then there's marco rubio, the brand-new tea party shiny new thing senator from florida. in a year when the republican party's seemingly murderous intentions toward medicare might be their biggest political liability, mr. rubio just satsd saddled himself with a big ugly flip flop on medicare. a statement he made about how important medicare was to him. how medicare saved his father's life. how medicare was very important to his family. and how we need medicare in america. >> america needs medicare. >> the very next speech that marco rubio gave that got lots of national attention was this week at the reagan library. and in that speech, he described programs like social security and medicare as moral sops that weaken as a people. >> these programs weakened us as a people. >> his political skills maybe not proving to be all that skillful. what would he run as, the guy who says medicare saved his father and family but it's also turned you weak and helpless? so who else is in the top tier of the vice presidential sweepstakes? bob mcdonald of virginia is there. the great milk to

i'm an original tea party person when you think of it, before they even conceived of the tea party.f the first to support ronald reagan. i think the only one he ever pre-primary endorsed. so i think the tea party has done a great service to the country. so i think -- i don't think they should be vilified. frankly, the president, you know, he wants a balanced approach. i want a balanced budget. i think the tea party -- i want us to be accountable around this place. my, gosh, we're not accountable. we've run this country right into the ground. when i say, "we," i mean the people who are the more liberal persuasion. i don't think i've been part of that. but congress has run this country right into the ground. we haven't been accountable. i think we've got to get accountability involved in here. that's what's going to happen with this approach, that they've come up with. i give them credit for what they've done. >> greta: is this new bill -- i know you don't agree with it, you'll vote no -- does it structurally change things at all? besides the balanced budget amendment vote that will b

i'm an original tea party person when you think of it, before they even conceived of the tea party. i was one of the first to support ronald reagan. i think the only one he ever pre-primary endorsed. so i think the tea party has done a great service to the country. so i think -- i don't think they should be vilified. frankly, the president, you know, he wants a balanced approach. i want a balanced budget. i think the tea party -- i want us to be accountable around this place. my, gosh, we're not accountable. we've run this country right into the ground. when i say, "we," i mean the people who are the more liberal persuasion. i don't think i've been part of that. but congress has run this country right into the ground. we haven't been accountable. i think we've got to get accountability involved in here. that's what's going to happen with this approach, that they've come up with. i give them credit for what they've done. >> greta: is this new bill -- i know you don't agree with it, you'll vote no -- does it structurally change things at all? besides the balanced budget amendment vote

the tea party did not break free and create a third party. it is a movement but stayed in the republican party. it is an important component. it strengthens the republican party. there is a rockefeller republican and that's basically what the tea party is responding to. republicans who want smaller government and go to washington and cave in. this is the first time when they say we are going to change it from within by saying we are elected on a smaller government platform and we'll demonstrate that in washington. >> what we saw this week. they managed to force the first, i would say socialist. european social and committed. and accept spending cuts. this would not have happened without the tea party or would not have happened with leadershh mcconnel and john boehner managed this negotiation well >> now the tea party is being attacked. the president, democrats and administration said they will not let mow spend and invest in education and invest in an infrastructure. >> of course they are being attacked. they are breaking the rice bowl of the

the tea party is taking over. in fact, the next senator in line for that treatment is the other utah republican senator, orrin hatch, with a 90% rating from conservative union. orrin hatch is, in fact, a very conservative senator but perhaps not conservative enough. tea party supporting extremely conservative republican congressman jason chaffetz of utah has been making noise all year long that he was going to go after orrin hatch next. he was going to primary hatch from the right, take that deep red republican utah senate seat and make it even deeper red. this week he finally made his big announcement about challenging hatch and he's not doing it. now, he hadn't just been hinting at this. he was telling everybody he was likely to do this. he was very open that he was going to kick orrin hatch out of the senate but he's decided not to run against him. this is not going to happen in utah. after orrin hatch, the other senator was olympia snowe of maine, up for re-election in 2012. the warning is she'll be replaced b

