is that someone who doesn't have compassion. >> i like being able to fire people who give services to me. pay taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. >> is that someone that esn't have compassion? mitt romney did his very best to correct the record on whether he believes the health care mandate is a tax or a penalty. but this is mitt romney we're talking about so it came out like this. >> the supreme court has the final that obama care is a tack. so it's a tax. they decided it was constitutional. so it is a tax and it's constitutional. that's the final wd. so that's not exactly the final word. on monday, your campaign spokesman said that you, mitt romney, believe that it's not a tax, it's a penalty.

and now you're saying that the final word is that it's a tax. the mandate is a tax. so that must mean when you created health care in massachusetts, you created a tax. why would you want to say that? >> does that mean the mandate in the state of massachusetts under your health care law is also a tax and that you raised taxes as governor? >> well, if you're asking me, yeah, that's what romney's answer would mean. but you're asking mitt romney and he knows a difficult political question deserves an unfollowable answer. in his opinion made itery clear that at the state level, states have the power to put in mandates. they don't need to require them to be called taxes in order for them to be constitutional. and as a result, it was a mandate, it was a penalty described that way by the

legislature and by me.ey's budd street journal" said, it mak his campaign looked confused and politically dumb. while he was at it, mitt romney added this little lie. >> i made it clear throughout my campaign and while i was governor of massachusetts, the issue of the uninsured should be dealt with at the state level and each state can create their own solutions to meet the needs of their people. >> but in 2009, romney programmers had him saying this about how his massachusetts mandate was just a great idea for the whole country. >> the right way to proceed is to reform health care. that we can do as we did it in massachusetts, as bennett is proposing doing it at the national level. we can do it for the nation. >> and of course, widen bennett was proposing doing it at the national level with an individual mandate. the romney campaign response to

the healthcare ruling left the rupert murdoch wall street journal editorial board to conclude today, mr. romney promised republicans he was the best man to make the case against president obama whom they desperately want to defeat. so far, mr. romney is letting them down. and "the new york times" reports today, mr. murdoch has never been particularly impressed with mr. romney, friends and associates of both men say. he really wanted christie. he's one of mr. murdoch's friends. joining me now is krystal ball, the co-host of msnbc's "the cycle" and chris hayes, the host of "up with chris hayes" and the author of the new book "twilight of the elites, america off the ameritocracy." do you mind if i just sit here and read the book? talk amongst yourself. what did you think of the tax/penalty thing.

>> i thought it was fascinating for this reason. >> talk to her, i'm reading the book. >> here's what i thought was interesting. >> the entire book is a dissertation on the difference between a tax and a penalty. >> i'll be the background music. >> you be the bed as we say in the industry. here's why the tax thing is hilarious. conservatives have worked so hard to stigmatize those three letters and yet they haven't done anything to make it possible to run a government without revenue. and so we have seen throughout our political system from the federal level to the state and municipal system is defining taxes into fees. they jack up the fees on parking

or you're getting speeding tickets in the state of virginia for $900. and this cost shifting because the word itself t-a-x has become so toxic. >> and actually those user fees -- >> taxes and tax policy, page 145, page 200, 223, 227. go ahead. >> there pley there. in fact, what you're describing was a strategy that governor romney himself deployed to great effect when he was governor in massachusetts. in a single year, he raised over $500 million in quote, unquote, user fees, right? which actually not only could they very easily be called a tax but are quite aggressive a tax as well. you're charging people who are, you know, equally regardless of where they are, on the income scale. and he ran in the primary very much on the fact that he closed a budget deficit without raising taxes. not only does the whole penalty/tax issue call into question his health care program but also calls into question his whole user fee budget deficit

strategy. >> the other thing is, look, this is the kind of state that the republicans and conservatives wanted. what they wanted was they wanted a state in which we didn't actually provide public goods through universal provision, right? what they wanted was a state in which with eused incentives here and there. where we used the tax code and penalized and incentivized. that's what's become the mainstream of democratic policy as well. using the tax code, using insentives and penalties and now they're turning around as if this is some ridiculous notion. this is the model they created. >> you're distracting many e. i'm just reading about the tax reform act. it's one of my favorites. >> this thing, by the way, if you can work your way through what romney actually said, it's kind of sort of true in a constitutional way. we have 51 constitutions in this country.

