dana milbank joins us. along with david corn.you call green, not everybody is in the stock market, but everybody, if they are lucky up to 65, has a 401(k), has some investments and that market has almost doubled in the recent year, almost doubling your wealth in that kind of asset. you point out that the consumer confidence is the highest it's been in years. >> it's a whole bunch of things altogether so consumer confidence, housing, the jobs picture has gotten better. we've had false starts before in this economy. but it's beginning to look at this one is real. it's a very ominous position for republicans to be in. there's not much they can do about it. the incumbent president and his party are going to get credit for it. >> they aren't talking it database. now they're talking scandal. >> you can't talk it down. if people recognize it's getting better. you're left with talking about scandal. that's great if you get a watergate or something. but if it's just a bunch of noise about what somebody in cincinnati did with the irs, it's

and as dana milbank said the reality is this. if we're trying to talk about democracy and the civil liberties upon which that democracy is premised, we've got to have the ability to hold to account our political figures here. and this kind of i didn't answer truthfully or untruthfully. come on, man. the reality is he did know what was going on and when the senator asked him what was going on, he already knew he knew. so i think that the reality is we've got to make hard and fast rules here that govern what's going on. otherwise, we've got an orwellian situation where the massive surveillance of american citizenry goes on. and guess what, this introduces us not only into a mccarthyite situation but a situation when minority communities which have been under surveillance forever can have something interesting and smart to say. >> dana, this is a weird moment politically because you're either on the bipartisan side of the president and speaker boehner or you're on the bipartisan side of ron wyden and republican mike lee. which is it

e elijah cummings and dana milbank. congressman, in all the times you've sat next to mr.rings, have you ever gotten the impression he thinks there was political hanky panky here? from the white house? >> yeah, i honestly don't know what he thinks. i mean, quite often he makes a lot of statements and then, and these statements make headlines and then there's a search for the facts and in many instances, the facts are never found. and so i don't know what he thinks but i can tell you one thing that the interviews that have been conducted and the chairman knows this have shown no political involvement in this episode. no white house involvement whatsoever. and we know that it started in the cincinnati office. and it was started by a self-proclaimed republican, a conservative republican. and i think the thing that bothers me most, chris, is when these types of allegations are made and you have exculpatory evidence that shows clearly that it's not accurate, you ought to say something because we are in search of the truth. >> yeah. >> so that we can do reform so that we can the

joining me now are dana milbank and angela reid. tonight. >> thank you, reverend. >> dana, here we go again. whatever you think about palin, she is a force. how does her comeback inpack the gop? >> above all, it's great news for the media busy, because she has been a great source of enjoyment and headlines for us for years. i'm very delighted in a personal way to have her back. what it means for republican party is basically they went on this experiment for the beginning of the president's second term here, and that was could they behave in a more responsible way. but what you have seen is when people do that, when marco rubio tries to cut a deal on immigration, when jeb bush tacks toward the moderate middle, they basically get ost stra sized from the party. so i think what you're hearing is a little bet of backlash to that conciliatory effort. and i think fox news is recognizing that. they love being in opposition. so they want to restore that platform for sarah palin. >> and aside from the platform, you know, she has power on the r

dana milbank from the "washington post." and in miami, msnbc political analyst michael eric dyson. na, isn't bobby jindal clear and verifiable proof now that the rhoades scholarship is gravely diminished? >> well, it's an excellent case study there because this is the same bobby jindal who last year after the election was saying, look, guys, we got to grow up and get rid of these more recalcitrant elements of the party. he learned his lesson for that. you don't defy the sarah palin wing of the party. so he's. >> he's joined them. >> he has now joined them. he didn't want to get trampled by that parade so he's now the drum major. >> what you're saying is jindal complained about the stupid wing of the party but now he's joined it. is that correct? >> yes, reluctantly i'm sure. >> of course. thank you very much. professor, for many americans the issue of abortion is au know is a serious matter of faith and conscience. that includes those republicans in congress who are spending the day on had bill. but can you, sir, explain why none of them has done anything to stop the sequester from

joining me now is james peterson and dana milbank.r coming on the show. >> hi, reverend. >> thanks. >> james, what is glenn beck's obsession with the civil rights movement? >> it's a fairly sinister obsession, rev, and i appreciate your comments opening up this segment. but when you look at it, it does two things. at the same time it's disrespectful to those folk who understand the legacy of civil rights for african-americans in this country, that speaks directly to his base. so he is able to do two things here, rev. he can allow them to enter into the victim subjectivity, something they always rail against, but they love sort of stepping into the role if and when they can. and number two, his audience and his listeners are also going to be stoked by the fact that he sundays miis undermining that part of our history. >> dana, you know a civil rights throughout the nation's history, as he mentioned frederick douglass, who fought to abolish slavery, martin luther king who fought against legal segregation, and people not being able to vo

