>> plus the 99 sprint. new protest against wall street greed sprout up in communities across america. noted author, michael c. lewis shares his view of the movement live. >> we begin this afternoon with a class photo. take a look at this. how lovely. it's one for the history books, this one. a photographic reminder of why this 112th congress may be one of the worst ever. a picture of obstruction.

inspectors looking around, and perhaps he should have cantaloupe. and then look, he is being investigated by -- grab a pen, the fbi, the irs, and the florida department of law enforcement and the miami-dade state attorney's office. well done, sir. that's a full house, mr. rivera. and then there is house majority leader, eric cantor. the best defensive lineman outside the nfl, the team leader who president obama took to task this week for his failure to support the jobs bill. >> eric cantor said that right now he won't even let this jobs bill have a vote in the house of representatives. that's what he said.

won't even -- won't even let it be debated. think about that. do they not have the time? they just had a week off. is it inconvenient? >> get this. we learned today what may be diverting mr. cantor's time and attention. a key starter in cantor's office is leaving to set up a new super pack aimed at raising mr. cantor's profile and possibly positioning him for the vice preside presidentcy. a poll just out shows 76% of americans disapprove of how you and your republican colleagues are handling the stagnant economy, and 76%! the poll also states that over

half the country wants the president's jobs bill passed, and that's 58% believe it will help the economy. listen up, mr. cantor, 75% of america, three quarters of the population, disagree with your coddling of the rich. they support raising taxes on americans making over $1 million a year. >> the policies being promoted by the administration that are sending the signal that we are not open for business in america. >> not open for business? more like closed-minded. i am joined by peter welch of vermont. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> the president urged house majority leader eric cantor to put his jobs bill up for a vote so the entire country would know wherever member of the congress stands, but mr. cantor has already said that he won't do it. why? if over half the country wants

the bill to be enacted, and why doesn't mr. cantor put the bill to the house? >> that's a good question. senator mcconnell said his job was to guarantee that barack obama was a one-term president. obviously, the job of any of us in the house or the senate is to try to help america succeed, and in fact, if there is going to be accountability when the president has a major bill, i think each one of us in congress should be willing to vote on us yes or no, and let voters hold us accountable. we can take a different point of view, but let's move on and say what we think and vote. mr. cantor is doubled down on the notion that if government is dysfunctional, which is not acting and it's not divided government but dysfunctional government, the disgust of what americans feel, it comes down on

his electoral process. >> and some are questioning his approach. let's here what congressman frank wolf had to say on the tax plunge signed by so many republicans. >> have we really reached a point where one person's demand for ideological purity is paralyzing congress to the point where a discussion of tax reform is breaking a no tax pledge? >> are you beginning to see cracks in mr. cantor's army here, and how can you appeal to people like mr. wolf? >> thank you, mr. wolf. this is not rocket science. democrats have to be willing to make cuts, and the republicans have to be willing to come up with revenues. the revenue base in the country is at 15%. it's the lowest taxes that we have had since basically the eisenhower years, and historically they are in the 18% to 19% range. that has to be part of the

solution. so this ideological purity as a substitute for practical problem solving is really threatening to this country, and we need more folks like mr. wolf. this is's a lot of good republicans but they have to crack the leadership mold. >> congressman welch, you said earlier mr. mcconnell made it his single focus to get one man out of the job, the president. >> right. >> are you telling me -- are you telling me that mr. mcconnell has no regard for the 14 million who are out of work at the moment? is it really the case that getting the president out has precedence over the 14 million americans desperate to work? >> that's certainly not my view and not the view of the 14 million americans. i am quoting senator mcconnell. that's a shocking thing to say. we have our fights. the election comes up and it's no holds barred, and the voters make the decision of who will be the majority or minority, and

whether you are a leader or rank in file, you can express your differences but the idea that you will fight for failure and that's what your agenda will be, and justify that by saying we bring it down to the ashes, and then when we were fully in charge we will rescue it, and that obviously is anti-democratic. >> it's horrendous. i would like for you to listen to one more piece of sound from senator schumer, and he had aur shall criticism of republicans. >> mr. president, the truth is the republican colleagues seem to be willing to tank the economy to simply help out the most privileged who are already doing well. >> do you agree with mr. schumer? >> i do. we did a lot of damage here with the debt ceiling. what happened was mr. mcconnell and mr. cantor used the

