republicans did not want that. democrats went for it and republicans stopped it from going through congress. so now president obama found a way to get it done anyway. president obama him will address the group that mitt romney addressed today tomorrow. he has the disadvantage, of course, of not himself being a son of a mexican immigrant, but he has the distinct advantage of having a specific, observable policy on this issue. and of not having aan alliance with the most virulently anti-immigrant elements of republican politics hanged around his neck. johns us now is jonathan, and it's nice to have you here. thank you for being here. >> thank you, rachel. >> let me ask you about the republican history on these matters. orrin hatch was an original sponsor of the dream act. when it went up for a vote in the senate, he skipped out and did not vote on it at all. is orrin hatch kind of a parabole or microcosm for understanding republican politics on this now? >> remember, when president obama was elected when he was on in

for the republican party, wisconsin is important because wisconsin all of a sudden is what republicansfor. 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 wisconsin. and he says the message of whisk wiv is now the national message for the republican party. here's the thing, though, if the big republican idea this year is cutting firefighters and teachers and police officers, it's shrinking the public sector, firing people with public sector jobs. we're already doing that now, and it's not helping. this is a chart of public sector jobs in the last four recessions

the republican candidate, the republican winner, scott walker, that's no surprise. the non-union house holds. here's what surprised me. if you look at is someone in your household a union member, remember, this all started because of the collective bargaining dispute. look at these numbers. might have to punch it twice. there it is there. governor walker getting more than a third. 36% of the union household vote. what does that tell you if a number of blue-collar union voters, more than a third of the them, in a big dispute that was about collective bargaining, are voting for the republican governor? >> that's a remarkable thing. you're exactly right to pull it up and highlight it. a union member who votes for scott walker is like a chicken voting for colonel sanders. he did not mislead anybody about his agenda. he succeeded in taking away the right to collective bargaining. not just cutting the pensions and their pay, which the unions agreed to. but he took away their right to collective bargain. and he has now succeeded. i think in part because of this mindset we

and the final republican seat up for recall, no incumbent republican. the incumbent republican senator quit rather than go through the recall. it's now this republican state representative, jerry petrowski and he has a comfortable 20-point plus lead but the marquee race for governor is garnering national attention. at his election headquarters, governor scott walker tonight, very, very happy, obviously, with tonight's results and looking ahead to the day after the election. >> tonight, we tell wisconsin we tell our country, and we tell people all across the globe that voters real will you do wanted leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. but now it's time to forward. a few minutes ago i talked to mayor tom barrett. no, no, i talked to the mayor and said i'm committed to work with you to help the city of milwaukee and the state of wisconsin. tomorrow the election is over and it's time to move wisconsin forward. >> for his part, in milwaukee, at his headquarters on the democratic side, mayor tom barrett of milwaukee, conceded the race tonight.

republicans stand for.consin this year is where republicans are getting all of their ideas. >> we want to hire more government workers, more firemen, policemen, teacher thes? did he not get the message, wisconsin. the american people did. it is time to cut back on government and help the american people. >> i think at the national level we can learn a lot from this guy. >> this guy, republican governor t 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 wisconsin. and he says the message of wisconsin is now the national message for the republican party. here's the thing, though. if the big republican idea this year is cutting firefighters, teachers and police officers, it is shrinking the public sector, firing people with public sector jobs. we're already doing that now and you know what? it is not helping. this is a chart of public sector jobs in the last four

is the republican party to extreme? one thing i learned was the institute's mission statement, 10 simple words. with the slogan he did not simply mean we value the competition among various institutions. of course, we do. he championed as his successor is spirited debates within the family. they have differed on the wisdom of organ donations. scholars have publicly sparred over the merits of the carbon tax. there were disagreements about the a rock or. in the fall they will publish a book on competing views of china's rise. scholars have differed about the merits of -- the debates have always been vigorous and always simple. our debate on but the republican party is too extreme is keeping with that history. i would like to acknowledge the work of those who have made this a success. it is available to you on the web site. his columns are must resign capitol hill. steve hayward is the fellow at aei and a regular blocker. we are fortunate to have him as our moderator tonight. he writes about this twice a week for roll call

since the day president obama took office republicans have been systematically planning to destroy his presidency by taking down the american economy is this an example of petty politics at its worst or if something even more sinister also why can't that romney stop why it would increase transparency in washington destroy the republican party all that more in today's politics panel and as united steely take it's the end of the world as we know it and you shouldn't feel fine but this startling new research reveal about one of the pillars of life on our planet. you know this house republicans on the oversight and government reform committee have scheduled a june twentieth vote to hold attorney general eric holder in contempt over the a.t.f. fast and furious operation program started under a different name by the bush administration which may have led to the death of a border patrol agent republicans argue that holder's obstructing an investigation into the operation despite the fact that holder the justice department to give and thousands of documents to house republicans and holder hims

