mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr.resident, we have just seen, i know there are a lot of other issues that are consuming the interest of my colleagues and the american people such as the confirmation hearings of justice sonia sotomayor, the "help" committee of which i amendment member is reporting out one of the most massive takeovers and expenditures of taxpayers' dolladollars in history and we e this bill on the floor and there are other issues so it has probably gone unnoticed we've seen another really, if not unprecedented, certainly highly unusual action on the part of the majority. frankly, to my colleagues on this side of the aisle and the american people, elections have consequences. what we have just seen is an amendment before this body in a piece of legislation before this body that i think you could argue is probably of more importance than any other that we consider because it authorizes the measures necessary to preserve the security of this nation, care for the men and women who are serving in the milita

we did not want mccain. she is actually a conservative. mccain was not. i have friends that when she was put on the ticket, they called me and said they hated her. i ask what they knew about her. they said nothing. that is typical of liberals. this woman has an amazing story. it is amazing to me that all the sexist articles on -- like the one you just spoke about. it is just a big double standard. that's just the way things are. host: thank you. you can read the piece at our web site now, c-span.org. he goes on to write, "she is a cipher by choice. when she reveals is not always the same thing as the truth. her refusal to have in-depth conversations with the national media -- they each submitted countless and amuinterviews ovee years. there's also this article in the politico. we will read from that in a couple of minutes. a couple more calls. brunswick, ga., democrat. what do you said? caller: when sarah palin first came out in the media, there was a lot of attention about a few things. one thing that was constantly overlooked, which was easy to find on

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the qoarl call be dispensed with. -- qoarl call be dispensed -- quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mccain: i would like to engage in colloquy for just a minute with the distinguished chairman. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. chairman, i understand that we're close, hopefully, to an agreement on the kyl amendment and we could set up, following that agreement, if that is agreed to, a burr amendment followed by an akaka amendment and that our staff will work on further amendments so that our colleagues will know? mr. levin: we're trying to work out an agreement with senator kyl. the staffs are trying to work out a time agreement. the order, though, would hopefully be senator burr and senator akaka, but we have to make sure that the proper committees are notified that are involved in those amendments. and then we could, i think, have a unanimous

number five, mccain again. still idea why i called. number fou hi, it's the dry cleaner,avinouble getting riu blood out of your prad jacket. numb three. hi, it's sarah, whoopsdialed my own numr. number two, scarzenegger here, if you wt a job, california could use a new governor. and the number one message on sarapalin's answering machine. hey, it's mccain, who would ha thought u would retire before i did. >> we are surprised that t barrage does continue tonight with most of thealin jokes about what s was wearing during that oriny of interviews yesteay, one about havi naughty thoughts about her fishing wading boots david tterman reportedly immediately apogizes in advance. time to call in chriian fiegan who joins happens.r things like this les art with whatever he did at the recording of tonighs show late this afternoon about the waders. there seems to be an impcation to her here. you give h matl, any material, even what you're wearing, he wille able to run with this. >> well, you havtonderstand, after last month's kerfuffle, david lette

who would have predicted mccain could so completely change the subject.ho would have predicted her. >> she's not from these parts and she's not from washington. but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as i am. she's got the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in washington today. >> reporter: sarah palin, alaska's freshman governor, until this moment few in this crowd have ever heard her name before. >> senator, i am honored to be chosen as your running mate. >> reporter: sarah palin's name was not on the expected short list of candidates mccain was thought to be considering and it's safe to say that many of the 15,000 people gathered here were surprised by his choice, surprised but not necessarily disappointed. >> i don't think anybody expected this today. i think there was a lot of talk that it was going to be sort of a safe and in some regards boring choice and he underlined his maverick status with this pick directly. >> reporter: sarah palin is anything but boring. a sm

i thought senator mccain was rather striking in his comments today. on the one hand he said he was surprised that she stepped down. how could he not be given his record as a politician, as a senator, as a leader? is this the same person he chose to be on his ticket? >> i think it is the same person. if the republicans were choosing a nominee today, i believe they would choose sarah palin. the republican party has collapsed like a star going nova to its densest core of conservative voters. sarah palin speaks to that core. now, the man darins, the elites don't like her. she's not of their ilk. she is the skunk at their garden party. they believe, as some in the media believe, that the highest form of political skill and authenticity today is to flawlessly read a speech from a teleprompter that somebody else has written for you. that's not sarah palin. look, she's not going to beat barack obama, but all she has to do is beat tim pawlenty, bobby jindel, mitt romney. are you saying she couldn't beat mitt romney? >> i am strongly for her. i endorse her for

