standing and enthusiastically cheering on herman cain, that is ben nelson.ow a sort of democratic senator from the great state of nebraska. at the time of this video in 1991, he was the sort of democratic governor of the great state of nebraska. yay. good spotting. now, aside from his where are they now cheering on herman cain cameo in the news today, senator ben nelson of nebraska is also in the news today because he says he is going to vote with the republicans again against president obama's jobs bill. he and senator jon tester of montana already did vote against the jobs bill as a whole once but now that they're breaking it up into its component parts for the senate to vote on it again, now senators jon tester and ben nelson and maybe joe lieberman, god bless him he still exists, now these conservative democrats say they may vote against even just the specific part of president obama's jobs bill that stops the layoffs of teachers and firefighters and cops. incidentally the polling on this issue is amazing. in the new cnn poll when they asked people wheth

particularly for folks like ben nelson facing a tough re-election next year, expect him to vote republican down the line on anything like this. >> even with webb and nelson defecting from the democratic line, it shouldn't overshadow the fact democrats actually did get almost all democratic votes here and they did in fact get a raw majority for the bill. if the republicans hadn't filibustered it, it would have passed. do you have any inkling in the senate that harry reid and the democrats might be thinking about that filibuster rule so they can pass things with the majority again? >> no, i don't. i think, you know, there's been a lot of calls obviously and a lot of people on the progressive side of the world would definitely like to see that. there were democrats that voted for this bill frankly who would not have voted for it if they thought it was actually going to pass in the end i think. you know, they felt like harry reid put a lot of pressure on them for this vote. it was a political point to show that 51 democrats were willing to vote for it. that a civil majority of the senate was w

i am ben nelson.ved this message because we need to stop playing politics and find common sense solutions. host: this is labeled as an issues ad by the nebraska democratic state central committee, but it looks like a straight up vote-for-me ad. guest: doesn't it? that is why it is creating a lot of controversy, at least inside political circles. the ad is being paid for by the state democratic party in nebraska. they got the money to pay for it from the democratic senate campaign committee in washington. the law says that political parties can spend what is called a coordinated amount of money on behalf of their candidate on any given state. it is done by population, so every state is different. what democrats are saying is this is not a campaign ad. this is an issues ad. despite the fact that the candidate is speaking directly to the camera. this has some potentially big implications for campaign finance and away parties spend money. if there view holds, it means there is no such thing as limits anym

the treasurer, he has run for the sweep twice before -- seat twice before and lost to ben nelson. right now, he will give nelson a. riis. it is telling that democrats have already aired about $600,000 worth of ads on ben nelson's behalf. it is a sign of how much work he needs to do. they are all in. they are going to fight for this. host: so far, in the five states we have talked about, -- for state, massachusetts, nebraska, montana, and missouri, on the map we have got in here from the cook political report, those states are all in green indicating that they are tossups. it would not surprise you that any of these incumbents were to lose in 2012? guest: not at all. the one thing we know is that they do not split between the parties. one party tends to win more. you have incumbents in this category, it does not surprise us to see a few of them fall. host: we are talking with jennifer duffy, she is the senate editor at the cook political report. if you like to get involved in the conversation give us a call at 202-737-0007 for republicans. you can also get in touch with us via twitt

democrats voted for it with the exception of ben nelson of nevada, one from arkansas and joe bennett. in lieberman's case he said the country needs debt reduction, not something that would add more money that the super committee has to find ways to cut. ben nelson said it's really more of a stimulus kind of thing, not something that would create private sector jobs. that was the main argument against it from those democrats, and it's the same argument that republicans share. it was not going to actually work to create more jobs. they felt private sector emphasis should do that and they believe it should be a tax increase because it would be a narrow piece of the millionaire's tax that would have been included in this if the one chunk passed. it was an idea that both parties and the president had supported. but in this political environment that failed too. it was a very narrow idea of taking back this rule in the tax code to withhold income tax from contractors. hadn't gone into effect here. something that businesses talked about wanting to see changed. gridlock on this issue, doesn't

that's ben nelson! the governor of nebraska at the time. he's now in the senate.ratic senator ben nelson who just voted against the president's jobs bill. maybe herman cain inspired him to think it is okay to vote down 7500 new jobs. as long as nebraska has pizza, i guess everything is just going to be fine. >>> coming up, mitt romney's latest flip-flop involves his entire net worth. ♪ [ female announcer ] mini™ meets berries. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats cereal with a touch of fruit in the middle. helloooooo fruit in the middle. with a touch of fruit in the middle. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ >>> for months mitt romney has tried to convince campaign crowds he's an average american. >> i don't worry about the top 1%. i don't stay up worrying that we have to help them. i'm not worried ab

that's ben nelson! the governor of nebraska at the time. he's now in the senate. voted against the president's jobs bill. maybe herman cain inspired him to think it is okay to vote down 7500 new jobs. as long as nebraska has pizza, i guess everything is just going to be fine. >>> coming up, mitt romney's latest flip-flop involves his entire net worth. man: my electric bill was breaking the bank. so to save some money, i trained this team of guinea pigs to row this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. big! big, big. big big big big? big big big big big. big big...big. ♪ big big big -big. -big! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ big big big -big big. -big!

