from washington the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over two decades the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. it's the 30th annual mclaughlin group year-end awards 2011 part two. here is the master of ceremonies, john mclaughlin. >> destined for political star dom 2012, pat. >> senator rand paul will emerge as the chief anti-

interventionist. >> elizabeth warren contending for the senate seat against scott brown in massachusetts has the potential to win the seat and galvanize democrats across the country. >> josh mandell is a republican running for senate in ohio. former marine. couple tours in iraq. he has the potential to be the marco rubio figure. >> andrew cuomo, the governor of new york, who has managed to bring about a balanced budget with a bipartisan approach both with the republicans and democrats in that state. something that hasn't occurred in a long time. >> interesting. >> i know you are eager for this envelope, john. >> i am, indeed. i wish to thank you. what's going on, friend? >> other end. >> let's see it, car nak the magician. >> destined for political star dom in 2012, ong son chi.

already famous as a nobel prize winner. now no longer under house arrest she can openly campaign and will emerge as a political star. she is destined for political star dom, pat, in 2012. >> takes my breath away. >> okay. destined for political oblivian, pat? >> bashir asawed, the president of syria will not last the year. >> sarah palin, who apparently is shopping around a new reality show but they are not lining up to take it. >> rich? >> nancy pelosi. when democrats fail to take back the house she will no longer be the leader of that caucus. >> senator harry reid, the democrats are going to lose control of the senate and he will no longer be majority leader. >> wikileaks found you are julian assange. in his heyday the five major newspapers in the world collaborated with assange. now they blame all of them for

publishing leaked documents that endangers people's lives. pat, best political theater of 2011. >> david cameron walks out of the eu summit, goes home to a churchilian reception. great job. >> wait a minute. is that abuse of him or praise? >> praise. >> are you being sarcastic? >> praise. >> he rejected the euro zone? >> they said up yours. take your treaty and you know what you can do with it. >> he wants to protect great britain? >> he wants to protect their sovereignty and independence. >> really? >> conservatives don't like the euro zone. they don't like the euro dollar or anything. so they love london standing up to it. but my best theater is the parade of republican front runners all flawed. trump, bachmann, perry, cain

and now gingrich. >> rich? >> tahrir square. you had the crowds, flags, hand to hand combat with guys on camels and the drama of history turning. you couldn't take your eyes off of it. >> i would say it was cain's 999. i mean, just as a phrase that captured a heck of a lot of people with the idea of simplifying the tax code. i thought that was great. >> best political theater, the european union late and ineffectual response to the sovereign debt crisis. that spread from greece to par chew gallon to italy and appears to be in spain. great political theater, but the action moves at the face of french cinema. glacially. you get it? worst political theater, pat? >> occupy wall street and its clones, john. this is not the 1950s, children. >> this is not the 1950s we're living in either, pat. i think worst political theater is the audience at the republican debate that booed a gay soldier.

>> rich? >> donald trump dragging everyone around in a absurd birther goose chase. >> to me it was the gop debates. just the whole series of them. i mean, as if that's going to be the determination unfortunately of somebody that's qualified to be the president. >> the worst political theater, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu lecturing president obama at the white house, whether you agree with president obama or not, on his israel policy. it's tough as an american to watch our president be lectured like a school boy on international television, especially when he is sitting in the white house. is that okay with you? >> what do you think, john? >> okay. worst political scandal? >> fast and furious. the atf sent 2000 high all weapons and modern weapons into mexico to the cartel to trace them. they got a border patrol guy killed. these guns are being used in

the cartel wars in mexico. >> arnold schwarzenegger's tweets and anthony weiner's tweets. >> weiner. enough said. >> as long as we're talking about this, i would add in dominique strauss-kahn getting involved in a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful story for the new york city tabloids. >> what's the story? was he framed? >> well, i don't know if you have read the report on it. it certainly indicates that it's not a, shall we say, a black and white story because there is no doubt that there is a lot of very fishy information going on with that story that goes back to french politics. >> the worst political scandal of 2011, u.s. senators and staff can profit off information through investment transactions that sends wall street insiders to jail. okay. most underreported story, pat? >> the progress of run paul. he wins straw poles.

he wins regular pauls pauls. he wins debates and convenience gets no credit. >> what kind of credit do you want him to get, pat? is. >> i would like the media to treat him with fairness, eleanor. >> okay. most underreported story is the positive impact the people are already feeling of the affordable care act, otherwise known as obamacare. >> the secret war against iran where elements of their nuclear program continually explode accidentally and mysteriously. >> we have 48 million people in this country who are living below the poverty line. in park to have almost 17% of the population living below the poverty line is a disgrace. you almost never read about that. >> most underreported story of 2011, india's drastic reduction of its poverty rate. the u.n. says india's poverty rate will drop from 51% to 22% over the last 25 years. okay. the most overreported story of