will the tea party be a factor in 2012? >> plus, christine o'donnell is here with an exclusive first look at her new book, "troublemaker." we are on the road to 2012, hannity stars right here, right now. >> today president obama embarked on a three day bus tour in the midwest that the white house says will allow him to escape the beltway bubble and hear from actual americans. he doesn't have to waste your tax dollars and travel around in a 1.1 million dollar luxury liner to find out what is on the minds of the so-called commoners. the american people are speaking loud and clear about the president's performance. according to a gallup poll 39% say anointed one is doing a good job. 54% say they disapprove. both of those numbers are the worst of the obama presidency. with the president plummeting in the polls not the only story overshadowing his bus tour. the presidential field has been rocked. we begin in ames, iowa where michelle bachmann stunned the gop field with an impressive victory in the straw poll saturday. congressma

the tea party's here for real. drink the tea, maybe you will learn something. >> i made the apology. >> in washington, it is about small government. >> have you looked at the tea party numbers? >> absolutely, bob. >> their negatives are higher by 2 to 1 now. >> way off. >> that's ridiculous. [overlapping dialogue] >> we are going to argue on the commercial break and pick it up. coming up on tite "the five," the inside story on the osama bin laden raid on the compound. now details about the night our special forces killed the world's most powerful terrorists. email us with your views. >> "the five" picking up where we left off. the tea party movement. i say it's growing. i say it's a win. they should take their victory lap and go. listen to the names who are now tea partyers, also very, very influential in american politics. bachman, palin, steve king from iowa, louis goman. these people are for real. >> that's your list of powerful -- >> it is. it happens to be. >> well, i think that -- i disagree with that. but let

bottom line, tea party, game-changers. thank you, tea party.the win and live to play another day. in honor of the tea party, we'll say thank you for a big, big old bag of tea. >> is that for real? >> eric: a big bag of tea >> kimberly: just for bob beckel. >> eric: a game changer, my friend. look at that thing. drop a tea party. they changed the rhetoric, changed the dialogue. >> bob: i'll give you that. they did it. i give them credit for bringing this thing up, which is going to be in my mind a horribly cruel, cruel outcome of this. we had to do it. i understand why some liberals will have to vote for it so we don't go over the ledge that you and the tea party want to take us. i'll tell you something. the losers are poor kids and winners are millionaires and billionaires. congratulations, tea party. >> eric: let's talk about that again. we need to point out -- greg, we talked about this in the green room, we are still raising the debt ceiling because we are going deeper and deep in debt. just not $3 trillion more deeper in debt. >> greg: exac

the tea party is taking over. in fact, the next senator in line for that treatment is the other utah republican senator, oren hatch. oren hatch, is, perhaps, a very conservative senator. perhaps not conservative enough. jason chaffetz of utah has been making noise all year long that he was going to go after oren hatch next. he was going to primary oren hatch from the right, take that deep red republican utah senate seat and make it even deeper red. this week he finally made his big announcement about challenging hatch and he's not doing it. now, jason chaffetz hasn't been hinting, it's been telling everybody he's likely to do this, going to challenge oren hatch, but he's decided not to run against him. after oren hatch, the other senator told to watch out, was olympia snowe of maine. the warning was she's going to be replaced by a hard right tea party challenger. well, there are some activist guys running against her, but frankly nobody who's making a dent, no offense intended, one of her challengers has made news

tea party people. >> because it changed. >> eric: in the mid-term election, what the tea party did, it scared republicans. >> bob: they left you with three empty senate seats. we would never have won nevada, delaware or colorado if it hadn't been for the fact they nominated tea party candidates. the polling shows one thing. people believe the tea party is off to the way far right but they are getting the identity of the republican party. that is the danger. >> eric: changing miles per hour politics, moving it to the right. yes or no? >> monica: of course. the tea party didn't grow out of a reaction to obama and the democrats, although it's become that. tea party grew out of of a reaction to the fact that the republican establishment has been such big government, big spenders for so long that this organic movement grew up to say enough. remember, the tea party is not a political party. it's a set of ideas. limited government -- >> andrea: you don't see them ever putting a leader, figurehead? >> monica:

. >> the tea party and the texasen. >> i don't think people in the tea party are going to be going for mitt romney. >> i welcome governor perry. >> rick perry also managed to offend carl rove. >> you know when you know you've gone too far? >> i got in trouble not talking about the federal reserve yesterday. >> you don't accuse the chairman of the federal reserve of being a traitor. >> cowboy from texas. >> we don't charge people with treason because we disagree with this. >> president obama kind of sort of should figure out if he loves america. >> i'll cut him some slack. >> you want a president in love with america. >> and michele bachmann says exactly what michelle obama said about america and no one noticed. >> you have restored in me my faith in america. >> this is a big deal. >> for the first time in my adult life, i am proud of my country. >> it's unbelievable she would have said that. >> she said it twice. >> i'm proud of my country, i don't know about you. >> major controversy. >> i am rick perry, and unlike barack obama, i will [ bleep ] out of america. >>> good evening from n

david axelrod over the weekend blame it on the tea party. says it is a tea party downgrade. the s&p, as bad as they are and horrible in terms of that credit swap, aaa they gave the credit swaps in the mid 2000, it has an impact. is the president right, is david axelrod right? >> david axelrod is not right. the tea party happens to be the group that got people to tart thinking about the problems. the tea party want -- start thinking about the problems. the tea party wanted a stronger solution that was approved. i know the s&p from lots of experience, including watching them miss so many calls over the last couple of years. these people are probably publicity hungry. they probably love doing what they are doing. i see their representatives all over the press, being heroes. going home to their wives and buy friends and everybody else. i think they are loving -- and boyfriends and everybody else. i think they are loving it. they are losers. they shouldn't have done what they did. but they did it. and they had a reason. they shouldn't have done it, but they had a reason if they w

>> chris, i don't agree the tea party has been controlling the ball. >> they haven't? >> no, they have been controlling the republican party, and unfortunately john boehner allowed the tail to wag the dog. as a result, he was not able to do something historic like barack obama wanted to do which was pass a significant, historic plan to reduce the deficit and really address our long term economic problems. john boehner walked away from that opportunity twice because he essentially the strengths from the tea party, cooler heads prevailed, we struck a compromise that was not something the president or any of us were thrilled about, but we were able to make sure we don't default. we were able to protect seniors so the safety net isn't yanked out from them when it comes to medicare and increasing medicare costs. we were able to get real reductions and ensure when the commission meets, there will be balance between revenue, spending cuts, and the spending cuts include significant cuts to defense. that's in a not very good situation a good victory for a side that really wanted

meant to demonize tea party damage tea party spectrum.his is a vice president. >> bill: i'm glad you brought that up. biden denies saying that. didhe denies it. >> semantics. agreed with doyle. they are acting in that way. didn't use the terrorist word. >> bill: let's give him the benefit of the doubt because we have so many others. we have absolutely just showed them this pew study is interesting. folks. this is not a pundit deal. this is the people. said all of them, all of them, tea party liberal democrats, president obama, all pinheads. all of them. and i think that's true. i think the american people are angry across the board. >> look. the tea party was the sign that americans had already become sick and tired of what washington was doing. and then look at the end result. there is nobody should be crowing about what's going on here. now that we're getting the analysis we are spending in this bill that's what 74 pages long. $34 billion per page? i don't know why anybody, ranging from boehner to pelosi or reid or obama think this is a

and if a tea party member, a tea party, remember, is the tea party movement.not a tea party. they are republicans. if a republican is on a radio show, television show interviewed by a newspaper. a democrat gets that equal time or at least they should. that's how it is supposed to go. the senator knows that and the american people should be given both sides of every issue so they can make their own decision. isn't that one of the reasons you guys let me on here, right? seriously, you need the balance across radio and television so that americans can hear all the information and decide what they want to believe. that will lead to how they choose to vote. >> juan: that's why i'm saying i'm glad to hear you are saying you think the senator is little bit off here. >> off completely. >> juan: government has no role in telling a tv station what they should be covering or how to cover it. >> absolutely. >> juan: the part that was really difficult, i think, for the tea party is not senator kerry. i don't think that's going anywhere. but the numbers. especially in the a

