americans can see was never justified by fact or fiction. want to understand iraq and how we got there? a real look at how the bush white house got us there? want to see what our nightly fights here are about? go see this movie. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "countdown" starts now. good evening, americans and welcome to "the ed show." tonight from new york, these stories are hitting my hot buttons and on the table at this hour. i need some clarity from president obama. i don't know about you, but he says shipping jobs overseas to india isn't a problem it is just a going guyman? come on. now, i don't think so i will get some rapid-fire response on this and we will be interviewing the teamsters president, james hoffa in just a moment. all right, the republicans are coming for this president. the incoming chairman of the oversight committee says he plans to hold hundreds of hearings next year? is that what 15 million unemployed americans want?

this is nothing but a disgusting political witch hunt on the part of darrell issa. i will blast off in the battleground story at the bottom of the hour. and michele bachmann, we know she is a "psychotalker" but she is taking crazy to a new level, even for her. she think hads she put the gavel in john boehner's hands? she is delusional and she lands in the playbook tonight. but this is the story that has me fired up tonight, folks. mr. president, american workers need clarifications on where you stand when it comes to shipping jobs to other countries around the globe. now, folks, i just can't let this one go. i don't mean to be critical of the president but we need some clarification. i want him to stand up and tell the american people exactly where he stands on outsourcing. when he was running for office, president obama campaigned on keeping american jobs at home and penalizing u.s. companies who ship jobs overseas. well, in late september, not

long ago, every republican voted against an anti-outsourcing bill on the senate floor. the president hammered them about this a couple of weeks ago. >> the last four years alone, republicans in the house voted 11 times to continue rewarding corporations that create jobs and profits overseas, a policy that cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year. that doesn't make a lot of sense. it doesn't make sense for american workers, american businesses or america's economy. a lot of companies that do business internationally make an important contribution to our economy here at home. that is a good thing. but there's no reason why our tax code should actively reward them for creating jobs overseas. instead, we should be using our tax dollars to reward companies that create jobs and businesses within our borders. >> okay. well said and on point. but are we seeing a shift? it sounded different earlier this week in a joint press conference with the indian prime minister.

>> i don't think you've heard me make outsourcing a bogyman during the course of my visit. i explicitly said in my address in mumbai to the business council that i think both countries are operating on some stereotypes that have outlived their usefulness. our countries are matched up in a way that allows for enormous win/win potential. so you mentioned that some of the deals that we have struck are ones that will create jobs in the united states. that's absolutely true. >> all right. now, without being too critical, hope we are not wordsmithing here, but those two pieces of sound, in my opinion, simply don't match upful i want to believe that president obama is on the side of the american worker, period. but it appears he is just another typical politician when it comes to outsourcing.

this president is quickly turning into the republicans' dream. he talked about trade deals that were just cut that will create 50,000 american jobs but when you subtract those jobs from the number of jobs that have been shipped off of american soil over the years, there's no net gain here. nobody has a solid number. nobody has a solid number of how many american jobs have been shipped to countries like india, because big business, you see, they want to keep that a big secret from the american people. well, the alliance of american manufacturing has put a number on some of those outsourced jobs. they say big american companies like motorola, gm, microsoft and intel shipped thousands of jobs to india and probably hundreds more u.s. companies who have done the same thing. where are the numbers? we really can't get them. you see, republicans have paved the way for big businesses' race to the bottom line at the expense of the american worker. president obama lashed out at republicans who wanted to give tax breaks to american companies

who ship jobs to india last may. >> it is a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in bangalore, india, than if you create one in buffalo, new york. we will stop letting american companies that create jobs overseas take deductions on their expenses when they do not pay any american taxes on their profits. >> you might say they are different. no, i think they are very much connected. i didn't hear the president talk that game when he is on foreign soil. and at this hour, he has millions of american workers pretty much scratching their heads saying what the she can going on here? i know the president is trying to get the economy going again but he can't sell out on this issue. we have to consider what the economy would be like if other countries weren't recruiting our production and leaving american workers behind. this country, the united states of america, cannot accept a "new normal" of 10% unemployment. it can't be that way. we got to be certainly more than