obligation that america has to pay its bills, and we have always done that, whether those bills were incurred by republican or democratic administrations, and they used that as a hostage to get their way on another budget deal. we were so close to the brink that it really destabilized confidence that we were going to get it right. and that's a brinksmanship where we have gone too far. at a certain point restraint is the virtue required for the good of the country. >> it's interesting, isn't it? as the congress has become obstructionist, business is carrying on. you have been a vocal critic about the new fees being imposed by banks, and you called them shameless, bank of america and citibank, and it seems to me that government is frozen, and meantime the people are not only suffering because unemployment is so high, opportunities for work are so few, but in addition we have big banks just hammering

the public? >> it's true. i think underlying a lot of the motivation of what is going on in wall street right now with the demonstrations is the sense that the financial sector is about the per perfect, and folks are trying to small homes, and the new business model is they exact fees any way they can, including the $5 a month debit fees, and there's a real frustration among average folks that hey, we bail the banks out and they are back doing better than ever, and then ripping us off for the petty fees, and putting their pockets any way they can. >> as we speak, we are looking where protesters have been gathering, and this protest is no longer limited to the city, as you know, and it's spreading across the country. i guess people are beginning to rise up, because they feel that

the government that they elected, that they believed would represent them, is basically on holiday. >> well, it's worst than being on holiday. it's dysfunctional. we have 9% unemployment. we have 23 million americans who are either totally out of a job or working part time when they need to be working full time. we have a disparity of wealth getting wider and not narrower, and we obviously have to revive the american economy and restore the middle class. that's what has always been the strength of the country, and we are seeing the institutions basically argue in congress about cutting the budget, about lowering taxes, particularly for the high end folks, and not doing anything about job creation. and this inability of congress to work together, we do need more frank wolfs of the republican side, and democrats willing to work with him, because some of the folks that give confidence, we make decisions and do it together and acknowledge we don't get it

right or perfect, but what we got wrong we are willing to come back and try to make right. this is urgent for the country that congress start to function. >> pray god help you, congressman peter welch. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. and all the recent talk about class warfare got the folks at think progress got folks thinking about another president. >> this plan eliminates tax loopholes that go to the wealthiest taxpayers and biggest corporations. >> we will close the unproductive tax loopholes that have allowed the wealthy to avoid their fair share. a bus driver was paying 10% of his salary while others paying nothing. >> middle class families should not pay higher classes than billionaires and taxes. >> you think the millionaire should be paying more than the

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welcome back. my colleague, chris matthews, helps tee up today's top lines. >> you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with. >> today was a very good day for mitt romney. >> the republican establishment right now might coaless around romney. >> i just don't know how that would work. >> we would like to roll back, don't ask don't tell.

i think that you believe that being gay is a choice. >> yes. >> and he also believes that -- >> no abortion, even if the woman is raped -- >> that's my feeling. that's my position. >> great american said that he thought it was crazy that certain tax loopholes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing while the bus driver was paying 10%, and wasn't a democrat, some crazy socialist, but it was reagan. >> it's a tremendous amount of donors, and our average donation is $50. >> i don't recall whether this soldier, whether people were buying his questibuy buying -- booing his question or booing him, and i don't know why people booed him, but the boos and the applause is not always

coincited with my own views, but i have not stepped in to say, you know, this one is right and this one is wrong. >> the old boyfriend. the really nice guy that doesn't turn them on. mitt romney. >> so with mitt romney having his moment and herman cain stealing the spotlight, one might have thought that rick perry might have quietly nursing his wounds after his torturous and tongue tied debate performance, but no, turns out he was working the cash register. perry will post third quarter fund-raising at $17 million. perry's total is expected to be several million more than mitt romney, and remember, perry's take was raised in half a quarter, and that said, new polls show perry's star continuing to fall with mitt at the top and herman cain on the rise. for more let's bring together our political panel. joining us from washington,