2011, pat? >> the liberal media hype for jon huntsman, who is at about 30% at the same time -- zero percent at the same time they are cutting ron paul dead. >> casey anthony trial. >> rich? >> occupy wall street. you have a motley collection of wine any youth, aging hippies and homeless people gathering at zuccoti park and the media swooned. >> the most overreported story of 2011, the false story that america is in decline. the press, especially the financial press, says america's days are numbered and that china will soon be the most powerful country on the planet. the true scholars say america will be on top in 2050. number one four decades from that. >> what about my book suicide of a. >> where is it? are you selling it? >> it's selling, but i'm not selling it right now.

>> okay. the biggest government waste, pat? >> $500 million loan guaranteed to cylindra. other dollars poured into electric cars and all the other eleanor nonsense. >> i love it all, pat. and if we live long enough we will enjoy the fruits of that green stuff. the $1.4 billion in surplus dollar coins stockpiled by the u.s. treasury commemorating all the deceased presidents. vice president biden finally blew the whistle on that. >> pat nailed it. sill ind ra. >> the congressional salaries paid to the congressional leaders who couldn't agree on a debt reduction program to the detriment of the united states. those people deserve to be paid zero. >> what are they paid? >> they are over $200,000 a year. >> really? >> the biggest government

waste, the war in afghanistan. $2billion per week, but osama bin laden is dead. al-qaeda is all but gone from the country, and the afghan government is negotiating with the taliban. okay. best government dollars spent, pat? >> it's keys off you, john. seal team six taking down bin laden and the targeted hits on al-qaeda itself. but i agree with you on afghanistan. >> eleanor? >> best government doral i would say unemployment insurance in this time. >> rich? >> every penny spent on missles which are a great instrument for global justice. >> i was going to say killer drones, which is exactly what you are referring to. i would also add the salaries of the people in the counterterrorism unit of new york city police who have done an unbelievable job in taking care of the terrorist threats to new york. >> the best government dollars spent, the money spent to bury osama bin laden in accord with muslim traditions. killing bin laden was a spectacular feat, but it would have been marred if the

handling of the corpse offended devout muslims. more importantly, a land burial would have created a shrine for al-qaeda. the outcome burial at sea was brilliant and it was money well spent. okay. bold exist political tactic, pat? >> newt gingrich saying that actually the palestinian people don't exist. they are an invented people. they are all arabs. >> horrible? >> no. i mean, he spun this thing. i got give him credit. >> he was talking as an historian. and his views happened to match those of the evangelical christians he is courting in iowa. there is always method to newt's madness. >> i wouldn't go that far. >> well, i would say stripping the collective bargaining rights in wisconsin and ohio. bold political tactics. back firing to a certain extent. >> eleanor stole mine. scott walker is the boldest

tactic. plowing through even after democrats fled the state. >> what do you think? >> well, i frankly think newt gingrich taking on these televised debates as a way to revive his political career and reputation. who would have thunk? >> president obama's decision to go negative in the current campaign, 2012. there were high hopes he would be a unifying president. now his best shot at re- election is to pit the less affluent against the more affluent. class warfare. if he loses in 2012, unfortunately, obama's legacy will not be as a unifier. it will be as a divider. you got that figured out, pat? >> i'm trying to. >> okay. we'll be right back with more group 2011 awards after this.

okay. best idea of 2011, pat? >> america coming home from iraq as of january 1, and the next best idea is coming home from afghanistan by 2014. >> eleanor? >> to take to the streets the arab youth movement and the occupy movement in this country. >> rich? >> best idea is crone any capitalism. a phrase that originated on the left. it's migrated to the right. unfortunately, it's an accurate description of what we have in washington and wall street. >> mark? >> the deficit proposals of simpson which would be a major step forward in getting our fiscal health back into good shape. >> the obama administration's idea to use seal forces to kill bin laden. bill clinton used airstrikes twice to kill bin laden. that's a tough target. he missed both times. obama's use of the seals ensured a more precise mission.

