mitt romney the double talker, mitt romney the rewriter of mitt romney, is a very deliberate politicianician who's determined to say at every moment of his career exactly what his voters want him to say in that moment. as a result, romney has left the longest self-contradictory paper trail and quote trail of anyone who has ever run for president. and republicans who attacked john kerry because john kerry said he was for a bill before he was against it, now support a candidate who was once for everything that he is now against. tonight's case in point is stimulus. in 2008, when the economy fell off the cliff in the months after the presidential election, mitt romney thought something had to be done right then. and though we had a lame duck president, george w. bush, and a lame duck congress, mitt romney thought our economic situation was so dire, so severe, that we needed action from washington immediately. on december 19, 2008, he wrote this breathless exhortation in the national review. what is washington waiting for? the inauguration is less than five weeks away. at the rate we've bee

the same is true for romney.will be true for the president. >> the trouble with romney, he doesn't have a clean slate on things like immigration. so unless he comes up with something constructive, he's only known as the nasty guy. >> you're correct. he was more specific during the primaries. he was for a self-deportation. making it so miserable for immigrants in this country that they would leave the country. but romney's problem is the republican party's problem with these issues. they can't tell you what they're really for because if you knew, nobody would vote for them. they use immigration as a wedge issue, but know if they were deport all illegal immigrants that various industries like agriculture would collapse. >> if we're going to go around looking for everybody who might have come here illegally and pick them up, take them out u out of the country and dump them over the border, this country would be ripped in half. romney's discipline when it comes to not providing specifics leads to interviews that wind

this staff doesn't know where romney stands, romney doesn't know where he stands.far can they get before that becomes -- and can the obama campaign make that a larger image of romney? >> that's the question, right? does this become a political vulnerability. you said it was political malpractice, how badly his staff operates. i would add -- >> but the general media lets them get away with this, without ever saying -- without ever pointing this out as a problem that they have. >> right. and to echo what karen finney said, i would say, this is a contempt for the democratic process. that you can spend a year running for president, but not actually doing what we expect candidates to do from the beginning of american history, which is actually explain where they stand on the basic issues. and i'm reminded of the famous line that mitt romney said about his '94 senate race, where he recalled that when he announced that he wanted to eliminate the i guess department, he was tagged as anti-education, and what he learned from that was, don't ever get into specifics about what

what did mitt romney think? in his four years as governor, mitt romney never stepped one foot in the city of north adams. in fairness to governor romney, he did visit one other city. he visited pitsfield on two occasions. in his opening remark, he said, it was great to be in the city of springfield. three other times during that speech he peted, it was great to be in the city of springfield. with the loss of hundreds of jobs while he was talking about improving the state's economy, he didn't even know what city he was in. like he all promised a better economy, he also promised there would be no taxes. i guess like beauty it's in the eye of the beholder. look closely and you'll see as governor, romney increased taxes by $1200. he increased fees for hospitals and nursing homes and motor vehicles to buying a house. the people hit hardest were the middle class. children of middle class parents went to state colleges where they could receive a quality education at an affordable price. during mitt romney's time as gov

romney men don't go to war. mitt romney's father didn't, mitt romney didn't, and his sons didn't.ive response as to why his sons did not serve in the military in the iraq war, mitt romney said one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected. he actually said that. romney men support war. they support wars that other people have to fight. mitt romney's father was in favor of the vietnam war before he was against it, after having claimed famously to have been brainwashed by generals on vietnam. mitt romney has never come close to telling the truth about his relationship to the vietnam war. this is the lie that mitt romney told the last time he was running for president in 2007. i really don't recall thinking about the political positions when i was knocking at the door in france. there were anti-vietnam war protests in france while mitt romney was there. the french fought the vietnam war before we did. we took over from the french. the vietnam war was covered by the french news media every single day that mitt romney was in france. and romney wen

is romney right? you point out in the last seth, massachusetts engaged in exactly the same practices. conarca technologie solar energy company in massachusetts funded with $1.5 million by president obama coincidentally went bankrupt on friday. solyndra is not an isolated example of where the government can actually make mistakes on rating in the private sector. the government has a role to play in encouraging technologies. i personally am reluctant to see the government acting as a venture capitalist. i think it is hard. programs like the solyndra program began in the previous bush administration and existed for a long time in the government. not some idea that president obama came to washington with and suddenly adopted for the federal government. >> chris: but he embraced it and in the case of solyndra where he went out there? >> he embraced the idea of these kinds of investments. solyndra was not a political decision. when i was in the government i watched a number of other investments made by seri