just a service industry or a financial paper-shuffling industry. can't we all come to a left, right, center, blue, green, whatever position that america needs to make things again? and of course, feet traders they love to talk about emerging markets but they have no solution for the void that they are leaving behind. president obama, please, clarify your position on this. the republicans are after you but with the american worker is not. the american worker voted for you and put you in office and those soundbites tonight leave us, i believe, me at least, confused on exactly where you stand. i realize you can't go over to india and take a sharp stick and put it in their eye and say we are going to take all your jobs. i get that and the die namic that china knows there are other economic options out there, but greasing the skids for companies

to ship the jobs everywhere else is hurting the very people that put you in office. democrats need to champion this issue. why? because it is on every kitchen table in america, across america tonight. why do they need to champion this issue? because the republicans never will. the republicans have never been for the middle class, they are never going to be for the middle class and they just don't feel the pain 'cause they are at the country club. now we at a country are at a crossroads when it comes to decide if this is a big issue or not. on my radio show today, i asked listeners, i don't want to come off as negative, but i think if the president doesn't lead on this issue and if he isn't crystal clear where he stands on the issue of outsourcing, democrats, we got nothing. if we can't stand for the american worker, what difference does it make what the rest o the progressive platform is? if we can't stand up for the little guy anymore, we can't advocate for the rights of the

workers, where do we go? god rest his soul, we do miss ted kennedy. there was no greater fighter for labor in this country. and maybe we are still as liberals in search of that next great leader when it comes to sticking up for american workers and taking it right to the oval office. i know in my heart, after doing 30-some town hall meetings over the last four years, i know what americans think about this and i can say it with confidence tonight. we are on a slippery slope. and if you think that these unemployment numbers are gonna shift had, folks, ed's telling you tonight, ain't gonna happen. this is a new normal that is very dangerous for our economy. and if we are going to incentive companies to continue on like this hell, we are our own worst enemy when it comes to jobs. you can pass stimulus package after stimulus package, you are not going to turn this thing around.

this new normal is dangerous for this country and we are headed in the wrong direction. tell me what you think in our telephone survey. the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. my question tonight, you do you think president obama has done enough to stop american jobs from going overseas. press 1 for yes, 2 for. no we will bring you the results later on in the show and let me say up front, the president can't do it all. he needs democratic help big time. he needs every liberal in this country to support him. but if he doesn't hear our message, what kind of message is he going to take overseas next time? joining me now james hoffa, the president of the teamsters union. mr. hoffa, good to have you with us tonight. >> how are you doing, ed, good to be here. >> i'm doing great, sir. the 50,000 jobs that the president is talking about that are going to be created because of our trade dealings with india, do you buy that and where are those jobs?

>> it is a drop in the bucket. let's look at the entire picture that you have been talking about. we are losing millions of jobs. it is not 50,000 jobs. we have lost millions of jobs to mexico, india, china and it continues today. last month, whirlpool closed down a plant, 1300 americans laid off in indiana and they moved it to mexico. it is going on as we speak right now. it hasn't stopped. and what we talk about outsourcing that is an easy word, sounds -- outsourcing, sounds like it doesn't hurt anybody. we are closing down plants of workers in america. your fellow americans are losing their jobs, they work there 30 years. they are close the plant down. most of the time, taking all the equipment and moving it to mexico or somewhere else. we have got to stop this hemorrhaging. jobs, jobs, jobs, and the jobs that are leaving america are the good jobs, the high had-paying jobs, the manufacturing jobs, the union jobs, where people make good wages, they have good health care, they have pensions. those are the jobs that are being shipped out of this country. we have got to stop this. you know, went president ran, he

talked about renegotiating nafta. that was a great issue. when you go in front of workers as you have, you have done town halls, i do it, too, you talk about nafta's bad, nafta's cost jobs, everybody can say that's right. we got to make sure the trade agreements open up and create jobs, not lose jobs. what's happened is that the previous administration is going back to bill clinton have lost their way when to comes to trade, when it comes to nafta, cafta, china, pntr, terrible mistakes that have basically cost us millions of jobs and we continue to hemorrhage jobs. the jobs respect coming here. the jobs are going there. and every time they buy a company, they close it down, they put everything on a boat and they take it back to china or it goes on a railroad car to mexico. so if we want to talk about jobs, let's talk about stopping this hole. let's talk about negotiating good trade agreements that are ones that create jobs instead of sending jobs overseas. take korea right now. korea basically is one of the most walled off countries right now.

