>> what a night. thank you, illinois. >> this week on "inside washington," romney receives a much saw after endorsement from jeb bush. >> the estabablishment the money to versus the people. >> they whwhatedicare to wither on the vine. >> if we operate based on political fear, nothing is ever going to getet done.e. >> theupreme courtrt hears argumenton the obama health care law. >> it is the number one reason

why barack obama suld not be returned to office for a second term. >> the nfl comes downard on a bounty hunters. >> i don't know of another fraternity weree somebody tries toto knock outne of his others. it is over the top. it is wrong. captioned by t national caponing institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> is mitt romney closing the deal? he won puerto rico and illinois. he has twice as many legates as it sanantorum. jeb bush clearly not in love with the guy, t he did endorse him conservative that senatorsenator jim demint said it is clear who the nominee wi be.

but his mmunicationsns director eric fehrnstrom said this. >> you hit a reset buttonor the fall campaign. is kind of like an etch a sketch. >> that was unfortunate one of the most frequently used negative words to describe mitt romney as "flip-flpper." when you consider that bush's endorsement was lukewarm and that senator demint did not exactly endorsed romney, you wonder if, as roger mon does, romney is the date you don't show up for tr. >> a lot of times you find out that the guy is more interesting than you thought, at other times you think of the guy 10 or 15 years later and you think thank god i did not show up.

>> how ds this man fire up th faithful, charles? >> he can't. [laughter] he has been trying for six years and has not succeeded. he won't. but the fact is that if and when he becomes the nominee, there is no altertive. it will be him and obama. the conservatives, the republicans, knowing they have one choice other than obama, will be fired up. > colby? >> i don't think so. i don't think that is going to work. we had truth spoken this week when the guy said it romney is like an etch a sketch. romney's core is not there. he will try to move from the center, but when he dies, the right will nail him -- when he does the right will nail him

for it. some republican pros will go along with it, but th real base of the party will not let him. it is not guaranteed, notwithstanding what the romney people are saying. the next primaries -- what is romney going to do in arkansas louisiana? a lot of states will go santorum's way. >> he is a smart man. what doe he have to doo generate it t is as, -- generate enthusiasm mark? >> he has to win the nomination. that is a trait he is not going to generate intensity. -- that is 8. he is not going to generate passion, intensity. the problem with the etch a sketch is th eric fehrnstrom said in public what people say in private. richard nixon said that you run

hard to the right as you can to win the nomination and then dash to the middle when you have got it. romney i is seseen as having changed his position on aboron gun rights, and gay-rights, and then contro -- gun control. it is a moment not unlike john kerry's i voted against the $87 billion before i voted for it, or george bush at the checkout counter looking at the scanner and saying "myoodness, what is this," confirming the stereotype that he is outf touch and that kerry is not constant. >> the problem is partly numerical. i hate to be so data-driven. what romney the candidate would have going for him is that the replican base really loathes

obama. but the only way he can win is to turn n out that base not just hav it passively vote or not about. the difference of a point or two can become in states like ohio, the critical difference between winning and losing. that is what karl rove found out in 2004. he has a problem with that ba because every time he does more for it, he loses the middle. >> that is the bush strategy, not the romney strategy. romneycacare not intrinsically fire it up. it is the e fact that no matter how much people are disaffected with romney, they are driven by three years of obama's rule. his strategy is to hold the party, which he will come and go for independents.

>> the most frequently used positiveve words to describe romney are "good," "electable." bush -- "now is the time for republicans to unite behind romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to voters this fall." this is not a statement that --- >> he wants this over because the e longer it drags out the harder it is for romney. romney cannot hold the conservative base and one independents s -- win independents. he cannot do both. >> sure he can. >> the positions on immigration, planned parenthood, you cannot move to the center

with those positions. >> at what point do it santorum and gingrich decide it is if pol ---- a fool's errand? >> gingrich is not going to. this is more about him. >> why should they? >> sent from -- santorum i looking to victory in louisiana as we do this on friday morni. arkansas kentucky, texas pennsylvania maybe. he's got a slice of the electororate that has been cool to romney. wherever evangelical voters e dominant, he carries. >> not catholic voters. >> he lost catholic voters to romney in illinois. >> i think it was you who said

last week that jerry brown was ththe analogy to santorum today. he chased clinton all the way to the nomination, winning a lot of late r races but not the nomination. the reason santorum what to do it is to establish himself to a force in the party. in the end, it is extremely unlikely to win the nomination. he then becomes a strong candidate -- >> does romney have to offerr h the no. 2 position? > i don't think that isis ever going to happen. santorum said this week at obama would be preferable to romney -- >> i think he is right.

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>> we leave benenefi is exactly it as a it is today. with our commitmento those seniors, you need to reform for the next generation. >> they don't believe in medicareand they act upn their beliefs, the republicans do. >> is the paul ryan plan about reforming medicare or a step in leaving it to wither on the vine as pelosi alleges? >> it is a political bachmann dts changed the plan from last year, the one that newt gingrich labeled right-wing social eineering at that time. by 2-1 margin, voters believe

that mitt romney does not understand the needs of voters like themselves. overwhelming majority 65% believe that m mitt romney tilts to the rich. he giveves a tax break of $150,000 a year to the average millionaire, average street corner millionaire. it is a terrible position at a time when the party is seen as for the rich. he gives the democrats an opening. >> charles? >> i have a slightly different interpretation. it is the only realistic reasonable budget from either party. obama offered nothing. last year he offered a budgett that the senate, controlled by democrats, rejected 970-0.

