we looked at the reagan administration the clinton administration, there's an incentive for politicians to tackle the real issues for the american people. >> let's move on to national security adviser james jones stepping down to be replaced by his deputy tom don jil oshilon. all of this routine a couple of years in a presidency, a potential real change in course for this president? david, what say you on the jim jones matter? >> i worked in the west wing of the white house. i can tell you, it was brutal. it was harden my family, it was hard on me. i'm glad i did it. this turnover that you see every two years, you saw it in the bush white house, clinton white house, it's real. i don't think this signal a change. when you see the president take the deputy of the departing person and move that person into the principal slot, that should tell you something. this isn't a directional shift. it's a personnel change. >> i agree on the sense that it's grueling. ronald reagan had six national security advisers. it was true that he was the deputy. we're going from a marine corps general. by the w

management teams that was the official policy of the reagan administration even when you talk about the much smaller too big to fail companies from that era companies like continental annoy the shareholders were bailed out it was the creditors of the banks the other institutions that were lending to it not the shareholders who own the banks and the management team did not get to stick around and make more bonus money they were given the boot this is all something that's happened since the one nine hundred ninety nine era of deregulation with the repeal of glass steagall and the commodity futures modernization act that legalized essentially gambling in the derivatives casinos now do you think that we're going to see that changed on me right now there's a lot of this anti wall street anti-government sentiment we have new candidates from you know the loony vell i don't know even how to describe his tea partiers but i mean the system is already just seems like it's so set in stone and these you know essentially we have people from wall street then coming into also run the governme

when chief justice roberts was still a young lawyer in the reagan administration he wrote a funny memoaying that only school children and supreme court justices get the summer off. >> and that's looking awfully good to him him -- awfully good to him now, the summer off. >> charlie: you have written articles about the roberts court. tell me the overview of the roberts court with the addition of the new associate justice. >> so we're five years into the roberts court but it's a little bit of a misnomer to talk about the roberts court because it keeps changing. before chief justice roberts came on there were 11 years with no shifts in personnel -- the second longest period in united states history with a constant, static court, and now, boom, we have a new chief justice, chief justice roberts, followed by justice alito, followed by justice sotomayor last year and today for the first time we saw justice kagan on the bench, so that's a lot of change, mostly not consequential change because the switches tended to be ideologically one for one with the one exception of justice alito for justic

the question is, having lived through the reagan administration with david stockman i think being the most honest articulator of the policies, we know what it does and now, of course, we have that on steroids. the numbers are that much bigger, the economy is at much greater risk and the failure to recovery balance the budgets is going to take us to a very dangerous point. and i think that's why many of us saying, look, christine o'donnell, i like her and admire her and how she is handling it but the substance is going to be very damaging to us long term because it doesn't add up. >> what doesn't add up is raising taxes in the middle of the deepest and longest recession in the post world war ii period. punishing small businesses between 50% and 60% of the income to tax at the above quarter of a million dollar level are small businesses creating 80% of the jobs and here's the other thing. even if you were to take jim's argument and repeal all of the bush tax cuts, you've got a $1.35 trillion deficit. you would save $100 billion this year. so you're punishing the job creators. you're pun

. >> you saw it in the bush administration. >> in the reagan administration too. >> and also quite frankly, the first mrs. bush who was quoted in "the new york times" famously as saying i just go my own dumb-- she said dumb, way, and don't get involved in politics. >> and then and she's not dumb and she was very involved in politics. and after he left office she admitted she was pro-choice, as did her daughter-in-law. and when they come out later, i think a lot of women say to themselves, why did you wait. why didn't you do something on an issue that could have helped me in my life. >> it is not-- because the first lady is not elected, okay, you have to be very careful as to what she does espouse. but at the same time americans don't really want the first lady that is kniting in there. they want her to be visible, to look nice. nobody is screaming, you know, if anybody came out looking like a house frau, huh-uh, americans don't want that either. >> no disney sweatshirts. >> no, no, no. >> please. >> i don't know if americans want their first lady's out politicking but we definitely saw lau

oberstar: but even a decade after it was enacted, the reagan administration came in and cut the grant program to a loan program. and funding diminished over a period of time. now, we still have 1/3 or more of the nation's streams and lakes that don't meet the standards of the clean water act. we have to advance the cause. that is the big challenge ahead of us. you just don't think of raw sewage in waterways in a developed country, and yet, that's what we have, and not just in pittsburgh, but all over. narrator: pittsburgh is situated at the confluence of the allegheny, monongahela, and ohio rivers. these three rivers are vital for industry, recreation, and drinking water. and each year, billions of gallons of combined sewer overflows discharge directly into those rivers. hecht: we're now having to face the consequences of the choice that was made to put in combined sewer systems. narrator: in 1994, the government adopted a combined sewer overflow policy to reduce csos nationwide. cities with combined sewer overflows now face an enforcement action called a consent decree. under a conse