they won't let american cars in, they won't listen. you can't -- you know, different types of products, agricultural products, because they are a closed economy, but what do they do to our country? they are shippingdays over here, all kinds of cars are filling our highways and they get away with it we can't send one car there. that is wrong and we have to have people that will stand up for the american worker and have good trade agreements, you go over there and say you are going to open up your economy and going to be able to buy american products. that's the solution. >> mr. hoffa, has your expectation and has labor's expectations been diminished with president and the democratic party? i mean, the only people that can change trade agreements and push change at this point are the people in charge, the people in power and it was not a good day at the office one week ago tonight for wage earnings in this country. what are your expectations right now? >> the answer is it is obviously a lot darker now because we have lost so many democrats, we are

standing up for the american worker. now, we have got the republicans you talked about that can hardly wait to send more jobs overseas. they are pawns of big business. so they are basically eager to send these jobs overseas. so what it is going to be harder. i want you to know that organized labor are are the ones standing up and saying, no we are going to make sure that we don't pass these trade bills that send american jobs overseas. you know, the idea is with this administration, other administrations, any trade deal, a trade deal is good. well, that's not true. a trade deal that sends american jobs overseas and basically we don't get any access to their markets, these not a good trade agreement and nobody can get that through their head in washington. >> mr. hoffa, thanks for speaking up tonight. it's a story that we are just not gonna let go and because this is going to go on, and i'm afraid that the democrats are fallen prey to the corporations and the right-wing of this country that can't get enough of getting rid of jobs in this country. it's who we are, it is where we

are as a country now. it is an identity crisis when it comes to how we feel and how we view the importance of american workers. thanks, james, i appreciate your time tonight. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, republicans don't seem to give a damn about the middle class, but they are too chicken to say it. democrats might have a plan to expose them, we hope. senator bob menendez sounds off for the tax cut fight here next "the ed show." "psychotalk"ing michele bachmann, taking credit for giving the tan man the gavel. she is driving the republicans crazy. i kind of love t that is coming up in the playbook. plus, w visits owe practice arnold sparks a controversy and chris christie's living large on the road. you are watching "the ed show" on msnbc. stay with us. [ female announcer ] think a thick cream is the only way to firm skin?

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coming up, republicans, welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage, but democrats may have to come up with a plan to stop them. all the righties seem to care about is a huge tax break for the top 2%. the democrats want americans to

see how selfish and greedy they are. now, they basically want two different votes, one on tax cuts for billionaires and one for everyone else. it is a chance for democrats to put steel in their spine and force republicans to blink on this one. this will be the issue in the coming weeks and i think they are all a bunch of chickens when it comes down to. it talking about the republicans, obviously. for more, let's bring in senator bob menendez, the chairman of the democratic campaign committee. senator, good to have you here tonight. what in your opinion, do you think the republicans will do? do you actually think they would compromise on the bush tax cuts? >> right now, they are holding the middle class tax cut, the permanent extension of the middle class tax cuts hostage and talk about only having all tax cuts extended for a year, maybe two. the reality is there is no reason for the middle class tax cuts, which we as democrats want to make permanent, great infusion for the middle class in this country, great infusion for the people, the economy, for people to know they will those tax cuts made permanent and shouldn't be held hostage to the wealthiest tax cuts that if you listen to the republican leader in the senate, he wants to make those permanent and that package is a $4 trillion pack. an can't be responsible about spending and then talk about $4 trillion you don't v. >> so senator, it sounds like

the democrats are going to move on these tax cuts, in other words, you are just not going to let this legislation expire and do nothing, that on the surface, the republicans are going to get their way from the start, just a matter of how far is it is going to go. >> we want to move the middle class tax cuts permanently and that is critically important. i think the debate should be clear who stands on behalf of the middle class tax payers in this country, which are the democrats trying to make those middle class tax cuts not just temporary but permanent in nature, a great asset for middle class families as they try to meet the challenges every day around the kitchen table and who is holding them hostage to making tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country permanent. if you talk about a year that is one thing to get through the process but we want our tax cuts to be permanent.

