed, i have one other concern. this is fine and good, but while she's gallivanting around, who's protecting us from the giant floating putin-head from russia? >> i tried to do some economic development, tried to promote sarah palin, help her launch the radio career, i just can't get any support from stephanie and

lionel. we tried. up next on "the ed show" it's scobey talk. republican senator jon kyl thinks or insurance industry doesn't need to be kept honest. that's like saying you trust dick cheney in a duck blind. you don't want to miss this one. it's "psychotalk."

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republican. i want to talk about all the gop attacks on a government option for health care. now, we cannot let them gain any ground anymore with the american public twisting these polls. the latest spin comes from senator kyl. he claims we don't need a government option, because the health insurance industry is already regulated enough. >> the health insurance industry is one of the most regulated industries in america. every state regulates health care. they don't need to be kept honest by a competitor from the government. >> insurance companies don't need to be kept honest. let's take a look at how these guys have been doing on their own. earlier this year, new york attorney general and the american medical association accused unitedhealth of underpaying doctors and

hospitals. united health ended up settling i think it was $400 million. a payoff like that doesn't exactly scream "we're innocent!" now that case prompted the commerce commit aye to investigate insurance companies all over the country. a report was released showing that the health insurers have underpaid millions of valid insurance claims nationwide, cheating patients and doctors out of care and payment. now, talk about getting between you and your doctor, senator, now, that doesn't sound to me like an industry that's just doing fine on its own. that sounds like an industry that needs some serious transparency and regulation, so senator, kyl, you know, the greedy, corrupt insurance industry doesn't need to be kept honest, that's serious, hot, arizona psychotalk. also, coming up, it's happy hour at the white house. president obama is having a bud,

professor gates is tipping back a red stripe, and the cop is sipping a blue moon. the president, a cop and a professor, try making that stuff up. we'll let you know how it's going, coming up. i'm willing to give sarah palin a shot. she can fill in next week. i want to know what you think. should sarah palin take me up on my offer to fill in? text "a" for yes, "b" for no. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. (announcer) sleep is your body's strongest ally. it can lift your mood, help rebuild muscle... and improve your concentration. tylenol pm works with your body to ease the aches and pains that keep you awake, and helps you fall asleep in a non-habit forming way. because the better you sleep, the better you fe.

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this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day, and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. it is not a summit, it's an attempt to have some personal

interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect. welcome back to "the ed show." that was professor obama having professor gates and sergeant crowley over to the white house. we got our first video of the event a few minutes ago. you can see vice president joe biden is there as well. i think this whole thing has been a real lesson for the president. i think he's been surprised at the firestorm he created when he weighed in on this whole thing over a week ago, the gates arrest. it's a classic example of how just a choice of words can turn into a long, drawn-out story. for more, let's bring in reverend marsha dyson a social

critic and commentator. good to have you on tonight. is anything going to be accomplished by have been a beer in the rose garden with the parties that be? >> well, ed, thank you for having me on this evening. while they're having a happy hour, the sad state of affairs is something is brews in the melting pot of america. i think he was talking about a relationship to our foreign community, but i think right now we need to look at what is happening in america. we used to say when we were kids, sticks and stones will hurt our bones, but they will never hurt. but they do hurt. they're not hurting the conversation, we need to be building a curriculum that's sustainable. so, reverend, are you saying that the president may have gone too far by bringing everybody together at the white house? >> no, i think it's a great thing for him to do, maybe something we should all do, but

it's distracting from the larger picture in which every american needs to participate. there's racism in the whole conversation basically around environment, around the health care reform, around the economy, i mean, sitting in the city of chicago, where you have 30% foreclosures, i'm sitting in chicago where there's an increase in black on black crime. we also have to talk about equal and matches funding for agents for minority kids not to become victims of police. >> reverend dyson, i don't think anyone will argue with any of that, but let's face it, we have got a race issue in this country and now the president has given it more conversation by bringing these folks in. what makes it worse, i think, tonight the cop shows up with his union rep and a lawyer. i mean, what kind of signal does that send to anybody? i mean, is this a legal meeting? or is this, hey, let's just end this thing and let's get along and straighten out this misunderstanding? how are we supposed to take

that. >> we have to get along, ed. if he brought his legal representation as a union person, there's probably side conversations, you know, i guess you would call it barside communications, but for the general public, i think we need a curriculum. we may not be able to eradicate -- we need to have a curriculum of peace and tolerance and understanding in our schools, which are also, by the way, sometimes considered racist. take it from a teach moment to a happy hour moment to the sad reality, so maybe our children can do this kind of thing. >> so the teaching moment is here, don't be afraid to talk about it, and the conflict resolution is meet. right? >> hey, you know, you cannot talk about it, and like people in the church want to talk about aids, but it's rampant. we can talk about a whole lot of things that render that lbj was

