the other part of the odd couple just wants to get that ring on his finger. get it? watch ryan. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us tonight. "the ed show" with ed schultz begins right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live. 82 days until the 2012 election. mitt romney traded in his etch a sketch for a whiteboard, trying to go back to the basics on medicare. it's a little more complicated than that, mitt. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> president's plan cuts medicare -- excuse me. well, let's see. there we go. >> the romney campaign to end medicare as we know it picks up karl rove's whiteboard and george bush's playbook. >> in my line of work you have to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in. >> tonight, wendell potter on the nonstop romney lies. jonathan alter on the possibility these lies could

work. >> the fascination with taxes i've paid i find to be very small minded. >> mitt romney dumps gasoline on his tax return fire. we have an exclusive response from senator harry reid. "the associated press" nails paul ryan on his request for stimulus funds. and ryan pulls a palin to try and dodge the question. >> you had asked for stimulus money for your district. is that accurate? is that report accurate? >> i never asked for stimulus. i don't recall -- i haven't seen this report so i really can't comment. and when a problem comes along, you must whip it. ♪ tonight, jerry gasol premieres the song dedicated to mitt romney's dog. thanks for watching. seven years ago a major bill figure in this country explained the truth about republican politics. there is no doubt the romney campaign is currently following his advice.

>> in my line of work you have to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to catapult the propaganda. >> mitt romney, paul ryan and the rest of the republican party are using the bush philosophy when it comes to medicare. last night on "the ed show," howard dean told us the origins of this strategy. >> they're starting to do a lot. what they're using is an old propaganda techniques that were actually used by the soviets years ago. they say something that's not true and spend $200 million saying it again and again and again -- >> today, mitt romney was back at it. he used a whiteboard and a magic marker to catapult more soviet-style propaganda about medicare. >> today's seniors, if you will, my plan presents no change. the plan stays the same. no adjustments. no changes. no savings. the president's plan cuts medicare -- excuse me.

well, let's see. i got -- there we go. by $716 billion. >> aside from the names on that board, obama and romney, every word on romney's board is a flat-out lie. >> aside from the names on that board, obama and romney, every word on romney's board is a flat-out lie. so i thought maybe tonight i'd show everyone what a comparison of the two plans for medicare really looks like. this is the big eddie board of truth. now, it's very simple. under president obama's plan, there are no benefit reductions. got it? no benefit reductions. at all. the romney/ryan plan kills medicare as we know it. and what's going to happen? costs are going to be going up for seniors by $6,000. it's very easy to put on the board. this is why i think romney likes his board. he can change stuff a lot. if mitt romney is going to repeat a lie over and over

again, you know what we're going to do? we're going it be using this board a lot to tell the truth. you see, folks, the $716 billion is savings. president obama redistributes the money to seniors in the form of preventative care and prescription drug savings which they are already enjoying. mitt romney takes those savings along with another $1.3 trillion and uses it to pay for tax cuts for the rich. seniors, what's going to happen? you're going to have to pay more. you're going to have to pay more for care, whether you can afford it or not. now, folks, this is the simple truth. republicans don't have the truth on their side. so what do they need to do? they need to go to the simplest form of a whiteboard and they still lie. you know, you can tell a lie on an etch a sketch, you can tell a lie on a whiteboard. i thought romney did a pretty good job of lying today. what do you think? george bush was catapulting propaganda in order to do what?

back in 2005, privatize social security. after he got elected, that's the first thing he did, he went to fargo, north dakota, to start talking about privatization of social security, private accounts. remember those days? romney and ryan are trying to do the same doggone thing with medicare. the lies are no different this time of around. >> i want to start by saying to people who are getting their check, people who are born prior to 1950, the system will not change when it comes to you. >> making sure it's there for current seniors, no changes by way for current seniors or those nearing retirement. >> people have to understand when we start talking about social securities to strengthen the social security system for generations to come. >> governor romney and i will protect and strengthen medicare for our current seniors and for our future seniors of tomorrow. >> it's the folks coming up that you need to worry about. if you're a grandmother, you're going to get your check. you need to be worried about your grandson. >> they're more worried about their next election than they are about the next generation. >> in 2005, george bush's lies when it came to privatizing

