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ezra klein will join me tonight.t on a cnn interview when he's asked about racist content in newspapers published under his name. don't forget to tweet us using the hashtag edshow. we're right back. stay with us. est 3d white was rd by marie claire as one of the 25 beauty products that will change your life because it whitens by removing up to 80% of surface stains. see how it can change your life. crest 3d white. life opens up when you do. >>> there has been a lot of talk this year about income inequality and inequality basically in this country in a lot of different facets of life. people are in the streets and politicians are running scared. for months i have told you that this chart right here is the one that you need to consume as an american. i've said that this chart tells you everything you need to know about the income gap in this country. because over the last 30 years we can take it back to 1979, for most americans wages have stayed flat. that's the blue line. the top 1% of income, where has it gone? it's

let's turn to msnbc policy analyst ezra klein. ezra, let's go right to it. president obama seen job creation since he's been in the oval office? >> let's go to the record. in 2009 he comes in, we lost 5 million jobs that year. it's hard to say that in obama's first year of office in a massive recession, that he deserves all the blame for that. most of his policies hadn't begun. in 2010 which is the first year you can fairly only partial i attribute to him. obviously the president isn't the only thing. we gained jobs. i don't think anybody would say the job creation is going at the pace we'd want it to, although i think i and others would argue because in part we have not had the cooperation from congress. to say he caused it is beyond a stretch. it simply is not true. >> the candidate romney says he wants to go out and make the case that president obama hasn't created jobs. and he has. a net of 100,000 when he was at bain. is that accurate? >> i don't know where that's coming from. bain is a private equity firm. he would borrow money against the assets of a

ezra klein of the "washington post" is here. and mitt romney's team is dealing with the conservative version of the jeremiah wright tape. >> i'm someone who is moderate and my views are progressive. >> salon's joan walsh has the latest. >>> i don't want to waste a lot of newt's time or rick santorum's time or donald trump's time. >> the trump circus is over. professor michael eric dyson will tell us what the trump debacle says about the republican party. >>> and for some reason, dick cheney thinks the world needs to hear his views on foreign policy. >> how close do you think iran is to a nuclear weapon? >> very close. i don't see anything that's been done by this administration that's going to stop that program. >> tonight, my commentary on why the former vice president needs to leave the stage. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. republicans want to return to the destructive economic policies of the past. but their own personal histories may knock them out first. today, a video from 2002 is being c

ezra klein, great to have you with us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >>> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. >>> coming up, the knives are out in the state of iowa after another shakeup in the polls. eric burns joins me to talk about that. the republican desperation move. >>> and later, a look at some of president obama's biggest accomplishments even though the governor across the river here says he's not a leader. i've got facts that maybe governor christie doesn't have. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. flavored with real honey.vicks nature fusion cold & flu syrup. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificial flavors and dyes and instead uses something more natural, honey. new vicks nature fusion cold &

ezra klein, great to have you with us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >>> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. >>> coming up, the knives are out in the state of iowa after another shakeup in the polls. eric burns joins me to talk about that. the republican desperation move. >>> and later, a look at some of president obama's biggest accomplishments even though the governor across the river here says he's not a leader. i've got facts that maybe governor christie doesn't have. [ sponge ] the prognosis is bleak. you may need to soak overnight. nurse...! [ female announcer ] dawn power clean can give you the power of an overnight soak in just 5 minutes. [ sponge ] it's a scientific miracle! [ female announcer ] dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ for you [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide wednesday only. ♪ ♪ [

ezra klein, great to have you with us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >>> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. >>> coming up, the knives are out in the state of iowa after another shakeup in the polls. eric burns joins me to talk about that. the republican desperation move. >>> and later, a look at some of president obama's biggest accomplishments even though the governor across the river here says he's not a leader. i've got facts that maybe governor christie doesn't have. , there's a battery that's relied on to help bring children holiday joy. of course, children don't really think about which battery makes their toy run, but, still, you'd never want to disappoint. duracell. trusted everywhere. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends january 3rd. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho! >>> coming up, ron paul has the republican establishment very