an unlikely candidate to talk about race, but he was forced by incidence. i don't know if the poster boys for this particular incident were the right ones, but let's go -- better yet. it's a spiritual problem, let's make it about recognizing you don't have to like me, but respect me, and right now we have to deal with white men, black men, poor, latinos, poor, black people, poor asian-americans who are dealing with economy, and even those conversations of race could talk about whether or not we have it or not, especially when you have some senators talking in texas talking about se seeding from the union because they don't like something happening in our nation. we need this a stable moment by having a curriculum of educational all in the aspects we're different. >> thank you, reverend marsha dyson. carlos watson is a political analyst and msnbc anchor, also

the founder and publisher of thestimulus.com. and frank donatelli is the chairman of go-pac. frank you did the president do the right thing? what do you think? >> he talked about all the publicity that this has engendered. but what he didn't say is the president that caused all the publicity to occur. he should have stopped when he said, i don't know the facts. he clearly misspoke when he said the police acted stupidly. i would have thought for him, the best course would have been to simply say, call up the officer, say, you know what? i misspoke, i'm sorry, let's move on, and i think that would have been the end of t i'm just not quite sure what the beer summit accomplishes. >> i'm not sure, either, but it adds another round to the story, that's for sure, because now the police officer is holding a press conference tonight at

7:30, i guess a debriefing for the media. carlos, i do believe this, that the lady that called 911, we would have never known who she was if the president had just said at the press conference, i don't have enough detail, don't have enough knowledge to make a comment. >> i'm going to disagree with frank, all due respect, i think the president is a moral teacher in part. the president has a lot of roles. do i disagree with the word "stupidly"? i do. >> didn't the girl that called 911, did she deserve to go through all of this? she's had death threats, media attention -- >> i don't tie that to the president. >> i do, because -- >> why do you tie that to the president? >> if the president hadn't said anything about the -- >> this was already an issue. >> no, no, it was starting to die down a bit. >> no, look, the president stoked the fire some, no two ways about it. it was already a big issue, though, and people were talking

about it, the woman was already getting called. let me say one more thing. i think the beer summit is a smart thing, why? because it did tamp down things. >> it makes him look like a regular guy and is trying to ease the tensions here. it's a fably thing to do. they're on such a big platform right now, and i think it shows americans, hey, look if you ever have a confrontation in the neighborhood, heck, even the president did this, in a sense there's leadership. stephanie, who gets the victory out of this? >> i don't know, ed, but i was told there would be beer here on the show for us to even talk about this. so i'm right away disappointed. let me offer the female perspective here, ed. if you've ever been in a bar, i don't think men having more beer tends to solve anything. i think that's stupider and stupider things get said in my experience, and i think having joe biden there, not a good idea. then you know something stupid will be said. he's probably already called professor gates clean and

articulate. it will only get worse from here. >> let me say this, there are important racial issues, you see there's some frustration, and here's the president first of all is going to take care of health care and other pressing issues, but he's going to have an opportunity to circle back next year, when cooler heads prevail and say we know there's still real issues. you heard reverend dyson lay them out well, and i think there's an opportunity here. >> frank, what are the attorneys and union representatives showing up for? the president just wanted a couple cool ones and ease the tension. isn't that somewhat overboard? what do you think? >> can i just ask if beer is available? i'll have an orange city. i'll put my request in. >> at 7:01, i've been known to tip a few. hefeweisen. >> can't you appreciate that the president said on television a

police officer acted stupidly? he gets these threats, innuendos, and things like that. is it an overreach to have your union rep? maybe it is, but again i just repeat, what would have been so wrong with the president just calling him up and saying, you know, i misspoke, i'm sorry. that would have been the end of it. >> i think we have an -- >> it might have -- >> go ahead, stephanie. >> it might have been a poor choice of words, but i think the president was right. he didn't call him stupid. let me offer the female perspective. i don't even know if this was a black and white thing. i think it was a guy thing, who's bigger fight? and it got out of control, but he should have just said, i'm sorry there's been a misunderstanding, good night, sir. he gnt have to arrest the guy. >> i think here's the learning moment. thises what i take out of all of this. there's an error in judgment on the part of the owner of the house, who's an intelligent man, a professor at harvard.

