woodward. "countdown" is up next. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? hold everything. the junior senator from south carolina puts a personal block on all legislation, raising a personal middle finger to everybody. the president's ee phifan. january 27, 20 09. why has he been trying to get them to cooperate every sense? pelosi and hoyer? the governor's creed.

>> and frontier and industries are blatantly trying to manipulate the will of the people and the public good. >> arnold schwarzenegger in defense of the california climate change laws under attack by big oil. the latest secret sharon angle does not want you to know. >> i'm not going to have any more babies but i sure get to pay for it on my insurance. >> actually, you and i pay for shar shairn angle's babies. 45% of america's catholics don't know who started the protest. who better to ask than the star of the new series, the increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret. >> i am filled with energy. that's the great thing about -- >> watch out! >> i'm running around. >> it's david cross. all the news and commentary now

on "countdown." >> and scene. good evening from new york, 35 days before the midterm elections and two days before the likely recess of the senate, it is no longer one lawmaker giving the finger to the majority party, it is now that same lawmaker giving one finger to each party. our first story, jim de minted threatening to hold up noncontroversial supported legislation unless it is cleared first by him. and in so doing, giving us a glimpse of an even more obstructionist republican party, one fully under the command of its tea party extremist masters. the south carolina senator's warning and demand was sent to chiefs of staff of all 99 of his colleagues that he would place a hold on all legislation that had not been hotlined by the close of business today. hotlining is a routine practice. . in which noncontroversial legislation is expedited.

it's used by the leaders of both parties for legislation has virtually unanimous support. for example, as of this past august, 372 bills had passed the house, many of them unanimously according to think progress. but none of those bills have passed in the senate. the senate's hotlining alleviates some of the unnecessary backlog. but senator demint has other ideas, telling politico.com his staff has reviewed 40 to 50 bills both parties want to clear by unanimous consent before it adjourns this week. senator demint claims he's looking for bills that have price tags and are not paid for. a spokesman for harry reid responded "i wonder what minority leader mcconnell thinks about minority leader demint's declaration. one thing i know for sure if their conference continues to follow the lead from the junior senator from south carolina, then the only title that precedes his name will be minority leader." meantime, senate democrats picked their final battle and lost against a gop filibuster and a handful of defections from inside their own party.

the creating american jobs and end offshoring act. failed today. 53 senators supported, but that was still seven votes short of getting passed the now customary filibuster. the bill was designed to reward companies that move jobs to the united states and diminish a particularly ugly brand of outsourcing as described by senator share sherrod brown of ohio. >> they'll build factories in another country and sell the products back to the u.s. never have large number of businesses and industries done that, to my knowledge before and went from 1 million manufacturing jobs ten years ago, and then during the bush years it shrunk to 600,000 manufacturing jobs in this country. >> joining me now the executive director for democracy for america arshan hasab. >> good evening. >> good to see you in person. >> good evening, keith.

thank you. >> is this what it looks like? is senator demint busting a tea party on backs of both parties? >> the tea party's been working to take over the republican party. so it's clearly a maneuver that allows us to see what the tea party wants. and honestly, keith, it's not so different. jim deminted right here that he is the party of no. that the tea party, the republican party doesn't matter. he doesn't want anything passed. what this move effectively does is slows down all legislation in the senate. >> but any senator has the right to do this, including senator demint. why is this so extraordinary? and why have we not seen somebody do this before in these polarized times? >> they call it a senatorial courtesy. but what jim has done here, senator demint is anything but a courtesy. it's been an extraordinarily discourteous maneuver, a tactic for the american people. the reason this is different is that while we do this sometimes, our senators do this sometimes whether it's to pass -- whether it's to expedite legislation or occasionally make a fuss about well, i want this particular piece of pork in my district or i have an ideological problem with this. what this is a categorical blanket slowdown of all legislation in the senate.

