. >> joining me now is congressman donald payne, democrat from new jersey, and jared bernstein, an msnbc contributor, and former chief economist for vice president biden. thank you both for being here. >> good to be here. >> thank you. >> congressman, what do you make of your republican colleagues who would rather help the rich than the unemployed and even kicking them down or kicking them while they are down and putting all kinds of requirements on them to receive their benefits? >> well, it really shows that the republicans are not serious about trying to deal with the whole question of unemployment. they have put more unrelated issues into this bill which really makes no sense at all. there are some issues that should be debated on their own such as pipeline, but this is not an area that should be put into an unemployment bill where people's benefits will be expiring in a couple of weeks. >> now, congressman, explain to me what is -- what was the mood like on the floor? i mean, you're talking about requiring people without a high school diploma to go in ged to get your benefits and dr

that's a tough political lift right now, rachel. >> jared bernstein, former member of president obama'sconomic adviser to vice president biden. now at the center on budget and policy priorities and msnbc contributor. we're going to have to come up with some sort of like, url shortener for your title and sometime soon, jared. in the meantime -- >> good point. >> -- i'm always thankful you're here. >> thank you, rachel. >>> all right. on this show when we make a mistake, we do our best to correct it. just ahead, a heartfelt department of correction. for the first time ever, we have to devote the entire department of corrections to amphibians, from frogs to newts. please stay tuned. i habe a cohd. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! ugh, great. you may be going up, but those roots are bringing you down! try root touch-up by nice 'n easy. to exte

. >> jared bernstein is a contributor for msnbc, cnbc and the chief economist for vice president joe biden. as we say that the obama administration is saying they do understand the pain that america currently feels, that it fears for the next generation, i think americans right now don't want to hear that they understand. they want to see the president get something done. is the president saying this make-or-break moment for the middle class is truly it for what's coming out of his administration or what? >> thanks for inviting me, thomas. i find this to be a truly fascinating moment in political economy right now. this is not new. it's active in the 2011 economy. it's a 2% on payroll. it's not the most exciting thing you've ever heard about. but it's a microcosm. many on the conservative side seem to be preserving the gains at the top, the one group that's done well. you're right, without action, the words will be hollow. and the president is hitting very hard on this payroll tax holiday which means as much as 1,500 bucks to a middle income family. that's real money to a family with

commission and professor at the university of maryland smith school of business, and msnbc contributor jared bernstein, senior fellow at the center on budget and policy priorities, as well as vice president biden's former chief economist. welcome, jobs superheroes, both of you. jared, let me start with you. as i understand it, the unemployment rate went down this month because a lot of people got discouraged, you know, aren't looking for work, so that sort of takes out the denominator. is this the secret white house jobs plan, to discourage enough people from working, so we can push down the numbers to 7% by election day? >> well, first of all, thanks for making me and peter sound a lot more exciting than i typically think of us. but, no, it's not a secret plan. the numbers are right there in the report. and you're right to focus on them. at least half of the decline in unemployment from 9% to 8.6% is attributable to this fall in the labor force. lots of folks giving up, getting off the picture. so i don't think it means that, you know, the numbers are cooked or the white house is trying to push anyth

i'll talk with the vice president's former economic adviser jared bernstein. >>> plus, more americansto work, another good week to talk about for the unemployment numbers. we'll have the specifics. >>> also, three more days until christmas. we're heading live to the north pole first, but first, a little cheer from saturday night live to get you in the mood. ♪ all i know is that santa's lay is making its way to the usa ♪ ♪ i wish it was christmas today ♪ ♪ i wish it was christmas today ♪ o you think it all comes from? elves. [ laughs ] [ thunder crashes ] hurry up, lads! storm's brewin'. ♪ [ woman laughs ] stop it. ♪ yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is... (announcer) k-y® brand intense™ - intensifies female satisfaction. [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. [ female announcer ] get

so the first chart that you showed, that's coming from jared bernstein.rebound in corporate profits with no rebound in compensation. that is a little bit tough to turn around because in order for that rebound in compensation to come back these businesses need someone to sell to in america. a lot of that rebound you're seeing was coming from selling overseas and going into new markets. the other chart you showed, the one about the toil index, that's from robert frank at new york university. and his point is that we've gotten into a competition with one another, we just keep buying bigger and bigger houses not because they make us any happier but because everybody else is buying bigger rouse houses and those houses are in better school districts, we need that for our kids. it's a cultural thing and societal plan. he's got tax plans and other things that would help us get around it but it would fake a while to turn anything that big around. >> ezra, it's pretty clear that the white house and democrats have emed the message of income inequality. what made the

