nearly 23 million jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history and plenty of millionaires to boot. >> the president naturally predicted the response of one multimillionaire as he smacked down the republicans' cry that all the tax cuts must be extended.y ied it their way. it didn't work. the wealthy got wealthier. but most americans struggled. so we don't need more top down economics. we tried that theory. we've seen what happens. >> speaking of which, mitt romney was busy enjoying the rarefied airs in aspen, colorado. he did respond to the move in a radio sper view on the john frederick show. >> what the the president's proposing is therefore a massive tax increase on job creators and on small business. small businesses are overwhelmingly being taxed not at a corporate rate, but at the

individual tax rate. that will be another kick in the gut to the middle class in america. >> right, so a tax cut is another kick in the gut to the middle class. okay, if you say so, mr. romney. but the president did pick a choice moment with today's statement just as romney and friends seemed to be staging their own version of lifestyles of the rich and famous. today, romney is taking his caravan up to aspen after leaving his lake side estate to hobnob in the hamptons on sunday. yes, there was a $50,000 per person fund-raiser at the college of david koc hrk. with protesters storming the beach, but it was those occupying the range rovers awaiting entry who offered some of the most arresting and boldly

transparent stements like one patron who spoke to the l.a. times, quote, i don't think the common person is getting it. we've got the message. but my college kid, the babysitte babysitters, the nails ladies, everybody who's got the right to vote, they don't understand what's going on. i just think if you're lower income, one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works. >> somewhere, a nails lady is prepping an exfoliater with a cuticle stick for revenge. kristen welker joins us from the white house. the president was clear that extending these tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 means that 98% of citizens and 97% of small business owners would quality. so does this mean that a bill is

likely to be brought before the senate or house in the near future? >> reporter: i just spoke with an aide on the hill who says they anticipate majority leader reid will bring this bill forward. when you speak to republicans in the house, they say they are not going to bring to bill to the floor. they cite those numbers. the 97% of businesses that would be impacted by this and say they agree with that number. however, they say 940,000 small businesses would still see an increase in their taxes, so they are painting this as an increase on small businesses. they say the bill they will bring to the house floor will extend the bush era tax cuts for all americans. jay carney was asked about this today. he was firm about the fact that the president would veto such a bill, so this is gearing up to be an election year battle and it didn't look like a lot of legislation is going to get passed. >> thank you so much. let's get right to our panel now

in here in new york, msnbc political analyst, joan walsh, editor for salon.com and ana marie cox and at the white house, msnbc contributor, jonathan capehart. they're sharing a camera with kristen. joan, i have to begin with you. your column today lays out an exquisite contrast between this event on sunday and then the president today standing up for 98% of americans. >> right. >> is that the kind of optics that the president was seeking to play today? >> it's perfect. it was perfect for him, martin. if i wrote a script for say bill burton at priorities u.s.a. and i had that woman say that common people don't get it and talk dismissively about the nail

ladied and babysitters and lower educated people, he would tell me to take that somewhere else. it would be over the top. too much. but that was what was said and you had other ridiculous things being said and you just had the range rovers and ferraris and people shouting out, we are vip. so, you know, it was a blow of the romney electorate and the people he will work for. >> and the contrast today with the president standing up for 97%. >> the way he does with those people in the background, sharing stories, admitting that he's rich. he's a rich guy now. he doesn't deserve this tax cut. personalizing it the way he did, this is what the campaign is going to come down to. i think it was a very good day for the president. >> we should give mitt romney credit shouldn't we? because with the higher reaches of the bush tax cut, he really

is fighting to protect the top 2% of earners now, so he's expanding his base a little, you have to agree. i think romney may be aware of that. here's virtual trouble remembering exactly. i think it's important to point out that even if the obama plan goes through, it's not like wer going to be doing a lot for quality in the america which has been increasing since the '70s. but no one wants to talk about that part of the argument. >> indeed. >> john, do you think that republicans realize that grover norquist has led them out on a limb here because a bloomberg poll found that almost 7 in 10 americans favor raising taxes on those earning more than a quarter million. >> right, but you have a bunch