like senator ben nelson of nebraska. it's always been a pretty good turncoat to the democrats. jon tester of montana really strikes me. he told his local newspaper, quote, there are things i like in this proposal but they are outweighed by the things i just can't accept right now. senator, it's not about you. it's about folks in your state. and i find it hard to believe that the people of montana don't want a job. you know that -- i just can't accept that. i just -- you know what, i just can't accept right now is guys like jon tester and ben nelson and joe manchin and all the other democrats calculating what

. >> well, republicans and two democrats, ben nelson and jon tester.t is going to try to get pieces of it through the congress. any chance of that happeni colby? >> think there is a chance, but l's go back. it the jobs bill was not defeated. the senate prevented the jobs bill from beinconsidered by a filibuster and using that to knock it down. it could get the votes to get past it could get it to the floor. there are pieces of the bill that are probably attractive. you have the house republicans talking about coming up with some infrastructure proposals of their of. they know theyave to do more than just say no, noow. >> mccaisays their plan will create fight any jobs. >> -- 5 milillion jobs. >> oh, come on. what we're seeing now is jt kabuki. something may pass that is small, but nothing will pass that is significant. >> what is going to pass, mark? >> i think payroll tas will be passed, as welll as unemployment extension. what is fascinating is the "wall reet journal"-c poll but the sum, that a small plurality of people f favor the jobs plan. however

. >> well, repubcans and two democrats, ben nelson and jon teer.t is going to try to get pieces of it through the congress. any chance of that happening colby? >> thinknk the is a chance, but let's go back. it the jobs bill was not defeated. the nate preventeded the j jobs bill from being considered by a filibuster a using that to knock it down. it could get the votes to get past it could get it to the floor. there are pieieces of the bill ththat are probably attractive. you have the house republicans talking about comining up with some infrastructure proposals of their of. they know they have to do re than just say no, no now. >> mccain says their plan will create fight any jobs. >> -- 5 milillion jobs. >> o come on. what we're seeing now is just kabuki. something may pass that is small, but nothing will pass that is significant. >> what is going to p pass, mark? >> i think payroll taxes will be passed, as well as unemployment extension. what is fascinating is the "wall street journal"-nbc poll but the sum, that a a small plurality of peopleavor t

. >> well, republicans and two democrats, ben nelson from nebraska and jon tester from montana the vote was 50-49. he needed 60 to move forward. no dice. the president will try to get pieces of this through the congress. any chance, colby? >> let's go back. the jobs bill is not defeated. the senate presented -- the senate prevented the jobs bill from being considered by a filibuster, because it could get the votes to pass if they could get it to the floor. there are pieces of the bill that are probably attractive. you have house republicans talking about coming up with some proposals of their own bread they know they have to do more than just say, no, no, no. >> mccain says the plan will create jobs. >> oh, come on and hit mccain's plan is more of a fantasy that the obama plan -- oh, on. mccain's plans more of a fantasy than the obama plan. what we are seeing now is just kabuki. nothing is going to pass that is significant. >> what is going to pass, mark? >> payroll taxes will be passed. unemployment extension. what is past eight -- what is fascinating is that only a small plurality of

ben nelson, senate -- these are senate -- >> democratic. >> democrats, and it's as if the last threeyears have been forgotten when for two years president obama basically could get anything he wanted. he got a stimulus bill twice, he got a huge health care bill. he got a 2000 page bill regulating wall street and bunch. other things and it hasn't worked. and i want to go back to the -- [everyone talking at once] >> is there a third -- >> look, first two years, barack obama had virtually a veto proof congress of the united states. >> right. >> three deficits add up to $4 trillion. the feds got money at zero, triples the money supply. it didn't work! this new -- >> kept us from falling into a depression, pat! and -- >> it didn't work? >> the new proposal is peanuts compared to what we've already done. >> you tell all the people who are not going to go back to work because the congress will pass the peanuts. >> by what theory -- [everyone talking at once] >> that's right. >> by what theory is preserving a payroll tax cut that we already have create a boom in jobs or protect us if there's

