i'm sorry, charlie brown.his latest republican rejection of republican ideas comes with consequences that could be very severe. republicans are insisting on a deficit deal before they will agree to raise the ceiling on american government debt. so we don't default on our loans. two cartoon characters and a football is just a metaphor. america plunging the world into a global economic meltdown, that is a very melancholy problem. joining us now is eugene robinson. thanks very much for being here. >> great to be here, rachel. but i feel like i should have theme music in a minor key. >> i can just give you a yellow shirt with a big squiggle on it. >> i think it would be more like, dah, dah, dah. that's what i'm feeling like right now. >> let me ask you about the eugene robinson approach to the big problem. in your column on monday, you said republicans are right, we shouldn't raise taxes in a recession. democrats are right we should not cut spending in a recession. so what is the eugene robinson plan to make every

this is lucia and charlie brown and the football.re is no way we'll go for this kind of deal. >> you have strong concerns about tax increases. is there one tax loophole closing that you would agree with? >> in the context of this debate, you cannot raise taxes. if we're going to do a tax reform package that will be tax neutral or lower that is one thing. i'm all for doing that down the road. in the context of this debate, there is no way we will be for raising taxes. raising taxes. >> have you made that clear to leadership? >> you're not the first reporter to ask. >> how many votes do have in your corner on that? >> that 33 members to sign the pledge out of 175 that says we will not support the debt ceiling unless there is cuts, caps, and a balanced budget. more and more members are signing on to the pledge. it was developed by outside conservative groups. more and more candidates and members of congress are joining each day. all but the two republican presidential candidates have signed the pledge. , cap, balance.com is the website.

and the american people this is the old cliche, louis and charlie brown the football. the american people are saying we are not falling for that any more. if these tax things are so bad that chris talks about, the democrats just controlled owl of government 8 months ago, why didn't they get rid of them. you had the house and super majority in the senate until scott brown got elected. why didn't you get rid of all these. if they are hurting the economy and keeping us from getting to a deal. why are you doing them now? >> chris: i want to ask you one question first, the polls show only 20 to 25% of americans want a deal that is only spending cuts. >> they also show americans don't want tax increases. here is what we all know. you raise taxes on the job creators and small business owners who make our economy go, you raise it on them now, when you have 9% unemployment you are making it that much more difficult for jobs to grow. they also understand the basics. government spends too much. it is not a revenue problem, it is a spending problem. everyone gets that basic point.

the american people, this is the old, the old cliche, this is lucy and charlie brown with the footballthe american people say we are not falling for that game anymore. we are not going to let you promise spending cuts later to raise taxes now. if the tax things were so bad that chris talks about, the democrats just controlled the government eight months ago. why in the world didn't they get rid of them? they had the house, the senate. super majority in the senate until scott brown got elected. if they are so bad, they're hurting our economy and keeping us from getting to a deal, why -- >> chris: that is a good question. i'm going to let congressman van hollen answer it. but i want to ask a question first before i do. the polls show only 20 to 25% of americans want a deal that is only spending cuts. >> they also show they don't want tax increases. here is what we all know, all three of us. if you raise taxes on the small business owners that make the economy go, raise it now with 9% unemployment, you are making it that much more difficult for our economy to grow and for jobs to be creat

brown than nelson? that's basically what charlie is saying. >> i think brown will have a hard time.ing with the fundamentals in florida is the toughest for the democrats. >> florida or new mexico, which is going to pop as a republican opportunity? >> they are both difficult but i kind of like heather wilson and think if the republicans are able to nominate -- if the republicans are able to nominate here in new mexico, i think she would be an interesting candidate. >> i don't think it's romney related as much as democrats worried about the whole russ belt and that it's a tough, tough region for this economy and there are a handful of opportunities that democrats like to talk about. we put up three on the board. nevada, indiana, massachusetts. nevada seems the most obvious. it's a swing state. we get why that's an opportunity. i've heard concerns that he's not charisma mat particular for vegas and that might be a problem. >> when you look at the numbers of the state, how closes these races have been. >> they are all close. >> who was the charisma example? >> right. >> it may be overra

