msnbc political analyst eugene robinson joins me.e president has summoned house and senate leaders to the white house tomorrow for the next step in the talks to raise the debt ceiling. msnbc's eugene robinson, richard wolffe, david corn, and david frum will join me on the way forward. esurance instantly compares our car insurance rates with other top companies. with an esurance quote, you know you're getting a great deal. you can thank our tech team for that. sure, i'll let them know. bye-bye. aha! anything you want to share? with the tech team? oh, i'm dating that girl in accounting. seriously? yeah, we're pretty serious. [ female announcer ] know if you're getting a great deal. see for yourself at esurance. technology when you want it. people when you don't. >>> they will come down here at 11:00 tomorrow. i expect them to have an answer in terms of how they intend to get this thing done over the course of the next week. the american people expect action and the american people, i think, are fed up with political posturing and an in

er with joined by richard wolffe and eugene robinson. line about the balanced budget also drew a round of applause from the house chamber but that is probably one of the things that makes this dead on arrival went whe it gets to the senate. >> this is a zombie on arrival. we don't have the time for this kind of posturing but they are going about it anyway. i find it curious that after manufacturing this crisis what we have now is house republicans talking about themselves. john boehner speaks almost entirely about himself here. it is very inward looking about the principles they care about, not about what can get out of congress. it is about how john boehner stuck his neck out and how he is sticking it back in. it is not about them any more. it is the about the economy, about the world economy. time to stop thinking about your own politics getting through congress. >> your budget intuitively makes sense to me. don't we balance our budgets at home but i say, wait, i balance my budget at home butcy a mortgage and car loan. isn't that prope

so what is the eugene robinson plan to make everybody get along here? economy worse, first of all, because we are trying to get out of a recession. it seems to me insane to make the economy worse, which i think, you know, cutting spending the way the republicans want to do would make the economy a lot worse. raising taxes like the democrats would do might make the economy a little worse. who wants to make it any worse? let's not do it now. what they need to do is agree on some deficit caps down the road, in the year 2013, the deficit will be capped at x percent of gdp, and in 2014 a slightly smaller percentage. it will decrease as time goes on. and now what that means is that then we'll have to have a fight over how you get to that figure. what combination of spending cuts and tax increases will get us to that figure. but that's a fight we need to have, because that's really a fight over what kind of government do we want to have, how much do we want to pay for it. and that frankly is not something that's going to be decided before august 2. >> well, ho

joining me now is eugene robinson and michael eric dyson and crystal ball.want to give you forewarning if we to see senator reid come back to the floor we'll jump back to him to hear what he says. he's supposed to make an announcement about tonight's schedule. what do you think that he could be coming out to say? if you were a betting man? >> just what we needed another sub plot. the reid-mcconnell battle. harry reid does not like hearing that mitch mcconnell is doing an end run around his reid's leadership vice president biden. so in general, i expect we'll hear a maneuver from harry reid to make his effort to find a compromise the more important one. and if he doesn't think he has the votes, it could be delaying the vote we're anticipating at 1:00 a.m., it could be some alteration in the plan or in the bill itself. i'm not sure. but to put his plan back at center stage and not this kind of side negotiation between mcconnell and biden. >> michael, right now, though, what are the options that senator reid has? especially if he doesn't have the votes needed t

susan page, eugene robinson, we are proud of you, welcome to citizenship.> coming up, not just the public sector that's having issues with unions and management. two sports leagues, nba and nfl are also locked out. believe it or not, there is a-down effect from the government issues here. >> welcome back to "hardball." is it possible that pro football and pro basketball could be dark next season after players and owners couldn't reach a deal last night? the nba decided to do what the nfl did and lock out its players. nfl did it in march. we have high unemployment. the debt ceiling threatening to the tafrpg the economy and now the entertainment portion of our lives. executive producer of the rachel maddow show, if you read the incredible book about espb, bill wolf knows sports business as well. which is why he and i are going to rant about this for five minutes. it's millionaires and billion airs, everybody in the squeeze. but in both cases here, we have owners who are suddenly panicked about their bottom lines and looking to take more money from players, wh