the tea party didn't increase the debts by 35%. the tea party is not the problem here. this president has failed to lead and any other private sector enterprise he would be fired. he was asking to run a football team they wouldn't hire them him. if he was trying to be a ceo for a second contract he wouldn't be hired. we've got a chance to win as republicans but howard dean is right. we have to be for things. i'm for a balanced budget amendment that would require both parties to do what we should have done a long time ago. i am for adjusting entitlements and closing loopholes in deductions, bringing the money back into the treasury, paying down debt. i'm not for raising taxes at a time when we have 9.2% unemployment. this president hasn't led. statistically this has been a lousy presidency only getting worse. >> i actually have a question for senator graham. where were you on paul ryan's medicare plan? do you want to privatize medicare like paul ryan does? >> medicare would be saved under paul ryan's plan but if you've got a better idea put it down. >> it would be destro

who is associated simply with whatever the tea party says it is. who who isn't hard core social concert you know i think that we see that you know throughout the entire republican party though and so i'm just wondering here you know because we've heard a lot about the tea party being co-opted by by corporate donors by the koch brothers who have made it no longer just a nice grassroots organization and the same way do you think that they were just co-opted by the religious right in that sense i mean the candidates that we see now even for president they want to ride some of this tea party wave including herman cain or michele bachmann or rick perry is trying to lean that way too i think that they have all made it pretty clear that social conservatism comes before fiscal conservatism sure. but it but those groups are already darr a long time ago they just found that. the media that stopped ignored stopped paying attention to them as as a legitimate movement. in the larger scale suddenly started paying attention to them when they said that they were ab

and tea party candidates or or those who want to tea party support. need to be first and foremost cultural conservatives and secondarily they needed to toe the you know the lip service to economics and you know i think you'll find this new in the fact that there is there just is not a single tea party candidate out there who's associated heavily with what the tea party says it is. who who isn't hard core social concern now i think we see that you know throughout the entire public and party though. and so i'm just wondering here you know because we've heard a lot about the huge party being co-opted by corporate donors by the koch brothers who have made it no longer just a nice grassroots organization and the same way do you think that they were just co-opted by the religious right in that sense i mean the candidates that we see now even for president they want to ride some of this tea party wave including herman cain or michele bachmann or rick perry is trying to lean that way too i think that they have all made it pretty clear that social conservatism

the tea party downgrade? the tea party downgrade? come on. half the tea party congress people voted to compromise on the debt deal. the party basically wants a smaller government. certainly a legitimate point of view. only far left zealots are going to buy that the tea party is the cause of the present economic chaos. because as mentioned those zealots will never admit their economic policies are a disaster. >> what we need to do at the moment is invest more. get people bigger unemployment benefits so they have money to spend and that creates demand. >> bill: yeah, that's right, ms. tucker, let's spend even more money we don't have. yeah. that's the ticket. paging john lovettes. not putting forth a vision. allowed muck things um as the world started to taking notice of the dysfunction. a case could be made that the president fell back on his old senatorial habits voting president instead of taking a stand. that will haunt him going forward president is president s also failing to understand massive policies are not working. instead, he wants

and for primaries that was their pitch and those tea party republican party primary candidates would then be winnowed down in the primary to one tea party republican to run against the democrat in general election that was their pitch and it worked control the primaries and the precincts committee people do and you control the ultimate candidate election and ultimately the nation as we saw this week when the tea party republican freshman who were elected because of a strategy blew up john boehner deal with obama to raise taxes. here's a video from january of two thousand and ten the same concord project representative encouraging the tea party to do exactly what i just described. this video is for all the people out there tea party. robbers speranza which is for people who are really fearful of what's going on in the country. want to do something six. what was. the best way to ensure that good conservatives win that all important primary election it's become a real ball player the ball game of politics that ball game it's called party politics and this is a s

tea party have clearly had a good couple of weeks. but there's a reality check, isn't it there? n you get to government, you can't just pretend you're not affiliated with a political party. they are afill yit yaited whether they like it or not, with the republicans, the gop. >> well, let me just say, first of all, again make the point, without exception or very few exceptions like bernie sanders, either you are a republican or you are a democrat if you hold office in washington. there is a large group of american citizens that are red and believe in and understand the miracle of our constitution want our government in compliance with our constitution, understand from the point of view of economics and how the world works that this government is so big and massive and clumsy in in screwing up markets and so forth that they are the impediment to the prosperity of the american people and we must gain control of this. now, had hiilary is coming from ideological perspective that america is the government and what's good for the government is good for america. that's the big contest go