his name was john mccain. he served our country valiantly during the vietnam conflict and spent five years in a prisoner of war camp in vietnam. i have great admiration and respect for him. so i want the record to reflect that my respect for john mccain is very deep. not only did we come to the house together but we also came to the senate together. we were elected together in 1986. and our seniority is as close as it can get. we both have the same amount of service in the house of representatives. so seniority is determined by how many people are in the state of nevada and the state of arizona but there are more in the state of arizona so he is one up in me in seniority in the senate. having said that, mr. president, and recognizing who this man is. he proudly was the nominee for the republicans this last election. i watched his campaign and admired his courage physically and the stands he took. while i may not have agreed with him i recognize that he has strong feelings. but, mr. president, so do i. the seni

first she was an awful choice for last year's john mccain's are an mate. an inexperienced governor of a small state, she lacked experience and brought nothing to the ticket. it was a centrality eejically awful choice. knowing everything you know now, would you pick her again? >> absolutely. in all due respect to those who like to kind of examine the entrails and look back washed, the fact is we were three points ahead on september 15th, and the stock market crashed, and we went seven points down. sarah palin ignited our party. we were winning, and we could have won, but i'm proud of the campaign, and i'm proud of the people around me. i'm grateful for their support. i love them. i am proud to have had the honor being the nominee of the party of abraham lincoln and theodore roosevelt and ronald reagan. i will remain so. >> is she ahead of the pack in terms of leaders of this party going forward? >> i don't know. recent poll i saw shows she and mitt romney and huckabee very tight. it's way too early. you might remember in 2007 my campaign was dead. >> rememb

mccain, proposes an amendment numbered 1814 to amendment numbered 1813. mr. mccain: mr. president, this amendment is very simple. it would prohibit funds from being spent on the hundreds of earmarks listed in the committee report that accompanies this bill. i emphasize that are listed in the "committee report," not part of the basic legislation. it would prohibit those funds from being spent on any of the hundreds of earmarks unless that project is specifically authorized. as we all know committee reports do not have the force of law. they're meant to serve as explanatory statements for what can be complicated legislative bill text. unfortunately around here, appropriations committee reports now are treated as if they were law and are routinely loaded up with millions if not billions of dollars in unrequested, unauthorized, unnecessary, wastefulful earmarks. when congress establishes the funding priorities it should do so decisively without cause for subjective interpretation or reference the material outside the bill passed by congress and signed into law by the preside

he obviously hasn't talked to megan mccain lately.ng "countdown" on msnbc. [ horn honks ] ♪ [ tires screech ] [ female announcer ] sometimes, you can get so much out of so little. the same is true with bath tissue too. introducing new charmin ultra soft. its new ultra soft design is softer than before. and it has so much absorbency, you can use 7 sheets vs. 28 of the leading value brand. so your family can get more mileage out of less. [ horn honks ] new charmin ultra soft. america's softest bath tissue. i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (phone rings) hello? this is rick with broadview security. is everything all right? no, my ex-boyfriend just kicked in the front door. i'm sending help right now. thank you. (announcer) brink's home security is now broadview security. call now to install the standard system for just $99. the proven technology of a broadview security system delivers rapid response from highly-trained

some called her senator mccain's. americans are on the edge of their seats waiting to see how this election turns out. how does this woman, this governor, this wife, mother of five, if hockey mom who hunts emerge into one of the most electricfying politicians today. home life with the governor, shot this past spring before she was chosen as senator mccain's running mate. but to know sarah palin we must first look west and north to alaska. in 1984 the democratic ticket featured he going ra geraldino as walter mondale's hundreding mate. >> the achievements of he goin raline in 1984 and, of course, senator hillary clinton. hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest hardest in america but it turns out the women of america aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all! [ applause ] >> and i was really quite surprised because in 24 years nobody has done that on a national team politically. >> she has strong principles, a fighting spirit. you know, my friends, this great governor grew up in a

i thank you and senator mccain for working together on many different things and i thank senator mccain for his courtcy in respecting the time of various members who planned to speak here. so i thank you, senator lieberman for all of that. we do, however, have a difference of opinion on this important issue. madam president, this amendment will restore funding for marine corps helicopters and the joint strike fighter management reserves. let me repeat for my colleagues who are concerned about funding for the marine corps helicopters or the number of join join that will b -- or thejoint strike fil be purchased, this amendment deals with this. the statements about the marine corps and helicopters and testimony in favor of the helicopters, that is no longer relevant. under my amendment the helicopters are provided for. many of the comments about the need for the joint strike fighters and their removal of the number of tails, the number of planes, those commends are no longer relevant. we have full funding for the number of joint strike fighters so i know this debate is -- has proceeded rap