you have the republican governor and the republican lieutenant governor surviving. we'll watch the results. is gloria borger ready to join the conversation? >> yes, i am. >> so, gloria, you have hear all this money spent. you have the democrats especially labor saying this was a test run, this was a key test of labor's credibility and the chairwoman of the democratic party debbie wasserman schultz, saying it was a test run for november. safe to say they flunked? >> yes, sure. this is a measure of intensity and enthusiasm among the democrats and a measure of the strength of the labor party movement. and i would have to say when you look at this and you can say, okay, what are the concrete results that this is going to tell us about november? this is a psychological boost for the republican party. they're going to say it's a lot more, but at the very least it's a psychological boost. i mean, you were talking earlier about president obama's numbers. and in these exit polls that you were talking about, he is up 11 points over mitt romney in this state of wisconsin. who'

aren't republican any more. the party in the '90s. counties where -- >> where did they go? ? >> some became independent, some became democrats. but they're not calling themselves republicans. >> the ideological, today moderates make up a small part of the republican party. 68%, seven out of ten republicans call themselves actual conservatives. compare that to democrats and i think people who watch the show will be surprise bid this. 38% even. 38% call themselves moderate. 38% call themselves liberal. i say, don't be too puristic when you want to get a democrat elected. it also shows the racial make-up of the party, it th doesn't surprise me. the democratic party has grown more diverse with immigrant and the republicans are overwhelmingly white. that doesn't surprise me much. >> no. michael? >> that's the one area where i do have a great deal of -- >> how many jack kemps or michael steeles are there? >> not a lot. that is something i genuinely have a concern about. when i look at the demographic shifts in this co

finally, let's go about this growing divide of republicans versus republicans. this is "hardball." [ male announcer ] this is genco services -- mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ >>> al qaeda's number two leader,al-libi was killed by a drone strike. al-libi took over as al qaeda's international leaders after the death of osama. they said the most serious threat we face is al qaeda in at arabian peninsula. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. >>> welcome back in "hardball." it's recall day in wiscons

this is a republican issue. i think that romney, a cautious politician, will make a conscious choice. portland, polenty, i do not know who is third. i think he picks portland. it makes the most sense. romney is a cautious politician. i cannot see him making an out of the box choice. who knows? we will see what happens. tom is in that party. he may have a different view. >> i do not know what he will do. i hesitate to take a choice. i have so many friends. [laughter] everybody has some strong attributes. they all have some negative factors. >> for the record, i was thinking portman at 35%, pawlenty at 20 or 25%. i would put mitch daniels really high. i do not get a sense that he is aggressively getting a look at. i would put him there. after that, -- >> you have to put the governor of virginia in the mix. >> of the wife is on his cabinet. [laughter] i think he would be a great pick. i also think rubio would be a good pick. he is hispanic, he helps you in florida. generationaly. he solidifies your tea party base.

on the republican side, there were six republican senators who got put up for a vote. of those six, two of the republicans lost their seats. and so it came to pass ultimately that the republicans in wisconsin in the midst of this crazy fight, they lost their majority in the state senate. the majority that they had won in the blood red election of 2010. after a resignation earlier this year and after those recalls, the democrats and the republicans are in a tie in the wisconsin senate. and on union rights, one of the republicans is senator dale schultz, who you just met. and he takes the stand in favor of union rights. so republicans are in a tie with democrats overall now in the state, but on union rights, republicans would now lose to democrats. dale schultz, this guy who you may never have heard of, has sort of quietly, through this unique position that he is in, arguably become the single most powerful figure in wisconsin politics. dale schultz is like the swing justice of the wisconsin state senate. he's what sandra day o'connor used to be on the supreme court, eve

republicans extended their majority. tom daschle was defeated, the majority leader, in part because of the argument that he is an obstructionist to nominees. terry reid comes in and joe biden was asked to come into said this -- he said majority not filled that role. dianne feinstein said that if we keep going on this way, we will be a minority party. this kind of presumption made perfect sense in 1955 or 1965 or 1985. it does not make sense after the 1990's. you see this subtext often. there's something unnatural about republican majority? this adds to the ferocity of the republicans who say it will not kick the football again. >> thanks, gentlemen. that was very civil, wasn't it? [laughter] i'm supposed to take some questions but i thought i would each of you one quick question. would you respond to a political party that is about to nominate mitt romney as its presidential nominee and four years earlier, nominated john mccain as its presidential nominee? alice that fit with your idea that this is a bunch of -- how does

