mr. obama nor congressional democrats can repeal this law of mathematics. the federal budget of the united states government will eventually balance. as all of them do. either -- whether it's a person or a government or a business. when they continue to spend money that they don't have, someone sooner or later has to make up the difference. the question with our federal budget is whether the white house and those of us in this body will balance this budget ourselves by wise policy or national bankruptcy and financial ruin will do it for us. from the day barack obama walked into the white house he has with breathtaking arrogance, mr. speaker, absolutely ignored economic and financial reality. it took america the first 216 years of its existence to accumulate the debt that barack obama has accumulated in the short 2 1/2-year span of his presidency. during his short time in office he has increased our federal debt by nearly $4 trillion, mr. speaker. and just to put that nearly $4 trillion in new d

clearly mr. obama sets the tone for how the american economy is presented to the world and the stats are grim; since barack obama took office the national debt has increased by $4 trillion. that's in just two and a half years. in 8 years. under president bush, a big spender, the national dent increased 4. trillion. so doing the math, if mr. obama's spending jag continues as is, he would run up almost $13 trillion in debt if he serves two terms that's nearly three times what bush did and far more than any president in american history. now, we like wayne rogers and ben stein. they are smart and honest guys. they are missing the big picture here. the president of the united states sets the agenda. mr. obama's party tried to get out of the recession by spending tax dollars the nation didn't have. not only did unemployment get worse, but the massive debt is now a crisis. so how on earth can you not hold president obama accountable? and, of course, americans are, as his poll numbers continue to drop. one bi

some critics say mr. obama in washington and focus on the nosedive on wall street and other troubling economic issues. white house spokesman jay carney says he doesn't think americans are opposed to the president, spending some quality vacation time with his family. in carney's words there's no such thing as a presidential vacation because mr. obama will be in constant communication with his staff and will receive regular briefings from his national security and economic teams. veteran african-american congresswoman maxine waters is outraged over the economy and black unemployment that is nearly double the national rate. she says president obama should be doing more. >> the president of the united states is, of course, the president. he is the leader of the nation. we support him. we want to work with him. we want him to use that bully pulpit. >> waters is in atlanta attending a jobs fair hosted by the congressional black caucus. >>> and now a huge selloff continues on wall street. the dow fell sharply at the o

the wax version of mr. obama and mad mad madam tuesseau's wax museum. it was a lot of fun at the big museum in washington, d.c. that's when the official birthday is happening at the white house right now and so you know, it's not being paid by taxpayers' money. >> they're paying for it themselves and this weekend they'll go to camp david in maryland for a family get away, weekend birthday celebration. >> speaking of that. one last look outside at the fremont festival -- the festival of the arts? >> yup. 28th annual, i guess, 700 booth: there, rob was there earlier and there was lots of food. at this events, lots of activities. >> picture-perfect. it's not 95, it's going about 80. >> stay tuned for brian williams next. [ female announcer ] at the jcpenney huge sale, back to school style is hugely affordable! with unbeatable doorbusters... ...find huge savings... like $14.99 juniors' dresses.... ...$12.99 boys' and girls' arizona jeans.... ....and $4.99 guys' screen tees. save huge on nike and new balance shoes too -- just $38.99! plus, with jcp cash, ear

here is mr. obamat february. >> america's businesses have a responsibility as well to recognize that there are some basic safeguards, some basic standards that are necessary to protect the american people from harm or exploitation. not every regulation is bad. not every regulation is burdensome on business. a lot of the regulations that are out there are things that all of us welcome in our lives. >> bill: okay. there has to be some federal oversight on polluters and corporate gangsters, sane people know that but under mr. obama, the annua cost of regulating the private sector has risen to almost $2 trillion a year. that's twice as much as the government collects in income taxes. twice as much. the world's financial community doesn't want the u.s.a. to become sweden. they don't want the most powerful economic engine on earth to become a nanny state or be held hostage to snail darters. financial people understand you can't grow an economy by strangling it with high government mandated expenses and regul

mark says mr. obama has taken 61 days vacation so far. at this point in their presidencies george w. bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings, and ronald reagan 112 days at his ranch. among recent presidents, bill clinton took the least time off-- 28 days. here are some other presidential numbers that caught our eye today. president obama on leadership. according to a gallup poll back in 2009, 73% of americans said mr. obama was a strong leader. by may 2010, that was down to 60%, and this spring, it fell to 52%. joining me now from iowa is cbs news political analyst john dickerson. and, john, we're given to understand from the white house that the president is going to have a lot to say after labor day. i wonder what you're hearing about that. >> well, the president is going to speak and he's going to make two pitches. he's going to offer an economic plan for the short term and the long term. in the short term it will be a set of specific proposals aimed at getting the economy going quickly. we've