we don't want the others to be permanent because that would blow a huge hole in its nation's debt. >> that rings hollow with the republicans, $4 trillion that is nothing, they just want the concentration of wealth. do you think that they will stand strong and go to bat for the top 2%? they want the whole enchilada. they want the whole everything. they want the whole meal and doesn't sound like compromise is in any way, shape or form in their vocabulary right now. >> this is going to be crystal clear for the electorate to see.

you know, $4 trillion, you can't constantly, you know, talk about how responsible you are going to be on spending and then seek policies for the wealthiest in the country that cost 4 trillion we want middle class tax cuts that can be paid for and ultimately made permanent. it is crystal clear. so, i think we have to run this to a test and a vote at the end of the day. i'm certainly for that. hopefully they will understand they are going to be on the side of a few versus the many. >> well, if they extend it for two years, come to that agreement, you are going to be right back here in october 2012 with the same old argument, extending the tax cuts and go through all this again. >> no, i think that the answer is if we gets ours permanently and they get a year or two possible, but otherwise it is not going to be that we make them all temporary at the end of the day. i think that that is certainly a -- not a good recipe for the nation's economy, not a good

result for middle class taxpayers. >> senator, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. coming up, wacko governor rick perry served up some texas had-sized bull last night and greta fell for it as usual. they will two-step their way into the zone, next. [ female announcer ] does your smooth last into a second day, or does frizz make you start over? pantene knows thick hair absorbs more moisture, so we customized a pro-v system to make smooth stay into the second day. frizzy to smooth system. pantene.

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y daunting ppo. they have a deficit of as much as $24 billion to $25 billion or about 25% of the current spending. in fact, the gap is now of the .

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welcome back to "the ed show." battleground story tonight. just ask yourself this question is this really our best issue as a country? now, witch hunting season is officially open on capitol hill. incoming oversight chairman darrell issa is telling the media about just how many hearings he plans to hold. issa told politico he plans to hold seven hearings a week that is roughly 300 hearings a year, not on creating jobs or small business help but on investigating the stimulus. >> his administration received $700 billion worth of walking with around money in the stimulus and used it just that way, a great deal was used for political payback. his administration has a lot of explaining where the $700 billion went, where investigations that should have gone on, particularly into a.c.o.r.n., an organization he had passed influence and a lot to do, i think those have to be dealt with. >> this for very going to infuriate this might give me a heart attack before it is all

over with. i can't believe we are going down this road. this is what they want i want an investigation into the time and it taxpayer money that will be wasted on this absolute nonsense. this is an effort to score political scalping much the republicans did it with president clinton and now they are going after the democrats. i keep telling you, this is the republican congress at work. joining me now congresswoman jan schakowsky of chicago. congresswoman, glad to have you become backe on the program. glad you got re-elected. our fighter for lefties in this country and you speak truth. is this all a get back in the -- because of the work that henry waxman did during the bush years we had no-bid contracts and issues with haliburton and all kinds of intel issues, you know what we went through in the bush years, this a get back? >> henry waxman in the whole two year these chaired that same he committee only had something like 206 oversight hearings.

darrell issa is talking not just about 280 hearings, seven subcommittees, a hearing a week, he says one or two. that could be 560 hearings in 40 weeks. the man is on a -- you know, he is on a hunt right now, really a witch hunt, i think. and every time he makes these accusations, somebody has to come along, put their hand over his mouth and has to walk it back. he called barack obama one of the most corrupt presidents ever. that the perspective he is coming from. of course, now he is trying to walk it back. but instead of looking at, for example, there is a lot of things he could investigate, why the insurance companies are continuing to raise their rates. i would be for that. but no, i think it is going to be more like dan burton. i was on that committee when dan burton chaired it and he had over 1,000 hearings looking into every tiny little aspect of the clinton administration. and i fear that we are going to have the same kind of witch hunt

