bill kristol's very first flashes of intellectual cred actually appear on his birth certificate in his. his father and mother, irving and bea kristol were both college professors and renowned intellectuals. bill kristol glided through college in the 1970s and worked briefly in politics as a democrat before returning to harvard to collect a ph.d. he first achieved fame, or at least washington fame, as dan quayle's brain. he took on the seemingly impossible task of being vice president dan quayle's chief of staff and won praise from republicans for helping dan quayle seem not quite so, you know, stupid. except at spelling bees. >> add one little bit on the end. >> think of potato. how's that spelled? >> you're right phonetically. >> after being rudely knocked out of his white house job by the clinton/gore victory over the bush/quayle re-election ticket, bill kristol took his revenge quickly. when bill and hillary clinton rolled out their health care reform plan, republican congressional reaction was the standard capitol hill move of offering counterproposals that republicans hoped would

bill kristol is there a compelling. is he a technicrat and his father dying as teenager and he had to pull up his boot straps and become something. >> he is a good guy and friend and i am totally biased. we were together in the washington think thank annual conference a few months ago . paul was giving one of the major talks and i ran into him and said what do you think of the discussion and panel. he said i was not there. janna and his wife and kids, we were all out on the beach. don't tell anyone . he's a policy walk and family guy and sports enthusist and as people get to know paul ryan they will like him. >> will he get the message forward? >> i think so, yeah. >> we'll be back and poll numbers are coming in . talk to scott rasmussen who has the latest on ryan's favorables and whether the romney campaign can turn things around in the polls, stay with us. >> we offer solutions that are bold, specific and achievable. we offer our commitment to help create 12 million new jobs and bring better take home pay to middle cl

bill kristol and steve moore joining us right now . there is a little bit of a fight between steve and bill kristol. whose editoral it was and the weekly standard that catapulted. >> oh, only a fight. in steve. >> i am not going to tk about it i am just a modest guy. steve hayes and i would never take credit for anything. >> one of the things that we had congressman from maryland . gave an indof the democratic. tax cuts for the wealth yecut to medicare that are going to put an extra burden on the elderly . we remember the tossing granny off of the cliff that came out after the first ryan budget. how does romney pull out. >> taxes are a tougher attacked and combined. they are cutting medicare . why do they have to cut medicare and education. they insist on giving them to the wealthy. people do know entitlements have to be reform even president obama said so. tax cuts for the wealthy they have not done a good job and i think you will see the democrats focus on that. >> we have known for two years that the democratic attack line is tax cu

bill kristol is there a compelling.he a technicrat and his father dying as teenager and he had to pull up his boot straps and become something. >> he is a good guy and friend and i am totally biased. we were together in the washington think thank annual conference a few months ago . paul was giving one of the major talks and i ran into him and said what do you think of the discussion and panel. he said i was not there. janna and his wife and kids, we were all out on the beach. don't tell anyone . he's a policy walk and family guy and sports enthusist and as people get to know paul ryan they will like him. >> will he get the message forward? >> i think so, yeah. >> we'll be back and poll numbers are coming in . talk to scott rasmussen who has the latest on ryan's favorables and whether the romney campaign can turn things around in the polls, stay with us.

bill kristol. that's the thing, his tone was exactly right, it seems to me.urse, it's entirely politically motivated but this idea of yeah, 13% for a guy who is making $10 million, $20 million, $30 million, $40 million a year, is that fair? that seems to be the way to posit it. when you're running for president, all kinds of personal situations and your track record as a professional are part of the discussion so why not how much federal income tax. >> especially if we're looking for tax reform. the center for american progress had a breakdown of the tax rate that average households make. households making between $30,000 and $45,000 pay 12.5% rate. households making between $45,000 and $92,000 pay a 15.7% rate. look in the middle, governor romney, who made $21.6 million in 2010, right in the middle. 13.9%. >> you don't need multi-year returns to know that to most people, who have to get a salary to earn a living, that something is not fair. there's no equity in the tax system where a multimillionaire pays a lesser rate because they get income from dividends