social security didn't work. and in the end, republicans abandoned his push for privatizing social security. he couldn't get it done, but this time, you see, the republicans have a secret weapon. watch these campaign ads and then watch the prediction that i made about these ads on tuesday night. >> rick would never do anything to harm social security or medicare. in fact, it's one of the main reasons he's running. >> you wouldn't do that to your mom, would you, tim? >> i wouldn't do that to anyone. i've always supported social security and i'd work to make i secure. >> mark thinks a plan that would end medicare is, quote, excellent. >> that's not true. >> how long before we see paul ryan's mom on the campaign trail? well, the answer is four days later. paul ryan's mother, 78-year-old, respect her, elizabeth ryan douglas. she's loves her son, but she's

going to join her son on the campaign trail this weekend. where? well, down in florida. there is no way the romney ticket would be able to defend such an unpopular proposal in a senior heavy state like florida. so instead, paul ryan will go there with his mother. you know what she's going to say? respectfully. she's going to say, paul would never do anything to harm social security. and people will probably believe her. then ryan will say, president obama has stolen $716 billion from medicare. people are going to probably believe him. the truth is at stake in this election, my friends. republicans want to make sure the truth is on the losing end. and they're going to make it real easy for everybody to understand. they're going to use the whiteboard, i think, an awful lot. because you can erase this and

then put something else back on. you can switch stuff around. you can adjust the lies a lot faster as you go along. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. will mitt romney's medicare propaganda work? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 62263. go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. leave a comment. we encourage you to do that. we'll bring you results later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by msnbc political analyst, "bloomberg view" columnist, jonathan alter and wendell potter, former communications director and vice president of cigna, and now with the center for public integrity and author of the book "deadly spin." and that's the cycle we're living in right now. deadly spin. jonathan, let's start with you tonight. are democrats doing enough to counter this lie? i mean, it's very clear in recent days, day after day, they are not the republicans this team, romney and ryan, they are not going to back off this medicare lie. what do the democrats do? >> well, i think they are starting to combat it, ed, but they need to do more. and there's time to do more.

and you have to remember to look at the glass half full if you're a democrat. that every day that we're talking about medicare is a bad day for mitt romney. remember, he wanted to keep the whole focus on jobs and how obama wrecked the economy and everything else. instead, they're talking about an issue that has until 2010, and that's a very important "until," has favored the democrats. and the reason that it's favored the democrats is that the american public used to know and can be reminded that the republicans don't believe fundamentally in these programs. remember, paul ryan was the main champion of george w. bush's plan to privatize social security in 2005. >> yes, he was. >> imagine what would have happened in 2008 to the savings of seniors had they been in private accounts in the stock market as bush and ryan wanted? they would have lost their retirement. ght? >> no question about it.

>> so they believe -- they believe -- these folks believe in privatization of these programs. eventually, ed, the reason that i'm pretty confident this will work for the democrats, despite the lies that are flying back and forth, is eventually people will recognize that they trust the democrats more than the republicans to protect their retirement savings. and in the meantime, the democrats have to be honest, too. for instance, it isn't a lie to say that they're not -- that romney is not right now touching medicare for seniors. it's going to be for people 55, you know -- >> sure. they're trying to set the table. they're trying to set the table to start the wheel turning that eventually some day they can get rid of it. here's more of mitt romney at his whiteboard today. here it is. >> which of these two do you think is better? going bankrupt or being solvent? well, obviously, being solvent. >> wendell, is there any truth to mitt romney saying that president obama will bankrupt

medicare? >> no, absolutely not. what the president has done through the affordable care act is extend the solvency of medicare for several years, and if romney goes forward with his plan on what he says he would end those cuts, then he would accelerate the insolvency of medicare, so he's completely off base there. what he is doing is using the rhetoric, as you said, to try to confuse people. he's using terms like "patient centered reform" in a positive way. whoever, whatever that means. and he's saying he's against government takeover of health care. which is what he describes the affordable care act as. so they're very, very careful to use those kinds of terms that come straight from the insurance industry. mitt romney is a favorite of the insurance industry. i heard him address an industry group when i was still working for the industry back in 2007 and 2008. and he's obviously following

what they want them -- what they want him to say. >> yeah. but this is no doubt a slippery slope toward privatization. this is just the beginning. and if they had done social security back in 2005/2006, as jonathan pointed out, who knows where that would have gone. but that was just the beginning of privatizing everything. now, the democratic congressional campaign committee is taking the medicare strategy to the airwaves. here it is. >> voted to essentially end medicare, forcing seniors to pay over $6,000 more a year. >> jonathan, are democrats going to be able to make this a down-the-ticket issue? is this going to count in down-ticket races? >> i think it will and help democrats hold seats in the house and an outside chance of taking the house. this is an issue that people care about a lot. the president, as wendell indicated, has actually done