occupying all of the time and just a bunch of nonsense, frankly. >> he is talking about the stimulus package. governors are involved in dishing out the money for the stimulus package. >> that is right. >> and i hope he goes that far on republican governors as they sat on a lot of these dollars in their state budgets and didn't disburse the money out to get these projects going. so i'm going to follow this investigation that mr. issa is doing. >> i'm looking forward to that, too, because a number of those governors who said i'm against the stimulus, don't give me any money and then, of course they can took the money and went to all the rib aren cuttings of the projects that actually created jobs. let him look at t but what a waste of time there really are things that need to be looked at in government, you know, the defense department has a number of project, et cetera, that may be not worth spending and we

could make some legitimate cuts there he wants to reduce the size of government. even the secretary of defense agrees with that. he could help us with that. but no. >> all of this, congresswoman, is based on a hunch. this is all based on they want to just go in and see if they find anything. there really hasn't been any overt laws broken or anything that's been politically or publicly out there? >> ed this is not about a hunch this is about a strategy. mitch mcconnell said it very clearly. he said that our job now for the next two years is to defeat barack obama. >> take us down the road of impeachment. >> exactly. >> darrel saying that isn't what's looking for. also his arrogance. says in the politico article, as clint eastwood says, a man needs to know his limitations. what is this, a dirty harry movie? nickname him dirty darrell for all the investigations, for what wasting taxpayer dollars? and if they find nothing who pace the price, president obama either way, because there's going to be the talking point out there the speculation that he ran a crooked administration.

>> that is the plan, but i really have a feeling that there is going to be buyer's remorse sooner rather than later. darrell issa is one of the most partisan members of the congress. he has overstepped so many times, as i said. there's somebody in the wings always having to put his hand over his mouth and he has to go walk it back. i don't think that this strategy is going to work. i really don't. >> congresswoman, great to have you with us. >> thank you, ed. >> appreciate your time. now, some rapid-fire response from our panel on these stories. the justice department has accused new jersey governor chris christie of living large on the taxpayer's dime while he was a u.s. attorney. a tea partier who just won a house seat in mississippi threatening to shut down the government if the president doesn't repeal the health care law. michael steele says, well, there's been a concerted effort by republicans to oust him as the head of the rnc. with us, laura flanders, host of grit tv and editor of the book "at the tea party" and karen

hanretty, republican strategist with us tonight. let's get into mr. christie. no matter how you look at it this guy has the personality, he has the moxie and not afraid to do budget cutting. he obviously is a good interview, loves the camera, looks like the guy next door. karen, listen to all these positive things i'm saying about this guy. i just want to know if he was living large on the road and was he -- is this a witch hunt? we were just talking about witch hunts. what do you think about this? >> you left one thing out, he also has higher approval ratings in the state of new jersey than president obama. so, the people in new jersey are quite happy with him. you know, this report, i'm not going to say it is nothing because, you know, we should always be very mindful of the taxpayer dollars but we are talking about $2,000 that you want to go after and liberals want to investigate in light of

the millions and millions of dollars we don't know where they went with the stimulus funding and you're criticizing any sort of transparency and investigation into millions of dollars. but here you are, dedicating a whole segment to the dubious expenses of a hotel room. >> the justice department called up darrell issa and say you look for this, i would be all for it. that isn't the case. laura? >> what is happening, people are calling out christie for being the guy that said i'm not going to let new jersey spend beyond his had means. he when he wasn't responsible, he was there spending $500 a night at the four seasons in washington. i do agree it is not his spending that is a problem, it is his cuts. karen so concerned where the money is new jerseyians are concerned where the millions of dollars are lost to the state and now owed to federal government with the cancellation

of that tunnel project. that and the fouling up with the race to the top application have cost new jerseyians something like $700 m i hope karen is as worried about that. >> the numbers in new jersey, would governor christie make a good president this is what they are saying in that state, a quarter of the people say yes, 61% say no and 15% don't know. >> governor christie himself said, actually said over the weekend, he doesn't want to run for president, he doesn't think he is ready to run for president, he is focused on being governor of new jersey. >> he needs to create some jobs in new jersey. meanwhile, got new jerseyians looking the a bill to the federal government for -- >> a bill that would have been extraordinarily higher if they had moved forward with that project. >> and jobs. >> millions of dollars. >> did i say jobs? and jobs. >> all right. here comes the tea partier. this sound coming from newly elected member of the congress, alan nonelism he says he is going to threaten to shut down the government if the president doesn't wipe the health care bill off the books. here it is.

