>> ronald reagan -- >> let's bring in david cay johnston to sort it out.itzer prize winning journalist and author of the book "the fine print: how big companies use plain english to rob you blind." david cay, great to have you with us tonight. >> good to be here. >> isn't ryan supposed to -- you bet. isn't ryan supposed to be the brain of the romney campaign and we're lacking specifics? i mean, wasn't that a poor explanation? >> well, yes, and let me give you his idea of a study. he said there are six studies. three of those six studies are blog posts and one of them is by a research assistant at aei, which is one of the big ideological marketing organizations that pitch you their view of the world just the way companies advertise other products. but blog posts, those are studies that prove things? that's hilarious. >> why doesn't the plan add up? why doesn't his so-called plan for america, the 20% cut, add up? where's the flaw? >> well, it does add up for the very rich. if you listen very carefully to what romney always says, he says he's going to cut rat

that's a topic that david cay johnston covers.he book "the fine print - how companies use plain english to rob you blind." you are a guy who writes about the economy. you write about taxation what caused you to write about the fine print? >> well, i did this book perfectly legal about how the tax system really works. and that lead to realizing that in the state legislatures in washington and the regulatory regulations corporations have been getting the rules eliminated. if there is anything that businessmen want to get rid of, it's competitive markets. there are laws all over the place being passed to take away your rights. >> jennifer: so to give companies permission to write their agreement with consumers in fine print so to speak. >> exactly. all of the obligation is on the consumer, as long as everything goes well, it's great. the minute things go wrong, you are in trouble. >> jennifer: the average monthly bill in the ewes for someone who gets bundled phone, cable, and internet service. is about $160 a month with taxes. but in

. >> david cay johnston, always good to have you with us on "the ed show." a lot more coming up in the next half hour or "the ed show." stay right with us. >>> i was in dayton, ohio. a woman grabbed my arm. she said, i've been out of work since may. can you help me? >> all of a sudden mitt romney is concerned for middle class americans asking for help. >> they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> james hoffa of the teamsters on mitt romney's pandering to the middle class. >>> we'll bring you the latest on mitt romney's goal to fry big bird. >> he'll get rid of regulations on wall street, but he's going to crack down on sesame street. >>> and how did last night's big debate play in the most important swing state in the union? there is no better person to ask than state senator nina turner. follow the wings. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." well, mitt romney put on quite a dog and pony show last night for middle class voters across america. all right there. he's a different dude. during debate, he pulled a complete 180. now all of