president obama defined the romney plan with more specificity than romney did. >> the theory that the grow the economy is from the top down. romney believes 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. >>> without presidential leadership, it simply can't happen. controlling only one chamber, republicans in congress can only do so much. >> joining us now is robert reich, now a professor of economics at the university of california berkeley. today, i heard mitt romney announce how he was going to bring this country back. and the specifics were two things. one, a tax increase. he didn't use that phrase but he said he's going to raise tariffs on chinese products. so that is a tax increase as we know. paid for my bern consumers. and then, secondly, repeal obama care. and that, as far as i can tell, the complete romney plan on getting the economy running again. how does it sound to you? >> that's the com

even though it has mitt romney's picture on it and mitt romney's name and it says the real romney, the real romney is not real. the presumed republican nominee is not, for example, tweeting about who let the dogs out. this is satire. the joke depends on you being smart enough to catch on, and it's funnier because it says, i'm real, i'm real, when it's plainly not real. when people say they are the authentic something online now, when people call themselves real online now, are we at a point where that can still be an authentic assertion, or is it always a joke now? it's important in practical terms sometimes. for example, to cover a recent political story, some researchers on this show took the good part of a day once trying to figure out how real this youtube account was. rebecca for real, it's called. it says real in that it's rebecca for real, but it's also kind of unbelievable. >> hi, everybody, rebecca here. i'm in the global warming today poisoning the world with my breath. no, it doesn't stink, i brushed. i'm not talking about that. i'm talking about the fact that the epa says w

romney economics. it didn't work then and won't work now. >> strange thing, i saw that was reviewed by the post, which had the story today and it was the recipient of self pinocchios. seems like within "the washington post" they can't get it together as to the accuracy those charges. >> the story was accurate and that ad of the false. there is an argument here -- you could have surrogates for democrats defending this. i imagine steve ratner would say if, look, there are benefits to this comparative advantage to allowing other companies produce things peopler, we're able to buy the products cheaper and we have more money to spend. what romney is saying in the clips you just played was my job as president will be different from my job as the private sector businessman. my job will be to create jobs, i'm going to use the experience from my private sector days but my mai job at president will not be what my job was bain was, which was to increase returns for my shareholders. >> joan, it seems the obama cam

that's a fundamental difference between him and mitt romney and the reason why mitt romney's going tose mitt romney believes that businesses create johns. let me give you a small example. we've got a tral and a half dollars sitting overseas. double the stimulus package. all we have to do is bring that money home, these companies that are hodding that money promise to invest and hire, and we could have a stimulus to our economy. why is it that the obama administration won't bring that money home? it's because they want to tax them. the highest corporate tax rate in the world is in the united states of america. this is a kind of no-brainer stuff that because of his view of government, that it keeps us from doing these things. >> but there is another similarity when it comes to how to deal with, and how to evaluate mitt romney's business record at bain but also his experience of being governor of massachusetts. this has been the subject of an attack by president obama against mitt romney, because mitt romney says, look, i understand how to create jobs, i was in the private sector. when t

fresh out like romney with -- romney.e arguing about what kind of job the president's doing. so this guy hasn't passed muster in terms of a winning personality because he doesn't talk about anything that means anything to people yet. fair enough, that's selling. >> yeah, but you can't win the presidency just by saying i'm not the guy who's in office now. maybe you can if you're a very talented politics, but i don't think romney is that politician. i don't think romney is that politician. he can't really -- do that. >> he's not as smart as richard nixon. >> no, he's not. he's going to have to stand on a stage with barack obama and he can't keep repeating these platitudes about i've got a long-term plan. it won't wash. >> okay, thank you. the newly more youthful looking michael steele. thank you having you on here. clean shaven. look at more closely when you are in the states here. great to have you on as debating partner and ron, thank you for that. >>> up next, harvey weinstein of hollywood and politics joining us in a mi

it was apparent at the first event romney had today, i talked to a senior romney adviser, they think it is a blatant pivot away from a bad couple of weeks on the economy for the president. you can sense the romney campaign -- they had a bus tour that started in new hampshire, headed to pennsylvania tonight, ohio over the weekend, and they were pulling out all the stops. had a camera there, possibly filming a new commercial that may be revealed down the road, potential running mates in tim pawlenty, but this campaign is hoping to get all of this back on track, going to ohio sunday where they will be with rob portman and speaker of the house john boehner, monday with paul ryan. all of these potential running mates are seeming to be auditioning in the bus tour. john, it is interesting to note who mitt romney gave a shoutout to, to marco rubio, during his remarks to reporters in milford, new hampshire, he referred to marco rubio's stance, his position, his take on the president's change on immigration policy today. the one vp candidate not on the road is the one that got the shadow. >> a