things to not just secure the future of medicare, but provide some immediate benefits in closing the so-called doughnut hole that hurts seniors on prescription drugs and other kinds of things that they can see as tangible achievements. so i do think that this will help democrats in november. >> yeah. and finally, wendell, the money that was taken away from the insurance industry as far as subsidies, can we view that and maybe this is the way it is, you tell me, tell our audience, is this what the insurance industry gave up to get more people involved to lift their profits? straighten that out for us. >> yeah. the -- during the bush administration, they started giving insurance companies a bonus to participate in what's called a medicare advantage program. the private replacement for medicare. and the whole idea was if

insurance companies could get into medicare, they could operate more efficiently. it's been the opposite. they've had to pay them a lot more, just to stay in the program. so what the president's trying to do is to end those bonuses over the long haul. and that is one of the ways we achieve these savings. the insurance industry doesn't really like that. they'd love to have romney in the white house to be able to restore that. that's one of the things they would love to have restored. >> jonathan alter, wendell potter, great to have both of you with us tonight on "the ed show." >> thanks, ed. >> thanks so much. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, mitt romney claimed he's paid taxes every year and never less than 13%. are we to take this guy at his word? congressman john garamendi of california weighs in on that.

coming up, mitt romney re-opens the tax files. find out what he says about his taxes and the people who want answers, next.

and pennsylvania's voter i.d. law could disenfranchise over 750,000 voters this november. i'll talk to two people who are on the ground who are keeping up the fight for voters' rights. what are they going to do? stay tuned. [ male announcer ] it seems like every company

has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call. welcome back to "the ed show." now, ann romney says it is case closed when it comes to her husband's taxes. >> we have done what's legally required and there's going to be no more, there's going to be no more tax releases given. >> yet, here's mitt romney talking about his taxes today. >> the fascination with taxes i paid i find to be very small minded compared to the broad

issues that we face, but i did go back and look at my taxes and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6% or something like that. so i've paid taxes every single year. >> so i guess we're just going to have to trust romney on that 13%. the obama campaign is hitting back. we have a simple message for him. prove it. romney's 13% assertion is a far cry from senate majority leader harry reid's claim that a bain capital investor told him romney paid nothing in taxes over the past decade. here's romney's response to that. >> harry reid's charge is totally false. i'm sure waiting for harry to put up who it was that told him who he says told him. i don't believe it for a minute. >> reid's office gave "the ed show" this statement that reads in part, "we'll believe it when we see it until mitt romney release his tax returns, americans will continue to

wonder what he's hiding." romney is sweeping the issue under the rug. i mean, here's what's happening. he's calling people concerned about his tax returns small minded? well, recent polling shows that 54% of americans want to see romney's tax returns. if romney's -- is romney calling the majority of the people in this country small minded? i mean, this is the issue for american voters because it goes right to the concept of tax fairness. the question is, will romney's tax policies tilt the playing field in favor of the wealthiest americans even further? you better believe it will. let's turn to congressman john garamendi of california. he joins us tonight on "the ed show." john, great to have you with us, congressman.

thank you. harry reid made his claim about romney's taxes over two weeks ago and the candidate is still bringing it up and talking about it. why has it taken romney this long to address the issue? >> well, i'm not at all sure he has addressed the issue. listen carefully to what he said. he said, i paid 13% in taxes. what kind of taxes? are we talking about fees on his five cadillacs, are we talking about payroll taxes? or are we talking about federal income taxes? that's not clear. but more important than all of this, ed, is where is his mind on tax policy? he's made it very clear, his tax policy that he's put forth and also with vice president designee or whomever, ryan, would reduce mitt romney's taxes last year to .82%. less than 1% would he have to pay under his proposed tax policy. this is where we really need to understand what is in this mind, what is he actually doing so that we can then figure out how he would act as president when tax policy comes up which it must come up. >> you know, i found it very interesting when he said that he has never paid anything under 13%. almost trying to make the case,

it seems like, to infer to the american people, you know, i'm really paying a lot. you know -- >> ed, he's -- >> i found that absolutely amazing. >> he's paying what a single person making $40,000 would pay of percentage. come on, this man is making millions and millions every year and paying 13%. somebody out there working on the street, making $40,000 a year is paying the same percentage of their income in taxes, not including the payroll tax, which the payroll tax for social security for mr. romney ends at $106,000. this is really, really important tax policy we're talking about here. and in addition to that, romney's tax proposals would reduce the taxes on a person making $1 million a year, and in addition to that, romney's tax proposals would reduce the taxes on a person making $1 million a year, adjusted gross income, after all the deductions, would reduce their taxes by $394,000.