>> is there a point to it other than to show he can do it? >> with the, senator demint revealed early on in the health care fight what his agenda is. he called the health care fight obama's waterloo. all he wants to do and all the tea party republican folks want to do is slow down any effective legislation. basically prove that democrats can't do anything. >> is that -- is this some sort of preview for after november 2nd? the democrats may retain the senate, but there will be republican candidates. nobody's predicting otherwise for that. that's not in doubt. assess this in terms of that. is it, in fact, some warm-up action? is this a preview of what life will look like under a smaller democratic majority or a republican majority in the senate? >> well, so here's the thing i would look for after november 2nd. i want to look for exactly who is winning these races. we're going to lose a few democratic seats, that's what everyone is saying. it is true we don't want to lose everything. but i'm going to look at people who are progressive. whether those progressives have won. i think there's still an

opportunity for progressives to make the agenda here. or if we don't have clear and contrasting, you know, democrats versus republicans really good elections, really good races, then we're essentially seating this to the republicans. >> the democrats are left to do what then? if a demint can just stand on his hind legs and say, all business stops because i say so under these circumstances, what is the answer, what is the answer in terms of even dropping left/right equation out of this? what is the answer in terms of government because of one guy? >> i think the answer is that democrats ought to draw a clear contrast. right now to the election as to what the republican agenda is, jim demint has done us a favor in this regard, and what democrats can do. take a look at people like russ feingold who have drawn a line in the sand as to what he stands for. jobs and economy that works for everyone. middle class tax cuts. when he indicated he was in a little bit of trouble, he was able through democracy for

america and a number of other progressive organizations was able to get $100,000 of contributions within 24 hours. there is enthusiasm on the democratic side. but what we need to do to make sure this happens is to draw a clear contrast between democrats, progressives, and the republican party with the tea party. >> they're one in the same. arshan hasan, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. there is this extraordinary "rolling stone" interview. january 27, 2009, only a week after his inauguration, the president was on his way to a meeting with republicans to present and gather ideas on the stimulus bill, quoting him, and on the way over the caucus, that is the republican caucus, essentially released a statement that said, we're going to vote no as a caucus and this is even before we'd had the conversation. at that point we realized we weren't going to get the kind of cooperation we anticipated. the strategy the republicans were going to pursue was one of sitting on the sidelines trying to gum up the works, based on

the assumption that given the scope and size of the recovery, the economy wouldn't be very good, even in 2010. as for the communication and offtime fund-raising arm of the gop, fox news, the president seemed to be under no illusion about its effect. it is part of the tradition that has a clear, undeniable point of view, a point of view that i disagree with, self-destructive for the long-term growth of a country. the president also said the tea party was a mixed bag of different strains in american politics including libertarian and social conservatives but he was clear that money interested underpinned much of the movement. quoting, this is no doubt the instra structure and financing from the tea party come from some very traditional very powerful interests, lobby. i don't think this that-s a secret. dim army and freedom works. forces that are against environmental laws and clean

energy policy as well as regulations to protect works and rein in industries. let's turn to columnist for columnists, david korn. >> i need to preface something i'm going to say about whether or not the president feels appreciated. let me quote mr. burton directly. what the president is doing is making sure that people know whether or not you're on the left or the right that we've done a lot, we've got a lot more to do. and if you're on the left, someone like keith olbermann or rachel maddow, someone who helps keep our government honest, then pushes and prods to make sure people are true to progressive values he thinks those folks provide an invaluable service. i want to thank mr. burton for his kind words and the president for his. and i want to sort of rise to this bar, i hope, by asking this. if on the eighth day of the administration, if the president knew the gop has been anti-everything, why has he been negotiating with them as if he could get a yes from them?

>> i think it's because the >> because the president doesn't watch zombie movies. and you can't negotiate with zombies, you can't trust zombies and you -- you know, he continued after that point. i read the "rolling stone" interview today, and that was a

striking acknowledgment on his part. after getting that big no from them on stimulus spending, he ran into it again and again on the energy front, on health care, on wall street reform, and each time he was, you know, he spent a lot of effort and a lot of political capital trying to work with the zombie party. and he kept hitting his head against the same wall. maybe if he'd come to that even more jobs bills, things that didn't happen, they can now be seen within the rubric of the certain political calculations, is it supposed to make it more palatable or bearable to those of us out here? >> i don't think the problem is that the president compromised. sometimes that is necessary down here in washington to get something through. i think the problem was the way he went about doing it. you can compromise and still win and define your own narrative. that's a very popular word here amongst pundits, narrative. by which the stimulus was a good example. we all know now that it probably should have been twice as big as it was. that probably wouldn't have passed through the senate with all our republican obstructionist pals there. so the president could've said at the time, listen, we need a bigger stimulus. i will take what they give me. but i tell you, it's not going to be good enough. and that way when unemployment,