best and bravest idea of 2011. pat? worsted idea. >> john corzine, former head of goldman sachs steps into a brand-new mf global and he says i think what we ought to d do is shove the whole tack in on european bonds, john. worst idea of 2011. >> he says he doesn't know where the money went. >> it's gone. >> how much was it? >> 1.2 bill gone. >> he doesn't know where it went? >> that's the investors' accounts. that's not mf global -- >> okay, eleanor >> alabama's ability anti- immigration law which has tomatoes rotting in the fields. they have executives bringing jobs to the state. >> worst idea was to have about two dozen debates before republicans started voting in the primaries and transforming the race into a bit of a

reality show. >> the worst ideas came out against mu barric, the president of egypt, and the military that the country would fall into the hand of the muslim brotherhood. it's a disaster for u.s. interests in that part of the world. >> worst idea of 2011, anne hathaway, 28 years of age, james franco, 22, co-hosting the academy awards. they thought it would build the number of young viewers. well, ratings dropped by 4 million. one of the lowest oscar audiences in nearly 40 years. >> and you're telling me that's worse than the islam ics taking over egypt? >> i can't believe you are negative on anne hathaway, john. okay. sorry to see you go, pat. >> greatest generation is dying at 1,000 a week. >> massachusetts congressman

barney frank, a first rate legislators. a caustic wit, an intelligent mind. you don't get too many of those on capitol hill. >> rich? >> if we had a glad to see you go category, barney frank would be mine. >> that's why i love him. >> jeff bush could have been the republican nominee and could have been the next president. >> i would say the passing of sergeant shriver who was a wonderful man and made a wonderful contribution to the united states. >> here here on that. former defense secretary robert gates. gates revived the morale all of the u.s. military and transformed the military to be better equipped to fight in the 21st century. okay. 15 minutes of fame, pat? >> herman cain. he could have been a contender. >> i got to echo you on that. herman cain. 999. >> herman cain. no one was as surprised that he was taken seriously as a presidential candidates atz he was. >> i was going to say herman cain as well, but i'll have a

different twist on it. godfather's pizza. >> 15 minutes of fame. remember this man. former minnesota republican governor tim pawlenty. once thought to be the best republican presidential nominee. pawlenty bowed out after the iowa straw poll bad numbers. >> best spin of the year, pat? >> newt gingrich. that 1.6 million was for my role as a historian giving strategic advice to freddie mac. >> quote, not intended to be a factual statement, which is what the spokesman for arizona senator jon kyl said after he declared on the floor that upwards of 90% of what planned parenthood does is abortions. the correct number is 3%. >> rich? >> best spin is president obama blaming republican policies for the weak economy after he got whatever he wanted for two years.

>> yeah, and the other spin to follow on that was to blame the republicans for failing to arrive at a debt reduction agreement when in fact they had an agreement on thursday night and he walked away from it on friday morning. >> best spin of the year, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. also bernanke's decision to hold press conferences. it worked. both the press and the public liked the innovation of the fed chairman holding press conferences. okay. the most overrated, pat? >> the most overrated, john, i think is the threat from iran. we're getting all this hype from the neokinds and others. we have to go to war to save ourselves when iran represents no threat whatsoever to the greatest super power in history. >> texas governor rick perry, who came in as the frontrunner with lots of money, lots of promise and it turns out he was exposed in the debates as someone who cannot think on his feet. the republican debates were the best idea ever.

>> rick perry, the idea of him was so good. >> well, i would say the most overrated was the euro. the euro has not virtually collapsed and may bring about a huge collapse of the entire european economy. >> most overrated, the u.s. budget will cut $1.2 trillion. the national debt is 15 trillion. 1.2trillion is a drop in the bucket. it won't even pay for the long- term interest on our debt. most overrated, pat -- most underrated, pat? >> i think europe has the euro crisis. they are ignoring the demographic winter in europe. not a single one of those countries has a birth rate that will enable it to stay alive. its population is aging. the number of young people are diminishing. that is a long-term crisis. >> underrated, i give it to mother nature who visited upon japan an earthquake and a tsunami, and in this country we had droughts and fires. and with global warming up her

sleeve, there's lots more to come. >> i think john boehner has been surprisingly deft in keeping his caucus together. >> the most underrated thing that happened to this country is the energy boom in both natural gas and oil that came out of fracking. it will change our whole independence on the issue of energy. we will be exporters and not importers. >> related to that most underreported -- underrated canada and mexico. president obama's farm policy has largely shifted to asia. the president is ignoring the fact that canada and mexico are the u.s.' largest trade markets. he should also focus on latin america. focus on those. we'll be right back with new year's resolutions. alright everybody, get your heads up.

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okay. new year's resolutions, pat? >> get to work on my memoirs. >> i have had a smile through the political fights ahead. to tap into pat's knowledge about third party candidates, because he was one. >> i got married this year so i resolve to get used to being wrong about everything. >> i am going to spend as much time as i can with my two young children. >> new year's resolution for the mclaughlin group, stay on top of the ratings. happy new year's. bye-bye.