that's the tax policy that this man wants while raising taxes on the low and middle income. that is terrible public policy. that's where he wants to go. >> well, he's playing right into the wheelhouse of the wealthiest americans who don't want to pay any tax. he almost presents it as if he's getting screwed at paying 13%, but he wants everybody to know -- >> give me a break. >> -- he certainly hasn't paid anything less than that. you know, how big a problem is this, congressman? i mean, do you hear it on the campaign trail? 54% of the american people, they want to know more information about this man's finances. what do you think? >> well, they certainly do, and apparently he wanted to know more information about mr. rye ryan's finances because he requested mr. ryan's tax forms for the last several years. so he got ryan's. ryan hasn't shown us his. neither has romney shown us his. so let's get it out there. put it on the table. show us what you have. because it will also show us what he believes to be good tax policy. >> and that's what he is afraid of when the truth comes out --

>> i think so. >> -- about how the wealthy will get off big-time. thank you, congressman. john garamendi with us tonight here on "the ed show." next, a tough new law could keep nearly a million voters away from the polls. find out what people in pennsylvania are doing tonight to fight republican voter suppression efforts. it's a huge story. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. groups challenging pennsylvania's tough new voter i.d. law are not giving up. and they can't. but they are running out of time. i mean, it's a race against the clock. as we reported last night, a judge gave his blessing to the republicans' voter suppression effort in the state. today, the aclu appealed that decision. but we might not get a ruling until mid-september. so at this point, pennsylvania residents need a state certified i.d. to cast a ballot. now, according to the state's own numbers, 758,000 people will not be able to vote. that's 9% of the state's voter rolls. 18% live in urban areas like philadelphia. now, advocacy groups working on

voter rights, they got a real tough job ahead of them. voters need a social security card and a birth certificate with a raised seal and two separate proofs of residency. you know, like your electric bill and your phone bill. now, they've got 81 days until the election to find all of this paperwork, get it organized, get over to the dmv and get an i.d. republicans insist voters need to go through this process to prevent fraud. but you know what? there is no voter fraud. last month, attorneys for pennsylvania signed this legal document saying that there have been no investigations or any prosecutions at all of voter fraud ever. so why would they push to exclude almost a million people from voting in pennsylvania? >> voter i.d., which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania, done. [ applause ] >> suppressing the vote in pennsylvania could be the key to a romney victory. now, he needs to win pennsylvania, ohio, and florida. oh, by the way, all three of

these states have passed tough new voter i.d. laws just in time for the presidential election. does this scare you? 758,000 people need i.d.s in pennsylvania before november 6th. voters should not wait until the legal process takes its course. they've got to get mobilized right now. i mean, this is going to be one of the biggest political lifts when it comes to advocacy i think we've ever seen in contemporary time. and if it doesn't happen, i'm not convinced that president obama can win pennsylvania. i'm joined tonight by steven singer, he's a teacher from allegheny county, pennsylvania, who started a petition drive to alert voters in his area about the threat to their right to vote. also joining us tonight is zach stallberg, he is the president and chief executive officer of the committee of seventy, a nonpartisan government watchdog

group promoting voter education. gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight, on what i think is the biggest story so far in this election cycle. i mean, we can talk about dogs, we can talk about taxes, we can talk about medicare back and forth, who's telling the truth. this, my friends, is a reality. this is going down right now. you can count on it. now, what are the people going to do about it to respond to it? zach, let me start with you tonight. what's your group doing to help get people i.d.s and how are you going to mobilize 700,000 people in 81 days? >> we're running an aggressive all-out drive to make sure people know what they need. we're knocking on doors, we're driving them to the transportation centers. we're helping counsel them through the process. there are 145 groups, mostly in this end of the state, who are focused on this battle. >> 145 groups.

