in the first interview romney and ryan gave after ryan joined the ticket, bob schieffer pointed out ryanudget plan, including his plan to voucherize, that's a great word, medicare, could be trouble for romney. let's listen. >> there's no question your campaign has been trying to make this a election a referendum on barack obama. now some people are saying you are making it a referendum on paul ryan's budget plan. >> well, i have my budget plan, as you know, that i have put out, and that's the budget plan that we're going to run on. >> and again this sunday romney had to distance himself from ryan's positions and assert that he's the man at the top of the ticket. let's listen. >> the president's cutting $716 billion from current medicare. i disagree with that. i'd put those dollars back into medicare. >> mr. ryan has proposed something similar, almost precisely the same number, 716. >> he was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit. i'm putting it back into medicare and i'm the guy running for president. >> well, what a miserable time he has. all he does is defend himself aga

ryan, congressman ryan is 23409 a not an unknown . he's been here quite a few years, and he has put forward, as the head of the budget committee, a couple of budgets. now, budgets are blueprints. if you're going to blil build a building or a house, you need a blueprint. if you're going to try to move the country in a certain direction, you need a blueprint. and that blueprint is a budget. so a budget sort of tells you where it is that the proponent of that budget wants to take us, as a country. a federal budget. if it was a state budget, you'd say, that's where they want to take the state. and so we on this side intend over the next several days, couple of weeks, however long we're in session, we intending to let the american people know what's in the ryan budget and where it would take america. what is the blueprint that they have for america 123? madam president -- madam president, before i go any further, i want to ask unanimous consent that mack leboon and mad i sin geek be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's sess

paul ryan, sbt thisn't that som? wait a second. romney/ryan. romney/ryan. there you go. that's great. >> the cracks are starting to show in the gop bromance. puanouthat by 2012ese folks everybody would look like this. whatever happened to the so-called tea party revolution? this is "politicsnation" on msnbc. >> ladies and gentleme it's time for a new segment. this isal mey it's kind of a joke. watch this. >> my dad used to tell us that one year they ate nothing but potatoes. that was when they lived in idaho. even later in life, my dad e.uldn't look a poto ihe and that's kind of a joke. [ angry ] i just discovered untopped triscuit taste great. oh, it's so good! if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit... ...sorry. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain woven for an untoppable taste. [ crunch ] monarch of marketing analysis. with e ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i

paul ryan. isn't that something? wait a second. romney/ryan, romney/ryan, romney/ryan. there we go. thank you. >> wow. you know things are bad when a nominee has to remind people he's the one on the top of the ticket. suddenly, this reunion is not feeling so good. joining me now is nia-malika henderson, a reporter for "the washington post," and ryan grim, reporter for "the huffington post." thanks for being here. >> great to be here, rev. >> nia, i've been around politics since i was a teenager, i've never seen anything that bad where the nominee had to stop the crowd and put his name out front. i mean, this is a little crazy, don't you think? >> and you've seen this before. you've seen people, you know, sort of tripping up on romney's name, calling him mitt romney. you've seen him on "60 minutes" rep minding that he's the one on the ticket running for president. ryan has energized this ticket. barack conservatives on board. now you have conservatives saying, unleash ryan and have him talk more about policy and his plans for the future of the country. but it has been a bit of a stic

ryan said. it is clear, he is not going to tell the truth in this campaign because if he tells the truth in this campaign, it will be inconsistent with the best interests of the people in this country, and he will be rejected. he's running to try to fool them. and he's going to say whatever it takes to fool them. >> i accept that. that's a pretty cynical, tough remark by the mayor who knows his politics because it can cork. let me ask you this. this is a guy who portrays himself as a boy scout, mr. clean, sterling reputation for having guts to do things, maybe not deserved, but across the spectrum the last couple days over facts. does he lose his merit badges? can he still be mr. clean and a guy who's known to not tell the truth? i'm not going to call him liein' ryan. somebody's going to do that, come up with a nasty phrase for the guy. but so far there's a conflict here between the reality and the pretense. >> well, this is a big deal. i've covered paul ryan for 15 years, in his initial campaig