joining me now are dana milbank and joe madison. tonight. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> dana, rush limbaugh says this is an obama coup. but haven't many in both parties supported the patriot for more than ten years? >> well, not just the patriot act, but this particular program was grown out of a bush administration program and was done on a bipartisan basis to replace that after the supreme court basically invalidated it. you know, look. i think as you pointed out, there is plenty of blame to go around here. i think our government is doing something here that it didn't tell the people about. that's this administration, the previous administration. >> right. >> both parties in congress. and the courts have not been telling. we deserve to know and deserve to have this debate. but for the republicans to come out now and say wait a sec, we didn't know anything about this. if they didn't, they weren't doing their jobs, because all 530 members of congress were invited to be briefed on this program and get the details. they weren't d

thank you so much, karen finney and dana milbank.e note with great excitement that karen, herself, launches her own program this weekend. the same miss finney that cut her anchor chops right here in this seat on our broadcast. take a look. >> oh, no. >> a newly named anchor here on msnbc. >> wangdang sweet putan. >> karen finney, and richard wolffe, a man. >> a man who loves women. martin, i'm not going there. >> i could get into some difficulties. >> you know, aside from all -- >> try not to use an expletive. >> i won't. i won't. i promise. i promise. i've taken a deep breath. martin, are you -- come on. i'm sure it is a great work of fiction. hmm, what does that tell us? krystal and i were in a backroom most of the weekend scheming. >> i'm so glad you admit that. that's the game. >> right. that's the game. >> and the show is called "disrupt with karen finney." as i said, it debuts at 4:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. i have a little card from myself and my production team. >> thank you. >> and we send our best wishes. i know it's goin

dana milbank compares republicans behavior now to the late '90s. then congressional republicans found themselves about clinton administration scandals, but the indicators kept point tog a booming economy. house republicans marched toward impeaching him. are republicans in danger of repeating history? are we living through that once again? >> i think we know what happened in benghazi. that's just kind of -- we knew they did -- you know, the report by ambassador pickering and admiral mullen, we know what happened. look, about the irs -- democrats control the house. you would be jumping up and down. at the end of the day, you've got to let this thing play out. i'd be shocked and surprised if the white house had anything to do with it. i think that to be fair, that the democrats, i would be screaming for the democrats to pursue this. and i think the public is kind of yeah, their attitude is let it play out a little bit more. it's going to be like a pistol. it's a low grade fever, but it's not causing significant damage and i think that the perfectly fi

dan milbank, political kmumi cot at the "washington post." danahese charges came to you by e-mail, you'd immediately send it to your junk folder, wouldn't you? >> i think i shave a program tht sends it to spam automatically, martin. people who should be most upset about the way the investigations are being handled are the republicans, themselves. they've taken what was potentially a really legitimate inquiry here. we don't know exactly what happened out there in cincinnati, and in this division of the irs. something clearly went wrong. by leaping and putting it into the white house without any evidence that it's there, they're sort of getting out over their skis and they're basically biasing the investigation. they're allowing the white house, and they're allowing democrats in congress to say, see, it's all politically motivated. so they're basically defeating the investigation, itself, before it gets under way. >> okay. professor, i would be wrong to suggest that it's just mr. issa engaging in this conduct. here's kentucky's hal rogers addressing

joining us is the laughing david corn, mother jones magazine and dana milbank, equally laughable politicalumnist with the "washington post." dana, first we discovered the whereabouts of rusty the red panda. now it appears putin has cleared up the whereabouts of edward snowden. the spy turned russia president told reporters in finland today that mr. snowden really did fly into moscow. for us it was completely unexpected. he also claims russian intelligence services have had no contact with mr. snowden whatsoever. i'm sure you'll take that as great comfort, won't you, dana? >> oh, absolutely. yes. i wish i could get as enthusiastic about the snowden chase as i was about the rusty the red panda because that one was at least in my neighborhood. >> it was. >> and you know, i think we all wanted rusty's safe return. i think the people are a bit more ambivalent about snowden right now. perhaps it's time to for our government to stop making this guy into some sort of a martyr and some sort of a hero and quietly negotiate these things. >> yes, it would be helpful. david, are paul ryan doesn't have

