i'm a fan of tom coburn. he is not running for reelection. he has announced that, which is unfortunate. if i were president, i would try to get him in my administration. i'm not running for president and i do not intend to. i would hope he would choose tom coburn. he would be a positive force. host: if you were asked what makes mitt romney a conservative, how would you respond? guest: i think his experience. it will be nice to of someone who created jobs in the private sector. think about president obama's experience before he became president. he was a state senator from illinois. before that he was a community organizer. you have to understand how the economy works and how people when they take that risk of creating a job, put their whole livelihood at risk. the person who starts a restaurant or a software company, those folks are going through a lot trauma to be successful, and if they are successful, they create jobs for people. it will be nice to have a president that understands that. it goes to the core of our philosophy as a party. th

senator tom coburn of oklahoma, senator sherman of california.hank you very much. >>> coming up, 24 hours before the polls close in florida, the latest surveys show mitt romney has got a commanding lead for a landslide. so florida seems to be wrapped up. but what happens after florida? former republican chairman michael steele says there is no unified gop message. of he may be right. mr. steel, and our distinguished political panel coming up next. distinguished political panel coming up next. >>> welcome back to the kudlow report, i'm larry kudlow. amidst all of the personal name-calling, i want to return to the theme of tonight's show. where is the discussion, spending, deficits, debt, the near-bankruptcy of the u.s. government? i think the lack of this discussion is demoralized the tea party, a lot of voters and me. now, the question is, what is inside the message? let's get right away to cnbc contributor robert cost at that, the national review. how big is a surprise in the last, 48, 72 hours? >> it's going to be a big blowup for mitt romney.

(laughter) >> tom coburn, republican senator from perhaps the most republican state in the country, oklahoma. you can't even find people with blue eyes in oklahoma. (laughter) coburn is so conservative he once lodged a protest against showing "schindler's list" on tv because of the nudity. that's true. yes. the nudity. that's what strikes you as obscene in "schindler's list". will you listen to this guy. >> you know, he's been out of government for a long time. he's matured as a person. he has reattached himself to faith. >> jon: what? no, listen yourself! first of all reattached himself to his faith, like oh, you know what happened is faith just lost the stickum, you have to lick it and stick up there. the only faith gingrich has reattached himself to is beginningismism-- gingrichism, the belief in the infallibility of the gingrich this is him from last month. >> i am much like reagan and margaret thatcher, i am such an unconventional political figure that you really need to design a very unique campaign that fits the way i operate and what i am trying to do. >> jon: hey, newt, donald trump

i'm a fan of tom coburn. he is not running for reelection. if i were president, i would try to get him in my administration. i'm not running for president intend to.ot atten he would be a positive force. host: if you were asked what makes mitt romney a conservative, how would you respond? guest: i think his experience. it will be nice to of someone who created jobs in the private- sector. think about president obama's experience before he became president. he was a state senator from illinois. you have to understand how the economy works and how people when they take that risk of creating a job, put their whole livelihood at risk. the person who starts a restaurant or a software company, those folks are going through a lot trauma to be successful, and if they are successful, they create jobs for people. it will be nice to have a president that understands that. the strength and vitality of our nation comes from individuals who take risks and create jobs. host: what does it mean for khmer romney? -- mitt romney? guest: he would encourage entre

ethanol it lasted thirty three years and cost more than twenty billion dollars oklahoma senator tom coburn led the charge to do away with the subsidy and one but the government mandate requiring oil. companies to use ethanol is still in place so just about anywhere you go ten percent of what you put into your car is ethanol. even if your car is a race car. nascar's partnership with ethanol a sign that the pressure on the corn supply will continue forty percent of last year's corn crop went to ethanol and that leaves the other sixty percent to go toward food for people and animals and with the price per bushel more than doubling in the last five years it's no wonder food prices are going up when demand goes up . and all farmers plant more corn. then they can't buy certain other research scholar tim searching or says that leads to the shortage and increased prices of other crops and it's not just this country in other countries where people rely on corn meal as one of the only meals for their families. the price hike has been devastating. ethanol farmers and plant workers argue that the clai

senator tom coburn's words earmarks are the gateway to corruption. >> schieffer: senator, thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me on. >> schieffer: we really appreciate. we'll be back in a moment with some final thoughts. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, 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 over 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. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learni