. >> well, republicans and two democrats, ben nelson of nebraska and jon tester montana.he needed 60 to move forward. no dice. the president is going to try to get pieces of it through congress. any chances it could happen, colby? >> i think there is, but the jobs bill was not defeated. what happened is that this senate prevented the jobs bill prevented it from being considered -- prevented the jobs bill from being considered by a filibuster. it could have gotten the votes to get past at they could have gotten into the floor. there are pieces of the bill that are probably attractive. you already have house republicans talking about coming up with infrastructure proposals of their own. they know they have to do more than just say no, no, no. >> mccain says their plan will create 5 million jobs. >> oh, come on mccain's plan is more of a fantasy that obama's plan. this plan was never going to pass, and what we're seeing now is just kabuki. something may pass that is small, but nothing will pass that is significant. >> what is going to pass, mark? >> i think the wages, the pa

all senate republicans plus a couple of democrats, ben nelson of nebraska and john tester of montana voted against the plan. harry reid switcheded his vote from no to kre. he did because that enables him to bring the measure up for a new vote at a future date. that gives you that final vote. president obama said in the coming days members of congress will have to take a stand on whether they believe we should put teachers, construction work hes and firefighters back on the job. while some some democrats blame politics for the vote, earlier in the day mitch mcconnell pushed back saying democrats designed the bill to fail. democrats and th right here on american soil. it's an alleged scheme that federal officials say involved an iranian used car salesman, mexican drug lords and murder for hire that could have left scores of people dead. these are all allegations right now. andrew a mitchell h andrea mitchell has the story. >> the impact would have been very real and many lives would have been lost. all right an alleged $1.5 million plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador, a veter

host: it highlights ben nelson and clear mccaskill as well.e been reelected up to and after his death if he had not got in foul up with this obamacare nonsense. that vote and that controversy about the payoff that he expected for a time from the white house -- he accepted for a time from the white house makes it unlikely he will get reelected. ben nelson is a good guy. he is a smart person. you want, i want moderate democrat. you do not want every democrat -- you have to have some compromise. not everyone can be a hard core ideologue. it is good to have people who meet in the middle. host: going back to our potential talk about moderate conservatives. my plan conservatives. -- right-line conservatives. guest: whoever is going to challenge barack obama needs to win the vote of republican primary voters. they do not like obama. they are pretty conservative. it does not make any sense to give them the finger. john weaver, who is running this campaign that huntsman has got does not get that. host: what you think about the condition of the senate?

we want to show our audience an ad put out by ben nelson's campaign promoting nelson and in coordinations about how that whole campaign -- how that whole ad came to be and who is paying for it. we'll show the ad and get your response. >> this is an excuse. >> totally political. >> they don't get it. they put politics ahead what's best for the country. we need to balance the budget not on the backs of senior citizens, bringing our troops home with pride and dignity and invest in america's jobs and future. i'm ben nelson and i prove this message because we need to stop playing politics and find commonsense sluges. host: it looks like a straight up vote for me ad. >> and creating a lot of controversy inside political circles. the ad is being paid for by the state democratic party in nebraska. they got the money to pay for it from the democratic senatorial campaign committee in washington. now the law says that political parties can spend what is known as a coordinated amount of money on behalf of their candidate in any given state and done by population and so every state is different. what

it is why you saw john tester and ben nelson from nebraska vote against the motion for the american jobs act. in their states their belief is that the way this jobs act is financed would not be beneficial mr. criminal cli. the top line numbers are important to the president as he tries to find something -- this president is thrilled that people are supportive of anything he is doing at the moment. but the reality for house members are different in those swing and conservative leaning states where this may be less popular as to chuck's point until people find out more about it. >> this is the deday after the debate. romney not only held his own he made rick perry look small and tired without energy. i wanted to play a little clip. >> we have the lowest number of kids as a percentage uninsured of any state in america. i'm still speaking. i'm still speaking. we have less than 1% of our kids that are uninsured. you have a million kids uninsured in texas. >> that was the most vigorous defense of the massachusetts health care plan. romney went on the offensive. >> he did and it goes back -- yo

. >> last night all 47 gop senators voted no, but so did democrats ben nelson of nebraska, mark pryor

all republican senators voted against along with two democrats, ben nelson of nebraska chester from montanaal, he won't arrive until 9:00 tonight for the vote. even with her expected yes, the final tally will be 51-48 shy of the 60 need today pass. >>> number two, an israeli soldier who spent more than five years in captivity close to being released. benjamin net i can't hugh says he might be release north dakota a couple of days. in exchange for the release, 1,000 palestinian prisoners will be lee. >>> kansas city firefighters searched the backyard well in the search for erwin. police say they found no sign of the baby after receiving an anonymous tip leading them to the backyard of a vacant home. baby lisa was born 11 months ago today and was last seen october 3rd. >>> mitt romney picking up a major endorsement from chris christie. it was overshadowed by the terror attack news. but the new jersey governor says he's the best prepared candidate to beat president obama. number 5, it has been 67 days since the u.s. lost top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? >>> now, internation