and we couldn't find him or track him down when he was conducting on-line chat, dana milbank?at's not a high priority for them. there is not a whole lot divulged in internet chat rooms. >> what is your headline? >> i'm going to make a bold prediction. i think snowden shows up in iceland wearing a viking helmet and saying his name is gunnar. >> the weather is better in ecuador, i think. >> at the end of the day, bob, is it safe to assume at this particular point that is how this will play out at this particular juncture? >> it looks like it. as matter of fact, i think we could have some sort of betting arrangement where we can have a pool, you know, where is he going to land. i think maybe there's an opportunity here. >> i will take ecuador plus seven points. >> no betting for me. >> sec would be pleased with two of you at least. betting on the air -- >> quickly, 30 seconds. high court this week, we are expecting blockbuster decisions. of course waiting to the very last minute. dana, what do you think the highlight will be out of the high court? >> i think jokingly i say they h

i wonder whether you think, dana milbank, those who have turned down the meets were getting sanctimonious. don't reporters go to off the record sessions all the time. president bush held them, president obama has held them, every white house has these background briefings. every phone call, half the phone call conversation washington began, you didn't get this from me or you can't use this unless i agree. suddenly with holder, it is like, i am just shocked -- >> controversy during the bush administration is the president tried to have an off the record barbecue at his ranch down in waco and we could report on what food was served but not on the type of conversation. sure, this is a perennial issue and i don't think there is a right or wrong. times off the record and i don't think this is a clear case of this. this is just a clear case of the justice department and eric holder with a self-inflicted injury. this is something he didn't have to have happen. a lot of stupid accusations leveled against him and the justice department every day. this one is very real. he didn't have to have it ha

. >> i want to bring in washington post columnist dana milbank and casey hunt. good morning. >> good morning. >> tom donilon's been with the administration since the president took office and obviously, susan rice had been rumored to be the national security adviser in waiting, so this isn't a big surprise, dana, but why now? >> well, it was going to happen at some point eventually, so why not now? there had been some disappointment within the administration with tom donilon. this was always going to be the consolation prize for susan rice and it follows a pattern that the president has been doing in this second term and that is to appoint and promote loyal aides and new positions. it continues a pattern of having people who are very close to him and have been with him a long time into more senior positions in the white house. >> casey, any reaction so far? what's the expectation? are republicans going to bring up the whole benghazi talking points again? >> it only took a few minutes before jason chaffetz to tweet judgment is key to national security matters and

. >> darrell issa uses a technique the "washington post" dana milbank dubbed accuse first, ask questions later. on cnn this weekend, he alleged the tea party targeting was coming straight from washington, but did he have proof? listen to what he said. >> the reason that lois lerner tried to take the fifth is not because there's a rogue in cincinnati. it's because this is a problem that was coordinated, in all likelihood, right out of washington headquarters and we're getting to proving it. we have 18 more transcribed interviews to do. >> this is all you need to self-condemn this guy. he makes a statement and says in all likelihood there was a connection. he says we're getting to proving it. i don't know if that's good english. we're getting to proving it. in other words, here's the fish i caught today, i'm going fishing. i look at it and it opportunity make any sense. >> makes absolutely no sense. >> he says i've got this story made then i'm going to go make it. what is it? >> i think this story is the story that keeps on giving. >> did the president have anything to do with the irs scan

dana milbank and karen finney. reminder you can watch karen on her new show "disrupt" saturday and sunday 4:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. coming up, when in vegas, vice president joe biden goes all-in on gun reform. we'll take you there in a moment. hey linda! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you do what you do... even better. ♪ (announcer) at scottrade, our.. clto make their money do more.re (ann) to help me plan my next move, i

. >> and joining us now for an opportunity to market "the washington post" is dana milbank a politicalhart an opinion writer both who work for the said washington post. dana, i'm going to quote account "new york times." a new editorial on president's decision. here's how it ends. those urging stronger action seem to have learned nothing from the past decade of war in afghanistan and iraq which has sapped the united states and has produced results that are ambiguous at best. dana, do you think the president has made the right decision? >> well, i don't think he's made a decision so much as he's been forced into an action that's not entirely clear that it's wise to take. as you can see from the backdrop behind me, i'm in las vegas. the gambling capital of the world. that's the best place to research our syria policy here because we have no idea where we're going here. it's not clear that the alternative that we're backing now is any better than this admittedly brutal assad regime. it is entirely possible that this president in a desire to be strong and bold is going to wind up propping u