ron paul, a lot of people say ron paul was the tea party before there was a tea party. and rick santorum and a few of the other conservatives also enjoy some support. they're going to be a factor in this race. we'll see how it plays out as we lead up to the iowa caucuses and the new hampshire primary and into next year. >> paul, thanks so much from ames, iowa. we'll have continuing coverage throughout the afternoon, trying to bring to you any results from that iowa straw poll that will be taking place today as well. >>> meantime, the rebuilding spirit of america, joplin, missouri, gets ready for the first day of school. it will be unlike any other. we'll talk to the school superintendent about where many of these students will be attending classes. it won't be in a traditional school. there's a big reason to lower your high cholesterol... dangerous plaque that can build up in arteries over time... high cholesterol is a major factor. but these other health factors can also contribute to plaque buildup. so if you have high cholesterol and any of these other health factors

not in the tea party-style. >> sean: the tea party was the grassroots. who does he think they are?gore gets one thing right, even partial limb. i know it is difficult to imagine that people care about values in this country was based on will rise up and get more involved in the democratic process. hey al, that's the tea party. >> my reaction is, you can dislike members of congress, i understand that the people who first time involved in politics, want to cut spending, balance the budget, reduce taxes, constitutional principles, how can you be against those forces? i'm all for activism, i didn't heatatatatatatatatatatatatatata. >> sean: people on the left class warfare, half the country doesn't pay income taxes. when is the anger the backlash going to go towards the people that have zero accountability? the ones that play the class warfare game? the ones that scare seniors? when is the anger at washington going to build in a crescendo? >> i think it has built to that point now. look at al gore, these days t that speech is so hypocritical, the way he flies around in a private jet lec

last week, you called the tea party extremist. you're upset because the party is being called terrorists. hypocrisy? only if you believe in taking things out of context, which apparently you do. i clearly said, some members of the tea party are extreme, and they are. but i would never brand an entire party anything unless we're talking about the communist party. they're communists. terry sullivan, kansas city, missouri. you told charles krauthammer that it was not the tea party that brought about the debt deal. who do you think the tea party is? according to the polls, about 19% of the folks, terry, not nearly enough to pressure congress, and many tea party people opposed the deal. it was pressure across the board from the folks that stopped the madness. gene, cape coral, florida. you think it was a good deal. who's right? can't speak for charles, but i never said it was a good deal. i said it was necessary, the best you could get with a divided government. the markets are reacting. and steve in maryland. charles, krauthammer is wr

the tea party said you know what? we don't want any more spending, that's it. we have had it. then you look at these guys going we want trillions more and we don't really care that the country is 14.5 billion in debt. so, who is crazier? >> but even if you accept that that that's an arguable position, the other side aren't terrorists? whether you mean it in a violent way or not to. compare them to suicide bombers and strapping themselves with dynamite and blowing up, that's just wrong. i think they are doing it because it doesn't work anymore when they call conservative republicans racists. you know, if you are a racist. >> bill: what's next? racist, terrorist, what's next? mass murderers. terrorists are mass murderers. >> could be. >> bill: i don't know. i mean, i think everybody realizes that calling people racist is a waste of time, nobody buys it anymore. if you are a racist because you are against obama care and the stimulus and the world wide apology tour, if that makes you a racist, what do you call the skin he

they have gal when the tea party is saying wake up -- they have gall when the tea party is saying wake-upot woke up and decided to do something about it. you are right, it is easy to say all these things that should be happening they were in power for a good amount of time as well. >> greta: they keep using the same code words. the republicans are having a hard time because they are trying to embrace them and make sure they don't get mad at them. >> this has never been an easy marriage for the republicans. tea party would love them to have them in the tent. they can't survive as a party next year if they go elsewhere. democrats would love to make this election about barack obama, democrats, versus the tea party that going to be a tough road for republicans if independents, associate all republicans as tea partiers they are not going to want to go that route. >> greta: if you talk to these people. you may not agree with them, the way they are demonized as though they are horrible, bad, scary people. they are regular american people who happen to have passion about politics right now. >> th