>> john mccain did not make joe the plusm plumber a voice? barack obama? >> john mccain invited joe the plumber onto the stage because barack obama had told joe the plumber that he wanted to spread the wealth, something that the obama campaign then disputed -- >> alealex, that is rich. the fact of the matter is this, meghan mccain's comments, her eloquence speak for itself. i can't answer mcen mccai her e. the problem is he stuck to the bottom of their show like a post-it note and then he became a noted foreign correspondent in israel reporting on circumstances over there. >> alex, one -- >> i think the irony is that barack obama is raising taxes just like he told joe the plumber he would when he said he would spread the waement. i think -- >> i think joe the plumber's business is getting a tax cut. people at that level is getting a tax cut. that's the whole point. >> but he hasn't. >> right, because -- >> come on. >> that's not going to create jobs. this is not going to create jobs. >> good grief. >> as we're seeing the unemployment rate con

mccain: madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. levin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed. .the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: madam president, are we still in morning business. the presiding officer: we are still in morning business and the majority has five minutes remaining. mr. levin: madam president, the levin-mccain amendment would strike $1.75 billion in funding for the f-22 aircraft in the committee bill adopted in a very close vote. we also would restore some very serious reductions that had to be adopted in order to pay for that snrmt i com program. i -- this debate is not about whether or not we will have the capability of the f-22 but a debate about how many f-22 aircraft we should have and at what cost and whether or not we should accept the recommendations of two commanders in chief, two secretaries of defense, two chairmen of the joint chiefs much staff, and the

>> aye by proxy. >> senator mccain?. >> i'm sorry, i didn't hear you. >> no. >> senator hatch? >> aye. >> senator mckulski? >> aye by proxy. >> nor coburn? >> aye by proxy. >> senator roberts? >> aye by proxy. >> chairman kennedy? >> aye by proxy. the vote is 16 ayes, 7 neys. >> the agreement is agreed. to the enzi-hatch amendment is agreed to. >> thank you. one thing. >> and hagen-enzi-hatch amendment. listen, it's now approximately 9:00. we've had a good debate. what we want to do is pick up in the morning and let me just notify members that my intention tomorrow is that we'll -- we're going to proceed however long it takes to finish up the bill. we go to our 13th day of a markup. and it's been significant debate of the 13 days, 17, 18 sessions. and we're going to finish tomorrow if we k i thank my colleagues for their patience this evening. the committee stands adjourned until tomorrow morning. >> did you say 9:00? >> i lost track. >> 9:00 a.m.? >> 9:00 a.m.? >> yes. today. i would like to introduce my panel members.

he obviously hasn't talked to megan mccain lately.e watching "countdown" on msnbc. >>> you may have heard that megan mccain called joe the plumber a "dumbass," yet michael steele actually praised mr. plumber for getting the republican groove back. so in our number one story in the countdown, let's put it nicely. the republican party is like a box of chocolates. you never know what you're going to get. meanwhile, the president of the united states addresses the flak he's catching over his mom jeans. but first joe the plumber wurzelbacher. it was not too long ago that mr. wurzelbacher did not want, quote, years anywhere around my children. so when megan mccain was asked about that, she said, joe the plumber, you can quote me, is a dumbass. he should stick to plumbing. enter rnc chairman, michael steele, who without any prompting from "hardball's" chris matthews paid mr. wurzelbacher a huge compliment just yesterday. >> we couldn't even argue the basics of the economy in the last election, effectively, and it took a happenstance conversa

to michael steele, he's a savior, to megan mccain, he's a dumbass.ian michael ian black weighs in. (announcer) you can make a bigger difference in the world. you can make a positive change in your career. you can make a greater contribution to the greater good. and you can start today, by earning your degree online... at walden university. where advanced degrees advance the quality of life. >>> prank calls have been around for decades. no one is immune from them. prime ministers, queens, even sarah palin have fallen victim to them. but in our number two story tonight, a disturbing new type of prank call has law enforcement very concerned. the goal isn't to leave the recipient a little red faced. it could leave the person on the other end of the phone seriously injured or even dead. nbc's kerry sanders explains. >> reporter: the trail of damage at hotels runs from florida to arkansas, to nebraska to california. victims say the prank calls seem so believable. >> we have a major gas leak occurring in the hotel. >> reporter: the pranksters are so brazen,