of people on capitol hill who are enthralled of a primary challenge coming from the right and a lot of people on the hill are far right. you can only imagine the kind of challenge they would get if they did not adhere to the pledge to never raise taxes ever at any point. and this other thing to keep in mind, the president's trying to keep the middle class tax cuts in place and one of the reasons why he wants to do that, one, bring relief to the middle class, but also, this was all caught up in the conversation about reducing the deficit. if you look at the total cost of those bush tax cuts for everyone, you could wipe out a good chunk of the deficit this country has. >> indeed. joan, romney is hitting the president for not understanding how the private economy works. take a listen to this piece of sound first. >> do you believe that the president really understands the economy from the private sector

position? >> you know, i'm afraid the president having never had a job in the private economy just doesn't understand the kind of difficulty it is to start a business, to grow a business, to decide to hire people, wring them on board and to train them. to take the risk associated with expanding an enterprise. >> okay, now, just for a moment, joan, there's something important missing because i want you to take a listen to something he said just last month. >> of course he's out of touch. he's out of touch in part because he never had the experience in working in the private sector and seeing what it takes to start a small business, how a bz decides to grow, when they decide to send jobs overseas. >> he's no longer saying that the president doesn't know when the ship jobs overseas, so i guess he's learning something. >> the president's got to welcome this, martin, that it's

coming back to the ib of i have this private sector experience. that brings it back to bain capital, to all the messaging about bain's outsourcing. back to the ways that mitt romney made his millions and that's a good place for the president. you know, we had this scene of weak kneed democrats a couple of months ago saying stay away from bain, but we are seeing in the swing states, these message about the way he made his money, about bain capital and about offshoring really resognate with voters. if mitt romney's going to go back to that as his argument, i know how to create jobs because i've been in the private sector, that brings the president back to bain. >> do you agree with that, that this territory is now favorable for the president because mitt romney is such a mystery. not just with his own personal financial investments and activities, when he talks about himself as a job creator, that whole story has been sullieded because u there was no job creation. wealth creation. >> i totally agree, actually.

i think maybe we're going to see something happen with the romney campaign where it just starting to feel like a disaster. i remember covering the kerry campaign in 2004 and there was just sort of this sense that things were going wrong and you couldn't quite stop it because the narrative got away from people. this what happened in during his vacation is just mind blowingly appropriate if you want to paint him as an out of touch rich guy. you couldn't script it better. >> stay with us. you're too good to let go. next, why are republicans so upset about calls for mitt's tax returns? maybe because it's working. >> nobody knows why he has a corporation in bermuda, why he failed to disclose that on seven different financial disclosures. why he transferred it the day before he became governor of massachusetts. building pass, corporate card, verizon 4g lte phone.

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now to mitt romney's mystery money and the republican candidate facing a fresh volley of attacks on his hidden funds, offshore account and the failure to release his tax runs. >> ask themselves why does an american business man need a swiss bank account? >> i've never known of a swiss bank account to build a american bridge. >> either to conceal what you're doing or you believe the swiss frank is stronger than the american dollar. >> this is the guy who's slogan is believe in america.

it should be business bermuda. >> jonathan, i have to ask you, why would a presidential candidate have a multi-million dollar swiss bank account, stash millions in grand cayman and have a 15-year investment in a company in bermuda? >> well, it is out of the ordinary. we've had wealthy candidates run for president before. >> not talking about wealth. >> i know. i know. and we're not suggesting that mitt romney's has done anything illegal. however, the problem that mitt romney has is that he has not been able to explain why he's done these things and why he feels it's appropriate as a presidential candidate to have his money overseas rather than in banks here at home and also, why won't he release his tax returns so people can know and understand that how he has made his wealth is done in ways that the american people view is proper. that's different than illegal or

unethical, but if it's proper. >> do you understand that this only leads to greater suspicious because when someone wit holds information, because start making assumptions. >> we're going to be having this conversation, today, tomorrow and until mitt romney decides he wants to give all the information that people have been asking for. >> joan, i want to read you a defense by one of mitt romney's representatives. his spokeswoman. she released a statement saying the obama campaign's latest unfounded character assault on mitt romney is unseamingly and disgusting. mitt romney had a successful career in the private sector and has given to chart charitable organizations. the point is trarnz parnsy.