50 state constitutions, one, you know, federal. and some of these state tunes like massachusetts provide in the constitution very broad power for the state legislation to enact things in the general welfare and they don't need the massachusetts constitutional power to tax to ground it, or they don't even have a commerce clause, obviously. and so, i mean, there's a law school class in which there's a point to be made. he's trying to make. but i an, you can't possibly sell that. >> this is the thing that's always so bizarre about the argument both -- >> you're just looking at your book -- >> it's distracting. >> it's beautiful. >> it's like a picture of your body. >> i could be holding up a picture of your kid or the book cover. >> i would definitely look at my beautiful daughter. this is always what's so bizarre about the argument about it as it worked through the courts.

the reason we've hit this point, right, where we're having this bizarre philosophy of language debate about what is or is not a tax is that the structure of the thing was always clear. it was a penalty that was collected through the irs. >> right. >> and in massachusetts, the way you comply with the mandate is you attach to your massachusetts income tax return -- >> of course. >> a copy that certifies that you have your health insurance and then they figure out how much tax you owe or don't owe. >> are the american people and owners generally going to grasp the intricacies of the constitutional tax/penalty difference? no. are they going to listen to what romney is saying and say that guy is full of it? absolutely. he's trying to be wherever he can in a squishy way that's more politically advantageous. that voters get. >> or are they going to waste any more news cycles -- >> i hope so.

>> i really liked the outsourcing versus offshoring. that was a good thing for them to argue about. >> what's going on with mr. murdoch? this has become very -- >> this is a man with strong opinions. i just wish there was some place he could share them. the guy is on twitter like every other frustrated news junkie who -- >> and he's australian. >> no, he's actually got his citizenship here now. >> i just think it's funny that people forget he's not actually from this country but obviously has such a dramatic influence and clearly strong views. >> and it turns out "the wall street journal" doesn't like all this jet ski stuff that romney is doing. they're saying look, you're looking exactly like john kerr out there, doing the rich guy water sports just when they're painting you as the out of touch rich guy. >> a, they're right about that. and b, they -- >> jet skis are so uncool, first of all. they're out of touch. >> i like jet skis.

i have to disagree with you there. jet skis are fun. >> we're going to have a nautical design disagreement here. >> here's the thing about this editorial. you know, the cheapest, like -- the cheapest words in the language are backseat campaign advice. the easiest thing in the universe to do is to write 800 words about what a campaign should be doing. you see it on the left, you see it on the right. the obama campaign is a disaster and everyone freaks out. campaigns are hard to run and also they take place over a long peod of time. there's a certain degree where people watching campaigns unfold have a much itchier trigger finger than the people actually running those campaigns. >> krystal if the held's angels had boats, they would be jet skis. >> thank you. i appreciate that. is that a point in my favor or a point against? >> i think i just won the whole jet ski argument.

>> so you're saying that makes him lame? >> yeah. >> i think that makes him cool. >> now we're having another debate. now we' deferred to the held's angels debate as we deferred the mandate debate to a tax debate. >> were you going to say something about romney? i was going to say something about the obama campaign. about a month ago we were having all these machinations about the obama campaign, they weren't doing a good job, they didn't have a big economic plan, what that's ire vision? and now suddenly we've shifted to the other side and there's a lot of hand wringing going on the republican side. job numbers could change the narrative yet again. >> the only thing that's changed, fundamentals remain the same. some of the negative ads appear like they're working but that's it. the landscape remains more or less the same. >> although, given how close the race is, that's significant. >> jet ski enthusiast krystal ball. that's your introduction for the rest of the time.

>> perfect, i love pit. >> and author chris hayes, thanks for joining me tonight. coming up, mitt romney and his money. where he's hiding it and indications that he has much more of it than we may have thought. ezra klein, karen finney and i will all try to count mitt rom flee's money. and crazy joe walsh is back in the rewrite tonight. since crazy joe never found the time or courage to serve in the military, he now considers it unfa that his opponent actually did. and he is attacking iraq war vet and double amputee tammy duckworth for not trying to hide the fact from voters that she served in the military. i know this sounds crazy. but this is crazy joe walsh we're talking about here. crazy joe is back in the rewrite tonight. nnounc er ] think your kids are getting a dependable clean in the bathroom? [ gasps ] think again. try charmin ultra strong for a clean with fewer pieces left behind. its diamondweave texture is soft and more durable

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the obama battleground bus rolled into ohio where unemployment is going down and

the obama poll numbers are going up. that's coming up. and crazy joe walsh is back in the rewrite tonight. we'll find out in november just how much the illinois eighth district likes crazy. that's in the rewrite. [ male announcer ] this the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers.

