mr. romney by even the very cynical beltway press. even they were horrified. and the most important thing now about that lie by the romney campaign in their first ad about president obama is that when they were called out on it, even by the beltway press, they did not fix it, and mr. romney himself was not embarrassed about it when he was asked about it. >> there was no hidden effort on the part of our campaign. it was, instead, to point out that's what's sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander. >> his first ad against president obama, yes, it's a lie. yes, he has been called out on it. no, he is not embarrassed. and to this day, they have not taken the ad down. it's the exact same dynamic of what mr. romney said last week when he was standing in front of that solyndra plant. you may recall our reporting that he said, that the inspector general had investigated the loan and found that taxpayer money had been donated to the obama administration's friends and family. no such thing happened. the inspector general did not conclude that. it's a lie. and it i

mr. romney, and his allies in congress. clumping those two together. >> look i think he was very -- the president was very effective in describing a position that his opponents' hold he and many democrats believe will not work. that was a very effective part of the speech. when he awewent way from offenso defense it became diffuse, in some sense as a political phenomenon it was ineffective in that respect because it characterizes the opponents as this is not going to work but didn't give you the sense of what will. >> but what he did in categorizing what will not work is the example of this is the same theory according to the president that existed that resulted in the disaster that we saw with this economy, and his point was, that's's exactly what the person wants to take my job will do. that's what you can bet on. >> that's a powerful argument. it didn't work in 2010. it can work properly framed in 2012 for the president. but he needs to take that section of the speech, the best part of the speech, when he was raising the

mr. romney. like i said, i know i've got supporters here. . no, you should vote for his allies and you should take them for their word and they will take america down this path and mr. romney has promised to deliver on that plan. >> no, he is. >> i am giving you an honest presentation of what he's proposing. i'm looking forward to the press following up and making sure that you know i'm not exaggerating. i believe their approach is wrong and i'm not alone, and i have not seen a single independent analysis that says my opponent's economic plan would actually reduce the deficit. not one. even analysts who may agree with parts of his economic theory don't believe that his plan would create more jobs in the short term. they don't claim that their plan will help right now, one economist for moody's said the following about mr. romney's plan and i'm quoting here, on net, all of these policies would do more harm in the short term. if we implemented all of his policies it would push us deeper into recession and make the recovery slower. that's not my

mr. romney keeps repeating it nonetheless. he did so personally today on the campaign trail in california. he has also done so this week in an ad. it's not true. creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx. this is the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. today training depends on technology. and when it takes a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell. they rely on copper to go for the gold. duracell. trusted everywhere. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum.

remember, what mitt romney says, what mr. romy himself says is that the inspector general looked into solyndra and concluded that the obama administration steered taxpayer money to its friends and family. they cite this guy as the source of that claim. but it is a chuckleable claim. it turns out that inspector general never testified that stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. he said his office was investigating whether stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. so far, it has not confirmed that anywhere. so just like mitt romney lied in his very first ad, in a really blunt, schoolyard kind of way. they're now lying in the new ad that is about solyndra and mitt romney is lying about it personally out of his face at his big campaign stunt today. if you don't care that he had his own solyndra, what he is saying about this scandal that he is hypocritically trying to lay on the obama administration is just blantantly not true. it is a lie. it is a checkable thing. he says something was concluded by a

mr. romney is qualified to deliver on that plan. no, he is. [applause] honesting you an presentation of what he's proposing. the, i'm looking forward to press following up and making sure that you know i'm not exaggerating. [applause] i believe their approach is wrong. and i'm not alone. i have not seen a single independent analysis that says my opponent's economic plan would actually reduce the deficit. not one. even analysts who may agree with parts of his economic theory don't believe that his plan would create more jobs in the short term. they don't claim his plan would help folks looking for work right now. in fact, just the other week, one economist from moody's said the following about mr. romney's plan -- and i'm quoting here -- "on net, all of these policies would do more harm in the short term. if we implemented all of his policies, it would push us deeper into recession and make the recovery slower." that's not my spin. that's not my opinion. that's what independent economic analysis says. as for the long term, remember that the eco