ryanaying it's the president who are into social divisiveness. they are the ones splitting the countries between the have and have nots. they're the one playinghe wealthisparity card. >> well, quite the oppose. u , wsyog bere i was a political person. in psychology we say that sometimes if someone's got a problem, that they tend to talk about it in ways that isery el.tradictory to their own e fact is that mitt romney said 47% of the american people basically are free-loaders, parasites. he was talking about good, hard working, salt of the earth, ohioans, ic thta a narrative that built up over a series of months as we watched this man and watched this campaign. and that videoonfirmed for many ohioans exactly what they were thinking this man may be like. and he can say all he wants to sayboutlass arut he's the one waging it. you know, he pays 14.1% in federal income tax. the average ohioan pays more than 20% in federal income tax. >> i'm sorry, sir, you're wrong about that. vtaai an - he act

ryan. but mr. ryan has gotten away from mr. sr. of mass destruction that he once said were hidden in iraq. what comes next? traveling on separate planes to campaign events where enthusiasm is low and tension is high, the false smiles and pretense of a love affair that only survives when the cameras are on them? and then some final bickering and a bitter divorce. romney and ryan a marriage of convenience, if ever there was one. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews is next. >>> breaking away. let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, i want you to watch and listen to the next few minutes here.

together we'll go far. >>> in tonight's rewrite, paul ryan continues to rewrite paul ryan.ryan can no longer say. now that he's mitt romney's running mate. two years ago paul ryan said, correctly, that the cayman islands are quote the place you hide your money. see? paul ryan can be right sometimes. but he can't be right about the cayman islands anymore, thanks to mitt romney. so he just doesn't mention the cayman islands anymore. and a few years ago, paul ryan said this about his favorite philosopher. >> i grew up reading ayn rand and it taught my quite a bet about who i am and what my value systems are and what my believes are. it's inspired my so much that it's required reading in my office for my staff. the reason i got involved in public service if i had to credit one thinker it would be ayn rand. when i had to point out that ayn rand was an atheist, paul ryan was then forced to say this. >> i reject her philosophy. it's an atheist philosophy. >> which was exactly what we were hoping he would say. in that same speech where paul ryan swore his devotion to an atheist rad

i can't believe ryan seacrest would suggest -- wait a minute! ryan! >> he created a new bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing. >> jon: oh, right. that was the bowles-simpson proposal that was never officially presented to concert in part because it was voted down by a blue-eyed dream boat named ryan. ryan gosling -- wait a minute! you know what? we need to tell a personal story about an auto plant that closed in ryan's district. perhaps this will hold hard truths. >> president obama, candidate obama said i believe if our government is there to support you this plant will be here for another 100 years. that is what he said in 2008. that plant didn't last another year. the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight. >> jon: yeah, except that plant announced in june of 2008 that it would be stopping production, hold on a second, siri, who was president in june of 2008? george bush! thank you, sir i are, thank you, siri, this was the intellectual leader of

ryan's well rehearsed stump speech.90 x for the truth where he bends and stretches his way around the facts, he gets even more of a workout during interviews like trying to walk back that line blaming the president for the jamesville auto plant that closed under president bush. >> in my opinion, it seemed like you were unmistakebly trying to link the president's promise with the closing of that plant, which you know obviously closed before he became president. >> the promise was -- that he was going to open the plant. he said if we pass the stimulus unemployment would never get above 8%. >> yes. when you bend one truth to its breaking point, just move right along to the next set of flexible facts. what about their plan to pay for a gigantic tax break for the wealthy by closing loopholes? >> tax policy and chick growth. >> others have looked at your plan to close loopholes and you can't cut taxes in the way you say and raise as much money by going after loopholes. they've looked at every single one and you don't get ther

after ryan was picked, the poll came out. voters under 35, those who have decided to vote breaked sharp for obama. can ryan the younger guy pull them away? >> i don't think so. it's partly because the president's numbers with young voters are pretty firmly baked into the cake now. i think that vice presidents don't actually move votes that much. what paul ryan brings to this ticket is an element, not just of vigor, but of intellectual and ideological heft. he is making a bunch of arguments. the argument on medicare that we're waging, no one thought that republicans could get the better of democrats on the issue. last week in tampa, he made a strong argument that makes it much more politically volatile. joe biden has to get in there and make that argument that retaining the democratic strength on medicare, go after ryan on that. chris: isn't the strength comes not from his knowledge of the budget, but from the claim that the democrats were trying to cut $700 billion from medicare and they can point to that? >> again, it's a ve