clarence page, columnist for the "chicago tribune." you said the tea party is more interested in asserting itself on the far right rather than winning the white house. do you think the republican establishment is worried the tea party could steal momentum and possibly even lose the election? >> that's not a new worry. the tea party is the far right ring of the republican party essential essentially, and the same people who put bury goldwater into the republican nomination back in 1964, and it led to the greatest loss of republicans have had in the presidential race. that was the sort of thing that reality still exists, and it explains part of the reason why the more establishment republicans are worried that mitt romney has not excited the rank and file of the party more than he has. >> are you saying there are two republican parties at war here?

>> well, there have always been two republican parties but compared to the democrats they look very unified. they don't make a sport out of internal debate like democrats do. >> the polls are interesting. one has haromney ahead, and the one has cain and romney neck and neck. there's a divide. there are no two people on the planet more emblematic of the divide than mitt romney and herman cain. maybe they should run together. and consuervatives will stay home. they are not going to go to the polls for herman cain because he doesn't look like he can do the jub. that's not my opinion, that's the perception about these two guys. i think you saw with the chris christie announcement, this

collective sort of sigh of apathy, and now conservatives are going to pretend they are happy with the field and convinced we can take the white house. >> one of the cards being thrown at chris christie, an indication that people do feel that this is a mediocre field? >> yeah, i did a hasty and lazy sampling of my twitter followers yesterday for a piece in "the daily news" today, and now that christie is out who is your guy? and i got write-ins from many to yours truly. >> there has been no shortage for candidates court for the 2012 run. let's look at a few of the

contenders who have said no. >> i will once again say that i am not going to be a candidate in 2012. >> i am not one of the guys who planned on running for president all my life. this is a ten year commitment to the most consuming job on the face of the earth. >> all the factors say, go, but my heart says no. >> in the end, what i always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. >> clarence, why have all of these solid republicans with good representations and good reach, why have they said no? >> well, i think that the reasons initially were that barack obama incumbency would make him such a formidable candidate, and then later on as obama became weaker because of the continuing state of the

economy and all the troubles with congress, i think a lot of them don't want to run because the republican constituency is divided. you saw how rick perry, a darling of the right has been chewed up because he disagreed with the orthodox on two or three issues, and he still is more conservative than chris christie, so i don't blame chris christie for not wanting to get chewed up by the process, either. >> and given the horrendous state of the economy and the high level of unemployment, is there ever going to be a better moment for some of the candidates? >> i liken it to 2004, when this was kerry's election to lose. it was incredibly unpopular president, and the economy was not great, and kerry still found a way to lose it, and lose huge. so as ripe as the time is for conservatives to come in and win, obama is certainly beatable, and i think we could still lose and lose big. >> isn't the problem going back

to the third party idea, this tea party power, and actually somebody like george bush would not be welcomed given his position on a variety of issues like immigration, and medicare, and the prescription drugs program. would george bush be welcomed now? >> no. >> you don't think he would be? >> no. i was talking to a tea party organizer in florida, and she pinpointed the moment she was a tea party member was when bush started to bail out the banks. and there is blame for the state of the economy. >> tough road ahead. >> we're not making it easy. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks. >> pleasure. coming up, austerity programs hit "sesame street." d's college fund was getting expensive. man: yes it was. so to save some money, we taught our 5 year old how to dunk.

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next, we head to wall street. dissatisfaction with the fat cats is growing. stay with us. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain.