this is a very republican district. republicans are hoping to be able to hold on. it's an open seat because the republican incumbent quit. again, the big one here, the one that everybody is watching tonight is the governor's race. this is the status right now between republican governor scott walker of wisconsin. that the republican party would like to make their poster child and his challenger tom barrett from the democrat party which would also like to make scott walker the poster child. we'll be watching the results closely as they come in over the course of the night. i have no projection for you in terms of when we think we will get a final result. we've got a big 0% in. nbc news is able to characterize this race as too close to call looking not at precincts that are in but exit poll data available to the political unit here. >>> in 2008 in the presidential race in wisconsin, barack obama beat john mccain by 14 points. it was not close. it was a democrat blowout. two years later in 2010, in that bright red year, voter turnout fell by 20 points. it fell in demo

there was virtually no republican support. and they needed 60 votes for it to advance and got 55. john: jeff, romney before he gave his speech put out a fact sheet with his proposals on immigration. was there anything new in there he hadn't said before? >> he was amplifying some things he said in the primary. one is he believes any illegal immigrant who has served in the military should get citizenship and he said in the speech this week anyone who receives an advanced degree should have a green card stapled on the back of that. john: family members of those who do have green cards he said he was going to accelerate >> right. and there -- these are things the business community by and large supports. the idea that someone would come here and get a master's degree or ph.d. and then have to leave the country is sort of absurd by most people's standards. he did offer new proposals in that respect, but it was sort of around the edges, things most moderates on this iraq lar degree with. >> i think what the people in the republican

but i think the republican philosophy is. ever since its inception that party has been under they're going to throw a special privilege and then it concretely approved it in a.t.f. con artist and. i still ask for adequate and big. for displaced persons and that added to magick and it catholic now which is eighty five years. by exposing the republican sabotage strategy truman got a real like that in a squeaker the next big democratic incumbent running for election as president was lyndon johnson's vice president hubert humphrey in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight the vietnam war had become enormously unpopular and in the spring and summer of sixty eight l.b.j. had negotiated a peace a preliminary priest a peace deal between the north and south it amaze the would have actually ended the war that year before the election so richard nixon had his operatives reach out to the south vietnamese and tell them that if they just refused to go to the peace meeting in paris or refused to sign the deal he'd give them a much better dea

is the republican party extreme? i can only answer i certainly hope so. let us recall that the republican party began its life as an extremist party, dedicated to the purpose of abolishing the twin relics of bar barism, plig know and slavery. the supreme court declared the republican party's platform to be unconstitutional. the republican party mannstein says oh well, i guess we should accommodate ourselves to the status quo. there's little reason or purpose for the republican party unless it acts with a new determination to call a decisive halt to the endless ratcheting expansion of centralized government power and reckless spendle. the hypothesis is successful in gaining prominent placements in "the post" and pro curing admiration from daily show audiences. i remind norm of one thing, all glory is fleeting. i timed out, see? >> okay, let me first say for the first minute and a half, steven, i don't disagree with a thing you said. [ laughter ] let me next say that i don't know which is more disorienting to me, pictures naked pictures of arthur brooks or

but wait, republicans cry foul. they say it's only their principled differences that led them to vote against the president again and again. but here's the catch -- when republicans vote against their own ideas, you know something stinks. when they were for it before they were against it. the republican party used to support infrastructure spending but not when president obama asks for it. more on that in a moment. republicans used to allow deficit spending to get us out of recessions. they did it under their hero ronald reagan. under president george w. bush alone, they allowed massive tax cuts toward medicare part d, all unpaid for, all of those items ballooning the deficit. before president obama, republicans rarely voiced opposition to the federal reserve using monetary policy to help the economy. under president obama, the federal reserve chief ben bernanke is called every name in the book. but you know republicans are trying to sabotage the economy when they vote against tax cuts. as when they opposed extendin

these republican governors are in a tight spot.could be honest about their economic success or lie for the candidate romney. let's turn to ben, national press secretary for the obama campaign. ben, good to have you with us tonight. >> nice to be with you. >> to be fair obviously these republican governors are saying, hey, what i'm doing in my state is why we have better numbers than anybody else. they're very nervous via the romney campaign when romney is saying tone it down a little bit? which is it? >> some have been honest that the president's policies has helped their state economically. governor mcdonald talked about how it benefitted his state. governor kay sick in heez is rushes for the auto that oba obamamented it and he posed. he opposed many of the same policy that is have led to a boost in the recovery since the economic crisis in these states. this comes on the heels of the report in the "wall street journal" that congressional republicans will hold up legislation it to help the economy until after the election because