mr. romney is throwing for big donors this weekend at deer valley. here romney supporters who have given at least $50,000 are now gathering for a couple of days of sheer luxury. it boasts a list of accommodations that's long enough to impress even the most pampered aristocrat, including individual hot tubs and signature bath robes. while all of this sounds really nice it probably isn't doing much to help mr. romney's image as a job creating champion of the middle class so let's welcome back our panel karen finney, ken vogel, and chris hayes. the romney family's connection to deer valley as you know runs deep because the private firm was established with a huge amount of money from his mother and father but i wanted to show you what he says about how he achieved success in this life. i think it is quite the revelation. take a listen. >> you know, i've been lucky in things that worked out for me. i feel like a lot of it has been luck. >> isn't that the central thesis of your book which i happen to have read, which is that the idea of ameritocracy and th

mr. romney has endorsed mr.ted hiring paul ryan budget staffers as his own policy adviers. wisconsin is not a place to try to win that they don't usually win. it's not a place where they think this particularly republican presidential candidate has an appeal and a shot affwinning. for the republican party, it's not about that. for the republican party, wisconsin is important because wisconsin all of a sudden is what republicans stand for. wisconsin this year is where republicans are getting all their ideas. >> you want us to hire more government workers, he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. didn't he get the message, the american people did, it's time to cut back on government. >> i think at the national level, we can learn a lot from this guy, you know that? >> this guy, republican governor scott walker of wisconsin. the message of wisconsin, according to the republican party's presidential nominee this year is it's time to cut firemen and policemen and teachers. that's the message of wi

mr. romney. but with everything between ron paul and the rest of the republican party it is a little awkward. this weekend, ron paul won iowa. it's official. there will be 25 delegates and super delegates sent to the national republican convention from the great state of iowa this year and even though you heard mitt romney won on election night and that actually no rick snowstorm won in iowa really ron paul won. of the 25 delegates, 21 of them are ron paul delegates. leaving the ron paul campaign to put out this press release. ron paul wins iowa and it's true. he did. bottom t line. also hosting a ron paul revolution rally in tampa at the site of the republican convention this summer the day before it opens. which is a rather in your face move for a guy who is not getting the nomination. >> we should not be disruptive, but we should also not be pushed around. >> ron paul's message to supporters this weekend, announcing their plans for the counter convention in tampa this weekend. this weekend, fr

mr. romney, a sham.n your own investment portfolio with an undercurrent of deceit. and just in case you decide to change your tune for the sake of your ambition to become president, here's is the line of your campaign from your very own mouth. >> i'm not familiar precisely with exactly what i said but i stand by what i said, whatever it was. >> thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is here to take us forward. dylan, do you have a blind trust? >> no, no. i have neither a trust and unfortunately have vision, and as such, none of those characteristics apply to me. i do, however, always find it intriguing when a man or a woman stand by anything they may or may not have said, no matter what. >> it is a remarkable admission by the man. >> i myself have a difficult time with that. >> you do? why is that, dylan? >> if i stand by something, what if it was from when i used to drink or something? i might not want to stand by it. >> true. >> what if i hadn't slept that night? >> okay, dylan. >> you don't want t

mr. romney's been specific with support of the ryan budget. politico had had a huge article this weekend i read on romney's unwillingness to take a stand on anything. it says and let me quote this. it says vague general or down right evasive policy descriptions on some of the most important issues facing the country are becoming the rule for romney. it goes on to say romney is remarkably candid as though he's reading the stage directions about why he won't offer up details. he thinks it will undermine his chance to win. what does that mean? >> it means this guy does not like specifics. he went to naleo and gave a speech. to latinos who are the contentious element of our immigration debate. without tells us how he's going to offset all of those cuts. there's a report out today from senate democrats saying it will result in tax increases to middle class families. the guy knows that if those details come out, they become unsavory to the general electorate. >> so the strategy is that don't be specific because you'll lose votes. i mean, when you loo