and i think what you are then going to see, and i think what people like bill kristol are setting thetage for is an outcry when people like that are ultimately not picked. >> and that's the point. it's sort of a bound-to-disappoint situation. this is bobby jindal talking about paul ryan. let's listen to what he said. >> i think there are a lot of good choices. i'm not trying to pick one out of all of them, but as an example, i think picking someone like a paul ryan would send a very powerful message that this administration is serious about tackling medicare reform, entitlement reform, shrinking the size of government, and doing so in a courageous way. >> it's like everyone on the short list is pointing to someone else who may or may not be on the short list. but maggie, if he does end up going with someone who is, let's say, not as much firework and glass as a chris christie or a bobby jindal or a paul ryan, what does that do for conservatives? do they then express their disappointment? there is already so much disappointment around mitt romney. >> i don't know. you've got to wonder,

bill kristol of the weekly standard democratic strategist joe trippi karl rove fowner of american cross roads and former democratic senator evan bayh. bill, you pushed hard for ryan to run for president and then romney for running mate. karl? >> he writes an editorial and romney picks ryan. either bill is most powerful man in washington or bill has the ability to foresee the future. >> chris: there you go bill kristol. you take the swame hat and pass. >> i will pass. it is a beautiful hat. >> chris: you think you should wear it. other way around. there you go. >> this is going to be around for a long time. >> chris: you look like carnac the magnifent. (laughing) >> i did not know this was coming . >> chris: no. >> you could have arranged for other things this morning. mr. 1: how has ball ryan done this week? >> he's done great and changed the nature of the campaign and changed and made it a different campaign. couple of weeks ago it was a bore tough hill and i really foal the romney-ryan ticket it foals like a move less like a campaign and less a couple of hundred poem working very hard

you look at what the wall street journal, look at what bill kristol and them said. now they're saying romney can't move away from ryan's budget. they were out talking yesterday. bill kristol said he can't just be for ryan for v.p., he's got to be for the ryan program. they want to take over the whole romney campaign. >> bob, let me ask you this quickly. it's not only medicare. president was out slamming congressman ryan for holding up the farm bill which is going to hurt him in a lot of those states. he says it endangered the livelihoods of millions. take a listen. >> right now too many members of congress are blocking the farm bill from becoming law. i am told that governor romney's new running mate might be around iowa the next few days. he's one of them standing in the way. we've got to put politics aside when it comes to doing the right thing for rural america and for iowa. >> looks like the president and his team is going to define mr. ryan on several issues that will not resonate well with certain voters in certain areas of the country. >> look, ryan's going t

but bill kristol says it is coming in one week and it is down to two. who are they? that is next. ♪ lord, you got no reason ♪ you got no right ♪ ♪ i find myself at the wrong place ♪ [ male announcer ] the ram 1500 express. ♪ it says a lot about you. ♪ in a deep, hemi-rumble sort of way. guts. glory. ram. ♪ in a deep, hemi-rumble sort of way. you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. >> bill kristol thinks the announcement is coming next week for the vice presidential candidate, and the governor's calendar could be telling the you think it is either rubio or paul ryan. let's get down do that. win of the two, right? >>guest: well, i thought it was that over weekend and i wrote that in an editorial. we called it for those two at the best picks. chris christie i

