ezra klein will join me. >>> and later, a former law in the george w.white house calls the nra exactly what it is. a protection racket, a protection racket for republicans. he will join me. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. >>> okay, we are getting really close to the fiscal curb, and when congress comes back, they will only have four days. so it is time for ezra klein to tell us what we'll feel when we do go over the fiscal cliff. coming up. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working to

ezra klein will join me. >>> and later, a former law in the george w. bush white house calls the nra exactly what it is. a protection racket, a protection racket for republicans. he will join me. that's double miles you can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. the scoreboard doesn't lie. what's in your wallet? hut! i have me on my fantasy team. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married, move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, cov

gabby douglas made the cut, and a special shout-out to blogger, columnist and msnbc contributor, ezra klein. >>> well, the nra is feeling the heat after the aftermath of sund sandy hook. t. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

lapie . >>> ezra klein is here with an analysis of john boehner's plan b. that is next. and in the re-write tonight, wayne lapierre of the nra has not quite figured out what he is going to say. he has until friday to do that. but no matter what he says, he will not, he will not be able to wash the blood from his hands. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to acciden

and the fiscal cliff is still approaching, and luckily we have ezra klein to explain the latest, john boehner's plan b. coming up. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. >>> we're about to be victim of a siege against the second amendment in this country, going int

i'm ezra klein. >>> good evening. i'm ezra klein. >>> good evening. i'm ezra klein. rachel maddow has the night off. we begin tonight with an update on the breaking news in the if these republicans had run on it, they would have never been elected in the first place. billionaires like the koch brothers are doing political payback. they're putting pressure on lawmakers behind closed doors. we need to shed more light on this, just like voter suppression efforts across the country that backfired. one of their objectives is to completely dismantle the infrastructure on the progressive side. the progressives need to be aware of this. of course, that's the unions. it's their infrastructure. they are right wing groups who are just out there to fight right-to-work and get it passed. one of them is called the west michigan policy forum. and it's funded by some of michigan's biggest republican donors. its chairman is the president of amway. the west michigan policy forum was key to funding the defeat of prop 2 last summer. yet another group, michigan freedom fund, ran ads in s

we will break both down with ezra klein when he joins us next on "now." i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may kno

ezra klein filling in for rachel tonight. >>> good evening, i'm ezra klein. rachel maddow has the night off. well deserved. we appreciate you sticking around for the next hour on a very, very big night in the news. there is an enormous story about the rights of workers tonight in the state of michigan. it's seriously astonishing stuff. we'll get very deep into it. but there is another equally if not more seismic political story tonight out of washington. and that is where we begin. today will be seen, remembered, as a huge day in the republican party's continuance of war. something really big happened. south carolina senator jim demint announced today he'll be leaving the senate. he'll not be there anymore. he's leaving to head a think tank called the heritage foundation where he stands to make something like ten times his current salary. yay for jim demint, good money. kind of. it's good for him, but it's really good for his colleague, republican senate leader mitch mcconnell. you see, jim demint is not your ordinary senator. he's like the grover norquist of

ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. always good to see you, my friend. >> good to see you too, and happy friday. and thanks to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel's got the night off, but we learned something huge today. we are going over the fiscal cliff. we are going either all the way over or going partly over, but we are definitely, definitely going over. that whole fiscal cliff thing, where congress and the white house can't reach a deal on taxes and spending before the end of the year and they maybe get us into a recession, it's definitely happening. that was the whole point of president obama's press conference this afternoon. >> i still want to get this done. it's the right thing to do for our families, for our businesses, and for our entire economy. but the hour for immediate action is here. it is now. >> allow me a quick update here. that press conference, it came after president obama met with john boehner and nancy pelosi and harry reid and mitch mcconnell, so all the key congressional

. >> joining us now, washington post columnist and msnbc political policy analyst, ezra klein. ra, we keep asking the same questions and each day sort of have the same answer, but i ask you, my friend, is anything happening here or nothing happening here, what do you make of the $1.4 trillion number and the news today republicans aren't giving ground on the bush tax cuts? >> i don't make much of it. what was interesting to me, not much of the deals have leaked. that means the negotiations are going fairly well. a couple weeks ago, everything leaked immediately as soon as anybody said it. it means they are trying to talk. one thing i think we sometimes forget, the two sides disagree in a big way. boehner doesn't want to or think he can sell his members on a big tax increase, and president obama, particularly if he's not going to get the tax increase, is not going to go for big entitlement cuts. the underlying problem, the one nobody is knowing how to solve, is what breaks the actual disagreement here. and as of yet, nothing either side have put on the table that is enough to do i