the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. >> i'm betting on you and the country is betting on you, ohio. because you understand that even though politics may seem real small right now, the choice in this election could not be clearer. and it could not be bigger. the stakes could no be the bigger. >> you can do it! >> i hope. >> that's president obama today on his two-day bus tour of ohio and pennsylvania.

the president arrived in ohio today with a nine-point lead in the latest quinnipiac poll. the obama campaign obviously believes talking about mitt romney's job record has helped them build that lead. >> governor romney's experience has been in owning companies that were called pioneers of outsourcing. that's not my phrase. pioneers of outsourcing. my experience has been in saving the american auto industry. and as long as i'm president, that's what i'm going to be doing, waking up every single day thinking how we can create more jobs for your families and more security for your communities. >> mitt romney spent two of his vice presidential auditionners to follow the bus tour and take their best shots. >> he's dubbing his tour the betting on america tour. of course, we should all bet on

america, but we shouldn't double down on barack obama. >> you want good paying jobs in ohio and a growing economy in america? we need to elect mitt romney. >> mitt romney for his part spent the day enjoying one of the toys that outsourcing has earned him. a horrendous floating speedboat. joining us now, correspondent for "the nation" and msnbc contributor and anna-marie cox. "the wall street journal" is upset with how much time on the water mitt is spending, comparing him to john kerry out there wind surfing. there's mitt out on the lake with his rich guy toys. even "the wall street journal" thinks big mistake. >> it's strange. mitt romney has not shied away from endorsing and making even more clear the distance between him and, like, aormal american.

he makes these mistakes all the time. and, in fact, i guess it's sort of part of his argument, you know, that he is a wealthy businessman and he got to be wealthy because he was a successful businessman and it's a successful businessman that can save us. but it's the obama campaign that's pointing out business people put us in this position now. >> let's listen to the way the president is campaigning in ohio >> let me tell you, it is going to make the vast majority of americans more secure. we will not go back to the days when insurance companies could discriminate against people just because they were sick. we're not going to tell 6 million young people who are on their health insurance plans that suddenly they don't have health insurance. we're not going to allow medicare to be turned into a voucher system.

now is not the time to spend four more years refighting battles we fought two years ago. now is the time to move forward and make sure that every erican has affordable health insurance and that insurance companies are treating them fairly.oving forward. >> ari, it seems like the republican insistence on repealing the whole thing has allowed at president a position on this that is really convenient for the campaign. he just is rattles off a few things that are in the bill and says you don't want them to take that away. that seems to be the most effective way he's found to campaign with this as a tool. >> that's right. he didn't use the terminology that the politicos use about the affordable care act or tax or mandate. he talked about what's in the bill. he talked about people being on their parents' plans. he talked about the by that you are protected against companies that might want to discriminate against you for their own health situation.

it also shows what's gone on with the right. they don't know how to win anymore. they got a commerce clause rule that they've been seeking for 25 years. but they can't celebrate it because they got a nominee that's for the obama plan that's for more or less. because they didn't get everything they wanted, the chief justice said he did something constitutional here, they're sort of cracking and the president gets to spotlight what people like about this. >> most of us don't live in the battleground states so we're going to have to show you the campaign commercials here. let's take a look at what the obama campaign is running in the battleground states on outsourcing. >> what a president believes matters. mitt romney's companies were pioneers in outsourcing u.s. jobs to low wage countries. he supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. president obama believes in in-sourcing.

he fought to save the auto industry and favors tax companies for companies that bring jobs home. outsourcing versus in-sourcing. it matters. >> in the past you've had these kinds of issues for tax breaks for sending jo bs overseas. but this candidate is a personal profiteer from this kind of thing in his past, which makes it just so much more strange for romney to have to deal with. >> it is. and this is, you know, the trap of running on your resume, which actually i believe "the wall ph. mitt romney runs on his biography. what if your biography tracks the very sort of disasters that occurred in the american economy and that people feel personally. and that people feel personally. i think the outsourcing or in-soues or off shoring,

whatever that was. who doesn't know someone or some family or some community that hasn't been affected by this. and look, we have someone to blame. it's not a faceless corporation. it's mitt romney. >> and according to page 1 of the wall street journal, the most unoutsourceable job in america is hairdresser. because you can't go overseas. >> where are you going to go? >> that's one thing i learned today. >> look at the pennsylvania poll, president obama is at 45, mitt romney is at 39. looks like the president does need to go to pennsylvania to try to push up that lead. >> pennsylvania is closer than the obama folks expected. when you talk to them about the bus tour, i spoke to some people in chicago this week. they said we're just out here. they don't want to let on but it shouldn't be that close there. ohio is very strong, not only in the polling but it's a state where the president has sent more than romney. you go out and try to get local presence.