. >> and ezra klein, the indubitable ezra klein in "the washington post" today says, this is actually helping mitt romney, more than anyone else, because at the end of the day, to your point, melissa, this ends up at obama's front doorstep if it fails, and then mitt romney then becomes a viable alternative. >> it could help if he had had a reasonable response to it. so given that he is not, in fact, in the middle of the fray, when asked about it, he might have said, well, of course, there should be an extension of this. and not only that, but all taxes lower and that sort of thing. but instead, he sort of sided with the house republicans, in a way that i think ends up not working as well -- >> well, it helps mitt romney if we still presume him to be -- >> oh, right. >> -- it hurts obama. >> oh, yeah, well, we sort of missed that whole primary process. >> and it's interesting to note how those republican contenders are responding to all of this. let's listen to gingrich has tackled the issue of the payroll tax battle. >> i think, candidly, that it is disgraceful that the senate would p

ezra klein, msnbc policy analyst, and "washington post" columnist. thanks, ezra. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> all right. if the sight of a cute dog snoozing by a roaring fire in a warm christmas setting fills you with bottomless rage, then stay tuned. there's a very famous republican governor who shares your inexplicable outrage at that dog. m@n@=@sñññ >>> the pentagon funding bill, the national defense authorization act, is always at least a little bit controversial. heck, i've got a book coming out soon about how i wish the whole thing was a lot more controversial when it came out every year. but this year there has been some real consternation about a specific part of the defense bill. and it's the part that concerns prisoners. the language in the bill says people arrested on suspicion of terrorism would be held by the military and not by police. it says there could be indefinite detention. life in prison without trial for people arrested in those circumstances. now, the obama administration and the head of the fbi and the intelligence agencies

ezra klein, msnbc policy analyst, and "washington post" columnist. thanks, ezra. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> all right. if the sight of a cute dog snoozing by a roaring fire in a warm christmas setting fills you with bottomless rage, then stay tuned. there's a very famous republican governor who shares your inexplicable outrage at that dog. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. >>> the pentagon funding bill, the national defense authorization act, is always at least a little bit controversial. heck, i've got a book coming out soon about how i wish the whole thing was a lot more controversial when it came out every year. but this year there has been some real

ezra klein, msnbc policy analyst, and "washington post" columnist. thanks, ezra. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> all right. if the sight of a cute dog snoozing by a roaring fire in a warm christmas setting fills you with bottomless rage, then stay tuned. there's a very famous republican governor who shares your inexplicable outrage at that dog. ♪ you, you ain't alone ♪ and just let me be [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ your ticket home ♪ [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. i do![ male announcer ] this is zales, do you mind? got to make sure this is -- oh. uh... okay. everybody say "awkward." protecting your family fun. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> the pentagon funding bill, the national defense authorization act, is always at least a little bit controversial. heck, i've got a book coming out soon about how i wish the whole thing was a lot more controversial when it came out every year. but this year there has been some real consternation about a specific part of the defense bill. and it's the part that concer

msnbc policy analyst ezra klein of the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director karen finney. good afternoon to both of you. if i can start with karen. the president's policies have created more than 3 million private sector jobs in the last 21 months, brought the jobless rate down to its lowest level in three years but according to republicans he's a jobs killer. just explain that to me now. >> look, martin, the problem is they are very disingenuous. republicans have consistently been trying to make an argument that 99% of americans and economists and all people who have looked at this know not to be true. we're not going to get there just by spending cuts. i think the president has rightfully, as well as democrats in congress, tried to hold the line on this foolishness. we saw it again just last night. the other thing is and republicans are probably starting to notice it, although i think the white house is right to be slowly cautious on this, the president's policies are working. what did we see last night? republicans again blocking policies that wou