you know, is at 9.6 rather than 7.6, he has an argument to be made, which is, i told you we needed to do more and the republicans prevented us from doing that. but instead at the time, de all the compromising, he won over three or four republicans, whatever the number was, and he said, this bill is great. and that put him in a jam because unemployment went up to 9.6 and he gave the republicans the opportunity to say, see, we spent all that money and unemployment still is high. so he lost the story part of this. and it sounds kind of trite and immature, but if you're going to be a leader, have you to lead not just in passing and governance, but in telling people what's going on and keeping your side together and activated and winning over independents to your arguments. >> which raises an interesting question as to what he does if there is a zombie party house in the months to come. but there's -- last point, we have to address this. the president did not go so far as to address the issue of fox news the way we do by calling them fox pack.

but he does seem to know now or it's evident, he's admitting to the fact he knows what he's up against with that outfit. >> yeah, he took that stab at fox. remember a year ago the white house started a campaign against fox and then dropped it. i think that -- i think the way they should regard fox news is with strategic derision. i don't think they should go out there every day and say worst person in the world because you do that pretty well yourself. >> thank you. >> i think you have to undercut it, undermine it and say, oh, yeah, that's fox being fox, let the keith olbermanns of the world do the trench warfare and media matters pound away. the president is bigger than fox news. he's bigger than cable. i hate to say that on cable. he shouldn't be shooting down -- he's not going to change them. that's a rarefied bizarre alternative world that fox serves. and i think the best way to deal with it is try to laugh at it to a certain degree and not take it all that seriously because it's not a serious network. >> i hope he -- in fact, i hope

the smallest president we've ever had is bigger than cable. goodness. mother jones washington bureau chief, david, many thank. >> thank you. it isn't zombie republican obstructionism that nancy pelosi has to worry about, it's the democratic kind. steny hoyer says the party is certain, absolute, immoveable in favor of tax cuts for the middle class. what about voting for tax cuts for the middle class? maybe, maybe not. and the best speech given by an american governor in years and it's arnold schwarzenegger on tape. about the coke brothers.

the house majority leader insists he and the speaker are united on tax cuts for the middle class except that detail on whether or not to hold a vote on them. the governor of california calls out big oil and the rich by name including the coke brothers by name for their willingness to destroy the planet so they can get richer. the dirty little secret that could cost her her chance at the senate in nevada. one word, insurance. and add to his litany of

character names, the new one, todd margaret. david cross will also react to the news that 45% of catholics don't know what that whole eating the wafer in the big pointy building is ahead on "countdown." rry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro.

98% of americanset reassurance there's still some democrats willing to stand up for them. and in our fourth story, even better house majority leader highwayer now says he and speaker pelosi are in agreement on middle class tax cuts, except one detail, whether or not to hold a vote on them. well, they would if the senate would, but nothing's definite.

they definitely might vote on it, but no, probably not. hoyer telling reporters today that democrats are still considering a vote on middle class tax cuts before the house adjourns friday. just don't hold your breath. that's not saying that we're not going to do it, it's saying i doubt we're going to do it. it's an ever so slight departure from what hoyer said over the weekend calling a potential house vote a specious act. after nancy pelosi told reporters that the house dems we retain the right to proceed as we choose. hoyer says a tax vote will be done before the end of the year. after reporters pressed him on the logic of waiting for a lame duck session, mr. hoyer blamed the senate. is there any confusion in this room where the democrats are? frankly if we thought we could get it through the senate, we would act and we may well act anyway. if the house does act it will probably do so under suspension process which requires a two-thirds vote. meanwhile, ceo director as the "washington post" reports, he concludes extenning the bush tax cuts will, quote, probably

reduce income relative to what would otherwise occur in 2020. conceding that tax cuts would just temporarily stimulate the economy and not by much and they would create, certainly, more debt. this is as a "new york times" editorial slams the democrats for their inaction in the tax cut debate. this particular failure the "times" wrote to act was not about republican obstructionism of which there's been plenty, this was about democrats failing to seize an opportunity to do the right thing and at the same time draw a sharp distinction between themselves and the republicans. in an effort to do the right thing, 46 house dems led by the co-chair of the republican caucus sending a letter to speaker pelosi asking for a vote to extend the current tax cuts on everyone by the top earners. extending the bush tax cuts will result in an $830 billion give away, the nation's wealthiest americans. significantly increasing government debt, the interest on which will be paid for by our nation's middle class for years to come. this astronomical sum could instead be used to close our budget deficit.