joining us now is eugene robinson, pulitzer prize winning columnist for the post, and someone who is more optimistic on this than i am. >> how are you doing, rachel? >> i'm good. >> i don't know how optimistic i am in the short term, maybe in the longer term. >> do you see any light at all here? do you think there could be any agreement about pursuing job creation by pursuing infrastructure investment? >> not job creation per say. it would have to be like a happy byproduct. government cannot and never does create jobs. therefore, you can't have infrastructure projects can't create jobs. however, there is an iron clad rule in washington which says that -- as you noted, the rickety bridge that needs to be replaced in my district is vital infrastructure, if it's in somebody else's district it's out of control spending. now, one thing the administration can do, and in a more machiavellian administration would do, ray lahood should figure out which district needs to get those transportation funds. that new senior citizen center or that road that's -- that really needs to be resurfaced. an

analysis this morning from eugene robinson of "the washington post" and nbc news white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. breaking news in washington's effort to reach a debt reduction deal. speaker of the house john boehner issuing a surprising statement last night, abandoning efforts to reach a far-reaching $4 trillion deficit reduction plan. this is what he said, "the white house will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. i believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure." the rare sunday negotiating session with the president will continue as planned later today. joining me now live this morning for the very latest, the secretary of the treasury, tim geithner. mr. secretary, welcome back. >> nice to see you, david. >> what happened? >> well, this is hard. you know, it's politically very hard, but this is a grave moment for the country. we need to do something very big, very substantial to bring our long-term deficits down over time. we have to do that i

. >>> joining us now is eugene robinson, msnbc political analyst and pulitzer prize-winning columnist. >> you picked a good night to sit in for rachel. >> i'm a college professor. we do things in 10-year stints, not in 10-minute stints. but i hear you. i know the president has been reluctant to pursue this option, the 14th amendment question. but i know that you have a lot to say on this, and i have been thinking and talking about it quite a bit too. if this just keeps going down in this way, should the president step in? is it time for him to use the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling? >> i think the president has to step in. look, if we go through the weekend, and there's no agreement on anything, and the parties are so far apart that it's clear there's not going to be any agreement, there won't be any time anyhow. you read the 14th amendment, and you look at what the high court has said about presidential powers or allowed in terms of presidential powers in the past, and it seems to me that the president has not just the right but the duty to step in, and avert a looming nati

eugene robinson is an nbc political analyst and an associate editor and columnist at "the washingtonwell as an msnbc analyst. >> the fact is if good things happen when you're president then you get more credit than due and when you are the president you perhaps get more blame than you are due. so yes. in this case however, i think nobody comes out looking good. i think this is not a zero sum game. this is a negative sum game. and the goal at this point is, not to lose the worst. >> in your most recent column, you said that progressives need a big idea. and what you were addressing, the competing narratives that are about to unfold in 2012. you feel like the republicans already have their soundbite, which is what? >> their soundbite is cut spending, cut taxes. >> and we held our ground and we did what we said we were going to do. >> exactly. and we will do more of it. that our prescription for getting the economy going in and making it grow and returning to government to its proper size. you know, there's a whole elaboration of that bumper sticker. but and on the progressive side, the