>> are you willing to participate in what would lead to a shutdown of the federal government to stop this monstrosity from going down the tracks? >> i agree with congressman boehner. we need to do what ever is necessary to make sure this bill never goes into effect. >> are you willing to participate in a shutdown of the federal government if that's the only way to get the president to come to the able? >> yeah. >> laura, what do you think? >> i mean, yes, on the one hand, republicans are desperate to do away with this bill because heaven forbid we have more americans with a government program that they actually feel wedded to that they enjoy, they get something from, like medicare, like social security. the point here is i think we are set egg the bar here high for government servants if the standard of good government service is to believe the government should not be shut down. i think that is a problem. it is not just that we don't want government shut down. we need to look at how this new congress is going to run government and everything you were talking about in the last segment, what they do in government is as much a problem as do they shut it down? i don't think that should be the question.

>> karen -- >> they are not going to shut down the government, ed. >> you have got a response to this? this is a southern good old boy, push him hard enough, yeah, we gonna shut down the government. i mean, come on the. >> i think this one freshman congressman is going to single-handedly bring washington to a screeching halt. of course that's absurd. i tell you can ed, if you listen to every single freshman coming into town next couple of months, you are going to have a heart attack, you are going to be in the hospital and i would be happy to host your show for you. i mean, they are not going to shut down government and i know it's difficult to accept the fact that republicans are now in control. >> just because they don't shut down government doesn't mean it is okay what they are doing in government. can we talk a little more about that? >> yes, let's talk about what i hope they do, which is repeal a lot -- a big part of this health care bill. think that's what the american people want. >> they don't want t karen hanretty, laura flanders, great to have you with us. we didn't lose, we just want reconciliation to get t great

to have you both. coming up, that crazy bachmann, talking about putting the gavel in boehner's hands. i think she is still in a trance election night. stay with us. we are right back.

it is still not too late to let us know what you think. the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. tonight's telephone survey question is do you think president obama has done enough to stop american jobs from going overseas? press one for yes, press two for no. the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. we are right back.

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in my playbook tonight, congresswoman michele bachmann out of minnesota claims she should be the chairwoman of the republican conference because she is actually -- she actually thinks she is responsible for the republicans winning the

house. bachmann told politico, told them this. "i have been able to highly motivate people from disaffected democrats to independents to republicans to nonpolitical people. there was a real question with, even 18 months ago about whether the tea party would become a third party. i have been able to bring a voice and motivate people to, in effect, put that gaffe until john boehner's hands." the tan man isn't ready to give bachmann credit for his job promotion. in fact, so far, none of the republican leaders are endorsing her. for more, let's bring in democratic strategist bob shrum, professor at new york university. bob, good to have you with us tonight. >> glad to be here. >> she is thirsty, don't you think? >> and mod nest that article for politico. it wasn't michele bachmann and tea partiers that won it for the republicans, but it was the economy.

they no more want her as the caucus chair than they want sarah palin as the republican nominee for president. some of them, and a lot of them believe, and one of them at les has said publicly that the tea party actually cost the republican party the senate. see, a lot of these tea party folks could burrow in the congressional races, they didn't get huge exposure in the free media, they won. people didn't know how crazy they were, like this guy you had on earlier saying let's just shut down the government. they won because they didn't get the same kind of exposure that o'donnell got, miller got, sharron angle got and that destroyed them as candidates. >> are the republicans making a mistake by dismissing her? she is a media darling on the other network. she comes up -- she knows how to get attention but most of all, she can raise money. what about that? >> they are going to try to satisfy and apiece the tea party folks without giving them what they want. let me give you an agencies. >>.

i talked to a republican who said we are going to have a vote on-to-repeat health care bill. we know the senate is not going to pass it and that will be the end of it. there will then be some token bills to change this provision or that provision but we are not going to shut down the government. and republicans are not going to jump again into the gingrich abyss. they have been there before it would destroy them and they know it. >> so, there may be more problems than solutions between the gop and the tea parties before this is over. it is not going to be a big happy camp over there. >> i don't think so but look, the tea partiers don't have any solutions. the tea party verse a whole soeft illusions. i mean, they have -- from thinking that the health care bill has death panels and rationing to think you can have gigantic tax cut, balance the budget, cut the size of the federal government in half. i mean, rand paul was on television the other day talking again about social security and how we really had to cut social security, really had to put medicare on the table.