joining me, a member of the house appropriation committee, congressman. thank you for for your time tonight. >> it's good to be here, keith. >> where do things stand right now? are you and your fellow progressives confident there'll be a vote before the recess? >> i think there's going to be a vote before the recess. and i think that democrats believe in total that we're going to lower taxes for people at $250,000 and below. that's for everyone for the first $250,000 of income. the question you pose about whether it's before the election or after the election. obviously i prefer before the election. i think that's what we're going to do. but there's no uncertainty about whether or not we're going to act. in fact, there's only one party that has done tax cuts over the last two years for the middle class. we did it in the stimulus. almost 40% of the stimulus was a reduction in payroll taxes for people under $250,000. every republican voted against it except for three in the

senate. and so if you're looking for which party will vote to reduce taxes on people below $250,000 and exclude that top 2% for their extra income, it's already been demonstrated, and we're going to probably see another demonstration of it this week. >> on the premise of the -- as the old phrase goes. you can't build your reputation on what you're going to do. how can any democrat say that voting for tax cuts for the middle class before the election would not be a good thing? isn't the polling pretty clear on that? and what is this interplay with the senate? why does whether or not the senate votes on this before the midterms really matter to anybody in the house or why should it matter? >> well, you may have noticed that a few democrats are getting beat up for voting for an energy bill that the other side calls cap and something or other. and the senate didn't act on it. we have hundreds of bills, over 400 bills passed by the house that are over in the senate and have not been acted on. so can our member be harmed by casting a vote that they have to take the hit for, right? without the -- concluding the

matter with at least a public policy that they can stand behind. but if the question, again, is tax cuts for people $250,000 and under, we enacted that in the stimulus. every democrat that voted for the stimulus, voted for tax cuts for people $250,000 and under, and every single republican in the house voted no on it. so if you're looking for a vote to demonstrate that it happened, i think you're going to see another vote this week on the matter. that's what i'm pushing for, and i think that both leader hoyer and speaker pelosi are clear that we think that for your income up to $250,000, there should be a continued reduction in taxes, but we should not make the same mistake that was made almost ten years ago enacting the bush tax cuts, which have driven the economy, in part, in the hole and has raised the deficit and the debt level of the country. >> the question about what mr. elmdorf testified to, that it would impede income growth in

the long term making bush tax benefits indefinite. is there not an argument to be made that let all of the tax cuts expire because there is not any long-term plan to pay for them? >> absolutely. in fact, if you let all of them expire, you could almost balance the federal budget. the problem is we're still in a recovery that needs to take firmer hold in our economy. so, additional revenues to people who will spend them, that is people below $250,000, will have a stimulating effect on our economy, that the economy needs at this time. so that every economist will tell you that when you're trying to develop this recovery that we have to be very careful that we don't pull back too soon. so, yes, as an empirical matter, we know what the bush tax cuts will do because they've done it already. that is, we've seen their action over ten years. that is you will get a temporary fix, a sugar fix almost and then it will run the economy into the hole. we don't want that.

we at least don't want to have it skewed to the top 2% of earners the way it was done -- we're talking about an average tax cut of $100,000 for people who are in making millions of dollars. there's no reason for it. our economy and our debt and deficit picture can't withstand it. >> congressman chaka fattah of pennsylvania, always a pleasure. >> thank you for having me. >> governor arnold schwarzenegger in the speech you've heard in months. is vis rates the coke brothers in their ability to buy up california. you will stand up and applaud and want to download "terminator" and, and "kindergarten cop." -century? is performance about the joy of driving? or the importance... of surviving? to us, performance is not about doing one thing well. it is about doing everything well. because in the end... everything matters. the best or nothing.