>> the tea party?> their popularity has waned, putting the full faith and credit of the united states on the brink of disaster was not a wise move, even though i agree with evan, we needed to get the spending. >> mark says the plan is to work on medicare. up until now, that is how democrats had to answer. now the tea party has made a change in people actually have to have an answer on that, and that is a great achievement. >> last word. thanks. see you next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv. ¡g

the tea parties disapproval rate has more than doubled since last april. and check this out. recent poll of democratic and republican lawmakers finds majorities in both parties believe the tea party will have less influence in 2012 than it did last year. so is it time for main stream republicans to disstance themselves from this extreme right wing? and how do democrats stop this unpopular movement from driving the debate here in washington? watching me now and joining me for this discussion is joe madison, a sirius xm radio host and tony, a syndicated columnist and former newt gingrich press secretary. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> joe, help me read the tea leafs here, pun intended. isn't it time to margin lies this movement? >> the way you marginalize it, is i would pick up on something john conniers said in a caucus meeting. you're not going to change any of the tea party leadership's mind about what we do no more in the 60s you would change the dixie krats and democratic party. what we need to do, i think as john proposed, is stay true to our base. educate

the tea party. take a look. >> fact of the matter is, this is essentially a tea party downgrade. the tea party brought us to the brink of a default. it something that should never have happened. that clearly is on the backs of those who were willing to see the country default. those very stride dent voices in the tea party. >> -- i agree with david i think this is a tea party problem. they are totally unreasonable. not founded in reality. i think they've been smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it. >> mark: smoking tea, i think it is a vermont thing. top official with s&p says the white house and congress are both to blame for the downgrade. >> this is not about either political party. it is about the difficulty on all side in finding a consensus around fiscal policy choices. now and in the future. >> mark: rather than point fingers at the tea party perhaps governor dean and others should focus on the president's own economic advisers who were asleep at the wheel as this crisis developed. re

you'll hear from the tea party in a moment.th the man you just saw or are about sow see it. thank you so much for coming on. you're sort of our spokesperson for the progressive left, i guess we'd have to say here, who aren't happy with this deal. what is the general view from the progressive side of things on this deal coming up? >> well, everybody believes that it is a bad deal. even individuals who are supporting it and frankly we don't know exactly what we're going to do, but everybody considers it a bad deal. no question about it. and we shouldn't even be here. to have the debt ceiling connected to deficit reduction is amazing. it's been something like an immaculate connection that two things that have no business coming together, have never been together in history merged at this particular time is devastating. so the consequences of voting no may be more dire than voting yes. >> do you think the president of the united states had a problem here, that you don't have? he voted against a debt creel wlg ceiling when he was se

the tea party.d, for the chicago tribune and chris, for the president for the commission for growth. congressman, i want to start with you. listening to that answer from mitt romney, is mitt romney a member of the tea party, showing support for the tea party, trying to distance himself from the tea party? what did you hear out of that? >> you might say all of the above. i think the ee lek tore rat is looking from candidates more of what they say than what they've done. mitt romney tries to share his record. when you look at his record it's pretty good when it comes to spending, which is one of biggest issues the at the party is focused on. attempting to say mitt romney has a lot of hurdles to get over, he'll have to get over romney care and his position on taxes in the past. i think he's got a real challenge to be em bralgsed by the tea party, even though he may try to embrace the tea party. if the electorate is listening, both perry and romney have decent records when you actually examine them but

the tea party said you know what? we don't want any more spending, that's it. we have had it. then you look at these guys going we want trillions more and we don't really care that the country is 14.5 billion in debt. so, who is crazier? >> but even if you accept that that that's an arguable position, the other side aren't terrorists? whether you mean it in a violent way or not to. compare them to suicide bombers and strapping themselves with dynamite and blowing up, that's just wrong. i think they are doing it because it doesn't work anymore when they call conservative republicans racists. you know, if you are a racist. >> bill: what's next? racist, terrorist, what's next? mass murderers. terrorists are mass murderers. >> could be. >> bill: i don't know. i mean, i think everybody realizes that calling people racist is a waste of time, nobody buys it anymore. if you are a racist because you are against obama care and the stimulus and the world wide apology tour, if that makes you a racist, what do you call the skin he