i'm very very lucky that way. >> charlie: was training, academic -- whatever kind of training you had at brownlliard important for you. >> incredibly important, incredibly. >> charlie: it gives you what, tools to be able to ... >> well, it give me a lot of different things. at brown, i learned, you know, or was starting to learn who i was, you know. that's the great thing about college, you go to college, you learn the academics but youlso learn what i like, what i don't like, who do i want to kiss, who do i not want to kiss. those of ings are really importt. so i hadñr a good, i had a great college education at brown. and then julliard was the perfect school for me. and a lot of people asked me, you know, whatxd was your bigçqo julliard. that's the one thing that i can truly point to. >> charlie: it's tough to get in. they have a few slots r a lot of people. >> it is difficult to get in. god knows how i did it. i did a monologue about a belly dancer and a bad rendition of hermoine. >> crlie: did y leave julliard thinking i had within me the things to learn how to be good? >> no, i didn't have

also with the chris brown-rihanna scenario there was an element which is race. charlie-known batterer and yet with white men there is a sense in which they can get away with even more stuff than black men, right? >> that conversation still becomes about -- >> race. >> instead of gender. even when we're talking about a gender issue, race begins to trumpet. how can we think of gender justice in a different way. >> we need to have more men who are willing to educate boys and men around gender issues. i think that we have to have much more -- we have to redefine what it means to be a man. we have to have men who need to redefine mas masculinity and we need gender education at young ages so young boys can see what the power dynamic is and what we need to do to shift the power dynamic and make it more fair and equitable for women. >> do you see that as a possibility for us in the near future? >> think it's a possibility. i think that we have to really invest in that idea. we have to imagine what that future looks like and then we have to have honest conversations with one ano

charlie, an old friend of ours that i went to high school with. >> really. >> really, in high school. he does a lot of this in the city and he's come and given us one of these brown bag lunches with acoustical separation and talked about just what he's saying, using different thicknesses of material. the assembly has to go beyond the glazing, it has to be the building wall assembly that reduces outside noise. >> tempered glass is designed to take impact. that would have broken the window glass or the plate. i'm trying really hard. this doesn't want to break. let's give it a real... you know, so it's a good product. it's interesting. this center is the strongest part. the weakest part is at the edg edges. it takes quite a bit of impact, as you see. but -- in a quake, when they say don't leave the building, you know, there's a reason. you're probably better staying inside, under a desk or whatever else, because it's probably not going to be the glass that falls down but the cornice, some of the ornamental brickwork. who knows. we're likely to get hit by a power line. >> stay in the building. >> stay in the building, get under your desk. keep a bottle of scotch ther

charlie sheen and eminem. and the new music sensation whose get sleezy tour is raking in millions. you may remember chris brown pleaded guilty to beating his then girlfriend rihanna in 1999. sane americans were disgusted by his violent behavior but that did not stop him from getting top billing this morning on "the today show." >> ladies and gentlemen, here he is, chris brown. ♪ ♪ everybody put your hands in the air now ♪ >> is that actually singing? we decided to send the factor producer dan bank over are to nbc to talk with some of the chris brown fans. >> are you concerned at all with what he did to rihanna? >> do you see my face? i ain't even worried about that. >> you don't believe the police reports? >> no. >> why did chris -- >> i don't believe it was like that bad and i believe that she probably sparked the situation. >> just want to show you this one picture because here is a picture of rihanna after the incident and i have never seen a picture of chris brown where it showed that he had any sort of injuries that are anywhere close to this. >> i feel bad that this situation happened. my advice, she sho

. >> coming up, charlie brown and somebo impersonating charlie brown help us understand what is going on in washington right now. we do our best to make it fun. >> this country was built on opportunity and equality for all. that how we got great. we need to refocus on those values. [ doctor ] here's some health information for people over 50. maybe you don't think you're at risk for heart attack or stroke but if you've been diagnosed with p.a.d., or have pain or heaviness in your legs, i want to talk to you. you may have heard of poor leg circulation, which could be peripheral artery disease, or p.a.d. with p.a.d., if you have poor circulation in your legs, you may also have poor circulation in your heart or in your brain, your risk for heart attack or stroke is more than doubled with p.a.d. now, ask yourself: am i at risk? if you're not sure, call for this free information kit to learn more. [ female announcer ] call the toll free number on the screen now to find out what the risks of p.a.d. really are. you'll find a 7-point checklist that helps you understand what could be putting y