"weekly standard" editor bill kristol had some interesting insight on the differences between the medicareill. >> obama thinks $700 billion from medicare to pay for obamacare. this pile, that pile. ryan's budget says okay, we can save $700 billion by reforming medicare and put it in the medicare trust fund to make medicare solvent for the future. take money from medicare and put it in the future of medicare. romney said that's complicated. just leave medicare alone, we'll fix it going forward. in any case, we're not taking $700 billion from medicare. ryan and romney have a small difference. romney is the candidate. ryan is running on the romney plan. period. >> dana: all right. medicare, nothing short of complicated. but one thing that the republicans, political consultants off-camera and on background are saying is that maybe ryan wasn't a great choice because now republicans have to talk about medicare. but, andrea, is it possibly a brilliant move that now we talk about medicare and bill kristol says cut $760 million in medicare to pay for obamacare. ryan would have preserved it in the t

bill kristol. you were supposed to address the convention on monday night and do you know if you are going to speak and what is it that the romney campaign. >> i don't know if i will be speaking. if they need time with other people. >> chris: you got three hours a day on your radio. >> that's right and other people who don't have that and so i understand. i don't know if we will be incorporated. the night was going to be a positive and we can do better. yeah, it was a contrast. we need to show there is it a fundmental difference in the way these two men approach the country, its problems and solutions. i don't think that is being negative. that is being honest and the whole idea of we can do better is it a optmistic and positive message. i hope it gets incorporated even if my spheech doesn't. >> chris: governor, you are one of the few republican notables in this country who is defending todd akin, the congressman who made the remark about legitimate rape. i understand loyalty but isn't he toxic. >>

. >> tomorrow, weekly standard founder and editor bill kristol on the latest development in prison to race. look at the u.s. tax system. cynthia nelson will talk about her work at the website that focuses on the african-american community. "washington journal"live at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >> watch coverage of the republican and democratic conventions. live on c-span. your front proceed to the conventions. next, rick santorum at the young america's foundation news conference. a discussion about the airline security. rick santorum at the young america's foundation annual 1900 -- he comment on a wide range of topics such as same-sex marriage, welfare reform, and the pro-life movement. this is an hour and 10 minutes. >> can we have your attention please? she was at central washington, she was very active after- school. she also launched an aftershock from campus. she will be starting at a junior year say -- >> thank you. lucky that that it has given me this opportunity. i am thankful for the foundation for giving this opportunity. it is committed to ensuring that an increasing number of

. >> we are back with our panel now charles krauthammer, steve ha hayes and bill kristol.ou listen to that response i pressed him during that interview saying did mitt romney embrace fully he said fully not every decimal point but he embraced the themes the overall tackling the big choices. what about that question about this budget and mitt romney? >> look, i think when i was on special report earlier you showed clips of democrats attacking the romney ryan plan. that was before paul ryan was on the ticket nobody thought he would be on the budget. they were going to attack medicare reform anyway. it's not like they were going to say if mitt romney didn't pick him it would be a safer pick. if you made a siafer pick we can't criticize what you said about entitlement reforms and what they voted for with respect to entitlement reform. both support it. i think in for a dime in for a dollar the republican position conservative position and true position a lot of independents is you have to reform these entitlement programs. we are going over a cliff of debt and deficit and we ar

charles krauthammer, mara liasson, bill kristol. hear a smattering of delegates going to ron paul and rick santorum released his delegates, ron paul hasn't. this is a moment for romney. we talked the caucus for a long time and it was not foregone conclusion he'd win the race. up and down with the surges. this is meaningful to the party. but romney fought hard to get here. >> he fought hard to get here. primary is that he kept on winning but the headlines say romney weakness exposed, wins by a hair after mild night lik -- aftermidnight like in oh. many were distrustful of him but any state with more than 50% of the christian evangelicals in the primary he lost. every state with fewer he won. as soon as the primaries were over it's amazing how fast the party came together behind him. this party is united and wanting to defeat barack obama. that overcame the hesitancy about him. >> bill? >> like the voters in the old days for different candidates and went with different delegate in the state. it's so scripted there are three votes for