mitt romney is never going to be as likable. he is never comfortable talking about the things that animate him as a person. the romney campaign isn't going to try to fix that problem. they're staying focused on the president's economic stewardship. they think they can within that argument. the rest melts away. chris: we're looking at the numbers that came on friday. the unemployment rate that rose. we had 69,000 new jobs. and new numbers tells the last couple months have been much worse than we thought. will the people say darn it, i may not like this guy or know him very well, i'm going to take a chance? >> i think it's possible. these numbers are so unremittingly bad there is no silver lining in the jobs reports at all. companies are afraid to hire. they're looking to europe. they're seeing contagion potentially spread from greece. chris: are we looking at another recession before the election? >> i'm not sure that's possible. that would be actually be able to be quantified before the next election. it takes time for them to b

romney said he is very proud.is record as a businessman, you don't hear as much about his record as governor and a new obama ad helps us to understand why. >> instead of hiring workers from his own state, romney outsourced call center jobs to india. he cut tax for millionaires like himself while raising them on the middle class. and left the state $2.6 billion deeper in debt. so now when mitt romney talks about what he would do as president -- >> i know what it takes to create jobs. >> remember, we've heard it all before. >> now, that's got the folk at karl rove as super pac americans steaming mad. is it trembling in fear in their new ad? >> hey there, fair share. >> they want even deeper cuts. >> whammed happened to hope and change? now it seem he is coming right out of the box with these old-fashioned negative ads. >> if you don't have a record to run original you pain your opponent as someone people should run from. >> that's subtle, isn't it? you can purchase your very own shepherd style poster at the american

a vote for mitt romney is a vote for offshoring more jobs. mitt romney hasn't made that yet. he hasn't -- he doesn't want to have this discussion, but it's going to have to happen. >> the president was quick to react to "the post" story. he was in tampa this afternoon. let's take a look. >> today was reported in the "washington post" that the companies his firm owned were pioneers in the outsourcing of american jobs to places like china and india. pioneers. let me tell you, we do not need an outsourcing pioneer in the oval office. we need a president who will fight for american jobs and fight for american manufacturing. that's what my plan will do. >> and romney's camp responded quickly to "the post" story. according to politico romney's spokesperson said, quote, this is fundamentally flawed story that does not differentiate between domestic outsourcing versus offshoring, nor versus work done overseas to support u.s. exports. as president, he will implement policies that make it easier and more attractive for companies to create jobs here at home. joan walsh, that's a lot to

romney wants to fade into the background. romney isn't trying to make it as jindal said about personalities, he's trying to say i'm competent, i'm a good guy, and obama's fundamentally unacceptable and to ask people to reject obama, not to embrace him. that's sort of the core of his sttegy. >> right. he's the alternate none of the above. >> for so long, the president was on the defensive about immigration policy and with last friday's announcement, he was able to split the republican party and romney has a very tough choice in terms of what to say. >> do you think there's a lot of talk about jeb bush. i think we have limited sound. let's play that. i want to ask you a question about it, as i always do. >> as a former governor, i was asked by secretary duncan to introduce our current president of the united states in a high school in miami, because we share common ground and i don't know about you, but when we find common ground, we shouldn't fight anymore. we should move on and build on that success. apparently one can get in

mitt romney. different than john mccain. remember, the one in the booth. it was very quick. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. >>> lots more roundtable from the newseum in washin

why am i for romney? i'm for mitt romney because i'm working with the wind in my face. these unemployment numbers, this job growth number of 69,000 out of 300 million americans, it means the wind is stronger in my face in ohio. do you know what romney will do? he'll fight the balanced budget. can't do it overnight. he'll cut taxes, provide certainty, streamline regulations. that is what i need in ohio. >> you mention the strength in ohio. a battle ground state, unemployment numbers then and now. then let's talk about ohio. in ohio in the third quarter last three months of 2010, 9.8%. you see florida, nevada, colorado and virginia. look at the numbers now. as you pointed out earlier in the program. you are at 7.4% in ohio. florida is down. nevada, colorado and virginia. what you didn't mention and what the president would is that the auto bailout created jobs not just in that sector but in sectors that rely upon it. is there not credit for the president there? >> david, look. the fact is we're thrilled with the auto jobs. i'm glad the auto industry has been stabilized. >