let me tell you, the republican party does not want to become the party that cut medicare and cut social security. bp's ceo tony hayward is out of hiding after getting his life back. in an interview with the bbc, he said all the fumbling and incompetence was because of the media? >> the network anchors who descended on bp in louisiana and it was an enormous feeding frenzy. we tried to be open and transparent. we gave access to the operation but the reality is we were completely overrun. and just not prepared to deal with the intensity of media scrutiny. >> access to the operation? i don't think so. on top of that he said he has no regrets taking off on a yacht as oil gushed into the gulf of mexico. what a loser. coming up, i can't believe w is still in denial over those wmds. you won't believe what he told oprah today. joan walsh, editor and chief, salon.com, she sounds off on w next. stay with us.

ask me.

finally tonight, former president george w. bush is making the media rounds promoting his new memoir, "decision points." today, he sat down with oprah winfrey and he is still in denial about the lapse of intelligence failure that led to the iraq warm he said it is all saddam hussein's fault. >> do you now feel or believe that you were misled? >> no. i don't think so. >> by your intelligence. >> misled is a wrong word. i think we made -- i do think we

were wrong in our assessment? yeah, i tell you what was wrong, saddam hussein deceived everybody. saddam hussein turns out did not want people to know he didn't have weapons of mass destruction, including many people in his own administration, which was strange because i made it clear that let the inspectors in or else we will remove you from power and he didn't believe me, sadly. >> joining me now is joan walsh, editor and chief, salon.com. from the decider to the deceiver, what should this book tour -- it is getting kind of comical, what should this book tour be called? >> oh, i don't know, "the road to nowhere" maybe because he is such a nowhere man it is nothing it is never his fault, nothing is his fault. that is just a stunning piece of denial. you know, i remember -- we are not talking about 20 or 30 years ago. this is not ancient history. there were other people saying he doesn't have weapons, he is bluffing. he is a crazy man.

he's proud man. he doesn't want the world to know how impotent he is. but they insisted on going ahead anyway. i mean, it has just been unbelievable how he has not been able to take real full responsibility for making a mistake on the web weapons and going ahead with a pointless war. >> let me clarify to our audience a moment ago, it is getting comical, nothing comical about war, nothing comical about the missing it wait we miss it as a country but his personality and the way he shrugs stuff off i find rather amusing. here wes matt lauer, talking about the mission accomplished statement. here it is. >> stood on the deck of that aircraft carrier and you said to the american people -- >> major combat operations in iraq have ended. and i also went on to say there is more difficult work ahead. >> but you stood under that banner and sent a very strong message. mission accomplished. >> no question a mistake. i had to do over again, which

with you don't get to do when you are the president, you know, i would have said you can good going, men and women. great mission. or something. i don't know what it is. but -- >> i am -- he is just not in come command. >> he just wrote a book where toad think about it and write words about it and still so off the cuff. there was another part of that interview, i think it was with matt, where talking about the run-up to war, described himself as a dissenting voice and then eventually, i guess he got convinced what a weird passive voice to use. i was a dissenting voice out in the wilderness at salon back then. he was commander in chief, if he didn't want to go to war, we didn't go to war. to be a dissenting voice is to be outside history, outside your own power with other people in charge pulling the strings. so this whole tour i think has been a disaster for him. it has reminded us how sort of missing in action he is in a lot of ways.

he was never really at the center of his own presidency. >> why is he doing this in the family has a ton of money. i find if he is not in command of where he was and so sure of his answers, i'm surprised he is putting himself through this. >> i think he is -- he is looking at his legacy and also kind of a petty person. remember, he said that kanye's insults was the worst moment of his presidency, a presidency that included 9/11, going to war, katrina, many, many tragedies. there have been several points in this book tour where the kind of pettiness comes out and like, gotcha, i'm going to settle the score here. that's all i can think of that he will hope to do with this and i guess he is doing it. >> joan walsh, always a pleasure. great to have you "the ed show." thank you. tonight in our telephone survey i asked do you think president obama has done enough to stop am