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the pock occupy wall street movement in manhattan is growing. what began with protester camping out in new york is now inspiring copy cat protests in boston, l.a., and chicago and beyond. an hour ago a coordinated walkout was coordinated at colle college campuses from coast-to-coast. and they are restating their case. the back drop, of course, a political discussion over class warfare, and who is at fault for such unequal wealth. presidential candidate, herman cain, suddenly surging in the republic kul field said today he thinks occupy wall street is a smoke screen from the left. >> i don't have facts to back this up, but i happen to believe that these demonstrations are

planned and oerchestrated to distract from the failed policies of barack obama, don't blame wall street or the big banks. if you don't have a job and not rich, blame yourself. >> compassionate conservatism is apparently not. and meanwhile, disparity and crippling income. >> they blame with some justification the problems in the financial sector forgetting us into this mess, and they are dissatisfied with policy response here in washington, and at some level i cannot blame them, certainly 9% unemployment and very slow growth is not a very good situation. >> not a very good situation, at all, mr. bernanke. a crisis no doubt driven by the sale of derivatives based upon the bundling of worthless mortgages, and that fueled the

crash of 2008. don't forget, bonus season is once again just around the corner. our next guest, a best-selling author, and his most recent book "boomerrang." we will get to the protest in a moment. you went as far as greece and iceland to examine the situation, of course. what did the tour of financial devastation tell you? >> the first thing is what interested me in doing this in the first place, because it was a pain in the neck to do. >> i bet. >> everybody experienced the same event, and it was banks disguising risk and making loans they never should have made to people all over the developed world. they presented the world with temptation. like being locked in a dark room with a pile of money. what do you want to do with it? every country got asked this country, and everybody responded

in a slightly different way, and some in a dramatically different way. i thought you can use money as a window into culture, that it's a way of looking at the societies, including our own. >> i was going to say the financial melt down according to you, was caused by easy money and greed and out right fraud. you seem to be suggesting that this was less institutional failure, and a more moral failing by individual people. >> both. i think in a properly functioning financial market, the banks have to act as brakes -- >> with rellations? >> yes. >> and the banks put the brake on the lending. in the relationship between borrower and lender if the lender is not the brake, the borrower will abuse the situation, and the banks did not do their job, and there was clearly institutional failure, and beneath the institutional

failure was no question about it, moral failure. the moral failure was a response to screwed up incentives basically. people were paid to make lots of bad loans. >> and therefore there was the preverse incentive which had people hiding certain deals, and the profitability of the trance acting of the deal was huge. >> yeah, to put it another way, the peoples' job who it was to evaluate the price risk in the financial world were paid to disguise risk. greece, to get into the euro, has to rig its books, and goldman sachs helps them to rig their books. an analysts in london writes a scathing report about the report. >> and every debate with the republicans, every single one of them is government intervention and regulations.

what we need to do is pair back the regulations. you and i know without those regulations, look at what happened in 2008. >> that is insane to say that it was a result of government regulations. it's true, it -- it is true to say in the u.s. mortgage market, the government didn't help matters, and fannie mae and f d freddie mac did not help matters, and the private sector was the core of the problem. and aspects of the private sector being regulated. and the problem we have now, we have the banks now that have been subsidized and gifted back into existence, and if you wanted to live by the law of the jungle, all of them would be out of business, and the government saved them, and what do they do once they are rescued? they skelch reform.

>> some people are saying they are sick and tired of what happened? >> i think it's the same thing that gave rise to the tea party. there's a sense of unfairness in the system, and it's true that it's unfair. i mean, that's why these things have legs. you can't have capitalism for everybody except the capitalists. the capitalists get socialism and get to keep the up side of what they do and if they screw up we all have to bail them out. that act of unfairness, i think, has sparked moral outrage. >> why has it taken three years for people to feel that deeply to walk out on the street? >> because people needed to feel the pain before they respond politically. young people thought i will hold my breath and it will pass and now it's not passing and they are angry and that anger will find political exspreshtion. >> you talk about political expression. we are in the middle of the campaign, and let's be frank, in

the middle of the campaign election, and perry has gathered donations worth $17 million. do you think money in the political process corrupted the very process? >> of course. that's obvious. >> when you say it's obvious, but none of the candidates say that, and they welcome the money as it flows in. >> no, it's horribly warping. the republican party, which had been quite hostile to wall street early on caved and saw there was an opportunity to get the wall street dollars away from the democrats and did everything they could to prevent reform. the people marching on wall street, i think they ought to do two things, say, they are going to make a list of candidates taking money from wall street interests and do what we can to get them defeated. you need to know who is taking money from the interests. the other thing they should say is it would be interesting if they said we will treat them like tobacco companies, or south african companies, investment in