romney's everchanging mind. i'll hopefully people will perceive it that way but does this mean that we won't see anymore cylinder attacks now that governor romney has done the same thing are they is he going to suddenly shut up no i don't think i don't think iran is going to shut up on this at all but i think what is going to have to happen is i think it's very important that we educate people about the fact that mitt romney is engaged in some of the same policies president obama and the sad part is tom of this whole situation is that even though he made these investments in nasa to use this message this was still the forty seven state in job creation when he was governor almost dead last and i ask people all the time why would you ever elect somebody that was dead last i mean i've never heard of it it baffles my mind you think the president should be the first not the last but you wonder about herbert hoover. so how long is romney going to be able to avoid talking about his time as governor of massachusetts he

why am i for romney? i'm for mitt romney because i'm working with the wind in my face. this unemployment number it means the wind is stronger in my face in ohio. he will fight the budget, cut taxes, provide certainty, stream line regulations. that is what i need in ohio. >> you mention the strength in ohio. a battle ground state, unemployment numbers then and now. in ohio in the third quarter 9.8%. you see florida, nevada, colorado and virginia. look at the numbers now. you are at 7.4% in ohio. florida down. nevada, colorado and virginia. what you didn't mention and what the president would is that the auto bailout created jobs not just in that sector but in sectors that rely upon it. is there not credit for the president there? >> i'm glad the auto industry -- >> romney would not have bailed them out. >> i'm not here to debate -- >> that's a fact. you said what turned ohio around several things and you did not mention the auto bailout. >> 73,000 jobs created in the last since '11. how many direct in the auto industry? 1,800. what we have done in ohio is diversified the

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

the romney position being only mitt romney and one other person knows who he's vetting. then by the end of the day, mitt romney has to reveal, or pretend, at least, that he is vetting marco rubio. this is getting to be an out of control process for them. >> well, for the beginning, it is. and as manuel said and as phil, i think it was phil in his story talking about, you have this lightning rod, for better or for worse, for the republican party and for mitt romney in particular, who people -- marco rubio has been talked about for months now. ever since he got into the senate as a possible vp nominee. that anyone, no matter who the nominee would have been, marco rubio was supposed to be at the top of their list. and for all of those characteristics that manuel laid out, i mean, that's the reason why. and the idea that he's not being thoroughly vetted and the idea that mitt romney says that only he and his vp selection chair are the only two people who know, but you've got unnamed sources at two news organizations talking about what exactly is happening. yes, lawrence, it

the big difference between romney and obama is romney has only wanted to support dream act that is only for the military. that really ruffled some feathers. not only just latino feathers. also a lot of moderates and progressives saying these young people can sacrifice our life for the country, but can't be doctors or accountants or engineers? that doesn't make any sense. >> howard, i thought of newt gingrich when i heard the announcement today, it reminded me of what i thought i heard the former house speaker saying on the campaign trail that incurred the wrath of his gop opponents. >> what the white house is doing here is trying to keep mitt romney in the corner that mitt romney put himself in during the primary season in order to outflank rick perry and others on the immigration issue. and they're trying to back him into the corner by going as far as they have. i totally agree it's a halfway measure. and if you read the three-page letter of order from secretary napolitano, you can see it really isn't a sweeping thing here. and they can slow walk it to the extent they want. but politic

by day 100, president romney is working towards a balanced budget. >> that was romney's pitch to iowans. in his north carolina ad, romney vows to cut taxes and spur growth in the high tech sector. romney tells ohio he will stand up to china on trade and repeal energy industry regulations and to virginia, he promises to reverse the president's offshore drilling policy. it sounds like an ambitious and very, very busy first hundred days. jodi kantor, there's been a lot of talk about what mitt romney needs to do, and one of the things that we hear a lot is that he's going to have to get specific. i wonder to what degree you think that kind of messaging works for the american electorate. >> what i think that messaging is about is that his positive ads have not been that great. we had the republican uber-pollster into the office this week to give us kind of a seminar and a.v. demonstration. it was really fantastic. it was ten reporters sitting in a room with him and we went through all the political ads of the season, both republican and democrat, and he analyzed each. what he said is that ro