not just "the wall street journal" or national media carping. barack obama has had more press pensions than mitt romney every single day. tomorrow will be another day like that. >> thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> coming up, where is mitt romney's money? finally reporters are doing some real digging. we'll tell you what they have found next. ezra klein and karen finney join me. and lies of crazy joe walsh are back in the rewrite tonight. this time he's lying about his campaign opponent tammy duckworth. and while he's at it, he's lying about one of his heroes, john mccain. that's in "the rewrite." [ male announcer ] before you take it on your road trip... we take it on ours. this summer put your family in an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz now for an exceptional price during the summer event.

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>> it was malia's birthday yesterday. she's 14 years old. i know, it happens too fast. don't even remind me. she's going into high school next year, which means that she's -- see, when she was small, i could say all these fireworks i had arranged for her birthday. but she doesn't believe me anymore. >> it turns out yesterday's fireworks for lucia mercedes kumar who came into the world weighing one pound, seven ounces.

and tonight, she's watching her very first edition of "the last word" th her mother, a cherished friend of the show and an msnbc contributor. she's also a director for voto latino. okay, lucia, you can go back to sleep now. let mom get some rest. go ahead. coming up, joe walsh is desperate. he's ranked as the third most likely member of the house of representatives to lose his seat. that has made crazy joe crazier than ever and landed him back in tonight's "rewrite." and next, newt gingrich warned republicans that mitt romney's offshore money and offshore business dealings would be trouble, which proves that you didn't have to be a political genius to see this coming. chasing mitt romney's money is coming up next.

in the spotlight tonight, where is mitt romney's money?

it's a question we've been asking on this program for months. >> well, where is your money? is it parked offshore and how much of it have you not yet paid taxes on? i really think the most important question is, how much of that money went offshore without ever being taxed. did you make use of offshore vehicles in order to defer or not pay taxes? >> these are very important questions. and i think there is now a challenge to the media in the questions you just outlined. >> this week, that challenge is being answered by "vanity fair" and the associated press, both which published investigative reports, particularly a corporation wholly owned by w. mitt romney. it was transferred to a blind trust owned by ann romney, the day before her husband was sworn in as massachusetts governor in 2003.

it was not listed on his federal financial disclosure forms. we only know about it because of the one tax return mitt romney has released from 2010, and even "vanity fair" concedes after examining this return, we have no idea what is in this company. meanwhile, mitt romney is taking the week after from stumping about economic woes to vacation at his $10 million estate on a lake in new hampshire, much to the horror of the wall street journal editorial board, which today says, the obama campaign is assailing mr. romney as an out of touch rich man and the rich man obliged by vacationing this week at his lake side home with a jet ski cameo. joining me now karen finney. this is a key line from the

"vanity fair" piece. it said romney failed to list this bermuda entity on several financial disclosures, even though such a closely held entity would not qualify as an accepted investment fund that would not need to be on his disclosure forms. so karen finney, there's mitt romney hiding his money offshore and then hiding on disclosure forms that he's hiding his money offshore. >> that's exactly right. here's the problem. if you put these stories together with what david korn reported last week, the picture that emerges is clearly he has something to hide. on the jo it side, you say well, what are you hiding? the evidence seems to mount. and the campaign has no answers. in fact, as we've seen, we're cutting and pasting the same

answer to everything. and at some point that's just not going to cut the mustard. at some point they're going to have to be more forthcoming with all the questions you've been pointing out for several weeks now. >> ezra, we have a big board graphic here, map of the world, with some locations we know where romney's money is. all but germany have question marks on them because we actually have no idea how much money is in those places. we've never seen a candidacy like this. is there some mature reasonable way that a good candidate could explain this? >> well, it's interesting, banking with carmen san diego doesn't happen much, i agree with that. but romney has explained it in this way. it is legal. there might be gray areas.