. >> joining me now, ezra klein, huffington post, ryan grim. ezra, what do you make of the boehner proposal that was kind of cribbed from erskine bowles? >> two things. one, republicans are terrified about by the polls showing that they are going to immediately get blamed if they are not willing to compromise. the reason you initiate the bowles' plan is you say, look, they are going along with the former chief of staff said. it's important to know that when erskine bowles brought up this idea, it wasn't his plan. he was in testimony and he said to the supercommittee, given what the two sides, you republicans and you democrats have put forth, here's what it would look like. if you actually took the simpson/bowles plan, you wouldn't have $600 billion in tax increases. you'd have 2.6 trillion. and even if you just moved the budget plan up a year, the same erskine bowles offered to the super committee that they are using now, for complicated reasons it it would now be worth $950 million in tax increases. so even in the kind of world of the bowles' p

gabby douglas made the cut, and a special shout-out to blogger, columnist and msnbc contributor, ezra klein. >>> well, the nra is feeling the heat after the aftermath of sund sandy hook. t. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. >>> here's your "first look" at some other news going on around america. out west, the tragic connecticut shooting inspired an astounding number of gun owners to turn in their firearms. over two days police in oakland and san francisco received 596 guns, $200 cash was given for each gun until the cash reserve ran out forcing organizers to hand out vouchers. >>> illinois authorities charged 22 fraternity brothers with hazing crimes connected to the death of a northern illinois university freshman. 19-year-old david bogenburger died after taking part in a drinking ritual. his blood alcohol level was 0.8. >>

after that, ezra klein breaks down the offer and we will discuss today's pow wow between state governors obama and what it pore tends for the 21 million americans hoping for health care and "the new york times" frank bruney weighs in on doma and cage for marriage equality when "now" starts in just three minutes. n't my daughs black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost.. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow when you take a closer look... ...at

with me now is ezra klein from "the washington post" and "huffington post's" sam stein. a lot of republicans didn't like what they heard from the president today and have complained about it loudly. >> no, they weren't super happy with his somewhat jaunty press conference but they had a more substantive complaint. in his press conference and this was genuinely important, he said after this deal, even once republicans have voted to increase taxes by about $600 billion over the next decade, if they want to undo the sequester or do further cuts to medicare or social security, those -- that will all have to be part of, as he put it, a balanced package including revenues. he's saying even after this deal, the next deal, which we all expect to happen again because this is a pretty small deal, will have to include revenues as well. this gets to the key thing in these negotiations which is republicans are telling themselves if they agree to do a small tax increase now, they can go to the debt ceiling and then negotiate out an all spending cuts deal. the white house is telling th

phony's ezra klein challenge is next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day painseason, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. ♪ now, that's cardworthy. [ man ] all right. here we go. ♪ cardworthy. [ camera shutter clicks ] cardworthy. ♪ so not cardworthy. ♪ [ female announcer ] go to shutterfly.com for all your cardworthy moments and get up to 30% off. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. so i never missed a beat. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. something so geeky that i'm pushing the limits that even the "the rachel maddow show" staff of geeks will tolerate, the producers here get me to do it in two minutes or less. tonight's challenge comes in something i mentioned earlier. the medicare eligibility age. sexy topic, right? try to control yourself, rachel maddow's audience. despite the fact it's unpopular, republicans really want to make cuts in medicare and specifically they want to raise the eligibility age by two years

. >>> well, last night on "the rachel maddow show," guest host ezra klein asked former clinton budget director alice rivlin on where we could see the fallout from the fiscal cliff. >> the real uncertainty i think is what the markets will look isn't in control of its own destiny because we're acting that way right now. now, if you're an investor, whether you're in some part of the united states or you're in some other part of the world, do you really want to buy american securities? do you want to invest in a country whose government isn't functioning? i don't think so. so, we could get a big market reaction, a drop in the stock market, and that might scare people. >> "the rachel maddow show" week nights at 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> home prices on the rise, syria's head of preventing defections decides to defect. your headlines are straight ahead. plus, connecting the dots on sonia sotomayor, health care and a fine. you're watching "first look." >>> some stories making news this morning. toyota says it's reached a more than $1 billion settlement in a

joining me nr joining me now i washington post" ezra klein and editeditor ap editor at er columnist, mike santoli.pmi the markets are nearly four years old. in 2013 what's you're outlook for the market stability and the broader economy? >> i think the market is finally realizing that it's kind of emerged from this long-term kind of uncertainty trade out there. the big picture questions are whether the central banks can kind of stabilize the system, whether, for example, china last year was going to go into a recession, whether europe can kind of keep it together through recession. i think we've gotten past through most of those things and i think it's slow and steady u.s. economic growth picture is probably the best bet, but i think it's going to feel better to the average person because of the component to that growth, meaning housing, autos, and finally jobs. looking like they're going a decent up spring. i think a slow and steady but feeling better than the past couple of years. >> it definitely does feel better. ezra, uncertainty seems to have been the theme this year. businesses

we have policy analyst ezra klein and columnist david siroda and host of khow radio. goldy taylor and m