. >> we also saw further civil war from the mccain campaign. is there anynd to this? >> the question is who was the real drag on the ticket? i have to say i think sarah palin was under qualified to be vice president. if you are a republican and uc sarah palin doing the things she was supposed to do. she gave good speeches, she held her own in a debate against joe biden and did at least as well as john mccain did against obama. i am sorry. thirdly, even though she gave a terrible interview on tv, she said nothing worse than what mccain said in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the depression, saint economics is not my strong suit. which really lost more votes? >> i covered the sarah palin campaign. mostly she was the warm-up for mccain. she is a great draw. she can give one stage but that is it. >>hat is it for this week. tune in again next time for "inside washington."

mccain: i thank you.and i again want to thank my friend, the distinguished chairman, for proposing this amendment and ... excuse me, i want to thank the distinguished chairman for being the sponsor of this amendment and it is a privilege to work with him on this, as well as many other issues. this amendment is probably the most impactful amendment that i have seen in this body on almost any issue, much less the issue of defense. and it really boils down to whether we're going to continue business as usual of once a weapons system gets into full production, it never dies, or whether we're going to take the necessary steps to really reform the acquisition process in this country. the f-22 in itself is $1.75 billion. that's an impressive number anyplace outside of the beltway. but, more importantly than that, it is a signal that we're not going to continue to build weapons systems that are plagued with cost overruns, which outlive their requirements for defending this nation, and, very frankly, starts to gai

now, these folks might have been opposed to the idea of john mccain being elected president.paigning against him. barack obama was running against him, but he weren't going to let the wing nuts run-off with this tinfoil-hatted idea mccain somehow wasn't eligible to be president. fake hysterical constitutional crisis, averted. now, wouldn't it be awesome to see the republicans doing the same sort of thing right now? in reality, the number of republican members of congress signing on to the birther legislation is growing. the latest is one from congressman at birthers is starting to become locally embarrassing to them. the houston chronicle today in an editorial lamented that five of the birthers signed on to "the whole thing is getting weirder than the tabloid stories about house cats giving birth to space allenes. it's time to say enough already." maybe oklahoma more conservative than texas, "the tulsa world" is editorializing against republican senator james inhofe who said he thinks the birthers ought to keep looking into their crazed fantasies about the president's citizen

mccain: madam president, i yield the floor. mr. kyl: madam president, i believe there is five minutes per side to debate the amendment that i have offered which is cosponsored by senator mccain. i would appreciate it if the chair would advise me when i have consumed two minutes, senator mccain will talk two minutes. madam president, the amendment is simple. it strikes $900,000 for an earmark for the city of whitefish emergency operation center in montana. the administration terminated funding for these types of projects in its 2010 budget submission. this operation center has not been subject to a congressional hearing nor has it been authorized by congress. it is a pure earmark and not only did the administration not request funding for the project, it specifically zeroed out funding. senator feingold had an amendment that would have subsumed this project along with several others. that amendment failed. but he noted in regard to his amendment that while we may not agree on the appropriateness of earmarking in general, i certainly

. >> it was 11 months ago that she injected an instant flash of energy into john mccain's presidentials a rock star at republican campaign events. but once she veered off script and was forced to answer questions, her image began to shift. >> you can actually see russia from land here in alaska. >> "saturday night live" turned the moment into a new full-time job for tina fey. >> and i can see russia from my house. >> and created clips palin must have wanted to delete from that dvr. >> this right here is water and that is russia. >> what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read? >> it didn't end there. >> i mean -- >> specifically, i'm curious -- >> all of them. any of them that have -- that have been in front of me over all these years. >> and then there was the vice presidential debate. >> that's a positive, that's encouragement and that's what john mccain meant. >> where she was given a hard time for her casual style. >> say it ain't so, joe. >> john mccain and i, we're a couple of mavericks. >> the parodies and one liners never let up. she remained mccain's attack dog on the

she remained mccain's attack dog on the campaign trail and ease up on the moments she couldn't controlciate you. >> but after the election when she returned home to her beloved alaska, things just weren't the same. the beast that was the palin media phenomenon followed her. from the levy johnston scandal, to a seemingly endless of ethics complaints to the feud with david letterman. it was a constant companion. so she decided her state would be better off without her and all the costly scandals was getting in her job. >> with this announcement that i'm not seeking re-election, i thought it best to transfer the power to lieutenant governor parnell. >> the crowd was unsure why they were saying good-bye, but she has their vote. >> it breaks my heart because we voted for her and we believe in her. she's honest. and she was like a breath of fresh air. >> by the time she finally gave it all up yesterday and handed over her job as governor, no one could say palin hadn't dealt with more than her share of time in the spotlight. so what's a hockey mom to do now? get ready for more. palin 2.0, com