>> a lot of things are legal. >> this is get into a broad problem for the romney campaign. it's legal what he did with the tack money. and it's legal to make a lot of money with companies, loading them up with debt, taking a dividend out and closing them down. but nobody has to like you for it. nobody has to want you to be their president. nobody has to think you're a good guy. you're allowed to make a bunch of money without getting a moral trophy at the end of it. the problem they're having is success isn't enough for people. people want to see values identified there, too. and when you've taken advantage of every single loophole in the tax code, people begin to think, you know, that's not what i would do. >> and "the washington post" quoted a tax expert, and an offshore tax expert describing romney's stuff as just weird, that's from a guy who understands it all. this guy has been running for president his entire life. his father said to him, gave the

advice, get rich before you run toresident, you'll be able to afford it, you won't have to worry about money anyway. he got very, very, very rich. but there's ways to get rich in this country where you don't have this problem. you can get very rich without parking it all offshore. >> well, that's exactly right. but here's what i think is the challenge for democrats. and there's two things. number one, to continue to press these questions. number two, we've got to connect this for voter back to why it matters to them. so tomorrow when those job numbers come out, when mitt romney's campaign is attacking president obama and this economy, we need to be able to finish that circle and say well, look, when you've got people, those one percenters like mitt romney extracting resources from this country, hiding it offshore, those are resources that are not being reinvested into company, they're not being used to increase wages, and those are also tax resources that are not going back into firefighters, police, teachers. i mean, i think we've got to really give people, connect those dots for people, because i

think too many accept that one percenters, that's going to be a bit of corruption. even if it's legal, you know, sort of different set of rules, but how does it affect you is what people want to know. >> i want to get my quote right about this washington lawyer. it was actually in the "vanity fair" piece. he says a full 55 pages of his 2010 pack return are devoted to reporting his transactions with foreign entities. what romney does not get says jack blum, a veteran lawyer and offshore expert is that this stuff is weird. and ezra, this is the sensation that i'm getting from romney in romney world is they don't think there's anything strange about this. >> this is what i can't figure out for the life of me. romney's father started the tradition of releasing 12 years of tax returns. so far, mitt romney has only released one.

three years ago, four years ago, five years ago when he knew he would be running for president again, why did he not clone this up. why did he not move them on shore and release two years of tax return where everything is simple. there's a level of arrogance for that. and i just can't figure out why some political consultant or he himself thinks let's just make this not a problem for me going forward. >> that's part of the out of touch thing. he's out of touch with real politic ps. in 1994, when he ran for the senate in massachusetts, from that year forward, everyone around romney should have said hey, let's get the tax return squeaky clean. >> karen, go ahead. >> it's also a very corporate ceo mentality that doesn't acknowledge there's an accountability to the rest of us.

i don't have to show you that. i'll show you to the letter of the law, but those who are voting for, you're accountable to them, too. >> ezra klein and karen finney, thanks very much for joining me tonight. some conservatives actually keep insulting young voters saying that the voting age should be raised, which the obama campaign hopes just might help drive some young voters to the polls to vote democratic. that's coming up. and next, tea party republican congressman joe walsh's attacks on his opponent for being an iraq war veteran land him in tonight's "rewrite." this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars.

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joe walsh managed to sneak into congress for the district of illinois with 48.5% of the vote. he continues to do everything he possibly can to make everyone who voted for him deeply embarrassed for having done so. crazy joe cannot speak without a, sounding crazy and b, lying here he is doing both while attacking his challenger, a

gravely wounded iraq war veteran who's now a double amputee. >> i want you to understand something about john mccain. his political advisers day after day had to take him and almost throw him against a wall and hit him against the head and say senator, you have to let people know you served. you have to talk about what you did. he didn't want to do it, wouldn't do it. day after day they had to convince him. and finally he talked a little bit about it, but it was very uncomfortable about him. that's what's so noble about our heros. i'm running against a woman who my god, that's all she talked about. our true heroes, it's the last thing in the world they talk about. that's why we are so indebted and in awe of what they have done.

>> now, i know a lot of you are probably surprised to learn that john mccain served in the military. maybe, you know, a couple of you saw this mccain for president tv ad. >> it was a time for uncertainty, hope and change. the summer of love. half a world away, another kind of love, of country. john mccain, shot down, tortured offered early release, he said no. he had sworn an oath. beautiful words cannot make our lives better. but a man who always put our country and people before self, before politics can. don't hope for a better life. vote for one. >> so yeah, crazy joe was lying about john mccain never talking about everybody serving in vietnam. john mccain has talked about it publicly many times, he's written about it in books and has used his military service very prominently in every

campaign he's ever run for decades. no campaign adviser has ever had to talk john mccain into using his military service as a campaign advantage. and crazy joe was also lying about tammy duckworth when he says that her military service is, quote, all she talks about. >> when her father lost his job, tammy duckworth's family had to rely on food stamps to get by, but she waitressed her way through college. tammy found jobs for veterans in a tough economy. she'll fight extremism to protect medicare and end tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. >> i'm tammy duckworth and i approve this message because a little perseverance goes a long way. >> the duckworth ad talks about the military service much less than mccain ad.