a budget that is serious about reducing our debt, and itnd does it through tax reform, which is what reagan did tip o'neill, 1986, the most successful piece of legislationn the last quarter-century, and whatt obama's own a debt reduction mmission had recommended, and which obama rejected. it lowers the rates but it eliminates the loopholes. those lpholes, $7 out of every $10, go to the top quintile of income. what you are doing is you are changing the way in which the irs is collecting tas, and doing it in a rational way that is infinitely more fair. >> it took yeaears to do the reagan reformer plan. taken away loopholes in theory but it is not going to work out

that way. no cuts to defense for theand for the poor, t the disabled, the middle classes, structural things for the country -- i suspect that is not something people want. >> anyone who was had a serious lo of the budget has said the same thing. you cannot have only tax cuts. inde -- you need revenue enhancers. ryan is being true to his principles. this is not a disservice to romney. this is what romney wants, toooo.. they rely heavily on cutting discretionary spending, which wouldld make it harder on the poor they want to increase defense spending. the same old thing we saw -- >> with all due respect, that is completely wrong. when you say there are no revenue enhancers liberalals

think that if you t rates, you cut taxes. it is completely revenue neutral. the irs stands up with exactly the same route. -- same amount. marginal rates are cut, and revenue enhancers are the eliminations of the deductions, loopholes, and corruptions in the budget. you end up as you did in 1986, with the i irs not losing a penny but lower marginal rates. >> and the question of what the loopholes should be that should be closed, he leave that up to somebody else. >> the house ways and means committee whose jurisdiction it is not his. >> $10 trillion in tax cuts for the ne 10 yearsrs. extends the bush tax cuts into perpetuity under paul ryan. there are no spelled-out

elimination's of tax expenditures. that would be courageous. are you going to do mortgage, it charitable deductions? make one thg absolutely clear about simpn-bowles that charles referenced, that it had at its guiding principle that it would not agincrse poverty -- >> talk about absence of the spine to read your guys have not introduced anything at all, not done anything on socialecurity or tax reform. that is the definition of absence of spine.

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] washington can't ignore the facts. more air pollution means more childhood asthma attacks. [ coughing continues ] log on to fightingforair.org and tell washington: don't weaken clean air protections. >> but the supreme court finds it unconstitutional, barack obama will not be reelected,

because they have to vote him out of office to r repeal it. >> in friday's column charles says that if the law is upheld it will fundamentally redefines the social contract. you'll be out there nina. what will happen? >> [laughter] most s scholars seem to think that it will be close but t they will all hold it. -- upholdi t. my husband is a doctor and i taed a lot of lks in this field all the time. the social contract and in terms of medical care is going to change a matter what. it is very different today than it was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, certainly 50 years ago. we will go to a different kind of relationship wiwith the medical profession. >> mitt romney in an op-ed in

friday'sus today," says that "it is a traumatic intrusion into our livestock thi-- dramatic church and into our lives." -- dramatic intrution into our lives." >> romney would know, having done the same thing in massachusetts. lots of people will have health care. says a worthy objective. -- this is a worthy objective. > charles does not agree. >> if you interpret the c commerce clause to allow the government to force a an individual to enter into a private contract with a private company, which is the essence of the individual mandate -- if you say at his

constitutional under the commerce clause, there are no limits whatsoever t to the power ofof congress.. the powers of congress were enumerated and ccumscribed a and everything outside is the frfreedom of the individual. you do this, and you give freedom to congress and it is alalmighty and the individual can scratch out and area here and therin that spirit of autonomy. that is a fundamental change in how our system works. >> echoeoes down at the long corridor of story, the new deal, the supreme court in the 1930's. the fear of the onaromnipotent congress is a fear unexpressed by american spirit a year and is logilly -- i your net nonostalgically --

>> they cant even passed e highway bill -- >> they spend $4 trillion a year doing nothing. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security

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>> bounty hunters have no part in our game. >> that t is the heaead coach of the new yorkrk jets, who just acquired the devoutly religus tim tebowow. brdway joe says it is s a publicity stunt, but i digress. [laughter] the league has suspended sean payton without pay. formerefensive coordinator greg williams suspended indefinitely. the saints- players who took

oppong players out of the game were pd bounties. >> i was really upset with dan snyder when he did not make greg williams head coach. now i am pattiting dan snyder on the back. i am glad to see thawilliams is out of the game least for the near f future. >> senator durbins planning hearings -- >> maybe i am a wuss, but the reason i don't like watching football ishat ideas so brutal -- it is so brutal. there is no way they will survive all these injuries. the nfl has a medical team examining head injnjuries. >> this is different -- >> i know that, but when you watch a gamame, you can see there is a lot of that going on.

>> but my friends to play big- time college football say it look, it is a ugh game. people get hurt. that is the naturef the game. >> i have to agree with nina. this is a little like the piano player in the cathouse. we did not know was going on. [laughter] aubry family found something we can praise dan snyder for -- have we finally found something we can praise it dan snyder for -- >> i am not going there. >> with tim tebow, is there a secularist quarterback, too? >> i finally found something on which my liberal colleagues e correct. you stumbled onto the truth. this is about lawyers and lawsuits. the nfl is looking at billions

of dollars, hit with lawsuits about concussions in the past. this is a way to be shocked that there's gambling going on. football is s a clear editoria -- is a guidedladiatorial sport exce they are wearing helmets. it is alall about hitting and that is why at his popular. >>