on the ryan budget, it was promulgated by congressman ryan. i was elected the same year as congressman ryan to the house, i have respect for congressman ryan and his constituents. i just happen to disagree with his priorities, and his budget proposal sets priorities. it's a template. and if you really study what congressman ryan includes, there are concerns that i have that i think are reflected by not just members of my caucus but many americans. there's -- the plan really lacks balance. it doesn't really -- and it doesn't balance at least until 2040, which is not how it's advertised. and why? well, there's no contribution from revenue. there's an increase in defense spending. and in my opinion, it requires extraordinary and unsustainable cuts to government services. in fact, the federal government would be cut in half. and i don't think there's anybody who's realistic that thinks that's a realistic goal. president reagan's economic advisor, bruce bartlett, was pretty tough on the ryan plan. he called it a monstrosity and pointed out that the

and let ryan be ryan. we say bring it on. let's look at the real paul ryan right here on "hardball." you're watching it. the place for politics. >>> i'm milissa. >>> welcome back to "hardball." conservatives swoon for congressman paul ryan when he was chosen for the republican ticket, but he's since played the classic role of second fiddle. moderating his positions on both fiscal and cultural issues to conform to romney's views. well, now that romney/ryan campaign is coming off a bit of a couple rough weeks there. some conservatives have just got the answer. simply let ryan be ryan. that was the advice they dished to "the new york times" today. but is that really the smart move, really? joan walsh is editor-at-large of salon and author of "what's the matter with white people." and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize win be columnist from "the washington post." i think there are problems marrying paul ryan politically like his positions. isn't that the reason why romney kissed him, said good-bye, i like you

and let ryan be ryan.e say bring it on. let's look at the real paul ryan right here on "hardball." you're watching it. the place for politics. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. >>> i'm milissa. here is what is happening. the president and first laid dpee taped an interview on "the view" earlier. president obama stopped short of calling it a terrorism but said it's clear it wasn't just a mob. ahmadinejad said that israel would be el

>> i hope that both ryan, paul ryan, and governor romney will introduce themselves as men, as individuals, as family guys because a lot of people may be familiar with their general politics but they also hear just the 30-second ads. so swing voters, guys who are still making up their mind who romney is as a person and the same thing with ryan, i think that's important. the second piece is to make sure people understand the ryan plan, the welfare reform, the medicare reforms, so that people have a general sense that they're comfortable with those, that they're not scary, that they will work and if they can do those two things, both of which are global, that's a good thing. >> rose: with respect to governor romney, do you believe somehow that the man he is is not being perceived by america? not withstanding the fact that he's been campaigning across this country for a fair number of months? >> if you sat through a half hour speech of his you probably got it. but most americans haven't. they get soundbites from television and they haven't had the 15-minute conversation. >> rose: he's been al

paul ryan what he did in his speech i think so stretched the truth and i like paul ryan have a lot of great respect for paul ryan but the now i'm upset he said about closing the g.m. plant which closed before obama took president about the simpson bowles which sensible which he opposed and then i'll finish you both barack obama or at some point the truth should matter of course one of the biggest deceptions of the speech was this one about president obama's reforms to medicare. seven hundred sixteen billion dollars funneled out of medicare by president obama. in an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. the greatest threat to medicare is obamacare and we're going to stop it. none of us are president obama didn't cut a single penny from medicare that would affect a single payer read even just the opposite because seven hundred billion seven hundred sixteen billion dollars in waste fraud and corporate abuse and corporate handouts and that now by taking that out keeps the entire medicare program solv

in the first interview romney and ryan gave after ryan joined the ticket, bob schieffer pointed out ryanudget plan, including his plan to voucherize, that's a great word, medicare, could be trouble for romney. let's listen. >> there's no question your campaign has been trying to make this a election a referendum on barack obama. now some people are saying you are making it a referendum on paul ryan's budget plan. >> well, i have my budget plan, as you know, that i have put out, and that's the budget plan that we're going to run on. >> and again this sunday romney had to distance himself from ryan's positions and assert that he's the man at the top of the ticket. let's listen. >> the president's cutting $716 billion from current medicare. i disagree with that. i'd put those dollars back into medicare. >> mr. ryan has proposed something similar, almost precisely the same number, 716. >> he was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit. i'm putting it back into medicare and i'm the guy running for president. >> well, what a miserable time he has. all he does is defend himself aga