>> and also, i think the question is we have been talking about this for months. >> i've read your pieces about it. >> and i continue to be shocked they didn't anticipate this in the first place and that then once they became available that we would have this information about the cayman islands and bermudas and where ever else they may turn out to be and it is the fact that four years ago, he did run for president. the right wing talks about obama was embedded. because this stuff didn't come out and i think it was also a measure of the way we are focused on income inequality, taxation. we are focused on the way the american economy was hollowed out and mitt romney is in a world of pain because he's got to answer for things he never had to before. >> it got quite heated on

"morning joe" this morning. take a listen to this. >> are you suggesting that mitt romney's guilty of some kind of felony here? >> what i'm suggesting is nobody has any idea because the only person with a the tax returns is mitt romney. >> all he needs to do is release his tax returns. but he doesn't want to. >> his long form tax returns i hope. i wish the right would just get sort of half excited about this as they did about obama's birth certificate. it's mitt romney you have a better case for not being an american citizen considering how much money he has stashed outside america. but of course, we're not going to have that discussion. i do wonder about his team sometimes. as you know, other than rupert murdoch sort of cast some doubts about them this weekend. one looks at this campaign like joan said and one has to wonder like how far in the future they

were really thinking. does the man have so much money that he just looses track of it the way some lose track of change? it's baffling, the way that he behaves sometimes and the way this campaign behaves sometimes. >> thanks so much for joining us today. next, enough already. chris christie is not going to be vice president. you can forget about it. >> listen to how chris christie decided to handle her. >> really? you know, some may go down tonight, but it ain't going to be jobs, sweetheart.

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make no mistake, chris christie is among this country's most popular republicans. he enjoys the kind of every man appeal that mitt romney can only dream about, but in one sweltering week since saying he'd welcome a vice presidential call, the only certainty is this. mr. christie will not be mr. romney's running mate. one sweltering week in which the new jersey governor seemed to bask in berating a quote unquote idiot who dared ask an off topic question. one steamny stretch in which the ice cream in his hand failed to cool his temper. you're a real big shot, the governor shouted down. his very own jersey shore moment. education we know is a sensitive topic for mr. christie. who could forget this response when asked about his children's

private schooling? >> you know first off, it's none of your business. i don't ask you where you send your kids to school. don't bother me about where i send mine. >> but the real reason he will not be mitt romney's running mate is not his short temper. it's his sheer honesty, which was summed up today. >> can't lead by being a mystery, an enigma. you can't lead by being aloof. you can't lead by being programmed. >> a mystery. and enigma. aloof. programmed. a perfect if uncomfortable description of mitt romney himself. and with that, mr. christie, your countdown to 2016 has just begun. stay with us. the's top lines are coming up. whoa.

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from the offshore bank accounts to political end fighting, here are today's top lines. the vacation's over. >> why should i continue to allow barack obama to dodge the bus. >> it was trapped in the ditch with three flat tires. >> hey. >> mitt romney wants to take that bus made in switzerland. ♪ >> it's time to let the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans like myself to expire. >> as candidate for person who pays for taxes than he owes. >> he has a shell corporation. ♪ >> out of touch. >> hey, how many of y'all --