we are with it with john mccain and steny hoyer. we begin with the former presidential candidate himself, senator john mccain. good to have you. what do you make of that? >> i know it is a liberal philosophy, but are not think the american people ought to be told -- that we will raise their taxes. the most important event today was the head of the cbo made a strong statement that will affect the debate. he said legislation does not have the sort of fundamental changes necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by significant amount, and he goes on to say that on the contrary, legislation significantly aspirant's -- expands the federal responsibility for health costs. that is the objective assessment by the congressional budget office. it contradicts all the things that democrats have been saying. there are no cost-saving measures in at the bill. neil: he recently sent some of the our costs are about one-and- a-half. >> it also leaves 33 million uninsured. neil: where will this lead us? where does this stand? >> i

. >> well,hatth really happedhere is that john mccain undercut his o gument. it was about sarah palin, b in talking about the campaign, keith, it was rely more about john mccain. john mccain's calling card to indepeents and centrists was, i'm the guy with more experience and better judgment. and of course, after the sorof lost weekend in st. pa wh sarah palin, the next two months were the long hangover, the long polical hangover. and jn mcca's judgment w undermined by sarah palin's demonstrable lack of qualificions and preparedness to be a heartbeat away from the pridency. and in thatsense, she destroyed the ticket s was cked to save. >> with the nuer thawas in that poll abou gop support for her, for presen in 2012, are we seeing, you know, in swimming and diving, scores are based on degree of diffiy. this particur ve gets you a factor of six and this dive ge you a factor of 12 o whatever the numbersare. did somebody tell the republans that each vote gets counted on a degree of difficulty basis, that if you really, really, rlly like your candate, it counts twi

mccain: madam president, i ask to proceed as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: madam president, i'd like to take a few moments to address the situation in burma. it's faded from the headlines but the outrageous detention and trial of aung san suu kyi, that astonishingly courageous burmese leader continues. miss suu kyi spent the last decades under house arrest and has been held at the notorious hin sang -- i may have to correct that procee pronunciati- prison compound. she was charged with crimes following the arrival at her house of an uninvited american man and swam across a nearby lake. he then reportedly stayed on her compound for two days despite requests to leave. based on this occurrence, the regime charged miss suu kyi with crimes and ordered her to stand trial in late may. since then, she has been jailed and awaits possible conviction and up to five years in prison. let's recall that this long-suffering woman is, in fact, the legitimately elected leader of that country. to this day, the generals refu

mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr.dent, i rise to -- for two purposes, one is to make a quick response to senator chambliss' remarks concerning the f-22 and a couple of remarks about what i understand is going to be next on the agenda, which i understand will be proposed by the majority leader which is a hate crimes bill. which is very difficult for me to understand. senator chambliss, very appropriately, pointed out that many times when we put together an authorization bill, we find offsets, as we call them, ways of paying for whatever addition that we want to add in the authorization bill. but i think it's important for us to point out that the chambliss amendment, during the markup, during putting this bill together, provided $1.75 billion for f-22 procurement and it took funds from presumed, unobligated balances of several accounts. in all candor, they were unjustified assumptions. the amendment cut $850 million from o&m accounts. that's operation and may not -- operations and maintenance. that means the maintenanc

y, it's mccain, who would have thought you would tire before i did? well, there yogo. >> we are surprised that the barragdoes continue tonight with most of the palin jokes about wh she was wearing duri that orgy of interviews yesterday, one about having nauty thoughts about her fishing wading boots. cutting out the middleman, david letterman reportedly immediatelapologizes in advance. joing us now, christian finnegan, who joins whenever uff this happens. odvening. >> gd evening to you. >> let start with whatever he did at the recording of tonight's sholate this afternooabout the waders. there ses be an implication to her here. you giveim material, any material, even what you're wearing, he will be able to n with this. >> well, y have to understand, after st month's kerfuffle, david letterman basicallhas an ownership stake in sarah palin comedy llc. used to belongo tina fey, now it david letterman. that'sery powerful. that's liksomebody handing you excalibur. johnny carson had n quayle, now lettermahas palin. i jimmy fallon put dibs on aho representati