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does anybody believe, asks the governor of california that these companies out of the goodness out of their black oil hearts are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs? wow. first the sanity break and the tweet of the day from shiner man in new jersey. how many minutes of your show will be on the sarah palin "dancing with the stars" faux controversy tonight? 23 minutes with eugene? actually, we weren't going to mention it, but since you tweeted me. we will. what controversy? they booed the crap out of her, it happens, a lot. 15 seconds. let's play "oddball." we'll begin in singapore where singer and hello kitty fanatic mariah cary is performing her song "make it happy."

down goes mimi. hoisted back on to her feet by her backup dancers, she soldiers and sells -- she sells seashells by the seashore through the remainder of the song but not before calling not one, but two assistants to remove her $10,000 pair of stilettos. and still this was better than "glitter." a charity race in sydney. and down goes -- wait, nobody was falling. the track was 80 meters long and the events -- why don't we just watch. okay. finished the relay in one minute and four seconds. you get to watch this. i have to read the script. also set a record here for time and blisters. oh, that's the end of the tape? all right. down under to luna park, the highly anticipated finale of australia's "next top model." after announcing kelsey as the

winner, host sara murdoch daughter-in-law of rupert murdoch has a surprise for the contestants. >> oh, my god. i don't know what to say right now. i'm feeling a bit stupid. this was not -- this was a complete accident, i'm sorry. it's amanda, i'm so sorry. it was read to me wrong. >> i want to say thank you. >> i still think that sophie should've won. if only someone had turned around and noticed the large poster that announced that amanda ware was the winner. time marches on. guess who also didn't win? arnold schwarzenegger. his startling speech calling out the rich and big oil in its class war against america. but is that class war itself already lost next? ♪ [ smack! ] [ smack! smack! smack! ]

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governor arnold schwarzenegger charged full bore into the national debate over big business shaping our politics and class warfare. and in our third story tonight, he spoke the plain truth behind their motives. greed, just greed.

it turns out most of america does not even know how rich the rich had gotten. the new study based on polling from 2005 finds that americans think the richest 20% of the country own about 59% of the wealth. at the time of the poll, the richest 20% owned 84% of the wealth. and that was before the recession. new census data out today showing that median household incomes fell again last year to $50,000 while those making at least $180,000 saw their incomes rise. the income gap between rich and poor never larger since the nation began to track it. the 20% that earned more than $100,000 a year took home 49% of all income last year. those living in poverty made just 3.4% of all income, making the richest to poorest ratio 14 to 1. without even factoring how much tax loopholes, dividends, and capital gains further enrich the rich. and we have new information on how the rich are using that money while individual voters have given money to democratic campaign committees, the associated press reports that the citizens united ruling on

unleashing private groups to pour millions of dollars has into political kam pape campaigns has benefitted republicans by a ratio of 6 to 1, the outpouring of money leading to last night's extraordinary outpouring to the republican governor of california talking about a political campaign there so in essence take over the state in cash. to reduce carbon emissions there by 30% by the year 2020. the ads, claiming his new law will kill jobs. >> does anyone really believe that these companies out of the goodness of their black oil hearts are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs? >> in the rest of his speech, audio of which was provided to "countdown," governor schwarzenegger did not hesitate to name which companies, including the coke brothers, founders of the tea party movement. here's how he started. >> i want to talk about the corruption of the democratic process, and about forces

willing to sabotage this country's economic future for private gain. i want to talk about texas oil interests that have descended up on california to overturn a californian environmental law. and then assume that they've done the dirty work thanks to millions of dollars of scare tactic advertising. in the words of their own spokesperson to fold up their tents and go home. ladies and gentlemen, there's a great drama, there is a great struggle playing out here in california right now that the rest of the world doesn't pay much attention to and knows very little about. and that's why i'm here today to put the spotlight on this very important issue. and let me just say that the entire oil industry is not involved in this deception that i will explain here today. no, there's some oil companies that are trying to do the right thing, but others are not. oil companies like valero and desoro and frontier are

blatantly trying to manipulate the will of the people and the public good. >> manipulate people? how? the oil company sponsored a new ballot initiative to halt california's new law until unemployment drops to 5.5%. the governor comparing them to the 20th century conspiracy of gas, auto and tire companies that killed off public transportation rail systems. >> today valero and tesoro and others involved are involved in the conspiracy, but not in a criminal conspiracy, but clearly in a cynical one. they are not seeking to buy rail systems, but to buy votes this time. yet the motivation is the same which is self-serving greed. two-thirds of californians approve our state law to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. do you know who the most two prominent poenlts are? valero and tesoro, also two of the state's top polluters.