the companies should be unacceptable. if you are on a college campus, ask if your endowment owns stock in goldman sachs, and if you disapprove with that let it be known. i think the movement could have some effect. >> you seem to be saying we lost complete faith in government to do anything about the huge banks, and it has to come from the grassroots. >> yes. >> from the people. >> yes, because it started with people, so yes. >> thanks, and congratulations on the big screen success of your best selling baseball book, "money ball." >> thank you. next, where veterans stand in the fight coming up. i can't enjoy my own barbecue with these nasal allergies. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nosebleed, and sore throat. i tossed those allergy symptoms out of my party.

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stocks have been weaving in

and out on signs of improvement. and tyler mathison has more. >> here is how the stocks are doing right now. as you will see, the dow industrials are higher by 135 points, and the standard & poor's up by 20 points, and that's 2% there, and the nasdaq come pausive, better than 2%, and that's good news. it was an uphill battle for the service sector last month eng spear experiencing a trend that suggests small gradual growth overall for the u.s. economy. and firms employ 90% of the u.s. workforce. kohl's department store is looking at more than 5% of last year's hires. back to you, martin. >> thank you, tyler. one in four children under

the age of 6 now lives in poverty. that statistic is not drawn from an african nation, but it applies to children living in america today. indeed, since the recession began over 2.5 million children go to bed under nourished, and "sesame treat" can no longer ignore it. meet the newest mum pet on the block, and her life story seems a world away from the normally happy times on the street. >> you don't even know whether you are going to have a next meal or not, that could be pretty hard. >> lilly will appear on a primetime special this sunday night, and it's called "growing hope against hunger," and its stated goal is to raise awareness of the epidemic that swept across the country. so as republicans in congress push to slash subsidies to cut

often employment benefits, perhaps they do well to change the channel just for a moment from fox news to pbs this sunday night. we're not recommending they leave any of them decline the dinner invitation of a wealthy lobbyist, no, all we suggest is to change the channel for a few minutes, because they will see the sad face of a hungry doll whose family does not have enough money to buy food, a fictional take on a factual reality for millions of children in modern american, and then they can go back to fox news and the finest ballenger that money can buy. we'll be right back.

the president's frustration with congress is hardly veiled these days. nearly five weeks after he rolled it out, do the-nothing congress has quite literally done little with the president's massive jobs bill. and with some 25 million americans unemployed, something has got to be done. think of one group the bill addresses. the millions of american men and women returned from battlefields in afghanistan and iraq, men and women for whom the unemployment rate is at a completely unacceptable 13.3%. that's more than 4% higher than the national rate. this has the president fired up. >> this bill gives tax credits to higher veterans, men and women who served our country with incredible honor, put their lives on hold and left their careers, left their families and risked their lives. they shouldn't have to fight to get a job when they come home. this job bill helps veterans.

republicans like to talk about job creators. they should actually help the job creators. let's get this jobs bill passed and they will actually get relief. >> specifically the president is proposing new incentives to the private sector, including a returning hero's tax credit that would give small businesses credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been unemployed six months or longer. that credit could jump to $9,600 if a business hires a wounded warrior. the president told a joint session of congress last month that the nation's veterans should not have to fight for jobs when they come home. still, that's exactly what they are doing. and the question is why isn't congress doing more about this issue. joining us now, democratic representative, loretta sanchez from california. good afternoon. >> thank you so much. >> she serves on the house armed services committee and joint economic committee, among others. the national legion national

commander recently said the president's jobs plan is in line with the legion's priorities to get veterans into decent jobs, so why doesn't john boehner support it. why doesn't eric cantor get behind this and get these veterans out to work. >> well, we've been pushing the republicans, especially in the house to take up the jobs bill or any other jobs bill that they can come up with because quite frankly in -- since they took over in january of this year, they have not put forward not a single jobs bill so we're very concerned about that, and in particular for our veterans. i mean, there are three categories for veterans. those who have some problems reinstating themselves into society. we're trying to take care of that with programs and helping the families understand that and secondly we have those who are going back to school and who are working very hard. i know i am, with my higher education institutions, to work