those folks can really yell at attorneys like nobody else. >> what about mccain? what about mccain? has a famous temperament. >> lulg su r >> lindsey graham loves john mccain, has supported him so dutifully and wonderfully. but everybody knows john can have a hot temper. which i do too. a lot of people have. to say he has a hot temper and yet she needs anger management, i'm sorry, you're laughing because he was tutoring her today. that was condescending. >> if lindsey graham says you're going to make it unless you have a meltdown, what's the point of the hearings? come on, give us some guts. >> that's the worst condescending thing you've ever said on this show, roger. >> what? >> you're taking lindy graham takes orders from a republican senator -- >> i wouldn't stoop so low. >> i thought senator graham was con desecond with his remarks about giving people a second chance. maybe you did something wrong. there's a lot of people who think sotomayor did anything wrong. >> what do you think of him making her doing the dog walk on buying into the views of the war on al qaeda, we have to n

in fairness to governor palin, i think she felt very ill used by the mccain campaign.f of 20 people on her. all of whom she never met before. she didn't have any of her own trusted people from her world helping her. several people in the mccain campaign said if she had to go from aaa baseball to the world series. so i think it was very hard for her and the general rule of thumb in politics is if it looks bad from the outside, on the inside it is much, much worse. >> what do you think she does now? her spokesperson said she can do anything. it seems she would do lectures, write a book, have a tv show, what do you think? >> she clearly has a book contract. there have been feelers of doing a reality show based on running the state of alaska. there were feelers about talk shows and she could command money on the speaking circuit. she could pay off this $500,000 campaign debt if she made a few speeches. >> what is the one thing that surprised you the most? >> the one thing is if my 9-year-old daughter would have gone to a playground in anchorage she would have found out mor

remember joe the plumber, the mccain campaign's prime time working stiff.im up on the stage at a mccain campaign rally last october with the presidential candidate's daughter, meghan. nine months later she's out there with a xa adversarial attitude toward the mccain campaign prop. here is what she told "out" magazine a publication zbered to gay and lease beian readers. joe the plumber is a dumb ass. he should stick to plumbing. if that's your term for joe, i wonder what sob ri quet she has for sarah. a topic she won't address at least until deadline day arrives on the book she's planning to write. >>> for tonight's big number, sarah palin has touted as the biggest fund-raising asset for the republican party. as we'll get to in "the politics fix" tonight, she's got the highest favorability of the leading republican candidates for 2012. here is an additional fact. moveon.org september out a fund-raising e-mail this week asking for money to counter what they say are the false claims sarah palin has making on climate change. how much have they raised. $100,000.

there were questions about john mccain. had john mccain become president i remember then senator obama had to come out and say i don't think john mccain's eligibility to become president is an issue. he was able to put it to rest, but the fact is if john mccain had become president, you would be having this issue on the other side. if you want to go back, people thought barry goldwater was not qualified because he was born in the arizona territory and mitt romney's father, george romney, was not eligible to be president because he was born in mexico. so this is not a new issue. what this bill does is very simple. it's only looking forward, as you suggested, 2012 and beyond, and it just -- let me back up. you know, the constitution, as you know, there's -- most elements of the constitution have implementing legislation. this particular element of the constitution does not, and this is just implementing legislation. just saying before you run for president, let's make sure -- let's have you substantiate that you meet the cons

i thought s senoror mccain wawas rather strikikgg in h comments today.nhe one hand he s sd he was susurpsed that she stepped dodon howw cldld he not bee givenen h record as a lilitian, as a senator, ass a leader? is this the s sam personee chose toto bononis ticketet? >> i thihi i it theamame pepers. if the r replilins were choososn nomineedaday, i i believehey wodd cose sarah palin. the republblic party has collapsed like a srroing nova totsts dsest core of conservative vovorsrs. sarah palin speakaksoo that cor. now,he man dadari,, the elites don't lilikeher. she's not of theiririlk. she ishehe skunk atheheir garden pay. they belelveve,s some inhe mea a beeve, that the highehest rm offolitical skill andnd authenticityty today is too flawawsssslyead a speech from a leprompter that somebody y el has writittefoyou. that's not sarah papan.n. lolo, she's not gng to beat barack obaba,, b all she has too s beat timim wlenty, bobobby ndndelmitt roromn.. e e yosaying sheououldt beat tttt romney? >> am stronglgl for her. i endndor h her forhehe republin nonomitio