i mean, do you believe in your heart that you can get this done? >> i believe we can make a real big difference. i think you're right. this is the big story in pennsylvania. of beyond issues, the question is, will people who are registered have the right to vote? and we're doing everything possible in a nonpartisan way to make sure that as many people as possible can vote. >> steven, you're a teacher. why are you fighting the voter i.d. laws, and do you think people in pennsylvania know what the heck is going on with this? >> well, i'm fighting this voter i.d. law because i think it violates people's civil rights. the place where i teach in pennsylvania, in allegheny county, it's an area with a high level of poverty, a high level of minority residents. so the parents of the students i teach are adversely affected by this law. and i just can't, you know, sit by and let that happen. these people deserve the right to vote.

it's that simple. and, you know, we're out here and we started a petition. we have over 2,300 signatures as of now, in two weeks, just asking election officials in the state, you know, if this doesn't get turned down, please don't enforce the voter i.d. law. >> what about in your county, is that what you're trying to do, work at it at a local level to make sure your county election officials just kind of throw this aside? >> we started it in allegheny county, and we just delivered our first round of signatures to allegheny county election officials on tuesday, but once the decision came down from judge simpson, this ridiculous partisan decision, we decided to broaden it statewide. there are some petitions that are specific to a county like my petition originally for allegheny county, but now we're doing it statewide, asking election officials throughout the state, just don't enforce

this. >> well, allegheny county was big for president obama in 2008. zach, what about the obama team? how concerned are they about this? they -- they -- i think they ought to be screaming from the roof, but however they handle it, they handle it. what are you hearing? >> it's a little difficult for us to tell, and i'm a little bit surprised that we haven't seen more action from the campaign, itself. but we're not waiting for the state to give us help and we're not waiting for the obama campaign to give us help. these are -- the groups in this coalition range from the naacp to the aclu, to the bar association, to neighborhood groups and they're getting in there with hands-on help. that's the only way this problem is going to get solved. >> well, senator casey is also up for re-election. i mean, he's going to need tho votes, too. this is going to put his race in play big-time. but zach, if you think you need more from president obama, who's

going to make the ask? is anybody in pennsylvania saying, what's your strategy, obama team, for pennsylvania? i mean, the goal posts have definitely shifted right now, and it would seem to me that the president and the vice president are going to have to work this state a heck of a lot harder. what do you think? >> obama does have people assigned to voter i.d. in pennsylvania. we just haven't seen much of the result. and, frankly, this, for us, this is not about which candidate is working harder. it's about whether people have the right to vote or not. >> all right. steven singer, zach stallberg, great to have you with us. keep up the fight. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> you had asked for stimulus money for your district. is that accurate? is that report accurate? >> i never asked for stimulus. i don't recall. i haven't seen this report so i really can't comment. >> the anti-obama, anti-government, anti-spending paul ryan is ducking questions about his support for t.a.r.p., the auto loan, and his request for stimulus money. next, ruth conniff and john nichols on paul ryan's problem with the truth.

and out with the song hitting mitt romney for sticking his dog on the roof of a car. ♪ >> tonight, one of the founding members, jerry gasol debuts his new single live on "the ed show." ♪

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. what is a person in the media supposed to do when you ask a question and the answer changes from time to time? paul ryan spent the day trying to tell voters in ohio what he stands for. the problem is, this guy keeps changing his story. first, he bashed our nation's trade policy with china. >> they steal our intellectual property right. they block access to their markets. they manipulate their currency. president obama promised he would stop these practices. he said he'd go to the mat with china. instead, they're treating him

like a door mat. we're not going to let that happen. >> but here's the problem. when congress got a chance to crack down on china's currency manipulation, representative paul ryan voted no. ryan says he agrees with romney when it comes to cracking down on china, but his voting record certainly says something very, very different. ryan tried to score political points at campaign stops like this one in warren, ohio. he didn't answer any tough questions during lunch today, but in an interview with a local reporter in cincinnati, ryan struggled to stick to his story on the stimulus package. >> you had asked for stimulus money for your district. is that accurate? is that report accurate? >> i never asked for stimulus. i don't recall. i haven't seen this report so i really can't comment on it. >> do you hear that? ryan denies requesting stimulus money then says he doesn't remember. then he says he hasn't seen the report. and he said all that in less