he has run for the seat twice before and has lost to ben nelson twice before. he will certainly give nelson a raise. democrats have aired $600,000 worth of ads which is a sign of how much working to do in this race. they are all in. host: in the five states we have talked about -- the four states, massachusetts, nebraska, montana, misery -- missouri, on this map, they are all in green indicating a tossup. it would not surprise you that any of these incumbents could lose it in 2012? guest: not at all. they do not split. one party tends to win more. you have incumbents in this category, so it would not surprise me to see a few of them fall. host: we're talking with jennifer duffy from the cook political report about campaign 2012 and the top senate races. if you would like to be involved in the conversation -- host: this includes nevada, new mexico, and wisconsin. these are spread all over the map of. first, we want to go to the phones and take our first caller on our line for independents out of richmond, virginia. caller: i would want to talk about the senate ra

freshman democratic senator john tester along with sellout ben nelson voted against taxing millionaires in their back yard of montana and nebraska respectively. nelson didn't vote for the $447 billion package because quote, it represents billions of dollars in new spending and more taxes. you know, that reminds me of the old bullet point. we got to hold it right there, folks. this is the, i think, perfect time for liberals to destroy the tax and spend bullet point that the democrats have had to put up with for years. here's what the demes need to do. you're damn right i'm a tax and spend liberal. it's time to tax the top 1% and spend it on the people who need a job, need a school, need health care. all of this. yes, i like that. i'm a tax and spend liberal. i want to tax those who have had all the breaks over the past 30 years and i want to make sure the works folk of america have a shot. president obama is not focused on nelson or tester. he's laying the blame on the feet of the republicans. >> last night even though a majority of senators voted for the jobs act, the republican minorit

. >> ben nelson of nebraska, he's a democrat but will vote will more conservative ideas and more taxes is not what he believes the answer is. he believes there should be additional cuts in spending. so it's the classic battle. when the president has been out on the campaign trail and making appearances around the country saying pass the bill and make the bill, they're one step toward attempting to bring it forward. >> kelly o'donnell, thanks to you. >>> a 56-foot high sculpture with a political message in missouri has been creating controversy. it stands right from the federal reserve bank of kansas city and made of 117 cargo and storage containers carefully aligned to spell iou, facing the bank and u sshus usa on the other side and attracting anti-wall street protesters. he joins me now from kansas city. good morning. you said the message is open to interpretation, but it is hard to ignore the symbolism, right? >> yeah. that's true, chris. the original idea is based on the debt issue, but myself and the organization that helped create the piece feel that it's a good idea to keep it a

senator ben nelson pish pitched in by voting no on a bill that would have put 2800 teachers in nebraskaan't figure this out. montana also sided with the gop turning his back on at least 2800 construction workers in the state of montana. folks, these are people who you elected as democrats. the country needed them today. the president needed them today. and they let us down. joining me tonight is independent senator bernie sanders of vermont. thanks for joining us so late. our audience loves to hear what you have to say when it comes to working families in this country. tonight was a real kick in the teeth by the united states senate to people across this country. your reaction? >> it is beyond my comprehension how when we have in real terms 16% of our people unemployed, 25 million americans, when we have millions more who work longer hours for lower wages. when we have an economy today which is in as bad of shape as any time since the great depression, it is literally beyond my comprehension how we could not get one republican vote in order to put millions of people back to work. >> sen

looking at some senators, joe manchin, ben nelson from nebraska, senators representing red states that with the president's jobs plan because they are worried about being liable for attacks for being pro-stimulus, too much pro-government handouts. that is a big story in terms of how it would look to the outside eye. >> what about the china currency bill, that's expected to pass. in an interview with dan pfeiffer earlier this hour, he indicated the president wasn't eager to sign that bill, in fact wasn't going to sign it in its current form if it gets through the house. >> absolutely. i watched that interview of him. i spoke with eric cantor about that bill, expected to pass the senate with wide bipartisan support. the question i posed to mr. cantor, there's over 157 signatures by republicans and democrats. if that could get to the 218 needed to bring it it the floor as john boehner said, he wants the people's housework its will, why not have the rank and file members walk to the floor. the answer being we don't know where the administration is. this could possibly be dangerous and star

one of the things is even the democrats like ben nelson of nebraska says he doesn't like this idea. he thinks they ought to cut more and not introduce new taxes. this is a division between the white house and senate democrats because the president had a different idea on how to pay for your jobs plans. knowing they really didn't have the votes did attract a few more of their own by adding this 5.6% surtax on income above $1 million which would be earned income, inheritance, capital gain. those things. they believe that will cover the cost of the jobs plan. so by taking away the issue of taxing those who earn above $250,000 a year, that brought some democrats. so when you have the more conservative democrats hesitating, they were able to bring some along. it will bring this issue to debate on the floor. it will give people a chance to swing at it more. and the white house is saying they could go along with this surtax as a way to get this through. >> quickly is there any evidence, any idea the senate republicans are going to try to offer a true alternative this week? >> at this point