. >>> the msnbc policy analyst ezra klein put together a long piece today tying together what he knows about ezra, of course is a policy guy. so he was looking at this through a policy lens. and the data it turns out, some of it is what you might suspect. but some of it really isn't. for example, we all know that there are a lot of mass killings in the united states. gun violence where multiple people are killed by the same assailant. this year alone before what happen today in connecticut, five people were killed in an atlanta suburb in february. a student shot up his high school cafeteria and killed three people later that same month. at that christian university in oakland, california, back in april, there were seven people killed. a targeted shooting spree in tulsa, oklahoma was racially motivated. five black men shot. three of them died. five people killed at the seattle cafe in may. there was the aurora massacre in july. 12 people killed, 58 additional people shot who were not killed. the sikh temple pass killing in oak creek, wisconsin, in august. that was the white supremacist

much as the three amigos were out in front, maureen dowd had critical, critical reviews of her, ezra klein, the environmentalist movement started having problems with her. >> that is true and i detected that. there was also a sense when she went up there to see the three amigos and others, she really emerged looking quite weakened as if she got into an obvious trap and been lassoed all over again. it just didn't look very smart politics by her. >> well, no, i think she took one for the team. the problem is that the entire situation has become highly politicized. frankly giuliani saying she may not have been sharp enough is wholly unfair and i think it really is a tragedy, because she really, i would say, is the best woman for the job. she was a trusted adviser to the president and she has done more in terms of putting sanctions against iran, north korea in her capacity as ambassador. is truly a woman who understands 21st century diplomacy and national security. and what she did was go and read talking points given to her by the national security staff and did her job. had she gone in and a

ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. >> thank you, michael. thank you to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel has the night off but we have big news out of washington, where nothing is happening. the house is not in session, and as of this moment has no plans to be in session for the end of the year. nothing is stirring, not even harry reid. yes, i'm still in the christmas spirit. the president meanwhile is in hawaii and won't be returning until tomorrow. now, normally nothing happening would not be big news in washington. nothing happening is kind of the status quo in washington. getting nothing done is to our political system as saying great is to tony the tiger. it's just kind of what we do now. right now, this week, nothing happening is huge news. the reason is that usually when washington doesn't do anything nothing happens. you do nothing, nothing happens. that's how it goes. in fact that's why people call it doing nothing. after you do it, nothing occurs. if washington doesn't do something, a lot happens. all the bu

i am i think ezra klein and "the new york post" nailed it today. if we say it's both sides fault, make up their minds. that's wrong and inaccurate. point out where the failure to move has come from. coming from the far right wing of the republican party and be held accountable to it. >> let's listen to the president a short time ago before we hit the air. >> i have to say that ever since i took office, throughout the campaign, and over the last couple of months my preference would have been to solve all these problems in the context of a larger agreement. a bigger deal. a grand bargain. whatever you want to call it. that solves our deficit problems in a balanced and responsible way. that doesn't just deal with the taxes but the spending in a balanced way to put it behind us and just focusing on growing our economy. but with this congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. it may be we can do it in stages. we're going to solve this problem instead in several steps. >> but you know, molly, it was a friendly room. he had -

michelle cottle, ezra klein, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >>> who is leading the republican party. we're learning more about what mitt romney is doing with his free time. i can tell you, it's not him. >>> plus, more conflicts of interest over on fox news. wait until you hear the connection between a fox news pollster and paul ryan. >>> and the stars were out in washington for the kennedy center honors and a few zingers. we'll show you the tape. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. >>> you want to win the world series, you quit when you're down 1-0? no. you keep going. do you quit when you're down 1-0 in debates? no. no. there are patients who will question, why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have

ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. not django. good evening, ezra. >> good evening, michael. thank you very much. and thank you to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel has a well-deserved night off. but today on the senate there was a rare sighting on the senate floor. especially around this time of year. right now the senate is usually a bit of a desolate place, but today at exactly 2:34 p.m. eastern standard time there was something big afoot. at 2:34 this afternoon in from the wings of the chamber walked the president of the senate, vice president joe biden. joe biden does not often serve in his capacity as president of the senate. but today was ditch. today joe biden had an incredibly important job to fulfill. >> do you solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well an