hold it, hold it, hold it. >> no, no, we're with you on romney, romney's smarter than that. brian kilmeade, that's the best brian's got. he was playing at the top of his game. >> apologies. but in the stimulus act alone, it saved or created 325,000 jobs in education. so, you know, obviously, the federal government uses money to help states and municipalities hire teachers, hire firefighters, hire cops. i'm quite sure that mitt romney is aware of this fact. >> well, in addition to the fact that he was a governor, right? >> right! >> so the people who are recipients of these type of block grants that the stimulus was. and the whole issue in the stimulus passed when a lot of republican governors say, no, no, we don't want that money, they know exactly what the federal government was earmarking and wanting that money for, it was to hire -- wait for it -- teachers, cops, and firefighters. that's always been what the block grant was for. romney was a governor, he should know that. >> and if i was the obama campaign, i would be organizing some lock firefighters on mitt romney's bus

romney and bain capital. this story not going away. >>> also, if you were to judge mitt romney and president obama's speeches to latino officials on reaction alone, it'd be a slam dunk win for the president. but the big question for team obama, can they translate the enthusiasm we saw today into votes? >>> plus the jury now has the sandusky case, but the jurors don't know the latest two pieces of explosive news about this matter. buzz bisinger will join us. >>> and the debate over eric holder and fast and furious has moved to the front pages. the conservative base is thrilled. so why has the republican leadership been treating this story like it's kryptonite? >>> and let me finish tonight to my home made solution to america's obesity crisis. >>> we start with outsourcing jobs at bain capital. joan walsh and michael sheir. mitt romney says he'll help bring homes back from overseas. but that wasn't always the case. a damning new report from the washington post today lays out clearly how invested romney's firm b

we're not talking about mitt romney the olympic guy, we're talking about mitt romney, the businessman. we are starting to see some evidence that it's working and i think it might be because he's primarily seen as a businessman, just like he was in that first campaign. >> and lawrence, i think the obama campaign has been very smart about taking a state-by-state approach, because i don't think that the bain capital attacks work as well everywhere in the country. but i think in ohio, i think in pennsylvania, i think also in florida, in states where they have seen the bain story firsthand, polling shows that it is very effective. so i think you can expect to see it continue. >> i want to show joe biden on this. because i've watched him a long time, and i've got to say, the biden going after bain and the way romney made his money and the way romney handles his money now with offshore accounts and all that stuff, is just -- it's kind of the easiest target i've ever seen joe biden go after. let's listen to him today in iowa. >> romney called the president out of touch? i mean, did you ever t

or yesterday by romney. today, obama outlined we need more teachers in the classroom and we need to make pell grants, make college affordable. these are things that are going to resonate, and lastly, about the tale of two visions. we saw that barack wants to build the economy from the ground up while mitt romney from the top down, with trickle down economics that didn't work in the past and isn't going to work now. >> did the president streak the right tone today? >> i think he did, it was like playing t-ball, lied out for him. so i think he did strike the right tone. he was forceful. he was very clear, and i think he hit on some major themes to which he will return during the campaign. so a good day for them. >> so, eugene, do you think this is an issue the president can ride until november? this isn't just a week or tw-week story? how does he make it better? how does he really continue to hammer this home? >> he can certainly continue riding this issue until there's something more substantive or e defin tf

so i think mitt romney is is doing exactly what's right for mitt romney. and peggy noonan just better lay off him. >> that's a shocking analysis. jared, i have to come to you. i want to play you something the president said in atlanta today. explaining how republicans will pay for a planned additional five trillion dollar tax cut. you're an economist. listen to this. >> essentially, you, your family, your friends, middle class people all across the country, would end up seeing higher tacks to pay for tax cuts for mr. romney and me. it ain't right. >> jared, isn't this part of mitt's invisible strategy? promise a big tax cut, but never, ever talk about how he's going to pay for it? >> right and in this case, he's been actually conspicuously visible because he went out and said that hey, i endorse paul ryan's budget. i think the bush tax cuts should be extended forever and i'd like to double down and add on $5 trillion over ten years worth of my own. how you going to pay for it? to be discussed later. so, you know, so actually, here is a case where and there

mitt romney seems not to answer the question.cans answer the question about whether or not they would support repealing this order today? >> part of the problem is it gives false hope to these 800,000 new immigrants that are now going to be here in the u.s., that there is going to be jobs for them. and this president hasn't been able to create jobs. one. two, it is bad policy. it is bad policy, because there is no guarantee that it's going to be long-term. so a new president could come in and change this policy. and so it's almost no hope for young immigrants, and bad policy. and what governor romney has said is that he wants to work with congress on a long-term solution. and certainly, you have people like marco rubio, senator kay baily hutchison, people like jon k kyl, all who have said -- >> right. eventually. but no one will stand -- they say we don't like the policy. but they're not calling for its immediate repeal. >> well, it's not a long-term solution. >> so -- >> what we're advocating is a long-term solution to this prob