. >> eric: no mr. obama, mr. a, that 600-point downdraft was on the heels of a 500-point drubbing last thursday and whopping 2,000 point slide in just a few days. the market is screaming for help. obamanomics is failing. the president is clean out of ideas. dana, president obama keeps pointing the finger saying he inherited a bad economy, inherited a recession. he also inherited a triple-a rating. >> dana: couple of things. the line he delivered in the sound bite there, the line is a good one. if it was not read off a teleprompter. it is true. what i think he is missing with some hallowness and emptiness is passion he believe what is he is saying. part of that is a huge missed political opportunity on friday night no love lost for s&p or the other rating agencies. what they could have done friday is get right wing republicans and left wing democrats pull together to say we should all stand together and float this happen to the united states of america. we will not let it stand. they didn't and said nothing. then w

mr. obama said at a town hall-tile event staged at a hybrid seed factory. i need you to send a message to folks in washington stop drawing lines in the sand. but even as he spoke, voters were delivering a message of their own. a new gallup poll released yesterday gave mr. obama the lowest ranking of his presidency on the economy. this 26% of americans said they approve of mr. obama's record on the economy. down 11 percentage points from mid-may. some 71% of respondents say they disapproved of president obama's job on the economy. a majority also gave negative marks to the president on creating jobs, foreign policy, and the war in afghanistan. white house officials confirmed that the president will deliver a major speech shortly after labor day outlining his plan for job growth and to cut deficits by more than 1.5 trillion that a super committee in congress is tasked with achieving. that's from the "washington times." here's the "new york times" this morning. far from the capitol obama finds tha

it's becoming hard to see how mr. obama could ever win re-election with the economic circumstances so dire. i mean, it's like a football coach. you get a certain amount of time to turn a bad team around. and then you are fired if you don't. blaming president bush for the current chaos not going to work any longer. but the democratic party simply will not stop doing that and will not admit that the big spending agenda has driven the country to the brink of brussments instead, they continue the blame game. >> i believe this is, without question, the tea party downgrade. this is the tea party downgrade because a minority of people in the house of representatives countered even the will of many republicans in the united states senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal. the fact of the matter is that this is essentially a tea party downgrade. the tea party brought us to the brink of a default. and, by the way, you said before, the president said this -- if we had defaulted on our debt, the consequences would have been dramati

couldn't terrorism chief briefing mr. obama. hiss first public outing took place across the street from where the media was camped out. a bookstore where he and his daughters bought eight books. then mr. obama held an impromptu meet and greet. later no cameras were allowed when the president played golf. but nbc news did capture him for a few brief moments from afar, taking some shots and doing a quick golf cart drive by. >> that's why you're going to see him take great pains to show that it's a working vacation. that he's not sort of goofing off. >> this after a week that saw a jittery stock market. the president's approval rating for handling the economy dipped to new lows and job fairs across the country that drew thousands of the nations unemployed. >> i look for a job every day. every day for the past four months. no luck. >> in the days leading up to the trip, republican presidential candidates criticized the president for taking what they characterized as a lavish vacation. >> if i were president today i wouldn't be looki