like you, i am a fan of tom coburn.e's not running for reelection, he has announced that, which is unfortunate. but as a practical matter, if i were president, i would certainly try to get him in my administration. i am not running for president, don't intend to. but i would hope that whoever the next president is, obviously if it would be a republican president, would choose tom coburn to participate in the administration, and hopefully he would do it, because he would be a positive force. host: some of the candidates have directly addressed, what makes mitt romney a conservative -- how would you respond? guest: well, i think his experience. it would be nice to have somebody as a president who actually created a job. think about president obama's experience before he became president. three years earlier he had been a state senator from illinois. before that, he was basically a community organizer. really, you have to understand how the economy works and how people, when they go out and make that -- take that risk of c

and my republican friend tom coburn is right. why should you stop subsidiing millionaires? if you earn more than $1 million, you shouldn't get special tax cuts or reductions. on the other hand, if you make less than $250,000 a year like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you're the ones struggling with rising costs and staggering wages. you're the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes, most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge financial success in this country. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. it's because they understand that when i get a tax break, i don't need, and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference. like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through school. or family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. americans know that's not right. they know

and my republican friend tom coburn is right -- washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. in fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. on the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you're the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. [applause] you're the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge financial success in this country. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. it's because they understand that when i get tax breaks i don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference -- like a senior on a fixed income, or a student trying to get through school, or a family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. ame

and my republican friend tom coburn is right. washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. in fact, if you're earning $1 million a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. on the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you are the ones struggling with rising costs and staggering wages. you are the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want, but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes, most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge financial success in this country. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich, it's because they understand that when i get a tax break i don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference, like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through school or a family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. americans know that's not ri

more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes and my republican friend tom coburn is right, washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. if you are earning $1 million a year you shouldn't get special subsidies or deductions. if you make under $150,000 like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you are the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. you are the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want but asking a millionaire to pay as much as his secretary in taxes, most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge that. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying their fair share in taxes, it's not because they envy the rich, but they understand when i get a tax break that i don't need and the country can afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference. like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through school or a family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. americans know that's not right. they know that this gener

there are many tom coburn jim demint who admitted we have to cut some mill tear spreending. the compromise has to be conservatives and liberals coming together. he has shown he can work with people on both sides. do you agree with this? >> do you agree with this? >> i would like to know one of the five things he would eliminate? >> as far as the departments he's talked about the department of education, the department of commerce, the department of energy, the department of the interior, and housing and new development. there would be a few things within those departments that he would slide into other departments, but the vast majority would end. this also separates him. we heard a candidate who says they are the reagan conservative. reagan believed in eliminating the department of education. there's only one person standing up there and is still in favor of that. ron paul was only one of four congressman to support reagan over gerald ford. he has been doing it over his whole career. many want to be reagan conservatives but they are for medicaid part d the largest entitleme

and my republican friend tom coburn is right. washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. in fact if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. on the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you are the ones struggling. with rising costs and stagnate wages. you are the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge financial success in this country. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. it's because they understand that when i get tax break, i don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference. like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through school or a family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. americans know that's not

senator santorum and newt gingrich were pork barrelers and earmarkers, which is in the words of tom coburn the gateway drug to corruption. we had corruption as a result of ear marking. that's just a matter of record. and also, as we know, senator santorum was rejected for re-election by the people of pennsylvania by nearly 18 points. >> let me move you on to what we talked about. bain capital, the company that was founded by mitt romney, and i want to take you back again. i'm sure this won't surprise you. this is 2008. you and mitt romney were in, among others -- >> tough race. >> -- in a battle in the primary season. >> as the head of his investment company, he presided over the acquisition of companies that immediately laid off thousands of workers. >> i get it. you know, things like this happen in campaigns. but the fact of the matter is -- >> when my campaign was over, nobody worked harder for my campaign than did mitt romney. we spent time together. i got to have a friendship with him. these primaries are tough. i understand that. >> they are, but the fact is that's how you looked at