those folks can really yell at attorneys like nobody else. >> what about mccain? what about mccain?y graham loves john mccain, has supported him so dutifully and wonderfully. but everybody knows john can have a hot temper. which i do too. a lot of people have. to say he has a hot temper and yet she needs anger management, temper and yet that she needs anger management -- i'm sorry, you're laughing because he was tutoring her today. that was condescending. he's telling somebody up for the supreme court, now you've got to work on that -- >> he was doing that because rush limbaugh beat him up last night because he was too nice to sotomayor in his opening comments. >> you mean he cares? >> rush limbaugh is saying, if lindsey graham says it you're going to make t unless you have a meltdown, what's the point of the hearings? give some guts. >> that's the worst condesce condescending thing you've will ever seen on this show. you're saying lindsey graham takes orders from rush -- i won't stoop so low as accuse him of being a dittohead. >> i thought senator graham was awfully condescending a

those folks -- >> what about mccain? what about mccain? and mccain has a famous temperament. >> lindsay graham loves john mccain, has supported him so wonderfully, but everyone knows john can have a hot temper. to say he has a hot temper and she needs anger management, i'm sorry, you're laughing. he was tutoring her today. that was condescend. he was telling somebody up for the supreme court, you've got to work on that. >> he was doing that because rush limbaugh beat him up last night after he was too nice to sotomayor in his opening comments. >> he cares? -- rush limbaugh is saying if lindsey graham says you're going to make it unless you have a meltdown, what's the point of the hearings? come on, give us some guts. >> isn't that the worst condescending thing you've ever said on this show? you're saying lindsey graham takes order from rush limbaugh? a republican senator from south carolina -- >> i won't stoop so low, accused of being a ditto-head. >> awfully condescending with his remarks about giving people a second chance, you admit you

. >> john mccain lost. >> all of the ones you respect lose. i want to talk about the public approval ratings falling. a similar story also last week for three-days in a row for the first time mr. popularity obama's ratings fell below 50 percent for the first time. what was the big news story? >> healthcare. >> no the big news story was sarah palin. i think that demonstrates how powerful and important she is that the news media finds it more interesting when a former vice presidential candidate public approval ratings fall as opposed to mr. popularity obama for the first time below 50 percent lower than jimmy carter way lower than george bush. >> i have not seen that f particular poll. i am not saying it doesn't exist. >> juan williams joins us also. where are you? >> in kansas city right now. >> what do you think? can you fill at the top in to politics in america? >> you can be popular. she is invasely popular especially with the republican base shoes she speaks to the values she is quite attractiatt. if you look at the numbers republican men

mccain proposals amendment numbered 1469. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, this amendment is the f-22 amendment, which would delete the $1.75 billion from the bill that was added in a very close vote on the armed services committee, with strong opposition of the administration and i may say this is not the first administration that has attempted to end the f-22 line that president bush also attempted to end this line at 183 planes. and i would ask, unless my good friend from arizona wants to speak, that we recess until 1:00, but i do have two unanimous consent requests regarding committee meetings that i would want to make after the senator has a comment. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent -- i have two unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. and i would ask unanimous consent these requests

and foonlly, what about john mccain. he used joe the plumber as part of the grand campaign strategy last year? >> megan mccain gives us another take on her father's tool. that's in the "hardball" side show. we begin with frank ricc whoichlt testified today in sotomayor's confirmation hearing. pat buchanan is a msnbc analyst. john, thank you for joining us. pat buchanan, thank you for joining us. let's look rikt now at a bit of frank ricci's testimony. >> i studied harder than i ever had before, reading, making flash cards, reading again, all by listening to prepared tapes. i was an absentee husband and father because of it. the city of new haven felt not enough minorities would have been promoted and the city's civil service rules and the charter would be too high. therefore, they chose not to fill the vacanvacancy czys. >> they through out the test. they threw out the guys who did well on the test. and they basically buckled to whatever. let's go with your view on this. what is the impact of mr. ricci's testimony and al

the most -- must and services did not want mccain. she is conservative. mccain was not. that is why he lost the election mainly. when she was brought on to the ticket my friends call me to say they hated her. i asked what they know about her, but they said they did not know anything. if that is typical. to this woman has an amazing story. it is amazing to me that all of these sexist comments in the article you just spoke about. if we talk about democrats like that, they would be all over it. it's a big double standard. that is the way things are. host: thank you for your call. we have the peace links at our website. now he goes on to write, sarah palin chooses to reveal herself. what she reveals is not always the same as the truth. her singular refusal to have in- depth conversations with the national media, like nixon putting out detailed interviews, has compounded the understanding of try to understand lucretias. and this piece from "the political." we will read that in a couple of minutes. now from brunswick, ga., chris, a democrat. when caller: sarah palin first came