than ten seconds? here's the truth, my friends. the "boston globe" found two letters from ryan requesting stimulus money for companies in wisconsin. tonight, ryan released a statement saying his staff wrote those letters requesting stimulus money and that it should have been handled differently. paul ryan's been on the campaign trail for less than a week, and already he's struggling with the truth? and a staffer was requesting stimulus money? how does washington work? let's turn to john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine and author of let's turn to john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine and author of "uprising." and also with us tonight, ruth conniff, political editor of the "progressive" magazine. great to have both of you with us tonight. ruth, let me ask you first. how is this going to play out when ryan stumbles over his answer on stimulus money then throws it off on a staffer? >> it goes right to the heart of

the problem with ryan. this is something we've seen in wisconsin many, many years. ryan is a member of congress from a very hard hit industrial district, a district inflicted by plant closings, as he was signing off on things like most favored nation trading status with china, as he was opposing fair trade legislation in congress. then he turns around and opposes things like the extension of unemployment insurance for his district but he has tried to get a good deal for companies there that have supported him through the stimulus and he's got to bring something home to his constituents. he runs as though he opposed trade that has sucked thousands of jobs and increased job losses by 30% on his watch in his district. he tries to run that way in his district. then he goes to washington and he's the ayn rand poster boy of multinational corporations and those two things are going to be very hard for him to bring

together. >> john nichols, are we seeing a pattern here? we don't get a straight answer on medicare, we don't get a straight answer on the budget. he hasn't seen the numbers. now he's throwing off the stimulus answer for the third -- this is a third different answer he's given on about the stimulus package money now he's throwing it off on a staffer. is this who the guy is? >> well, this guy hasn't had this kind of scrutiny ever before, and paul ryan is proving to be a much less adept candidate than people expected. remember that paul ryan came from a district in which he never really faced a tough campaign after his first election. a district that has no major media markets in it. and so as a result, paul ryan has gotten very used to saying one thing in washington and another thing at home. now he's being faced with real questions, and the fundamental question for paul ryan is, how can you be a fiscal conservative who voted for the bank bailout, the auto bailout, medicare part "d" and all sorts of other spending plans whenever folks on wall street or in the pharmaceutical industry asked him to do it. and it was most frustrating today as he tried to paint himself as a tough on china, tough on trade politician. this guy has begged, begged by people in his district to vote

the other way. they were out today and he still keeps going free trade in washington, but fair trade when he goes out to the country. >> ruth, i found that interesting the other day when mitt romney said, well, he's on my campaign. in other words, clarifying, you know, you better pay attention to what i'm saying and not so much, you know,ryan. what did you make of that? >> i think it's kind of an interesting problem for mitt romney. here he's got paul ryan who's a very exciting candidate for vice president for the republican base and for the far, far right. and at the same time, he is a champion of the policies that have hollowed out the middle class in this country. that's a political problem they face trying to present this in a way that's going to win the election. >> and time's flying when we're telling the truth. john nichols, ruth conniff. appreciate your time. next up, steve king says if romney wins he is going to be a

player in the white house. i've got commentary on that. stay tuned. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away.

ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. win would give him a link to the white house. we'll show you what policies he would bring to the west wing. stay with us. 7 put on your seat belt, folks.

put on your seat belt, folks. welcome back to "the ed show." fringe republican whacked out congressman steve king of iowa, he is absolutely thrilled with the idea that paul ryan might be the vice president of the united states. he told an audience at the iowa state fair that if the republican ticket is elected, he's going to be a major player in the white house. >> so i'm going to work to put mitt romney in the white house. i'm going to work to put my good friend, paul ryan, in as vice president. and we're going to have a strong voice from iowa right there in the west wing and sometimes in the oval office of the white

house. >> steve king is one of the most controversial republicans in congress, especially on immigration. he's a vocal opponent of the dream act. in june he proposed to overturn president obama's new immigration policy in court. just a few weeks ago, he was supporting pointless-english-only legislation. at a time mitt romney is polling at record lows with hispanic voters, king could be the last straw. beyond immigration, congressman king has a long history of making controversial statements. >> we have a very, very urban senator, barack obama, who has decided he's going to run for president and what does he do? he introduces legislation to create a whole new claim. the argument that diversity is our strength has never been backed up by logic. the fraudulent claims might be, well, johnny, yeah, he was raised on a farm but he wouldn't

help his dad. he went off to the city and became a drug addict. now his daddy's died and johnny wants the $50,000 that comes from the usda. i want to put the fence in but i want to put a wall in and i designed one. we could also electrify this wire with a kind of current that wouldn't kill somebody but it would simply be a discouragement for them to be fooling around with it. we do that with livestock all the time. >> this man considers paul ryan his good friend? steve king is not the type of person you want with a direct line to the white house. tonight, in our survey, i asked you, will mitt romney's medicare propaganda work? 10% of you say yes. 90% of you say no. coming up, jared casale of the band devo has written a song about mitt romney's dog. he'll explain why, next. there e a lot of warning lights

and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

it's time to get going. to have the energy to keep up with your kids. to step up to a new challenge.