my republican friend, tom coburn, is right. washington should stop subsidizing millionaires.n fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. on the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. >> reporter: republicans in their response, and it was indiana governor mitch daniels, said that this was extremist and part of the president's effort to continually divide americans, that those people he wants to tax are the ones creating jobs or trying to create jobs in this country. finally, the president yesterday pitched a new unit of prosecutors, federal and state prosecutors, to investigate abusive lending and risky mortgages. joe? >> tracie potts reporting live. thank you very much. >>> one person closely listening to president obama's economic message was mitt romney. brian williams spoke to romney after the address. when asked about the president's speech, romney said the voters he talked to want a leader who praised financial success. >> they want someone who

my republican friend tom coburn is right, washington should stop subsidizing millionaires, next, if you earn $1 million a year you should not get special tax subsidies or deductions. >>neil: just how high will taxes go under the president's plan? try top rate of 44 percent for starters where the tax foundation guest says tax rates are headed. he joins me. how did you come to that number? >>guest: well, we are looking at, what is the effect of capping the top income effective income tax rate at 30 percent, and when you consider the deductions that millionaires tax now, you essentially need a marginal tax rate of 44 percent to make their effective tax rate 30 percent, and, currently, millionaires have an acknowledge effective tax rate of 25 percent so this is going to be an increase of another 5 per cent. >>neil: and that leaves aside the automatic kick to 39.6 percent, leaving aside that rate. now, a lot of people hearing this will say, scott, well, you know, pity, pity, pity, what do we care. why should they? >>guest: a lot of these are businesses and what we are talking about is requir

and my republican friend tom coburn is right. washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. in fact if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. on the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year like 98% of american families, your taxes shouldn't go up. you are the ones struggling. with rising costs and stagnate wages. you are the ones who need relief. now, you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. we don't begrudge financial success in this country. we admire it. when americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. it's because they understand that when i get a tax break, i don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference. like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through school or a family trying to make ends meet. that's not right. americans know that's n

one is tom coburn of oklahoma. he said this is simply just politics.act that members and aides have to report every 30 days he said is just not workable. privately a lot of people agree with that. >> dana bash, thank you. we'll watch this one play out. tomorrow's presidential primary in florida is not only the first republican caucus in a big state, but here to help us break things down is the former executive director of the christian coalition. back at the map. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. let's move onto the state of florida. i want to bring up some demographics. tea party strength, that's what you see here. the darker the county area, the stronger tea party. big impact, not so much? >> it's going to have a big impact. the challenge newt gingrich is going to have tomorrow is that this vote is not breaking as heavily his way as it did in south carolina. if you look at the tea party vote in south carolina, it broke two to one his way. it's also not as conservative. in iowa, which is a caucus state, 3% of all caucus attenders said they were con

i remember tom coburn, senator from oklahoma was talking to constituents and he actually got booed when he said, let's quit the name-calling, character assassination and fight them on policy. either our policies are right we can win on policy or we should lose. and that applies to both sides. so it is back to you but all of this insane 60 votes to get something to the fuller and vote. gerrymandering of districts to guarantee, ensuring that we have prevented millions of people from going to the ballots, even as study after study, conservative institutions and liberals like show that voter fraud in this country -- they might come up with 20, dirty, 50 cases over a long extended. and yet that is being used as a rationale to present lands of people from voting. i get both sides want to win, but you don't do it by cheating. you do it by presenting the best policies for the american people and you win on the merits. and when we allow that to happen, we are destroying the institution of our constitutional republic and we are going to pay a price. [inaudible] >> sometimes you have to risk losin

there are many tom coburn jim demint who admitted we have to cut some mill tear spreending. compromise has to be conservatives and liberals coming together. he has shown he can work with people on both sides. do you agree with this? >> do you agree with this? >> i would like to know one of the five things he would eliminate? >> as far as the departments he's talked about the department of education, the department of commerce, the department of energy, the department of the interior, and housing and new development. there would be a few things within those departments that he would slide into other departments, but the vast majority would end. this also separates him. we heard a candidate who says they are the reagan conservative. reagan believed in eliminating the department of education. there's only one person standing up there and is still in favor of that. ron paul was only one of four congressman to support reagan over gerald ford. he has been doing it over his whole career. many want to be reagan conservatives but they are for medicaid part d the largest entitlement p