crazy joe has had time to reconsider his crazy lies about tammy duckworth and do one of those phony, well, what i meant to say kind of correctives. but remember, crazy joe really is crazy. so here he is today on cnn. >> this wasn't a slip-up. i don't gret anything i said. >> of course. it doesn't feel like a slip-up to crazy joe. crazy joe's whole life is a slip-up. now, pardon me while i have a word with the voters of illinois's eighth congressional district. you have a choice coming up in november, and there's a lot we can say between now and then about the difference between crazy joe and tammy duckworth on the issues, the difference between house republicans and house democrats on the issues. there's a lot we could say about

qualifications for office of the candidates, including military service and bravery in combat. but before you evaluate any of those things, the threshold question you face in the illinois eighth is, do you really want to vote for a crazy person? again? [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing. ♪ zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. as her family pulled out of the driveway, this isn't just a teddy bear. it's a step towards normal. it's why allstate catastrophe teams didn't just arrive

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>> on this january night at this defining moment in history, you have done with the cynics said we couldn't do.

>> that was senator barack obama in january of 2008 thanks his young supporters after winning the iowa caucus. by november of that year, young people overwhelmingly helped the obama campaign beat the mccain campaign 66% voted for president obama versus just 32% for senator mccain. a 34-point spread. only 60% of young people are actually registered to vote, and of those registered, only 56% say will definitely vote in november. a new nonprofit campaign called i vote hopes to re-energize the youth vote and get them back to the polls with videos like this one. >> a woman comes forth with this hilarious claim that she's having is so much sex. what does that make her? >> if it's an honest rape, i

would give them a shot of estrogen. >> do you think the supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? yes, i do. >> it simply says ultra sounds will be given to the woman to decide what she should do. i believe this is something that helps the dignity of woman. >> what does that make her? it makes her a slut. >> joining me now, one of the co-founders of the i vote campaign and jessica sanders who directed the video. is there a singlish smu, a number one issue that appeals to the youth vote? and is it reproductive right as highlighted in the video?

>> i think it's a number of issues. if you have to pick one, economy is up at the top. but equality is certainly high on that list as well. i honestly don't think with today's youth you can look at just one issue. i think the reality is it's a number of things. >> jessica, it's a very powerful video and you're up against some powerful stuff. just yesterday i saw a rerun of i think it was a 2004 south park episode ridiculing voting and saying, you know, there's no good reason to vote, you just have two bad choices to make, why make those choices. so it's not just a kind inertia. you're up against "south park" how do you fight "south park"? >> we just wanted to basically make a spot that was really empowering young people to vote. we believe there's a current attack against women's rights and women's reproductive health and through this video really inspiring people to, you know,

vote. i think we do have a choice. and if you don't, other people are going to make those choices on your behalf. and we really want people to know what their choices are and to inspire them to get out there and vote. >> what about the new voter registration laws and the attempt around the country to limit who's going to have access to the polls? a lot of these voters live in one state, they go to college in another state. they sometimes have confusion about where they should be voting. >> it's certainly an issue and points to the broader problems we have right now. when you look at the current culture with young people, we -- we're not moving at their speed. we need to be moving at the speed social media travels. i think one of the issue with all the various laws that there's so much confusion among

young people as to what they can and can't do, it results in this apathy. there was a great piece in "the new york times" earlier this week that highlighted a lot of the issues young people dealing with right now. the fact that 818 and 19-year-olds don't have an opportunity to find jobs right now is an issue. things like that are what makes it tough to engage. get tonight's last word. > will mitt romney's flip flop? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish. leading off tonight, the individual mandate is a tax. that's the word according to

mitt romney who reversed course and contradicted his own campaign. romney's shift puts him in line with his party which hasn't exactly been happy with his flat footed response. and if it is a tax, does that mean romney raises his taxes in his plan in massachusetts? according to romney, not exactly. we'll get to his verbal gymnastics at the top of the program. meanwhile, president obama is on a bus tour through ohio and pennsylvania. can he make inroads among those working class voters? and speaking of those voters, how will they respond to the new reports of romney's extensive offshore bank accounts? does romney have an image problem? and a florida life guard loses his job for trying to help save a swimmer's life. we'll ask him what happened. and finally, what went wrong at this fourth of july celebration in san diego? all of the fireworks exploded at the same time making for a bombastic but brief display.