jared bernstein is here with us this evening. we want to welcome you.el boor run who until recently was the july yeason of the white house and is presently a special assistant to the vice president. [applause] i also would like to note the presence of one who lit the menorah during a previous administration, undersecretary of defense dr. dov zakheim. [applause] as well as former deputy secretary of health and human invests, dr. troy. [applause] we have a few special hanukkah songs that the president's own have prepared for us tonight. we're going to ask for the cantors to return to the stage. you might be able to join in the first song. please, feel free to participate. the president's own united states marine band. i just noticed director lew has arrived. we'd like to give him a warm welcome and welcome him to his seat, please. [applause] director lew, we were just saying that while we're up, while we're up lighting the menorah, you should remind me to have a word with you about some hanukkah guild. don't worry, i'll make sure he understands it later.

. >> so look -- >> this is jared bernstein. >> nice to hear you, reverend. the absence of actual numbers and facts from this part of the debate, i have to say. while i understand where the reverend is coming from, in fact, if you actually ask how big government has gotten, and you look at it as a share of gdp, which is the accepted way of doing so take out the impact of the recession, because the government will be larger in an economic downturn, and i will ask you about that in a second, reverend, and in fact the president spends about 22% of gdp, which happens to be about the same as ronald reagan and the average in the last 40 years has been 21%. there is no there there. the expansion the reverend may be referring to has to do with the safety net that kicks in when the economy goes south. as you talk about big government and the problems there in, i would argue the safety net has been insufficient in keeping people falling out of it in the great recession. i know you represent a lot of the kinds that i am talking about. could you try to square that for me

cast of folks joining us to look back, including chris hayes and john heilman and jim cooper and jared bernstein. it will be a terrific show. perhaps most important of all, we have got graphs. lots of them. graphs will help us see what happened this year. rather than just what felt like it happened or seemed to happen. we begin with the campaign. here's the [ primary in one graph. you are seeing the poll numbers for all eight candidates in iowa over the last year. that is a mess. that is chaos. graphs are supposed to bring order and show patterns. this looks like one of the children's games you have to follow-through the tangle of the lines to the other side. they were in highlights when you went to the dentist. in fact that is exactly what you need to do with the graph. on the left you will see the green line that begins high. that was mitt romney a year ago. he had about 20% and number one in iowa. do you follow that green line and track it through that tangle for most of the year. he held right about there at 20 to 25% in the polls. for most of the year, that is not enough. bachmann and perry

joining me now is congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington, and jared bernstein, an msnbc contributor and former chief economist for vice president biden. thank you both for being here tonight. >> sure. >> pleasure. >> congressman, let me start with you. so many americans are hurting. how can you explain to them, let's forget the beltway talk. to the american people, how do you explain what's happening in congress right now? >> well, reverend sharpton, i discovered the motto of the republican party. they are giving the american people a lump of coal for christmas. there is no excuse whatsoever that they can give for why they are not passing the bill that passed the senate. it was mcconnell -- it's mcconnell/reid. republicans voted for it. there's nothing wrong with it. it's got the oil pipeline in it. it's got everything they want. but they just want to stop the government from working. they want everybody to get a lump of coal when they go there whether they're unemployed or they're getting a paycheck and they're going to have a tax increase. they're going to get a lump o

. >> jared bernstein, nice to see you this morning. i want to remind everybody, we'll have live coverage of the president's energy announcement. former president bill clinton is expected to speak before the president. stay tuned for those comments coming shortly right here on msnbc. >>> one more campaign stop today and then it could be herman cain's toughest election test of all. he says he's meeting with his wife today about the future of his campaign after the woman saying that she had a 13-year with cain spoke with nbc's lawrence o'donnell. >> it wasn't a love affair. it was a sexual affair. as hard as that is for me to say and as hard as it is for people to hear it, you know, it pretty much is what it is. i'm surprised that he hasn't -- that he's treating me as if i'm lying about this. that does bother me. >> meantime, cain has put a monday deadline on his decision and he is still out there being combative with reporters. take a look. >> do me a favor. let's not play detective. here's the deal, i am going to prove -- i am going to