the obama administration. >> the third year of ronald reagan's administration, in the midst of cold war tensions and a bad economy, gallup found that american optimism was at its highest point in years, since 1959. bill clinton was able to generate a sense of optimism and of little bit of happiness. i think the president really is, and the white house in particular, it sets the tone to some degree it indirectly for the nation. >> i am telling you because we are bringing about change, and progress is going to come. but you have to stick with me. you cannot lose heart. >> how bad could it be for democrats? >> there is a train coming. we don't know if it will be class 1, class 3, are classified. but and down the hatches, it is going to be a long night. >> democratic pollster peter hart. the latest poll numbers tell us 71% of republicans are thinking happy thoughts about the tea party, meaning they will run, not walk, to the polls. the president tells "rolling stone," "it is inexcusable for any democrat to stand on the sidelines. people sitting on their hands are just irresponsible." who is he talking to, mark? >> i

former president jimmy carter installed panels that were later removed by the reagan administration. > well, if you have had a computer that takes forever to start up, help is on the way. starting next year, most new pcs will come with an updated piece of software that could allow them to boot up almost instantly. it has been a long time coming to personal computers. the software being replaced has been in use for almost 25 years. >>> each day, 4,000 smoked their first cigarette. that's according to the fda. in healthwatch report maryland has been more successful in getting people to quit. >>> wayne boggs took his first puff of a cigarette at age 17. under the pressure of his friend. >> you have your friends give this. >> at 39, he wishes he could quit. turns out many marylanders are doing just that. in 1998, over 22% of marylanders were smokers. a decade later, it has dropped to just above 15%. >> our rate of decrease in adult cigarette smoking has occurred at twice the rate of the national average. >>> the number. smokers did go down every time the tax on cigarettes went up. especia

. >> the starting the reagan administration. >> and contiing right throh the clinton admistration. privatized, got marginal tax rate os on the wealthy down. we sort of succumbed to the supply side of trile down economics. nothing trickled down. >> but evidently the president believes in that because he wants to continue the tax cuts ofhe bus administration. >> yes, president obama has said he wanted -- >> for the middle ass. >> thais aery important distinction cause i think it very important to continue the tax cuts for the middle class because right now no class, as i have bee sing doe't have the wherewithal. that to the going to be the final solution for the middle class. they still are going to need additional help. but the top 2% do not nd addition continuatn ta cuts. they d't need the bush tax cuts continued. they sll and they will continue to spend a much smaller proportion of their income than the 98% below them. there is no reason, particularly given the constrained budgets that we are all facing, that the top 2% should get essentially what next year would be a 36 billion d

they were removed during the reagan administration. the hour. to a big test of free speech coming up today in the supreme court at the united states that issue the right to protest at military funerals. the controversial westborough baptist church denouncing homosexuality. they carry signs, make a scene. well, one father fought back. he won and was awarded millions of dollars in damages but that verdict was thrown out. and now the case has gone to the supreme court where it will be heard this morning. our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin joins us now. this is a really, really interesting case. we're talking about the 2008 funeral of lance corporal matt snyder. members of the baptist church protest. his father albert snyder took it to court and it's an interesting argument between right of privacy at something like a funeral and the right of religious freedom. >> freedom for the thought that we hate. and that seems like an apt description of this case. i mean, what this tiny church does is so hateful, is so awful. imposing on these fa

around the same time the first lady nancy reagan her now famous just say no campaign. by the end of reagan's presidency, the administration effort. but the problem never went away at all. in the mid to late 80's there was a vicious crack epidemic. today it's meth. many argue we have lost the war on drugs. but the battle lines were drawn 28 years ago today. bears don't do drugs. bears win games. we like this bear particularly. got to keep your hand away from its mouth though. just as bears maul elephants, bears will eat your

panels on the top of the west wing in 1979, but those were removed during roof repairs during the reagan administration. interestingly enough, just last month, an environmental group brought one of the carter solar panels down from maine to washington to lobby the white house to reinstall the solar panel and really make solar energy and clean energy and renewable energy more of a priority of the president, the administration, though, says that this decision today -- the announcement today, had nothing to do with any outside groups, wolf? >>> kate, jimmy carter was not the only president to try to tap in to solar initial, was he? >> he wasn't. it was interesting to look back at all of this. because president george w. bush also tapped solar energy, solar technologies to help power a maintenance facility as well as at least in part keep the white house swimming pool here. and those two systems, we're told, are still in use. in terms of the new system that's being installed, wolf, the department of energy is going to start a competitive bidding process to figure out which company is going to install the s

