>> that is "the ed show." i'm ezra klein in for ed romney heads right. let's play hardball. good ink. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. mitt romney. i arer when george wallace said there is not a dime's worth of difference between the republicans and the democrats. for those paying attention, there is not a dime's worth of difference between mitt romney and the republican fringe. sarah palin accused the president of palling around with terrorists. romney accuses obama of

sympathizing with the attackers in the mideast. he not only exploits the range winlg of the right he is enjoying it. the birthers say obama isn't one of us. romney says obama sympathizes with the muslim killers. today, the state of kansas is deciding whether to let obama's name appear on the ballot. the birthers are still at it. they want more evidence of the president's legitimacy. his birth certificate isn't enough. his new ally, newt gingrich, talks of our food stamp president. one state after another tries to limit minority voting in the cause of making out the president as the other, the foreigner who needs in the words of romney surrogate, john sa into into, to learn how to be an american. the campaign is coherent, comprehensive. to convince the working class white guy obama is not one of us, one of them. a foreigner, a sue purper in

league with the country's enemy. mitt romney is out there overseeing every word of it. ron reagan and cynthia cutler. i want to start with this, sin thee n cynthia. i have never heard such a coherent, comprehensive effort to describe a guy as not really an american, as being one of the enemy or in league with the enemy at least. your thoughts? >> the southern strategy at-large. this is all about appealing to racially resentful whites. i have to tell you. i have been very disappointed and surprised by mitt romney's running his campaign this way. i met him back in 2007 when i was still editorial page editor at "the atlanta konconstitution" he seemed smart, savvy, moderate, reasonable and honorable. i have to tell you, once he

started running those outrageous ads on welfare, i knew that he had put his conscience, if he has one in a blind trust. not only are they a clear effort to run the southern strategy at-large. this is about telling racially resentful whites that obama wants to change the work requirements so that black people don't even have to work to get government benefits. that's what the ads say. it is an outrageous lie. >> ron, go ahead. talk about the whole thing. the part that happened in libya. we will talk about the president's wonderful performance in a moment. the way they are attacking obama, it is not as if he left his guard down. it is as if he is sympathizing with the enemy. it is not just an argument over competence or strength, it is an

argument over loyal. >> cynthia is right. this is the southern strategy at-large. chris, real substantive political leaders in america, presidents, like fdr in the 30s or ronald reagan in the 80s, tend to remake their parties in their own images around their own core beliefs. mitt romney doesn't appear to have a core that you can build anything around. so, as a result, the party remakes him in its image. the party, the republican party right now is dominated by this, you call them a fringe but it is a larger chung than that. these kind of tea party folks. you have to adopt their delusional world view, which includes things like obama is a muslim candidate who hates america and is all about destroying the country. you have to blow the dog whistle constantly to reassure those

people that you buy into that and that is what romney is doing. we have seen what horrible trouble it has gotten him into with egypt and libya now. >> well, the dismantling, terrifying thing to watch is the way a lot of moderate white people, republicans and democrats sit there and say they don't hear the whistle. i noticed republicans talking about obama, portraying the president siding with the enemy. on tuesday night, rnc chair, rai said he sympathized with the attackers. had. >> the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in egypt, instead of condemning their actions. it is never too early for the united states government to condemn attacks on americans and

defend our values. i think it is a terrible course for america to stand in apology for our values, that instead, when our grounds are being attacked and being breached that the first response to the united states must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. >> there is no space between this talk and what we heard from sarah palin in the campaign four years ago. catch her act. >> we see an america of exceptionalism. yes, usa, usa. our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.

>> this gets back to you, ron. it seems to me you have hit something here. instead of leading, he is shrinking down into something smaller than he began to campaign as. i can be a crazy too. i can be a fringy too. i can talk like sarah palin. that seems to be the language it takes to win a republican constituency. it is sad to watch somebody get smaller as the campaign goes on reaching down to the people that think small and think everybody else is a foreigner or they are a different ethnic group or they are black and i am white. whatever the game they are playing in their head is. somehow that justifies hatred. >> the irony is he is doing this to further his own ambitions. he thinks his words don't have any real meaning. he can say what he wants to get himself into the white house. people looking at this, people he needs to have vote for him