>> i am delighted to take a vacation with my fam lew. >> we traveled the country on greyhound buses, howard johnson. if there was a pool, i'd jump in. >> barack obama is holding his own and if i were in the romney campaign, that would worry me. >> who are you? >> there's a lot to love about mitt romney. but the election still is going to be a referendum on obama's policies. >> fire barack obama and hire mitt romney. >> are you suggesting that mitt romney is guilty of some kind of te felony? >> release the tax returns. if mitt romney's not hiding something in bermuda -- >> i pay all the taxes legally required and not a dollar more. karen finney, jared bernstein is the former economic adviser to the vice president and msnbc

contributor and dr. james peterson, an associate professor, good afternoon to all of you. jared, if i can start with you. can you help us understand these 501 c4s? they're what allow corporations and billionaires to donate money with complete secrecy because the the tax code says groups like karl rove's cross roads gps are social welfare organizations. that's ridiculous, isn't it? >> it is. that social welfare becomes political war far awfully quick. quite hard to come up with these examples because you're right, the disclosure is minimal. but what examples we have are phony political ads for example. ginned up to character assassinate various people running for office. i've worked for non-profit organizations, many of which are

dedicated to -- >> education. indeed. >> information on education, poverty, things like that. >> did they spend 25 million hammering a candidate? >> never in my career has anything like that happened. >> karen, the "huffington post" is now reporting that karl rove was the featured speaker at a luncheon hosted by tag romney's private equity firm. rove reportedly talked about super pac strategy but says i'm quoting, the event was unconnected. now we have this situation involving rove and tag. do you believe any of this? >> of course, martin. i'm sure it was pure coincidence and they followed the letter of the law. of course. here's the problem. they probably did follow the letter of the law, but that

shows you how flimsy the law is. technically, they can call themselves social welfare organizations, but there's not a clear definition of what that is. so while we're trying to figure that out, they can still spend money on their campaigns. these laws are very complicated, very flimsy. unfortunately, most americans don't understand the difference and who gets to do what and all of the campaigns and the corporations, the laws come right up to that line. mitt romney as a featured guest as some of the pac events, which is also legal. >> james, the center for responsive politics says that during the 2010 sirk l, social organizations outspent super pacs by a 3-2 margin, but

they're spen iing their money o vicious attack ads. how is that social welfare? >> we thought citizens united was a terrible decision in that super pacs were a loophole for the political process, but these so-called social welfare organizations are a loophole within the loophole. you've got to get money out of politics. it is corrupting the entire system and the bottom line here -- they're shaping policy. and we don't force disclosure -- not about this presidential election either/or the next round of congress. >> indeed, jared, it must be the case that if one of these social welfare organizations targets you with $25 million, this could well swing the senate for

example. >> exactly. absolutely. what james said is really very important. let me say three things quickly. one, i think we'll all agree, we have a dysfunctional politics right now. two, we have more economic inequality than we've ever seen and three, there are no controls as we're discussing on money and politics. that is an extremely toxic brew. that is precise ly the kind of combination that will not just lead to dysfunctional politics today, but could really undermine the future of our system. >> politically speaking, here's what i don't want us to forget because we like to sit here and talk about these things and they're very important. but if you are making minimum wage in ohio, why does it matter to you. it's our job to connect it. the folks in the house and senate behind me have spent their time trying to placate the likes of grover norquist and

trying to evade doing something on real tax reform instead of doing things that would help that person making minimum wage. it's very important we continue to connect politically for people. it really impacts their lives in a very important way. >> the u.s. chamber of commerce is fighting a bill that would force disclosure of donors because they worry they donors would be subject to i'm quoting, threats, harassment or reprisals. do they seriously expect people to believe this? >> they want to be able to support certain political positions to their consumers without the consumers and constituented finding out. the way we connect this to every day people, these folks have a choke hold on the congress already. they're close to having a choke hold on certain presidential candidates, so at the end of the

day, if we don't force disclosure into these situation, we're not going to know who's controlling this company. >> to dr. peterson's point, people are corporations and corporations are people, according to mitt romney. >> yes, apparently so. that's the other thing. this perversion of what free speech really is, if you're willing to fund an ad, you should be willing to put your name on it. if you're not, you should ask yourself why you're not. it's kind of like dating. everybody should play by the same set of rules. >> is it not the case that white house has sought to be trans parent in relation to moneys that have come in for political purposes? >> theyville twail have transparency as a value throughout their policy. whether it's the recovery act or political financing. you know, this point about the politics, the problem with the