. >> dana milbank, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> there's so much more to talk about with thisstory. so we're going to come back and spin on it. stay with us. [ male announcer ] running out of steam? ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. >>> edward snowden, an american hero or government nuisance for leaking those classified nsa documents? let's put him through the spin cycle. guys, this is, at least in my opinion, this is complicated stuff. i, for one, don't like leakers. i don't like whistle blowers. i think it's a matter of integrity that when you're in a job and that job is to keep secrets, then you're supposed to keep those secrets. both because of the information itself, the content, because it's something you said you would do

and dana milbank, thank you for joining us again. >> after yesterday's ruling on the voting rights actre moving to suppress the votes of people who tend to oat for democrats. look at mississippi, texas, alabama, they're going out now to suppress the black vote. this is "hardball," are the place for politics. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter... because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. >>> congressman edward markey won the special election last night in massachusetts. headed to the united states senate. he beat gab gabriel gomez by ten points. that margin is right in line with recent polling up there. he specs to be sworn in sometime after the july 4th recess. we'll be right back. alec, for this mission i upgraded your smart phone. ♪ right. but the most important feature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. and with a few clicks, this mission

host: based on that point, let me share with you the point from dana milbank on darrell issa's scandals -- guest: i think darrell issa has been very aggressive. host: too aggressive? guest: i think he has been fine. his job is the oversight chairman is to overdo oversight and to aggressively find out where there is wrongdoing. what i have always said about this irs thing, the problem was never the president calling the commissioner and saying, go investigate these people. what is at issue is a tax code that is unwieldy, too big, and it has too much power over people's lives. it is really retarding the growth of our economy. what we've got to do is reform the tax code could if we can use the scandal as a reason to reform the tax code, we would be far more productive. host: jeff joins us on the republican line from texas. caller: good morning. a couple of things. the first one on congress -- i am glad that we have somebody in congress, meaning the house, that will stop the obama agenda. i do not mind obama. i am a republican, but personally i do not care. when it comes to my kids and gran

i would also point people to dana milbank in "the washington post," i believe this was in morning oresterday morning,er said all of this should have gone through a democratic process, this nsa surveillance program. he also is pointing the finger at congress because he's saying they had opportunities to learn more about this program, and none of them, or a lot of them didn't take advantage of the opportunity to learn, then they are all screaming, well we weren't told, we weren't told. then they come back and learn about it yesterday, and they are not happy with the disclosures. so, you know, there is a lot of -- th "the washington post," new york times, plaguesess that you would not expect to be so critical of the president in these cases and they are. so where do we stand? >> let's go back to "the new york times" quote, they added, on this issue, after they first put it -- martha: right. >> and milbank now criticizes the administration but then shifts it over to congress. so, even though they are beginning to acknowledge this. they can't help themselves in trying to protect this admi

ginsburg was reading her dissent yesterday, he was making faces during the entire thing according to dana milbankling his eyes and shaking his head. same one who went -- when the president was talking about citizens united, he goes -- not true. he was making that no and shaking his head. remember during the state of the union, yeah. by the way, just for the record, all turned out to be true. everything the president said in the context of that where alito was saying that's not what happens. that's not what's going to happen. that's not what the ramifications of the law are. those were exactly the ramifications of the law. under every empirical system, that's exactly what happened. so he's known for -- you know, it is funny. by the way roberts, many believe, is -- was specifically put on the court to suppress minority votes. that his goal, he was not a fan of the vra, when he was back under reagan, he was a legal adviseert to reagan administration and may have been directly -- the lawyer at one point, i'll have to look it up. but during the period, he was known for not being a fan of the voting ri

host: based on that point, let me share with you the point from dana milbank on darrell issa's scandalsuest: i think darrell issa has been very aggressive. host: two aggressive? guest: i think he has been fine. his job is the oversight chairman is to overdo oversight and to aggressively find out where there is wrongdoing. what i have always said about this iressa thing, the problem was never the -- this irs thing, the problem was never the president: the commissioner and saying, though investor -- go investigate these people. what is at issue is a tax code that is unwieldy, too big, and it has too much power over people's lives. it is really retarding the growth of our economy. what we've got to do is reform the tax code could if we can use the scandal as a reason to reform the tax code, we would be far more productive. host: jeff joins us on the republican line from texas good --. -- texas. caller: good morning. a couple of things. -- first one the in congress i am glad that we have somebody in congress, meaning the house, that will stop the obama agenda. i do not mind obama. i am a re