see a man without principle and with no core and that is unpresidential. this opportunity in libya, it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair and look presidential and do and say things that presidents do or should say. he couldn't do it. he had to once again cater to this delusional, far right, which has a completely twisted, nonsense view, not just of foreign policy but of the universe we live in. >> thank you, ron reagan. i think you nailed it. cindy tucker, thanks for coming on with your passion and journalistic understanding. >> the video that den grated mohammed spread to a dozen countries. crashes broke out in europe and india and police said at least three protesters were killed and dozens more were wounded, all

this despite pleas for calm by worldly leaders, including the islamic president of egypt. here at home, a moving ceremony at andrews air force base as the flag-draped coffins of the four americans killed in libya were brought home and were met bisect of state, hillary clinton, and president obama. both of them spoke this sombre and moving ceremony covered live by all the cable networks. >> the flag they served under now carries them home. may god bless the memory of these men that laid down their lives for us all. may god watch our your families and all who loved them and may god bless these united states of america. to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler.

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welcome back to "hardball." for weeks mitt romney has faced criticism for running a campaign short on details. he lays out his goals but doesn't explain the dirty details of what it would take to achieve them. the wall street journal page seemed to speak for many when it said there were political risks associated with his attempt to explain the economic moment and perhaps his own policies. he has a tax plan that gives the wealthiest americans big cuts. it would be tax increases for the middle class. his economic plan calls for capping federal spending at 20% of gdp but fails to mention what it would mention about cutting programs. >> joy reed and michael, both

are msnbc political analysts. romney does give us a sense of what he wants to do. he talks about tax relief in terms of getting rid of the estate tax, what republicans call the death tax and reducing the corporate income tax from 35 to 25. a big cut. from across the board, he talks about across the board cuts for individuals. 35% for the highest rate to 28. a good sense how he will make people happier. then people like david gregory, my colleague across the hall, look what happened when david gregory tried to find out what's under that christmas present, as the cost of of this. let's take a look at what happens when david gregory tries to find out the cost. mitt romney saying under his plan tax rates go down for everybody. how would he pay for it? says he would take tax deductions for the wealthy. on "meet the press" this past weekend, he failed to set a

single example. let's watch. >> so everything i want to do with regard to taxation follows simple principles. bring down rates to encourage growth. keep revenue up limiting deductions and exemptions, make sure we don't put bigger burden on middle income people. i want to lower burden on middle income people. >> governor, where are the specifics how you get to this map. isn't that an issue? >> the specifics are these, which is those principles i described are the heart of my policy. >> give me an example of a loophole you will close. >> i can tell you people at the high end, high income taxpayers are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions. >> here is the problem with his tax plan. numbers don't add up. he says he will drop marginal rate by 20%. repeal estate tax and alternative minimum tax, drop corporate rate to 25%. all told, that would cost $4 trillion in ten years. the problem, mr. chairman, that's a lot of money. >> a lot of money. >> the question i have, why

won't he tell us what deductions -- you know the big three deductions. >> house, charity, state and local. that's where the money is. lee sutton says go where the money is. how is he going to go there without affecting anybody? >> i don't take issue with your point, it is a legitimate point. there's a great deal of specificity that has to be put on the table. my hope is when we get to debates, we will get through some of that. the american people need to know. likewise, the same true for the president, laying out some of the specificity of keep the middle class tax cuts from bush years in place, how do you cover that $3 trillion that costs. >> russell long, said, don't tax me, don't tax you. no, don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind that tree, somebody you never met. >> taxing the rich a lot more is not going to cover the cost of the health care system or protecting all that he wants to protect in education, all these new teachers he wants to pay

for, all this money he wants to flow back to the states. where is it coming from. the reality is, neither one of these gentlemen are being explicit or honest about how they are going to cover the burden. both of them but on the bottom line of the taxpayer. >> i think that is not accurate. the president put out and worked with john boehner to come up with this grand bargain, a lot of specifics on the table as to what they would do. when you look at mitt romney's plan, you are talking about giving the insurance companies back subsidies and give-mes. you are talking about increasing defense spending and zeroing out certain taxes. you have put us more than $4 tr trillion in the whole. >> you threw in some of the ryan stuff, right? >> isn't he running on ryan's