but in actuality, it really was over a few decades, going back to the reagan revolution and proceeding through the clinton administrationen they got a couple of really big things wrong. there were good at crises without realizing that some of these crises, including some that happened in the 1990's, were precursors of the financial crisis we suffered in 2008. they involved just deregulation of the financial markets, to the point where no one was watching. but the time these trillions of dollars in over-the-counter derivatives went bad, there was no longer any regulation or oversight of them. we suddenly realized that all of this wonderful deregulation was not working out. tavis: in your book you do a good job of tracking this back to be regulation during the clinton years, which raises the obvious question, why it didn't president obama, why would he bring in some of the same people who are there during the planned deregulation years? >> that is a very good question. obama obviously is a very smart guy. as water resources said to me, he did not one -- run for present -- as one of my sources said, he did not run for pres

that breaks the freeves previous, which is the reagan administration. and so this breaks the 9.5% or higher because the economy is not adding enough jobs to bring down that rate. host: we're talking about the latest jobless figures with tim homan. give us a call. the numbers are on the bottom of your screen. our first call comes from florida on our line for democrats, dennis, go ahead. caller: i just wanted to say if they want to stop these jobs from going overseas, all they have to do is put an import tax. and even on wages. we can't compete with china for wages because they're pretty much slave labor over there. if they put an import tax on their goods before they bring them over here, and even on wages, our people will be working and filling that stuff. the second thing is the reason that this count is not working right now is because we're not building houses over here. the government was given a tax incentive for people to buy first-home buyers. if they made it a $10,000 down payment on a house, then america could go back to building houses, this re

i've watched him with the senator lugar and went back to indiana, eli lilly and work in the reagan administrations an innovator. he thinks outside the box. you don't see that too often today in politics. you have the conventional campaigns, all of the consultants, things you can and cannot do. but he's always been a person that would think outside the box. that is why he has been tremendously successful in the state of indiana and has notoriety in japan, because of what he has done with the toll road and lower taxes. in having been president and ceo of hudson in the past, i cannot think of a greater honor read than the governor of the state of indiana, the hon. mitch daniels. [applause] >> mark twain said the perfect audience was informed, intelligent, an acquisitive, and drunk. [laughter] it's been a long evening and i'm thinking we're near perfect here which would come in handy. thank you million. this has been like a college reunion. there are folks here have long to see for a long time and for that alone i am incredibly grateful. it's an intimidating audience. even as the man said, jefferson

he's not going to have to go outside as a way to pump up his administration, or to get legitimacy from the outside. the way say a reaganate in the administration when he had iran contra. and needed howard baker to come in and relegitimize the administration. that's not obama. he just wants someone to do his bidding. >> jim: there was an interesting part of this today. self-congratulation, from the president and from rahm. the president was expansive about what rahm achieved. the president's achievements, but rahm also got expansive at one point. let's listen to that. >> i want to thank you for being the toughest leader, any country could ask for in the toughest times any president has ever faced. [ applause ] >> jim: "the toughest times any president has ever faced." >> this administration is so into superlative. the toughest time ever. the most transparent ever. the event was strange and self-congratulatory and self-regarding. turned a lot of people off. turned republicans off like crazy. it was a nice event for rahm. it's over. >> many ways a kickoff to his announcement that he is going to run for mayor and kind of e

we had the telecommunications revolution in the reagan administration because of innovation. they were wise enough to note that when they opened up the playing field, millions of investors and inventors and innovators would create what they did create, cellphones and site telecommunications. we can do the same thing for medical technology. >> the issue is medicare. >> the only way that we can get our arms around the budget deficits and the national debt is to been the cost curve down. those costs are rising across the board. the estimates are that medicaid -- medicare fraud is a $62 billion organized crime industry every year. the way that i look at it, there is $60 billion right there. we need to implement some of the things i talked about earlier in terms of patient-centered medical health. it is a concept of changing the way the incentive system and the delivery system of health care services in providing higher- quality. also, electronic medical records which enables doctors and providers and hospitals to provide care without the duplication for greater safety. that is a n

we have the telecommunications revolution during the reagan administration because of competition. ronald reagan did not invent the internet any more than al gore did, but they were wise enough to know that when they opened up the playing field, millions of investors and innovators would create what they did create, cell phones and telecommunications. we can do the same thing in medical technology. >> the issue is medicare. >> i have mentioned it several times this evening. the only way we can get our arms around of urgency -- burgeoning budget deficit in the national debt is to bend the cost curve down on health care costs. in those costs are rising across the board. the estimates are that medicaid -- medicare fraud is about $62 billion. and we all recover couple billion dollars. the way i look at it there are $60 billion right there. we need to implement some of the things i talked about earlier in terms of patient-centered medical loans. it is basically the concept of changing the incentive and the delivery of health care services while providing higher-quality. also, electronic