combination that i articulateded earlier, inequality, is ha you end up replicating all the problems in the current system. essentially all that money is buying a politics that prevents that worker from getting a wage increase. that prevents that kid from having a classroom of a decent size. that prevents the infrastructure. so it really does ripple through the economy. >> indeed. sorry. >> politics is supposed to be representative, but what the money is doing is representing a small percentage of people in this country. >> maybe even the top 1%. thank you all so much and coming up on "hardball", much more on the president's call for extending the bush tax cuts and those romney offshore account. the fight for the middle class. next, despite a sluggish economy, even the right worries about mr. romney and the message. stay with us. >>do you think as challenge

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the head of the republican party took to his favorite television network this weekend to talk in the most apock liptic tones about the president. >> this president can't fulfill a promise. they're living in fantasy land. mitt romney has to win for the sake of the very idea of america. the president is is the head of this country. the fish rots at the head. >> joining us now is brad wo woodhouse. does the white house in fact stink of rotting fish? >> i don't know, but with alled

little unhinged. maybe the pressure of mitt romney not moving the polls is getting to the rnc chairman or maybe a fish rots over at the rnc. we'll see. >> reince priebus says the swiss bank accounts are a diverse, so should we forget about transparency when it comes to the highest office in the land and say you can hide all of your affair, it just doesn't matter? >> of course we can't do that. >> why not? it's what mitt romney's done. good luck. >> that's all we've gotten and it took media organizations intensive investigations to uncover some of this stuff and we have a ton of questions unanswered.

i think an average american would ask why does anyone need a swiss bank account? romney campaign has never explained that. as you heard over the weekend, two explanations. he's betting against the american dollar or trying to hide something. maybe avoiding trying to pay his fair share of taxes. he could clear this up if he would release more tax returns, but he won't do that. he said he won't and he hasn't even done all he said he would do in releasing two years. the american people have the right to know how he made his money, what he did with his match up and was he betting against america in these deals? the american people deserve to know. the president's been transparent. >> we learned today that team romney raised a staggering $106

million last month, and then there are the koch brothers plus karl rove. are you worried about losing the money war in this fight? >> obviously, we're worried about losing the money r war. we probably will when you look at what mitt romney's campaign will raise and what all these outside groups, many of which as we learned over the weekend don't disclose donor, don't have any intention of disclosing donors. we were surprised about what he raised for his campaign. newly mended nominees often raise a lot of money. john kerry did it in 2004. they're consolidating all the primary support from other candidates an bringing them into the campaign. but you know, this is going to be a tough slog. karl rove has made a down payment of 40 milli$40 million

and they're trying to buy the election. >> we await what sheldon adelson's going to do. next, did the president snuff out boehner and the boy's calls for repeal of obama care? but first, good afternoon, tyler. >> it have the third day in a row for losses for the dow industrials. that was the worst scream of losses since early june. let's look at how the numbers stack ed up. the industrials at 12,736 off 36 points. s&p 500, deuces wild there. the nasdaq down 5.5 at 2931. martin will be right back after this. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve,

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republicans in congress who

returned to work today may well have been looking forward to another vote on the health care law. as tray practice talking points, the president was about to surprise them with another announcement. after reminding republicans he's cut small business taxes 18 times since taking office, he went on to destroy their single talking point about job creators. >> they'll say that we can't tax job creators. and they'll try to explain how this would be bad for small business. the proposal i made today would extend their tax cuts for 97% of all small businesses owners in america. >> luke russert joins us live from capitol hill. now, luke, 98% of the population earned below $250,000 a year. 97% of small business owners fall under the same $250,000