can wi get policy to match up with the decency of the people. >> mr. obama is using a three-day tour to push plans for cutting deficit which includes spending cuts and targeted revenue increases. he is casting himself as a compromiser, trait white house aides say resonates with independent voters and lives up to the 2008 pledge to change the ways of washington. >>> the u.s. marshal service says it's investigating security guards at the federal courthouse in washington, d.c. for accepting baseball with roger clemens' autographs. officials say it appears that six baseballs were given to guard that distributed them to four or five coworkers. clemens went through security just like any other member of the public to enter the courthouse in his six-day perjury trial. it ended in a mistrial last month. >>> meteorologist mike nicco is ahead with the forecast. >> looking brighter by the moment. good news, flight arrival delays are over at sfo after a brief delay for a couple of hours. we'll talk about more sunshine and warmer temperatures the next couple of days. gue

the same gallop poll shows mr. obama is also losing the support of in the swing voters.wing voters broke heavily for mr. obama in 2008, 55%, securing the presidency for him. but 2012 is a different story. three republican contendersobam independents. obama with romney 47, obobama 44. perry 46, question, did these polls show the electriccability of the republican candidate is less important than the ousting of president obama? >> i think you're close to the truth, john. president obama is in serious trouble as a president and a candidate, partly because of a lot of news on the economic front looks like it's even getting worse, but what these polls show us is that as charlie cook said, this race is becoming the republican party's to lose in 2012. the polls also show that the entire republican field it looks like including the controversial ones like michele bachmann may be acceptable to the american people, more importantly acceptable to the independents. everything, though, depends on the -- depends on what happens in the economy, john, because obama is still well liked b

. >> reporter: mr. obama pointed the finger squarely at congress, saying it was partisan wrangling that led to the recent downgrade of the nation's credit for the first time in u.s. history. >> this downgrade you've been reading about could have been entirely avoided. if there had been a willingness to compromise in congress. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner reacted this afternoon releasing a statement that says president obama likes to talk about being the adult in the room but there's nothing adult about political grandstanding and even the president's space has lashed out showing that mr. obama hasn't shown enough leadership. >> the republicans know that this president will compromise they know he will capitulate and they have his number and the american people want to see the president fight. >> reporter: now some critics are calling on the president to cancel his vacation to the upscale island of martha's vineyard later this month. the white house says that's not in the cards right now, nor is cal

mr. obama's optimism. share prices in new york and around the world suffering heavy loss, and those losses are continuing in asia. the selloff is accelerating. monday, a 4% fall. currently, japan down by 4%. south korea plunging by 6%. those fettering debt problems on both sides of the atlantic. also pushing the japanese yen higher versus the dollar. all prices are also slumping. $2 per barrel in nation trade to its lowest level since november. the only winner so far in the market, gold, now at a new record high of 1,727 per ounce. for more now on the markets, we're joined in our studios in singapore by the chief economist at a.h.f. thank you for joining us. a lot of panic and fear in the market. how do you contain this? >> i think that what we're seeing is a reaction by investors to the downgrading of the outlook for the u.s. economic growth rate. not just the s&p downgrade, but just weaker numbers that we've seen in the u.s. and concerns about the government spending cuts that are going to be coming. >>

can wi get policy to match up with the decency of the people. >> mr. obamas using a three-day tour to push plans for cutting deficit which includes spending cuts and targeted revenue increases. he is casting himself as a compromiser, trait white house aides say resonates with independent voters and lives up to the 2008 pledge to change the ways of washington. >>> the u.s. marshal service says it's investigating security guards at the federal courthouse in washington, d.c. for accepting baseball with roger clemens' autographs. officials say it appears that six baseballs were given to guard that distributed them to four or five coworkers. clemens went through security just like any other member of the public to enter the courthouse in his six-day perjury trial. it ended in a mistrial last month. >>> meteorologist mike nicco is ahead with the forecast. >> looking brighter by the moment. good news, flight arrival delays are over at sfo after a brief delay for a couple of hours. we'll talk about more sunshine and warmer temperatures the next couple of days. guess

he did poke fun at mr. obamaently. >> while putin is in siberia, bagging tigers, what did obama bag on his safari through the midwest? >> he got a pie. come on obama, at least through it at a puma! >> bill: you can make the call whether mr. colbert is a pinhead or patriot for that bit. i think it is time for you steve to visit us on the factor, is it not? that is it for us. check out the fox news factor website. we would like you to spout off from anywhere in the world, o'reilly@. name and town if you wish to opine. word of the day, no lollygagging when writing not factor. we are going to follow up on that tosh kent. on that marco polo channel. thanks for watching tonight. i'm bill o'reilly remember the spin stops here, >> good morning, everybody. today is tuesday, august 23rdrd. i'm juliet huddy in for gretchen carlson. we begin once again with the fox news alert. terror teams bust a man, his truck packed with explosives destined for washington, d.c. what they say he had in mind. >> meanwhile, rebels fight for t