that's what bill kristol was saying. to use this and say this is really about obamacare and how it would impact medicare. the difficulty is people on the defensive initially is romney ryan ticket specifically paul ryan. the question is will they be able to flip president obama and make it about obamacare? we will see. they have a ton of money to spend. see how the ads work. right now is the pressure is on paul ryan. that is why brit was on him about you are cutting money, they are cutting money. but theirs is guaranteed, yours is not. they have serious questions. >> bret: off the bench, a good pitching -- >> all right. well, good. >> bret: next up, the president runs on energy. ♪ ♪ >>> governor romney even explained his energy policy this way. i'm quoting here. you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. that's what he said about wind power. you can't drive a car with a win mill on it. now -- windmill on it. i don't know if he has tried that. i know he has had other things on his car. >> of course, i like all the source

news, as we've seen, president obama talked about them in a white house briefing today, while bill kristolervative "weekly standard" said this on c-span. >> i personally, if i were, you know, designing the tax code, would have a tax code in which mitt romney paid more than 13%, i would say, given what i know about the kind of investments that he made money from. i'm just not a believer that he -- that he needed -- you know, that there would have been any economic detriment to paying more, and i think it just seems kind of weird that he pays a lower rate than an awful lot of middle class people. >> bill kristol also repeated his release that romney should release his secret tax returns, which makes romney releasing his secret tax returns the most bipartisan idea in washington. >> custom over the last, i don't know, 20, 30 years, i suppose, has been to release a couple of the years of tax returns. if you know you're running for president anyway, i think it's part of the price of running. obama did it, so i think romney should probably do it. >> i think the idea that this is somehow exception

we'll bring in our guest and columnist bill kristol.ou have to wonder what the late night comics where he comes up to paul ryan. sometimes i have been known to make a mistake. >> i don't know. i suppose so. but it was a good natured occasion and a good recovery by mitt romney. it is tough to pull off and they did it quickly and they didn't have a huge amount of time to prepare. paul ryan flew in last night or this morning. >> can you see ann romney. pointing, you are doing it wrong. >> okay, ryan-romney ticket. i can live with that. i don't think ann romney was enthusiastic. chris, what do you think? >> this pick, there are risks with this pick with the older voterss and ryan budget as relate to medicare and social security. they are undoubtedly true. but you are talking about with karl. mitt romney needed to the trajectory of the lace. i am sure mitt romney made the choice before the polls were out and i am sure today's choice and i suspect mitt romney is the kind of guy who will tell you what he will have for breakfast three we thinks

jon: so let's talk about it with bill kristol. he is the editor of "the weekly standard." and, bill, i read remarks from you which you indicate you were not all of that fond of this speech. you didn't think it was the barn-burner maybe it could have been? >> look, it's hard to judge. i long ago stopped trying to predict how the american people will react to speeches. they react in unpredictable ways or ways that are unpredictable to me. i would say this. this presidential race was a tie basically. think of it as a baseball game. i'm look forward to getting back to the d.c. and seeing nationals again. 2-2 at top of the sixth inning. the republican had a chance to take a serious lead with a big inning. i think they have a lead of 4-2. but democrats come up. my conservative republican friends, this isn't a case where you make your case and this isn't a situation where you make your case and other time is quite. they come to the plate. they have bill clinton and they have barack obama. they will make arguments and see how many runners they can score. jon: you said there was som

host: here are the numbers to call if you would like to talk with bill kristol.s you mentioned, paul ryan's potential youth appeal. this in the washington post -- the other issue that has come up as medicare and his stance on medicare. let's take a look at an obama tv spot, one of the aspects taking him to task and criticizing. [video clip] >> i am barack obama and i approve this message. >> now mitt romney is attacking the president on medicare. aarp says obamacare crackdown on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse, and strengthens guaranteed benefits. the ryan plan, a r p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. experts say paul ryan's voucher plan could lead to future retirees paying over $6,000. guest: that is an amazing ad of the president defending himself against the ryan plan. how many times has that happened? the vice presidential nominee, his plan becoming the center of gravity of the campaign. i don't know if that is an attack and on the ryan plan. you can just say the rise in yan plan and democrats will attack. having th