"the washington post" eugene robinson and richard wolff and "usa today" susan paige. to you all. i want to start with the minnesota government shutdown, because it does have potentially an affect on the president's field. a former governor of minnesota by the name of tim pawlenty, yes, still running for president. susan, let me play what he said about the shutdown and why he believes he has a good story to tell on the shutdown. >> both in '05 and now you had democrats demanding that we raise taxes and raise spending, and that's not what the people from this country need, it's not what our government finances need. we have to get government spending under control. the democrats won't do it. i encourage the republicans to keep standing strong. >> well, they had a shortfall on pawlenty's watch. good or bad? >> it do go both ways. not to be worried about it, he a shutdown in 2005 and said he stood up for his principles. >> and got re-elected. >> then he got re-elected. on the other hand, he's like other governors, gimmicks to gets out of dodge before he had to face what m

msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. guys, good to have you. ce from "the washington post" in a moment. elijah, we are getting depressed here. >> don't get depressed. >> we are getting depressed. >> why is that? >> we can't find anything nice to say about either side in washington. it doesn't seem like anybody is maybe completely invested in getting something done. there are accusations on both sides of that. is that true? >> i think it's unfortunate that we are at what seems to be a stalemate. i think we have to put out political ads, take them off, leave them at the door and get the issue resolved. i just had a town hall meeting with elizabeth warren and i can tell you, my constituents are saying look, we are concerned about this debt ceiling, but you have to get this done. i think this is the time for us to sit in a room and resolve this matter. i'm glad the president is now engaged in this to a greater extend. >> congressman, everyone is saying we should get in a room. no one is on the other side of not being there. that's kind of the bottom

also, washington post's eugene robinson and peggy noonan. up to this point, i did not think she has a mean bone in her body until i read this piece. wow. we'll talk to her about that. >> what are you supposed to do, throw flowers at the president? >> you just wait. you just wait. >> anyway -- >> up next, the politico playbook. >> peggy explains why america lost that loving feeling. >> she does. first, here is the weekend forecast with bill karins. bill. >>> good morning, everyone. new york city we got drenched in the last hour or so. the rain is moving out. unless you are in long island, you are not getting wet this morning. it's going to be a hot, humid day from new york to filly and d.c. you could be near 100. if you get the clouds and rain, you are lucky. as far as the rest of the country goes, we are watching tropical storm don making land fall later on tonight. this is a minimal impact storm. it's going to bring in a little bit of rain. dallas is hot. watch cleveland with thunderstorms. it's hot around the country. not humid. not a lot

also eugene robinson and maria bart row ma.> the weekend looks better. boston, south of there, strong thunderstorms. a thunderstorm warning. here on the radar, it's around franklin, mass. it may clip cape cod here. >> it ing dpo continue all day long. on and off storms. the southeast, going to try to take off in four hours. there's a lot of rain out there. they don't like to fly through the colloids. i'm giving it a 20% chance of lifting off. you may have to wit until it gets worse. the southeast deals with the wet weather. sunday is hot in dallas at 100. we are going to look for a beautiful day. hope you enjoy your plans. [ grunts ] [ male announcer ] built like a volkswagen. the 2011 tiguan. [ grunts ] even if you think your mattresses is just fine, ask me what it's like to get your best night's sleep every night. why not talk to someone who's sleeping on the most highly recommended bed in america.™ it's not a sealy or a simmons or a serta. ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how fast i fall asleep. these are actual tempur-p

eugene robinson will be on the show in a couple minutes. i want to go through the baseball leadership cards with him. a couple i want to go over with you. do you think speaker boehner is really free act according to his conscience or is he being held back by maybe 60 to 80 tea party people led by eric cantor, the number two man on the republican side, who are basically terrorizing him and threatening him if he cuts a deal somewhere down the middle? >> well, i would say this about, speaker boehner. i've known him for a long time. we have interacted both on the floor together and we have done so socially. i've played golf with him. i know him pretty well, i think, and i do believe that he is in a box when it comes to this, this issue, of the debt ceiling, because he has a number of people -- i hope it's not 80. i've been saying between 40 and 50. if it's up to 80, we really are in trouble, and she in trouble as well. but that's what's got him in a box. he knows the art of compromise. he know what's it takes to get legislation done, and for hi

