stances are and what le do as president because he changes them all the time. >> that's right. >> neeraou for your time tonight. >>> affirmative action at the supreme court. i was there as part of the how it played out. it was remarkable. that's next. wait for it... wait for it... [ dog ] you know, i just don't think i should have to wait for it! who do you think i am, quicken loans? ♪ at quicken loans, we won't make you wait for it. our efficient, online system allows us to get you through your home loan process fast. which means you'll never have to beg for a quick closing. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. bonkers, look at me when i'm talking to you. that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. >>> the biggest challenge of the affirmative action is now in the hands of the supreme court. allowing colleges to use race is one of several factors in admissions. so is diversity a goal we should have in society

. >> neera, people keep saying that romney isn't that good but he has shown that he's riz enrisen to some of the clips. >> is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate? >> i would say of the four of us, yes. >> that's simply inexcusable. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in wales. >> we discover to our shock that mitt romney owns shares of fannie m fannie mae and freddie mac. >> if he comes off aggressive, what should the president do? >> i actually think this is a real challenge for governor romney and if he falls into the trap of being as aggressive in the primary, that will backfire. the difference is that in the primary nobody liked the republican candidates. so when mitt romney attacked newt gingrich or attacked rick santorum, he wasn't punished by voters for that because no one liked one of them more than the other. if he goes after the president very aggressively who is pretty popular with the american people, one of the most popular politicians in the country, frankly, i think there will be a backlash. people don't like him and he needs to get over that

. >> neera, what about that? i think this answer really demonstrates how all over the place they have been on this. obviously, he is not going to ban contraception in america but what he will do is say that employers -- they will take away the right today, that women have today, to get coverage from their employers. that is a right that's been established. it is one that women believe they should have. as bay is saying, mitt romney thinks that is wrong. he will take that away. when he looked into the camera on tuesday night, he didn't want to tell the american women that he would do that. so he said, i support contraception. but on this issue of policy, he supports the blunt amendment. he supports taking away this protection that president obama has provided and i think that's one of the distinctions in this election. >> you know what's interesting? the liberals would actually think that as women across this country are facing such incredibly challenging times, nearly a half a million women losing jobs in the las

with me now is the president for center of american progress neera tanden and analyst ron reagan.want you to start with this. it seems we have been together watching this for months, the evolutionary nature of this candidate. obviously when he's running against people he would like to get to the right of, he uses terms like illegals. he said you're a magnet. we're not going to have any of that. no sympathy, no empathy, nothing. screw these people, kick them out of the country. have them self-deport. now he's decide, when the president is running 70% among hispanics, that he might like a piece of the action. >> that's exactly right. this is the slow motion or maybe not so slow motion pivot that we all knew that romney was going to try to make. you can almost hear the graphite sand or whatever it is in the etch-a-sketch shifting around. as you mentioned, it seems like only yesterday, and maybe it was only yesterday or the day before, that this is a guy who was for his immigration policy, was basically self-deportation. that's a polite way of saying, make people's lives so miserable

now, neera as subsequently apologized for that.y how president obama, who i admire greatly, is a private person, but i deeply regret how i said. it apologize. but many people say that the president is aloof. he's not schmoozing with members of congress enough. >> neera did apologize. she's a good friend of this administration. she has a lot to do with the fact that we have health care reform and millions of americans can now count on their health care. in terms of the president's personality, of course he's not aloof. he has worked across the aisle to get things done, whether it's the payroll tax cut, cutting spending by $1 trillion. at the end of the day, he's about results. and that's his number one priority. >> did she have a point in her initial statement, which obviously surprised a lot of us? >> well, i think that she clarified that, wolf. i think she said that what she was trying to get across is that he's a private person. >> he is a private person. he's also the president of the united states. and he's going to be in this

[applause] >> thank you very much, neera. it is a great pleasure to be here at cap and to see so many friends in the audience. my joy being at cap and seeing so many friends is matched by my joy of talking about this moment in the u.s. economy and this moment in the global economy, which i regard as a critical juncture, not for reasons i will be clear on, all together a happy juncture. i have counterintuitive we given a discussion that takes place in washington, chosen to entitle my talk beyond the fiscal cliff. perhaps a chance to return in the discussion to the fiscal cliff. i have chosen to entitle my talk beyond the fiscal cliff to underscore the fact that even if is in the most successful fashion imaginable, we will still have critical problems. it is extraordinarily important that we not fall over the fiscal cliff. if all of the fiscal stimulus currently in training were to be withdrawn, the consequence for the u.s. economy will almost certainly be a recession. consequence to the global economy would almost certainly be

if you'll indulge me for one moment, neera, i think it was an analytic point that's often not understood. why do we have this stagnation? why are we a demand short economy? the reason we are a demand short economy is today, and we're not usually come is that usually the private sector wants to spend more than its income. so the private sector is a net borrower and that drives the economy forward. and when private sector borrowing allied with federal borrowing from ever so so much money to land, interest rates get pushed up. today, we are an economy where there is an excess of private savings. so the energy to the question is who's going to hold its trillion dollars of debt is the same as the answer to the question, why is there to trillion dollars on corporate balance sheets? the debt is being held by the private sector actors who do not spend. and so, the deficits are a risk, but they are a risk that will come home when the economy recovers, and when the current constellation of private-sector savings being large relative to private sector spending attenuates. that's why it's important