in congress does this say about the republican party and its feelings for hardworking americans also michigan legislators are very close to letting for profit education companies destroy public education in that state all in the name corporate greed and out of the wallets who's behind this attack on public education and how can michiganders help stop it and mitt romney and paul ryan have been getting along really well lately maybe because paul ryan's budget would help the rich like romney get even richer but how do the rest of americans those who will get taxed more and can't afford to buy off someone in washington how do we fight back i'll tell you in tonight's daily to. prove news the u.s. call center industry has lost five hundred thousand jobs over the last six years thanks to corporations like bank of america wells fargo and t. mobile outsourcing american jobs to foreign countries where they can exploit low wage workers the big four wall street banks have all moved their call centers to the philippines in the last few years laying off hundreds of thousands of american workers wh

than the republicans. the 1998 mid-term election is at the top of everyone's mind in house leadership. they have spent -- i'm not making excuses for whatever the behavior may or may not have been. i know for a fact they have been retie sant about bring -- reticent to bringing it to this stage. a chore for chairman issa to bring others to his side. they are concerned about being seen as zealots. i think accommodation could have been -- >> bret: go to the house floor. >> yeas 258, nays are 95. five voting present. resolution is agrewed to. >> bret: final word, a.b.? it passed officially. >> what we are saying we won't hear much more about it. holder will stay. he tried to leave and the president asked him to stay. i think he remains in the position. we'll continue to defend his attorney as attorney general. >> bret: attorney general held in contempt criminally, civilly by the u.s. house of representatives. we'll follow this story. thank you for watching the special coverage from washington. "special report"

in michigan and tennessee and in maine, republican governors with republican legislatures just could not wait to go after union rights in their states. in the great state of ohio, the fox news personality and "wall street guide" john kasich put his own stamp on the anti-union agenda. in some other states they would exclude cops and firefighters when they went after union rights. that's because cops and firefighters are sympathetic figures and who wants to alienate them by going after their own rights, but republican governor john kasich did not feel that way about cops at least. not at all. >> have you ever been stopped by a policeman who was an idiot? i had this idiot pull me over on 315. listen to this story. he says to me, he says, he says you passed this emergency vehicle on the side of the road, and you didn't yield. he's an idiot. >> unlike some of his fellow republicans in the class of 2010, ohio governor john kasich had no qualms after going after cops and firefighters. when ohio republicans wrote their law to strip union rights in the state, they included uniformed officers

i think that's why you see some republicans so angry today, that simply electing a republican would fixt. that doesn't take away the urgency from doing so but it does diffuse the argument somewhat. and on chief roberts' part, justifiably so. >> on the anger-o-meter, where are the republicans this morning, vis-a-vis, john roberts? >> i think there are some that are angry with john roberts and some ovp)t statements were made yesterday as the ruling came down. but other people as they read the ruling and realize that now that the mandate is considered a tax and that is the way that congress is allowed to regulate the health insurance industry, they are sort of realizing that roberts may have been pretty clever in how he crafted this opinion. and sort of giving republicans, handing republicans a path to overturn it eventually through this reconciliation process. so i think there are some people who are starting to see that roberts is playing a longer game. there was a good, long post on that yesterday, in terms of how roberts is looking ahead and looking beyond simply one decision. a lot of

republicans controlled majorities. in 16 states republicans had the whole legislature and the governorship. they had total control. right away, among this new class of republican, it kind of seemed like they were all pursuing the same agenda. there were slight variations but they seemed to be pursuing the same thing. they wanted to make voting harder with 180 bills trying to make voting harder just since the start of last year. last year they introduced 600 new bills to roll back abortion rights. they enacted 92 of them. that was a record. they moved to give tax dollars to businesses even in states that had big budget deficits and couldn't afford to give money to anybody. after the red tied elections of 2010, new republicans who seemed to be acting in concert doing all the same things, they went after union rights in a really big way. in michigan and tennessee and in maine, republican governors with republican legislatures just could not wait to go after union rights in their states. in ohio, the fox news personality j

first two years so republicans won big in the two thousand and ten midterms. and when republicans took control of the house in january two thousand and eleven they kicked their economy crashing agenda into high gear they pledged to repeal obamacare and the repeal of obamacare would kill four hundred thousand jobs every year for the next ten years they passed the austerity soaked paul ryan budget this year which according to the economic policy institute would fill four point one million jobs over just the next two years senate republicans filibustered president obama's american jobs american jobs act which would have created two million new jobs and with each new showdown over the budget or the debt limit republicans have succeeded in getting even more spending cuts that suck even more money out of the economy making things worse and on the state level republican governors pushing their own austerity agendas they've killed more than six hundred thousand public sector as government employee jobs further dragging the economy down in fact if those people were all