. >> this morning on nbc's meet the press he called her a great american success story but mccain did not say whether he would support her. he was also asked about sara pailen. >> i understand she made the decision where she would be the most effective for alaska and her country. i'm grateful she agreed to run with me. i am confident she will be a major factor in the national scene. >> senator mccain also discussed his opposition to a second stimulus calling it the biggest mistake lawmakers could ever make saying the focus should be on small businesses and tax cuts. dick cheney reportedly ordered the cia to keep information from lawmakers. law make, are saying that was unlawful. >> that was not the case because we were kept in the dark. that's something that should never, ever happen again. >> for eight years congress was told nothing about a c.i.a. counterterrorism program reportedly on the orders of former vice president dick cheney. >> to have a massive program that is con sealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate. it could be illegal. >> "the new york times" fi

mccain: reserving the right to object. i will not object. it is also my understanding that at the beginning of business tomorrow we will be taking up the kyl amendment and the bayh either second degree or side by side with two hours equally divided -- mr. levin: the u.c., i believe, as it reads, is that we will take up the kyl amendment with a possible second degree or side by side. and then after their disposal, then we would go to the lieberman amendment or a second degree or side by side amendment of bayh on the alternate. mr. mccain: so we will take up the kyl amendment first and then -- mr. levin: and then a possible second degree or possible side-by-side to kyl. and then after the disposition of kyl and any side by side or second degree, we would move to the lieberman amendment with a bayh second degree or side by side. mr. mccain: there is a time agreement on both amendments? mr. levin: we do not have a time agreement on -- any on of the -- on any of the amendments. i hope in the morning to have a time agreement. but there was not --

firstthehe w an a awf choice r last year's johnn m mccain's are an mate. an ixperienced governor o o a small state, she l lkeked exexrience and brought notothi to the ticket. it was a centralalit eejically awawl choice. knowing g ererytng you know no, wowoulyou pick her agaiai >> ababsolulyly inll due resespecto those who like to kind of e examihe entrails andooook back washsh,, thact ise e we three pointnts ahead on septembmber 1th,nd the stock markrket cshsh, and w we went seven pointss do. sarah palin iitited our party. wewe we winning, and we cldld have won, b b i'm proudud of the mpmpgn, and i'm proud of the people arounund me. i'm gratefufu f their support.t. love them. am proud t thahave hadad t honor being the n nomee of thehe pty of abrahaminincond theodorore roosevelt and ronalald reanan i will rememai . >> is she ahead off t pack in terms of leadede o of this party goining forward? >> i don't know. recent poll i i saw shows she a mitttt romyy and huckabee very tight. 's way toooo early. you might rememberr i in 2 27 m campaign was deadad >>>> re

>> i'm john mccain.he difference between a -- >> a hockey mom and a pit bull? >> lipstick. ♪ what i got you can't >> because i -- >> great. >> we don't agree on everything -- >> anything. >> barack obama says he wants universal health care. is that so? health care for the entire universe? including osama bin laden? >> i would like to take this opportunity to make my proponent a proposal. effective immediately each of us suspend our campaigns and instead hold a series of three pie eating contests. >> i believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy, and i can see russia from my house. >> i would now like to give each of you a chance to make a closing statement. >> are we not doing the "talent portion?" ♪ ♪ solid as a rock >> who is that under there? >> i enjoy being myself. i'm not going to change who i am just because it's halloween. >> well, that's -- that's great. love your outfit. >> well, i love your outfit. >> thank you. >> i do want the earrings back. >> oh. [ laughter ] >>

mccain said americans share a kinship of ideals for those who stand-up for freedom.pressed for a more forceful show of support. >> there are those among us who warn a strong and unequivocal would be years by the cool regime and power to convince their subject people that the united states is behind the civil unrest they have attempted to hide from the world. the regime will make that claim no matter what we say or do. >> the former president, k khatami. he said the courts should uphold civil rights and set them free. >>> vice president, joe biden, is celebrating the fourth of july with troops in iraq. he said they are the reason america is strong. the surprise visit includes visits with top iraq leaders. it underscores president obama's commitment to withdrawal combat forces. >>> two u.s. soldiers died while fighting in eastern afghanistan. they were killed on a military base. in another part of afghanistan, u.s. forces continue their offensive against militants. the fight is taking place in an area where opium poppies are grown. they rely on opium production to fina