they're behind an initiative on the november ballot called proposition 23, which would suspend our law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. but in reality, because of the fine print when it comes to unemployment, they really don't want to just suspend it, they want to kill this initiative, they want to kill our laws. and while they're not creating a shale company, they are creating a shell argument that this is about saving jobs. does anyone really believe that these companies that out of the goodness of their black oil hearts are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs? this is like eva braun writing a kosher cookbook. it's not about jobs at all, ladies and gentlemen, it's about their ability to pollute and thus protect their profits. >> defer for a moment your reaction to the last analogy. the cost we will pay for big

oil's profits if they get their way? the governor again. >> those who seek to overturn our carbon reduction law say that the green-tech future is too costly. another excuse, great, great excuse, huh? but here's what they don't want to tell you. the cost calculations doesn't include the increased cost of doing business their way, the old way, they don't include the cost of rising oil prices as the developing world demands more and more oil. they don't include the costs of job losses that is rising oil prices will force. they don't include the costs of hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks that have gotten and continued to get. they don't include the costs of pollution that are already causing. the cost, for instance, to hundreds of thousands of americans who die every year from smog-related diseases. they don't include also the cost of 6.5 million hospital visits a year for smog-related illnesses. they don't include the cost of

the next war over oil. and believe me, eventually it will come as we become more and more dependent on oil. i mean, i think that we have had enough wars in the middle east because of oil. don't you think so? that is why george schultz, ronald reagan's secretary of state, is firmly against proposition 23 and is firmly against valero and tesoro are doing. >> but when arnold schwarzenegger and george schultz think big business has gone too far to use our political system to enrich themselves even more, there is no class warfare in america, it would seem to be over and they would seem to have won. fortunately, we still have david cross. his new series, his reaction to this amazing goofy survey suggests half of the religious in this country don't know enough about their own religions.

not dissimilar to sharron angle's latest whopper. she wants to dismantle those social insurance programs. does that not include the one she benefits from? when rachel joins you at the top of the hour, she'll take a closer look at issues democrats should be running on instead of rubbing from.

in this time of the republican tea party, it is a capital offense, accepting socialized insurance, madame? and one of these men started protestantism, the other has two tv series and is my guest tonight. and only 47% of protestants appear to know which is which ahead on "countdown."

david cross, his new series on fox, a survey that shows that 53% of protestants don't know the name. guy who started protestantism. and our fantasy baseball league. that's next, but time for tonight's "worst persons in the world." in wichita, kansas, after they knocked off a little debbie snack cakes delivery truck. it was jacked from outside a store at 4:00 in the morning. the truck has been found partially submerged in a canal with a trail of empty boxes and empty cookie wrappers leading back through the woods to the highway. be on the lookout for hansel and gretel. mumbles that although the experts have determined the recession ended in june of 2009, quote, almost no stimulus money had gone out the door so the recession ended more or less on its own. $93 billion. the council of economic advisers

reported by the end of june 2009 $93 billion of stimulus money had gone out the back of the door to states or in government contracts or in tax relief for small businesses and individuals. in fact, the chief economist at moody's told the l.a. times that stimulus spending was although its maximum. almost none? $93 billion. rick hune just makes this stuff up. perfect for fox pack. and people still call him a journalist. but our winner sharron angle, candidate for senate in republican nevada. you heard about her plans to phase out social security and medicare. and her xlabts how she has to pay for other women's maternity leave and how states have to pay for kids with, air quote, autism, end air quote. they were her air quotes. and you heard her talk about how harry reid is a socialist or anarchist or whatever he is, turns out that sharron angle gets social health care.

he gets the same employee health care insurance he got while he worked there and it covers his wife sharron as does his pension, paid for by contributions made by current civil service employees. it's the civil service, government equivalent of social security. so the next time she whines about ending this or relieving nevada of the burden of that, let's see her start by cutting off that socialist insurance she gets. her insurance that you and i pay for. sharron angle, hypocrite, today's "worst person in the world." [ male announcer ] what is performance? 0 to 60? or 60 to 0? [ tires screech ] the quarter-mile, or a quarter-century? is performance about the joy of driving? or the importance... of surviving? to us, performance is not about doing one thing well. it is about doing everything well. because in the end... everything matters. the best or nothing. that is what drives us.