there is arch error in judgment on a trained professional law enforcement officer, and there's error in judgment by the president of the united states for elevating it. so we all ought to feel good about this tonight that, you know what? we're human and we can all make mistakes, and it's great for talk television. folks, thanks for joining us here on this panel. we're coming right back with more stuff tonight. look, let's switch the subject on this. i'm not going to let shooter start lying to congress, okay? washington better not let it happen, either. a senior member of the house intelligence committee will give us the latest on the house investigation. that's next in my "playbook." stay with us you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc.

i think we just scratched the surface of what bush and cheney were up to when it comes to covert cia activity. the house intelligence committee's investigating and rush holtz has a great idea on

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in my "playbook" tonight remember senator frank church, democrat from idaho, led a sweeping investigation into the abuses of the cia during the nixon era. the committee uncovered all kinds of stuff. secret plans to assassinate foreign dictators, i can only imagine what we would find looking into the bush/cheney administration. joining muss is congressman russ holt. he's called for an investigative panel, and a lot of americans are asking, when is this going to happen? congressman, thanks for joining us tonight. >> good to be with us tonight. i'm pleased to be with you when you're discussing "brew-gate." >> which is all the action going to start?

when will we start getting news? several weeks ago we heard they're collecting files. where are we tonight? >> there's been document requests, preliminary steps to have an investigation. so far it's limited in scope, and i'm calling for something quite a bit bigger, because the questions that have not been examined now for more than three decades, about how we conduct intelligence, get at the heart of really what it is to be america, what is the relationship between the citizen and the government, and i think we need something on the scale of what was known as the church committee back in the 1970s. >> so this would be a lot broader than just finding out whether chen yes withheld information from the congress in this last run with the administration, and if there were other things. is that correct? >> sure. the whole reason there is this discussion about what's been withheld and whether congress was informed has to do with whether congress can do the

oversight that we're obligated to do on behalf of the citizens. so it's not just one thing. >> congressman, how do we know that wouldn't weaken our operations that we desperately need with the cia? how do we know it wouldn't hurt more ral or our intelligence community by going too far? >> well, in fact, i don't care what your line of work is, if you're unexamined, you slip into bad habits, you don't do as good a job. you know, it is our responsibility to oversee. whether whose phones, e-mails, laptops are intercepted and who authorizes it? or whether we conduct remote assassinations or any assassinations. or whether we engage in disruptive activities in other countries maybe to bring down other governments covertly, whether that happens

occasionally or never or frequently or continually? >> do you have the support of the house intelligence committee chairman, sylvester reyes? do you have his support on this? >> his's certainly authorized and very supportive of the limited investigation so far. i'm busy talking about broader investigation and don't have congress behind this yet. congressman, good to have you with us tonight, russ holtz. >> great to be with you, ed. they have a new plan to take back power, they say, but they're going back to their old playbook. yeah, you guessed it, nancy pelosi is the bogeyman once again. madam speaker, you have them shaking in their boots. g b

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welcome back to "the ed show." believe it or not, the house republicans are feeling confident. pete sessions, head of the republican congressional committee is talking about flipping 40 seats and retaking the house in a little over a year from now? sessions thinks they have a good shot because, quote, there is an entirely different feel within the republican party. people view this as a full assault on the free enterprise system and the way of life we have in this country. joining me is the recruitment chair for the nrcc.

congressman, good to have you on tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> we just had an election nine months ago. what has changed that's got everybody so confident all of a sudden that the moment will be right in 2010? >> the biggest thing that's changed is the economy. you look at the job losses, the tripling of the debt, greater than the 43 administrations before us, so it doesn't mean republicans will win the majority. it means we have an opportunity. if you look at just a generic polls, republicans, even when they were in the majority, they were behind on the polls. it wasn't until march 15th that we pulled back ahead, so i think america is re-looking at this pelosi congress and these pelosi puppets on the direction they're going. >> so you need the stimulus package to fail for the republicans to catch fire? >> no, no. >> because if the stimulus package works, the president

will be able to say, hey, our stimulus plan worked, we're turning the economy around, the job numbers are different. there's a lot to be played out before 2010. >> a lot to be played out. republicans believe in a stimulus package, a different one, one that focused on small business. >> but that didn't pass. >> but the first thing we did when we came into congress, we invited this new president to our conference. you know what they said? it created twice as many jobs with half the money, and we handed it to the ade said this isn't crazy. the difficulty was speaker pelosi presented her own bit. it was democrats who joined with us and said no. >> so the plan is to hope the economy fails and promote your own plan, and then also it sounds like you've said it twice, pelosi's name, is she going to be the target? >> no. i don't want america to fail.