however, too, i collect political cartoons and i have heard blocks from the beginning of the reagan administrationn a meticulous condition. and i remember there were some of the most prolific political cartoons ever. host: i'm going to jump in. we have a lot of people to get through this morning. senator barbara mikulski on the front page of this newspaper. we have our regular in mailer's writing to us this morning -- e- mailers writing to us this morning. american hero is one of our regular twitter participants and he writes -- the next phone call is from baltimore. this is stella on the republican line -- so vella, excuse me. caller: i came to this country 45 years ago. i am a latin american citizen and i love this country. i love c-span. i have it on the radio and i listen to you guys all the time. i do not know if you know, but in baltimore cannot we really do not have too much newspaper. -- in baltimore, we really do not have too much newspaper. aboutally more informed everything. i listen to c-span and the reporters about their point of view. right now, the reporters put what they feel, not

went back to indiana, president of hudson institute, eli lilly, then came out and worked in the reagan administrationrved as o.m.b. director under george w. bush. like herman kahn, mitch is an innovator. he thinks outside the box. and you don't see that too often today in politics. because, you know, you have the conventional campaigns, you've got all the consultants, and you've got the things that you can do and can't do and it's pretty well many times scripted. but mitch has always been a person that would think outside the box. and that's why i think he's been tremendously successful in the state of indiana and has notoriety according to abisan in japan because of what he's done with the toll road and pro growth low taxes. so i think having been president and c.e.o. of hudson in the past, i can't think of a greater honoree than the governor of the state of indiana, the honorable mitch daniels. >> mark twain said that the perfect audience was informed, intelligent, inquisitive, and drunk. [laughter] >> been a long evening, i'm thinking we're pretty near perfect here, which would come in handy. dan,

. >> one thing we're hearing now is that this could end up helping the obama administration because presidents reagan and clinton before him used divided government to their advantage. >> the white house is not looking forward to the additional subpoenas they will face or the legislative gr gridblock, but they will like having somebody else to blame for the problems in washington. both presidents reagan and clinton learned this lesson. they were able to bounce back to big re-elections. >> rick klein, thank you. >> thanks, dan. >>> a fresh horror in haiti tonight. a country that cannot catch a break. a cholera outbreak has killed at least 250 people and now officials are trying to stop the disease from spreading to the capital city, where so many survivors of that earthquake are living in homeless camps. dr. richard besser is there tonight. >> reporter: cholera is here in haiti. this is an infection that can kill an adult in hours. the fear tonight is that this infection could spread throughout the capital city of port-au-prince. there have been five cases reported so far, but all of those were acquir

reagan's election. some of them developing into quite nasty battles about power within the movement. neoconservatives with their policy experience and connections in publishing and politics one of filling many of the slots in the reagan administrationany paley of conservatives charged that they have hijacked their movement, quote when i can't work gets religion and joins the church conservative historian stephen tonsil wrote. it now and then she makes a good choir director, but when she begins to tell the minister how to run the church, matters have been taken too far, unquote. torrents or what not to argue that if trotsky were alive, then he would be writing neoconservative tracts in the hoover institution. he also claimed that conservatives viewpoint was anglo or roman catholic, seemingly not open to access or jews. john sawyer was defending the conservative movement to join them in the 50's when he was labeled by neocons as anti-somatic, even catalogued much later by david from an article in national review is one among many of him pitcher out of conservatives for not supporting the iraq war which time for turned out to support. after national review public on first essay in 1986 and he was attacked by neoconservatives, he never

i'm the old dude at this table so i remember a long time ago, at the end of the first two years of ronald reagan's administrationemployment numbers were higher than they are now, his approval ratings were lower than president obama's were. president clinton had newt gingrich sweep into office with the contract with america. both of them were elected by wide margins when they ran for a second term. something to keep in mind. >> charlie cook, your final outlook for tuesday is what? >> explosive on the house and very impressive republican gains on the senate gubernatorial level. >> thank you. we'll leave it there. >>> visit our website tomorrow for our web-only special "meet the press" 2010, the final countdown, special pre-election roundtable will break down everything you want to know going into tuesday. i'll be joined by charlie cook, jonathan martin, chris cillizza and our own anklely o'donnell, congressional correspondent. that's mtp.msnbc.com. tomorrow morning at 9:00 am is when you'll be able to see t please stay with nbc news all night on tuesday. i'll join brian williams and the rest of our nbc news team f