mr. romney's plan. he wants to get rid of the wall street reform we did to make sure we do not have any taxpayer bailouts. that is one big part of his plan. then you have the plan to cut taxes by about $five trillion. what this would mean the average millionaire would see their taxes go down by 25%. now, you may be wondering how is it that he can talk about cutting taxes by $five trillion and it saved he is going to reduce our deficit? we have to control of the deficit and the dead. we cannot pass this on to the generation. how do the numbers were? well, mr. romney says that out of that portion of the federal budget that finances everything from education to head start to health care to environmental protections -- all the things we think of, one trillion dollars get cut out of that. that means that a lot of people suddenly will not have the protection. a lot of folks around the country will not be getting services we think are part of what makes america great. that is only one trillion dollars. that do

mr. romney simply can't do.e laid out a real vision for how his policies would help the middle class. >> that's my vision for america. education, energy, innovation, infrastructure, and a tax code focused on american job creation and balanced deficit reduction. this is the vision i intend to pursue in my second term as president because i believe. >> well romney was down in cincinnati calling for less regulation, more exploitation of fossil fuels his giant campaign bus busy wasting gas, honking and taunting president's supporters. we're surprises 24e didnthey dot on fake police uniforms and pull over the president's motorcade. david korn. also in washington, "chicago tribune" columnist clarence page. with me here in new york, msnbc contribute somewhere democratic strategist krystal ball. this wasn't soaring rhetoric or an anointed preacher. this was like a lecture that took us through the past and brought us up to the present. is it your view that the president managed to reclaim the upper hand today? >> i don't

mr. romney -- i'm sorry to interrupt. mr. ney, the republican presidential nominee, has not taken a position on this bill as we ended up finding out today through a sort of bizarre series of e-mails in which he said he supported the concept of equal pay but he would not take a stand on whether or not he supported legislation to try to achieve it. if you could have an audience with governor romney to try to persuade him on this, what would you tell him to convince him that this is a good idea? >> i would want to tell him he needs to be committed to doing something for the women and their security, because this is so important to the american family because it was like what the president said, there are so many families that the women are the sole breadwinner, and they're the ones who bring the money home, and their pay determines whether or not they can pay tuition and put food on the table and pay the mortgage and all the other bills. it is so critical to the families across this nation. when you talk about women, it's not jus

mr. romney is talking about undoing that, and then increasing defense spending. what would be the effect on the safety net in the entitlement program? because you do have one scenario which the bush tax cuts expire, the corporate rate doesn't change. he's talking about undoing that. >> right. so if you -- if you extend all the tax policies that are expiring, as we do in our alternative scenario, but then that by itself would put the debt on the steep upper trajectory. if one wants to maintain the downward trajectory, one needs to cut other parts of the government by trillions of dollars. >> so it would be -- that scenario, plus more for defense -- >> and increase defense spending, then still wanted to keep debt on a downward trajectory, one would have to make comparably larger cutbacks in other domestic programs. >> thank you, mr. chair. >> mr. stutzman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, mr. elmendorf, dr. elmendorf for being here. i always enjoy your analysis and your testimony. i'd like to talk about interest rates, and then segway that into taxes. on

mr. romney in the republican primaries.ndidates could count on pt base super hating health reform. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> politically speaking, on health reform, which is what mr. santorum says he was talking about there, rickç santorum is right. the massachusetts plan is exactly the same as what president obama did at the national level on any substantive elements. in nominating mr. romney in the first place, but now it is a particular mess for the republicans because after the supreme court ruling yesterday the romney side, republican side is saying they are now going to double down on making this year's presidential race all about how awful health reform is. the health reform that's exactl the same as what mitt romney did. the whole basic plan that almost everybody gets health insurance. it's the same thing. romney care is already in effect in massachusetts, nearly 100% of kids are insured. 98% of the population is insured. that's what national health reform would

mr. romney will say and that's what the republicans in congress will say. you know, that may be their plan to win the election, but it's not a plan to create jobs. it's not a plan to grow the economy, it's not a plan to pay down the debt and it's sure not a plan to revive the middle class and secure our future. i think you deserve better than that. at a moment this big, a moment when so many people are still struggling, i think you deserve a real debate about the economic plans we're proposing. governor romney and the republicans who run congress believe that if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all of our problems on its own. if you agree with that, you should vote for them. and i promise you they will take us in that direction. i believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and for new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure, for a tax code that creates jobs in america and pays down our debt in a way that's balanced. i have that plan, the