during an interview with anthony mason, mr. obama said the problems can be solved. >> it would be one thing if we had the kinds of problems that greece did where you potentially have to completely restructure your economy and your society. that's not the situation here. here we're talking about closing some loopholes in the tax code, making some modest adjustments in entitlements, paring back a little bit on programs that don't work. >> during his just completed midwest tour, the president said it will take at least a year for housing prices and sales to start rising. >>> florida state prosecutors are considering whether to charge a tampa teenager as an adult in an alleged plot to bomb his old high school. police say the plot could have been deadlier than the 1999 columbine masser is in colorado. kelly cobiella reports. >> reporter: according to police 17-year-old jared caino planned his attack for freedom high down to the minute, plotting to plant bombs in classrooms with the intent to kill 30 of his former teachers and classmates.

i thank mr. obama for doing this. he can meet the challenges and criticism that those guys are throwing at him by saying we have won. there is nothing sweeter than victory. victory has been achieved. democracy will be established in libya. a transparent system will be established in libya and that is a benefit of the united states. president obama will be given credit for that no matter what they say. tavis: up next we remember two legendary songwriters now gone. nick ashford and jerry leiber. we will never forget the day nick ashford and his beautiful wife valerie simpson joined us on this stage back in 2009. they joined us for a conversation about their remarkable lives and career, a career that includes one of the most iconic songs in all of music history, "ain't no mountain high enough." what was it about this duo, about your style, what did you tap into when you started writing all of these hits that worked so well? >> when nick came up with the idea of "ain't no mountain high enough" it was coming from such a re

mr. obama blaps the gop for -- blames the gop for the nation's near default and s&p down grade. >> you've got to send the message that it's time for the games to stop. >> the budget battle will be found on the campaign trail and on capitol hill once congress comes back into session after labor day. >>> a memorial service was held today for the five people killed over the weekend at the indiana state fair. a wind gust estimated between 60 and 70 miles per hour sent a stage toppling over, an overhead riggi rigging crashing down on concert-goers. 40 others were hurt. >> our first inch stink -- insts not to look for scapegoats, someone to lay the blame on. later on at the appropriate time, we try learn the lessons and maybe do better the next time. >> the fair canceled all concerts, but the grounds are back open. the band sugarland was set to perform when the stage came crashing down. the members were not hurt. the group is scheduled to perform at shoreline in mountainview later this month. >>> com

my prediction, mr. obamagoing back to kenya. >> some other people's lives are in danger if these guys are going to drive around drunk. >> we will absolutely follow this case. wins the lotto. in georgia how much does the guy win? what happens to him? >> he won 750,000. and he said ticket for me. that winning ticket for me and allegedly i will pay you half of. it. the didn't pay him half of it he got mad and started of coming after the employer georgia. and said, came after the employer and said look, i'm going to kill you, i'm going to kill your kids. if you don't give me my money. he ends up in jail. the illegal immigrants ends up in jail. >> happens all the time to illegal aliens. absolutely. if somebody knows you are illegal. they can rip you off all day long. >> once again he shouldn't be here and this is what the chaos that it leaves. >> you can't win -- can't win the georgia lottery unless you have a social security number and unless you have his address. >> he won but he didn't really win. >> >> he then

also thank mr. obama. because mr. obama, you are the reason the tea party exists today.g up, the picks for the winners -- don't do it, bob beckel. don't do it. and losers of the debt deal. we like to hear what you have to say. e-mail us at thefive@foxnews.com. don't rip it! [ male announcer ] everywhere your pet goes the frontline plus killing force is there annihilating fleas and ticks. visit completekiller.com and get a coupon for frontline plus. the nascar nationwide series, i know pleasing fans is a top priority, 'cause without the fans, there'd be no nascar. just like if it weren't for customers, there'd be no nationwide. that's why they serve their customers' needs, not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide doesn't report to wall street, they report to their customers. and that's just one more reason why the earnhardt family has trusted nationwide for more than 30 years. nationwide is on your side. ♪ ♪ >> andrea: welcome back to "the five." the debate start on the house floor and there is a vote expected this evening. the senate is expected to vote t