beliefs. >> ryan's policy on federal spending is equally fuzzy. he has promised not to cut defense spending, more spending on medicare and social security. how can you make those numbers work? according to ezra klein, he says, if romney is elected, every single federal program that is not medicare, social security or defense will be cut. that means, medicaid, infrastructure, education, food, safety, road safety, the postal service, the patent, the trademark office, the fda. that has to be cut by 40 mi%. a lot of people say there is nothing in the federal government for me. i don't care how much they cut it. >> that's not true. >> i am trying to give your politician a break. there must be some reason why. >> what republicans generally

argue is that governments, going back to certainly bush years and even going back to reagan, has grown. so you have this new breed of which is old school thinking of let's control growth and size and spending of the federal government. all the things you listed, my question would be why can't we as a nation have an honest discussion about value and worth and expense of the programs, maybe not a 40% cut, maybe 10% cut. >> if romney proposes those cuts, shouldn't he begin that conversation? >> so should the president. the president can't run around talking about spending this money and not tell us where it is going to come from. quite frankly, the rich are going to pay for the spending he wants to do. >> barack obama, you can argue with his policies all you want, ain't running as a guy giving stuff away. >> are you kidding me? are you kidding me? >> chris, one of the things left out. >> i get it. he cuts opportunity scholarship for poor kids in district of columbia. >> mr. chairman.

>> that's an example. >> back in, they're still back in there. >> back in because people screamed. >> in part because of the wars and military spending. mitt romney wants to double down on bush era military spending. if we are running around fighting foreign wars, you can't say you're closing the deficit. that part of the budget has to be open to cuts. that's why we have something called the cliff that we're heading for end of the year. >> i think the president should start with cutting the drone program. >> that wonderful person talking right there, joy ann reed, has the same brain on i have. i will have you on and i won't have to think anymore. thank you, michael steele. >> isn't they better than you? >> oh, please. up next, two presidential candidates walk into a barber shop -- there is a joke. ever wonder what happened to mitt romney and barack obama if they got haircuts together. the side show is coming up next. this is hardball, the place for politics.

back to "hardball." break out the romney, obama impersonators. what would happen if they met at a barbershop and talked pop culture? here is one possibility. >> good morning, whiner in chief. >> oh, look, it is the great white dope. >> how is the post convention bump? >> it waulgd wasn't easy going up against the mtv folks. >> you're hip, how do i say it, urban. your ur-bama. >> remember when madonna and britney kissed? >> do you? >> no. they tell me it was a big pop culture moment. >> maybe we put our differences aside, start our own boy band, me, you, joe. he does a mean falsetto.

>> i would like to call the band new direction. >> there's already one direction. >> we all know your direction. look where it has gotten us. >> not my direction, one direction. >> it is just like you to think there's only one direction. >> there is only one direction. that's the band's name. >> i have to go. do you have change for a thousand? >> got change for a thousand? that's one part of a series by stun creative suitably entitled presidential clippings. next, what's in store with this guy. it's in the politics. >> his small talk has altered foreign policy. he once ran a marathon because it was on his way. sasquatch has taken a photograph of him. he is the most interesting man in the world. >> i don't always drink beer, when i do, i prefer that.

>> can his small talk bring in campaign cash? the most interesting man in the world or the actor that plays him in that beer commercial weighed in on the presidential race. jonathan goldsmith is teaming up to host a fund-raiser for president obama next week. finally, no secret mitt romney and jon huntsman weren't chums in college in the primaries. apparently not much has changed. huntsman was on "morning joe" and "andrea mitchell reports." today romney may have his vote but not much else. >> what is the difference between president obama's strategy and philosophy dealing with the arab spring versus what governor romney is proposing? >> well, i don't know what governor romney is proposing at this point, i am a little confused on what president obama is doing. >> that's kind of a problem, isn't it, you don't know what mitt romney is proposing? >> it is kind of a problem. >> have you decided who you're

voting for? >> i support mitt romney. mentioned that a long time ago. >> when was the last time you talked to him? >> i don't ever talk to him. >> enough said. >> what a line and the conversation ends there. that's "hardball" for now. coming up next, "your business" with jj ramberg. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again.

[ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief.

and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air. join zyrtec® rewards. save up to $7 on zyrtec® products.