that new gi bill that we passed about 18 months ago and the third category are those who want to go and get a job but are having trouble finding one. >> we're talking about an employment level that's 4% higher than the national average. i mean, what -- what must people feel like when they come back from a battlefield like iraq or afghanistan where they have literally seen some of their colleagues die, their own lives have been threatened to the outer most and they come back and they can't find a job and the congress won't support a bill that the president has put before it. >> absolutely. and, in fact, these ladies and gentleman who come back are soldiers and seaman and airmen and marines. they have some incredible skill sets. i mean they have thought on their feet and learned to get up really early in the morning and worked long hours. learned a skill set in the military generally so figuring out how to apply that is one of the things that we're working

through, the community colleges and some of our business -- our work force development, and the main thing is we need to have help in putting these guys and gallons back to work. in my area we have top ceos of our biomedical and our medical devices companies that are working with me. they cannot believe that these people have put their life on the line and they come back and there's no job available to them. in fact, we're trying to put a consortium together of business leaders who will guarantee a job to a soldier or an airman, seaman or marine that comes back to orange county. that's how strongly we feel about it. >> there's a new pew poll that shows 33% of post- 9/11 vets say the rares in iraq and afghanistan were not worth it. 34% say it was worth it.

at the same time, these returning veterans, as we know, are facing a bleak jobs market. this feels like a double whammy for these men and women. >> well, you're talking to somebody who felt it was not the right thing to go into iraq and that we certainly should be out of there by now and out of afghanistan by now and that we need to spend that $3 billion we're spending over there here in america to create the schools and the opportunities for our own people. >> congresswoman loretta sanchez, i'm afraid we're out of time, but thank you so much. >> darn. okay, thank you. >> thank you. >> and it's now time to clear the air, and it seems that everyone is now embracing the presidency of the late ronald reagan, from republicans involved in that recent debate at the reagan library -- >> i strongly supported ronald reagan. >> under president reagan we'd have 12 million more jobs out there. >> to mr. obama himself speaking

yesterday at a college in texas where he told the story of a former president condemning a system of taxation which allowed millionaires to pay nothing but forced bus drivers to hand over 10% of their salary. >> you know who this -- who this guy was? wasn't a democrat. wasn't some crazy socialist. it was ronald reagan. it was ronald reagan. >> during the 1980s when that comment was made, president reagan believed that government and regulation were a hindrance to economic success. sounds familiar, doesn't it? and so he set about reducing taxes, deregulating the economy and privatizing government services. and it's now possible to look back and assess the effect of president reagan's policies. so here are the cold facts. between 1955 and 1970 the top marginal tax rate was a whopping

82.3%. between 1981 to 2010, this had come down to 39.3%. so if the orthodoxy is to be believed, growth must have gone up, right? not quite. between 1955 and 1970 it was 3.6%. but between 1981 and 2010 gdp had actually fallen to 2.8%. okay. well, if growth didn't quite measure up, unemployment must have gone down, right? no. between 1955 and 1970, the average unemployment rate was 4.9%. between 1981 and 2010, it had lept to 6.3%. so there's the evidence. the period between 1981 and 2010 with its much reduced tax rates and systematic reduction in the size of government had very little benefit for the overall economy.

in fact, economic growth actually declined and unemployment went up. and that's why if you're tempted to believe what eric cantor and john boehner seem to repeat on a daily basis, well, you'd be wise to read the latest book by one of this country's most decorated economists, dr. jeffrey sachs. here's his assess meant. the conclusion is really unmistakable. the rage anrevolution failed to put america back on its path of growth, high employment and shared prosperity. thank you very much indeed for watching. dylan ratigan is here, and he'll take us ford. dylan. >> thank you, so much. you going to come down to the park with me one of these nights? >> i actually went there just as an individual on saturday morning. >> oh, that's right. >> and i will join you at some point. >> fantastic. it's an interesting moment in time. thank you. >> i know that myself and a number of your colleagues and intied our viewers are