threshold, so just to be clear, luke, speaker boehner and mitch mcconnell are fighting for the 2% and the 3%. is that right? >> what they would tell you is that -- >> is that right? the 2% and 3%? >> what they would tell you -- >> are they fighting for the 2% and 3%? yes or no? >> i like john boehner and mitch mcconnell. they have to come on your show sometimes. >> i'm asking you a very simple question, luke. are they fighting for the 2 and 3%? >> they are fighting for as what they would say small business job creators who they feel would folks bring in $300,000 could feel pain if this tax cut was to go forward. now, press for specifics about which companies would necessarily feel this pain,

there have been a number of studies that have been done, the degree is not nearly to the scale of what we hear on capitol hill. all that being said though is that it's very effective talking point because you can say you're going to hurt job creators, especially small business ones. that is why folks like nancy pelosi and chuck schumer are trying to raise that up to 1 million dollars so the argument is is more clear cut. you can say we want to stop tax hikes, but the rewealthiest hav to pay. it's all talking point. >> but just to be clear, both chuck schumer and nancy pelosi have said they support entirely the president's comments today. >> as the democratic argument now. now, isn't there a irony here

and speaker baper talking about job creation because if he was subjected to a proper appraisal, he'd likely lose his position on the basis of time wasting. he's planning for a -- on the president's health care reform this week. the 30th in just two years. can you explain to me what's the point of these endless moments of pointless theatre when people are drying out for something constructive from this speaker? >> there is two reasons behind this health care repeal wednesday. number one, it's red meat to the house republican base. >> that does nothing for people. i understand. >> they can put themselves on the side of that. >> wonderful. and to tell you -- >> the tack part of the law that justice roberts alluded to they believe is a win for them because if you vote to keep the president's health care law, you are voting to raise taxes. again, it's all for the election come november. it's all positioning. you won't see any real

constructive work happening until 2013 in washington, d.c. >> thank you and of course, you know -- >> feisty after andy murray's loss. >> luke, i would do anything to interview the speaker, you know that, but unfortunately, he won't come on to our broadcast, so you will have to suffice and take the beating. >> harder to do than michael jackson. >> thank you. behave yourself. we'll be right back. [ feedback ] attention, well, everyone. you can now try snapshot from progressive free for 30 days. just plug this into your car, and your good driving can save you up to 30%. you could even try it without switching your insurance. why not give it a shot? carry on. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today.

time now to clear the air and over the weekend, a number of republican spokesmen over questions that we were asking last week about mitt romney's personal finances. in addition to him being highly secretive about his assets, a number of journalists have started to investigate where mr.

romney has been stashing his immense wealth and some of his supporters don't like it. here is reince priebus. >> the fact of the matter is all of this stuff is small ball that they're playing. all of this nastiness and division about investments and money and rich versus poor, this is going to come down to how people feel in november. >> and this was quickly followed by the romney campaign's official spokeswoman who said the obama campaign's latest unfounded character assault on mitt romney is unseemly and disgusting. nice try, but our questions have nothing whatsoever to do with anyone's campaign and it was she who raised the issue of mitt romney's character. we were intrigued as to why a presidential candidate would have a multi-million dollar swiss bank account, why a

presidential candidate would stockpile tens of million of dollars in a notorious tax haven called the cayman islands. we wanted to understand why for a period of a 15 years, this patriotic american put millions in a vehicle domiciled in bermuda. so there's no need to react with such anger, unless of course there really is something to hide. thanks so much for watching. "hardball" picks things up right now. tax bracketology. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish in for chris matthews. if you're barack obama and you've just seen another weak jobs report, what do you do? you change the subject. the president and his allies are

hitting mitt romney on two fronts. today, mr. obama called for extending the bush tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 and his campaign has been blasting romney's offshore accounts suggesting they are tax shelters for the wealthy republican. the fight for the middle class is on. one reason team obama is feeling good despite the sluggish economy is playing itself out on tv. today, we got more evidence the president is winning the ad war in the swing states. plus, the pray waway the gay movement is reeling today. one of its leaders says he was wrong that there is no so-called cure for homosexuality. and think political debates can get heated here? well, check this tv face off from iman, jordan out. nobody got