it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's and feel the energy from your feet up. thanks to the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles, your feet will feel so good you'll want to get up and go. ♪ you must whip it ♪ when something's going wrong ♪ you must whip it >> welcome back to "the ed show." the big finish tonight. the guys who told america to whip it in the '80s are out with a song to tell viewers to remember seamus this november. the group released "don't roof rack me bro" that pays tribute to mitt romney's irish setter. years ago mitt romney strapped seamus to the roof of the family station wagon and drove on vacation.

according to ann romney, seamus loved the experience. >> the dog loved it. >> the dog got sick, right? >> once. we travel all the time. and he ate the turkey on the counter. i mean, he had the runs. >> years later the story just keeps hounding romney. even president obama had some fun at romney's expense just the other day. >> that's what he said about wind power, you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. now, i -- i don't know if he's actually tried that. i know he's had other things on his car. >> now, jared casale, founding member of devo, has joined forces with the group, dogs against romney, and wrote the song "don't roof rack me bro." take a listen. ♪ don't roof rack me bro ♪ got to let me go ♪ don't roof rack me bro ♪ put me down on the ground

♪ don't roof rack me bro ♪ man i told you so ♪ don't roof rack me bro >> i'm joined tonight by gerald casale, founding member of devo. and the songwriter behind "don't roof rack me, bro." gerald, great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. interesting that you would take the time and the talent and the effort to put this song together. why did you do it? >> i guess it's because the story had legs. i don't know. it's really because, as a dog owner and a pet lover, i was appalled when i found out about this story and realized he wasn't just -- not denying it, he was doubling down on it saying, oh, the crate was airtight, because his lawyer told him or something. it got more and more bizarre, and basically, look, we have a symbiotic relationship with dogs. we created all the breeds. we made them need us. so if we're supposedly superior species, we have a stewardship that requires some responsibility.

i just think any 36-year-old man that would do that to a beautiful irish setter has a real serious something missing behind that tight smile. i don't think there's much humanity down here. >> gerald, do you think it says something about mitt romney's character? >> that's exactly what i'm saying. i'm saying, for me, more than anything else you hear about, it's a character deal breaker. absolutely. >> you've started a website, remember seamus.com. how do you think people are going to react to this? what are your expectations of this song? >> well, predictably, the way they react to everything these days which is a level of discourse has been so dumbed down by, you know, the hot edge of the media that it is all like a wwf smack down. you know, everybody's trying to wrestle everybody to the ground and get the knockout punch.

it's so stupid, because, look, there's 7 billion people on the planet. we're facing the worst kind of challenges and crises that you can imagine that require intelligence, reflection, complex solutions. we don't have that, and we don't have that in our politicians whatsoever. >> devo did a fund-raiser for president obama in 2008 before he became president. how do you feel about the president four years later? you still just as enthused? >> absolutely not. i don't think anybody with half a brain could be. but look, anybody that still thinks we have a democracy and that the president of the united states is in charge, you know, they still believe in the wizard of oz and never pulled back the curtain to see the man behind the curtain. it's more like the movie "network," where ned gives peter finch the big lecture in the boardroom and tells him how

things really work when peter thinks he's a powerful man on tv. what we have here is a difference between pepsi and coke with just a little bit of leeway. obama's -- >> yeah. >> -- the lesser of two evils. obama is definitely the lesser of two evils and it's clear why. because he's got some humanity there in his heart. you can see it. and he's not mean. he's not a mean guy. and my god, the world's mean enough and people are suffering enough already. you need a doctor that's more -- i mean, a doctor? you need a candidate who's more like a doctor who takes that oath that say, do no harm. i don't see that in mitt romney and paul ryan. they're those kind of guys who are so angry underneath, they want to make everybody snibblen in the dirt. >> jared casale. good luck on your song. i'm sure it's going to be entertaining but very meaningful to a lot of people. >> i have thistuff for you, ed.