joining us now is ezra klein, the "washington post" wonk blog.nist for bloomberg view and an nbc political analyst frequently seen here right here in this building as martin bashir guest hosting at 3:00. >> i did. >> thank you for doing double duty this evening. >> i'm glad to be here. >> what do you think of allure of gold is? i have to admit i find the universe of gold buggism fascinating. and i find the kind of gold industrial can complex that it powers much of conservative media fascinating because if you turn on fox news or you listen to right-wing talk radio it's shocking, shocking to me how many of the advertisers are selling gold. >> let's say what you really wanted to do with your money was you wanted to put half of it it and put it under your bed. you want to take the other half and buy canned goods and ammunition. but 23 you said that to your wife suá$u$ink that's a dumb way to invest. >> or your husband. >> or your husband. either way. but that really is what a lot of the gold buying is about. not for everybody. there are a lot of spe

. >> we want to bring in ezra klein. as we're listening to everything all these moving parts very fluid. you made the point this is more about more than just the payroll tax extension. house republicans have been playing chicken with important legislation winning all yearlong. are we seeing something different from the left from the democrats pushing back? >> it's not about the payroll tax extension. i think this debate is confusing and deceptive. we heard earlier in the program speaker john boehner say we should extend the payroll tax cut. if republicans wanted to extend the payroll tax cut they could offer up a bill. it could extend the cut for one year, clean. every democrat in the house and senate would vote for. the president would sign it and this would be over. this is about all the things republicans are asking for in return. things like the keystone oil pipeline, discretionary spending cuts. yo you may or may not believe they're good ideas. that is what the negotiation is about. when the american people keep hea

i'm joined now by ezra klein. ezra, good morning. >> good morning. >> how much is it? >> $150,000. in fact, in most cases, not even that. what gallup asked was, how much money would you need to be rich? some people said $60,000, some said $80,000. but the majority of americans said they would be rich with $150,000. once you get there, most americans say, that's good enough for me. >> what's your takeaway from that? >> that people in politics have a much higher threshold for what people believe to be rich. back in the 2008 campaign, there was a debate between john mccain and barack obama in which rick warren, the pastor from california said, where do you put the cut-off for being rich? john mccain said $5 million, which much nobody makes. but barack obama said $250,000 which puts you in the top 2% or 3%. for most americans, that's $100,000 you need to make for most americans to consider you rich. >> but the survey had many differences. people making $150,000 a year say earning $100,000 would make them rich. those earning over $50,000 say $200,000. is there something instructive in t

also ezra klein and matt lewis with us in washington.f the upcoming book "william henry harrison." merry christmas. >> been waiting for that. >> we've been waiting for the book on harrison. when is the book out? >> about a week or two. >> we'll have you back to talk about that. i want to talk about your column today. we were just discussing, i was off last week and watching from afar. it was heralded as this great achievement we extended for two months, payroll tax. >> a tax cut. >> yes. payroll tax for two months. we did it. we can go home for christmas. of course we'll do this again now in two months. i want to read part of your piece. remember the republican alamo. you write, we've talked for nearly three years about how the tea party is terrorizing the republican establishment until the old country club deal making model was verging on extinction. but if the new populist right does something that actually endangers the well being of the old, entitled right, the establishment will rise up and slap those little whipper snappers down fa

i'm ezra klein in for martin a

this is one of msnbc contributor ezra klein's graphs of the yearç of 2011.e did graphs of the year to give you a snap shot of where things are in american politics and the american economy. this is one of them. he said it helps explain what the year has been like. this is a graph of the standings for the republican nominating process among iowa residents polled over the course of this year. this is the iowa republican polling this year. when you look at that graph, what does that graph say to you? any one thing? yes, that graph says one thing. it says chaos. and if not chaos, at least constant motion. even before this dramatic news about the michele bachmann campaign co-chair jumping ship to ron paul tonight, this was already proving to be the really, really fun part of the political year. stuff is just a mess in republican politics right now. there are a million things going on. behold, first we now have the first post-christmas iowa polling. so if you want a snap shot of what the race is like in iowa since the holiday this weekend, these are the first numb