mr. romney's unique able ility to divert and ignore. into the second day after much of arizona's immigration law was struck down, governor romney broke his silence this afternoon to deliver the same statement that his spokesman gave more seven minutes on the plane yesterday. >> the supreme court had to step in because states had to step in. states looking to find a way to solve the problems he didn't address tried to address it in their own ways and now, the supreme court's looked at it and what we're left with is a bit of a muddle, but what we know is the president failed to lead. >> bit of a muddle. interesting mitt should use a word that so accurately describes his own policies and strategy, but as wen, this is all part of the mitt maneuver. cast blame, ignore the facts and obscure the truth. he does it every day like his tired line on energy production, for example. >> we're going to take advantage of our energy resources, coal, oil, gas, nuclear, renewables. the other day, the president said he's in favor of all of the above and i

mr. romney mr. ey's political events making sure that women know that birth control is an issue in this election, and educate women that mr. romney said he's going to end the birth control for millions of women and end planned parenthood. >> joy: you're going to visually get your message across with this pilamina. do you think it will work? >> the fact that you know about her, i think it is working. for women in this country learning more about birth control, where the candidates stand is really important. i think pilamina may be a whimsical way of making a point in the middle of a very cluttered political season. >> joy: she's just going to follow mitt from campaign stop to campaign stop. is that the plan. >> she's showing up on campuses and traveling around the country. it's valley volunteers, planned parenthood volunteers who are wearing a giant pill pack birth control pills. and its starting conversation across america. what we're find something that women, republicans democrats independent women

mr. romney's enter to that?e went to the epicenter of the mortgage housing crisis, nevada, the single most impacted state in our nation and what he said was -- and i always have to write this down -- "let it hit rock bottom." that is his answer today. he simply does not get it, ladies and gentlemen. his plan reveals a lot about what the future of our economy looked like if it is in his hands. when it comes to crime, i prosecute for everything from misdemeanors two murders in my state -- to murders. our president understands we have the lowest crime rate because we put more police on the streets of our small, medium, and large cities and towns. starting in the 1990's with your leadership, 100,000 officers paid for by the government. you think things got safer because it just happened? we put officers on the streets. what does mr. romney thing one area that's good for costs? police offcers and fire fighters. he likes to fire people. he means what he says. an indication -- on education, an important issue in this s

mr. romney in the first place. 's a particular mess for the republicans because after the supreme court ruling yesterday, the romney side, the republican side, is saying they're now going to double down on making this year's presidential race all about how awful health reform is. the health reform that's exactly the same as what mitt romney did. the whole basic plan that everybody or at least almost everybody gets health insurance, it's the same thing between the two plans. romney care is already in effect in massachusetts, nearly 100% of massachusetts kids are insured now. 98% of the overall population in the state is insured, and that's what national health reform would try to do too if it gets implemented. the mandate where you have to get health insurance and if you don't, you pay a fee or a tax or whatever you want to call t that's exactly the same in massachusetts as it would be at the federal level. here's mitt romney's aup ed from 2009 saying you have to pay a tax if you choose notç to buy health insurance

mr. romney to be more aggressive on the issue. te majority leader mitch mcconnell says discussions are under way with the romney campaign about how to handle immigration. it's not just immigration where the campaign is big. it's also equal pay for women. listen. >> does governor romney support the lily ledbetter act? >> we'll get back to you on that. >> yeah, well, they didn't, ever. >> mr. romney later said he had no intention of changing the law if elected, but still wouldn't say whether he supported the legislation himself or not. then there's the tax cut plan which calls for big tax cuts offset by closing certain loopholes. mr. romney won't say which loopholes he would close. when asked again this month he said, quote, we'll go through that process with congress. i should mention that no candidate for any office, republican or democrat, ever wants to go into too much detail about anything. but it's a matter of degree and how much each campaign compares with past campaigns. we're grading on a constantly changing curve here. give