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>> know more about religion than people who do believe in god. the number one story, now that if pissed is here. ni atheists and agnostics average average of 20.9 answers correctly. 16 correct answers campus were six back of the leader of 14.7. the weekend's missed the cut. the mormons apparently no their religion the best answering eight out of 12 questions correctly. for intent of all pulled know that the book of mormon less than half know that the dollar llama is a buddhist. a question on the eucharist get

a lot of catholics trouble and more than half of all protestants polled did not know who the first protestant was. asked what was the person whose writings and actions inspired, given the choice, john wesly thomas aquinas, only 45% picked martin luther. martin luther had a problem with the increasingly poor decisions of the roman catholic church. david cross stars in a show called "the increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret." here's a clip. >> look, i know this is sudden, but i got this amazing job offer to go to london and head up this office there. but here's the thing, i got to leave tomorrow. >> oh. >> this isn't breaking up, okay? >> todd -- >> please, let me do this. >> todd -- >> well, it's too good to pass up. >> todd, two weeks ago i made

the mistake of sleeping with you. that mistake doesn't make me your girlfriend. oh, man, come on, you've got to go out the window. my date's here, i don't want him to see you. >> what about my cat? oh, mother [ bleep ]. >> joining me now comedian, atheist, awesomist, creator and star of the "increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret." david cross. >> hello, keith. >> good to see you. >> you too. >> this is one of the weirdest polls in a while. this religious poll. why would atheists know more about religion than -- >> i think it makes sense. i literally heard about this today. >> well, that's when it came out. if you would have heard about it, you would have been a psychic. >> and i was thinking about it -- i was listening to the radio when i heard about it. and it makes sense because in one aspect, the more you know about how religion came to be

and survive and just the human part of, you know, illiterate people writing down stories for other illiterate people edited over time all based on fantastic, you know, word of mouth thing -- you know, decades and decades, sometimes hundreds of years after the event took place. the more you realize it maybe it's not so legit and then you start questioning things and then it's a domino effect. so that doesn't surprise me. >> does the rest of this -- there are nonreligious questions, 52% could name joe biden as vice president. it's not a religious problem, it's a people not paying attention problem, isn't it? >> yeah, that's -- i'm sure the majority of the people couldn't answer who the vice president was could tell you who won "american idol" five years ago, you know. i would guess.

>> i was just thinking if i had any idea. >> i don't. but then -- >> sarah palin? >> it's not the -- but -- the -- one of the things that was most interesting was the thing that you put up there about mormons knew the most about their religion, which makes more sense because it's brand new, relatively. >> relatively. >> and as you went down it was protestant and then catholics. and those all go in descending order when they were created, which i think is kind of interesting. >> yeah, well, also, there's a certain element of keeping the story straight among everybody for a while. >> there's less opportunity to discover the -- although let's be honest with mormonism, that probably occurred the day joseph smith showed up. >> a good time to talk about the show, i think. >> all right. sounds like somebody's scared. >> no, no. i just want to make sure we get enough juice going here. speaking of juice.

all right, you go to england to sell an energy drink and bizarre fun ensues? >> yeah, it's -- my character is a temp at an office in, you know, unnamed office in portland and then is mistaken by this blusering boss who has just taken over this -- represents people that just took over the company as being this hard-ass salesman, tough as nails guy, and my character does nothing to dissuade him of that. and then he goes over to england, heads literally 48 hours later to head up this satellite office selling energy drinks and he's in way, way, way over his head. and he just keeps lying to make things better. and every episode takes place the very next day of the last episode. so it all starts compounding, and there's no relief of -- yes. >> well, i noticed in the first full clip that we showed, you're falling out a window. you fall -- you do a lot of falling.

why is this? why do you fall all the time? and by choice, i might add. >> every character i've ever played has severe vertigo. and it's just coincidence. >> that's all it is. >> that's all it is. >> that's all it is. >> there's no typecasting or you like to fall. >> i honestly do really like doing kind of physical comedy. it's not all physical comedy, but there is -- there's moments in each episode. i enjoy it. t fun. >> you're doing this and a thing on fox at running wild and will arnett is in both of them? >> yeah. >> is that a lot of punishment? or is that like falling out of windows? >> i don't know what you're implying. but, hey, he's not so bad on the eyes, is he? and that voice. it's like syrup and butter. no, i -- i wrote the part that will plays in todd margaret for will.