tomorrow on "washington journal," bill kristol on the latest developments in the presidential race. and a look at the u.s. tax system with an mit professor who argues that america is not taxed enough, compared to other industrialized nations. and a look at a website that focuses on the african american community. with your calls, tweets, and e- mails, live on c-span. secretary of state hillary clinton recently concluded an 11 day trip to africa, where she visited six nations including south sudan, kenya, and south of africa. she visited the university of the western cape and talked to students about the global partnership between the united states and south africa. this 40 minute event from cape town is courtesy of the south african broadcasting corporation. >> when it was suggested that i deliver a speech in south africa, and we ask the south african embassy in washington, there was only one answer. the university of the western cape. [applause] of course, it is in most fitting institution, despite the ambassador's prejudiced. because this distinguished, diverse, and story universi

bill kristol from the weekly standard and joe trippi a democratic strategist and liz cheney and former senator evan bayh. joe and bill have been waxing all day yesterday. you had a chance to hear crumb crumb - wasserman what expect. >> she refused to say what their solution is. what we have got in both mitt romney and congressman ryan is understanding we are about to go off the cliff. and as hard as you pushed congressman wasserman shultz all she repeated was talking points. and in congressman ryan we a terrific pick and someone who has show courage, leadership and deal with tough issues. >> senator bayh, do you think it is a help to the campaign. instead of a revverundum, the president has an opening to turn it on the vision that mr. ryan advance mr. romney adapted. is there a sigh of relief? >> i think there is. he is a good and start guy and showed courage. but this shifts the debate from economy and jobs to reforming entitlements that people embrace in the abstract and get down to the details, people are a lot less supportive . given the choices, it is a good pick for mitt romney b

jon: bill kristol from "the weekly standard." bill, thanks. >> thanks, jon. arthel: well there are new developments in the "fast and furious" gun-running investigation. a senior atf firm is now accused of double-dipping. bill mcmahon is on paid leave from his government job that pays six figures. but he may be pulling down more than that and republican lawmakers want to know why. peter doocy live from washington with details. hi, peter. >> reporter: jpmorgan is apparently paying william mcmahon $100,000 a year to direct security in the philippines while on leave from the atf but still collecting checks from the atf that add up to 100,000 a year. two republican lawmakers, senator chuck grassley and congressman darrell issa said someone made a special arrangements for mr. mcmahon. atf employees typically can't have two jobs and they want to know who made the exception. >> this is somebody who our reports said perjured himself before the congress. we don't understand why jpmorgan would hire somebody lied to congress and will probably be referred for criminal pro

. >> do you agree with steve hayes and bill kristol with what they wrote.of you have a difference of opinion. on twitter, michael writes, he must pick christie to innervigerating and compete for swing states. >> it should be alen west or condoleezza rice or herman cain. he picks miss rice all of the women will be happy. alen west is a hero. rubio is the main but mickey mouse would make a better choice than biden or obama. >> showering workers with millions of your tax dollars. we'll have that next why the rnc is sending birth kay wish to president obama. building pass, corporate card, verizon 4g lte phone. the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. ♪ [muc plays] ♪ [music plays] [ "human" by the human l

here is bill kristol of the weekly. and joe trippi. and liz cheney and former democratic senator evan bayh. good sunday morning to all of you. liz, we'll hear from you . joe and bill waxed on eloquently all day yesterday. and i got a chance to hear congresswoman debby wasserman schultz and the democrats are going to have hard criticism much paul ryan and the budget. what affect do you have? >> she refused to say what their solution is. what we have got in both governor mitt romney and congressman ryan people who have respect for the voters . two candidates who understand we are about to go off the fiscal cliff if we don't deal with the spending and entitlement programs and as hard as you pushed congresswoman schultz all she did was repeat talking points and not say what would happen. i think in congressman ryan we have a person a courage and a person who will deal with tough critical issues. >> john: senator bayh you think it is a help. instead of a revverundum on his points. the president turned it on the revverundum that mitt romney a