. >> eugene robinson writing this in today's "the washington post," he says quote, obama's in your faces to have thrown republicans off their stride. they thought all they had to do was convince everyone that they were crazy enough to force an unthinkable default on the nation's financial obligations. now you have to wonder if obama is crazy enough to let them. he's referring to letting the clock run out on the debt ceiling deadline. do you see this debate coming down to a game of chicken? >> richard, i really hope it doesn't. it's important for us to convey to the american people, to working families to the global investment climate that we're going to responsibly reach a negotiated middle compromise. a position where we all come together and agree that we're going to cut $4 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. that's the number, the target that's been agreed to. every responsible bipartisan commission that's looked at this, we can and should be able to do that by cutting from every major part of the federal budget. from pentagon spending from entitlement reform, from dis

we're going to bring in congressman jim cleburne and eugene robinson. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> i love pat. doesn't matter how many people are at the table. he's not changing his opinion. he's not budging. i hope you had a wonderful fourth of july week even. the weather cooperating in many cases. hopefully in virginia the rain didn't wash out your picnic plans. it's warm. a good forecast today. it's hot. temperatures from 90 degrees from new york to hartford down to dc. no rain, leave the umbrella at home. the rest of the country, slight chance of storms in the minneapolis area down to south dakota. very hot around dallas. tranquil weather week around the country. don't expect too much drama. a lot of that big yellow globe in the sun like this morning in new york city. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ grunts ] [ male announcer ] built like a volkswagen. the 2011 tiguan. [ grunts ] the possibilities are endless. interesting... save up to 50% this tuesday and wednesday only. hotels.com. be smart. book smar

director and nbc chief white house correspondent chuck todd and columnist for "the washington post," eugene robinsons to go through here from our discussion so far, but let's start with our "meet the candidates," chuck. as we look at the republican field, tim pawlenty. he obviously came on this morning with a purpose. he's got to raise some visibility, he's got to raise money, and you heard him say, iowa's key now, not the caucuses, but the straw poll. >> and his chief rival is a fellow candidate from minnesota. >> yeah. >> that's who, it felt to me, is he was no longer running against mitt romney. he's almost running against michele bachmann, because she's the one stealing all of the tea party and grassroots thunder, and oh, by the way, she's from his home state. and he went a little harder on her, and it's the first time we've really heard anybody go hard at michele bachmann in this campaign. >> gene, he said her record in congress is non-existent. >> right, which i thought was amazingly tough, you know, given the republican commandment. but look, she's the one who can knock him out of this race,

this, again, is from an editorial from eugene robinson. mr. speaker, with our nation in such a financial crises, the people of the third district of north carolina, which i represent, asked me many times when i'm home on the weekends, why are we still in afghanistan, why are we still spending $10 billion a month to prop up a corrupt leader and there's no future in afghanistan? we are not going to change history. history has always said to these great nations like america, you go into afghanistan, you're never going to change anything. the congress needs to join those of us in both -- on both sides of the aisle when we debate trying to bring our troops home from afghanistan. mr. speaker, before i close, again, i want to make reference to the wife in tears and the little girl looking up at the army officer wondering why are you giving me this flag. young lady, your daddy was a hero. i close, mr. speaker, by saying to god, please bless our men and women in uniform. god, please in your loving arms hold the families who have given a child dying for

what is the eugene robinson plan to make everything normal? >> not make the economy worse, first of all, because we're trying to get out of the recession and it seems to be insane to make the economy worse, which i think cutting spending the way the republicans want to do will make the economy a lot worse. raising taxes like the democrats want to do might make the economy a little worse, so let's not do it now. what they need to do is agree on some deficit caps down the road, in 2013, the deficit will be capped at x% of gdp, and in twaen 14, it will be a smaller percentage, and it goes on and on. then you won't have to have a fight over how you get to that figure. they'll get up to that figure. but that's a fouth we need to have because that's really a fight about what kind of government we want to have, how much we want to pay for it, and it frankly is not something that is going to be decided before this second. >> how do you negotiate, even if you were negotiated for is the cap you're describing now. let's not do stuff in the economy and ag