then, mr. obama held an impromptu meet and greet. later, no cameras were allowed when the president played golf but nbc news caught a few brief moments of him from afar in a golf cart. >> i think that's why you're going to see him take great pains to show that it's a working vacation, that he's not sort of goofing off. >> reporter: this, after a week that saw a jittery stock market. the president's approval rating for handling the economy dipped to new lows and job fares across the country that drew thousands of the nation's unemployed. >> i look for a job every day. every day for the past four months and no luck. >> reporter: in the days leading up to the trip, presidential candidates criticized the president for taking what they characterize as a lavish vacation when so many are suffering. >> if i were a president today, i wouldn't be looking to go spend ten days in martha's vineyard. >> reporter: they continue to insist that the staff travels with mr. obama wherever he goes and is working hard on a job stimulus plan and will unvei

mr. obama was in chicago last night for a big money campaign fund-raiser. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: jennifer hudson sang to the president who made light of his milestone birthday. >> by the time i wake up i'll have an e-mail from aarp asking me to call president obama and tell him to protect medicare. >> reporter: as he worked to raise funds for his re-election the president was talking economy, urging supporters not to be discouraged by the just completed budget battle. earlier at a cabinet meeting, the president said his administration would redouble its efforts to create jobs and raise wages. >> how are we going to get people back to work, raise wages and recover fully and families and communities from the worst recession we've had since the great depression. >> later this month he's going on a tour of the midwest. later today a white house birthday party and later tonight mr. obama will celebrate his birthday with family and friends. >>> in other news this morning, an internation

he did poke fun at mr. obama> while putin is in siberia, bagging tigers, what did obama bag on his safari through the midwest? >> he got a pie. come on obama, at least through it at a puma! >> bill: you can make the call whether mr. colbert is a pinhead or patriot for that bit. i think it is time for you steve to visit us on the factor, is it not? that is it for us. check out the fox news factor website. we would like you to spout off from anywhere in the world,

i don't have to tell you that. >> reporter: mr. obama says he will unveil a specific economic plan after labor day. his advisors say it will include some ideas he has touted in recent weeks, including extending the payroll tax cut, a new road construction bill, and job assistance for returning veterans. scott, there's been some talk that the administration was considering creating a new bureaucracy like a department of jobs or competitiveness. well, asked tonight whether that was under consideration, the president's spokesman tells us there is some reorganization under consideration but that "no one is talking about adding new departments." >> pelley: thank you, norah. there has been a new eruption in the british phone hacking scandal. a stolen rembrandt has been recovered. and the police cut off cell phone service to curtail protests, but it leads to still more when the "cbs evening news" continues. more when the "cbs ev [ slap! ] [ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fig

folks believe that independent voters who are turning away from mr. obamaig time would go for a guy like romney or even texas governor rick perry. talking points analyzes political trends based on facts and science not emotion or wishful thinking. right now president obama's presidency is in deep trouble. there is no question about it. but his opposition is also having trouble defining itself and the primary process will be grueling. the election itself, however, will largely be a referendum on the president. and the democratic party's economic philosophy. it will likely be the most important election in our lifetimes. and that's the memo. now for the top story tonight reaction. joining us from washington david trucker from "roll call" and charlottesville, virginia, the aforementioned doctor dr. larry sabato. you are generous to president obama giving him toss-up status in florida and ohio, are you not? >> well, remember, as you said, bill, the election is 15 months away. if the election were this november, i would have given both of those toss-ups to the r