now it is ryan -- romney/ryan or is it ryan/romney? either way, the theory has been tested.ed. our economy failed. the middle class paid the price and your family paid the price. mitt romney just doesn't get it. >> now, republicans were just as vigorous in their response today. mitt romney was in hardware store in new hampshire to talk shop. look being as stiff as any two-by-four in the house while chuck grassley was out in iowa? we are within an administration that believes in trickle-down government. we believe in a philosophy according to the constitution we want to trickle government up to government. >> can someone get that man an empty chair? okay. better try someone else. how about ann romney working the female factor at a women for mitt rally in ohio? >> when did it become unpopular in america to be successful? we are not going to apologize for our success. and we are not going to apologize for america. >> that's funny. i don't remember anyone asking the romneys to apologize for their success. then again, no one apologized for america either, did they? let's get righ

be ryan.k times" today. but is that really the smart move, really? joan walsh is editor-at-large of salon and author of "what's the matter with white people." and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize win be columnist from "the washington post." i think there are problems marrying paul ryan politically like his positions. isn't that the reason why romney kissed him, said good-bye, i like your name, ryan is cute, but i'm not going to get too close to a guy who wants to basically get rid of medicare, cut medicaid, get rid of pell grants and do all kinds of things to make rich people richer. he doesn't want to get too tight with that thinking, does he? >> no, he doesn't. this is a really banner day for us because it's so rare that liberals and conservatives can agree about anything, as you know, but today we can all say together, yes, please let paul ryan be ryan. please let paul ryan go out -- go to florida and say, i want to turn medicare into a voucher program. let paul ryan go around talking ab

paul ryan, isn't that something. wait a second. romney/ryan. romney/ryan. romney/ryan, there we go.'s great. thank you. >> the already weird interpersonal dynamics on the republican ticket reached a possible dezooe knit of awkwardness yesterday as governor romney campaigned with his running mate. as with all complex relationships it wasn't always like this. square jauds and earn had nest as a 1950's sitcom star he sounded like a lost member of the romney tribe. with ryan drawing crowds the alpha dog appears to be getting tired of reminding people who is the campaign pate tree yashg. >> i'm putting it back into medicare and i'm the guy running for president, not him. >> ryan doesn't always seem to get the message. in days he's been reportedly acting like a rebellious teenager going back to his old ways and giving power point presentations at campaign rallies. >> we can't keep spending money we don't have. today our federal government for every dollar it spends it borrows 36 cents on that dollar. by the time my three kids are around my age, at the top there, our debt is going to be 2.

of the romney/ryan bus tour.he basic format for a vp pick is simple. play backup to the presidential candidate, make sure not to outshine the star, cheerlead for the party and do a little attack dog work. in this year's race "the new york times" today reports about a debate within the romney campaign. should they unleash paul ryan? let's put it through the spin cycle. guys, you know, there's always a little of this every year. if you remember when biden was announced, the reception was a little cool. not only did some democrats think hillary should have been vetted more seriously, but they were a little nervous about what biden might say. after gaffe one, two, three, four, you have democrats saying i don't know if this was the right idea. of course, sarah palin was second guessed. >> second guessed is mildly. >> that said as a conservative voter, as a republican, as someone who wants this ticket to succeed, i've got a fever. the answer is more paul ryan. i would like to see more of paul ryan not just on the stump

in the first interview romney and ryan gave after ryan joined the ticket, bob schieffer pointed out ryanudget plan, including his plan to voucherize, that's a great word, medicare, could be trouble for romney. let's listen. >> there's no question your campaign has been trying to make this a election a referendum on barack obama. now some people are saying you are making it a referendum on paul ryan's budget plan. >> well, i have my budget plan, as you know, that i have put out, and that's the budget plan that we're going to run on. >> and again this sunday romney had to distance himself from ryan's positions and assert that he's the man at the top of the ticket. let's listen. >> the president's cutting $716 billion from current medicare. i disagree with that. i'd put those dollars back into medicare. >> mr. ryan has proposed something similar, almost precisely the same number, 716. >> he was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit. i'm putting it back into medicare and i'm the guy running for president. >> well, what a miserable time he has. all he does is defend himself aga