i'm giving a lot of credence to what ezra klein wrote because he's plugged in down there in washington. if it's true that raising eligibility for medicare from 65 to 67, there has to be a reason for that. there has to be a big reason for that because those are major concessions. >> let me just say, i don't think there's any chance of this administration to agree to changing the medicare age. absolutely no chance. >> we have a history of them dangling it in 2007. >> any chance for debt ceiling he can change either. so that's why i think the president was saying what he was saying about the debt ceiling so clearly because that is the next stage of the fight. >> the other thing i would say, if we are going for that bigger deal where we're going to take on entitlements as well as the tax code, i don't see any way that it gets done before january 1st. >> no. that takes at least a year. >> and it's going to be hard for boehner to go along with a tax rate increase if you're going to the democratic caucus with major entitlement reform. i just don't see that happening before january 1. >> it wo

i'm ezra klein. rachel maddow has the night off. we begin tonight with an update on the breaking news in the pacific northwest, the terrifying scene that unfolded earlier tonight at a shopping mall in portland, oregon. a gunman with what witnesses describe as a rifle opening fire on holiday shoppers. two people were killed. the shooter also killed, and one person has been seriously injured according to the sheriff's department. an eyewitness who had been browsing the watch counter inside macy's described the scene to our portland, oregon affiliate kgw tv. >> constant boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom. it wasn't just a couple of shots. whatever the shooter was shooting at, they continued to shoot. an employee of the store actually saw a masked gunman come in. and as fast as she got the call to security, the gunshots started. so i and others just hit -- you know, got behind the counter. and a couple of people stood there and i got them to duck down too. kind of wait until the coast is clear enough. and then i got down and

i'm ezra klein in for ed o'donnell. >>> the president has returned from his trip. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. >>> a no-brainer for boehner. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me the start tonight with this. somebody has got to break it to mr. boehner, your side lost. romney, remember him? he's the guy who ran on the rich man's platform. the hands off the big boys' ticket. he's the guy who said his fellow 2%ers have your back. mr. boehner, ye of limited memory, the voters looked this issue directly in the eye, they heard your guy, romney, playing palace guard for the plutocrats, and they said i think i'll vote for the guy who is looking out for the middle class. i think i will let that guy go back to bain or whatever. time for mr. boehner to stop protecting the rich. joy reid is managing editor of the grio, and david corn is washington bureau chief for mother jones and the author of the ebook "47 percent." today the president took his pitch to a factory in the philadelphia suburbs, and he made clear the rich must

however, there was a report on friday from ezra klein saying that this is not anything they're talking about publicly but the conversation within the white house is about the idea of giving in to republicans on raising the eligibility age for medicare, raising that two years in exchange for a partial increase on the top marginal tax rate to 37% instead of 39.6% obama is asking for. that idea, horrifying the left. it does not poll very well. it actually doesn't do much from a budget tear standpoint but i think people say it's powerfully symbolic for the republicans to get that concession sen if this is something that the white house is willing to explore does this not suggest they're very concerned about the leverage of the republicans with the debt ceiling and pressure to give in in a real way here? >> i think there's desire on the part of the president to increase social security. while the public would like to both strengthen the two programs and never change them, that's not really possible. so, i think if the white house was able to make some reforms that they could agree to, that

we will discuss with house democratic whip steny hoyer, ezra klein, sam stein, jane mayer, and jen zockie republicans make the long slog to redemption, we discuss lessons learned. and the war on women rages on in the lone star state. we will look at planned parenthood's fight in texas. all that starts in a mere 180 seconds. ♪ [ male announcer ] we began serving handcrafted coffees in seattle, and people seemed to like it. so we wondered -- where else could we take this? ♪ for over 40 years, we've brought our passion for fine coffee and espresso to people everywhere. but one place was impossible, until now. our lattes, espresso and brewed coffee, now in your home from a machine like no other. and now $50 off through january 1st. the verismo® system, by starbucks. [ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car re

joining us sort through all of this current and future fiscal crises is ezra klein. at "the washington post" as well as columnist for bloomberg view. thanks for joining us. you addressed the issue of what happens next, i saw you on rachel's show friday. your theory are it's key to how the fiscal cliff plays out. explain. >> there's a significant difference of opinion in the political ramification of what happens if we go over and it comes down debt ceiling. if we go over the fiscal cliff they have all of the leverage because we'll go into the debt ceiling and it will be just like 2011 again. they'll say we're not going to raise the debt ceiling unless you cut entitlements, barack obama will say no and terrified of consequences of national default he'll say yes. so they'll get all of the entitlement cuts with no tax increases on the table. democrats disagree. they will not, under any circumstance, no matter what republicans do, negotiate over the debt ceiling again. they'll break the habit now. if we go to the debt ceiling they'll say we're not talking about this, if

msnbc policy analyst ezra klein will join us to talk about the ten bills that are currently sitting stalledd happen right away. >>> however, does our american right to bear arms trump the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? our question of the day. your answers in the next hour. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increas