mr. obama knows he is in trouble.e also knows that republicans will not cooperate with him any longer because they want to see him defeated in 2012. so for the next 16 months, little will get done in washington as the house will pretty much block everything the president wants to do. so, instead of fighting a losing battle on the hill, the president has already turned his attention to the upcoming campaign. >> when i said change we can believe, in i didn't say change we can believe in tomorrow. [ laughter ] not change we can believe in next week. we knew this was going to take time. because we have got this big, messy, tough democracy. >> bill: now, there is a chance that with congress and the president at odds the economy will actually improve. if you get enough pinheads out of the way, then maybe the private sector will see opportunity. but that's a big maybe. mr. obama knows he can't win re-election without independent voters. so he is tarlg his -- tailoring his campaign message this way. >> all the progressives ou

mr. obama's other side of the family. so we want to show you people on the other side of the family and mr. obama's father had three. >> on that side of the president's family, let's get legal analysis from the senior analyst jeffrey toobin. what do you make of the legal part of this story? this individual, the half uncle arrested for drunk driving under intoxication? >> well, the key question here it's a warrant that says, don't do anything before checking with us because we feel he's in the country illegally. apparently he's been in the country for 19 years, has a driver's license and social security number. there may be conflicting evidence about whether he's in the country legally. if he's here illegally and been arrested, under the law he should be deported now. but a drunk driving case is not enough to get someone legally deported. >> what do they do legally? i assume he's out on bail. maybe he's not even out on bail, right? >> well, no, he's not released on bail, as i understand it, because once there's an immigrat

we should say president obama had a date night last night with mrs. obama. certainly some r & r on this trip. white house officials say this is also very much a working vacation. in fact, the first emage that we saw of this trep was a very serious one. president obama getting briefed by his counterterrorism advisor john brennan, and white house officials are saying that these briefings will go on throughout this trip. in fact, another advisor is going to fly in. then the president headed out. a bit of family time with daughters to buy some book. a lot of his supporters vacation in this area, so they were chanting four more years when mr. obama and his daughters stepped out. he shook some hands. he did play a little bit of golf as well. republican candidates have been hammering the president. they say he shouldn't be taking such a nice vacation. they say it's the wrong place at the wrong time. white house officials have really been pushing back against that type of criticism saying the office of the presidency really travel with mr. obama wherever he goes. th

mr obama shares the last one of africa's credits first time he's given that goes. right through the clips that we just played out on the hip hop barbecue adeline i think we paid a pretty strong convincing and compelling case that is trying to tell us something our president is black and that apparently is very very bad so that we're giving parts news tonight's truth and award for their ridiculously ariss hip hop barbecue headline. well we keep talking to average americans who are angry frustrated. with their government and today we actually have some new polls to show just how much that discontent has grown according to a new c.b.s. new york times poll eighty two percent of americans now disapprove of the way the congress is handling its drop that is the largest number on record since the times began taking a poll in one thousand nine hundred seventy and when asked if members of congress deserve reelection next year given what americans have seen seventy five percent said no to every poll that you obviously have to take with a grain of salt but when three quarters

that he doesn't like white people actually he has a problem he has this guy is i believe the racist mr obama he decided to chug a few forty's and rediscover your irish is more important than a presidential visit to a community trying to figure out what just it's going to do to mr obama shares unless one of africa's girlfriends first time he's given the house. all right so the cliff that we just played out on the hip hop barbecue had line i think we've bit a pretty strong convincing and compelling case that i've seen is trying to tell us something our president is black and that apparently is very very bad so that we're giving fox news tonight's two thousand award for their ridiculously arrays as hip hop barbecue headline. but we keep talking to average americans that are angry frustrated fed up with their government and today we actually house a new polls to show just how much that discontent has grown according to a new c.b.s. new york times poll eighty two percent of americans now disapprove of the way the congress is handling its job that is the largest number on record since the times be

with mr. obama wherever he goes. they have also said he's going to be unveiling a major jobs plan after labor day so they say this is in part, a working vacation as well. but certainly, a lot of people on the right and left, contessa, saying this vacation is not coming at a great time. >> one other ingredient now to add into this pressure cooker is syria and this new demand by president barack obama and his administration that the syrian president, bashar assad, step aside. what is the president expecting? >> that's right. this is the strongest stance that the white house has taken to date. we have been following this story for quite some time. the folks in syria rising up against assad's regime. according to human rights watch, as many as 2,000 people have been killed there in syria, so today the white house came out and said it is time for assad to go. they also announced new sanctions. here's what secretary of state hillary clinton had to say earlier today. take a listen. >> the transition to dem

mr. obama runs a little better against perry than romney. i's not that big of a margin. >> what are we talking about here? are you surprised his entry brought such a large surge? >> there was a void in the gop field that he's filling. when mitch daniels decided not to run, there was clearly an appetite for someone not in the race. mr. perry is filling that. he's able to appeal to fiscal conservatives given his record in texas and ability to create jobs. he's conservative on social issues. he has the ability to meld those two wings of the party. >> the president's approval ratings have been dismal as of late. how did he fare in your poll this time? >> the favorable, unfavorable rating is 47-47. it's not that good. it's not awful but it's not good. it's down from the past. >> peter brown, thanks for your time. you can see the republican front-runners square off one week from today right here on msnbc. >>> we have an amazing story out of the flood zone in vermont. imagine being this couple. looks nice, right? happily married newlyweds, all smil

none of them have a record that compares to barack obama. >> laura: mr. hutchinson we can go into what rick perry has done for the minority communities inside texas and job creation record is actually more impressive than barack obama's. stick to obama's record here the numbers are the numbers. my question is a simple one. what has barack obama identifiably done substance and jobs and so forth for the black community in the united states? >> well, you know, that's a question that many people are asking. it's a legitimate question, too. many african-americans quietly and some not so quietly the congressional black caucus the naacp, urban league they're always challenging, challenging on that point. we have to number one, it is true that there has been a tremendous over the last few years and especially last year downturn the economy, how much congress, the white house, corporations, the business community and banks are responsible for that that is subject to debate. we do know. this the president is the man at the top. he gets the blame for it and we're loo

but mr. obama himself, since his great single race speech during the campaign, mr. obama has chosen to deal with this recurring issue by mostly letting other people deal with. the white house does not tend to take it on head-on, and i do not expect them to in this case either. we will see what other democrats do about senator coburn's comment. but what may get more of a comment from the white house, believe it or not, i think may be the chickens for checkups part. yeah, it harks back to sue louden. we all remember that. but what tom coburn is essentially saying, and why that is more important, when he says that he is nostalgic for an america without medicare, that is something that republicans are working on. 98% of the republicans in the house voted to end medicare this year. tom coburn was one of the 85% of republicans in the senate who voted to end medicare. presidential candidate rick perrys both social security and medicare are ponzi schemes. aside from ron paul, all of the presidential candidates who anybody has thought to ask about it, including mitt romney, h

listen to what mr. obamad about this topic earlier today. >> this is a lose-lose, lose situation. that can be easily solved if congress gets back in to town and does its job. they don't even have to come back into town. the house and the senate through procedural agreement do this through the unanimous concept and they can have the fights they want to have when they get back. don't put the livelihood of thousands of people at risk. don't put projects at risk. don't let $1 billion at a time when we're scrambling for every dollar we can, get left off the table because congress did not act. >> bob: another one you can thank eric and the tea party for, for slowing down -- because at the time they were going to use to debate the bill sucked up by the tea party and the ridiculous effort of the american people. >> eric: what a bunch of garbage. >> kimberly: you're crazy. >> greg: this is great. they have three choices goes to the government, airlines or the people. at least it went to the airlines. number two, there

again, the white house is making the point that mr. obama is also working. he's got answer lot of criticism. republican presidential candidate saying that this is not the right time. the unemployment rate is above 8% and the economy is really struggling. they say that he is working hard on that jobs plan which is he going to unveil as well as investing in construction projects. so we'll have to see how that plan turns out. but, again, he's gotten criticisms. white house officials pushing back hard against that. they also say he's a husband, a father, and they don't think the american people will begrudge quality time with the family. >> you mentioned the criticisms. what do we know about the number of vacation days that president obama has taken compared to the number of vacation days that previous presidents have taken? >> reporter: well, there seems to be one person who tracks this. that's sort of the unofficial white house historian and mark is reporting that president obama is taking 61 vacation days. ronald reagan from had taken 112 and bill clinton, in